A new soft X-ray microscopy beamline, HERMES (High Efficiency and Resolution beamline dedicated to X-ray Microscopy and Electron Spectroscopy) is under construction at synchrotron SOLEIL. The beamline will be equipped with two complimentary microscopy techniques namely STXM (Scanning Transmission X-ray Microscopy) and X-PEEM (X-ray PhotoEmitted Electron Microscopy). Both microscopes will be devoted to soft X-ray microscopy (0.07 – 2.5keV) with the aim to achieve spatial resolution bellow 25nm. The beamline will be mainly devoted to the study of Nanostructures, functional materials, magnetic materials, soft matter, earth and life science. I will present a brief introduction to this upcoming beamline. A general overview of the STXM technique and its applications will be highlighted. Recent results on the study of organic solar cells using soft x-ray techniques will also be presented. The use of complimentary soft x-ray techniques will also be highlighted through this study
Synchrotron SOLEIL