Rotationally Parabolic Refractive X-Ray Lenses

Rotationally parabolic refractive x-ray lenses are genuine imaging optics for hard x-rays. They can be used in analogy to glass lenses for visible light. These optics were mainly developed at Aachen University. Their main fields of application are:

  • full-field microscopy, where they serve as objective lens in the full-field microscope.
  • scanning microscopy, where the optic is used to generate a small and intensive microbeam by imaging the source onto the sample position.
  • beam conditioning at synchrotron radiation sources. Here the lens usually serves to slightly focus or collimate the beam. The optics withstand the high heat load of third generation undulator sources, and their aperture matches well the beam size from these sources.

Stack of beryllium compound refractive lenses.

To minimize absorption inside the optic and maximize its aperture, these lenses are made of beryllium. The figure shows a stack of beryllium lenses.