Diamond planar refractive lenses for third- and fourth-generation X-ray sources

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Materials Science
• X-ray Physics

Background:

• Hard X-ray optics are crucial for high-resolution imaging and analysis.
• Current X-ray lens technologies face limitations in efficiency and durability under high flux.
• Advanced materials are needed to meet the demands of next-generation X-ray sources.

Purpose of the Study:

• To fabricate and evaluate novel planar refractive hard X-ray lenses.
• To assess the performance of these lenses at specific X-ray energies.
• To determine the suitability of these lenses for high-flux environments.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing bulk chemical vapor deposition (CVD) diamond substrates.
• Employing electron-beam lithography for precise structure generation.
• Implementing reactive-ion etching for transferring lens designs into diamond.
• Testing lens performance at 12.4 and 17.5 keV photon energies.

Main Results:

• Achieved optical efficiencies up to 71%.
• Demonstrated signal gains of up to 26.
• Measured a focused line with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 3.2 micrometers.
• Successfully fabricated and tested various lens designs.

Conclusions:

• The developed CVD diamond X-ray lenses exhibit high efficiency and gain.
• The lenses provide excellent focusing capabilities, achieving sub-micrometer resolution.
• These diamond lenses are robust and suitable for the extreme conditions of fourth-generation X-ray sources.