Design, fabrication, and testing of diamond axicons for X-ray microscopy applications

TL;DR

This paper reports the development and testing of a diamond axicon for X-ray beam shaping in microscopy, demonstrating high transmission and robustness suitable for advanced synchrotron applications.

Contribution

It introduces a novel diamond axicon fabricated by femtosecond laser ablation, overcoming polymer limitations for X-ray microscopy.

Findings

Achieved over 80% transmission of X-ray beam

Successfully transformed X-ray beam into a ring profile

Validated experimental results with simulations

Abstract

This work presents the design, fabrication, and experimental validation of a refractive diamond axicon for X-ray beam shaping. The diamond axicon was developed to overcome the limitations of polymer-based axicons particularly for application in Transmission X-ray Microscopy (TXM) systems, offering superior mechanical strength, thermal stability, and radiation resistance, making it ideal for synchrotron applications. The axicon was fabricated using femtosecond laser ablation and tested at 11 keV under various coherence conditions. Results demonstrated that the axicon efficiently transformed the X-ray beam into a ring-shaped profile with over 80% transmission. Simulations confirmed the experimental findings and highlighted the potential for further improvements. This work paves the way for the use of diamond axicons in next-generation synchrotron facilities, with future efforts focusing on optimizing fabrication and testing the axicon in full TXM systems.