Abstract

Scanning luminescence x-ray microscopy is based on the use of the very small focussed probe of a scanning x-ray microscope to stimulate visible light emission from dyes usually used in conventional fluorescence microscopy. Using an undulator x-ray source and a Fresnel zone plate to produce a focussed x-ray probe, we have obtained 50–75 nm resolution images of P31 phosphor grains, and we have imaged luminescence from polystyrene spheres loaded with 50–100 μmol/g of fluorescent dye. Further development of this technique should make possible the imaging of dye-tagged sites of biochemical activity at 20–60 nm resolution in wet, unsectioned, and perhaps even initially living cells. A possible extension of the technique for 3D imaging at the transverse resolution of the x-ray microscope is described, where visible light collection optics might be used to obtain <500 nm axial resolution.

© 1992 Optical Society of America