ABSTRACT
This study theoretically analyzes an increase in X-ray absorption by a grazing incidence mirror due to its surface roughness. We demonstrate that the increase in absorption can be several hundred times larger than predicted by the Nevot-Croce formula. As a result, absorption enhances by several times compared to a perfectly smooth mirror despite the extremely small grazing angle of an incident X-ray beam (a fraction of the critical angle of the total external reflection) and the high quality of the reflecting surface (the roughness height was 0.5 nm in modeling). The main contribution to the absorption increase was dictated by the mid-scale roughness (waviness) of the virgin substrate surface, whose quality thus defines an absorption enhancement. The approach was applied to the analysis of two real mirrors used in a synchrotron (BESSY-I) and a European X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) beamline. The modern surface finishing technology of elastic emission machining provides extremely low substrate waviness, guaranteeing the negligible effect of the surface roughness on the absorption increase.
ABSTRACT
Reactive sputtering with a mixture of argon and nitrogen (N2 partial pressure of 4%, 8%, and 15%) as the working gas is used to develop the high reflectance Pd/B4C multilayers for soft X-ray region application. Compared to the pure Ar fabricated sample, the interface roughness of the nitridated multilayer is slightly increased while the compressive stress is essentially relaxed from -623 MPa (pure Ar) to -85 MPa (15% N2). A maximum reflectance of 32% is measured at the wavelength of 9.5 nm for the multilayer fabricated with 15% N2. After storing the multilayers in an air environment for 6-17 months, a distinct aging effect is observed on the nitridated samples. The transmission electron microscopy results indicate that a large part of the top layers of the nitridated samples is deteriorated with severe interdiffusion, essential decrease in d-spacing, and compacted multilayer structure. The deterioration is less pronounced for the multilayers fabricated with a higher ratio of N2. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy reveals that the concentration of nitrogen and boron in the degraded area is much reduced compared to the intact layers. A primitive model of upward diffusion of nitrogen and boron is proposed to explain the aging effects of the nitridated structure.
ABSTRACT
Co/C multilayers with a period thickness of 3.54 nm and 30 bilayers were deposited by direct current magnetron sputtering with different background pressures. The effects of residual background gases were investigated. The films were characterized by using grazing incidence hard x-ray reflectivity, soft x-ray reflectivity, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results indicate that the x-ray reflectivity of Co/C multilayers decreases with increasing background pressure as well as the increasing interlayer roughness. The inclusion of more residual background air increases the interdiffusion of Co and C layers.
ABSTRACT
Short-period (~3.5 nm) Co/C multilayer mirrors are fabricated by the direct current magnetron sputtering technique through the addition of a small proportion of nitrogen (4-15% partial pressure) to the working gas (Ar). The addition of nitrogen has been demonstrated to significantly suppress the interdiffusion of neighboring materials due to the nitridation of carbon layers as compared with the Co/C multilayer fabricated with the use of pure Ar. The optimal partial pressure of nitrogen was found to be 6%. At this pressure, nitrogen provides abrupt interfaces and the maximal peak value (19%) of the s-polarized radiation reflectivity at the 251-eV photon energy and 45° angle of incidence. The p-polarized radiation reflectivity proved to be less than 0.3%, demonstrating high potentialities of the nitridated Co/C multilayers as Bragg polarizers in the 4.5-6.5-nm spectral range.
ABSTRACT
To develop the high reflectance mirror for the short wavelength range of the water window region (λ=2.42-2.73 nm), Cr/V multilayers with B4C barrier layers are studied. The grazing incidence x-ray reflectometry results show that the multilayer interface widths are significantly reduced down to 0.21-0.31 nm, after the introduction of 0.1 nm B4C barrier layers at both interfaces. The [B4C/Cr/B4C/V] multilayer with a large number of bilayers of N=300 maintains the same small interface widths while the surface roughness is only 0.2 nm. According to the transmission electron microscope measurements, the layer structure improvement with barrier layers can be attributed to the suppression of the crystallization of vanadium inside the structure. Using the interface engineered multilayer, a maximum soft x-ray reflectance of 24.3% is achieved at λ=2.441 nm, under the grazing incidence of 42°.
ABSTRACT
Peculiarities of X-ray diffraction from a rough surface at an extremely small grazing angle of an incident beam are theoretically studied. The interrelation of four diffraction channels (coherent reflectance, coherent transmittance, diffuse scattering in vacuum, and scattering into the matter depth) is analyzed for different limiting cases (large and small correlation length of roughness and large and extremely small grazing angle of incident radiation). Both the Debye-Waller and the Nevot-Croce factors are demonstrated to describe improperly the features of X-ray diffraction at extremely small grazing angles. More appropriate simple analytic expressions for the specular reflectivity and total integrated scattering in vacuum are obtained instead. Transformation of one limiting diffraction regime into another one with variation in the correlation length of roughness is discussed.
ABSTRACT
Pd/Y multilayer mirrors operating in the soft X-ray region are characterized by a high theoretical reflectance, reaching 65% at normal incidence in the 8-12 nm wavelength range. However, a severe intermixing of neighboring Pd and Y layers results in an almost total disappearance of the interfaces inside the multilayer structures fabricated by direct current magnetron sputtering and thus a dramatic reflectivity decrease. Based on grazing incidence X-ray reflectometry and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, we demonstrate that the stability of the interfaces in Pd/Y multilayer structures can be essentially improved by adding a small amount of nitrogen (4-8%) to the working gas (Ar). High resolution transmission electron microscopy shows that the interlayer width is only 0.9 nm and 0.6 nm for Y(N)-on-Pd(N) and Pd(N)-on-Y(N) interfaces, respectively. A well-defined crystalline texture of YN (200) is observed on the electron diffraction pattern. As a result, the measured reflectance of the Pd(N)/Y(N) multilayer achieves 30% at λ = 9.3 nm. The peak reflectivity value is limited by the remaining interlayers and the formation of the YN compound inside the yttrium layers, resulting in an increased absorption.
