Realize a Gabor zone plate with zigzag zones

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• X-ray Optics

Background:

• Traditional Fresnel zone plates (FZPs) suffer from multiple focal points, limiting their applications.
• Gabor zone plates (GZPs) offer improved focusing but present fabrication challenges with sharp corners in binary designs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel binary Gabor zone plate (GZP) with a zigzag structure to achieve single-focus characteristics.
• To address the processing difficulties associated with sharp corners in conventional binary GZPs.

Main Methods:

• Design and simulation of a novel binary GZP featuring zigzag structured zones.
• Experimental investigation of the diffraction properties of the proposed zigzag GZP.

Main Results:

• The zigzag GZP successfully demonstrates a single-focus characteristic, unlike traditional FZPs.
• Effective suppression of higher-order diffraction was observed.
• The design's continuous annular zones with constant width facilitate self-supporting fabrication.

Conclusions:

• The novel zigzag GZP presents a viable alternative for focusing and imaging in soft X-ray and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) domains.
• This design offers improved performance and fabrication potential compared to existing GZP technologies.