High‐resolution compact X‐ray microscopy

Abstract

SummaryWe demonstrate compact full-field soft X-ray transmission microscopy with sub 60-nm resolution operating at λ = 2.48 nm. The microscope is based on a 100-Hz regenerative liquid-nitrogen-jet laser-plasma source in combination with a condenser zone plate and a micro-zone plate objective for highresolution imaging onto a 2048 × 2048 pixel CCD detector. The sample holder is mounted in a helium atmosphere and allows imaging of both dry and wet specimens. The microscope design enables fast sample switching and the sample can be prealigned using a visible-light microscope. High-quality images can be acquired with exposure times of less than 5 min. We demonstrate the performance of the microscope using both dry and wet samples.

Water-window microscopy using a compact, laser-plasma SXR source based on a double-stream gas-puff target

“…Ethanol droplet-based SXR source at k = 3.37 nm, combined with a zone plate objective allowed to capture images with spatial resolution of 60 nm [12], later improved to *50 nm [13]. Liquid nitrogen-based SXR source at k = 2.48 nm was used to demonstrate recently a compact full-field soft X-ray transmission microscopy with sub-60 nm resolution, operating at 100 Hz repetition rate, with exposure times of less than 5 min using both dry and wet samples [14]. Tomographic high resolution imaging was also performed in the ''water-window'' spectral range with a diatom, acquiring a tilt series of 53 images covering 1808 with halfperiod spatial resolution of the tomogram approaching 140 nm [15].…”

TXM-Wizard: a program for advanced data collection and evaluation in full-field transmission X-ray microscopy

“…Full-field transmission X-ray microscopy (TXM) using both synchrotron and tabletop X-ray sources has been accomplished at many facilities all over the world (Schneider, 1998;Chao et al, 2005;Yin et al, 2006;Sakdinawat & Liu, 2007;Takman et al, 2007;Chu et al, 2008;de Jonge et al, 2008;Kim et al, 2008;Chen et al, 2008;Andrews et al, 2010;Rehbein et al, 2009). The unique capability of imaging three-dimensional structure with spatial resolution down to a few tens of nanometers (Chao et al, 2005;Schneider et al, 2010; over a field of view of several tens of micrometers has made TXM a well recognized tool for research ranging from materials science (Chen et al, 2008;Li et al, 2009;Nelson et al, 2011) to biological studies (Larabell & Le Gros, 2004;Andrews et al, 2010;Patty et al, 2009;Schneider et al, 2010).…”

Table-top soft X-ray microscopy with a laser-induced plasma source based on a pulsed gas-jet

“…To enable soft x-ray microscopy for everyday use without waiting times due to limited beam time at large-scale facilities, lab-scale sources based on gas discharge or laser-produced plasmas for soft x-ray microscopy have been employed and considerable progress has been achieved in recent years [11][12][13][14][15]. For instance, making use of a master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) laser with high average powers of up to 130 W at sub-ns pulse durations, Legall et al [15] have described a laser-induced plasma source generated in a liquid nitrogen cryo jet.…”