The properties of soft-matter thin films (e.g. liquid films, polymer coatings, Langmuir-Blodgett multilayers) nowadays play an important role in materials science. They are also very exciting with respect to fundamental questions: In thin films, liquids and polymers may be considered as trapped in a quasi-two-dimensional geometry. This confined geometry is expected to alter the properties and structures of these materials considerably. This volume is dedicated to the scattering of x-rays by soft-matter interfaces. X-ray scattering under grazing angles is the only tool to investigating these materials on atomic and mesoscopic length scales. A review of the field is presented with many examples.

X-ray scattering is a well-established technique in materials science. The aim of this text is to explain basic principles and applications of x-ray scattering in a simple way using many practical examples followed by more elaborate case studies. It contains a separate chapter on the different types of order/disorder in soft matter that play such an important role in modern self-assembling systems. Finally the last chapter treats soft matter surfaces and thin film that are increasingly used in coatings and in many technological applications, such as liquid crystal displays and nanostructured block copolymer films

This manual is a useful ready-reference guide to the analytical power of modern X-ray scattering in the field of soft matter. The author describes simple tools that can elucidate the mechanisms of structure evolution in the studied materials, and follows this up with a step-by-step guide to more advanced methods. Data analysis based on clear, unequivocal results is rendered simple and straightforward – with a stress on careful planning of experiments and adequate recording of all required data.

The properties of soft-matter thin films (e.g. liquid films, polymer coatings, Langmuir-Blodgett multilayers) nowadays play an important role in materials science.They are also very exciting with respect to fundamental questions: When liquids and polymers form thin films, they may be considered as trapped in a quasi-two-dimensional geometry. This confined geometry is expected to alter the properties and structures of these materials considerably. This volume is dedicated to the scattering of x-rays by soft-matter interfaces. X-ray scattering under grazing angles is the only tool for investigating these materials on atomic and mesoscopic length scales. A review of the field is presented with many examples.

X-ray scattering is a well-established technique in materials science. Several excellent textbooks exist in this field, but these texts are typically written by physicists who use mathematics to make things clear. Consequently these books appeal less to students and scientists in the field of soft matter (polymers, liquid crystals, colloids, self-assembled organic systems) who usually have a more chemical-oriented background with limited mathematics. Moreover, they need to know about the technique of x-ray scattering, but do not intend to become an expert. The aim of this book is to explain basic principles and applications of x-ray scattering in a simple way using many practical examples followed by more elaborate case studies. The book contains a separate chapter on the different types of order/disorder in soft matter that play such an important role in modern self-assembling systems. Finally the last chapter treats soft matter surfaces and thin film that are increasingly used in coatings and in many technological applications, such as liquid crystal displays and nanostructured block copolymer films. This book has been written for the large community of soft matter students and scientists.

A practical guide for graduate students and researchers on all aspects of x-ray scattering experiments on liquid surfaces and interfaces.

The reflection of and neutrons from surfaces has existed as an x-rays exp- imental for almost it is in the last technique fifty Nevertheless, only years. decade that these methods have become as of enormously popular probes This the surfaces and interfaces. to be due to of several appears convergence of intense different circumstances. These include the more n- availability be measured orders tron and sources that can over (so reflectivity x-ray many of and the much weaker surface diffuse can now also be magnitude scattering of thin films and studied in some the detail); growing importance multil- basic the realization of the ers in both and technology research; important which in the of surfaces and and role roughness plays properties interfaces; the of statistical models to characterize the of finally development topology its and its characterization from on roughness, dependence growth processes The of and to surface scattering experiments. ability x-rays neutro4s study four five orders of in scale of surfaces over to magnitude length regardless their and also their to ability probe environment, temperature, pressure, etc. , makes these the choice for buried interfaces often probes preferred obtaining information about the microstructure of often in statistical a global surfaces, the local This is manner to complementary imaging microscopy techniques, of such studies in the literature witnessed the veritable by explosion published the last few Thus these lectures will useful for over a resource years.

This text describes optics mainly in the 10 to 500 angstrom wavelength region. These wavelengths are 50 to 100 times shorter than those for visible light and 50 to 100 times longer than the wavelengths of medical x rays or x-ray diffraction from natural crystals. There have been substantial advances during the last 20 years, which one can see as an extension of optical technology to shorter wavelengths or as an extension of x-ray diffraction to longer wavelengths. Artificial diffracting structures like zone plates and multilayer mirrors are replacing the natural crystals of x-ray diffraction. Some of these structures can now be fabricated to have diffraction-limited resolution. The new possibilities are described in a simple, tutorial way.

Hardly any other discovery of the nineteenth century did have such an impact on science and technology as Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen’s seminal find of the X-rays. X-ray tubes soon made their way as excellent instruments for numerous applications in medicine, biology, materials science and testing, chemistry and public security. Developing new radiation sources with higher brilliance and much extended spectral range resulted in stunning developments like the electron synchrotron and electron storage ring and the freeelectron laser. This handbook highlights these developments in fifty chapters. The reader is given not only an inside view of exciting science areas but also of design concepts for the most advanced light sources. The theory of synchrotron radiation and of the freeelectron laser, design examples and the technology basis are presented. The handbook presents advanced concepts like seeding and harmonic generation, the booming field of Terahertz radiation sources and upcoming brilliant light sources driven by laser-plasma accelerators. The applications of the most advanced light sources and the advent of nanobeams and fully coherent x-rays allow experiments from which scientists in the past could not even dream. Examples are the diffraction with nanometer resolution, imaging with a full 3D reconstruction of the object from a diffraction pattern, measuring the disorder in liquids with high spatial and temporal resolution. The 20th century was dedicated to the development and improvement of synchrotron light sources with an ever ongoing increase of brilliance. With ultrahigh brilliance sources, the 21st century will be the century of x-ray lasers and their applications. Thus, we are already close to the dream of condensed matter and biophysics: imaging single (macro)molecules and measuring their dynamics on the femtosecond timescale to produce movies with atomic resolution.

X-ray scattering techniques are a family of nondestructive analytical techniques. Using these techniques, scientists obtain information about the crystal structure and chemical and physical properties of materials. Nowadays, different techniques are based on observing the scattered intensity of an X-ray beam hitting a sample as a function of incident and scattered angle, polarization, and wavelength. This book is intended to give overviews of the relevant X-ray scattering techniques, particularly about inelastic X-ray scattering, elastic scattering, grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering, small-angle X-ray scattering, and high-resolution X-ray diffraction, and, finally, applications of X-ray spectroscopy to study different biological systems.