H.J. Stock

Thermal stability of Mo/Si multilayer soft-X-ray mirrors fabricated by electron-beam evaporation

Mo/Si multilayers are fabricated by electron-beam evaporation in UHV at different temperatures (30° C, 150° C, 200° C) during deposition. After completion their thermal stability is tested by baking them at temperatures (Tbak) between 200° C and 800° C in steps of 50° C or 100° C. After each baking step the multilayers are characterized by small angle CuKα-X-ray diffraction. Additionally, the normal incidence soft-X-ray reflectivity for wavelengths between 11 nm and 19 nm is determined after baking at 500° C. Furthermore, the layer structure of the multilayers is investigated by means of Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy (RBS) and sputter/Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES) technique. While the reflectivity turns out to be highest for a deposition temperature of 150° C, the thermal stability of the multilayer increases with deposition temperature. The multilayer deposited at 200° C stands even a 20 min 500° C baking without considerable changes in the reflectivity behaviour.

Electron-beam-deposited Mo/Si and MoxSiy/Si multilayer x-ray mirrors and gratings

For the wavelength region above the Si- L edge normal incidence, soft x-ray mirrors are produced with peak reflectivities close to 60%. The multilayer systems consist of molybdenum and silicon and are fabricated by electron beam evaporation in ultrahigh vacuum. A smoothing of the boundaries, and thereby a drastic enhancement of the reflectivity, is obtained by thermal treatment of the multilayer systems during growth. The thermal stability of the multilayer stacks could be improved considerably up to 850° C by mixing Mo and Si in the absorber layers and producing thus Mo x Si y /Si multilayers with x and y denoting the amounts of Mo and Si in the absorber layer, respectively. First attempts are reported to produce mirrors with a bilayer thickness of 2.6 nm. An improvement in the quality of these interfaces can be obtained by bombardment with Ar + ions. We report on normal incidence reflectivity measurements of the mirrors with synchrotron radiation and finally on the normal incidence diffraction efficiencies of a Mo/Si multilayer coated grating, for which values of 5.5% are achieved for the + 1st and - 1st diffraction orders.

Characterization of the helical undulator HELIOS I in the 520 to 930 eV range using a multilayer polarimeter

A W/Si multilayer was used to determine the degree of circular polarization of the soft x-ray radiation of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility helical undulator HELIOS I. The multilayer, manufactured by vapor deposition serves as a wideband tunable polarization analyzer in the photon energy range from 520 to 930 eV. The characterization of the multilayer’s analyzing power, varying from 0.82 to 0.25 for these energies, indicates that it operates close to its calculated specifications. The lack of phase-shifters applicable in this energy range was overcome by a detailed analysis of the unpolarized background identified as radiation from the magnetic lattice. In this way, the degree of circular polarization of HELIOS I was determined to exceed 0.85 for hν>685 eV.

Carbon buffer layers for smoothing superpolished glass surfaces as substrates for molybdenum/silicon multilayer soft-x-ray mirrors

Zerodur and BK7 glass substrates (developed by Fa. Glaswerke Schott, D-55014 Mainz, Germany) from Carl Zeiss Oberkochen polished to a standard surface roughness of varsigma = 0.8 nm rms were coated with a C layer by electron-beam evaporation in the UHV. The roughness of the C-layer surfaces is reduced to 0.6 nm rms. A normal-incidence reflectance of 50% at a wavelength of 13 nm was measured for a Mo/Si multilayer soft-x-ray mirror with 30 double layers (N = 30) deposited onto the BK7/C substrate, whereas a similar Mo/Si multilayer (N = 30) evaporated directly onto the bare BK7 surface turned out to show a reflectance of only 42%.

Smoothing of interfaces in ultrathin Mo/Si multilayers by ion bombardment

Mo/Si multilayers with a bilayer thickness of 2.6 nm are produced by electron beam evaporation in ultrahigh vacuum for soft X-ray optical applications. High reflectivities resulting from constructive interference in the stack are limited by the optical constants of the materials and by the quality of the interfaces. Smoothing of the boundaries is obtained by bombardment of the deposited layers with Ar+ ions. The smoothness of the interfaces is controlled during the deposition by in situ measurement of the reflectivity for the C K radiation of the stack and after completion of the stack by means of a grazing X-ray reflection set-up with Cu Kα radiation. The soft X-ray reflectivity is measured with a laser-induced plasma light source.

Mo0.5Si0.5/Si multilayer soft x‐ray mirrors, high thermal stability, and normal incidence reflectivity

Multilayer soft x‐ray mirrors with an absorber consisting of the mixture Mo0.5Si0.5 have been fabricated by electron‐beam evaporation in UHV. This has been done to get soft x‐ray normal incidence mirrors for 80–100 eV photon energy with enhanced thermal stability and still high reflectivity. The thermal stability is studied by baking them at temperatures between 600 and 950 °C. The results were compared with multilayers of pure Mo and Si, which were also fabricated by electron‐beam evaporation. After each baking step the x‐ray mirrors are characterized by small angle CuKα x‐ray diffraction. The reflectivity of the first‐order Bragg peak is nearly constant up to 20 min baking at 900 °C. Further we present the normal incidence soft x‐ray reflectivity for wavelengths between 12 and 18 nm of a Mo0.5Si0.5/Si mirror with 12 double layers (N=12) and of a Mo0.5Si0.5/Si mirror as deposited with 33 double layers (N=33). With the latter a reflectivity of 46% is achieved.

X-ray scattering study of interface roughness correlation in Mo/Si and Ti/C multilayers for X-UV optics

The X-ray reflectivity and interface diffuse scattering at grazing incidence were measured on two couples of multilayers, namely on Mo/Si multilayers (50 periods) prepared by e-beam evaporation and sputtering techniques and on e-beam evaporated Ti/C multilayers (87 periods) prepared with and without Ar+ ion-beam polishing after each layer deposition. The results were evaluated using Fresnels optical algorithm and a semikinematical modification of the distorted-wave Born approximation to extract and compare the basic interface parameters within each couple. For both Mo/Si multilayers, a frequency-dependent vertical correlation function of the interface roughness corresponding to a model of kinetic roughening was applicable, the vertical correlation length (at a given frequency) being more than an order of magnitude shorter for the sputtered sample. This effect may be explained by high lateral mobility of sputtered adatoms when the Ar plasma pressure is below the thermalization threshold. The main effect of polishing the Ti/C multilayer is a decrease of both the lateral and vertical correlation lengths by about an order of magnitude which may be ascribed to an interfacial reaction at the underlying interface induced by penetrating Ar+ ions. Different lateral and vertical correlations of the interface profiles evidenced within each couple of multilayers affect the distribution of the interface diffuse scattering intensity in the reciprocal space which has some implications for X-UV optics applications

Carbon/titanium multilayers as soft-x-ray mirrors for the water window

C/Ti multilayers with a period thickness of 2.1-2.7 nm were produced by electron-beam evaporation in ultrahigh vacuum as soft-x-ray mirrors in the water window (lambda = 2.3-4.4 nm). For smoothing the individual interfaces and thus enhancing the total reflectance, each layer was ion polished with an Ar(+) ion beam after deposition. For a multilayer of 85 bilayers, a reflectance of approximately 11% at an angle of incidence of 59 degrees (with respect to the surface normal) by use of s-polarized radiation at a wavelength of 2.77 nm was achieved.

Mo/Si multilayer-coated ruled blazed gratings for the soft-x-ray region

Two Mo/Si multilayer-coated blazed gratings have been fabricated for operation at soft-x-ray wavelengths above the Si L edge, λ ≥ 12.4 nm, at (near) normal incidence. The sawtooth profile of the grating structure was mechanically ruled into a 200-nm Au film that was deposited onto a plane glass substrate. To smooth the rough Au surface and to prevent interdiffusion of the Au film with the upper Mo/Si multilayer, a carbon film was evaporated onto the Au grating surface of one of the gratings before the deposition of the multilayer coating. We matched the multilayer grating, working on blaze in the third diffraction order, in which an absolute diffraction efficiency of 3.4% at a wavelength of 14 nm was measured, whereas only 1.1% was achieved for a similar grating (without a carbon interlayer). These efficiencies are higher than those obtained for other ruled blazed gratings reported in the literature. As a result of the multilayer and grating periodicity, the wavelength of diffraction can be tuned bya rotation of the grating, which is important for application in a soft-x-ray monochromator.

Fabrication, thermal stability, and reflectivity measurements of Mo/Si multilayers as x-ray mirrors and other optical components

For the wavelength region above the Si-L edge normal incidence soft X-ray mirrors are produced with peak reflectivities around 55 percent. The Mo/Si multilayer systems are fabricated by electron beam evaporation in ultrahigh vacuum. Analysis of the quality of the stack is made by using an in situ monitoring system measuring the reflection of the C-K line and ex situ grazing X-ray reflection of the Cu-K-alpha line. A smoothing of the boundaries and thereby a drastic enhancement of the reflectivity can be obtained by thermal treatment of the multilayer system during growth. The microstructure of the multilayer systems is investigated by means of Rutherford Backscattering spectroscopy and Sputter/AES technique. Baking the final stack after deposition up to 900 C is applied to study the thermal stability of the soft X-ray mirror. Near normal incidence mirrors even for short wavelengths, e.g., the water window (2.4 - 4.4 nm), are produced with a Mo/Si bilayer thickness of 2.6 nm. An improvement in the quality of the interfaces for such ultrathin multilayer systems can be obtained by bombardment of the deposited layers with Ar(+) ions as well as by thermal treatment of the multilayer system and mixing of Mo and Si in the absorber layer during the deposition run. We report on reflectivity measurements of the mirrors and their behavior as polarizers and analyzers and on the diffraction efficiencies of laterally structured multilayer systems as gratings.