Synchrotron X-ray applications of synthetic diamonds

The potential advantages of deploying diamond as a material for the construction of elements for X-ray optics have long been appreciated, but have been realized only to a limited extent. The reason for this is not hard to find: the limited access to reproducible raw materials because of the variability of natural diamonds. It has been said, correctly, that no two natural diamonds are the same. The inherently defect-rich natural diamond has discouraged commitment to its use as elements of X-ray optics. In this paper we address the impact of the advent of synthetic diamond of high quality and the reproducibility of its physical characteristics on this field.