Unprecedented tools to image crystalline structure distributions in materials have been made possible by recent advances in X-ray sources, X-ray optics and X-ray methods. Nanobeams combined with diffraction have made it possible to image parameters that were traditionally only addressed as ensemble averages. This enables the study of highly heterogeneous materials such as microelectronic devices and opens a new field of material science on the mesoscale. Coherent nanobeams offer the opportunity to image nanomaterials in three dimensions with a resolution far smaller than the focused beam size. This has opened up new fields in X-ray diffraction in general and has become one of the main drivers for the enhancement of existing, and the construction of new, large scale scientific infrastructure projects around the world.

通过X射线源，X射线光学器件和X射线方法的最新进展，使史无前例的工具可以对材料中的晶体结构分布进行成像。纳米光束与衍射相结合，使人们可以成像传统上仅作为整体平均值处理的参数。这使得能够研究高度异质的材料，例如微电子器件，并在中尺度上开辟了材料科学的新领域。相干纳米束提供了对三维尺寸的纳米材料进行成像的机会，其分辨率远小于聚焦光束的大小。总体而言，这为X射线衍射开辟了新领域，并已成为增强现有的以及在世界范围内建设新的大规模科学基础设施项目的主要驱动力之一。