We describe the design of a user-friendly compact water-window x-ray microscope. The microscope is based on a l53.37 nm liquid-jet-target laser-plasma source in combination with a normal-incidence multilayer condenser mirror and high-resolution diffractive optics for the imaging. With its high mechanical and thermal stability, the instrument demonstrates enhanced resolution and potential for co...

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New diffractive imaging techniques using coherent x-ray beams have made possible nanometer-scale resolution imaging by replacing the optics in a microscope with an iterative phase retrieval algorithm. However, to date very high resolution imaging (< 40 nm) was limited to large-scale synchrotron facilities. Here, we present a significant advance in image resolution and capabilities for desktop s...