Lens (optics) distance from this point to the lens is also known as the focal length, though it is negative with respect to the focal length of a converging lens. Convex-concave (meniscus) lenses can be either positive or negative, depending on the relative curvatures of the two surfaces. A "negative meniscus" lens has a steeper concave surface and is thinner at the centre than at the periphery. Conversely, a "positive meniscus" lens has a steeper convex surface and is thicker at the centre than at the periphery. An ideal thin lens with two surfaces of equal curvature would have zero optical power,
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.