Scalable approach for lensless imaging at x-ray wavelengths

We demonstrate a versatile approach to perform lensless imaging at x-ray wavelength. A special design of a sample holder allows recovery of the low spatial frequency information of the sample from the Patterson map of the measured diffraction. As a result, the phase can be reconstructed from an oversampled x-ray diffraction pattern alone, eliminating the need to resort to a low-resolution image of the sample. As the sample holder provides this functionality due to a suitable reference hole, the technique is applicable to a wide variety of samples and can be easily scaled to investigate large arrays of samples. The method is especially well suited for single-shot experiments as envisioned with x-ray free-electron lasers. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.