High-resolution X-ray ptychography for magnetic imaging

Abstract

The resolution in standard X-ray microscopes is limited by the focusing element, e.g. Fresnel Zone Plates (FZP), and stays in the range of 20 nm for highly efficient plates. Diffraction imaging techniques with the use of coherent X-ray radiation potentially can achieve wavelength limited resolution solving so-called “phase problem”. Ptychography is the combination of diffraction imaging and scanning transmission microscopy that provides images of extended sample areas utilizing iterative reconstruction algorithm. The main focus of this thesis is the realization of ptychographic imaging on the samples with different scattering power, as well as the investigation and improvement of the microscopic potential of this method in detailed comparison with conventional STXM imaging. The technique is applied to sub-100 nm sized magnetic structures of the current scientific interest, i.e. domain walls, vortices and skyrmions.