Hard X-ray full-field microscopy with computer tomography capability

A group led by Professor Ch. David (Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland) recently developed a synchrotron-based full-field microscope, which can work with hard X-rays, typically 10 keV. The instrument supports tomographic absorption and phase contrast imaging with a spatial resolution of 144 nm. The researchers demonstrated phase-contrast 3D imaging of a melanocortin-3 preosteoblast cell. For more information, see the paper, "Phase-contrast tomography at the nanoscale using hard x rays", M. Stampanoni et al., Phys. Rev. B 81, 140105(R) (2010).