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research article

High-performance 4-nm-resolution X-ray tomography using burst ptychography

Aidukas, Tomas
•
Phillips, N. W.
•
Diaz, Ana
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August 1, 2024
Nature

Advances in science, medicine and engineering rely on breakthroughs in imaging, particularly for obtaining multiscale, three-dimensional information from functional systems such as integrated circuits or mammalian brains. Achieving this goal often requires combining electron- and photon-based approaches. Whereas electron microscopy provides nanometre resolution through serial, destructive imaging of surface layers1, ptychographic X-ray computed tomography2 offers non-destructive imaging and has recently achieved resolutions down to seven nanometres for a small volume3. Here we implement burst ptychography, which overcomes experimental instabilities and enables much higher performance, with 4-nanometre resolution at a 170-times faster acquisition rate, namely, 14,000 resolution elements per second. Another key innovation is tomographic back-propagation reconstruction4, allowing us to image samples up to ten times larger than the conventional depth of field. By combining the two innovations, we successfully imaged a state-of-the-art (seven-nanometre node) commercial integrated circuit, featuring nanostructures made of low- and high-density materials such as silicon and metals, which offer good radiation stability and contrast at the selected X-ray wavelength. These capabilities enabled a detailed study of the chip's design and manufacturing, down to the level of individual transistors. We anticipate that the combination of nanometre resolution and higher X-ray flux at next-generation X-ray sources will have a revolutionary impact in fields ranging from electronics to electrochemistry and neuroscience. X-ray computed tomography is combined with burst ptychography and filtered back-propagation to achieve high-speed, three-dimensional imaging of features as small as 4 nm.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.1038/s41586-024-07615-6
Web of Science ID

WOS:001282532700005

PubMed ID

39085541

Author(s)
Aidukas, Tomas

Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain

Phillips, N. W.

Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain

Diaz, Ana

Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain

Poghosyan, Emiliya

Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain

Muller, Elisabeth

Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain

Levi, Anthony

University of Southern California

Aeppli, Gabriel  

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Guizar-Sicairos, Manuel  

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Holler, Mirko

Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain

Date Issued

2024-08-01

Publisher

NATURE PORTFOLIO

Published in
Nature
Volume

632

Issue

8023

Subjects

PHASE RETRIEVAL

•

OPTIMIZATION

•

MICROSCOPY

•

ALGORITHM

•

Science & Technology

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
LTM  
CXI  
FunderFunding(s)Grant NumberGrant URL

Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)

200021_196898

European Union (EU)

884104

European Research Council under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, within the Hidden, Entangled and Resonating Order (HERO) project

810451

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Available on Infoscience
February 1, 2025
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/246235
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