Fast and adjustable-resolution grazing-incidence x-ray liquid surface diffraction

We developed a configuration using a two-dimensional detector for grazing incidence x-ray diffraction on Langmuir monolayers and, more generally, for surface diffraction on two-dimensional powders. Compared to the classical setup using a linear detector combined with Soller slits, the acquisition time is reduced by an order of magnitude (from more than 1 h to a few minutes) using the same x-ray source (synchrotron bending magnet) with a comparable signal to noise ratio. Moreover, experimental resolution can be adjusted by varying a vertical slit (horizontal gap) and, for small values of the gap, better resolution can be achieved compared to the one obtained with the Soller slits and linear detector. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.