Development of zone plates with a blazed profile for hard x-ray applications

A linear and a circular zone plate with a blazed zone profile (ZPBP) have b een fabricated and characterized using synchrotron x rays. The ZPBPs have s ignificantly improved performances in terms of focusing efficiency and the background near the focus compared to those of a zone plate with a square p rofile, of which the transmission function can be characterized by a binary square wave. In many respects and practical cases, an x-ray ZPBP may be us ed in a way analogous to an optical lens in the visible light region. In th is article, the experimental characterization of the ZPBPs is presented and some special applications are discussed. (C) 1999 American Institute of Ph ysics. [S0034-6748(99)01309-X].