High-Resolution, Quantitative, and Three-Dimensional Coherent Diffractive Imaging with a Tabletop Euv Source

Imaging is a critical tool used across a broad range of applications in science, technology, medicine, and manufacturing. Microscopy, the type of imaging which allows us to access the elusive yet rich world of what is smaller than we can naturally see-- makes it possible to observe and design the nano-world of biological, material, and nanofabricated systems. In this thesis, I describe the development of a new type of microscopy that combines two powerful tools: coherent extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light sources produced by high harmonic generation, and ptychographic coherent diffractive imaging. This microscope produces high-resolution, chemically-specific, phase- and amplitude- contrast images with large fields of view on the order of hundreds of microns, while preserving a high spatial resolution on the scale of tens of nanometers. Recently, we extended this new tabletop microscopy technique to image reflective samples, periodic samples, and to image dynamic nano-scale elastic and thermal processes. I will discuss these advances and in particular demonstrate two new capabilities: first, a new imaging technique with high compositionally- and morphologically-sensitive quantitative information, capable of imaging reactions and diffusion at a buried interface. This capability will open up a new, exquisitely sensitive layer-by-layer imaging that has many applications in nanoscience and nanotechnology, including surface and materials science and metrology. Secondly, I will demonstrate imaging of a thick sample in three dimensions. By accounting for diffraction within a thick sample, it is possible to obtain high-resolution three-dimensional images of biological and meta-material samples non-invasively, and without the use of staining or labeling