Recent progress of phase-contrast imaging at Tsinghua Thomson-scattering X-ray source

Due to its small spot size, a Thomson-scattering X-ray source can produce high spatial coherent X-ray pulse, which is the prerequisite for phase-contrast imaging. In this paper, we will introduce the recent progress of phase-contrast imaging at Tsinghua Thomson-scattering X-ray source (TTX). Since the generation of first hard X-ray pulse at TTX in 2012, we have demonstrated the capacity of in-line phase contrast imaging using a refill of gel ink pen. And then, a Monte Carlo simulation tool for in-line phase-contrast imaging based on Thomson-scattering X-ray source has been developed. Taking advantage of this code, we calculate the typical requirement of photon numbers for in-line phase-contrast imaging based on this type of X-ray source. After the upgrade of infrared laser system and control program, the total photon yield of TTX has been increased to ∼2 × 107 photons/pulse at X-ray central energy of 25 keV and 50 keV with RMS jitter less than 6% and 4% respectively. A new run of experiments about in-line phase-contrast imaging and phase-contrast computed tomography (CT) have been carried out at TTX.