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Realization of World's Narrowest X-Ray Beams - Breaking the barrier of 10 nm for the first time in the world (Press Release)

Release Date
23 Nov, 2009
  • BL29XU (RIKEN Coherent X-ray Optics)
Osaka University, RIKEN, and Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute broke the 10 nm barrier for the width of X-ray beams and succeeded in forming 7 nm X-ray beams at SPring-8 for the first time in the world.

Osaka University
RIKEN
Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute

Key Research Achievements
• Accurate correction of X-ray wavefront aberrations and realization of the world's narrowest X-ray beams of 7 nm
• Enabling future development of X-ray microscopes with nanometer resolution

Osaka University (Kiyokazu Washida, President), RIKEN (Ryoji Noyori, President), and Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (Tetsuhisa Shirakawa, President) broke the 10 nm*1 barrier for the width of X-ray beams and succeeded in forming 7 nm X-ray beams at SPring-8 for the first time in the world. This was achieved by a joint research group consisting of Professor Kazuto Yamauchi and Assistant Professor Hidekazu Mimura of the Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, and Tetsuya Ishikawa, director of the RIKEN SPring-8 Center and also the leader of the X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL) Project.

The analysis of substances and cells is indispensable for developing new drugs and materials. To this end, various types of microscope, such as optical, electron, and X-ray microscopes, have been developed to produce images of fine structures. Because X-rays have high penetrating power, such as those used for radiography in hospitals, X-ray microscopes are capable of simultaneously observing three-dimensional structures, elements, and chemical bonding states inside a material, and are also capable of observing the structures of protein molecules. Thus, they are very powerful microscopes in the fields of medicine, biology, and materials science. However, X-ray microscopes have not yet achieved nanometer resolution in the lateral direction, which is indispensable for cutting-edge nanotechnology research.

Osaka University and RIKEN, for the first time in the world, broke the 10 nm barrier for the width of X-ray beams at SPring-8, and confirmed the successful formation of 7 nm X-ray beams. This suggests that X-ray microscopes with nanometer resolution, equivalent to that of electron microscopes, will be realized in the near future. The scientists of the research group assumed X-rays to be waves of angstrom*1 scale, and completely determined the aberrations in the distribution of X-ray waves generated through an X-ray focusing mirror. The waves were corrected using a mirror that can deform waves with an accuracy of 0.1 nm to form physically perfect diffraction-limited*2 X-ray nanobeams. These X-ray beams are the narrowest in the world and are also the world's narrowest ever optical beams, marking a very significant historic breakthrough in physics. The use of these beams is expected to become widespread in all research facilities with X-ray microscopes, endowing various types of X-ray microscope with nanometer resolution, and greatly contributing to the development of science and technology. These results were published in the online version of the British scientific journal, Nature Physics, on 22 November 2009.

Publication:
"Breaking the 10 nm barrier in hard-X-ray focusing"
Hidekazu Mimura, Soichiro Handa, Takashi Kimura, Hirokatsu Yumoto, Daisuke Yamakawa, Hikaru Yokoyama, Satoshi Matsuyama, Kouji Inagaki, Kazuya Yamamura, Yasuhisa Sano, Kenji Tamasaku, Yoshinori Nishino, Makina Yabashi, Tetsuya Ishikawa & Kazuto Yamauchi
Nature Physics, published online 22 November 2009.

<Figure>

Fig. 1 Fields expected to benefit from this achievement (in the case of X-ray microscopy)

Fig. 1 Fields expected to benefit from this achievement (in the case of X-ray microscopy)

Fig. 2 Schematic of X-ray nanobeams formed by wavefront correction

Fig. 2 Schematic of X-ray nanobeams formed by wavefront correction
Aberrations generated at a focusing mirror are corrected by a deformable mirror.

Fig. 3 X-ray nanobeams realized in the established X-ray focusing optical system

(a) Intensity profiles of X-ray beams before and after correction

Fig. 3 X-ray nanobeams realized in the established X-ray focusing optical system

(b) Intensity distribution near focal point after correction

Fig. 3 X-ray nanobeams realized in the established X-ray focusing optical system
The 10 nm barrier was broken for the first time in the world, and 7 nm X-ray beams were realized.

<Glossary>

*1 Nanometer and angstrom
A nanometer is a billionth of a meter (10-9 m). Nanotechnology involves the use of nanometer substances. One angstrom is a ten-billionth of a meter (10-10 m). This size corresponds to the distance between atoms in substances.

*2 Diffraction limit
Owing to diffraction, which is an inherent property of light, each optical system has a theoretical limit to the minimum spot size to which light can be focused. This is called the diffraction limit. The diffraction limit is determined by the light-receiving area of a focusing mirror or lens, the focal distance, the wavelength, and other factors.

For more information, please contact:
Professor Kazuto Yamauchi (Osaka University)
e-mail: mail,

Dr. Hidekazu Mimura (Osaka University)
e-mail: mail,

or
Dr. Tetsuya Ishikawa (RIKEN)
e-mail: mail.