Direct Viewing and Rapid Photographic Recording of X-Ray Diffraction Patterns

Experiments on the application of x-ray image intensifiers of the Fluorex-type and of transmission-type secondary electron image intensifiers (Astracon tubes) to the direct observation and recording of x-ray diffraction patterns have proved highly successful. Further improvements can be obtained by combining a Fluorex tube directly with an Astracon tube. By this means, the useful signal strength is so improved that movies at standard frame speed can be made which record the changing Laue pattern from a rotating crystal. The theory of such intensifiers is discussed and it is shown how still further improvements are possible if the optical coupling in the system is improved by incorporating a fiber optics window at the input of the Fluorex-Astracon tube. It is further shown that a fiber optics adaptor can be used as an analog computer to convert the x-ray diffraction pattern from a single crystal into an exact representation of the reciprocal lattice which can be viewed directly at the output of such a tube.