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Sharper images by focusing soft X-rays with photon sieves

Nature volume 414, pages 184–188 (2001)Cite this article

Abstract

Fresnel zone plates consisting of alternating transmissive and opaque circular rings can be used to focus X-rays1. The spatial resolution that can be achieved with these devices is of the order of the width of the outermost zone and is therefore limited by the smallest structure (20–40 nm) that can be fabricated by lithography today2. Here we show that a large number of pinholes distributed appropriately over the Fresnel zones make it possible to focus soft X-rays to spot sizes smaller than the diameter of the smallest pinhole. In addition, higher orders of diffraction and secondary maxima can be suppressed by several orders of magnitude. In combination with the next generation of synchrotron light sources (free-electron lasers) these ‘photon sieves’ offer new opportunities for high-resolution X-ray microscopy and spectroscopy in physical and life sciences.

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Figure 1: Diagram showing point-to-point imaging with a diffractive optical element.
Figure 2: Examples of photon sieve pinholes together with the underlying zone-plate geometry and the contributions of a single pinhole to the focal amplitude.
Figure 3: Comparison of calculated intensity distributions of photon sieves and zone plates with smallest structure sizes dmin = wmin = 30 nm.
Figure 4: Optical prototypes for a photon sieve and a zone plate together with experimental and calculated intensity distributions.

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Acknowledgements

Discussions with B. Niemann and G. Schmahl are gratefully acknowledged. This work was supported in part by the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Experimentelle und Angewandte Physik, Universität Kiel, Kiel, D-24098, Germany

    L. Kipp, M. Skibowski, R. Berndt, R. Adelung & S. Harm

  2. Institut für Experimentalphysik, Universität Hamburg, Hamburg, D-22761, Germany

    R. L. Johnson

  3. Niedmers & Seemann, European Patent Attorneys, Hamburg, D-22767, Germany

    R. Seemann

Authors
  1. L. Kipp
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  2. M. Skibowski
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  3. R. L. Johnson
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  4. R. Berndt
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  5. R. Adelung
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  6. S. Harm
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  7. R. Seemann
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Correspondence to L. Kipp.

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Kipp, L., Skibowski, M., Johnson, R. et al. Sharper images by focusing soft X-rays with photon sieves. Nature 414, 184–188 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35102526

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