Abstract
In this contribution we discuss the possibility of designing a modified transmission X-ray microscope by using fractal zone plates (Fzps) as diffractive optical elements. In the modified transmission X-ray microscope optical layout, we first introduced a fractal zone plate as the microscope objective. Indeed, a fractal zone plate cannot only be used as an image-forming component but also as a condenser element to achieve an extended depth of field. Numerical analysis reveals that fractal zone plates and conventional Fresnel zone plates have similar imaging capabilities under different coherent illumination. Using a fractal zone plate as a condenser we also simulated axial irradiance. Results confirm that fractal zone plates can improve focusing capability with an extended depth of field. Although preliminary, these simulations clearly reveal that fractal zone plates, when available, will be of great help in microscope layouts, in particular for foreseen high-resolution applications in the “water window” as strongly required in biological research.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to gratefully acknowledge Augusto Marcelli for many fruitful discussions. This work was partly supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (2009CB930804, 2012CB825800), the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KJCX2-YW-N42), the Key Important Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (10734070), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11179004, 10979055), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (WK2310000008, WK2310000021) and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2011M501064).
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Published in the special paper collection Imaging Techniques with Synchrotron Radiation with guest editor Cyril Petibois.
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Ge, X., Wang, Z., Gao, K. et al. Use of fractal zone plates for transmission X-ray microscopy. Anal Bioanal Chem 404, 1303–1309 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-012-6126-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-012-6126-0