New lensless imaging technique opens door to nanoscale world

Researchers at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (SSRL) and the German laboratory Berliner Elektronenspeicherring-Gesellschaft für Synchrotronstrahlung (BESSY) have crafted a technique to take X-ray images that reveal tiny variations and lightning-quick changes in materials a thousand times smaller than the thickness of a strand of hair.
Their work merited the cover of the Dec. 16 issue of Nature. The technique - lensless X-ray holography - will be valuable for researchers working with the world's first X-ray free electron laser, the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), slated to begin experiments in 2009 at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC).