Plano-convex ingot problematic in the case of the stamped examples as this would require the furnace to be dismantled or else have a short shaft to allow access for stamping (Merkel 1986, Tylecote 1986, 22.) As a solution the furnace could have been tapped into a mould at the completion of smelting. It is possible that both methods were used as several of the ingots seem to have had additional metal poured onto the top in order to allow stamping (Tylecote 1986, 23-4.) Plano-convex ingot Plano-convex ingots are lumps of metal with a flat or slightly concave top and a convex base.
Compound refractive lens the order of meters, by using many lenses in series. To minimize the absorption the lens must be made from a material such as aluminium, beryllium, or lithium. CRLs were first demonstrated in the mid-1990s by a group of scientists at the ESRF. They drilled holes in an aluminium block, and achieved focusing in two dimensions. For X-rays a concave lens focuses the X-rays because the index of refraction is slightly below unity. In a CRL of this type the walls between the cylindrical holes act as concave lenses for X-rays traveling perpendicular to the axis of the drilled cylinders.