Object localization with 10 nm accuracy by x-ray phase contrast projection imaging

The present work focuses on the question of localizing single object by hard x-ray phase contrast projection imaging. The authors present a setup where an x-ray channel waveguide defines a "quasi-point source" used to illuminate and image an object in a highly coherent cone beam. Knife edge fluorescence scans revealed a beam diameter of 75 nm at a distance of 30 mu m behind the guide. The recorded image corresponds to an in-line hologram of the object which can be reconstructed numerically. Object translations and associated shifts in the hologram allow for the 10 nm localization accuracy. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.