Laboratory soft-x-ray microscope for cryotomography of biological specimens

Soft-x-ray cryotomography allows quantitative and high-resolution three-dimensional imaging of intact unstained cells. To date, the method relies on synchrotron-radiation sources, which limits accessibility for researchers. Here we present a laboratory water-window microscope for cryotomography. It is based on a lambda = 2.48nm liquid-jet laser-plasma source, a normal-incidence multilayer condenser, a 30nm zone-plate objective, and a cryotilt sample holder. We demonstrate high-resolution imaging, as well as quantitative tomographic imaging, of frozen intact cells. The reconstructed tomogram of the intracellular local absorption coefficient shows details down to similar to 100nm.
QC 20110823