A broadband condenser optic for the efficient collection of soft X-ray radiation

Summary form only given. A broadband (0.1-10-keV) condenser optic has been designed to collect and transport radiation from pulsed power sources to distant user stations. The Sandia optic is based upon nested conical foil X-ray telescopes. The condenser turns the telescope around and images a pulsed power X-ray source with a magnification of ~10. The device is disposable, providing 50-90% collection efficiency across the band of interest. Designs for collectors of subkiloelectronvolt thermal energy and for above-1-keV line energy are considered. The condensers will be able to collect ~1% of the 4 p emitted radiation and transport it to user areas. There the environment will be free from the high electromagnetic interference and debris concerns of close-in operation. On SATURN such an optic should be able to provide a user with several hundred joules of characteristic K- or L-line radiation and several kilojoules of near-100-eV radiation, all in 20 ns. Studies may then be performed in such areas as materials ablation or annealing, phase transitions in solids and in biological materials, and X-ray lithography