Coaxial arrangement of a scanning probe and an X-ray microscope as a novel tool for nanoscience

We report on the design and first tests of a novel instrument aimed at combining the benefits of scanning force microscopy with those of X-ray spectroscopy. For this we built an instrument combining a scanning transmission X-ray microscope with a beam-deflection atomic force microscope in a coaxial geometry. This allows to combine X-ray absorption spectroscopy and high resolution topography in-situ. When replacing the conventional scanning probe tip by a coaxially shielded tip the instrument will allow detection of the photoelectrons produced by resonant X-ray absorption. This could yield spectroscopic information with a spatial resolution approaching the values achievable with atomic force microscopy.