Article
Article
X-ray microscope
Article By:
Engstrom, Arne Department of Medical Physics, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
Last reviewed:June 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.750800
A term used to describe a technique and an instrument or combination of instruments which utilize x-radiation for chemical analysis and for magnification of 100–1000 diameters. The resolution possible is about 0.25 micrometer. X-ray microscopy is a relatively recent development among the microscopic techniques. The contrast in the x-ray microscopic image is caused by varying x-ray attenuation in the specimen. The advantage of x-ray microscopy is that it yields quantitative chemical information, besides structural information, about objects, including those which are opaque to light. It is a reliable ultramicrochemical analytical technique by which amounts of elements and weights of samples as small as 10−12 to 10−14 g can be analyzed with an error of only a few percent. See also: X-ray optics
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