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The Limits of Resolution in X-Ray Microscopy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2020

J. Maser ,
C. Jacobsen  and
S. Spector
J. Maser
Affiliation:
Physics Department, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY, 11794-3800
C. Jacobsen
Affiliation:
Physics Department, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY, 11794-3800
S. Spector
Affiliation:
Physics Department, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY, 11794-3800
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Extract

In far-field microscopes, the spatial resolution is ultimately limited by the wavelength of the radiation used. While near-field and related microscopes can improve upon this, they can only do so with thin specimen regions. Thin specimens can also be studied at atomic resolution using electron microscopes. To achieve improved resolution on micrometer-thick specimens, another alternative is to use significantly shorter photon wavelengths. We discuss here the use of soft x-rays for microscopy and their resolution limits.

Image formation requires resolution and contrast. by using soft x-rays with a photon energy between the K absorption edges of carbon and oxygen, one is able to image hydrated biological specimens with high contrast. The contrast is such that no addi-tional staining is required, while efforts are also underway to utilize gold and luminescent probes for selective labeling. In addition, x-ray sources have high spectral resolution and good signal-to-background relative to electron microscopes which allows for elemental and chemical state mapping of major constituents.

Type
The Limits of Image Resolution: Seeing is Believing
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 3 , Issue S2: Proceedings: Microscopy & Microanalysis '97, Microscopy Society of America 55th Annual Meeting, Microbeam Analysis Society 31st Annual Meeting, Histochemical Society 48th Annual Meeting, Cleveland, Ohio, August 10-14, 1997 , August 1997 , pp. 1185 - 1186
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America 1997

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References

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