Phase-contrast tomography at the nanoscale using hard x rays

Synchrotron-based full-field tomographic microscopy established itself as a tool for noninvasive investigations. Many beamlines worldwide routinely achieve micrometer spatial resolution while the isotropic 100-nm barrier is reached and trespassed only by few instruments, mainly in the soft x-ray regime. We present an x-ray, full-field microscope with tomographic capabilities operating at 10 keV and with an isotropic resolution of 144 nm. Custom-designed optical components allow for ideal, aperture-matched sample illumination and very sensitive phase contrast imaging. We show here that the instrument has been successfully used for the nondestructive, volumetric investigation of single cells.