Microchannel Plate X-Ray Collimator For Lithography

A compact X-ray lens which could accurately collimate X-rays from a point source to a quasi-parallel beam would have a significant impact in proximity lithography. Microchannel plates (MCPs), very lightweight and relatively inexpensive lead glass wafers containing millions of well-aligned and regular microscopic channels having widths of about 10 microns, have recently demonstrated an impressive ability to collimate and focus soft X-rays. The innovation we propose will result in a highly accurate and reproducible process to change MCP channel alignment such that all channels remain normal to a spherical radius, with little or no channel distortion. This channel geometry will allow radiation from a point source to be collimated to a quasi-parallel beam with -5 mrad divergence or less, with enhanced field irradiance. Anticipated Benefits/Potential Applications - X-ray, gamma ray and neutron optical applications in: X-ray lithography; materials analysis; X-ray microscopy; medical radiography; cancer therapy; nuclear medicine; nondestructive testing; X-ray scattering; neutron microscopy; neutron diffraction.