Development of X-Ray Sources Using Intense Laser Pulses and Their Applications to X-Ray Microscopy

We report the development of x-ray sources and their applications to x-ray microscopy. We applied a Ni-like Ag x-ray laser at 13.9 nm to Fourier transform holography (FTH) and obtained a reconstructed image with a resolution of 87 nm using a single-shot x-ray laser pulse. As the achievable spatial resolution of the single-shot FTH is limited by the strength of the reference wave, we enhanced the resolution of the x-ray imaging using the holography with extended reference by autocorrelation linear differential operation (HERALDO). Clear holograms could be recorded over the full size of an x-ray CCD, and the hologram reconstruction provided an image with a minimum resolution of 24 nm, close to the diffraction limited resolution of the imaging system.