Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. An x-ray system for analyzing a specimen, comprising:at least one x-ray source comprising:a vacuum chamber;a window transparent to x-rays attached to the wall of the vacuum chamber;and, within the vacuum chamber:at least one electron beam emitter, andan anode target comprising:a substrate comprising a first selected material, anda planar first surface, from which thickness is measured in a direction perpendicular to the first planar surface, andtwo orthogonal lateral dimensions are measured parallel to the first planar surface; anda plurality of discrete structures embedded into the first planar surface of the substrate such that each of the plurality of discrete structures is in thermal contact with the substrate,the plurality of discrete structures comprising:one or more materials selected for its x-ray generation properties;in which at least two of the plurality of discrete structures are arranged on a predetermined axis;in which the axis is parallel to the first planar surface of the substrate;in which the axis passes through the first window;in which each of the discrete structures has a thickness of less than 20 microns, andin which each of the plurality of discrete structures has a lateral dimension in the direction of the axis of less than 50 microns; anda means of directing electrons emitted by the at least one electron beam emitter onto the at least two arranged discrete structures such that x-rays are generated from each of the at least two arranged discrete structures;in which at least a portion of the generated x-rays propagating on the predetermined axis from each of the at least two arranged discrete structures is transmitted through the window;and additionally comprising:an x-ray optical system having an optical axis aligned relative to said predetermined axis,said optical system positioned to collect diverging x-rays accumulated from said at least two arranged discrete structures in the x-ray source and to condition and create an x-ray beam with predetermined properties;said optical system additionally comprising a central beam stop positioned to block x-rays propagating parallel to the optical axis;an adjustable means to direct the x-ray beam to be incident on the specimen with an adjustable grazing angle smaller than the critical angle of the specimen;at least one detector which detects the intensity of the x-rays emerging from the specimen and generates electrical signals; anda signal processor to analyze the electrical signals to obtain information about at least one of:composition, concentration, quantity, and film thickness. 2. The x-ray system of claim 1,in which said at least one detector is positioned to detect x-rays that are diffracted by the specimen;and additionally positioned such that a portion of the detector also detects x-rays reflected from the surface of the specimen. 3. The x-ray system of claim 1, in whichsaid predetermined axis and said optical axis are coincident. 4. The x-ray system of claim 1, in whichsaid optical system comprises a total external reflection based x-ray optic. 5. The x-ray system of claim 1, in whichsaid x-ray beam with predetermined properties has the property of being focused to a single spot with a spot size smaller than 300 microns; and in which the focused x-ray spot corresponds to a predetermined position on the surface of the specimen. 6. The x-ray system of claim 1, in whichsaid substrate comprises a material with a thermal conductivity greater than 0.1 W m−1° C.−1. 7. The system of claim 1, in whichthe first selected material is selected from the group consisting of:beryllium, diamond, graphite, silicon, boron nitride, silicon carbide, sapphire, and diamond-like carbon. 8. The system of claim 1, in whichone or more materials selected for its x-ray generation properties is selected from the group consisting of:aluminum, titanium, vanadium, chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, gallium, zinc, yttrium, zirconium, molybdenum, niobium, ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, silver, tin, iridium, tantalum, tungsten, indium, cesium, barium, gold, platinum, lead, and combinations and alloys thereof. 9. An x-ray measurement system, comprising:an x-ray source, comprising:a vacuum chamber;a window transparent to x-rays attached to the wall of the vacuum chamber;and, within the vacuum chamber:at least one electron beam emitter; andan anode target comprising:a substrate comprising a first selected material, anda planar first surface, from which thickness is measured in a direction perpendicular to the first planar surface, andtwo orthogonal lateral dimensions are measured parallel to the first planar surface; anda plurality of discrete structures embedded into the first planar surface of the substrate such that each of the plurality of discrete structures is in thermal contact with the substrate,the plurality of discrete structures comprising a second material selected for its x-ray generation properties;in which at least two of the plurality of discrete structures are arranged on a predetermined axis;in which the axis is parallel to the first planar surface of the substrate;in which the axis passes through the first window;in which each of the discrete structures has a thickness of less than 20 microns, andin which each of the plurality of discrete structures has a lateral dimension in the direction of the axis of less than 50 microns; anda means of directing electrons emitted by the at least one electron beam emitter onto the at least two arranged discrete structures such that x-rays are generated from each of the at least two arranged discrete structures;in which at least a portion of the generated x-rays propagating on the predetermined axis from each of the at least two arranged discrete structures is transmitted through the window;an optical train having an optical axis to collect diverging x-rays generated by said at least two arranged discrete structures in the anode target,and that produces an x-ray beam with predetermined beam properties;said optical train additionally comprising a central beam stop positioned to block x-rays propagating parallel to said optical axis;an adjustable mount to hold an object to be investigated,positioned such that the x-ray beam will be incident on the object at an adjustable grazing angle smaller than the critical angle of the object; anda detector to measure x-rays emerging from the object when x-rays are incident on the object. 10. The system of claim 9, in whichsaid detector is positioned to detect x-rays that are diffracted by the object;and additionally positioned such that a portion of the detector also measures the intensity of the x-rays reflected from the object. 11. The system of claim 9, in whichboth lateral dimensions parallel to said first planar surface of said at least two arranged discrete structures are less than 50 microns. 12. The system of claim 9, in whichthe plurality of discrete structures are arranged in a linear array along said predetermined axis; andthe optical axis of the optical train is also aligned along said predetermined axis. 13. The system of claim 9, in whichthe first selected material is selected from the group consisting of:beryllium, diamond, graphite, silicon, boron nitride, silicon carbide, sapphire, and diamond-like carbon. 14. The system of claim 9, in whichthe second material is selected from the group consisting of:aluminum, titanium, vanadium, chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, gallium, zinc, yttrium, zirconium, molybdenum, niobium, ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, silver, tin, iridium, tantalum, tungsten, indium, cesium, barium, gold, platinum, lead, and combinations and alloys thereof. 15. The system of claim 9, additionally comprising:an additional plurality of discrete structures aligned along said predetermined axis comprising a third material selected for its x-ray generation properties,in which each of the additional plurality of discrete structures is in thermal contact with the substrate, andin which at least two of the additional discrete structures have at least one lateral dimension parallel to said first planar surface of less than 20 microns. 16. The system of claim 15, in whichthe third material is selected from the group consisting of:aluminum, titanium, vanadium, chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, gallium, zinc, yttrium, zirconium, molybdenum, niobium, ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, silver, tin, iridium, tantalum, tungsten, indium, cesium, barium, gold, platinum, lead, and combinations and alloys thereof. 17. The system of claim 9, in whichthe plurality of discrete structures are arranged such that x-rays generated by a predetermined number of the plurality of discrete structures when exposed to an electron beam from the electron beam emitter are transmitted through a predetermined one of the discrete structure selected from the plurality of discrete structures. 18. The system of claim 9, comprisingan additional number of electron emitters and,an additional number of anode targets,with each anode target corresponding to a single electron emitter, such that each electron emitter is aligned to provide an electron beam to bombard the corresponding anode target to generate x-rays; andthe additional number of anode targets are aligned with each other and with said one anode target, such that the positions at which x-rays are generated in said one anode target and said additional number of anode targets are aligned along said predetermined axis; andthe optical train is also aligned along said predetermined axis. 19. The system of claim 9, in whichthe optical train comprises at least one axially symmetric x-ray reflector with a surface corresponding to a quadric surface. 20. The system of claim 19, in whichthe quadric surface is selected from the group consisting of:a spheroid, an ellipsoid, a paraboloid, a hyperboloid, an elliptic cylinder, a circular cylinder, an elliptic cone, and a circular cone. 21. The system of claim 9, in whichthe optical train comprises a type I Wolter x-ray optic. 22. The system of claim 9, in whichthe predetermined x-ray beam properties are those of a collimated x-ray beam. 23. The system of claim 9, in whichthe predetermined x-ray beam properties are those of a focused x-ray beam. 24. The system of claim 9, in whichthe detector is a silicon drift detector. 25. The x-ray measurement system of claim 9, in whichsaid substrate comprises a material with a thermal conductivity greater than 0.1 W m−1° C.−1. 26. An x-ray measurement system, comprising:a vacuum chamber;a first window transparent to x-rays attached to the wall of the vacuum chamber;and, within the vacuum chamber,one or more electron emitters; anda plurality of x-ray targets;with each target comprising a material selected for its x-ray generating properties,and in which at least one dimension of said material is less than 20 microns;and in which said one or more electron emitters and said plurality of x-ray targets are aligned such that bombardment of electrons on said x-ray targets produces x-ray sub-sources such that said sub-sources are aligned along an axis that passes through the first window;and additionally comprising:at least one x-ray imaging optical element,said x-ray imaging optical element positioned such that x-rays generated by one of said x-ray sub-sources are collected by said x-ray imaging optical element and focused onto a position corresponding to one of the other x-ray sub-sources;said system additionally comprising:an optical train having an optical axis aligned with said axis to collect diverging x-rays generated by said sub-sources and that produces an x-ray beam with predetermined beam properties;said optical train additionally comprising a central beam stop positioned to block x-rays propagating parallel to said optical axis;an adjustable mount to hold an object to be investigated,positioned such that the x-ray beam will be incident on the object at an adjustable grazing angle smaller than the critical angle of the object; anda detector to measure x-rays emerging from the object when x-rays are incident on the object. 27. The x-ray measurement system of claim 26, in whicheach x-ray target comprises a plurality of discrete structures embedded in a substrate, and said substrate comprises a material with a thermal conductivity greater than 0.1 W m−1° C.−1;and in which said plurality of discrete structures comprises a material selected for its x-ray generating properties. 28. The x-ray measurement system of claim 26, in whichthe x-rays generated by at least one of said x-ray sub-sources are collected by said at least one x-ray imaging optical element and focused onto a position corresponding to an adjacent said x-ray sub-source. 29. The x-ray measurement system of claim 28, in whichthe at least one x-ray imaging optical element comprises a total external reflection based x-ray reflector. 30. The x-ray measurement system of claim 29, in whichthe at least one x-ray imaging optical element comprises an ellipsoidal capillary optic having an ellipsoidal surface,said optic positioned such that the positions of the foci of the ellipsoidal surface respectively correspond to the positions of two adjacent said sub-sources. 31. The x-ray measurement system of claim 29, in whichthe at least one x-ray imaging optical element comprises at least one paraboloidal capillary optic having a paraboloidal surface,said optic positioned such that the position of the focus of the paraboloidal surface corresponds to the position of one of said sub-sources.