Silvio Fuchs

Sensitivity calibration of an imaging extreme ultraviolet spectrometer-detector system for determining the efficiency of broadband extreme ultraviolet sources

We report on the absolute sensitivity calibration of an extreme ultraviolet (XUV) spectrometer system that is frequently employed to study emission from short-pulse laser experiments. The XUV spectrometer, consisting of a toroidal mirror and a transmission grating, was characterized at a synchrotron source in respect of the ratio of the detected to the incident photon flux at photon energies ranging from 15.5 eV to 99 eV. The absolute calibration allows the determination of the XUV photon number emitted by laser-based XUV sources, e.g., high-harmonic generation from plasma surfaces or in gaseous media. We have demonstrated high-harmonic generation in gases and plasma surfaces providing 2.3 μW and μJ per harmonic using the respective generation mechanisms.

Nanometer resolution optical coherence tomography using broad bandwidth XUV and soft X-ray radiation.

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a non-invasive technique for cross-sectional imaging. It is particularly advantageous for applications where conventional microscopy is not able to image deeper layers of samples in a reasonable time, e.g. in fast moving, deeper lying structures. However, at infrared and optical wavelengths, which are commonly used, the axial resolution of OCT is limited to about 1 μm, even if the bandwidth of the light covers a wide spectral range. Here, we present extreme ultraviolet coherence tomography (XCT) and thus introduce a new technique for non-invasive cross-sectional imaging of nanometer structures. XCT exploits the nanometerscale coherence lengths corresponding to the spectral transmission windows of, e.g., silicon samples. The axial resolution of coherence tomography is thus improved from micrometers to a few nanometers. Tomographic imaging with an axial resolution better than 18 nm is demonstrated for layer-type nanostructures buried in a silicon substrate. Using wavelengths in the water transmission window, nanometer-scale layers of platinum are retrieved with a resolution better than 8 nm. XCT as a nondestructive method for sub-surface tomographic imaging holds promise for several applications in semiconductor metrology and imaging in the water window.

An extreme ultraviolet Michelson interferometer for experiments at free-electron lasers.

We present a Michelson interferometer for 13.5 nm soft x-ray radiation. It is characterized in a proof-of-principle experiment using synchrotron radiation, where the temporal coherence is measured to be 13 fs. The curvature of the thin-film beam splitter membrane is derived from the observed fringe pattern. The applicability of this Michelson interferometer at intense free-electron lasers is investigated, particularly with respect to radiation damage. This study highlights the potential role of such Michelson interferometers in solid density plasma investigations using, for instance, extreme soft x-ray free-electron lasers. A setup using the Michelson interferometer for pseudo-Nomarski-interferometry is proposed.

Quasi-supercontinuum source in the extreme ultraviolet using multiple frequency combs from high-harmonic generation

A quasi-supercontinuum source in the extreme ultraviolet (XUV) is demonstrated using a table-top femtosecond laser and a tunable optical parametric amplifier (OPA) as a driver for high-harmonic generation (HHG). The harmonic radiation, which is usually a comb of odd multiples of the fundamental frequency, is generated by near-infrared (NIR) laser pulses from the OPA. A quasi-continuous XUV spectrum in the range of 30 to 100 eV is realized by averaging over multiple harmonic comb spectra with slightly different fundamental frequencies and thus different spectral spacing between the individual harmonics. The driving laser wavelength is swept automatically during an averaging time period. With a total photon flux of 4×109 photons/s in the range of 30 eV to 100 eV and 1×107photons/s in the range of 100 eV to 200 eV, the resulting quasi-supercontinuum XUV source is suited for applications such as XUV coherence tomography (XCT) or near-edge absorption fine structure spectroscopy (NEXAFS).

Nanometer optical coherence tomography using broad-bandwidth XUV and soft x-ray radiation — XCT

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a well-established method to retrieve three-dimensional, cross-sectional images of biological samples in a non-invasive way using near-infrared radiation. The axial resolution of OCT is in the order of the coherence length lc ∝ λ02/ΔλFWHM which depends on the central wavelength λ0 and the spectral width (FWHM) ΔλFWHM of a light source. OCT with broadband visible and near-infrared sources typically reaches axial (depth) resolutions in the order of a few micrometers [1]. The new method presented here takes advantage of the fact that the coherence length and therefore the axial resolution of OCT can be significantly reduced if broadband XUV and SXR radiation is used. The broadness of the usable XUV spectrum is limited by absorption edges of the sample materials. For instance, the silicon transmission window (30-99 eV) corresponds to a coherence length and therefore a possible axial resolution of about 12 nm, thus suggesting applications for semiconductor inspection. In the water window at 280-530 eV a coherence length as short as 3 nm can be achieved and highlights possible applications of XCT for life sciences.

Intense attosecond pulse trains from relativistic surface plasmas

We report on the unequal spacing attosecond pulse trains from relativistic surface plasmas. The surface high harmonics efficiency is determined and could be enhanced using an optimized plasma scale length and density.