A double-crystal bent Laue parallel-beam compressor

We demonstrate the ability to manipulate a synchrotron X-ray beam's size, maintaining a nearly parallel beam, by `compressing' it horizontally using a pair of cylindrically bent Laue crystals. This compressed beam creates a desirable aspect ratio for computed tomography (CT) of small samples. In contrast to collimation of the beam, this compressor `funnels' a large horizontal section of the beam's flux into a smaller imaging area, raising intensity and allowing users to work in the gap between bend-magnet (BM) and insertion-device beamline intensities. We demonstrate here the proof-of-principle of this optical system with CT of multiple small samples. This system can increase the capability of CT at synchrotron facilities by allowing more flexibility in the intensity of BM beamlines. It also produces a spectral beam which will be further explored in future papers.