The high X-ray intensity of synchrotron radiation (SR) beamlines makes it possible to perform time-resolved small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) experiments. The information that can be obtained by collecting the wide-angle diffraction pattern simultaneously not only increases the information content of an experiment but also increases the reliability of the time-correlations between SAXS and WAXS (wide-angle X-ray scattering) patterns. This is a great advantage for experiments with a time resolution below the level of 1 s per frame. With appropriate instrumentation, this is a time domain that is routinely accessible for a large group of research fields. This has had a considerable impact upon the understanding of fundamental aspects of phase transformations. Not only fundamental processes but also more applied fields have benefited from these developments. In polymer research this has led to a situation in which it has become possible to simulate materials processing techniques on-line. With the advent of third-generation synchrotron-radiation sources (e.g. ESRF, APS, Spring8), it has become possible to develop SAXS/WAXS beamlines that will open up new research opportunities by utilizing the higher intensity, the tuneability and the higher collimation offered by these SR sources. However, some of the instrumentation limits in detector and sample environments that have become apparent in research on second-generation synchrotron-radiation sources still have not been appropriately addressed, which means that in some fields it will not be possible to take full advantage of the superior X-ray beam quality that third-generation synchrotrons can offer. A way in which these instrumentation limits can be overcome is discussed, and the instrumentation for a new bending-magnet beamline at the ESRF is used as an example.
Precise and nondestructive characterization of a ‘buried’ nanostructure in a polymer thin film using synchrotron radiation ultra-small angle X-ray scattering