Characterisation of engineered defects in extreme ultraviolet mirror substrates using lab-scale extreme ultraviolet reflection ptychography.

Ptychography is a lensless imaging technique that is aberration-free and capable of imaging both the amplitude and the phase of radiation reflected or transmitted from an object using iterative algorithms. Working with extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light, ptychography can provide better resolution than conventional optical microscopy and deeper penetration than scanning electron microscope. As a compact lab-scale EUV light sources, high harmonic generation meets the high coherence requirement of ptychography and gives more flexibilities in both budget and experimental time compared to synchrotrons. The ability to measure phase makes reflection-mode ptychography a good choice for characterising both the surface topography and the internal structural changes in EUV multilayer mirrors. This paper describes the use of reflection-mode ptychography with a lab-scale high harmonic generation based EUV light source to perform quantitative measurement of the amplitude and phase reflection from EUV multilayer mirrors with engineered substrate defects. Using EUV light at 29.6nm from a tabletop high harmonic generation light source, a lateral resolution down to ∼88nm and a phase resolution of 0.08rad (equivalent to topographic height variation of 0.27nm) are achieved. The effect of surface distortion and roughness on EUV reflectivity is compared to topographic properties of the mirror defects measured using both atomic force microscopy and scanning transmission electron microscopy. Modelling of reflection properties from multilayer mirrors is used to predict the potential of a combination of on-resonance, actinic ptychographic imaging at 13.5nm and atomic force microscopy for characterising the changes in multilayered structures.

Computational proximity lithography with extreme ultraviolet radiation.

The potential of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) computational proximity lithography for fabrication of arbitrary nanoscale patterns is investigated. We propose to use a holographic mask (attenuating phase shifting mask) consisting of structures of two phase levels. This approach allows printing of arbitrary, non-periodic structures without using high-resolution imaging optics. The holographic mask is designed for a wavelength of 13.5 nm with a conventional high-resolution electron beam resist as the phase shifting medium (pixel size 50 nm). The imaging performance is evaluated by using EUV radiation with different degrees of spatial coherence. Therefore exposures on identical masks are carried out with both undulator radiation at a synchrotron facility and plasma-based radiation at a laboratory setup.

A scanning reflection X-ray microscope for magnetic imaging in the EUV range.

The mechanical setup of a novel scanning reflection X-ray microscope is presented. It is based on zone plate optics optimized for reflection mode in the EUV spectral range. The microscope can operate at synchrotron radiation beamlines as well as at laboratory-based plasma light sources. In contrast to established X-ray transmission microscopes that use thin foil samples, the new microscope design presented here allows the investigation of any type of bulk materials. Importantly, this permits the investigation of magnetic materials by employing experimental techniques based on X-ray magnetic circular dichroism, X-ray linear magnetic dichroism or the transversal magneto-optical Kerr effect (T-MOKE). The reliable functionality of the new microscope design has been demonstrated by T-MOKE microscopy spectra of Fe/Cr-wedge/Fe trilayer samples. The spectra were recorded at various photon energies across the Fe 3p edge revealing the orientation of magnetic domains in the sample.

Fast and easy fabrication methodology of Fresnel zone plates for the extreme ultraviolet and soft x-ray regions.

Zone plate design and efficient methods for the fabrication of zone plates for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and soft x-ray applications in a newly developed scanning reflection microscope are presented. Based on e-beam lithography, three types of transmission zone plates with focal lengths between 6 and 15 mm are reported: (i) phase-shifting zone plates made by 190 nm thick PMMA rings on Si3N4 membranes, (ii) absorbing zone plates made by 75 nm thick Au ring structures on Si3N4, and (iii) freestanding Au rings of 50 nm thickness and increased transmission in the EUV range. Experiments at the DELTA synchrotron facility reveal a minimum spot size and resulting spatial resolution of 9±3 µm, which is the theoretical limit resulting from the synchrotron beam parameters at 60 eV photon energy. Images of a Ti/Si chessboard test pattern are recorded exploiting the energy dependence of the element-specific reflectance.

Spatially Resolved Spectroscopic Extreme Ultraviolet Reflectometry for Laboratory Applications.

Spatially resolved extreme ultraviolet reflectometry is presented in application to a local characterization of thin non-uniform contamination layers. Sample reflectivity mapping is performed, demonstrating high chemical sensitivity of the technique. Amorphous Al2O3 and carbon are determined as the contaminants of the studied silicon wafer. The results correlate with those obtained by energy-filtering photoemission electron microscopy. A laboratory tool is developed that is capable of multi-angle (2°-15°) and spectrally broadband (9.5-17 nm) extreme ultraviolet reflectometry at grazing incidence combined with a reduced sample illumination spot size, enabling spatially resolved metrology. A minimum EUV spot size of 25×30 µm in the sample plane is achieved experimentally.

Extreme ultraviolet proximity lithography for fast, flexible and parallel fabrication of infrared antennas.

We present a method for fabrication of large arrays of nano-antennas using extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) illumination. A discharge-produced plasma source generating EUV radiation around 10.88 nm wavelength is used for the illumination of a photoresist via a mask in a proximity printing setup. The method of metallic nanoantennas fabrication utilizes a bilayer photoresist and employs a lift-off process. The impact of Fresnel-diffraction of EUV light in the mask on a shape of the nanostructures has been investigated. It is shown how by the use of the same rectangular apertures in the transmission mask, antennas of various shapes can be fabricated. Using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, spectra of antennas reflectivity were measured and compared to FDTD simulations demonstrating good agreement.

Interferometric broadband Fourier spectroscopy with a partially coherent gas-discharge extreme ultraviolet light source.

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectroscopy is a powerful tool for studying fundamental processes in plasmas as well as for spectral characterization of EUV light sources and EUV optics. However, a simultaneous measurement covering a broadband spectral range is difficult to realize. Here, we propose a method for interferometric broadband Fourier spectroscopy connecting soft x ray and visible spectral ranges with moderate spectral resolution. We present an analytical model to recover the spectrum from a double-slit interferogram. We apply our model for spectral characterization of a partially coherent gas-discharge EUV light source operated with different gases in the spectral range between 10 and 110 nm wavelengths. Our approach allows a simple and fast broadband spectroscopy with fully or partially spatially coherent light sources, for instance, to characterize out-of-band radiation in EUV lithography applications.

Fractional Talbot lithography with extreme ultraviolet light.

Fractional Talbot effect leads to the possibility to implement patterning of structures with smaller periods than the master mask. This is particularly attractive when using short wavelength illumination in the extreme ultraviolet because of attainable resolution in the sub-100-nm range. In this Letter, we demonstrate the Talbot lithography with the fractional Talbot effect under coherent illumination generated with a capillary discharge Ne-like Ar extreme ultraviolet laser. Various spatial frequency multiplications up to 5x are achieved using a parent grating. This technique allows a fabrication of nanostructures with high-resolution patterns, which is of high interest in many applications such as the manufacturing of plasmonic surfaces and photonic devices.

Generation of circularly polarized radiation from a compact plasma-based extreme ultraviolet light source for tabletop X-ray magnetic circular dichroism studies.

Generation of circularly polarized light in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectral region (about 25 eV-250 eV) is highly desirable for applications in spectroscopy and microscopy but very challenging to achieve in a small-scale laboratory. We present a compact apparatus for generation of linearly and circularly polarized EUV radiation from a gas-discharge plasma light source between 50 eV and 70 eV photon energy. In this spectral range, the 3p absorption edges of Fe (54 eV), Co (60 eV), and Ni (67 eV) offer a high magnetic contrast often employed for magneto-optical and electron spectroscopy as well as for magnetic imaging. We simulated and designed an instrument for generation of linearly and circularly polarized EUV radiation and performed polarimetric measurements of the degree of linear and circular polarization. Furthermore, we demonstrate first measurements of the X-ray magnetic circular dichroism at the Co 3p absorption edge with a plasma-based EUV light source. Our approach opens the door for laboratory-based, element-selective spectroscopy of magnetic materials and spectro-microscopy of ferromagnetic domains.