4D reconstruction of alumina laser melt pools at 25 kHz via operando X-ray multi-projection imaging

Advancing additive manufacturing, e.g., laser powder-bed fusion (LPBF), requires resolving rapid processes such as melt-pool dynamics and keyhole evolution in 4D (3D + time). Operando X-ray tomography is a state-of-the-art approach for 4D characterization, but its temporal resolution is fundamentally constrained by the sample rotation speed, limiting achievable 4D imaging rates and preventing the resolution of these fast phenomena. Here we present rotation-enabled X-ray Multi-Projection Imaging (rotation-XMPI), which captures three angularly resolved projections per time step and thereby decouples temporal resolution from the sample rotation speed. Combined with a self-supervised deep-learning reconstruction framework for multi-angle inputs, rotation-XMPI enables high-fidelity 4D imaging at unprecedented speed. We demonstrate the approach in an operando alumina laser-remelting experiment at MAX IV using three beamlets combined with 25 Hz sample rotation. Rotation-XMPI resolves melt-pool morphology and keyhole evolution; in contrast, conventional and limited-angle tomography remain rotation-limited, and motion blur prevents resolving these dynamics. Overall, rotation-XMPI delivers a 250-fold increase relative to state-of-the-art melt-pool imaging, effectively achieving 25,000 reconstructed volumes per second. This method establishes a practical route to scalable ultrafast 4D imaging for additive manufacturing and other materials processes.

Megahertz X-ray Multi-projection imaging

X-ray time-resolved tomography is one of the most popular X-ray techniques to probe dynamics in three dimensions (3D). Recent developments in time-resolved tomography opened the possibility of recording kilohertz-rate 3D movies. However, tomography requires rotating the sample with respect to the X-ray beam, which prevents characterization of faster structural dynamics. Here, we present megahertz (MHz) X-ray multi-projection imaging (MHz-XMPI), a technique capable of recording volumetric information at MHz rates and micrometer resolution without scanning the sample. We achieved this by harnessing the unique megahertz pulse structure and intensity of the European X-ray Free-electron Laser with a combination of novel detection and reconstruction approaches that do not require sample rotations. Our approach enables generating multiple X-ray probes that simultaneously record several angular projections for each pulse in the megahertz pulse burst. We provide a proof-of-concept demonstration of the MHz-XMPI technique's capability to probe 4D (3D+time) information on stochastic phenomena and non-reproducible processes three orders of magnitude faster than state-of-the-art time-resolved X-ray tomography, by generating 3D movies of binary droplet collisions. We anticipate that MHz-XMPI will enable in-situ and operando studies that were impossible before, either due to the lack of temporal resolution or because the systems were opaque (such as for MHz imaging based on optical microscopy).