Hard X-ray imaging of bacterial cells: nano-diffraction and ptychographic reconstruction

Opt Express. 2012 Aug 13;20(17):19232-54. doi: 10.1364/OE.20.019232.

Abstract

Ptychographic coherent X-ray diffractive imaging (PCDI) has been combined with nano-focus X-ray diffraction to study the structure and density distribution of unstained and unsliced bacterial cells, using a hard X-ray beam of 6.2keV photon energy, focused to about 90nm by a Fresnel zone plate lens. While PCDI provides images of the bacteria with quantitative contrast in real space with a resolution well below the beam size at the sample, spatially resolved small angle X-ray scattering using the same Fresnel zone plate (cellular nano-diffraction) provides structural information at highest resolution in reciprocal space up to 2nm(-1). We show how the real and reciprocal space approach can be used synergistically on the same sample and with the same setup. In addition, we present 3D hard X-ray imaging of unstained bacterial cells by a combination of ptychography and tomography.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Computer-Aided Design
  • Deinococcus / physiology*
  • Deinococcus / ultrastructure*
  • Equipment Design
  • Equipment Failure Analysis
  • Microscopy, Polarization / instrumentation*
  • Nanotechnology / instrumentation*
  • Pattern Recognition, Automated / methods*
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed / instrumentation*