Search

Broadband Mo/Si and Mo/Be multilayer stack-type mirrors for wavelength intervals of 11.1–13.8, 17–21, and 28–33 nm have been developed and fabricated. Uniform reflection of such structures can be implemented using few corrections of technological process.

The results of an investigation on oxidation processes in Mo/Be multilayer nanofilms are presented. The films annealed both in ambient atmosphere and in vacuum. The extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and X-ray reflectivity of the samples at 11.34 and at 0.154 nm respectively were measured before and after the treatment. No noticeable changes in film thicknesses and boundaries were observed during the annealing at temperatures up to 300°C. An oxidation mechanism of the nanofilms Mo/Be is established and the activation energy of the oxidation process is estimated to be 38 kJ/mol. To determine an absolute quantity of oxygen in the oxidized layers, a simple technique based on the EUV reflectivity data is proposed, and the range of its applicability is subsequently analysed.

The effect of structural defects (for example, of interlayer roughness, layer thickness fluctuations and departures of Mo film density from the tabular one) on the amplitude and phase of the complex reflection coefficient as well as on the amplitude and duration of reflected pulses is numerically studied by the example of a model aperiodic Mo/Si multilayer mirror intended for the compression of a chirped pulse with a spectrum lying in a 50 – 80 eV photon energy range. The departures of Mo film density from the tabular values and film thickness fluctuations are shown to exert the strongest effect on the amplitude and duration of the reflected pulses. The interlayer roughness has a comparable effect on the amplitude of the reflection coefficient, but its effect on the duration of reflected pulses is weaker. Even small film thickness fluctuations may give rise to additional reflected pulses of high intensity, which are delayed in time relative to the principal pulse. The Mo-film density in a Mo/Si mirror is shown to vary from 0.77 to 0.97 (in units of the tabular value for massive molybdenum) as the film thickness varies from 1.5 to 5.5 nm. We discuss the key problems that have to be solved in the development of the fabrication technology of multilayer mirrors with desired characteristics.