Compact phase-contrast soft X-ray microscopy

Abstract

For nearly all elements, the real part, d, of the complex index of refraction n (n = 1 − δ + iβ) is larger than the imaginary part, β, in the x-ray region. Since only β is used in absorption contrast, phase-contrast imaging techniques which give access to δ are very important. In this paper we present two different implementations of phase contrast in our compact soft x-ray microscope, differential-interference contrast and Zernike phase contrast.