High Speed and High Resolution Table-Top Nanoscale Imaging

Abstract

We present a table-top coherent diffraction imaging (CDI) experiment based on high-order harmonics generated at 18 nm by a high average power femtosecond fiber laser system. The high photon flux, narrow spectral bandwidth and high degree of spatial coherence allow for ultra-high sub-wavelength resolution imaging at a high numerical aperture. Our experiments demonstrate a half-pitch resolution of 13.6 nm, very close to the actual Abbe-limit of 12.4 nm, which is the highest resolution achieved from any table-top XUV or X-ray microscope. In addition, 20.5 nm resolution was achieved with only 3 sec of integration time bringing live diffraction imaging and 3D tomography on the nanoscale one step closer to reality. The current resolution is solely limited by the wavelength and the detector size. Thus, table-top nanoscopes with only a few-nm resolutions are in reach and will find applications in many areas of science and technology.

5 pages, 5 figures

References in corpus (8)

• Bright Coherent Ultrahigh Harmonics in the keV X-Ray Regime from Mid-Infrared Femtosecond Lasers
• Femtosecond Diffractive Imaging with a Soft-X-ray Free-Electron Laser
• X-ray image reconstruction from a diffraction pattern alone
• High-resolution ab initio three-dimensional X-ray diffraction microscopy
• Relaxed Averaged Alternating Reflections for Diffraction Imaging
• High photon flux table-top coherent extreme ultraviolet source
• 1kW 1mJ 8-channel ultrafast fiber laser
• High-repetition-rate and high-photon-flux 70 eV high-harmonic source for coincidence ion imaging of gas-phase molecules

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Coherent Beam Combination of Ultrafast Fiber Lasers
• Wavelength-scale ptychographic coherent diffractive imaging using a high-order harmonic source
• High-average-power femtosecond laser at 258 nm
• Gaussian-Schell analysis of the transverse spatial properties of high-harmonic beams