High resolution, three dimensional soft x-ray imaging

A long term goal of soft x-ray imaging has been to make ultrahigh resolution images of unstained, unprepared, wet, live biological microstructures in physiological normal environments. This is now being accomplished with features as small as 300 {Angstrom} being observed in two dimensional x-ray images. While this achievement is remarkable, most complex biological structures are three dimensional in nature and will require three dimensional images on the few hundred Angstrom scale for the structure-function studies required by modern biology. We have been endeavoring to achieve this three dimensional capability with soft x-ray techniques.