Patent ID: 8457280

Claim:
An X-ray diffraction contrast tomography method of determining a multi-dimensional representation of grain structures in a poly-crystalline material sample having grains, where an X-ray source provides an X-ray beam in a direct path, a staging device positions and rotates the polycrystalline material sample in the direct path of the X-ray beam, an X-ray detector detects diffraction spots from diffracted X-ray beams leaving the crystalline material sample, a processing device analyses values received from the X-ray detector and representing diffraction spots; wherein the processing device based on the values received from said X-ray detector determines at least one of the following characteristics: a) the crystal structure of one or more individual crystalline phases present in the sample, and b) strain in grains in the polycrystalline material sample, and wherein said X-ray source is a laboratory X-ray source having a target piece of metal, which X-ray source provides a continuous output spectrum of X-rays with sharp peaks in intensity at certain energies depending on the metal of the target piece.