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X-ray science has greatly benefited from the progress in X-ray optics. Advances in the design and the manufacturing techniques of X-ray optics are key to the success of various microscopic and spectroscopic techniques practiced today. Here the generation of apodized X-ray illumination using a two-stage deformable Kirkpatrick-Baez mirror system is presented. Such apodized illumination is marked by the suppression of the side-lobe intensities of the focused beam. Thus generated apodized illumination was employed to improve the image quality in scanning X-ray fluorescence microscopy. Imaging of a non-isolated object by coherent X-ray diffractive imaging with apodized illumination in a non-scanning mode is also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the instrumentation and experimental procedures for measuring diffraction patterns from non-crystalline specimens using an undulator beamline (BL29XUL) at SPring-8. It provides a detailed account of the instrumentation, experimental procedures and post-experimental data analysis in coherent X-ray diffraction microscopy (CXDM) that yields high-quality image reconstructions. It also discusses the estimation of the central pixel of measured diffraction patterns.

We developed a coherent x-ray diffraction microscopy (CXDM) system that enables us to precisely evaluate the electron density of an isolated sample. This system enables us to determine the dose per surface unit of x rays illuminated onto an isolated sample by combining incident x-ray intensity monitoring and the CXDM of a reference sample. By using this system, we determined the dose of x rays illuminated onto a nanostructured island fabricated by focused-ion-beam chemical vapor deposition and derived the electron density distribution of such a nanostructured island. A projection image of the nanostructured island with a spatial resolution of 24.1 nm and a contrast resolution higher than 2.3×107 electrons/pixel was successfully reconstructed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Hard X-rays are high-energy photons with extremely short wavelengths of the order of atomic distances. Their short wavelengths allow hard X-rays to be focused to nanometer sizes. This concept is simple; however, it is technically difficult to implement. For this reason, many physicists have been investigating X-ray focusing. In this study, we produce a single-digit nanometer sized hard X-ray focal spot using an ultraprecise multilayer mirror. Such extremely narrow hard X-ray beams can be used to achieve extremely high spatial resolutions in various X-ray microscopy techniques. Coupled with the high pulse powers of X-ray free-electron lasers, such nanofocusing optics have the potential to exceed the Schwinger limit. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]