Soft X-ray microscopy

An alternative method of focusing X-rays is to use a tiny fresnel zone plate of concentric gold or nickel rings on a silicon dioxide substrate.

In July 2012, a group at DESY claimed a record spatial resolution of 10 nm, by using the hard X-ray scanning microscope at PETRA III.

Electron microscopy is widely used to obtain images with nanometer level resolution but the relatively thick living cell cannot be observed as the sample has to be chemically fixed, dehydrated, embedded in resin, then sliced ultra thin.

However, it should be mentioned that cryo-electron microscopy allows the observation of biological specimens in their hydrated natural state, albeit embedded in water ice.

By analyzing the internal reflections of a diffraction pattern (usually with a computer program), the three-dimensional structure of a crystal can be determined down to the placement of individual atoms within its molecules.

Indirect drive laser inertial confinement fusion uses a "hohlraum" which is irradiated with laser beam cones from either side on its inner surface to bathe a fusion microcapsule inside with smooth high intensity X-rays. The highest energy X-rays which penetrate the hohlraum can be visualized using an X-ray microscope such as here, where X-radiation is represented in orange/red.
A square beryllium foil mounted in a steel case to be used as a window between a vacuum chamber and an X-ray microscope. Beryllium, due to its low Z number, is highly transparent to X-rays.