THIBAULT4	Beam characterization at an X-ray free-electron laser
Type	Theoretical
#students	1
Orientation	Why is the scientific problem of interest at all? Ptychography is an imaging technique that uses coherent light to produce quantitative maps of the transmission function of a sample. In the last years, the technique has also been used to characterize the incident wavefield produced by various sources of coherent radiation.
How	How is the research going to shed light on the given problem? X-ray free electron lasers are recent sources of short and powerful X-ray pulses. Characterizing the profile of these pulses is both crucial and difficult.
What	What is the specific thing that the student will do, and how does it fit inside the overall project? In this project, the student will simulate conditions present at an X-ray free-electron laser to test the potential of ptychography as a method to reconstruct the wave-front profile of individual pulses.
Special Knowledge	Interest in programming in python; Theoretical understanding of Fourier analysis, diffraction and scattering physics, optics, wave propagation.
Supervisor	Dr Pierre Thibault p.thibault@ucl.ac.uk