Quantitative comparison between two geometrical layouts for diffraction enhanced imaging

Diffraction enhanced imaging (DEI) with two crystals has been performed at the 4W1A beamline at Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility (BSRF). Two different crystal geometrical layouts were used to collect images, in the first layout the rotation axis of the crystal has been set perpendicular to the orbital plane while in the second the axis is parallel to the orbital plane. Performance comparison between the two layouts is discussed in terms of thermal expansion of the crystal induced by the heat load, imaging homogeneity, spatial resolution and angular resolution. From both experimental and theoretical data we show that the best images may be obtained with the optical layout in which the rotation axis of the crystals is perpendicular to the orbital plane.