May_AMP_Digital

13 / 66

A D V A N C E D
M A T E R I A L S
&
P R O C E S S E S |
M A Y
2 0 1 5
1 3
X-ray image of butterfly antennae (a), mouth (b), and claw (c). Imaged regions are indicated
in the optical microgram in the center.
NSLS-II PRODUCES
INAUGURAL IMAGES
At the National Synchrotron Light
Source II (NSLS-II) at DOE’s Brookha-
ven National Laboratory, Upton, N.Y.,
scientists working at the Hard X-Ray
Nanoprobe (HXN) produced the facili-
ty’s inaugural x-ray images. Their strik-
ing renderings of a monarch butterfly
demonstrate the synchrotron’s ability
to generate extremely detailed images.
After the beamline components and
optics were aligned, monochromatic
x-rays were sent from the first optical
enclosure to the experimental station.
Next, the images were taken using a
high-resolution CCD camera with an
optically coupled scintillation screen.
The group used an imaging resolu-
tion of 1.5 microns per pixel. Test im-
ages were produced using x-rays only
one-thousandth of the maximum pow-
er of NSLS-II.
The butterfly sample was po-
sitioned 63 m from the x-ray source,
and the CCD camera was placed 160
mm away from the sample. This cam-
era-to-sample distance was chosen to
yield images with optimal contrast using
a method called in-line phase-contrast
imaging. Because the butterfly was
much larger than the field of view of the
camera, different parts of the specimen
were imaged separately. Images were
then stitched together to construct a
broader view. “The images show amaz-
ing contrast, as if they were hand-drawn
by an artist,” says Hanfei Yan, an HXN
beamline scientist. .