Adam Hitchcock: Soft X-ray Spectromicroscopy in Scanning Transmission X-ray Microscopes

Soft X-ray scanning transmission microscopy (STXM) is a powerful tool for nanoscale materials analysis, with significant advantages over analytical electron microscopies for studies of radiation sensitive materials. Chemical species identified by near edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectra can be mapped quantitatively in 2D and in 3D. STXM instrumentation and methods will be described, with emphasis on spectromicroscopy: chemical mapping by the analysis of images measured at many photon energies. Performance will be illustrated by recent studies of (i) cathodes of low temperature, proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEM-FC), which are under development for automotive applications, and (ii) biomineralization of single domain, single crystal nano-magnetite by magnetotactic bacteria.

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