Development of multi-beam optics for time-resolved X-ray tomography: from π-polarization to σ-polarization

A multi-beam X-ray optics that can image a sample from different directions in a large angular range simultaneously without sample rotation is reported. It consists of 28 thin silicon crystals that are arranged in a σ-polarization diffraction geometry so that the diffracted X-rays from an incident white synchrotron radiation beam pass through the sample. A tomogram of a simple test sample was calculated from projection images recorded with the optics, showing that an alignment accuracy sufficient for X-ray tomography can be achieved.