Full-Field Stroboscopic Imaging of Acoustic and Thermal Dynamics in Isolated Nanostructures Using Tabletop EUV Coherent Imaging

Understanding the mechanical properties of nanostructured systems is critical for accelerating advances in material, nano and bio sciences, as well as various nanostructured electronic, photovoltaic and thermoelectric devices. However, macroscopic models cannot accurately predict nanoscale (<100 nm) transport or mechanical properties Moreover, many nanostructured systems are opaque to visible light. This creates a critical demand for functional microscopes that can image with elemental, chemical and magnetic contrast through opaque materials, as well as with high spatial and temporal resolution. Here we report the first full-field stroboscopic imaging using tabletop high harmonics, where we directly visualize nanoscale thermal and acoustic dynamics in an isolated nanostructure with <0.1nm axial precision, 90nm lateral resolution, and 10fs time resolution.