X-ray method takes a 3D fingerprint of materials

A material’s properties are determined by its composition and microstructure — the distribution and orientation of its building blocks. A non-destructive imaging technique has been developed that measures local variations in a property called X-ray linear dichroism to map a material’s composition, microstructure and defects in 3D, with nanometre resolution across extended material volumes. Microstructure of a crystalline catalyst mapped at the nanoscale.