Contact microscopy with a soft X‐ray laser

Abstract

SUMMARY A soft X‐ray laser of output energy 1–3 mJ at 18–2 nm was used to record high resolution images of biological specimens. The contact images were recorded on photoresist which was later viewed in a scanning electron microscope. A composite optical X‐ray laser microscope ‘COXRALM’ of novel design is also described.

X-ray microscopy

“…This arises from its ease of set-up and considerable versatility. Of particular interest is the convenience with which it can be used with flash X-ray sources for stop-motion imaging and as a means of fast image capture before the onset of radiation damage (Skinner et al, 1990;Fletcher, Cotton & Webb, 1992). …”

Measurement of the spatial coherence of a soft-x-ray laser

“…Their basic characteristics such as output energy, pulse length, linewidth, and divergence have been measured. Knowledge of these characteristics has resulted in x-ray lasers being used in some preliminary application experiments including photoionization physics [1], contact microscopy of cells [2], and holography [3]. Future applications of x-ray lasers such as nonlinear x-ray optics and holographic microscopy of biological microstructures require a detailed knowledge of the spatial coherence.…”

Overview of the program on soft x-ray lasers and their applications at Princeton

“…One may also regard diatom fragments as a kind of lithographic mask (see e.g. Fig.3 in Skinner et al 1990) and an illustration of the potential application of the SXL to microlithography, discussed in section 2.…”