Nanotomography based on hard x-ray microscopy with refractive lenses

Based on parabolic refractive x-ray lenses we have built a hard x-ray microscope that allows one to image the interior of opaque samples with submicrometer resolution. We have combined magnified imaging with tomography to obtain the three-dimensional structure of the sample at a resolution well below 1 mum. Using an aluminum lens to record a magnified tomogram of a test sample (microprocessor), a resolution of slightly above 400 nm was found for the three-dimensional reconstruction. Lenses made of beryllium are expected to improve this resolution to well below 100 nm. The resulting challenges concerning instrumentation and numerical methods are discussed. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.