X-ray waves in the center of the beam waist of nearly diffraction limited focused x-ray beams can be considered to have amplitude and phase that are both almost uniform, i.e., they are x-ray plane waves. Here we report the results of an experimental demonstration of high-resolution diffraction microscopy using the x-ray plane wave of the synchrotron x-ray beam focused using Kirkpatrik-Baez mirrors. A silver nanocube with an edge length of ϳ100 nm is illuminated with the x-ray beam focused to a ϳ1 m spot at 12 keV. A highcontrast symmetric diffraction pattern of the nanocube is observed in the forward far field. An image of the nanocube is successfully reconstructed by an iterative phasing method and its half-period resolution is 3.0 nm. This method does not only dramatically improve the spatial resolution of x-ray microscopy but also is a key technology for realizing single-pulse diffractive imaging using x-ray free-electron lasers.

Electromigration ͑EM͒ in a 1-m-thick Cu thin line was investigated by in situ coherent x-ray diffraction microscopy ͑CXDM͒. Characteristic x-ray speckle patterns due to both EM-induced voids and thermal deformation in the thin line were observed in the coherent x-ray diffraction patterns. Both parts of the voids and the deformation were successfully visualized in the images reconstructed from the diffraction patterns. This result not only represents the first demonstration of the visualization of structural changes in metallic materials by in situ CXDM but is also an important step toward studying the structural dynamics of nanomaterials using x-ray free-electron lasers in the near future.

An element-specific coherent x-ray imaging technique using anomalous x-ray scattering in the hard x-ray region was first demonstrated. Coherent x-ray diffraction patterns of a sample composed of 500-nm-thick Ni and Cu layers were measured at incident x-ray energies around the Ni K absorption edge. Non-centersymmetric diffraction patterns due to anomalous scattering phenomenon in the hard x-ray region were observed. Symmetricity of the diffraction pattern was quantitatively analyzed by numerically simulating the x-ray wave field behind the sample position using the Rytov approximation. By calculating the difference between the intensities of reconstructed images of different energies, an image of the Ni layers could be derived although it was not enough to identify precisely. This method is widely applicable to nondestructive analysis of nanometer-scale elemental distribution of materials buried within thick and high-Z samples.

We developed a coherent x-ray diffraction microscopy (CXDM) system that enables us to precisely evaluate the electron density of an isolated sample. This system enables us to determine the dose per surface unit of x rays illuminated onto an isolated sample by combining incident x-ray intensity monitoring and the CXDM of a reference sample. By using this system, we determined the dose of x rays illuminated onto a nanostructured island fabricated by focused-ion-beam chemical vapor deposition and derived the electron density distribution of such a nanostructured island. A projection image of the nanostructured island with a spatial resolution of 24.1 nm and a contrast resolution higher than 2.3x10(7) electrons/pixel was successfully reconstructed.

1-µm-thick Cu thin lines with adjacent connections, which simulate via structures in large-scale integration circuits, were fabricated on Si 3 N 4 membranes by both electron-beam evaporation and a focused ion beam for coherent x-ray diffraction measurements. A direct current was applied to a Cu thin line to prepare an electromigration sample. In the scanning electron microscope image of the electromigration sample, a roughness of a few hundred nanometers was observed on the surface around the via structures. Coherent x-ray diffraction patterns of both the thin line and electromigration samples were measured using synchrotron x-rays at SPring-8. Characteristic diffraction patterns resulting from both the shape of the Cu thin lines and the defects around the via structures formed by the application of the current were observed.