Synchrotron Based X-ray Microscopy and Micro-Spectroscopy: Multidisciplinary Tools

The unique properties of X-rays make them a powerful probing radiation for use in microscopy techniques. For example, soft X-ray microscopes have established capabilities in absorption contrast imaging of thick hydrated biological material in near-native environments at spatial resolutions well beyond those achievable with visible light microscopy. In the past decade there has been a strong tendency in X-ray microscopy to develop alternative contrast mechanisms and spectroscopic methods, which can provide both valuable complementary information on the sample nature and/or reduce the necessary radiation doses. Simultaneously, the development of high brilliance high energy X-ray sources coupled with advances in manufacturing technologies of focusing optics has led to significant improvements in sub-micrometer probes for spectroscopy, diffraction and imaging applications in the multi-keV 'hard' X-ray range. Both by extrapolation of the experience gained in the soft X-ray regime and by the development of new techniques, 'hard' Xray microscopes now offer a complementary analytical tool which can contribute to a wide range of existing and new applications of X-ray microscopy.