Diamond compound refractive lenses for high-energy dark field X-ray microscopy

Compound refractive lenses (CRLs) are a type of X-ray optics that find widespread applications as focusing and imaging lenses. The choice of material is one of the most defining properties of these lenses. In this work, we present a CRL made out of diamond. It provides an advantageous balance between refractivity and absorption, along with good manufacturability. Compared with Be CRLs, it features a higher optical density and thus enables application at higher photon energies without relying on large lens stacks or very small radii of curvature, which are challenging to manufacture. A diamond CRL is characterized for use as an objective for dark-field X-ray microscopy (DFXM) at the ID03 beamline of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility and compared with Al and Be CRLs at 17 keV, 33 keV and 37 keV. Increasing the photon energy in DFXM from 17 keV up to 37 keV opens up the possibility to investigate new sample systems that were previously opaque to low-energy X-ray radiation. The capability of the diamond CRL at 33 keV is illustrated through DFXM measurements on two 0.5 mm-thick iron-based samples, which cannot be probed at 17 keV.