Simulation of concave–convex imaging mirror system for development of a compact and achromatic full-field x-ray microscope

We propose the use of two pairs of concave–convex mirrors as imaging optics for the compact full-field x-ray microscope with high resolution and magnification factors. The optics consists of two pairs of hyperbolic convex and elliptical concave mirrors with the principal surface near the object, consequently enabling the focal length to be 10 times shorter than conventional advanced Kirkpatrick–Baez mirror optics. This paper describes characteristics of the optics calculated by ray-tracing and wave-optical simulators. The expected spatial resolution is approximately 40 nm with a wide field of view of more than 10 μm and a total length of about 2 m, which may lead to the possibility of laboratory-sized, achromatic, and high-resolution full-field x-ray microscopes.