Soft X-ray imaging with coherence tomography in the water window spectral range using high-harmonic generation

Julius Reinhard; Felix Wiesner; Martin Hennecke; Themistoklis Sidiropoulos; Sophia Kaleta; Julian Späthe; Johann Jakob Abel; Martin Wünsche; Gabriele Schmidl; Jonathan Plentz; Uwe Hübner; Katharina Freiberg; Jonathan Apell; Stephanie Lippmann; Matthias Schnürer; Stefan Eisebitt; Gerhard G. Paulus; Silvio Fuchs

doi:10.1038/s41377-025-02057-9

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Soft X-ray imaging with coherence tomography in the water window spectral range using high-harmonic generation

Original Articles

- Soft X-ray imaging with coherence tomography in the water window spectral range using high-harmonic generation
- Soft X-ray imaging with coherence tomography in the water window spectral range using high-harmonic generation
- Light: Science & Applications 2026年15卷第3期页码：848-857
- Affiliations：
  
  1.Institute of Optics and Quantum Electronics, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany
  2.Helmholtz Institute Jena, GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, Jena, Germany
  3.Max-Born-Institut für Nichtlineare Optik und Kurzzeitspektroskopie, Berlin, Germany
  4.Indigo Optical Systems GmbH, Jena, Germany
  5.Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (Leibniz-IPHT), Jena, Germany
  6.Otto Schott Institute of Materials Research Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany
  7.Institute of Materials Science and Engineering, Chemnitz University of Technology, Chemnitz, Germany
  8.Institute of Applied Physics, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany
  9.Institute for Optics and Atomic Physics, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
  10.Laserinstitut Hochschule Mittweida, University of Applied Science Mittweida, Mittweida, Germany
- Author bio：
  
  Julius Reinhard (julius.reinhard@uni-jena.de)
  Silvio Fuchs (silvio.fuchs@hs-mittweida.de)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1038/s41377-025-02057-9
  中图分类号：
- 收稿：2025-03-07，
  
  修回：2025-09-09，
  
  录用：2025-09-16，
  
  网络首发：2026-01-22，
  
  纸质出版：2026-03-31
- Accepted：
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Julius Reinhard, Felix Wiesner, Martin Hennecke, 等. Soft X-ray imaging with coherence tomography in the water window spectral range using high-harmonic generation[J]. Light: Science & Applications, 2026,15(3):848-857.

Reinhard, J. et al. Soft X-ray imaging with coherence tomography in the water window spectral range using high-harmonic generation. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 848-857 (2026).
Julius Reinhard, Felix Wiesner, Martin Hennecke, 等. Soft X-ray imaging with coherence tomography in the water window spectral range using high-harmonic generation[J]. Light: Science & Applications, 2026,15(3):848-857. DOI： 10.1038/s41377-025-02057-9.

Reinhard, J. et al. Soft X-ray imaging with coherence tomography in the water window spectral range using high-harmonic generation. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 848-857 (2026). DOI： 10.1038/s41377-025-02057-9.

摘要

Abstract

High-harmonic generation (HHG) is used as a source for various imaging applications in the extreme ultraviolet spectral range. It offers spatially coherent radiation and unique elemental contrast with the potential for attosecond time resolution. The unfavorable e

fficiency scaling to higher photon energies prevented the imaging application in the soft X-ray range so far. In this work we demonstrate the feasibility of using harmonics for imaging in the water window spectral region (284 eV to 532 eV). We achieve nondestructive depth profile imaging in a heterostructure by utilizing a broadband and noise-resistant technique called soft X-ray Coherence Tomography (SXCT) at a high-flux lab-scale HHG source. SXCT is derived from Optical Coherence Tomography

a Fourier based technique that can use the full bandwidth of the source to reach an axial resolution of 12 nm in this demonstration. The employed source covers the entire water window

with a photon flux exceeding 10

photons/eV/s at a photon energy of 500 eV. We show local cross sections of a sample consisting of Aluminium oxide and Platinum layers of varying thickness on a Zinc oxide substrate. We validate the findings with scanning and transmission electron microscopy after preparation with focused ion beam milling.

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references

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