Generation of X-ray vortex with ultra-long depth of focus using axial line-focused spiral zone plates

Abstract

We propose axial line-focused spiral zone plates (ALFSZPs) for generating tightly focused X-ray vortex beams with ultra-long depth of focus (DOF) along the propagation direction. In this typical design, compared with the conventional spiral zone plates (SZPs) under the same numerical aperture (NA), the DOF of ALFSZPs has been extended to an ultra-length by optimizing the corresponding parameters. Besides, it also exhibits lower side lobes and smaller dark cores in the whole focus volume. The diameters of dark cores increase as the topological charge value increases.