High gain beam compression in new-generation thin-film x-ray waveguides

• DOI: 10.1063/1.1350956
• Publication Date: 2002-07-26T14:14:42Z
• Authors: W. Jark; A. Cedola; S. Di Fonzo; M. Fiordelisi; S. Lagomarsino; N. V. Kovalenko; V. A. Chernov
• Keywords: 0103 physical sciences; 01 natural sciences

X-ray waveguides can compress an incident beam for microscopy applications above 8 keV photon energy to sizes smaller than 100 nm in one dimension, a range which is not routinely accessed with other x-ray optics (e.g., Fresnel zone plates). Beryllium, because of its low absorption, is expected to provide the highest intensity gain. Measured gains for a beryllium waveguide of 74 nm thickness exceed values of 100 at 13 and 20 keV photon energy, which is an improvement by an order of magnitude compared to previously reported performances. The same object works also at 8 keV with gain 43.