A back-reflection Laue apparatus and a method are provided. The apparatus includes a source for generating X-ray radiation, a collimator for collimating the X-ray radiation into an X-ray beam; a back-reflection Laue chamber for transmitting the beam therethrough towards a sample, and back-reflecting visible radiation obtained from the beam being diffracted off the sample and converted to visible radiation upon re-entering the chamber, the chamber comprising a reflection side wall having an exterior surface and a reflective interior surface for back-reflecting the visible radiation, the wall being provided with a through-hole extending from the exterior surface to the reflective interior surface; and a detector assembly for detecting the back-reflected visible radiation. The collimator has a first end connected to the source and a second end terminating between the exterior surface and the reflective interior surface of the wall, within the through-hole, the beam exiting the collimator at the second end.