Laboratory Soft X-Ray Cryo Tomography

X-rays allow quantitative high-spatial-resolution three-dimensional (3D) imaging of intact unstained cells. Such 3D imaging is provided by soft x-ray lens-based methods (water-window cryo tomography) and hard x-ray lens-less methods (coherent diffraction imaging) are emerging. However, both methods rely on high-brightness synchrotron-radiation sources, which limit the accessibility of a wider scientific community. Here we show 3D water-window cryo tomography with a laboratory-source-based microscope arrangement. The system relies on a λ=2.48-nm liquid-jet laser-plasma source, normal- incidence multilayer condenser optics, 30-nm zone-plate optics, and a cryo sample chamber. We demonstrate imaging of intact unstained yeast, protozoan parasites and mammalian cells. 3D images show noise-limited features close to ~100 nm and intra-cellular structure is classified based on the local absorption coefficient. A comprehensive theoretical model of the tomographic imaging system allows optimization of system parameters and a quantitative estimate of the 3D imaging accuracy. The model includes issues such as non-geometric projections of the thick samples and stray light, and is applicable to laboratory as well as synchrotron-based x-ray microscopes. The model shows that laboratory x-ray cryo tomography will allow quantitative 3D imaging with ~30-nm (half-period) resolution over a full 5 µm object.
QC 20110217