Design Of An Imaging Microscope For Soft X-Ray Applications

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Abstract
The objective of this investigation was the design and analysis of an imaging soft x-ray multilayer microscope with a spatial resolution of 0.1 microns. Since the optical aberrations of grazing incidence mirrors are large, and since x-ray scattering effects can severely degrade performance, an x-ray microscope using normal incidence multilayer optics has been designed. Recently, a normal incidence multilayer Cassegrain x-ray telescope was flown and produced high spatial resolution images of the Sun with extremely low x-ray scattering. These images clearly indicate that aplanatic imaging soft x-ray/XUV microscopes should be achievable using normal incidence multilayer optics technology. The microscope we have chosen to investigate is of the Schwarzschild configuration, which consists of two concentric spherical mirrors with their radii of curvature chosen such that the third-order spherical aberration, coma, and astigmatism are minimized. A ray tracing analysis of the optical system has been performed which indicates that diffraction-limited performance can be expected for an object height of 0.2 mm. Plans for fabrication of this imaging soft x-ray microscope will also be discussed.

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