NanoXAS Endstation

The NanoXAS endstation consists of a scanning transmission X-ray microscope (STXM) in combination with a scanning probe microscope (SPM). By combining these techniques, the NanoXAS is able to obtain elemental and chemical composition, oxidation states, molecular orientation, topography, surface forces, as well as electric and magnetic properties on a variety of specimens with nanoscale resolution. A Fresnel zone plate focuses the monochromatic x-rays onto a semi-transparent sample. An optical sorting aperture (OSA) filter optimizes transmission of the first diffraction order and blocks out other orders. Several detectors and detection modes can be employed depending on the type of study. The sample is scanned through the x-rays using a fine closed-loop piezo scanner (range 40 um x 40 um x 6 um).

Zone plate

The zone plates used at NanoXAS provide a balance between efficiency, focal length, and resolution. To a first approximation, the resolution of the instrument is similar to the outermost zone width of the zone plate. Two zone plates are mounted in the NanoXAS endstation with outermost zone widths of 40 nm and 30 nm, and were manufactured at PSI in the laboratory for micro and nanotechnology (LMN).

Detectors

A number of different detector types are available for enabling different experiments. Non-standard detectors are only available at the discretion of the beamline staff.

In-situ views

Other specifications

Partners and Collaborators

This project is a collaboration between EMPA, PSI, and University of Erlangen-Nuremberg: