Revealing Three-Dimensional Structure of an Individual Colloidal Crystal Grain by Coherent X-Ray Diffractive Imaging

Phys Rev Lett. 2016 Sep 23;117(13):138002. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.138002. Epub 2016 Sep 22.

Abstract

We present results of a coherent x-ray diffractive imaging experiment performed on a single colloidal crystal grain. The full three-dimensional (3D) reciprocal space map measured by an azimuthal rotational scan contained several orders of Bragg reflections together with the coherent interference signal between them. Applying the iterative phase retrieval approach, the 3D structure of the crystal grain was reconstructed and positions of individual colloidal particles were resolved. As a result, an exact stacking sequence of hexagonal close-packed layers including planar and linear defects were identified.