Phase retrieval with two-beam off-axis x-ray holography

A wave front dividing x-ray interferometer with a prism was applied to two-beam off-axis holography. Complex amplitudes at the detector plane, which were derived from the hologram using the fringe scanning method, were inversely transformed to those at the exit surface of the specimen. The x-ray phase shift due to the amorphous carbon particles was quantitatively determined with the background of the phase image being as small as approximately lambda/100 at 12.4 keV. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.