An achromatic X-ray lens

At XRnanotech, a spin-off from the Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI) in Switzerland, we develop X-ray optics to enable experiments at many large-scale research facilities. Our goal is to push the limits of diffractive and refractive X-ray optics by continuously improving the resolution and efficiency enabling new applications in microscopy to make the invisible visible. In X-ray microscopy, Fresnel zone plates (FZPs) are used as high-resolution lenses. Their resolution depends mainly on the size of their smallest outermost zones and many years of development were required in order to push this value into ever-smaller regimes. New procedures have recently also allowed using 3D-printing methods also in the field of X-ray optical applications. For X-ray energies of several keV, a good transmission and refractive properties are achieved along with low surface roughness. Through its versatility, 3D-printing allows manufacturing various types of geometries, X-ray optics, and (resolution) samples alike. The flexibility of this approach allows for achieving previously inaccessible X-ray optical properties. It has allowed us to achieve achromatic focusing with X-rays using a combination of diffractive and refractive optical elements, which we demonstrated for the first time. We will also show some of the recent developments in high efficiency, high resolution, structured beam, and reflection optics.