Simulating and optimizing compound refractive lens-based X-ray microscopes

Hugh Simons (1) , Sonja Rosenlund Ahl (1) , Henning Friis Poulsen (1) , Carsten Detlefs (2)

1 DTU - Danmarks Tekniske Universitet = Technical University of Denmark
2 ESRF - European Synchrotron Radiation Facility

A comprehensive optical description of compound refractive lenses (CRLs) in condensing and full-field X-ray microscopy applications is presented. The formalism extends ray-transfer matrix analysis by accounting for X-ray attenuation by the lens material. Closed analytical expressions for critical imaging parameters such as numerical aperture, spatial acceptance (vignetting), chromatic aberration and focal length are provided for both thin- and thick-lens imaging geometries. These expressions show that the numerical aperture will be maximized and chromatic aberration will be minimized at the thick-lens limit. This limit may be satisfied by a range of CRL geometries, suggesting alternative approaches to improving the resolution and efficiency of CRLs and X-ray microscopes

Mots clés: X-ray imaging; X-ray microscopy; X-ray optics; compound refractive lens; ray transfer matrix

Domaines: Optique [physics.optics]

Hugh Simons, Sonja Rosenlund Ahl, Henning Friis Poulsen, Carsten Detlefs. Simulating and optimizing compound refractive lens-based X-ray microscopes. Journal of Synchrotron Radiation, 2017, 24, pp.392-401. ⟨10.1107/S160057751602049X⟩. ⟨hal-01691816⟩