Pulsed X-Ray Microscopy Of Biological Specimens With Laser Plasma Sources

The development of a compact, affordable, high-resolution x-ray microscope will have a strong impact on the biological and medical sciences. We discuss the potential that pulsed, laser-plasma x-ray sources have to this development. Several approaches to the high-resolution analysis of dried and in-vitro biological specimens with laser-plasma sources are described. We discuss the details of the laser and plasma conditions required for optimum x-ray generation, and the various x-ray optical and x-ray electro-optical imaging systems which could be incorporated into a compact, laser-plasma x-ray microscope