Patent ID: 8054939

Claim:
A method for sending x-rays through a structure, the method comprising: positioning an x-ray system and the structure relative to each other, wherein the x-ray system comprises a gas source configured to provide a gas; a laser system configured to emit a laser beam; a steering system configured to direct a first portion of the laser beam into the gas such that an electron beam is generated by the laser beam interacting with the gas and configured to direct a second portion of the laser beam into the electron beam such that a collimated x-ray beam is formed; and a detector configured to detect the collimated x-ray beam; calculating a magnification by adding a first distance between the structure and the detector to a second distance between an x-ray source and the structure to get a sum and dividing the sum by the second distance; calculating an image unsharpness by multiplying a focal spot size by the magnification; and emitting the collimated x-ray beam substantially tangential to a location of a feature on the structure so that the collimated x-ray beam passes tangentially through the feature on the structure to reach a detector to produce an image with the image unsharpness.