The well-established way to obtain the ultimate resolution is to use X-ray optics. This imaging technique is since many years performed at synchrotrons, since they can provide a high brilliance monochromatic beam. In recent decades, the optics-based X-ray microscope based on laboratory sources are commercially available.
The X-ray optics limits the bandwidth of the spectrum, thus a high brightness and relatively monochromatic X-ray source is needed. The conventional laboratory-based X-ray microscopes often use high-power rotating-anode sources. The drawback of this setup is the high loss of flux, since the acceptance angle of the optics will strictly limit what radiation that can become useful. A MetalJet source offers a sharp, high-intensity Kα line from Gallium emitted from a small focal spot, making a considerably larger fraction of the flux useful in the optics setup. This higher brightness makes broad applications possible also on compact sources.
