Phase objects are readily imaged through Fresnel diffraction in the hard x-ray beams of third-generation synchrotron radiation sources such as the ESRF, due essentially to the very small angular size of the source. Phase objects can lead to spurious contrast in x-ray diffraction images (topographs) of crystals. It is shown that this contrast can be eliminated through random phase plates, which provide an effective way of tailoring the angular size of the source. The possibilities of this very simple technique for imaging phase objects in the hard x-ray range are explored experimentally and discussed. They appear very promising, as shown in particular by the example of a piece of human vertebra, and could be extended to phase tomography.

Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) measurements of proteins in solution are becoming increasingly popular with biochemists and structural biologists owing to the presence of dedicated high-throughput beamlines at synchrotron sources. As part of the ESRF Upgrade program a dedicated instrument for performing SAXS from biological macromolecules in solution (BioSAXS) has been installed at the renovated BM29 location. The optics hutch has been equipped with new optical components of which the two principal elements are a fixed-exit double multilayer monochromator and a 1.1 m-long toroidal mirror. These new dedicated optics give improved beam characteristics (compared with the previous set-up on ID14-3) regarding the energy tunability, flux and focusing at the detector plane leading to reduced parasitic scattering and an extended s-range. User experiments on the beamline have been successfully carried out since June 2012. A description of the new BioSAXS beamline and the set-up characteristics are presented together with examples of obtained data.

The development of high brilliance X-ray sources coupled with advances in manufacturing technologies has led to significant improvements in submicrometre probes for spectroscopy, diffraction and imaging applications. The generation of a small beam spot size is commonly based on three principles(1) total reflection las used in optical elements involving mirrors or capillaries), refraction (such as in refractive lenses(2)) and diffraction. The latter effect is employed in Bragg-Fresnel or Soret lenses, commonly known as Fresnel zone plate lenses. These lenses currently give the best spatial resolution, but are traditionally limited to rather soft X-rays-at high energies, their use is still limited by their efficiency. Here we report the fabrication of high-efficiency, high-contrast gold and nickel multistep (quaternary) Fresnel zone plates using electron beam lithography. We achieve a maximum efficiency of 55% for the nickel plate at 7 keV. In addition to their high efficiency, the lenses offer the advantages of low background signal and effective reduction of unwanted diffraction orders. We anticipate that these lenses should have a significant impact on techniques such as microscopy(3), micro-fluorescence(4) and micro-diffraction(5), which require medium resolution (500-100 nm) and high flux at fixed energies

Within the framework of the ESRF Phase I Upgrade Programme, a new stateof-the-art synchrotron beamline ID16B has been recently developed for hard X-ray nano-analysis. The construction of ID16B was driven by research areas with major scientific and societal impact such as nanotechnology, earth and environmental sciences, and bio-medical research. Based on a canted undulator source, this long beamline provides hard X-ray nanobeams optimized mainly for spectroscopic applications, including the combination of X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, X-ray excited optical luminescence, X-ray absorption spectroscopy and 2D/3D X-ray imaging techniques. Its end-station re-uses part of the apparatus of the earlier ID22 beamline, while improving and enlarging the spectroscopic capabilities: for example, the experimental arrangement offers improved lateral spatial resolution ($ 50 nm), a larger and more flexible capability for in situ experiments, and monochromatic nanobeams tunable over a wider energy range which now includes the hard X-ray regime (5-70 keV). This paper describes the characteristics of this new facility, short-term technical developments and the first scientific results.

MASSIF-1 (ID30A-1) is a new beamline dedicated to the completely automatic characterization and data collection from crystals of biological macromolecules.