Derivation of closed‐form ellipsoidal X‐ray mirror shapes from Fermat's principle

Ellipsoidal and plane‐elliptical surfaces are widely used as reflective, point‐to‐point focusing elements in many optical systems, including X‐ray optics. Here the classical optical path function approach of Fermat is applied to derive a closed‐form expression for these surfaces that are uniquely described by the object and image distances and the angle of incidence at a point on a mirror surface. A compact description facilitates design, modeling, fabrication, and testing to arbitrary accuracy. Congruent surfaces in two useful coordinate systems — a system centered on the ellipsoid's axes of symmetry and a mirror‐centered or `vertex' system with the surface tangent to the xy plane at the mirror's center — are presented. Expressions for the local slope and radii of curvature are derived from the result, and the first several terms of the Maclauren series expansion are provided about the mirror center. The derivation of closed‐form expressions for ellipsoidal mirror surfaces from the Fermat principle, in terms of the object and image distances, and the glancing angle of incidence, in mirror‐centered coordinates is given.