Submicron x-ray imaging and Laue diffraction applications of tapered glass capillaries

A submicron-diameter x-ray beam from a tapered glass capillary has been used to image metal stripes on a lithography sample consisting of a 1000 angstroms thick gold pattern on a silicon wafer substrate. By fitting a function to data obtained from transmission and fluorescence measurements as the edge of a gold stripe was scanned across the end of the capillary, the beam size leaving the tip of the capillary was determined to be 2000 angstroms. The maximum gain for this capillary is now shown to be 240 at 6 keV. An image of the gold pattern with submicron resolution was easily observed from transmission measurements as the sample was scanned in two dimensions. Using the same capillary, Laue diffraction was observed from a 500-micrometers -thick silicon wafer in a 10-second exposure corresponding to an illuminated volume of 15.7 micrometers 3. Laue patterns from significantly smaller volumes should be possible in the near future.