Nondestructive three-dimensional elemental microanalysis by combined helical x-ray microtomographies

Abstract

A nondestructive x-ray technique combining simultaneous transmission, fluorescence, and Compton microtomography has been developed. Simultaneous three-dimensional structural information and three-dimensional internal elemental composition maps down to trace concentration levels have been obtained by a helical scan of the sample through an x-ray microbeam. With this method quantitative three-dimensional chemical distributions can be obtained at (sub)micrometric resolution in a nondestructive and noninvasive way, opening unique possibilities for the microanalysis of rare and fragile samples from several research fields.