MISTRAL: a transmission soft X-ray microscopy beamline for cryo nano-tomography of biological samples and magnetic domains imaging

Abstract

The performance of MISTRAL is reported, the soft X-ray transmission microscopy beamline at the ALBA light source (Barcelona, Spain) which is primarily dedicated to cryo soft X-ray tomography (cryo-SXT) for three-dimensional visualization of whole unstained cells at spatial resolutions down to 30 nm (half pitch). Short acquisition times allowing for high-throughput and correlative microscopy studies have promoted cryo-SXT as an emerging cellular imaging tool for structural cell biologists bridging the gap between optical and electron microscopy. In addition, the beamline offers the possibility of imaging magnetic domains in thin magnetic films that are illustrated here with an example.