Design and performance of the 2-ID-B scanning x-ray microscope

We have constructed a high resolution scanning x-ray microscope at the 2-ID-B beamline at the Advanced Photon Source for 1-4 keV x-ray imaging and microspectroscopy experiments. The microscope uses a Fresnel zone plate to focus coherent x-ray undulator radiation to a 150 nm focal spot on a sample. The spectral flux in the focus is 108 ph/s/0.1% BW. X-ray photons transmitted by the sample are detected by an avalanche photodiode as the sample is scanned to form an absorption image. The sample stage has both coarse and fine translation axes for raster scanning and a rotation axis for microtomography experiments. The incident x-ray beam energy can also be scanned via the 2-ID-B monochromator while the sample is kept in focus to record spatially resolved absorption spectra. We have measured the performance of the instrument with various test objects. The microscope hardware, software, and performance are discussed in this paper