Study of the capability of energy dispersive small angle x-ray scattering with synchrotron radiation

Energy dispersive small angle x-ray scattering is a unique method that takes advantage of a continuous spectrum of a synchrotron radiation source. In this study, the capability of this scattering measurement is explored. Using a detector mask with three acceptance rings of different ring radius and a sample to detector distance of 440 mm with the usable x-ray energy ranging from 4 to 20 keV, we can cover a q range from 0.01 to 0.4 Angstrom(-1). However, sample transmission and detector response function limit the application range at low energy. Slit scattering is the dominant source of background. The signal to background ratio for a standard cross-linked polyethylene sample can be more than 100. For a time-resolved experiment, data acquisition rate is limited by the throughput of the detector. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0034-6748(99)03508-X].