Modified Fresnel zone plates that produce sharp Gaussian focal spots.

A modified Fresnel zone plate that can produce an approximate Gaussian focal spot is proposed for the focusing and imaging of soft x rays and extreme ultraviolet radiation. The selection conditions for the positions and the widths of the concentric open rings are analytically presented. The focal spot size can be much smaller than the width of the narrowest open ring, and the sidelobes and the higher orders can be effectively suppressed. Through numerical experiments, we confirm that a Gaussian focal spot with a beam width of 7.7 nm can be produced by a modified Fresnel zone plate with a minimum structure size of 30 nm.