Application of an innovative laboratory-based phase contrast X-ray imaging system for the study and characterisation of cultural heritage materials

X-ray imaging is a standard tool for the non-invasive inspection of the internal structure of materials. Conventional X-ray absorption imaging is effective for characterising medium density samples, but presents some limitations with weakly absorbing material. Phase contrast imaging addresses this limitation by exploiting interference patterns generated by spatial variations in the refractive index, enhancing the detectability of fine structural details. The PITCH (Phase-contrast X-ray Imaging setup with a Talbot interferometer and a liquid anode source for Cultural Heritage application) project, funded by MUR in the framework of PRIN2022, aims at designing, developing and characterising a laboratory grating interferometry phase contrast imaging setup based on a liquid-anode X-ray source, for the study and characterisation of cultural heritage materials and artifacts, both for radiographic and tomographic analyses. This paper illustrates the new setup and presents the preliminary results of its characterisation that show a simulated visibility of about 3%. More tests and modifications on the setup will be implemented.