There is a large variety of x-ray optics for different purposes. In x-ray full field microscopy, x-ray optics are needed for example as condensor or objective lens. The latter need to be genuine imaging optics free of aberrations in order to generate an undistorted high resolution image of a sample on an x-ray detector. In the hard x-ray range, Fresnel zone plates and refractive x-ray lenses are well suited for this pupose.
For scanning microscopy, optics that can generate a very small but intensive microbeam are needed. At synchrotron radiation sources, these are most commonly Fresnel zone plates, Kirkpatrick-Baez mirrors, and refractive x-ray lenses. Hard x-rays can also be confined inside a wave-guide. At laboratory sources, polycapillary optics and curved crystals are also commonly used.
