A vacuum-compatible wet-specimen chamber for compact X-ray microscopy.

Soft X-ray microscopy is a powerful tool for investigations of, for example, polymers or soils in their natural liquid environment. This requires a wet-specimen chamber. Compact X-ray microscopy allows the horizontal mounting of such samples, thereby reducing the influence of gravitational forces. We have developed a wet-specimen chamber for such compact X-ray microscope. The chamber is vacuum compatible, which reduces the exposure time. The vacuum sealing is achieved by a combination of mechanical sealing and sealing by bio-compatible glue. With the wet-specimen chamber the specimens can be kept in an aqueous environment in a vacuum of 10(-4) mbar for several hours. Imaging of lipid droplets in water demonstrates the function of the wet-specimen chamber.