Micro x-ray diffraction technique for analysis of the local layer structure in the ferroelectric liquid crystal

A hard x-ray microprobe has been developed for small-angle x-ray diffraction studies. The x-ray microprobe system consists of a multilayer monochromator in combination with x-ray focusing mirrors (Kirkpatrick-Baez type) and achieves both high spatial resolution (5×5 μm at the sample) and high angular resolution (about 0.6 and 0.2 mrad in horizontal and vertical directions, respectively). The local layer structure of the surface stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystals was determined, for the first time, directly with this arrangement. Advantages of x-ray microbeam topography are also discussed.