Bragg coherent diffraction imaging allowing simultaneous retrieval of three-dimensional shape and strain distribution for 40–500-nm particles

We report the improvement of an apparatus for Bragg coherent x-ray diffraction imaging (Bragg-CDI) at BL22XU in SPring-8 to expand the applicable particle size and the application of the Bragg-CDI technique for Pd and ferroelectric barium titanate (BaTiO3) fine crystals with particle sizes of 40–500 nm. Preparing a vacuum environment around the sample enabled us to obtain the high-contrast diffraction pattern of a 40-nm particle. The reconstructed three-dimensional image showed the outer shape, size, and internal phase (strain) for a single particle. A single 500-nm BaTiO3 particle showed a straight and sharp antiphase-boundary shape, whereas smaller BaTiO3 particles showed different phase boundary shapes. The present Bragg-CDI apparatus, thus, allows the observation of the outer shape, size, and inner phase distribution for a single particle with a size of 40–500 nm.