A Compact Soft X-Ray Microbeam Facility for Small Laboratories

描述（申请人提供）：用于小型实验室的小型软x射线微束设备：由于自然和人为来源的辐射无处不在；研究它的影响——有害的和有益的——是美国国立卫生研究院和相关卫生机构使命的主要组成部分。放射生物学微束是能够对单个细胞（或部分细胞）进行精确辐射损伤并评估其生物反应的设施；基于这项技术的发展和发现（见参考文献）使我们对辐射损伤的详细机制和细胞对这种损伤的反应的理解取得了重大进展。目前，微束设施需要大型粒子加速器或同步加速器源，这使得小型实验室无法接触到它们。在这个快速通道项目中开发和商业化的微光束设施将紧凑的软x射线源与现代灵活的终端相结合。Energetiq Technology, Inc.已经开发出一种新的光源技术——一种无极z捏氙等离子体光源，最初用于半导体制造行业，波长为13.5nm (92 eV)，可以提供软x射线源，使实验室规模的微束研究设施成为可能。该设备的成本和大小将与电子显微镜相当。为了开发微光束源，将利用类氦系统（如氖8+和氩16+）中的光学跃迁将光子能量提高到1 KeV到3 KeV范围。x射线光学的选择，如聚焦毛细管和掠入射收集器将被评估为昂贵和脆弱的带片的替代品。该项目涉及与哥伦比亚大学放射研究加速器设施（RARAF）的主要合作。他们将开发终端，包括光学显微镜、微定位硬件、剂量计量、控制和用户界面。集成产品将在项目的最后阶段安装在RARAF。几十年来，了解各种大小尺度和各种剂量率的电离辐射的影响一直是医学和生物学研究的一个主要领域。精确聚焦的辐射——微光束——直接对准单个细胞，再加上成像技术的进步，如研究单个受损DNA链的能力，共同提供了一种独特的强大（但通常是大型和昂贵的）研究工具。我们的目标是开发和销售小型实验室的紧凑型软x射线微束设备。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): A Compact Soft X-Ray Microbeam Facility for Small Laboratories: Radiation due natural and manmade sources is ubiquitous; research into its effects -- both harmful and beneficial -- is a major component of the mission of the NIH and related health agencies. Radiobiological microbeams are facilities able to deliver precise radiation insults to individual cells (or parts of them) and to assess their biological response; developments and discoveries based on this technique (see Bibliography for extensive references) have led to significant advances in our understanding of the detailed mechanisms of radiation damage and cellular response to such damage. Currently, microbeam facilities require large particle accelerators or synchrotron sources, placing them out of reach of smaller laboratories. The microbeam facility to be developed and commercialized within this Fast-Track program combines a compact soft X-ray source with a modern and flexible endstation. Energetiq Technology, Inc. has developed a novel light source technology -- an electrodeless z-pinch xenon plasma source, originally for use in the semiconductor fabrication industry at 13.5nm wavelength (92 eV), that could provide a source of soft x-rays to enable a lab-scale microbeam research facility. The cost and size of the facility would be comparable to an electron microscope. To develop the microbeam source, the photon energy will be raised to the 1 KeV to 3 KeV range by exploiting optical transitions in helium-like systems such as neon 8+ and argon 16+. Options for X-ray optics such as focusing capillaries and grazing incidence collectors will be assessed as alternatives to expensive and fragile zone plates. The project involves a major collaboration with the Columbia University Radiological Research Accelerator Facility (RARAF). They will develop the endstation, including optical microscopy, micro-positioning hardware, dose metrology, controls and the user interface. The integrated product will be installed at RARAF in the last phase of the program. Understanding the effects of ionizing radiation at all size scales and a variety of dose rates has for decades been a major area of medical and biological research. Precisely focused radiation -- microbeams -- directed at individual cells, and advances in imaging technology such as the ability to study individual damaged DNA strands, combine to provide a uniquely powerful (but typically large and expensive) research tool. Our goal is to develop and market A Compact Soft X-Ray Microbeam Facility for Small Laboratories.