Multipoint-projection x-ray microscopy

Abstract

Point projection is a mature geometry of x-ray imaging that is implemented in scientific and industrial applications. Objects to be imaged are placed near a microscopic x-ray source, and the magnification is accomplished by x-ray propagation towards a distant detector. The source size is a trade-off between the signal level and the spatial resolution. In this work, we demonstrate multipoint-projection x-ray imaging realized with an x-ray tube and compound structured microcapillary optics that generates nearly one thousand submicrometer secondary x-ray sources. The generated microbeams are multiplexed at the object. Demultiplexing of the transmitted beams, magnification, and phase contrast are achieved by the free-space propagation. A massive improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio, relative to a single secondary source, was achieved without a loss in spatial resolution. Hence, x-ray projections of highly absorbing samples at submicrometer spatial resolution could be recorded with only a few photons per detector pixel. For weakly absorbing samples, the multipoint-projection method enabled us to record, in a parallel way, replicated in-line x-ray holograms with incoherent radiation from an x-ray tube. Our method may enrich the panel of x-ray nanoscale imaging techniques and may be adopted for on-chip x-ray photonic devices.