Scientific Scope

The Hard X-ray Nanoprobe beamline and endstation instruments (HXN) will be designed and constructed to explore new frontiers of hard x-ray microscopy applications with the highest achievable spatial resolution. Currently the available spatial resolution for scientific applications, provided by scanning x-ray microscopes in the hard x-ray regime, is limited to ~50nm, which is still insufficient for probing the nanoscale interfacial structures critical in determining properties and functionalities of material and biological systems. The HXN beamline aims to enable x-ray experiments at spatial resolutions ranging from 10 to 30 nm with an ultimate goal of ~1 nm.

Beamline Description

The beamline is designed to minimize all possible sources of vibration and thermal drift. The conceptual design of the HXN beamline is optimized with the physical boundary conditions required to construct a satellite building physically isolated from the potential noise sources from the NSLS-II storage ring, experimental hall, and the adjacent lab-office building. This stability is needed to produce the ultimate goal of a 1 nm spot size.