Unique phase recovery for nonperiodic objects

Phys Rev Lett. 2003 Nov 14;91(20):203902. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.91.203902. Epub 2003 Nov 13.

Abstract

It is well known that the loss of phase information at detection means that a diffraction pattern may be consistent with a multitude of physically different structures. This Letter shows that it is possible to perform unique structural determination in the absence of a priori information using x-ray fields with phase curvature. We argue that significant phase curvature is already available using modern x-ray optics and we demonstrate an algorithm that allows the phase to be recovered uniquely and reliably.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms*
  • X-Ray Diffraction / methods*