Phase-contrast imaging using polychromatic hard X-rays

Abstract

IN conventional radiography, X-rays which pass through an object along different paths are differentially absorbed, and the intensity pattern of the merging beam records the distribution of absorbing materials within the sample. An alternative approach is phase-contrast radiography, which instead records variations of the phase of the emerging radiation. Such an approach offers improved contrast sensitivity, especially when imaging weakly absorbing samples. Unfortunately, current phase-contrast imaging techniques generally require highly monochromatic plane-wave radiation and sophisticated X-ray optics, so their use is greatly restricted. Here we describe and demonstrate a simplified scheme ..