Nanoimaging using a compact laser plasma soft x-ray source based on a gas puff target

New instruments and methods for nanoimaging with the use of a compact laser plasma soft X-ray source are presented. The source is based on a double-stream gas puff target irradiated with nanosecond laser pulses from a Nd:YAG laser. Three imaging instruments, operating in the soft X-ray ‘water window’ range, namely two soft X-ray transmission microscopes and a soft X-ray contact microscope, have been developed. The transmission microscopes are based on grazing incidence Wolter type or diffractive Fresnel type optics. Application of these instruments for nanoimaging of hydrated and dry biological samples is presented. A new method for X-ray nanoimaging based on optical coherence tomography (OCT) technique using broad-band soft X-ray emission from the laser plasma source is also demonstrated.

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