Quantitative characterization of aberrations in x-ray optics

Due to the weak interaction of X-rays with matter and their small wavelength on the atomic scale, stringent requirements are put on X-ray optics manufacturing and metrology. As a result, these optics often suffer from aberrations. Until now, X-ray optics were mainly characterized by their focal spot size and efficiency. How- ever, both measures provide only insufficient information about optics quality. Here, we present a quantitative analysis of residual aberrations in current beryllium compound refractive lenses using ptychography followed by a determination of the wavefront error and subsequent Zernike polynomial decomposition. Known from visible light optics, we show that these measures can provide an adequate tool to determine and compare the quality of various X-ray optics.