Molecular bond selective x-ray scattering for nanoscale analysis of soft matter

Abstract

We demonstrate the utility of resonant soft x-ray scattering in characterizing heterogeneous chemical structure at nanometer length scales in polymer films and nanostructures. Resonant enhancements near the carbon K edge bring bond specific contrast and increased sensitivity to bridge a gap between x-ray absorption contrast in chemical sensitive imaging and higher spatial resolution hard x-ray and neutron small-angle scattering. Chemical bond sensitivity is illustrated in the scattering from latex spheres of differing chemistry and size. Resonant enhancements are then shown to yield sensitivity to heterogeneity in two-phase polymer films for which hard x-ray and nondeuterated neutron scattering lack sensitivity due to low contrast.