Abstract

Synchrotron-based X-ray Tomographic Microscopy is a powerful technique for fast
non-destructive, high resolution quantitative volumetric investigations on diverse samples. At
the TOMCAT (TOmographic Microscopy and Coherent rAdiology experimenTs) beamline at
the Swiss Light Source, synchrotron light is delivered by a 2.9 T superbend. The main optical
component, a Double Crystal Multilayer Monochromator, covers an energy range between 8
and 45 keV. The standard TOMCAT detector offers field of views ranging from 0.75x0.75
mm2 up to 12.1x12.1 mm2 with a pixel size of 0.37 μm and 5.92 μm, respectively. In addition
to routine measurements, which exploit the absorption contrast, the high coherence of the
source also enables phase contrast tomography, implemented with two complementary
techniques (Modified Transport of Intensity approach and Grating Interferometry). Typical
acquisition times for a tomogram are in the order of few minutes, ensuring high throughput and
allowing for semi-dynamical investigations. Raw data are automatically post-processed online
and full reconstructed volumes are available shortly after a scan with minimal user
intervention.