Focusing Optics

Polycapillary focusing optics collect a large solid angle of X-rays from an X-ray source and focus them to a spot as small as 10 µm. The X-ray flux density obtained is a few orders of magnitude higher than that obtained with a conventional pinhole collimator. The main application of these optics is micro X-ray fluorescence (µXRF) analysis, which has been widely used for thin film and plating analysis, precious metal evaluation, alloy measurement, and monitoring of electric circuit board coatings. The optics can also be used on the detection side in applications such as confocal XRF analysis and superconducting energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometers. The use of polycapillary focusing optics will significantly enhance the detection sensitivity and allow the high performance to be achieved with low-powered X-ray tubes. Micron-sized spatial resolution makes small feature evaluation possible for electronics and precious metal applications. Polycapillary optics offer 100x-10,000x gain with output focal spot sizes as small as 10 µm.

• Features
• Benefits
• Advantages over Electron Probe X-ray Analysis:
• Applications