Lensless, holographic X-ray microscopy is a non-invasive imaging technique that provides resolution on the nanometer scale. Therefore, a divergent, coherent and especially clean wave front impinging on the sample is needed. Yet, focusing X-rays by even the most advanced X-ray mirrors causes so called figure errors of high spatial frequency content. The results are strongly deteriorated intensity profiles that are often even more pronounced than the holographic image of the sample itself. A common strategy to compensate these figure errors is to divide the hologram by the pure intensity profile of the beam (the so called flat field). However, this division is only valid in the limiting case of an illumination focused down to a point source. In reality, as a consequence of a fi nite spot size, one has to accept a loss in resolution when performing the flat field correction. An approach different from the described straightforward procedure is necessary. Here, the simultaneous reconstruction of object and probe is proposed using holograms which were not flat field corrected before phase retrieval. To this end, a method has been developed that allows simultaneously reconstructing object and probe in amplitude and phase from holographic intensity recordings. The experimental way of proceeding was mainly inspired by well-established holographic full-field X-ray imaging techniques that require holograms defocused to different degrees. Consequently, the conclusion seems reasonable that diversity in the optical near-field arises mainly from variation of the propagation distance of light. This so called longitudinal diversity is used to properly phase the transmission function of the sample of interest. The algorithmic strategy of simultaneous phase retrieval for object and probe draws on far-field ptychography where lateral translations of the sample create diverse diffraction patterns. In view of the need for longitudinal diversity realized by shifts of the sample along the optical axis, ptychography has been generalized and adapted for the optical near-field. Hence, translations of the sample in all three dimensions of space need to be exploited to collect enough information about object and probe such that both can be reconstructed simultaneously in amplitude and phase. Concepts have been put into practice by simulations as well as by experiments with coherent visible light and hard X-rays from synchrotron sources. The presented approach offers the opportunity to perform high resolution imaging, to be extended to tomography and to be adapted to super-resolution experiments.

Lensless, holographic X-ray microscopy is a non-invasive imaging technique that provides resolution on the nanometer scale. Therefore, a divergent, coherent and especially clean wavefront impinging on the sample is needed. Yet, focusing X-rays by even the most advanced X-ray mirrors causes so called figure errors of high spatial frequency content. The results are strongly deteriorated intensity profiles that are often even more pronounced than the holographic image of the sample itself. A common strategy to compensate these figure errors is to divide the hologram by the pure intensity profi ...

All images are flawed, no matter how good your lenses, mirrors etc. are. Especially in the hard X-ray regime it is challenging to manufacture high quality optics due to the weak interaction of multi-keV photons with matter. This is a tremendous challenge for obtaining high resolution quantitative X-ray microscopy images. In recent years lensless phase contrast imaging has become an alternative to classical absorptionbased imaging methods. Without any optics, the image is formed only by the free space propagation of the wave field. The actual image has to be formed posteriori by numerical reconstruction methods. Advanced phasing methods enable the experimentalist to recover a complex valued specimen from a single or a set of intensity measurement. This would be the ideal case - reality teaches us that there are no ideal imaging conditions. Describing, understanding and circumventing these non ideal imaging conditions and their effects on X-ray near-field holographic (NFH) imaging are the leitmotifs for this thesis. In NFH the non ideal conditions manifest themselves in the illuminating wave field or probe. The probe generally does not satisfy the canonical assumptions of fully coherent and monochromatic radiation emitted by a point source. The main results of this thesis are compiled as a collection of publications. An approach is shown to reconstruct the probe of a X-ray nano-focus setup by a series of measurements of the probe at varied Fresnel number. The following chapter presents a study concerning the reconstruction efficiency in terms of resolution for near- and far-field based lensless imaging. In the following, the reconstruction scheme for the probe is extended to incorporate the effects of partial coherence in the near field. This enables the recovery of the modal structure of the probe which yields a full description of its coherence properties. Giving up the assumption of temporal stability due to the stochastic pulses, delivered by X-ray free electron lasers, the reconstruction of probe and specimen must be achieved from a single shot. A suitable scheme for this purpose is proposed in this work.

This open access book, edited and authored by a team of world-leading researchers, provides a broad overview of advanced photonic methods for nanoscale visualization, as well as describing a range of fascinating in-depth studies. Introductory chapters cover the most relevant physics and basic methods that young researchers need to master in order to work effectively in the field of nanoscale photonic imaging, from physical first principles, to instrumentation, to mathematical foundations of imaging and data analysis. Subsequent chapters demonstrate how these cutting edge methods are applied to a variety of systems, including complex fluids and biomolecular systems, for visualizing their structure and dynamics, in space and on timescales extending over many orders of magnitude down to the femtosecond range. Progress in nanoscale photonic imaging in Göttingen has been the sum total of more than a decade of work by a wide range of scientists and mathematicians across disciplines, working together in a vibrant collaboration of a kind rarely matched. This volume presents the highlights of their research achievements and serves as a record of the unique and remarkable constellation of contributors, as well as looking ahead at the future prospects in this field. It will serve not only as a useful reference for experienced researchers but also as a valuable point of entry for newcomers.

Covering both physical as well as mathematical and algorithmic foundations, this graduate textbook provides the reader with an introduction into modern biomedical imaging and image processing and reconstruction. These techniques are not only based on advanced instrumentation for image acquisition, but equally on new developments in image processing and reconstruction to extract relevant information from recorded data. To this end, the present book offers a quantitative treatise of radiography, computed tomography, and medical physics. Contents Introduction Digital image processing Essentials of medical x-ray physics Tomography Radiobiology, radiotherapy, and radiation protection Phase contrast radiography Object reconstruction under nonideal conditions

This book features reviews by leading experts on the methods and applications of modern forms of microscopy. The recent awards of Nobel Prizes awarded for super-resolution optical microscopy and cryo-electron microscopy have demonstrated the rich scientific opportunities for research in novel microscopies. Earlier Nobel Prizes for electron microscopy (the instrument itself and applications to biology), scanning probe microscopy and holography are a reminder of the central role of microscopy in modern science, from the study of nanostructures in materials science, physics and chemistry to structural biology. Separate chapters are devoted to confocal, fluorescent and related novel optical microscopies, coherent diffractive imaging, scanning probe microscopy, transmission electron microscopy in all its modes from aberration corrected and analytical to in-situ and time-resolved, low energy electron microscopy, photoelectron microscopy, cryo-electron microscopy in biology, and also ion microscopy. In addition to serving as an essential reference for researchers and teachers in the fields such as materials science, condensed matter physics, solid-state chemistry, structural biology and the molecular sciences generally, the Springer Handbook of Microscopy is a unified, coherent and pedagogically attractive text for advanced students who need an authoritative yet accessible guide to the science and practice of microscopy.