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Here, white X-ray μ-beam Laue diffraction is developed and applied to investigate elastic strain distributions in three-dimensional (3D) materials, more specifically, for the study of strain in Cu 10 μm diameter-80 μm deep through-silicon vias (TSVs). Two different approaches have been applied: (i) two-dimensional μ-Laue scanning and (ii) μ-beam Laue tomography. 2D μ-Laue scans provided the maps of the deviatoric strain tensor integrated along the via length over an array of TSVs in a 100 μm thick sample prepared by Focused Ion Beam. The μ-beam Laue tomography analysis enabled to obtain the 3D grain and elemental distribution of both Cu and Si. The position, size (about 3 μm), shape, and orientation of Cu grains were obtained. Radial profiles of the equivalent deviatoric strain around the TSVs have been derived through both approaches. The results from both methods are compared and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To fabricate and qualify nanodevices, characterization tools must be developed to provide a large panel of information over spatial scales spanning from the millimeter down to the nanometer. Synchrotron x-ray-based tomography techniques are getting increasing interest since they can provide fully three-dimensional (3D) images of morphology, elemental distribution, and crystallinity of a sample. Here we show that by combining suitable scanning schemes together with high brilliance x-ray nanobeams, such multispectral 3D volumes can be obtained during a single analysis in a very efficient and nondestructive way. We also show that, unlike other techniques, hard x-ray nanotomography allows reconstructing the elemental distribution over a wide range of atomic number and offers truly depth resolution capabilities. The sensitivity, 3D resolution, and complementarity of our approach make hard x-ray nanotomography an essential characterization tool for a large panel of scientific domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A hard x-ray nanoprobe has been implemented at the synchrotron in Grenoble, France, allowing nondestructive trace element imaging of thick samples. Its advantages are nanometer spatial resolution on samples of several tens of micrometer, very high flux, and achromaticity. Nanometer imaging of a cometary grain from the NASA Stardust mission shows the sensitivity and resolution gains obtained while radically changing our understanding of the composition of heterogeneous samples. The probe opens unique possibilities in the study of minute, fragile samples fundamental to the earth and planetary sciences, which until now were out of the reach of direct analytical methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A nondestructive x-ray technique combining simultaneous transmission, fluorescence, and Compton microtomography has been developed. Simultaneous three-dimensional structural information and three-dimensional internal elemental composition maps down to trace concentration levels have been obtained by a helical scan of the sample through an x-ray microbeam. With this method quantitative three-dimensional chemical distributions can be obtained at (sub)micrometric resolution in a nondestructive and noninvasive way, opening unique possibilities for the microanalysis of rare and fragile samples from several research fields. © 2004 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A correction to the article "A Hard X-Ray Nanoprobe for Scanning and Projection Nanotomography" that was published in the 2009 issue is presented.