PHOTON SIEVE

Fourth generation light sources, based on Free-Electron Lasers (FEL) will be capable of producing X-rays of such extreme brilliance that new possibilities of focusing the radiation emerge. An optical element, based on the simple concept of an array of pinholes, (a photon sieve) exploits the monochromaticity and coherence of light from a free-electron laser to focus soft X-rays with unprecedented sharpness. The combination of an excellent focus with extreme flux will provide new opportunities for high-resolution X-ray microscopy and spectroscopy in both the physical and life sciences.