Radiation damage upon soft X‐ray exposure is an important issue to be considered in soft X‐ray microscopy. The work presented here is part of a more extended study on the topic and focuses on the effects of soft X‐rays on paraffin, a common embedding medium for soft‐tissues, and on ultralene and Si₃N₄ windows as sample supports. Our studies suggest that the sample environment indeed plays an important role in the radiation damage process and therefore should be carefully taken into account for the analysis and interpretation of new data. The radiation damage effects were followed over time using a combination of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) microspectroscopy and X‐ray fluorescence (XRF), and it was demonstrated that, for higher doses, an oxidation of both embedding medium and ultralene substrate takes place after the irradiated sample is exposed to air. This oxidation is reflected in a clear increase of C=O and O—H infrared bands and on the XRF oxygen maps, correlated with a decrease of the aliphatic infrared signal. The results also show that the oxidation process may affect quantitative evaluation of light element concentrations.

中文翻译：

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FTIR 显微光谱和 X 射线荧光探测软 X 射线暴露后辐射损伤导致超烯烃和石蜡氧化

软 X 射线曝光时的辐射损伤是软 X 射线显微镜中需要考虑的一个重要问题。这里介绍的工作是关于该主题的更广泛研究的一部分，重点是软 X 射线对石蜡（软组织的常用包埋介质）以及超列烯和 Si ₃ N _{4 的影响}作为示例支持的窗口。我们的研究表明，样品环境确实在辐射损伤过程中起着重要作用，因此在分析和解释新数据时应仔细考虑。使用傅里叶变换红外 (FTIR) 显微光谱和 X 射线荧光 (XRF) 的组合随着时间的推移跟踪辐射损伤效应，并证明，对于更高的剂量，包埋介质和 Ultralene 底物的氧化都发生在辐照样品暴露在空气中。这种氧化反映在 C=O 和 O-H 红外波段的明显增加以及 XRF 氧图上，与脂肪族红外信号的减少相关。结果还表明，氧化过程可能会影响轻元素浓度的定量评估。