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Diffractive Fresnel zone plates made of tungsten show great promise for focusing hard x-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) radiation to very small spot sizes. However, they have to withstand the high-intensity pulses of the beam without being damaged. This might be problematic since each XFEL pulse will create a significant temperature increase in the zone plate nanostructures and it is therefore crucial that the optics are thermally stable, even for a large number of pulses. Here we have studied the thermal stability of tungsten zone-platelike nanostructures on diamond substrates using a pulsed Nd:YAG laser which creates temperature profiles similar to those expected from XFEL pulses. We found that the structures remained intact up to a laser fluence of 100 mJ cm-2, corresponding to a 6 keV x-ray fluence of 590 mJ cm-2, which is above typical fluence levels in an unfocused XFEL beam. We have also performed an initial damage experiment at the LCLS hard XFEL facility at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, where a tungsten zone plate on a diamond substrate was exposed to 105 pulses of 6 keV x-rays with a pulse fluence of 350 mJ cm-2 without any damage occurring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we describe the setup and application of a system for the spatial characterization of laser-produced plasma x-ray sources. While pinhole cameras are normally used for this purpose, we employed a zone plate to act as the x-ray lens. Together with an x-ray CCD camera as the detector, a spatial resolution of up to 2 μm was achieved. Due to the wavelength-dependent focal length of a zone plate, the monochromaticity of the image was better than λ/Δλ=150, and the large aperture of the zone plate allowed single-laser-shot images to be collected. Methanol and ethanol were used as liquid-jet target systems. Two different Nd:YAG lasers with pulse durations of 3 ns and 10 ns produced the plasmas. Our measurements concentrated on the line emission of carbon in the soft x-ray spectral range, namely, the hydrogen-like α-line at 3.37 nm and the helium-like α-line at 4.03 nm. We investigated the influence of different nozzle sizes, laser energies, and pulse durations on the source size of the plasma. Depending on the experimental conditions, plasma diameters of 17–60 μm were measured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We demonstrate stable operation of a nonmetallic anode in an electron-impact x-ray source. A high-brightness electron beam is focused on a ∼70 m/s speed, ∼10 μm diameter methanol jet producing stable x-ray emission with peak spectral brightness at ∼5.4×105 photons/(s×μm2×sr×0.1%BW). The jet is fully evaporated in the interaction point. The shape of a simulated spectrum using Monte Carlo methods shows good agreement with experimental data, and the theoretical brightness values give an upper limit for the achievable x-ray emission from jets with very high velocities. Using this anode concept, all compounds and elements found in liquid form are potentially usable for x-ray generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Nanofabrication of tungsten zone plates for hard X-rays. [•] Combining zone plate optic and platinum central stop to simplify experimental arrangements. [•] Zone plate characterization in terms of ptychography at 8keV is presented. [•] Diffraction-limited focus spot size of 53nm diameter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We describe the fabrication and evaluation of platinum zone plates for 5–12kV X-ray imaging and focusing. These nano-scale circular periodic structures are fabricated by filling an e-beam generated mold with Pt in an electroplating process. The plating recipe is described. The resulting zone plates, having outer zone widths of 100 and 50nm, show good uniformity and high aspect ratio. Their diffraction efficiencies are 50–70% of the theoretical, as measured at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility. Platinum shows promise to become an attractive alternative to present hard X-ray zone plate materials due to its nano-structuring properties and the potential for zone-plate operation at higher temperatures. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]