Ray-tracing for a monochromatic x-ray backlighting scheme based on spherically bent crystal

The properties of a monochromatic x-ray backlighting system based on a spherically bent crystal were investigated. Simulations of spatial resolution for spherically bent crystals with different radius of curvature and for several wavelengths of incidence radiation were done using the ray-tracing method. Test experiments were carried out to demonstrate the high spatial resolution using the incoherent soft x-ray radiation produced by laser- and x-pinch plasmas. Both experimental and theoretical results show that a spatial resolution of at least 4 μm can be obtained in a field of view ranging from a few mm to cm. The narrow spectral band of the diffracted beam (Δλ/λ ~ 3 × 10−4), the high efficiency of the presented scheme and the possibility of significantly reducing the self radiation of the studied object make it one of the most promising backlighting systems. This scheme permits the essential reduction of requirements of the source of radiation and could be a less costly alternative to using x-ray lasers for such purposes.