The Best of Both Worlds: 3D X-ray Microscopy with Ultra-high Resolution and a Large Field of View

Abstract

Abstract. 3D visualizations of complex structures within various samples have been achieved with high spatial resolution by X-ray computed nanotomography (nano-CT). While high spatial resolution generally comes at the expense of field of view (FOV). Here we proposed an approach that stitched several 3D volumes together into a single large volume to significantly increase the size of the FOV while preserving resolution. Combining this with nano-CT, 18-m FOV with sub-60-nm resolution has been achieved for non-destructive 3D visualization of clustered yeasts that were too large for a single scan. It shows high promise for imaging other large samples in the future.