Refractive lenses for coherent x-ray sources.

Incoherent x rays in the wavelength interval from approximately 0.5-2 A have been focused with refractive lenses. A single lens would have a long focal length because the refractive index of any material is close to unity; but with a stack of N lens elements the focal length is reduced by the factor N, and such a lens is termed a compound refractive lens (CRL).

X-ray focusing with compound lenses made from beryllium.

We have measured the intensity profile and transmission of x rays focused by a series of biconcave spherical unit lenses fabricated from beryllium. The use of beryllium extends the range of operation of compound refractive lenses, improving transmission, aperture size, and gain. The compound refractive lens was composed of 160 biconcave unit lenses, each with a radius of curvature of 1.

Characteristics of the thick, compound refractive lens.

A compound refractive lens (CRL), consisting of a series of N closely spaced lens elements each of which contributes a small fraction of the total focusing, can be used to focus x rays or neutrons. The thickness of a CRL can be comparable to its focal length, whereupon a thick-lens analysis must be performed. In contrast with the conventional optical lens, where the ray inside the lens follows a straight line, the ray inside the CRL is continually changing direction because of the multiple refracting surfaces.