X-ray techniques comprise a range of experimental methods that exploit the interaction of X-ray photons with matter to probe structural, electronic, and compositional properties across length scales from atomic to macroscopic. Major classes include X-ray diffraction (single-crystal, powder, and small- or wide-angle scattering) for determining crystallographic and nanoscale structure; X-ray spectroscopy (XANES, EXAFS, XPS) for probing oxidation states, local coordination, and electronic structure; and X-ray imaging and tomography for spatially resolved density and phase-contrast mapping. These techniques rely on well-characterized X-ray sources, monochromators, detectors, and often synchrotron or free-electron laser facilities to achieve high brilliance, energy tunability, temporal resolution, and quantitative analysis.
Whether in tooth enamel or in nanomaterials made of silicon, the orientation of tiny internal structures often determines the properties of a material. A new X-ray method can even make this nano-order visible when the structures ...
Optics & Photonics
May 12, 2026
0
12
A team led by researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University, in collaboration with Tohoku University and Orbray Co., Ltd., using heteroepitaxial diamond materials developed by Orbray, have shown that lab-grown diamonds might ...
Optics & Photonics
May 11, 2026
0
7
Recent research published in Communications Biology marks an advance in structural biology by enhancing understanding of protein regulation mechanisms in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), a global health threat. The team ...
Cell & Microbiology
May 1, 2026
0
19
XPP, the X-ray Pump Probe instrument at the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), is back online and welcoming researchers after a complete rebuild. The overhaul has readied XPP for the significant increase in X-ray output ...
Optics & Photonics
Apr 30, 2026
0
8
A rainbow reveals with colors what otherwise remains hidden: light is "refracted" by transparent matter, in this case water droplets. This same physical effect underlies many everyday technologies, like LCD screens and broadband ...
Optics & Photonics
Apr 27, 2026
2
88
A scientist from Tokyo Metropolitan University has proposed using safety monitoring at synchrotron facilities to study the properties of dark photons, hypothetical particles proposed to explain dark matter. Calculations show ...
General Physics
Apr 27, 2026
1
23
Modern medicine has played a significant role in improving the length and quality of our lives. While many treatments may seem like miracles, they are the result of a lengthy, rigorous research process. Drug discovery is ...
Biotechnology
Apr 22, 2026
0
9
How do organic solar cells work on the inside? The answer lies in structures far too small to see—and difficult to access even with advanced techniques. So far, researchers have relied mainly on X-ray methods to understand ...
Nanophysics
Apr 15, 2026
0
46
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) rank among the most powerful explosions in the universe, releasing immense energy in intense flashes of gamma rays. The most distant GRBs originate from the era when the first stars and galaxies formed. ...
Astronomy
Apr 14, 2026
0
11
Hidden features uncovered in X-ray signals are set to overturn a key scientific theory and fundamentally change how X-rays are interpreted across fields of physics, chemistry, biology and materials science, new research reveals. ...
Optics & Photonics
Apr 1, 2026
0
30
