Polycapillary optics for X-ray diffraction studies with laser produced plasma X-ray source

Although, laser produced plasma is a high brightness point X-ray source, as it emits radiation into a large solid angle, it cannot be very effectively used for practical applications. Polycapillary optics can efficiently collect X-rays from such a divergent source and redirect them into a collimated or focused X-ray beam. An experimental study has been carried out for characterization of collimating and focusing polycapillary optics using characteristic Cu K-α line radiation from the sealed-off filament X-ray tube source. The characterization is done in terms of focal spot size variation with the input focal distance, the output focal distance, and the transmission of the optics. As an application, the polycapillary optics has been used for recording Debye-Scherrer pattern of powdered sample. (author)