X-ray shearing interferometer and tomographic reconstruction of refractive index from its data

Two shearing X-ray interferometers and reconstruction of refractive index distribution from their data are described. The first interferometer is made of a silicon single crystal consisting of two pairs of blades. It can be used with an incoherent x-ray source such as a usual X-ray tube. Simple experiments are made with the interferometer. An algorithm for reconstructing refractive index distribution from the shearing data is described and refractive index distribution on a section of an acrylic cylinder is reconstructed experimentally with the algorithm. Features of the interferometer are discussed. On the basis of the discussion an grooved grating shearing interferometer that can be used with an ordinary X-ray tube is proposed and its performance is estimated.