Development of high sensitivity X-ray multiple-times-diffraction enhanced imaging (M-DEI) optics

X-ray phase contrast imaging is now a powerful tool to identify tiny electronic-density difference in a subject. We propose a novel diffraction enhanced imaging (DEI) optics sensitive to the electronic-density difference smaller than 2%. This is named multiple-times-diffraction enhanced imaging (M-DEI) by use of multiple diffractions in a channel-cut groove. Ordinary DEI, which is widely utilized in many research fields, is sensitive to electronic-density difference greater than 2%. That the M-DEI adopts the multiple-times-diffraction in the Bragg case analyzer is a key point to obtain a sharp rise at the rocking curve which leads to the high electronic-density resolution. The X-ray energy was 17.5 keV, the diffraction index used was silicon (4, 4, 0), and the number of diffraction was 7. This gives 68.75% higher sensitivity of electronic-density difference compared to a single-times- diffraction. Here, we will report all recent results of the M-DEI system.