Laboratory X-ray microscopy with a nano-focus X-ray source

Abstract

In this paper we describe the optimization of transmission X-ray targets by Monte-Carlo simulation for a laboratory X-ray microscopy setup. We identified two optimal target layer thicknesses (0.1 μm and 0.7 μm) for a high-resolution target and a high-flux target. Measurements show a decrease in focal spot size by one third or an increase in X-ray flux by a factor of three compared to those of a standard micro-focus target. Focal spot sizes down to 154 nm and 260 nm are achievable with the optimized targets. Simulation results for the X-ray flux match well to the experimental results, whereas the results for the focal spot sizes still show discrepancies attributed to the simplified simulation setup. © 2011 IOP Publishing Ltd and SISSA.