Micro- and nano-tomography at the DIAMOND beamline I13L imaging and coherence

Abstract

The Diamond Beamline I13L is dedicated to imaging on the micro-and nano-lengthsale, operating in the energy range between 6 and 30 keV. For this purpose two independently operating branchlines and endstations have been built. The imaging branch is fully operational for micro-tomography and in-line phase contrast imaging with micrometre resolution. Grating interferometry is currently implemented, adding the capability of measuring phase and small-angle information. For tomography with increased resolution a full-field microscope providing 50 nm spatial resolution with a field of view of 100 µm is being tested. The instrument provides a large working distance between optics and sample to adapt a wide range of customised sample environments. On the coherence branch coherent diffraction imaging techniques such as ptychography, coherent X-ray diffraction (CXRD) are currently developed for three dimensional imaging with the highest resolution.The imaging branch is operated in collaboration with Manchester University, called therefore the Diamond-Manchester Branchline. The scientific applications cover a large area including bio-medicine, materials science, chemistry geology and more. The present paper provides an overview about the current status of the beamline and the science addressed..

Time-Lapse In Situ 3D Imaging Analysis of Human Enamel Demineralisation Using X-ray Synchrotron Tomography

“…X-ray micro-tomography experiments were performed at the Diamond Manchester Imaging Branchline (I13-2, Diamond Light Source (Harwell, Didcot, UK)) [55,56]. The experiment was carried out using a modified method based on our previous work on static conditions at this beamline [6,8,12].…”

Synchrotron X-ray Studies of the Structural and Functional Hierarchies in Mineralised Human Dental Enamel: A State-of-the-Art Review

“…The combination of a fast acquisition time over large sample dimensions, with high resolution, as well as the ability to use environment chambers and mechanical tests, cannot be matched by other techniques. Such approaches have been used in several other fields, e.g., steel, alloy, electrolyte samples, magmatic processes, and self-healing materials [ 614 , 615 , 616 , 617 , 618 , 619 ]. In situ experiments have been carried out on enamel demineralisation for the calculation of the rate of modification of the tissue structure and visualisation with time [ 304 ], allowing time-lapse analysis of rod and inter-rod demineralisation ( Figure 8 a), in contrast to previous studies using different pH solutions and single time points [ 57 ], using intraoral mandibular appliances [ 446 ], or artificial demineralisation with time using laboratory tomography and radiography [ 145 , 620 ].…”

Micro-CT visualization of a promastigote secretory gel (PSG) and parasite plug in the digestive tract of the sand fly Lutzomyia longipalpis infected with Leishmania mexicana

“…Leishmania parasites associated with the thoracic midgut and stomodeal valve can be imaged by fluorescent and confocal microscopy [23], but only after destructive dissection. For non-destructive imaging of Leishmania in intact vectors, synchotron nanotomography [24] could be a potential way forwards, following appropriate specimen preparation, allowing greater resolution than micro-CT (e.g. pixel size of 10 nm [25]) in a shorter scan time.…”