Soft X-ray microscopic investigation on self assembling nanocrystals

Soft x-ray microscopy is well suited to investigation of nanoparticles in liquid media. Using a table-top microscope based on a gas-discharge source emitting at 2.88 nm, dried CdTe nanowires and dried PbS hyperbranched nanocrystals are investigated. These structures are the result of the assembly of nanoparticles in a liquid environment. Soft x-ray microscopy is aiming at a better understanding of underlying parameters that affect the self assembly to the desired final structures. It is shown that the presented setup is able to image these particles with a resolution of about 50 nm with exposure times in the range of tens of seconds. The discharge source has a photon flux of more than 109photons/(srsm2) at a photon energy of 430 eV with a bandwidth of /=840. The repetition rate of the source is up to 1000 Hz. With the current setup a photon flux of 5×10 6photons/(m2s) at the sample is achieved.