Alignment of a grazing incidence x-ray interferometer

Our group at the University of Colorado has built a prototype interferometer that demonstrates x-ray fringes. We briefly describe how the instrument works and its geometry, and then present a detailed optical tolerance analysis. Careful analysis shows a grazing incidence design provides enough tolerance relaxation for our x-ray interferometer to work. The challenging nature of x-ray alignment has led us to a methodology that employs a succession of decreasing wavelengths. We also present fringe optimization methods and address environmental conditions that affect stability.