Large‐aperture prism‐array lens for high‐energy X‐ray focusing

A new prism‐array lens for high‐energy X‐ray focusing has been constructed using an array of different prisms obtained from different parabolic structures by removal of passive parts of material leading to a multiple of 2π phase variation. Under the thin‐lens approximation the phase changes caused by this lens for a plane wave are exactly the same as those caused by a parabolic lens without any additional corrections when they have the same focal length, which will provide good focusing; at the same time, the total transmission and effective aperture of this lens are both larger than those of a compound kinoform lens with the same focal length, geometrical aperture and feature size. This geometry can have a large aperture that is not limited by the feature size of the lens. Prototype nickel lenses with an aperture of 1.77 mm and focal length of 3 m were fabricated by LIGA technology, and were tested using CCD camera and knife‐edge scan method at the X‐ray Imaging and Biomedical Application Beamline BL13W1 at Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility, and provided a focal width of 7.7 µm and a photon flux gain of 14 at an X‐ray energy of 50 keV.