Short-focal-length compound refractive lenses for x-rays

We have fabricated and tested short focal-length compound refractive lenses (CRLs) composed of micro-bubbles embedded in epoxy. The bubbles were formed in epoxy inside glass capillaries. The interface between the bubbles formed 90 to 196 spherical bi-concave microlenses reducing the overall focal length inversely by the number of lenses. When compared with CRLs manufactured using other methods, the micro-bubble lenses have shorter focal lengths, better imaging, and focusing qualities with higher transmissions and gains for moderate energy x-rays (e.g. 7 - 12 keV). We used beamline 2-3 at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (SSRL) to measure focal lengths between 100-150 mm and absorption apertures between 90 to 120 μm. Transmission profiles were measured giving, for example, a peak transmission of 27 % for a 130-mm focal length CRL at 8 keV. The focal-spot sizes were also measured yielding, for example, an elliptical spot of 5 x 14-μm2 resulting from an approximate 80-fold demagnification of the 0.44 x 1.7 mm2 source. The measured gains in intensity over that of unfocused beam were between 9 and 26. Theoretical gain calculations that include spherical aberrations show that these values are reasonable. The micro-bubble technique opens a new opportunity for designing lenses in the 8-9 keV range with focal lengths less than 30-40 mm.