Focusing mirror for x-ray free-electron lasers

We present the design, fabrication, and evaluation of a large total-reflection mirror for focusing x-ray free-electron laser beams to nanometer dimensions. We used an elliptical focusing mirror made of silicon that was 400 mm long and had a focal length of 550 trim. Electrolytic in-process dressing grinding was used for initial-step figuring and elastic emission machining was employed for final figuring and surface smoothing. A figure accuracy with a peak-to-valley height of 2 nm was achieved across the entire area. Characterization of the focused beam was performed at BL29XUL of SPring-8. The focused beam size was 75 nm at 15 keV, which is almost equal to the theoretical size. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.