Large-field high-contrast hard x-ray Zernike phase-contrast nano-imaging beamline at Pohang Light Source

Abstract

We developed an off-axis-illuminated zone-plate-based hard x-ray Zernike phase-contrast microscope beamline at Pohang Light Source. Owing to condenser optics-free and off-axis illumination, a large field of view was achieved. The pinhole-type Zernike phase plate affords high-contrast images of a cell with minimal artifacts such as the shade-off and halo effects. The setup, including the optics and the alignment, is simple and easy, and allows faster and easier imaging of large bio-samples.

Zernike phase-contrast full-field transmission X-ray nanotomography for 400 micrometre-sized samples

“…Interestingly, this result is the exact opposite of what we expected (the resolution at the center is two times lower than the resolution at the edges). As described in a previous study (Lim et al, 2013), OAI imaging presents a more prominent resolution difference between the horizontal and vertical directions as the sample moves away from the optical axis [ Fig. 2(d)].…”

“…TXM using OAI method has already been studied both theoretically and experimentally (Lee et al, 1995;Takeuchi et al, 2002). The resolution is therefore 1.64Ár at the optical axis but is in fact 0.82Ár because NA zoneplate is doubled at the edge, as reported in a previous study (Lim et al, 2013). Though the resolution varies by a factor of two depending on the location, an $100 nm resolution can still be achieved over the entire FOV if Ár = 100 nm.…”

The Internal Structure of Macroporous Membranes and Transport of Surface-Modified Nanoparticles

“…The monochromatic X-ray beam nominally selected at 7 keV was focused on the test sample using a condenser zone plate (1 mm diameter, beryllium refractive compound lenses) with innermost and outermost diameters of 4 and 100 nm, respectively. The detailed experimental setup is explained in the study conducted by Lim et al (2013).…”

“…Ultimately, a 3D model image was reconstructed by piling up the obtained orthosliced images using AMIRA software (). The spatial resolution is about 100 nm (Lim et al, 2013).…”

Note: Contrast enhancement and artifact suppression in computed tomography using sinogram normalization

“…The 7C X-ray Nano Imaging (XNI) beamline is utilized for the purposes of hard X-ray full-field Zernike phase-contrast microscopy. 8,9 It applies off-axis illumination and a hole-type phase plate that provides outstanding contrast enhancement with minimal halo artifact. For imaging, a tungsten objective zone plate of 40 nm outermost zone width, 150 µm diameter, and 0.6 µm thickness was used.…”