Three-dimensional hydrogen microscopy using a high-energy proton probe

It is a challenge to measure two-dimensional or three-dimensional (3D) hydrogen profiles on a micrometer scale. Quantitative hydrogen analyses of micrometer resolution are demonstrated utilizing proton-proton scattering at a high-energy proton microprobe. It has more than an-order-of-magnitude better position resolution and in addition higher sensitivity than any other technique for 3D hydrogen analyses. This type of hydrogen imaging opens plenty room to characterize microstructured materials, and semiconductor devices or objects in microbiology. The first hydrogen image obtained with a 10 MeV proton microprobe shows the hydrogen distribution of the microcapillary system being present in the wing of a mayfly and demonstrates the potential of the method