Patent ID: 7113564

Claim:
An X-ray imaging apparatus, comprising: an X-ray interferometer constituted by a splitting device for splitting an incident X-ray beam into a first X-ray beam and a second X-ray beam, a reflecting device for reflecting said first X-ray beam and said second X-ray beam, and a combining device for combining a first reflected X-ray beam and a second reflected X-ray beam, means for placing a sample in an optical path of an arbitrary beam of said first and second X-ray beams, means for placing a phase shifter in an optical path of an arbitrary beam of said first and second X-ray beams, a detector for detecting an interference X-ray beam emitted from said X-ray interferometer; and a processing portion for obtaining an image of said sample based on an output of said detector, wherein said processing portion generates an image based on a change of an interference amplitude caused by said sample, which is represented by an equation 2r′√{square root over ((I 1 +ΔI)·I 2 )}, and the equation is a part of an equation representing intensity I′ of the interference X-ray beam I′=(I 1 −ΔI)+I 2 +2r′√{square root over ((I 1 −ΔI)·I 2 )}·cos(φ+Δp) where I 1 represents the intensity of one of said first and second X-ray beams in the optical path of which said sample is placed, I 2 represents the intensity of the other of said first and second X-ray beams, ΔI represents the change in the intensity of one of said first and second X-ray beams in the optical path of which said sample is placed, r′ represents a changed degree of coherence according to a change in the direction of an X-ray caused by said sample placed in an optical path of one of said first and second X-ray beams, φ represents a phase difference between said first and second X-ray beams, and Δp represents phase-shift caused by the sample placed in an optical path of one of said first and second X-ray beams.