Efficient alignment scheme for zone-plates-based transmission soft X-ray microscope

Alignment and operation of a zone-plate (ZP)-based transmission soft X-ray microscope (TXM) is difficult and time consuming, especially when the TXM has no dedicated X-ray source. We introduce here an efficient TXM alignment scheme. The TXM employed is a simple in-situ-experiment-capable setup. It includes ultrahigh-vacuum (UHV)-compatible conflat flanges and is mountable in tandem with any soft X-ray synchrotron radiation beamlines. Obtaining zeroth- and first-order diffracted (condenser-zone-plate [CZP]-focused) beams simultaneously by means of the objective zone plate (OZP) is the most essential step in the alignment scheme. We were able to acquire, in one hour at a radiation wavelength of 2.49 nm, an image of 50 nm spatial resolution.