Sub-nanosecond X-ray powder diffraction

The X-rays emitted from a laser-produced plasma have been used to obtain powder diffraction patterns with exposures of less than a nanosecond. The X-rays were produced by focusing approximately 50 J of 0.53 μm laser light in a 600 ps (FWHM) pulse to a tight (~100 μm diameter) spot on a solid titanium target. The spectral brightness of the resonance line of the helium-like titanium thus produced was sufficient to record diffraction from LiF powder in a single exposure using the Seemann–Bohlin geometry. These results indicate that time-resolved measurements of the lattice parameters of polycrystalline materials can be made with sub-nanosecond temporal resolution.