A synchrotron radiation microprobe for X-ray fluorescence and microtomography at ELETTRA

A synchrotron radiation microscope based on X-ray fluorescence and computed microtomography for advanced applications in biomedicine, environmental sciences, geology and materials science is described. This microscope will utilize the radiation produced by a bending magnet of ELETTRA, the third-generation, high-brilliance synchrotron radiation facility being built in Trieste. Various wide-band-pass mirror systems operating in an energy range between 7 and 17 keV have been designed. For example, multilayer-coated mirrors in the Kirkpatrick-Baez configuration can produce a spatial resolution of 1 μm² for a flux in excess of 10⁸ photons per second on the sample (E = 12 keV, E/ΔE = 10). This X-ray microprobe will allow micrometric mapping of trace and minor elements and computed tomographic imaging with high resolution, opening a new realm of experiments in different fields of science, such as in vivo elemental scanning and microtomography of cultured cells, analysis of single atmospheric particulates, analysis of cosmic debris collected from the stratosphere and antarctic ice, etc. The preliminary design of the beam line and the performance of the microprobe are discussed.