Three-dimensional X-ray fluorescence micro- and nanoanalysis using synchrotron radiation

Micro X-ray Fluorescence (μ-XRF) is a rapidly evolving analytical technique which allows the visualization of trace level elemental distributions within a specimen in an essentially non-destructive manner. At the most advanced, third generation synchrotron radiation (SR) sources, detection limits at the sub-ppm level can be obtained with a lateral resolution level down to 50-100 nm, while at second generation facilities the spatial resolution is limited to the micrometer scale. X-ray fluorescence tomography and polycapillary based confocal XRF imaging using synchrotron radiation are among the emerging micro/nano-analytical methods providing three-dimensional (3D), potentially quantitative information on the elemental distributions in the probed sample volume with trace-level detection limits. This work illustrates the development and applications of synchrotron radiation micro/nano-XRF imaging towards a fully three-dimensional analytical method with spatial resolution levels down to the 100 nm - 10 μm scales and its combination with complementary techniques, such as laboratory X-ray absorption microtomography. Applications of 3D micro- and nano-XRF elemental imaging will be illustrated for the non-destructive analysis of a) microscopic inclusions in natural diamonds (Brenker et al. 2007) b) unique cometary micro-particles brought to Earth in the framework of NASA’s Stardust mission (Brownlee et al. 2006, Flynn et al. 2006) and c) biological model organisms (Silversmit et al. 2009, De Samber et al. 2010). The presented in-situ X-ray fluorescence micro/nano-tomography and confocal X-ray microfluorescence imaging experiments were performed at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) ID13, ID22NI and HASYLAB L beam lines, and complementary X-ray absorption microtomography experiments were performed at the UGCT facility at Ghent University