Technology

X-ray source

The advances with the hollow cathode micro-discharge produced plasma source made McXI a compact microscope and a useful research tool. The high brightness and good emission characteristics of the compact CYCLOPS™, in the soft X-ray region, provides the levels of sample illumination required to acquire images in a matter of seconds.

Optical elements

Unlike a visible light microscope, which can make use of the refractive properties of glasses to form lens elements, no such elements are possible for X-rays, and in particular, the soft X-ray region of the spectrum. Fresnel zone plate, a circularly symmetric structure of rings designed and fabricated to diffract a collimated beam of X-rays to a focal point.

Imaging

The level of image detail which can be viewed with the microscope is dependent upon its overall magnification, which overall is comprised of a tandem of three component stages: the X-ray stage; an optical stage and the detector stage. Perhaps the most important of these is the first stage, where the focusing properties of a Fresnel zone plate lens, especially fabricated to operate in the soft X-ray region, is used to project a magnified image of the specimen sample on to a scintillating screen. An optical stage then uses a light microscope objective to capture and further magnify the light from the scintillating screen and to relay this light on to a CCD detector.

All this in one turn key system in your lab

The features of Cyclops™, combined with the innovative diffractive optical element now permits the soft X-ray examination of microscopic samples to be undertaken routinely in any laboratory, using McXI™-II, without having to rely on unavailable synchrotron beam line as the prime source of soft X-ray radiation.