Yamada Jumpei, Inoue Ichiro, Osaka Taito, Inoue Takato, Matsuyama Satoshi, Yamauchi Kazuto, Yabashi Makina
RIKEN SPring-8 Center, 1-1-1 Kouto, Sayo, Hyogo 679-5148, Japan.
Division of Precision Engineering and Applied Physics, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamada-oka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.
IUCrJ. 2021 Jul 31;8(Pt 5):713-718. doi: 10.1107/S2052252521007004. eCollection 2021 Sep 1.
X-ray scientists are continually striving to improve the quality of X-ray microscopy, due to the fact that the information obtained from X-ray microscopy of materials can be complementary to that obtained from optical and electron microscopes. In contrast to the ease with which one can deflect electron beams, the relative difficulty to deflect X-ray has constrained the development of scanning X-ray microscopes (SXMs) based on a scan of an X-ray small probe. This restriction has caused severe complications that hinder progress toward achieving ultimate resolution. Here, a simple and innovative method for constructing an SXM equipped with a nanoprobe scanner is proposed. The nanoprobe scanner combines X-ray prisms and advanced Kirkpatrick-Baez focusing mirrors. By rotating the prisms on the order of degrees, X-ray probe scanning with single-nanometre accuracy can be easily achieved. The validity of the concept was verified by acquiring an SXM image of a test pattern at a photon energy of 10 keV, where 50 nm line-and-space structures were resolved. This method is readily applicable to an SXM with a single-nanometre resolution and will assist effective utilization of increasing brightness of fourth-generation synchrotron radiation sources.
由于从材料的X射线显微镜获得的信息可以补充从光学显微镜和电子显微镜获得的信息，X射线科学家们一直在努力提高X射线显微镜的质量。与电子束易于偏转不同，X射线相对难以偏转，这限制了基于X射线小探针扫描的扫描X射线显微镜（SXMs）的发展。这种限制导致了严重的问题，阻碍了实现最终分辨率的进展。在此，提出了一种构建配备纳米探针扫描仪的SXMs的简单创新方法。纳米探针扫描仪结合了X射线棱镜和先进的柯克帕特里克-贝兹聚焦镜。通过以度为单位旋转棱镜，可以轻松实现具有单纳米精度的X射线探针扫描。通过在10 keV的光子能量下获取测试图案的SXMs图像验证了该概念的有效性，其中50 nm的线宽和间距结构得到了分辨。该方法很容易应用于具有单纳米分辨率的SXMs，并将有助于有效利用第四代同步辐射源不断提高的亮度。
