Focused and coherent X-ray beams for advanced microscopies

The use of focused X-ray beams in the micron and sub-micron range has fostered the progress of a wide range of scanning microscopy approaches that exploit the numerous interactions of X-rays with matter. These methods are becoming crucial for an increasing number of research fields, such as energy materials, electronic devices, biology, to cite a few. Nanobeams produced at 4th generation synchrotrons have coherence properties that make them ideal for a 3D diffraction-based microscopy with unique sensitivity to strain and defects in crystalline materials and allow delving into materials heterogeneities. We provide here a short overview on the use of nanobeams for diffraction experiments, and perspectives for their use in spectroscopy studies.