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.
All chemistry starts with a push from electrons. In the early moments of a chemical reaction, it's the movement of electrons that initiates the breaking of old chemical bonds and forging of new ones, transforming one molecule ...
General Physics
Aug 5, 2026
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The interaction between X-rays and matter can be actively controlled, according to an international research team led by the University of Hamburg and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory that has succeeded in producing bright ...
Optics & Photonics
Aug 3, 2026
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Artificial intelligence (AI) models are now used daily by many people worldwide, both for professional and personal purposes. Over the past decades, scientists specialized in various disciplines have also started using these ...
Researchers have shown that it's possible to take clear, high-resolution X-ray images using very little radiation. With more development, the new approach could eventually make medical X-ray diagnostics less risky and more ...
Optics & Photonics
Jul 16, 2026
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15
Researchers at Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) have developed the world's first achromatic lens for neutron imaging. The lens overcomes a longstanding obstacle in the field: focusing neutrons of different wavelengths well enough ...
Optics & Photonics
Jul 14, 2026
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263
Researchers have captured how a molecule redistributes energy after absorbing light, differentiating the roles of individual atoms in the process. They used X-ray flashes from the European XFEL to show that different atoms ...
General Physics
Jul 13, 2026
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183
For the first time, scientists have used NASA's IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) to directly measure the magnetic fields of PSR J1101−6101, a pulsar located within what is often referred to as the Lighthouse Nebula. ...
Astronomy
Jul 10, 2026
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Due to their high porosity, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are regarded as promising materials for innovative applications, which is why the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded in 2025 for their discovery. They are used, ...
Nanophysics
Jul 2, 2026
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10
It's one thing to design a pharmaceutical drug. It's another to know if and why it actually works; not on paper or in a computer model, but inside the chaotic world of living systems, where proteins twist into shape, atoms ...
Quantum Physics
Jun 25, 2026
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43
Materials scientists at Rice University have developed a new workflow methodology for measuring microscopic defects in diamond and other advanced semiconductor materials. By making it easier to spot flaws that can undermine ...
Nanophysics
Jun 25, 2026
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10
