Dynamics of Self-Organized and Self-Assembled Structures,by Rashmi C. Desai and Raymond Kapral

The arrival of the first hard X-ray free electron laser facilities promises new advances in structural dynamics and nanoscale imaging that will have impact across the sciences. This introductory review is intended to cover the basic physics behind this potential and illustrate the current state-of-the-art by discussing a number of recent findings from the LCLS facility at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Centre (SLAC). We concentrate on the new science using these light sources rather than the new light source technology itself, although a brief introduction to the operation of LCLS is given. Emphasis is placed upon the new regime of high intensity X-ray matter interaction physics with ultrashort X-ray pulses. We discuss how the unique combination of X-ray parameters will open new opportunities for time resolved structural studies and how the high brightness enables a new class of coherent diffraction X-ray imaging. The potential importance of this new imaging method in the study of nanostructures and biological systems at the sub-cellular and molecular level will be outlined.     

上海光源硬X射线相干衍射成像实验方法初探

相干X射线衍射成像方法是一种先进的成像技术,分辨率可达纳米量级.国际上大多数的同步辐射装置和自由电子激光装置都建立了该成像方法,并有将其作为主要成像技术的趋势.上海光源作为目前国内唯一的一台第三代同步辐射光源,尚未建立基于硬X射线的相干衍射成像实验平台.随着一批以波荡器为光源的光束线站投入使用,使得该方法的建立成为了可能.本文基于上海光源BL19U2生物小角散射线站,通过有效的光路设计,搭建了相干衍射实验平台,在12 keV和13.5 keV能量点均获得了硬X射线相干光束,并基于小孔衍射测量了入射光束的空间相干长度.该平台支持常规和扫描相干衍射实验模式,对小孔衍射图样及波带片扫描衍射图样实现了正确的相位重建,证明了该平台初步具备开展硬X射线相干衍射成像实验的能力.硬X射线相干衍射成像实验平台为国内首次建立,将为国内该实验方法的发展和应用提供有效的软硬件支持.     

第三代同步辐射光源X射线相干性测量研究

随着高性能第三代同步辐射光源的建成开放,基于X射线相干特性的实验方法得到了快速发展和广泛应用.作为一个典型的例子,X射线相位衬度成像已经成为常规的X射线实验方法并向用户开放.相干散射、相干衍射成像、光子关联谱等X射线实验方法正日益受到重视,在高空间分辨、时间分辨等研究领域已显示出其独特的优越性.因此,研究和测量第三代同步辐射的空间相干特性对进一步发展这些新的实验方法具有重要意义.基于Talbot自成像原理成功测量了上海光源X射线成像线站发射的X射线的空间相干长度,并进而测得了相应光源的空间尺度.光子能量为33.2 keV时,测得的X射线光束垂直方向空间相干长度为8.84μm,对应的光源尺寸为23μm,测量结果与理论分析相符.     

X射线相位衬度成像

文章使用形象、生动、通俗、易懂的语言,介绍X射线相位衬度成像的基本概念,物理思想和方法,其中包括X射线的基本性质、光的波粒二象性、同步辐射X射线光源和常规非相干X射线光源的相位相干性,以及X射线相位衬度成像方法、三维成像的基本原理和相位衬度成像的最新进展,将抽象的相位、相位一阶导数和相位二阶导数概念与形象的光波阵面平移、倾斜和弯曲等形变联系在一起,着重介绍相位衬度成像发展中的创新思想,力图使读者能分享人类文明在这个学科发展中积累的精神财富.     

Science at the Hard X-ray Diffraction Limit (XDL2011), Part 1

There is growing excitement in the synchrotron materials science community about the potential of nearly diffraction-limited, high-repetition rate, hard X-ray sources, such as an Energy Recovery Linac (ERL) or an Ultimate Storage Ring (USR), and that these sources will pave the way to scientific insights and discoveries not possible with existing facilities. These future sources will deliver highly coherent, nearly diffraction-limited X-ray beams that will power ultra-intense, nanometer-scale X-ray probes and imaging capabilities approaching atomic resolution. They will produce X-ray pulses at MHz to GHz repetition rates and span pulse durations from below 50 femtoseconds to tens of picoseconds, enabling new classes of experiments in hard X-ray science.     

基于碳纳米管X射线源的生物医学成像

Although discovered more than 100 years ago, X-ray source technology has evolved rather slowly. The recent invention of the carbon nanotube (CNT) X-ray source technology holds great promise to revolutionize the field of biomedical X-ray imaging. CNT X-ray sources have been successfully adapted to several biomedical imaging applications including dynamic micro-CT of small animals and stationary breast tomosynthesis of breast cancers. Yet their more important biomedical imaging applications still lie ahead in the future, with the development of stationary multi-source CT as a noteworthy example.     

An assessment of the resolution limitation due to radiation-damage in X-ray diffraction microscopy

X-ray diffraction microscopy (XDM) is a new form of X-ray imaging that is being practiced at several third-generation synchrotron-radiation X-ray facilities. Nine years have elapsed since the technique was first introduced and it has made rapid progress in demonstrating high-resolution three-dimensional imaging and promises few-nanometer resolution with much larger samples than can be imaged in the transmission electron microscope. Both life- and materials-science applications of XDM are intended, and it is expected that the principal limitation to resolution will be radiation damage for life science and the coherent power of available X-ray sources for material science. In this paper we address the question of the role of radiation damage. We use a statistical analysis based on the so-called “dose fractionation theorem” of Hegerl and Hoppe to calculate the dose needed to make an image of a single life-science sample by XDM with a given resolution. We find that the needed dose scales with the inverse fourth power of the resolution and present experimental evidence to support this finding. To determine the maximum tolerable dose we have assembled a number of data taken from the literature plus some measurements of our own which cover ranges of resolution that are not well covered otherwise. The conclusion of this study is that, based on the natural contrast between protein and water and “Rose-criterion” image quality, one should be able to image a frozen-hydrated biological sample using XDM at a resolution of about 10 nm.     

Laser applications and system considerations in ocular imaging

We review laser applications for primarily in‐vivo ocular imaging techniques, describing their constraints based on biological tissue properties, safety, and the performance of the imaging system. We discuss the need for cost‐effective sources with practical wavelength‐tuning capabilities for spectral studies. Techniques to probe the pathological changes of layers beneath the highly scattering retina and diagnose the onset of various eye diseases are described. The recent development of several optical‐coherence‐tomography‐based systems for functional ocular imaging is reviewed, as well as linear and nonlinear ocular‐imaging techniques performed with ultrafast lasers, emphasizing recent source developments and methods to enhance imaging contrast.     

Aspects of nanometer scale imaging with extreme ultraviolet (EUV) laboratory sources

Imaging systems with nanometer resolution are instrumental to the development of the fast evolving field of nanoscience and nanotechnology. Decreasing the wavelength of illumination is a direct way to improve the spatial resolution in photon-based imaging systems and motivated a strong interest in short wavelength imaging techniques in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) region. In this review paper, various EUV imaging techniques, such as 2D and 3D holography, EUV microscopy using Fresnel zone plates, EUV reconstruction of computer generated hologram (CGH) and generalized Talbot self-imaging will be presented utilizing both coherent and incoherent compact laboratory EUV sources. Some of the results lead to the imaging with spatial resolution reaching 50 nm in a very short exposure time. These techniques can be used in a variety of applications from actinic mask inspection in the EUV lithography, biological imaging to mask-less lithographic processes in nanofabrication.     

利用光谱和质谱成像技术实现指纹痕量检测

近年来,依赖于先进光源的化学成像技术迅速发展,极大提高了痕量检测的准确性,在公共安全、环境、食品、医药、考古等领域具有重要的实用价值.在痕量检测中,通过将成像技术与光谱测量技术、质谱技术等相结合,能够同时获取检验对象的物质组成和二维图像信息,不仅可以揭示材料表面的痕量物质成分及其分布,还可以在提高检验灵敏度的情况下,减少甚至避免传统检测手段所需要的特殊显现剂,因此与其他检验方法具有良好的兼容性.本文以指纹检验这一典型的痕量检测问题为例,阐述基于光谱和质谱成像技术的化学成像方法在痕量检测领域中的应用,从定向针对特定组分的化学成像和非定向的直接化学成像两个方面,综述了在指纹显现或显现增强中获得应用的主要成像手段,包括可见-近红外成像、红外成像、拉曼成像、质谱成像等.     

光源尺寸和光谱带宽对波带板成像的影响

X射线菲涅耳波带板成像能实现亚微米空间分辨能力,有可能应用于激光等离子体或聚变靶的高分辨X射线成像诊断.之前的数值模拟研究表明,成像分辨能力受光源尺寸、入射光或成像光谱带宽的影响.本文报道在632.8 nm为中心波长的可见光波段,对波带板成像的数值模拟和原理性验证实验.数值模拟表明:随着扩展光源尺寸增加,视场中央分辨能力基本不变,而像对比度下降;随着成像的光谱带宽的增加,视场中央分辨能力与像对比度同时下降.实验证实了数值模拟的结论,且实验与数值模拟结果的定量比较也符合得较好.     

相干高斯光束的符合成像和干涉

理论上研究分析了相干高斯光束的符合成像和干涉.导出了相干高斯光束的符合成像公式和符合干涉条纹公式,从这些公式可以看出符合成像和干涉是由于两条光路相应的汇聚投射引起的.符合成像和干涉条纹的质量及能见度可以同时很好.我们的结果表明纠缠光子对和相干高斯光束的符合成像及干涉的物理本质是不同的,相干高斯光束的符合成像和干涉的物理本质是光强的点对点投射,而纠缠光子对的符合成像和干涉的物理本质是双光子的振幅关联.     

光栅成像的锥束相位CT重建算法

X射线相位衬度成像对弱吸收物质有着独有的高密度分辨率,在医学、生物学、材料学等领域显示出良好的应用前景.但是其中的干涉成像法、衍射增强成像法和同轴成像法具有一定局限性,难以被广泛应用.光栅成像克服了以往相位衬度成像的缺陷,也使相位衬度成像向锥束成像发展成为可能.本文致力于锥束相位X射线计算机断层摄影术(CT)重建算法的研究,根据基于光栅的锥束相位成像的特点,利用吸收CT中FDK (Feldkamp-Davis-Kress)重建算法的思想,发展出适用于锥束相位成像的CT重建方法.该方法为滤波反投影类型,以相位一阶导数像为投影值,直接重建物体的相位项.通过仿真验证了算法的正确性.     

非相干照明条件下的ptychographic iterative engine成像技术

在传统多波长相干衍射成像理论的基础上提出适用于 X-射线和电子束等非相干光源照明成像的改进多波长ptychographic iterative engine 方法, 同时将小孔形状和照明光谱信息用于叠代计算, 可以在非相干照明条件下精确重建出物体的强度透射像和相位透射像, 并对光源带宽对重建精度的影响进行了分析, 对于解决如何在非相干照明条件下对大尺寸物体进行精确相位成像的问题具有较好的科研和实用价值.     

光源对相干层析系统特性的影响

在分析相干层析系统成像机理的基础上，从理论上研究了光源对系统成像特性的影响，在考虑干涉条纹的强度用概率函数处理的条件下，由分析得出相干层析成像系统相当于一个复振幅的线性空间不变系统，从而给出相干函数和光源的功率谱密度之间的关系。通过对使用不同光源的系统相干传递函数比较，得出了采用具有较大线宽的低相干光源，系统的空间分辨率更好，可使测量更精确的结论。本文的工作为光学相干层析成像系统的优化设计提供了理论依据。     

多光子皮肤成像技术及其应用

多光子成像技术是一种层析能力好、信噪比高的新型光学成像技术。在皮肤光学三维检测中,多光子技术已经应用于无创在体成像,且已得到产业化开发。本文将首先介绍多光子皮肤检测系统的若干核心技术,即双光子自发荧光技术、二次谐波成像技术、荧光寿命成像技术、相干反斯托克斯-拉曼成像技术等,然后简要介绍多光子成像系统在皮肤疾病成像检测上的应用,最后分析该系统的优势和未来可能的发展趋势。     

In Vivo Laser Tomographic Imaging of Mouse Leg by Coherent Detection Imaging Method

The coherent detection imaging (CDI) technique based on the optical heterodyne detection method enables selective filtering of the directional coherent retaining emergent photons from biological tissues with a highly scattering nature. Therefore, the CDI can acquire on-axis information in the transillumination mode and use the same data-acquisition protocol and reconstruction algorithm as those in X-ray computed tomography (CT). Although the CDI-based laser CT cannot image thick subjects such as the head and chest, it can delineate subjects with a thickness up to several cm at a spatial resolution of sub-millimeters. We are planning to apply the technique to early diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Here, we performed an experiment using mice to confirm the feasibility. We compared in vivo CT images at the level of ankle joints of two mice, one normal and the other with collagen induced arthritis (CIA) as an RA model, and demonstrated that there occur significant discrepancies between the two distributions of image intensities, i.e., reconstructed scattering coefficients in each region of interest (ROI) prepared. We suggest that combining the morphological information with the quantitative information can be effective for early diagnosis of bone diseases and disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis.     

New directions in X-ray microscopy

The development of high brightness X-ray sources and high resolution X-ray optics has led to rapid advances in X-ray microscopy. Scanning microscopes and full-field instruments are in operation at synchrotron light sources worldwide, and provide spatial resolution routinely in the 25–50 nm range using zone plate focusing elements. X-ray microscopes can provide elemental maps and/or chemical sensitivity in samples that are too thick for electron microscopy. Lensless techniques, such as diffraction microscopy, holography and ptychography are also being developed. In high resolution imaging of radiation-sensitive material the effects of radiation damage needs to be carefully considered. This article is designed to provide an introduction to the current state and future prospects of X-ray microscopy for the non-expert.     

Coherent X-ray diffraction imaging of nanoengineered polymeric capsules

For the first time, nanoengineered polymeric capsules and their architecture have been studied with coherent X-ray diffraction imaging technique. The use of coherent X-ray diffraction imaging technique allowed us to analyze the samples immersed in a liquid. We report about the significant difference between polymeric capsule architectures under dry and liquid conditions.     

HXMT卫星地面样机成像实验

硬X射线调制望远镜(HXMT)致力于实现硬X射线能段的高灵敏度巡天.HXMT地面样机已在中国科学院高能物理研究所粒子天体物理重点实验室建成.它包括18个栅条准直的NaI(Tl)/CsI(Na)复合晶体探测器,总有效探测面积为5000cm². 探测器工作在20—250keV,视场范围5.7°×5.7°通过近距离放射源成像实验和直接解调成像方法的使用,地面样机能够达到2'点源定位精度和5'角分辨率(FWHM).