X-ray Microscopy unveils the buried secrets of the nanoworld

A novel super-resolution X-ray microscope developed by a team of researchers from the Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI) and EPFL in Switzerland combines the high penetration power of x-rays with high spatial resolution, making it possible for the first time to shed light on the d etailed interior composition of semiconductor devices and cellular structures. "Researchers have been working on such super-resolution microscopy concepts for electrons and x-rays for many years," says EPFL Professor and team leader Franz Pfeiffer. "Only the construction of a dedicated multi-million Swiss-franc instrument at PSI's Swiss Light Source allowed us to achieve the stability that is necessary to implement our novel method in practice." The new instrument uses a Megapixel Pilatus detector whose big brother will be detecting collisions from CERN's Large Hadron Collider. Detailed images thanks to a Swiss algorithm Pilatus has excited the synchrotron community for its ability to count millions of single x-ray photons over a large area. This key feature makes it possible to record detailed diffraction patterns while the sample is raster-scanned through the focal spot of the beam. In contrast, conventional x-ray (or electron) scanning microscopes measure only the total transmitted intensity. These diffraction data are then treated with an algorithm conceived by the Swiss team.