Hard X-ray Bragg Helical Dishroism: twisting the beams for future electronics

A novel technique combining Bragg coherent diffractive imaging with orbital angular momentum (OAM) beams to study structural chirality in Tellurium nanocrystals is proposed. Structural chirality, crucial in science, lack nanoscale study tools. This is partly due to the Friedel’s problem of using symmetric beams (plane waves) to distinguish between handedness. We address this by integrating BCDI's capabilities with OAM's sensitivity to chirality, a breakthrough demonstrated in preliminary tests on Pt crystals. We aim to refine this technique through further Pt crystal experiments, then apply it to Te nanocrystals grown on chiral mica and amorphous SiO2/Si substrates to elucidate their chiral helical structures and domains. This research promises significant insights into chiral materials, with implications for emerging technologies in electronics and quantum computing. We hope to potentially revitalizing X-ray nanoprobe with techniques with OAM beams.