The official website for the Smart X-ray Optics project is now located here.

The project aims to develop x-ray optics in three main areas:

X-ray astronomy

Micro irradiation of cells

X-ray lithography in microfabrication

The main problems for x-ray optics is in obtaining good resolution and throughput (efficiency). In an effort to improve these we are using piezo-electric materials and technologies developed for active/adaptive optics, applied to both grazing incidence mirrors (UCL, Edinburgh) and Fresnel zone plates (Kings, Gray).