Advanced Photon Source's Hard X-Ray Scanning Microprobe

2000 R&D 100 Award Winner!

With suboptical spatial resolution, the microprobe offers unprecedented benefits via quantitative elemental, chemical, structural, and tomographic analysis for application to an unlimited range of samples. The hydrated bacteria (pseudomonas fluorescens) in these fluorescence images are about 1 x 4 microns in size; elemental maps of potassium and chromium are shown, following treatment with a chromium (+6) solution.

The hard X-ray scanning microprobe at Argonne's Advanced Photon Source (APS) is a versatile, noninvasive tool that can be applied to very broad classes of samples and configurations, tremendously expands the potential of X-ray techniques. The technology’s suboptical spatial resolution renders feasible the microcharacterization of specimens as diverse as semiconductor materials, fine airborne particles, and bacteria. The APS X-ray microprobe has a detection limit in the range of 10-100 ppb, better than 0.01% accuracy in structural analysis, and the ability to investigate chemical speciation, atomic arrangement, and even 3-D volumetric distribution, all at submicron resolution. The device can image fully hydrated biological specimens, the smallest microelectronic devices, and any sort of materials sample. No specimen preparation techniques are needed, so artifacts arising from sample preparation are avoided. Samples tens to hundreds of microns thick can be examined “as-is,” without sectioning or other processing.

The combination of broad sample application and excellent analytical capabilities has placed the APS hard X-ray scanning microprobe at the forefront of applications in microelectronics and materials science, biomedical research, and environmental sciences. Likely impacts on everyday life associated with applications of the APS X-ray microprobe include better understanding of infectious diseases and development of new, more effective drugs and other medical treatments; greatly refined techniques for studying environmental contaminants and restoring damaged sites; faster, less expensive, more reliable microelectronic and communication devices; and lighter, safer, stronger materials for use in transportation, storage, and other applications. .

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More Detail on Argonne's APS Hard X-Ray Scanning Microprobe

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For more information, contact Argonne's Technology Development and Commercialization (800-627-2596, partners@anl.gov).