High-energy X-ray diffraction experiment employing a compact synchrotron X-ray source based on inverse Compton scattering - Abstract and study overview

Sep 29, 2026

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X-ray diffraction (XRD) is a widely used technique in laboratory material analysis, typically relying on low X-ray energies (5–22 keV) to achieve sharp diffraction peaks from narrow-band K-lines. Inverse Compton X-ray sources (ICS) can enable laboratory high-energy XRD by providing energy-tunable, partially coherent X-rays. This study demonstrates high-energy XRD with an ICS using strongly absorbing mineralogical samples embedded in soft tissue. Measured XRD patterns are quantitatively compared with calculations, and two kidney-stone material types are analyzed with a soft-tissue contribution correction.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time25 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Motivation

Laboratory XRD energy limits and attenuation

Rationale for inverse Compton X-ray sources

Kidney stones as representative mineral samples

Prior XRD approaches for stone composition

High-energy X-ray diffraction experiment employing a compact synchrotron X-ray source based on inverse Compton scattering Johannes Melchera,b,⇑, Martin Dierolf a,b, Benedikt G¨unthera,b, Klaus Achterhold a,b, Daniela Pfeiffer c, Franz Pfeiffer a,b,c,d a Chair of Biomedical Physics, Physics Department, TUM School of Natural Sciences, Technical University of Munich, 85748 Garching, Germany b Munich Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Technical University of Munich, Boltzmannstr. 11, 85748 Garching, Germany c Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, TUM School of Medicine, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, 81675 M¨unchen, Germany dTUM Institute for Advanced Study, Technical University of Munich, Lichtenbergstraße 2a, 85748 Garching, Germany Received 12 January 2024; accepted 21 March 2024 Abstract X-ray diffraction (XRD) is an important material analysis technique with a widespread use of laboratory systems. These systems typically operate at low X-ray energies (from 5 keV to 22 keV) since they rely on the small bandwidth of K-lines like copper. The narrow bandwidth is essential for precise measurements of the crystal structure in these systems. Inverse Compton X-ray source (ICS) could pave the way to XRD at high X-ray energies in a laboratory setting since these sources provide brilliant energy-tunable and partially coherent X-rays. This study demonstrates high-energy XRD at an ICS with strongly absorbing mineralogical samples embedded in soft tissue. A quantitative comparison of the measured XRD patterns with calculations of their expected shapes validates the performance of ICSs for XRD. This analysis was performed for two types of kidney stones of different materials. Since these stones are not isolated in a human body, the influence of the surrounding soft tissue on the XRD pattern is investigated and a correction for this soft tissue contribution is introduced. Keywords: Munich compact light source; Inverse Compton X-ray source; Kidney stone; X-ray diffraction; Wide-angle Xray scattering 1 Motivation X-ray Diffraction (XRD) is a commonly used material investigation technique. It is used for multiple purposes ranging from material determination to chemistry applications and questions in life science. Typically laboratory XRD systems operate at the K-lines of the anode materials since a narrow bandwidth results in sharper diffraction peaks, which allow for a more straightforward data analysis and peak differentiation. The most common sources are X-ray tubes with an anode typically made from Ag, Mo, Cu, Co or Cr. Their Ka lines range from ⇑ Corresponding author at: Chair of Biomedical Physics, Physics Department, TUM School of Natural Sciences, Technical University of Munich, 85748 Garching, Germany. [E-mail:](E-mail: johannes.melcher@tum.de)[ johannes.melcher@tum.de](E-mail: johannes.melcher@tum.de) (J. Melcher). Z Med Phys 35 (2025) 428–437 [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.zemedi.2024.03.003](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.zemedi.2024.03.003) [www.elsevier.com/locate/zemedi](www.elsevier.com/locate/zemedi) 􀀁 2024 The Author(s) . Published by Elsevier GmbH on behalf of DGMP, ÖGMP and SSRMP. This is an open access article under the CC BY license ([http://](http://)[ ](http://)[creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/](creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)). 5 keV in the case of Cr to 22 keV for Ag. This is perfectly suited for research applications in which the sample can be directly mounted onto a sample holder located right in front of the X-ray source. The more challenging case is, an XRD measurement on a sample embedded in soft tissue, which attenuates the X-rays. In these cases, a higher X-ray energy is better suited because the attenuation decreases with a rate of approximately 1=E3 with increasing X-ray energy. To overcome the decreasing scattering angle, one adjusts the sample to detector distance to maintain the same resolution. In this article, we investig

FAQs

Why are traditional laboratory XRD systems usually limited to low X-ray energies?

They typically operate at low energies (5–22 keV) because narrow bandwidth K-lines provide sharper diffraction peaks, enabling more precise crystal-structure measurements and simpler peak analysis.

What capability does the inverse Compton X-ray source add for high-energy XRD?

Inverse Compton X-ray sources provide brilliant, energy-tunable, partially coherent X-rays at higher energies, supporting diffraction measurements even for samples embedded in attenuating media.

How does the study handle the influence of soft tissue on kidney-stone XRD patterns?

It investigates the effect of surrounding soft tissue on the measured XRD pattern for two kidney-stone material types and introduces a correction for the soft-tissue contribution.

Sep 29, 2026

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