Advanced zone plate microfocusing optics

Fresnel zone plates (ZP) have gained popularity as the optics of choice for advanced microfocusing applications. The main virtues of ZP are high resolution, high efficiency, low background, coherence preservation, and ample working distance. Zone plates are also unique because they are a normal incidence x-ray optics, which are much easier to align and use compared to other grazing incidence optics. We will report here recent progress that has drastically enhanced the performance of ZPs in (1) higher spatial resolution, (2) higher focusing efficiency, and (3) extension to higher energies. With the new developments, zone plates have proven to be one of the best microfocusing optics for monochromatic x-ray beams