Deformable, piezo bimorph mirrors are often used to expand X-ray beams to a continuous range of sizes. However, optical polishing errors present on all X-ray mirrors introduce striations into the reflected beam. To counteract them, reentrant surface modifications with alternating concave and convex curvature have been proposed and applied to mirrors of fixed shape or bimorph mirrors. For the latter, a new method of constructing re-entrant surface modifications on segments of unequal length is described. This allows the re-entrant modification required for a desired beam size at the focal point to be matched to the bimorph mirror’s polishing errors, thus reducing the voltage variations. Optical profilometry using the Diamond-NOM showed that a 5-segment and a 7-segment modification could be suitably applied to a deformable bimorph mirror. X-ray tests showed that striations caused by the 5-segment modification in the beam at the focus are concentrated at the beam edges, while the beam center is left clear. This is in contrast to simple defocusing, in which a strong side shoulder appears. The 7-segment modification produces a pattern of evenly spaced striations. The intensity spikes seen with the re-entrant modifications are caused chiefly by the finite curvature of the mirror at the turning points. The question of whether deformable bimorph mirrors with different piezo response functions could sharpen the curvature changes will be investigated. Optimal modifications of continuous curvature, which could more realistically be applied, will be sought.

Date Published: 8 September 2016
PDF: 11 pages
Proc. SPIE 9965, Adaptive X-Ray Optics IV, 99650E (8 September 2016); doi: 10.1117/12.2239116

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9965:
Adaptive X-Ray Optics IV
Stephen L. O'Dell; Ali M. Khounsary, Editor(s)