Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B82—NANOTECHNOLOGY
  • B82Y—SPECIFIC USES OR APPLICATIONS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MEASUREMENT OR ANALYSIS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF NANOSTRUCTURES
  • B82Y10/00—Nanotechnology for information processing, storage or transmission, e.g. quantum computing or single electron logic
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G21—NUCLEAR PHYSICS; NUCLEAR ENGINEERING
  • G21K—TECHNIQUES FOR HANDLING PARTICLES OR IONISING RADIATION NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; IRRADIATION DEVICES; GAMMA RAY OR X-RAY MICROSCOPES
  • G21K7/00—Gamma- or X-ray microscopes
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G21—NUCLEAR PHYSICS; NUCLEAR ENGINEERING
  • G21K—TECHNIQUES FOR HANDLING PARTICLES OR IONISING RADIATION NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; IRRADIATION DEVICES; GAMMA RAY OR X-RAY MICROSCOPES
  • G21K1/00—Arrangements for handling particles or ionising radiation, e.g. focusing or moderating
  • G21K1/06—Arrangements for handling particles or ionising radiation, e.g. focusing or moderating using diffraction, refraction or reflection, e.g. monochromators
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G21—NUCLEAR PHYSICS; NUCLEAR ENGINEERING
  • G21K—TECHNIQUES FOR HANDLING PARTICLES OR IONISING RADIATION NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; IRRADIATION DEVICES; GAMMA RAY OR X-RAY MICROSCOPES
  • G21K2201/00—Arrangements for handling radiation or particles
  • G21K2201/06—Arrangements for handling radiation or particles using diffractive, refractive or reflecting elements
  • G21K2201/061—Arrangements for handling radiation or particles using diffractive, refractive or reflecting elements characterised by a multilayer structure
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G21—NUCLEAR PHYSICS; NUCLEAR ENGINEERING
  • G21K—TECHNIQUES FOR HANDLING PARTICLES OR IONISING RADIATION NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; IRRADIATION DEVICES; GAMMA RAY OR X-RAY MICROSCOPES
  • G21K2201/00—Arrangements for handling radiation or particles
  • G21K2201/06—Arrangements for handling radiation or particles using diffractive, refractive or reflecting elements
  • G21K2201/062—Arrangements for handling radiation or particles using diffractive, refractive or reflecting elements the element being a crystal
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G21—NUCLEAR PHYSICS; NUCLEAR ENGINEERING
  • G21K—TECHNIQUES FOR HANDLING PARTICLES OR IONISING RADIATION NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; IRRADIATION DEVICES; GAMMA RAY OR X-RAY MICROSCOPES
  • G21K2201/00—Arrangements for handling radiation or particles
  • G21K2201/06—Arrangements for handling radiation or particles using diffractive, refractive or reflecting elements
  • G21K2201/064—Arrangements for handling radiation or particles using diffractive, refractive or reflecting elements having a curved surface

Definitions

• This invention relates generally to devices and methods for focusing high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Specifically, the present invention provides improved imaging systems for directing and three-dimensional focusing x-rays to allow for low dose, high definition imaging of an object, such as a biological object. Background of the Invention
• X-ray analysis techniques have been some of the most significant developments in science and technology over the previous century.
• the use of x-ray diffraction, x-ray spectroscopy, x-ray imaging, and other x-ray analysis techniques has lead to a profound increase in knowledge in virtually all scientific fields.
• x-ray imaging is used in a variety of applications, including medical, scientific and industrial applications.
• Various ones of these applications can be extremely challenging.
• screening mammography using x-ray imaging is a critical and challenging application, where dose, contrast, resolution and costs are all important
• an x-ray imaging system which includes an x-ray source, an optical device, and a detector.
• the optical device which directs x-rays from the x-ray source, includes at least one point-focusing, curved monochromating optic for directing x- rays from the x-ray source towards a focal point.
• the at least one point-focusing, curved monochromating optic directs a focused monochromatic x-ray beam towards the focal point, and the detector is aligned with the focused monochromatic x-ray beam directed from the optical device.
• the optical device facilitates x-ray imaging of an object using the detector when the object is placed between the optical device and the detector, within the focused monochromatic x-ray beam directed from the optical device.
• each point-focusing, curved monochromatic optic has a doubly-curved optical surface
• the at least one point-focusing, curved monochromating optic comprises a plurality of doubly-curved optical crystals or a plurality of doubly-curved multilayer optics.
• the optical device facilitates passive image demagnification of an object when the object is placed before the focal point, and the detector is located closer to the focal point than the object is to the focal point.
• the optical device facilitates passive image magnification of an object when the detector is located further from the focal point than the object is to the focal point.
• the object can be placed either before or after the focal point, as can the detector.
• an imaging system which includes an x-ray source, a first optical device, a second optical device, and a detector.
• the first optical device includes at least one first point-focusing, curved monochromating optic for directing x-rays from the x-ray source towards a first focal point in the form of a first focused monochromatic x-ray beam.
• the second optical device is aligned with the first focused monochromatic x-ray beam, and includes at least one second point-focusing, curved monochromating optic for directing x-rays of the first focused monochromatic x-ray beam towards a second focal point in the form of a second focused monochromatic x-ray beam.
• the detector is aligned with the second focused monochromatic x-ray beam.
• the first and second optical devices facilitate imaging of an object using the detector when the object is placed between the first optical device and the second optical device, within the first focused monochromatic x-ray beam.
• FIG. 1 depicts one embodiment of a point-focusing, curved monochromating optic for an x-ray imaging system, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention
• FIG. IA is a cross-sectional elevational view of the structure of
• FIG. 2 depicts one embodiment of an optical device (and illustrating Rowland circle geometry) for use in one embodiment of an x-ray imaging system, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention
• FIG. 3 depicts in schematic form one embodiment of an x-ray imaging system, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention
• FIG. 4 depicts in schematic form an alternate embodiment of an x-ray imaging system, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention
• FIG. 5 depicts an x-ray beam exposure from a doubly-curved optical segment of an optical device employed by an x-ray imaging system, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention
• FIGS. 5A-C depict several, non-exclusive embodiments of mechanically scanning various components of the systems disclosed herein to facilitate large area coverage without requiring larger component distances, in accordance with certain aspects of the present invention
• FIG. 6 depicts in schematic form a further embodiment of an x- ray imaging system, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention
• FIG. 7 depicts in schematic form another embodiment of an x- ray imaging system, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention.
• FIG. 8 is a graph showing intensity counts versus energy for an x-ray imaging system employing a point-focusing, curved monochromating optic, and a source voltage of 25 kV, a current of 0.1 mA, and a recording time of 20 seconds, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention
• FIG. 9 is a block diagram depiction of a 5 mm step phantom of polypropylene attached to a 10 mm polymethyl methacrylate block for use in testing the x-ray imaging system of FIG. 7, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention
• FIG. 10 is a graph of detected intensity versus position for the phantom of FIG. 9, imaged using an x-ray imaging system such as depicted in FIG. 7, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention
• FIG. 11 is an image of two phantom holes of different depths of
• FIG. 12 is a depiction of a focused monochromatic x-ray beam directed from a point-focusing, curved monocliromating optic, and marking various positions for knife-edge resolution measurements in testing of an x-ray imaging system, such as depicted in FIG. 7, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention. Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention
• One existing x-ray optical technology is based on diffraction of x-rays by crystals, for example, germanium (Ge) or silicon (Si) crystals.
• Curved crystals can provide deflection of diverging radiation from an x-ray source onto a target, as well as providing monochromatization of photons reaching the target.
• Doubly-curved crystals provide focusing of x-rays from the source to a point target in all three dimensions, for example, as disclosed by Chen and Wittry in the article entitled “Microprobe X-ray Fluorescence with the Use of Point-focusing Diffractors,” which appeared in Applied Physics Letters, 71 (13), 1884 (1997), the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.
• This three-dimensional focusing is referred to in the art as "point-to-point" focusing.
• the point-to-point focusing property of certain doubly-curved crystals has many important applications in, for example, material science structural or composition analysis. Curved crystals further divide into Johansson and Johan types.
• Johansson geometry requires, e.g., crystal planes to have a curvature that is equal to twice the radius of the Rowland circle, but a crystal surface grinded to the radius of the Rowland circle, while Johan geometry configuration requires, e.g., a curvature twice the radius of the Rowland circle.
• One advantage of providing a high-intensity x-ray beam is that the desired sample exposure can typically be achieved in a shorter measurement time.
• the potential to provide shorter measurement times can be critical in many applications. For example, in some applications, reduced measurement time increases the signal-to-noise ratio of the measurement. In addition, minimizing analysis time increases the sample throughput in, for example, industrial applications, thus improving productivity.
• Another important application is x-ray imaging, which is the application to which the present invention is directed.
• curved optic can comprise various optical devices, including one or more doubly-curved crystal (DCC) optics or one or more doubly-curved multilayer optics.
• DCC doubly-curved crystal
• FIGs. 1 and IA One embodiment of such a doubly-curved optical device is depicted in FIGs. 1 and IA, and is described in detail in United States Letters Patent No. 6,285,506 Bl, issued September 4, 2001, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
• a doubly-curved optical device includes a flexible layer 110, a thick epoxy layer 112 and a backing plate 114.
• the structure of the device is shown further in the cross-sectional elevational view in FIG. IA.
• the epoxy layer 112 holds and constrains the flexible layer 110 to a selected geometry having a curvature.
• the thickness of the epoxy layer is greater than 20 ⁇ m and the thickness of the flexible layer is greater than 5 ⁇ m. Further, the thickness of the epoxy layer is typically thicker than the thickness of the flexible layer.
• the flexible layer can be one of a large variety of materials, including: mica, Si, Ge, quartz, plastic, glass etc.
• the epoxy layer 112 can be a paste type with viscosity in the order of 10 to 10 poise and 30 to 60 minutes pot life.
• the backing plate 114 can be a solid object that bonds well with the epoxy.
• the surface 118 of the backing plate can be flat (FIG. IA) or curved, and its exact shape and surface finish are not critical to the shape and surface finish of the flexible layer. In the device of FIGS. 1 & IA, a specially prepared backing plate is not required.
• protection material 116 Surrounding the flexible layer may be a thin sheet of protection material 116, such as a thin plastic, which is used around the flexible layer edge (see FIG. IA).
• the protection material protects the fabrication mold so that the mold is reusable, and would not be necessary for a mold that is the exact size or smaller than the flexible layer, or for a sacrificial mold.
• Doubly-curved optical devices such as doubly-curved crystal (DCC) optics
• DCC doubly-curved crystal
• three-dimensional focusing of characteristic x-rays can be achieved by diffraction from a toroidal crystal used with a small electronic bombardment x-ray source.
• This point-to-point Johan geometry is illustrated in FIG. 2.
• the diffracting planes of each crystal optic element 200 can be parallel to the crystal surface.
• X-rays diverging from the source, and incident on the crystal surface at angles within the rocking curve of the crystal will be reflected efficiently to the focal or image point.
• the monochromatic flux density at the focal point for a DCC-based system is several orders of magnitude greater than that of conventional systems with higher power sources and similar source to object distances. This increase yields a very high sensitivity for use in many different applications, including (as described herein) radiographic imaging.
• FIG. 2 illustrates that the optical device may comprise multiple doubly-curved crystal optic elements 200 arranged in a grid pattern about the Rowland circle.
• Such a structure may be arranged to optimize the capture and redirection of divergent radiation via Bragg diffraction.
• a plurality of optic crystals having varying atomic diffraction plane orientations can be used to capture and focus divergent x- rays towards a focal point.
• a two or three dimensional matrix of crystals can be positioned relative to an x-ray source to capture and focus divergent x-rays in three dimensions. Further details of such a structure are presented in the above-incorporated, co- pending United States Patent Application Serial No. 11/048,146, entitled "An Optical Device for Directing X-Rays Having a Plurality of Optical Crystals".
• Point focusing, monochromating curved optics such as the doubly-curved crystals (DCC) discussed above, are employed herein to point focus and monochromatically redirect x-rays from a large solid angle x-ray source for x-ray imaging.
• Monochromatic beams improve contrast and minimize radiation dose, which can be significant where a lower powered source is desired or where the object to be imaged is a patient.
• the x-ray imaging system and techniques described herein are applicable to radiographic imaging in general, and not to any particular application.
• the systems and techniques described can be employed to image any biological object, or non-biological object, such as an integrated circuit chip.
• Monochromatic beams are achieved herein by employing point-focusing, monochromating curved optics.
• An x-ray imaging system employing such an optic is depicted in FIG. 3.
• x-rays 305 from an x-ray source 300 are directed by an optical device 320 comprising at least one point-focusing, curved monochromating optic, to controllably converge at a focal point 360.
• the size of the x-ray source can vary with the x-ray imaging application.
• the source would be a conventional x-ray source, such as an electron impact source including a conventional fixed anode or rotating anode x-ray tube.
• low power sources may be used, for example less than 500 Watts.
• the curved monochromating optic 320 directs x-rays from the source towards the focal point as a focused monochromatic x-ray beam 325.
• An input focal slit 310 and output focal slit 330 may be employed alone or together to further limit background radiation, limit divergence or shape the output beam.
• An object 340 to be imaged is placed within the focused monochromatic x-ray beam 325 after optical device 320.
• Object 340 can be placed either before focal point 360 as shown, or after focal point 360.
• a detector 350 can be located before the focal point or after the focal point.
• Detector 350 is an imaging detector that provides a two-dimensional map of x-ray intensity.
• the detector could be film, a film/screen cassette, a CCD coupled to a phosphor, an amorphous selenium or amorphous silicon detector, a computed radiography plate, a CdZnTe detector, or any other analog or digital detector.
• the image can be demagnified onto the detector when the detector is placed closer to the focal point, for example, at locations 370 or 380.
• the object can be magnified onto a larger detector located at location 390, i.e., with the detector disposed further from focal point 360 than object 340. Magnification is beneficial if system resolution is detector limited, while demagnification is beneficial if it is desired to use smaller, cheaper detectors.
• Image blur due to angular divergence can be reduced by placing the detector at location 350, near to object 340, and further reduced by increasing the distance between the object and the focal point, as shown in FIG. 4.
• x-rays 405 from an x-ray source 400 are again directed by an optical device 420, comprising a point-focusing, curved monochromating optic, into a focused monochromatic x-ray beam 425 to controllably converge at a focal point 460.
• object 440 to be imaged is located after the focal point in order to be further from the focal point than possible if disposed between optical device 420 and focal point 460.
• Imaging detector 450 is placed near object 440.
• Intensity of the point-focused, monochromatic beam is tailored to a particular imaging application. Intensity depends, in part, on the collected solid angle, which can be increased by decreasing the input focal distance between the x-ray source and the optical device, or by increasing the size of the optical device or by using multiple point-focusing, curved monochromating optics arranged in a structure such as depicted in the above- incorporated United States Patent Application Serial No. 11/048,146, entitled "An Optical Device for Directing X-Rays Having a Plurality of Optical Crystals".
• the resolution of the image can be improved by decreasing the angular divergence of the point-focused monochromatic beam, which can be accomplished by increasing the object-to-focal-point distance, or increasing the output focal distance. Intensity and resolution can also be adjusted by employing an optical device with a symmetrical optic having equal input and output focal lengths, or an asymmetrical optic with differing input and output focal lengths.
• a doubly-curved optical device such as described herein produces a curved fan beam output, such as shown by way of example, in FIG. 5. This fan beam output can be scanned across the object in a manner similar to a conventional slot/scan system.
• FIG. 5 A depicts gantries 510 and 512 to move the object 340 and large area detector 380 across the beam.
• FIG. 5B depicts a gantry 520 supporting source 300, optic 320, and slits 310 and 330 (if any), collectively scanned to move the beam across the stationary object 340.
• FIG. 5C depicts a gantry 530 supporting optic 320 and slits 310 and 330 (if any), scanned to move the optic 320 along a circle centered at the source, maintaining the alignment at the Bragg angle.
• the detector could be a large area detector fixed with respect to the object, or a smaller detector, for example the size of the output beam, which is fixed with respect to the beam and records the changes as the object moves with respect to the beam.
• the beam can be limited to a straight fan with the use of slits, such as depicted in FIG. 3, or employed as single or multiple curved segments. Further, significant reduction in scatter production when imaging large objects is obtained using a scanned beam.
• the output focal spot from a doubly-curved optical device can be used as the source for a second optical device (as shown in FIG. 6) to effect refractive contrast (diffraction enhanced) imaging.
• a doubly-curved optical device 620 collects radiation 605 from an x-ray source 600 and directs the radiation in a point-focused monochromatic x-ray beam 625 to converge at a first focal point 630, which as noted, is the x-ray source for a second optical device 650.
• Device 650 which comprises a second doubly- curved optical device, directs focused monochromatic x-ray beam 625 into a second point- focused monochromatic x-ray beam 655 to converge at a second focal point (not shown).
• an object 640 to be imaged is disposed between the first optical device 620 and the second optical device 650 within the point-focused monochromatic x-ray beam.
• Imaging detector 660 is aligned with an axis of the second focused monochromatic x-ray beam 655 output from the second optical crystal 650.
• Gradients in refractive index in the object deflect the x-rays, which produce contrast in the manner termed "refractive index imaging" or "diffraction enhanced imaging” when employed with flat crystals.
• the first optical device 620 may be used with a Bragg angle near 45° so that its output beam is polarized
• the second optical device 650 may be placed orthogonal to the first optical device (and also have a Bragg angle near 45°) so that it functions as an analyzing filter.
• the diffracted beam from the first optical device travels in the y direction
• the diffracted beam from the second optical device (which will not exist unless there is depolarization in the object) travels in the z direction. This allows polarized beam imaging which can increase the contrast and reduce background.
• doubly-curved optical devices are employed herein to produce a point- focused, monochromatic beam with high intensity and good angular resolution for various imaging applications.
• the monochromatic x-rays and the narrow output beam reduce the scatter produced in the patient or object, which improves the contrast and lowers the required dose. This is especially advantageous if no anti-scatter grid is employed.
• Employing pairs of optics as illustrated in FIG. 6 allows for high contrast refractive index imaging using conventional x-ray sources, or even low power x-ray sources (i.e., sources less than IkW).
• FIG. 7 is a further schematic diagram of a monochromatic imaging system, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention.
• This system again employs an optical device comprising a point-focusing, doubly-curved optic, such as a doubly-curved crystal (DCC) optic.
• the imaging system includes an x-ray source 700 which provides x-rays 705 via slit 710 to optical device 720.
• Device 720 directs the x-rays in a focused monochromatic x-ray beam 725 through a second slit 730 towards a focal point 760.
• An object to be imaged 740 is disposed, in this example, after the focal point 760, with the detector 750 placed close by the object.
• the parameters of the DCC optic for the experiments performed are shown in Table 1.
• the source was a Microfocus Mo source, from Oxford Instruments, LTC, with a maximum source power of 120 watts, and the detector was a Fuji Computed Radiography Plate.
• the DCC optic was mounted on two translation stages transverse to the x-ray beam and roughly placed at the designed focal distance from the source spot.
• Rough source to optic alignment was first performed with a CCD camera. The camera was placed at the 2 ⁇ ragg angle at 180 mm from the optic to intercept the diffracted image and the optic scanned to obtain the maximum brightness. Then the diffracted intensity was recorded with a Ge detector (which gives total photon flux in the whole beam) and maximized by scanning the DCC optic along the x and y directions at different z positions.
• the resulting output spectrum is shown in FIG. 8.
• FIG. 8 a diffraction spectrum with a DCC optic with source voltage of 25 kV, current of 0.1 mA and a recording time of 20 seconds is shown. Note that the measured spectral width is detector limited.
• FIG. 9 Contrast measurements were performed with two plastic phantoms as depicted in FIG. 9.
• a 5 mm step phantom 1100 of polypropylene was employed attached to a 10 mm polymethyl methacrylate block 1110.
• the phantom was placed at a 70 mm distance beyond the output focal point as shown in FIG. 7, with a computed radiography plate immediately adjacent.
• the beam size at the position was approximately 1 mm along the horizontal axis and 10 mm along the vertical axis.
• the phantom and the plate were mounted on three translation stages and scanned along the vertical direction.
• the image size of approximately 200 mm 2 was obtained in an exposure time in the range 2 - 5 minutes with a 10 W source.
• FIG. 11 The image of the polystrene phantom and its intensity profile are shown in FIG. 11.
• the figure shows two holes of different depths of 6mm and 7mm, with the intensity profile being taken through the dashed line.
• the source voltage was 35 kV at 1OW power.
• the phantom was translated at 0.1 mm/s with an exposure time of three minutes.
• the measured and calculated contrasts are shown in Table 3.
• image resolution is an important parameter.
• spatial resolution is approximately proportional to the angular divergence, also called angular resolution.
• Angular resolution measurements were performed with an Oxford Instrument Microfocus 5011 molybdenum source. This source has a larger focal spot size, approximately 60 ⁇ m, somewhat closer to that of a clinical source than the 15 ⁇ m spot size of the Oxford Microfocus source.
• Angular resolution was measured by recording a knife edge shadow with a Fuji restimuble phosphor computed radiography image plate with 50 ⁇ m pixels. The knife-edge was placed after the crystal to block half of the output beam. The intensity profile recorded by the detector was differentiated and a Gaussian fit used to obtain the full width at half maximum. The detector angular resolution, ⁇ D , is 50 ⁇ m divided by the knife to detector distance. The results listed in Tables 4 and 5 have the detector resolution subtracted in
• the measured angular resolution is assumed to be y ⁇ + ⁇ D , where ⁇ is the actual angular resolution of the x-ray beam.
• the resolutions were measured with the knife-edge 70 mm beyond the output focal point, which is 190 mm from the optics so that the beam is diverging rather than converging.
• the image plate was placed at 50, 200, 300, 450 mm distances to the knife-edge.
• the resolutions are different in the horizontal and vertical directions because the convergence angles are different. For this detector, which had 50 micron pixels, increasing the plate distance beyond 300 mm did not greatly improve the resolution, so the remaining measurements were made with a plate distance of 300 mm. Then measurements were performed for the different knife-edge positions shown in FIG. 12.
• the measured results are shown in Table 5.
• the angular resolution changes with distance from the optic as different fractions of the total convergence are sampled.
• the resolution is improved as the distance of the phantom from the output focal point is increased.
• the uniformity which is quite good at 70 mm from the focal spot, as shown in FIGS. 10 & 11, is somewhat poorer at longer focal spot to phantom distances.
• the resolution might be further improved without a decrease in uniformity by increasing the output focal length in an asymmetric optic design. If the beam is to be scanned, uniformity in the direction along the scan is not critical.
• the flux diffracted by the DCC optic was measured with a Ge detector.
• the diffraction efficiency ⁇ of the DCC optic which is the ratio of the number of photons diffracting from the optic to incident photons on the surface of the optic, obtained with an aperture measurement, was calculated by:
• C D is the diffracted counts
• Cw is the counts without the optic
• a aper is the area of the aperture
• a opt i c is the effective area of the optic surface
• d op tic is the optic distance to the source
• d aper is the aperture distance to the source.
• ⁇ s is the ratio of the source size to the source distance, about 0.5 mrad
• ⁇ - ⁇ 0.2 mrad is the angular width, computed from Bragg' s law, due to the energy width of the characteristic line. The calculated ⁇ is in good agreement with the measurement.
• x-ray imaging systems are presented herein which employ one or more point-focusing, curved monochromating optics for directing out a focused monochromatic x-ray beam for use in imaging an object, such as a patient.
• Monochromatization of x-rays can be readily achieved using doubly-curved crystal optics or doubly-curved multilayer optical devices.
• such optics are relatively easy to make in large sizes so that an x-ray imaging system as proposed herein is simpler and easier to produce then conventional approaches. Beam divergence of the x-ray imaging system can be controlled by increasing the optic-to-object distance, or changing the optic design to increase the output focal length.
• the optics discussed above include curved crystal optics (see e.g., X-Ray Optical, Inc.'s, U.S. Patent Nos. 6,285,506, 6,317,483, and U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/400,809, filed August 2, 2002, entitled “An Optical Device for Directing X-Rays Having a Plurality of Crystals", and perfected as PCT Application No. PCT/US2003/023412, filed July 25, 2003, and published under the PCT Articles in English as WO 2004/013867 A2 on February 12, 2004) - each of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety); or similarly functioning multi-layer optics.
• the optics may provide beam gain, as well as general beam control.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• High Energy & Nuclear Physics (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Nanotechnology (AREA)
• Mathematical Physics (AREA)
• Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
• Crystallography & Structural Chemistry (AREA)
• Spectroscopy & Molecular Physics (AREA)
• Analysing Materials By The Use Of Radiation (AREA)

Priority Applications (2)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=37460027

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (4)

Cited By (1)

Families Citing this family (35)

Citations (5)

Family Cites Families (16)

• 2006
  • 2006-07-31 WO PCT/US2006/029732 patent/WO2007016484A2/en not_active Ceased
  • 2006-07-31 JP JP2008525079A patent/JP4994375B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2006-07-31 CN CN2006800363278A patent/CN101356589B/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2006-07-31 US US11/496,561 patent/US7583789B1/en not_active Expired - Fee Related

Patent Citations (7)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events