Quantitative chemistry and orientation of polymers in 2-d and 3-d by scanning transmission X-ray microscopy

In the last 20 years, synchrotron based soft X-ray scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) [1,2] has emerged as a powerful micro-analytical technique with particular strengths in the analysis of soft matter — polymers, biological and environmental samples. Its analytical power stems from spatially resolved near-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy (NEXAFS); thus it produces information analogous to that delivered by electron energy loss spectroscopy in analytical transmission electron microscopes (TEM-EELS). NEXAFS microscopy has significant advantages for studies of soft matter, which is typically a challenge for TEM-EELS due to radiation damage. This presentation will describe current state-of-the-art soft X-ray microscopes (including the recently commissioned spectromicroscopy facility at the Canadian Light Source in Saskatoon), and illustrate their performance with examples of two-dimensional and three-dimensional quantitative studies of chemical and orientational information in a variety of systems, including partially and fully hydrated samples.