Cryo-Correlative Light X-ray Microscopy (CLXM)

The full-field transmission X-ray microscope (TXM) at beamline B24 designed specifically to meet the rising demand for tomographic imaging of biological specimens under near physiological conditions. The technique bridges the resolution gap that exists between electron microscopy and conventional light microscopy and allows acquisition of tomographic data from both native and fluorescently-labelled samples.

At present B24 is operating at 500eV (in the “water window”) where the image contrast is generated by the preferential absorption of the X-rays by carbon with the surrounding water/ice remaining relatively transparent. Currently, operation of the beamline has extended outside the water window particularly to higher energies (although this is under commissioning). This should allow data to be collected either side of an absorption edge so that certain elements within a sample (e.g. Fe, P, Mg, Ca, Mn) can be highlighted.

B24 is available through the Signature Access route, X-ray imaging.