Simulating dark-field x-ray microscopy images with wave front propagation techniques

Abstract: Dark-Field X-ray Microscopy (DFXM) is a diffraction-based synchrotron imaging techique capable of imaging defects in the bulk of extended crystalline samples. We present numerical simulations of image-formation in such a microscope using numerical integration of the dynamical Takagi-Taupin Equations (TTE) and wave front propagation. We validate our approach by comparing simulated images to experimental data from a near-perfect single crystal of diamond containing a single stacking fault defect in the illuminated volume.