Real-space imaging of atomic structure with white x rays

The first real-space x-ray image of an atomic structure was obtained by ill uminating a crystal with white synchrotron radiation. The internal photocur rent signal served as a probe of the x-ray interference field strength at t he atomic sites and was accordingly measured as a function of illumination direction to record the two-dimensional image. This novel method of real-sp ace imaging makes use of the fact that the interference field intensity is energy independent with respect to contributions from those scattering atom s which are brought via sample rotation into the forward scattering conditi on. In contrast, contributions from other atoms oscillate with energy and v anish for broadband illumination.