Imaging and microtomography facility at the ESRF beamline ID 22

At the ESRF micro-fluorescence, imaging and diffraction ((mu) - FID) beamline ID 22, a microtomography setup has been operational for several months. The coherence properties of the high-energy (10 to 70 keV) X-ray undulator beam at ID 22 make the setup especially suited for phase-contrast tomography including possible holographic reconstruction, but it has also provided to be well adapted to absorption tomography. A fast- readout, low-noise CCD camera makes time-resolved imaging possible. Recent developments in magnifying X-ray optics such as Compound Refractive Lenses (CRL) and Fresnel Zone Plates (FZP) open up the field of magnified-X-ray imaging with a resolution of less than 300 nm. Imaging techniques using a 'pink beam,' i.e. a beam with limited monochromaticity obtained by filtering one harmonic from the undulator spectrum, can increase flux in intensity-limited experiments.