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The hard X-ray nanoprobe at the Center for Nanoscale Materials (CNM), Argonne National Lab advanced the state of the art by providing a hard X-ray microscopy beamline with the highest spatial resolution in the world. It provides for fluorescence, diffraction, and transmission imaging with hard X-rays at a spatial resolution of 30 nm or better. A dedicated source, beamline, and optics form the basis for these capabilities. This unique instrument is not only key to the specific research areas of the CNM; it will also be a general utility, available to the broader nanoscience community in studying nanomaterials and nanostructures, particularly for embedded structures.
The combination of diffraction, fluorescence, and transmission contrast in a single tool provides unique characterization capabilities for nanoscience. Current hard X-ray microprobes based on Fresnel zone plate optics have demonstrated a spatial resolution of 150 nm at a photon energy of 8-10 keV. With advances in the fabrication of zone plate optics, coupled with an optimized beamline design, the performance goal is a spatial resolution of 30 nm. The nanoprobe covers the spectral range of 3-30 keV, and the working distance between the focusing optics and the sample are typically in the range of 10–20 mm.
