MULTILAYER COATED X-RAY DIFFRACTION STRUCTURES

THE DEVELOPMENT OF GENERAL APPLICABLE, LARGE ACCEPTANCE ANGLE (LARGE F STOP) REFLECTING X-RAY OPTICAL ELEMENTS WOULD BE EXTREMELY USEFUL IN SUPPORT OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF A LARGE CLASS OF X-RAY BASED ANALYTICAL AND RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS FOR BOTH LABORATORY AND SYNCHROTRON APPLICATIONS. MULTILAYER COATED, REFLECTING FRESNEL ZONE PLATES HAVE ADEQUATE ENERGY RESOLUTION AND THERMAL ENDURANCETO MEET THESE NEEDS BUT SUFFER FROM A LACK OF ADEQUATE APERTURE. THIS RESEARCH PROPOSES THEORETICAL RESEARCH TO PURSUE SEVERAL NOVEL APPROACHES TO THIS PROBLEM. THESE INCLUDE DEVELOPING ZONE-PLATE-LIKE STRUCTURES CAPABLE OF NON-SPECULAR REFLECTION WHICH CAN BE LAID DOWN IN ARRAYS TO COVER LARGE FLAT SURFACES; MODIFICATIONS OF THOSE STRUCTURESFOR CYLINDRICALLY BENT SURFACES; AND GRADED-D-SPACING-LIKE STRUCTURES WHICH REFLECT ONLY A SINGLE WAVELENGTH FROM A POINT SOURCE.