Such patterns are central to understanding the diffraction limit, a natural effect that sets a boundary on the smallest details that conventional optical microscopes can resolve. (Image: adapted from ...

When a laser beam is incident on a narrow opaque object such as a fine wire or a strand of hair, the resulting diffraction pattern is similar to the diffraction pattern of a slit of the same width as ...

Using X-ray pulses to illuminate nanoparticles, researchers decode diffraction patterns to construct detailed three-dimensional images. (Illustration: ETH Zürich / Daniela Rupp) In a 2D-XRD experiment ...