Contrast mechanisms in scanning transmission x-ray microscopy

Transmission and emission x-ray microscopy: operation modes, contrast mechanisms and applications.

Advances in microscopy techniques based on x-rays have opened unprecedented opportunities in terms of spatial resolution, combined with chemical and morphology sensitivity, to analyze solid, soft and liquid matter. The advent of ultrabright third and fourth generation photon sources and the continuous development of x-ray optics and detectors has pushed the limits of imaging and spectroscopic a...

Z-contrast Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy

X-Ray Diffraction and Scanning Probe Microscopy

Diffraction can occur when electromagnetic radiation interacts with a periodic structure whose repeat distance is about the same as the wavelength of the radiation. Visible light, for example, can be diffracted by a grating that contains scribed lines spaced only a few thousand angstroms apart, about the wavelength of visible light. X-rays have wavelengths on the order of angstroms, in the rang...

X-ray phase-contrast microscopy and microtomography.

In-line phase contrast enables weakly absorbing specimens to be imaged successfully with x-rays, and greatly enhances the visibility of fine scale structure in more strongly absorbing specimens. This type of phase contrast requires a spatially coherent beam, a condition that can be met by a microfocus x-ray source. We have developed an x-ray microscope, based on such a source, which is capable ...

Nano-structural Characterization of Post-annealed ZnO Thin Films by X-ray Diffraction and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy

ZnO thin films were deposited on Si(400) substrates by e-beam evaporation technique, and then post-annealed at different annealing temperatures (200-800°C). Dependence of the crystallographic structure, nano-strain, chemical composition and surface physical Morphology of these layers on annealing temperature were studied. The crystallographic structure of films was studied using X-Ray Diffracti...