Two-Dimensional Beam Size Measurements with X-Ray Heterodyne Near Field Speckles

We report on 2D beam size measurements with a novel interferometric technique named Heterodyne Near Field Speckles, capable of resolving few-micrometer beam sizes. It relies on the interference between the weak spherical waves scattered by a colloidal suspension and the intense transilluminating X-ray beam. Fourier analysis of the resulting speckles enables full 2D coherence mapping of the incoming radiation, from which the beam sizes along the two orthogonal directions are retrieved. We show experimental results obtained with 12.4 keV X-rays at the NCD-SWEET undulator beamline at ALBA, where the vertical beam size has been changed between 5 and 15 micrometers by varying the beam coupling. The results agree well with the estimated beam sizes from the pinhole calculations. Finally, we discuss recent investigations on alternative targets aimed at improving the signal-to-noise ratio of the technique.