Electron momentum density of hexagonal Zn studied by high-resolution Compton scattering.

High-resolution (0.12 a.u.) electron momentum density projections (Compton profiles) of a hexagonal Zn single crystal have been measured along five high-symmetry directions in reciprocal space. The experiment was performed with the use of 115.6 keV synchrotron radiation on the BL08W station at SPring-8. The quality of the measured Compton profiles is significantly better than that of previous medium- and high-resolution data. The experimental data were compared with the corresponding theoretical Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker (KKR) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Some minor and major differences between the two theoretical band-structure calculations have been observed. However, the good quality experimental results indicate their better agreement with DFT.

The impact of transmission-emission misregistration on the interpretation of SPET/CT myocardial perfusion studies and the value of misregistration correction.

OBJECTIVE: Previous studies indicate that the quality of single photon emission tomography/computed tomography (SPET/CT) myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) is degraded by even mild transmission-emission misregistrations. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the impact of SPET/CT misalignment on the interpretation of MPI and examine the value of a commercial software application for registration correction. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 255 technetium-99m ((99m)Tc)-tetrofosmin stress/rest MPI examinations in 150 patients were reviewed for SPET/CT misalignment. After registration correction by the software, images were reassessed for interpretation differences from the misregistered study. The diagnostic benefit of reregistration was determined by taking into account the non-attenuation compensated image pattern, combined stress-rest evaluation, gated-SPET data and patient's history. In a phantom experiment and in 3 representative clinical cases, SPET/CT misalignment was purposely created by the software by sequential slice shifts and its effect was evaluated quantitatively. RESULTS: Misregistration ≥1 pixel in at least one direction was observed in 24% of studies. Interpretation of MPI changed after registration correction in 11% of cases with misalignment <1 pixel, in 18% with 1-2 and in 73% with ≥2 pixels. The diagnostic information seemed to improve after registration correction in 58% of studies irrespective of the degree of misregistration. Software-simulated misregistration had dissimilar effects in the phantom and the 3 selected clinical cases. CONCLUSIONS: The impact of SPET/CT misregistration on MPI interpretation although influenced by the degree and direction of slice misplacement, it is also case-specific and hardly predictable. Registration restoration by the software seems worthwhile regardless of misregistration magnitude.

A planar parabolic refractive nickel lens for high-energy X-rays.

A compound refractive lens made of nickel and designed for focusing high-energy synchrotron X-rays is presented. The lens consists of 600 parabolic grooves and focuses X-rays in one plane only (planar lens). The lenses made and investigated by us earlier exhibited low transmission and irregularities in the focused beam profile. Since then, improvements in lens manufacturing technology have been made. The present lens gives an almost Gaussian profile and produces four times higher intensity at its maximum compared with the intensity of primary X-ray beams of 174 keV.

The role of single element errors in planar parabolic compound refractive lenses.

The propagation of X-rays through a compound refractive lens (CRL) with imperfect CRL elements is investigated. The trajectories of random rays within the geometrical optics regime are calculated in one plane using Monte Carlo methods. Three different lenses were simulated: Be, Al and Ni lenses designed for photon energies of 20 keV, 60 keV and 175 keV, respectively. The results show that while transverse displacements of single elements in a CRL do not influence imaging resolution, rotational errors can be important. Systematic calculations of aberrations owing to the deviation of the element's surface from a perfect parabolic shape are also presented.

X-ray focusing with efficient high-NA multilayer Laue lenses.

Multilayer Laue lenses are volume diffraction elements for the efficient focusing of X-rays. With a new manufacturing technique that we introduced, it is possible to fabricate lenses of sufficiently high numerical aperture (NA) to achieve focal spot sizes below 10 nm. The alternating layers of the materials that form the lens must span a broad range of thicknesses on the nanometer scale to achieve the necessary range of X-ray deflection angles required to achieve a high NA. This poses a challenge to both the accuracy of the deposition process and the control of the materials properties, which often vary with layer thickness. We introduced a new pair of materials-tungsten carbide and silicon carbide-to prepare layered structures with smooth and sharp interfaces and with no material phase transitions that hampered the manufacture of previous lenses. Using a pair of multilayer Laue lenses (MLLs) fabricated from this system, we achieved a two-dimensional focus of 8.4 × 6.8 nm2 at a photon energy of 16.3 keV with high diffraction efficiency and demonstrated scanning-based imaging of samples with a resolution well below 10 nm. The high NA also allowed projection holographic imaging with strong phase contrast over a large range of magnifications. An error analysis indicates the possibility of achieving 1 nm focusing.

High numerical aperture multilayer Laue lenses.

The ever-increasing brightness of synchrotron radiation sources demands improved X-ray optics to utilise their capability for imaging and probing biological cells, nanodevices, and functional matter on the nanometer scale with chemical sensitivity. Here we demonstrate focusing a hard X-ray beam to an 8 nm focus using a volume zone plate (also referred to as a wedged multilayer Laue lens). This lens was constructed using a new deposition technique that enabled the independent control of the angle and thickness of diffracting layers to microradian and nanometer precision, respectively. This ensured that the Bragg condition is satisfied at each point along the lens, leading to a high numerical aperture that is limited only by its extent. We developed a phase-shifting interferometric method based on ptychography to characterise the lens focus. The precision of the fabrication and characterisation demonstrated here provides the path to efficient X-ray optics for imaging at 1 nm resolution.