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.
WOS:001282532700005
39085541
Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain
Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain
Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain
Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain
Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain
University of Southern California
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain
2024-08-01
632
8023
REVIEWED
EPFL
| Funder | Funding(s) | Grant Number | Grant 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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