Simultaneous reconstruction of absorption, refraction, and scattering properties by full-field transmission X-ray microscopy

Compared with conventional absorption radiography, hard X-ray full-field transmission X-ray microscopy (TXM) employing Zernike phase contrast (ZPC) enables the generation of phase images and significantly enhances contrast for weakly absorbing samples. However, TXM based on ZPC inherently combines a sample's absorption, phase, and scattering signals, thereby complicating the individual reconstruction and analysis of these components. Although advanced methods have been developed to address this issue-such as the introduction of differential phase contrast imaging (DPC) into hard X-ray full-field TXM-the simultaneous separation of absorption, phase, and scattering information remains technically challenging. In this work, we present a novel method, to our knowledge, for decoupling these three signal components by introducing an attenuating ring at the back focal plane of a Fresnel zone plate (FZP), followed by systematic scanning and analysis of the resulting intensity variations based on a Gaussian model. This trimodal imaging strategy holds strong potential for high-contrast imaging of weakly absorbing samples, particularly biological samples, using hard X-ray full-field TXM.