Zone-Plate X-Ray Microscope Using a Laser Plasma Source

An imaging X-ray microscope using a laser plasma X-ray source, an objective zone plate and an ellipsoidal condenser mirror with multilayer coating is described. The 3.37 nm line emission from a carbon plasma is filtered and focused by the ellipsoidal condenser mirror and used as a light source. A magnified image (magnification: ×287) of a gold zone plate was obtained by a back-illuminated charge coupled device (CCD) whose pixel size is 22 µm×22 µm. The 0.4-µm-period pattern (outermost zones: 0.27 µm line and 0.13 µm space) is clearly resolved.