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A Compact “Water Window” Microscope with 60 nm Spatial Resolution for Applications in Biology and Nanotechnology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 September 2015

Przemyslaw Wachulak Open the ORCID record for Przemyslaw Wachulak [Opens in a new window] ,
Alfio Torrisi ,
Muhammad F. Nawaz ,
Andrzej Bartnik ,
Daniel Adjei ,
Šárka Vondrová ,
Jana Turňová ,
Alexandr Jančarek ,
Jiří Limpouch  and
Miroslava Vrbová
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Przemyslaw Wachulak*
Affiliation:
Institute of Optoelectronics, Military University of Technology, Kaliskiego 2 Str., 00-908 Warsaw, Poland
Alfio Torrisi
Affiliation:
Institute of Optoelectronics, Military University of Technology, Kaliskiego 2 Str., 00-908 Warsaw, Poland
Muhammad F. Nawaz
Affiliation:
Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, Brehova 7,115 19 Prague 1, Czech Republic
Andrzej Bartnik
Affiliation:
Institute of Optoelectronics, Military University of Technology, Kaliskiego 2 Str., 00-908 Warsaw, Poland
Daniel Adjei
Affiliation:
Institute of Optoelectronics, Military University of Technology, Kaliskiego 2 Str., 00-908 Warsaw, Poland
Šárka Vondrová
Affiliation:
Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, Brehova 7, 115 19 Prague 1, Czech Republic
Jana Turňová
Affiliation:
Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, Brehova 7, 115 19 Prague 1, Czech Republic
Alexandr Jančarek
Affiliation:
Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, Brehova 7,115 19 Prague 1, Czech Republic
Jiří Limpouch
Affiliation:
Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, Brehova 7,115 19 Prague 1, Czech Republic
Miroslava Vrbová
Affiliation:
Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, Brehova 7, 115 19 Prague 1, Czech Republic
Henryk Fiedorowicz
Affiliation:
Institute of Optoelectronics, Military University of Technology, Kaliskiego 2 Str., 00-908 Warsaw, Poland
*
*Corresponding author. [email protected]
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Abstract

Short illumination wavelength allows an extension of the diffraction limit toward nanometer scale; thus, improving spatial resolution in optical systems. Soft X-ray (SXR) radiation, from “water window” spectral range, λ=2.3–4.4 nm wavelength, which is particularly suitable for biological imaging due to natural optical contrast provides better spatial resolution than one obtained with visible light microscopes. The high contrast in the “water window” is obtained because of selective radiation absorption by carbon and water, which are constituents of the biological samples. The development of SXR microscopes permits the visualization of features on the nanometer scale, but often with a tradeoff, which can be seen between the exposure time and the size and complexity of the microscopes. Thus, herein, we present a desk-top system, which overcomes the already mentioned limitations and is capable of resolving 60 nm features with very short exposure time. Even though the system is in its initial stage of development, we present different applications of the system for biology and nanotechnology. Construction of the microscope with recently acquired images of various samples will be presented and discussed. Such a high resolution imaging system represents an interesting solution for biomedical, material science, and nanotechnology applications.

Keywords

Soft X-rays (SXR)SXR microscopy“water window”Fresnel zone platesgas puff target source
Type
Equipment and Software Development
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 21 , Issue 5 , October 2015 , pp. 1214 - 1223
Copyright
© Microscopy Society of America 2015 

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