The Direct Viewing and Brief-time Recording of Crystallographic Events

Abstract

THE exposure times involved in obtaining X-ray diffraction patterns are an obstacle to the study of dynamic processes. Several workers have tried to devise visual presentations of the diffraction patterns from transient Crystallographic events, and recently Chester and Koch¹ reported some success using a vidicon tube which was sensitive to X-rays and which had a complex diode mosaic as photocathode. Other workers, including ourselves, have used a phosphor as an image converter, the visual image produced by the phosphor being amplified by a high-gain image intensifier. We have had some success with an image intensifier that has a television read-out, but the equipment is expensive, cumbersome, and has to be custom-built. Here we report that acceptable results can be obtained using relatively cheap standard night surveillance equipment currently being produced in the USA and available in the UK. These units are designed to be carried in the hand or even mounted on a rifle and are extremely compact and portable.