Laser-generated plasmas: source requirements for x-ray microscopy

Microscopic imaging using x rays has been made feasible by recent developments in techniques for manufacturing x-ray optical components and in synchrotron radiation sources. However, it is clear that x-ray microscopes cannot become widely available instruments if they have to rely on synchrotron radiation sources. Laser-generated plasmas can give intense bursts of x rays, and in this paper the requirements for two types of imaging, contact microradiography and scanning transmission x-ray microscopy, are discussed, with particular reference to the use of small commercially available lasers. Such lasers could be of use, particularly for scanning x-ray microscopes, but it is unlikely they will be capable of completely replacing synchrotrons as sources for x-ray microscopy.