Simultaneous Detection of Carbon Monoxide and Viscosity Changes in Cells

A new family of robust, non-toxic, water-compatible ruthenium(II) vinyl probes allows the rapid, selective and sensitive detection of endogenous carbon monoxide (CO) in live mammalian cells under normoxic and hypoxic conditions. Uniquely, these probes incorporate a viscosity-sensitive BODIPY fluorophore that allows the measurement of microscopic viscosity in live cells via fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) while also monitoring CO levels. This is the first example of a probe that can simultaneously detect CO alongside small viscosity changes in organelles of live cells.     

Synchrotron microanalysis techniques applied to potential photovoltaic materials

X‐ray synchrotron radiation techniques are used to characterize photovoltaic‐related semiconductors. Micro‐X‐ray‐fluorescence and X‐ray beam induced current mapping of multicrystalline silicon photovoltaic cells show metallic impurities accumulating at the interface of crystallographic defects, and current variations over the cell that are attributed to bulk defects and structural variation of the silicon. Similarly, studies on a single‐crystal GaAs using X‐ray fluorescence and X‐ray excited optical luminescence show an inhomogeneous As distribution correlated with the photoluminescence signal, with higher As concentration regions having stronger photoluminescence signal. Both examples show how the combination of synchrotron microanalysis techniques can contribute to a better understanding of the optical properties of photovoltaic materials.     

In‐line Bragg magnifier based on V‐shaped germanium crystals

In this work an X‐ray imaging system based on a recently developed in‐line two‐dimensional Bragg magnifier composed of two monolithic V‐shaped crystals made of dislocation‐free germanium is presented. The channel‐cut crystals were used in one‐dimensional and in two‐dimensional (crossed) configurations in imaging applications and allowed measurement of phase‐contrast radiograms both in the edge‐enhanced and in the holographic regimes. The measurement of the phase gradient in two orthogonal directions is demonstrated. The effective pixel size attained was 0.17 µm in the one‐dimensional configuration and 0.5 µm in the two‐dimensional setting, offering a twofold improvement in spatial resolution over devices based on silicon. These results show the potential for applying Bragg magnifiers to imaging soft matter at high resolution with reduced dose owing to the higher efficiency of Ge compared with Si.