Imaging at high spatial resolution: Soft x-ray microscopy to 15 nm

Imaging at High Spatial Resolution: Soft X-Ray Microscopy to 15 nm David Attwood* # , Weilun Chao* # , Erik Anderson # , J. Alexander Liddle # , Bruce Harteneck # , Peter Fischer # , Gerd Schneider § , Mark Le Gros ‡ and Carolyn Larabell †‡ *University of California, Berkeley, CA USA #Center for X-Ray Optics, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA USA §BESSY Synchrotron Facility, Berlin, Germany ‡National Center for X-Ray Tomography, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley †Department of Anatomy, University of California, San Francisco, CA USA Corresponding details (e-mail: attwood@eecs.berkeley.edu, tel: 510-486-4463, fax: 510- Date of submission () Abstract: Soft x-ray microscopy has now achieved 15 nm spatial resolution with new zone plates and bending magnet radiation. Combined with elemental sensitivity and flexible sample environment (applied magnetic or electric fields, wet samples, windows, overcoatings) this emerges as a valuable tool for nanoscience and nanotechnology, complimenting common electron and scanning tip microscopies. In this presentation we describe recent advances in spatial resolution, expectations for the near future, and applications to magnetic materials, bio-tomography, etc.