Hard-X-ray imaging optics based on four aspherical mirrors with 50 nm resolution

Ultraprecise imaging optics, which consists of two sets of elliptical mirrors and hyperbolic mirrors aligned perpendicular to each other (i.e., advanced Kirkpatrick-Baez mirrrors), is developed to realize high-resolution and achromatic full-field hard-X-ray microscopy. Experiments to form a demagnified image (with horizontal and vertical demagnification factors of 385 and 210, respectively) are conducted to evaluate the optical system at an X-ray energy of 11.5 keV at SPring-8. Results show that the imaging system can form a demagnified image with nearly diffraction-limited resolutions of similar to 50 nm in the horizontal and vertical directions. The field of view is also experimentally estimated to be similar to 12 x similar to 14 mu m(2) when used as a magnification imaging system. (C) 2012 Optical Society of America