Imaging extended single crystal lattice distortion fields with multi-peak Bragg ptychography

Abstract: We describe a phase-retrieval-based imaging method to directly spatially resolve the vector lattice distortions in an extended crystalline sample by explicit coupling of independent Bragg ptychography data sets into the reconstruction process. Our method addresses this multi-peak Bragg ptychography (MPBP) inverse problem by explicit gradient descent optimization of an objective function based on modeling of the probe-lattice interaction, along with corrective steps to address spurious reconstruction artifacts. Robust convergence of the optimization process is ensured by computing exact gradients with the automatic differentiation capabilities of high-performance computing software packages. We demonstrate MPBP reconstruction with simulated ptychography data mimicking diffraction from a single crystal membrane containing heterogeneities that manifest as phase discontinuities in the diffracted wave. We show the superior ability of such an optimization-based approach in removing reconstruction artifacts compared to existing phase retrieval and lattice distortion reconstruction approaches.