Area X-ray or UV camera system for high-intensity beams

1. A system, comprising:

a source for directing a beam of radiation at a sample;

a multilayer mirror having a face oriented at an angle of less than 90 degrees from an axis of the beam from the source, the mirror reflecting at least a portion of the radiation diffracted by the sample after the beam encounters the sample; and

a pixellated detector for detecting radiation reflected by the mirror.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the radiation includes X-rays.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the radiation includes ultraviolet light.

4. The system of claim 1 . wherein the source is a free-electron laser.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the mirror has an aperture therein for allowing radiation from the beam that is not scattered by the sample to pass therethrough.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein an edge of the aperture in the face of the mirror is shaped such that a reflectivity of the mirror gradually drops to zero over about a 1 mm distance from the edge of the aperture towards a center of the aperture.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the mirror structure is characterized such that a radiation wavelength of interest reflects from the mirror at highest reflectivity when a detected ray of radiation originates from a position of the sample.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the mirror has a layer period that varies across a face of the mirror for reflecting the radiation wavelength of interest at highest reflectivity when the detected ray of radiation originates from the position of the sample.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the mirror face is oriented at an angle of between about 10 and about 80 degrees from the axis of the beam from the source.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the mirror face is oriented at an angle of about 45 degrees from the axis of the beam from the source.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the mirror face is oriented at an angle of less than 45 degrees from the axis of the beam from the source.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the face of the mirror is planar.

13. The system of claim 1 , wherein the face of the mirror is concave.

14. The system of claim 1 , wherein the face of the mirror is convex.

15. The system of claim 1 , wherein the mirror includes an antireflective coating.

16. The system of claim 1 , wherein the mirror comprises laminated layers of Si, Mo and B 4 C.

17. The system of claim 1 , wherein the mirror comprises laminated layers made from combinations of two or more of the following materials: Co, Ni, C, Ru, Y, Cr, SiO 2 , TiO 2 .

18. The system of claim 1 , wherein the pixellated detector is a direct-illumination charge-coupled device.

19. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a filter positioned between the mirror and the pixellated detector, the filter blocking a wavelength that is not of interest.

20. A system, comprising:

a multilayer mirror for reflecting at least a portion of radiation after a beam of the radiation encounters a sample,

wherein the mirror has at least one of the following characteristics:

the mirror has an aperture therein for allowing radiation from the beam that is not scattered by the sample to pass therethrough; and/or

the mirror structure is characterized such that a radiation wavelength of interest reflects from the mirror at highest reflectivity when a detected ray of radiation originates from a position of the sample, wherein the mirror has a layer period that varies across a face of the mirror for reflecting the radiation wavelength of interest at highest reflectivity when the detected ray of radiation originates from the position of the sample.

21. A method, comprising:

directing a beam of radiation at a sample;

reflecting at least some of the radiation diffracted by the sample using a mirror, the mirror being oriented relative to the beam of radiation such that an axis of the beam of radiation intersects or passes through a face of the mirror;

not reflecting at least a majority of the radiation that is not diffracted by the sample; and

detecting at least some of the reflected radiation.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein a multilayer mirror reflects at least some of the radiation diffracted by the sample.

23. The method of claim 21 , further comprising constructing a data set representative of the sample using the detected radiation.

24. The method of claim 21 , further comprising repeating the method for multiple samples, and constructing a data set representative of the samples using the detected radiation, wherein the data set is three dimensional.

25. The method of claim 21 , wherein the radiation includes X-rays.

26. The method of claim 21 , wherein the radiation includes ultraviolet light.

27. A method, comprising:

directing a beam of radiation at a sample;

reflecting at least some of the radiation diffracted by the sample using a multilayer mirror; and

detecting at least some of the reflected radiations,

wherein the mirror has at least one of the following characteristics:

the mirror has an aperture therein for allowing radiation from the beam that is not scattered by the sample to pass therethrough; and/or

the mirror structure is characterized such that a radiation wavelength of interest reflects from the mirror at highest reflectivity when a detected ray of radiation originates from a position of the sample, wherein the mirror has a layer period that varies across a face of the mirror for reflecting the radiation wavelength of interest at highest reflectivity when the detected ray of radiation originates from the position of the sample.