X-ray fluorescence holography: Going beyond the diffraction limit

X-ray fluorescence holography (XFH) is a method for obtaining diffraction-limited images of the local atomic structure around a given type of emitter. The reconstructed wave field represents a distorted image of the scatterer electron-density distribution, i.e., it is a convolution of the charge-density distribution with a point spread function characteristic of the measurement. We here consider several methods for the iterative deconvolution of such XFH holograms, and via theoretical simulations evaluate them from the point of view of going beyond the diffraction limit so as to image the electron charge density. Promising results for future applications are found for certain methods, and other possible image-enhancement techniques are also discussed.