X-ray scattering and imaging from plastically deformed metals

New ultra-small-angle X-ray scattering (USAXS) facilities at third generation synchrotron sources enjoy an additional one to three decades of X-ray brilliance over second generation instruments, and can now quantify microstructural features from 3 nm to 1.3 μm in size. These developments offer exciting possibilities for further exploration of dislocation and other deformation microstructures. To the portfolio of existing techniques we now add a promising experimental window, USAXS imaging, in which high angular resolution images are acquired at scattering vectors related to the observed microstructures. Early results from this ultra-sensitive technique indicate that the arrangements of creep cavities in mildly deformed polycrystalline copper can be observed on many length scales, and the results can be compared with the size distributions derived from a USAXS analysis. Many of the features observed in USAXS imaging are not seen using other existing experimental techniques.