Sub-wavelength coherent imaging of periodic samples using a 13.5 nm tabletop high harmonic light source

Abstract

Coherent diffractive imaging is unique as the only route for achieving diffraction-limited spatial resolution in the extreme ultraviolet and X-ray regions, limited only by the wavelength of the light. Recently, advances in coherent short wavelength light sources, coupled with progress in algorithm development, have significantly enhanced the power of x-ray imaging. However, to date, high-fidelity diffraction imaging of periodic objects has been a challenge because the scattered light is concentrated in isolated peaks. Here, we use tabletop 13.5nm high harmonic beams to make two significant advances. First we demonstrate high-quality imaging of an extended, nearly-periodic sample for the first time. Second, we achieve sub-wavelength spatial resolution (12.6nm) imaging at short wavelengths, also for the first time. The key to both advances is a novel technique called modulus enforced probe, which enables robust, quantitative, reconstructions of periodic objects. This work is important for imaging next generation nano-engineered devices.

15 pages, 5 figures

References in corpus (3)

• Phase-Matched Generation of Coherent Soft-X-Rays
• X-ray image reconstruction from a diffraction pattern alone
• Generation of Spatially Coherent Light at Extreme Ultraviolet Wavelengths

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