Lab News & Scientific Highlights
SLS MX beamtime update
Update of the SLS MX beamline operation during the COVID-19 period
X-ray Imaging for Biomedicine: Imaging Large Volumes of Fresh Tissue at High Resolution
The TOMCAT beamline at the Swiss Light Source specializes in rapid high-resolution 3-dimensional tomographic microscopy measurements with a strong focus on biomedical imaging. The team has recently developed a technique to acquire micrometer-scale resolution datasets on the entire lung structure of a juvenile rat in its fresh natural state within the animal’s body and without the need for any fixation, staining or other alteration that would affect the observed structure (E. Borisova et al., 2020, Histochem Cell Biol).
Des nanomondes en 3D
Des images tomographiques de l’intérieur de fossiles, de cellules cérébrales et de puces informatiques fournissent des éléments de connaissance sur leurs structures les plus fines. Ce sont les rayons X de la Source de Lumière Suisse SLS qui permettent de réussir ces images en 3D grâce à des instruments ultra-modernes, des détecteurs développés au PSI et des algorithmes informatiques sophistiqués.
Court-métrage d’un nano-tourbillon magnétique
Des chercheurs ont développé une nouvelle méthode d’analyse qui leur a permis de visualiser la structure magnétique à l’intérieur d’un matériau à l’échelle du nanomètre. Ils ont réussi à réaliser un petit «film» de sept images qui montre pour la première fois en 3D les changements que de minuscules tourbillons magnétiques subissent au cœur du matériau.
Innovation Award on Synchrotron Radiation 2019 for the development of XFEL detectors using the adaptive gain principle
The Innovation Award on Synchrotron Radiation 2019 was given to the researchers Prof. Heinz Graafsma from Desy and Dr. Aldo Mozzanica and Dr. Bernd Schmitt both from the Paul Scherrer Institute. The three physicists were honored for their contributions to the development of detectors for XFEL applications based on the dynamic gain switching principle enabling simultaneously single photon resolution and a large dynamic range. The laudation was held by Prof. Edgar Weckert from Desy. The Synchrotron Radiation Innovation Award is sponsored by SPECS GmbH and BESTEC GmbH.
MacEtch in gas phase: a new nanofabrication technology at PSI
The grating fabrication team of the X-ray tomography group has scored another record in etching technology of silicon by realizing a MacEtch process in gas phase. Ultra-high aspect ratios (up to 10 000 : 1) in the nanoscale regime (down to 10 nm) were achieved by platinum assisted chemical etching of silicon in the gas phase. The results were published in Nanoscale Horizons on February 17, 2020.
Animal embryos evolved before animals
Detailed characterization of cellular structure and development of exceptionally preserved ancient tiny fossils from South China by synchrotron based X-ray tomographic microscopy at TOMCAT led an international team of researchers from the University of Bristol and Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology to the discovery that animal-like embryos evolved long before the first animals appear in the fossil record.
Radiographier rapidement et précisément des matériaux composites renforcés de fibres
Des chercheurs de l’Institut Paul Scherrer PSI ont mis au point une méthode de diffusion des rayons X aux petits angles qui peut être utilisée pour le développement ou le contrôle qualité de matériaux composites novateurs renforcés de fibres. Grâce à elle, les analyses de ces matériaux pourraient se faire à l’avenir non seulement par recours aux rayons X issus de sources puissantes comme la Source de Lumière Suisse SLS, mais aussi avec le rayonnement issu de tubes à rayons X conventionnels.
3D imaging for planar samples with zooming
Researchers of the Paul Scherrer Institut have previously generated 3-D images of a commercially available computer chip. This was achieved using a high-resolution tomography method. Now they extended their imaging approach to a so-called laminography geometry to remove the requirement of preparing isolated samples, also enabling imaging at various magnification. For ptychographic X-ray laminography (PyXL) a new instrument was developed and built, and new data reconstruction algorithms were implemented to align the projections and reconstruct a 3D dataset. The new capabilities were demonstrated by imaging a 16 nm FinFET integrated circuit at 18.9 nm 3D resolution at the Swiss Light Source. The results are reported in the latest edition of the journal Nature Electronics. The imaging technique is not limited to integrated circuits, but can be used for high-resolution 3D imaging of flat extended samples. Thus the researchers start now to exploit other areas of science ranging from biology to magnetism.