Studies of Fractal Microstructure in Nanocarbon Polymer Composites.

The in situ study of fractal microstructure in nanocarbon polymers is an actual task for their application and for the improvement in their functional properties. This article presents a visualization of the bulk structural features of the composites using pulsed acoustic microscopy and synchrotron X-ray microtomography. This article presents details of fractal structure formation using carbon particles of different sizes and shapes-exfoliated graphite, carbon platelets and nanotubes.

Three-Dimensional Study of Polymer Composite Destruction in the Early Stages.

The investigation of destruction processes in composite materials is a current problem for their structural application and the improvement of their functional properties. This work aimed to visualize structural changes induced in layered carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) with the help of synchrotron X-ray microtomography. This article presents the details of destructive processes in the early stages of the deformation of reinforced polymers under uniaxial stretching, investigated at the micro level.

The first observation of osmotically neutral sodium accumulation in the myocardial interstitium.

The aim of this study was the detection and quantification of the Na depositions in the extracellular matrix of myocardial tissue, which are suggested to be bound by negatively charged glycosaminoglycan (GAG) structures. The presented experimental results are based on high resolution X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectromicroscopy technique used to perform a comparative analysis of sodium containment in intracellular and interstitial spaces of cardiac tissues taken from animals selected by low and high sodium intake rates. The experimental results obtained show that high sodium daily intake can result in a remarkable increase of sodium content in the myocardial interstitium.

Short-Period Multilayer X-ray Mirrors for "Water" and "Carbon Windows" Wavelengths.

This review paper summarizes and provides an overview of our recent studies related to two types of short-period multilayer X-ray mirrors, W/B4C and Co/C. It deals with the experimental observation of the layer intermixing effects and how they affect the X-ray mirror's optical performance. The paper presents also some examples of using the fabricated X-ray mirrors in focusing and imaging experiments at the working wavelengths 2.

Soft X-ray imaging of thick carbon-based materials using the normal incidence multilayer optics.

The high transparency of carbon-containing materials in the spectral region of "carbon window" (lambda approximately 4.5-5nm) introduces new opportunities for various soft X-ray microscopy applications. The development of efficient multilayer coated X-ray optics operating at the wavelengths of about 4.

X-ray Schwarzschild objective for the carbon window (lambda approximately 4.5 nm).

We deal with the recent progress in the fabrication of the graded Co/C multilayer mirrors to be used in a 21x Schwarzschild objective (SO) operating at the wavelengths near 4.5 nm ("carbon window" region). The peak reflectivity of flat Co/C mirrors was measured to be 14.

Extreme ultraviolet spectroscopy diagnostics of low-temperature plasmas based on a sliced multilayer grating and glass capillary optics.

New extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectroscopic diagnostics of relatively low-temperature plasmas based on the application of an EUV spectrometer and fast EUV diodes combined with glass capillary optics is described. An advanced high resolution dispersive element sliced multilayer grating was used in the compact EUV spectrometer. For monitoring of the time history of radiation, filtered fast EUV diodes were used in the same spectral region (>13 nm) as the EUV spectrometer.

Single-shot extreme ultraviolet laser imaging of nanostructures with wavelength resolution.

We have demonstrated near-wavelength resolution microscopy in the extreme ultraviolet. Images of 50 nm diameter nanotubes were obtained with a single ~1 ns duration pulse from a desktop-size 46.9 nm laser.

Fabrication of x-ray zone plates by surface-plasma chemical vapor deposition.

A new cost-efficient sputter-slice technology for hard x-ray (10-30 keV) Fresnel zone plates fabrication, imposing no limitation to aspect ratio, is proposed. By means of a plasma chemical process, SiO(2)/Si(1-x)Ge(x)O(2) glassy film multilayer structures are deposited on a lateral surface of a silica rod, outermost layers being as thin as 100 nm. It has been shown by numerical simulation that for x=0.

Efficiency of grazing incidence optics: the spiral collimator.

Geometric properties and construction of the spiral collimator are discussed. The expression for the efficiency of power conversion of a divergent soft x-ray point source into a parallel beam is obtained. The efficiency of the spiral collimator is shown to be up to 30-90% in the whole soft x-ray spectral range.