U41-TXM Beamline
This high flux beamline with a plane grating monochromator was designed especially for X-ray microscopy endstations. It is dedicated to X-ray microscopy applications and hosts the HZB X-ray microscope as a fixed endstation.
The new designed PGM1 beamline for the TXM endstation at section L06 uses again the undulator U41 which was moved from section L12 to L06. User operation at this new beamline started with the 2017-II beamtime allocation period.
The optical design of the HZB full-field TXM (unchanged) at the new BESSY II undulator beamline U41-L06-PGM1 (section L06) allows high spectral resolution of up to E/ΔE = 10000, 25 nm (half-pitch) spatial resolution and field of views in the range of 10-15 µm. A plane grating monochromator with a 800 l/mm grating provides the necessary high photon flux and in addition an energy resolution high enough for NEXAFS applications. The X-ray condenser (ellipsoidal shaped capillary) illuminates the object while the high resolving zone plate objective forms the enlarged image onto the CCD.
Details about the TXM itself can be found in the list of stations under XM - X-ray microscopy.
X-ray optical design of the new XM-beamline at section L06
View on the beamline and X-ray microscope (new location at L06)
Measured flux curve
Measured energy resolution (Nitrogen-K-edge) for 1st and 2nd grating diffraction order
Application
This is a dedicated beamline for X-ray microscopy allowing nano-tomography and nano-spectroscopy (NEXAFS).
X-ray Microscopy Station
In the nano-ages new tools for the analysis of complex structures are essential. The HZB microscopy group develops novel methods for X-ray imaging to make use out of the unique interactions of X-rays with matter. For this, X-ray optics for the 10 nm scale characterization of the nanostructure, chemical nature, and composition of materials with high energy resolution are engineered and fabricated. We have developed a novel full-field transmission X-ray microscope (TXM) for the soft X-ray range that uses partially-coherent object illumination instead of the quasi-coherent illumination used in earlier setups.
This TXM had demonstrated its high potential for life sciences by nano-tomography of cryogenic samples. High resolution images of cryogenic thick biological specimens with 3-D resolution around 30 nm ( half-pitch) have been achieved. Additionally, due to the high energy resolution spatially-resolved NEXAFS studies (NEXAFS-TXM) for material sciences are possible.
An incorporated fluorescence light microscope was developed. This permits to record fluorescence, bright field and DIC images of cryogenic samples (cells) inside the TXM. Thus, two complementary imaging modalities are available and allow correlative studies.
Optical setup of the TXM and experimental techniques
Schematic setup of the incorporated light microscope
Technical specifications
The X-ray microscope
Methods
- X-ray nano-tomography
- of cells
- of porous materials - NEXAFS-TXM (nano-spectroscopy) of nanoscale materials
- electromigration and stress migration in semiconductors
- dichroism in materials
The optical design of the TXM at the BESSY II undulator beamline U41-L06-PGM1 allows high spectral resolution of up to E/ΔE = 10000, 25 nm (half-pitch) spatial resolution and field of views in the range of 10 - 15 µm. Using the third order of diffraction of a zone plate objective with 20 nm outermost zone width fabricated at the HZB (using our advanced electron beam lithography system EBPG5000plusES from Vistec), 11 nm lines and spaces of a multilayer test structure were clearly resolved.