Stability investigation of a cryo soft x-ray microscope by fiber interferometry

We present a stability investigation of the Stockholm laboratory cryo soft x-ray microscope. The microscope operates at a wavelength of 2.48 nm and can image biological samples at liquid-nitrogen temperatures in order to mitigate radiation damage. We measured the stability of the two most critical components, sample holder and optics holder, in vacuo and at cryo temperatures at both short and long time scales with a fiber interferometer. Results revealed vibrations in the kHz range, originating mainly from a turbo pump, as well as long term drifts in connection with temperature fluctuations. With improvements in the microscope, earlier stability issues vanished and close-to diffraction-limited imaging could be achieved. Moreover, our investigation shows that fiber interferometers are a powerful tool in order to investigate position-sensitive setups at the nanometer level.