Nanoscale spectroscopy with polarized X-rays by NEXAFS-TXM

By P. Guttmann, C. Bittencourt, S. Rehbein, P. Umek, X. Ke, G. van Tendeloo, C. Ewels, G. Schneider. Nature Photonics, 2011

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Near-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy (NEXAFS)1 is an essential analytical tool in material science. Combining NEXAFS with scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) adds spatial resolution and the possibility to study individual nanostructures2,3. Here, we describe a full-field transmission X-ray microscope (TXM) that generates high-resolution, large-area NEXAFS data with a collection rate two orders of magnitude faster than is possible with STXM. The TXM optical design combines a spectral resolution of E/ΔE = 1 × 104 with a spatial resolution of 25 nm in a field of view of 15–20 µm and a data acquisition time of ∼1 s. As an example, we present image stacks and polarization-dependent NEXAFS spectra from individual anisotropic sodium and protonated titanate nanoribbons. Our NEXAFS-TXM technique has the advantage that one image stack visualizes a large number of nanostructures and therefore already contains statistical information. This new high-resolution NEXAFS-TXM technique opens the way to advanced nanoscale science studies. Researchers demonstrate a scheme that combines the high spatial resolution of full-field transmission X-ray microscopy (TXM) with high-spectral-resolution near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS). The idea could lead to a wide range of new material studies that combine high-resolution spectroscopic techniques with nanoscale tomographic imaging.

Subfields: Radiation, Surfaces, Coatings and Films

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