Asymmetrically cut crystals as optical elements for highly collimated x-ray beams

Asymmetrically cut perfect crystals, in both the Laue and Bragg geometries, are examined as single crystal monochromators for x-ray beams that are collimated to a small fraction of the Darwin width, as is typical in experiments with coherent x rays. Both the Laue and asymmetric Bragg geometries are plagued by an inherent chromatic aberration that increases the beam divergence much beyond that of the symmetric Bragg geometry. Measurements from a recent experiment at the ESRF are presented to compare Si(220) (symmetric Bragg), diamond(111) (asymmetric Laue), and diamond(111) (symmetric Bragg inclined) geometries.