From the Editor Extraordinary Brightness
T is issue of Microscopy Today focuses on cutting-edge analytical techniques using synchrotron X-ray sources. T e fi rst synchrotron was built by Edwin McMillan in 1945. Synchrotron X rays were initially seen as a nuisance at cyclotron accelerators. Today’s modern synchrotrons use a particle accelerator as a storage ring that generates photons as the particle path is bent. T ese facilities provide X-ray beams of extraordinary brightness, allowing unprec- edented resolution, in time (pulse widths of 100 ps), energy (100s of eV up to 100+keV), and spatial resolution—about 25 nanometers.
Many useful X-ray techniques are available at synchrotrons including fl uorescence,
diff raction, tomography, near absorption edge spectroscopy, and several others. T ese techniques are applied to various materials science challenges, including the study of actinides, aerogels, high explosives, polymer foams, biological materials, cultural heritage artifacts, and fossils—to list a few. Additionally, materials processing and damage processes in materials may be examined in situ . T ere are over forty synchrotron user facilities spread throughout twenty countries around the world. For open research, access is granted through research proposals. T ere is no cost for using most facilities, only your time and travel expenses. Each beamline has a team of scientists who provide assistance and guidance in conducting experiments. In this issue we highlight two techniques commonly found at major synchrotron facilities: X-ray tomography and X-ray fl uorescence. Synchrotrons also can be used for nondestructively measuring changes in materials during dynamic experiments (see article by Cordes et al.). X-ray fl uorescence uses the X-ray beam to excite atoms of an element in a material, releasing charac- teristic X rays that provide identifi cation of the element; the number of atoms of the element present; and, with a spatially focused beam, the locations of concentrations of that element. T is technique is analogous to energy-dispersive spectrometry in an electron microscope, except that X rays are the excitation source. Synchrotrons can provide such a high fl ux of X rays that local concentrations of trace elements within a material can be imaged (Gueriau et al.). Recent developments in optics have pushed resolutions ever closer to the diff raction limit for X rays (Chen et al.), and high-energy X rays allow analysis of actinides without expensive sample processing (Havrilla et al.). X-ray sensitive cameras make it possible to collect full-fi eld hyperspectral images of the entire sample at once (Fittschen et al.). T e articles in this issue illustrate some of the state-of-the-art experiments that are performed at synchrotrons around the world. I thank Brian M. Patterson for supplying the information for this editorial.
Charles Lyman Editor-in-Chief
Publication Objective: to provide information of interest to microscopists.
Microscopy Today is a controlled-circulation trade magazine owned by the Microscopy Society of America that is published six times a year in the odd months. Editorial coverage spans all microscopy techniques including light microscopy, scanning probe microscopy, electron microscopy, ion-beam techniques, and the wide range of microanalytical methods. Readers and authors come from both the life sciences and the physical sciences. The typical length of an article is about 2,000 words plus fi gures and tables; feature articles are longer. Interested authors should consult “Instructions for Contributors” on the Microscopy Today website:
www.microscopy-today.com.
ISSN 1551-9295
Disclaimer The Microscopy Society of America and the editors cannot be held responsible for opinions, errors, or for any consequences arising from the use of information contained in Microscopy Today. The appearance of advertising in Microscopy Today does not constitute an endorsement or approval by the Microscopy Society of America of any claims or information found in the advertisements. By submitting a manuscript to Microscopy Today, the author warrants that the article is original or that the author has written permission to use copyrighted material published elsewhere. While the contents of this magazine are believed to be accurate at press time, neither the Microscopy Society of America, the editors, nor the authors can accept legal responsibility for errors or omissions.
© Copyright 2015 by the Microscopy Society of America. All rights reserved.
Editorial Staff
Charles E. Lyman, Editor-in-Chief
charles.lyman@
lehigh.edu (610) 758-4249
Gennifer Levey, Production Manager
glevey@meridianartpro.com (212) 780-0315
Ron Anderson, Executive Editor
microscopytoday@tampabay.rr.com Phil Oshel, Technical Editor
oshel1pe@cmich.edu Stephen Carmichael, Columnist
carmichael.stephen@
mayo.edu Michael Davidson, Pioneers Editor
davidson@magnet.fsu.edu Steven Barlow, Education Editor
sbarlow@mail.sdsu.edu Thomas E. Phillips, Consulting Editor
phillipst@missouri.edu E. Ann Ellis, Microscopy 101 Editor
eann.ellis@suddenlink.net Paul Webster, Calendar Editor
pwebster@usc.edu John Shields, Humor Editor
jpshield@uga.edu Thomas Kelly, Chief Awards Judge T
omas.kelly@
ametek.com
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Magazine website:
http://www.microscopy-today.com Free subscriptions are available
Publisher Cambridge University Press 32 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10013-2473 (212) 337-5000
Circulation: 18,000
Editorial Board Arlan Benscoter, Lehigh University John Bozzola, Southern Illinois University Peter Crozier, Arizona State University Vinayak Dravid, Northwestern University Joseph Goldstein, University of Massachusetts David Grubb, Cornell University Bryan Huey, University of Connecticut John Mackenzie, North Carolina State Univ. Paul Maddox, University of Montreal Ania Majewska, U. Rochester Med School Greg Meeker, U.S. Geological Survey Joseph Michael, Sandia National Labs Caroline Miller, Indiana University Brian M. Patterson, Los Alamos National Lab Robert Price, University of South Carolina John Reffner, John Jay College, SUNY Ian Robertson, University of Wisconsin Phillip Russell, Appalachian State University Glenn Shipley, Citizen Microscopist Robert Simmons, Georgia State University Paul Voyles, University of Wisconsin Simon Watkins, University of Pittsburgh Cynthia Zeissler, Nat. Inst. of Sci. and Tech. (NIST)
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