Conceptual Design For A Beamline For A Hard X-Ray Nanoprobe With 30 Nm Spatial Resolution

The planned Center for Nanoscale Materials (CNM) at Argonne National Laboratory is aimed at the development and study of the properties of nanomaterials and nanodevices. As part of the characterization instruments at CNM, we are developing a new hard x-ray nanoprobe beamline at the Advanced Photon Source. The beamline will provide microscopy and spectroscopy for photon energies from 3 keV to 30 keV. Hard x-ray zone plates will be used to achieve a spatial resolution of 30 nm in the 3 - 10 keV region. Two operational modes will combine the speed of a transmission x-ray microscope with the analytic capabilities of a hard x-ray microprobe. The major operation mode will be a scanning probe mode, where spatially coherent radiation is focused into a diffraction-limited spot to excite secondary signals in the specimen. This will allow elemental mapping and spectroscopy at high sensitivity using x-ray fluorescence, or strain contrast imaging using x-ray diffraction. A secondary mode will use partially coherent radiation to provide transmission imaging in absorption and phase contrast for photon energies between 3 - 10 keV.