Ion Sculpting of Multilayer Gratings for Extreme Ultraviolet Applications

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This project is jointly funded by the Electronic and Photonic Materials Program (EPM) in the Division of Materials Research (DMR), and by the Electronics, Photonics, and Magnetic Devices Program (EPMD) in the Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems (ECCS). Nontechnical Description: With wavelengths of tens of nanometers, bright beams of extreme ultraviolet and soft x-ray light in combination with specialized optics are enabling applications such as nano-imaging and the lithography of advanced semiconductor chips. Extreme ultraviolet and soft x-ray applications require optical components, such as mirrors, lenses, and gratings, capable of guiding, focusing, and dispersing or filtering the light, respectively. There are, however, enormous challenges in the engineering of these optical components, from both the materials and design standpoints. In this project, directed ion beams interacting with the sample's surface create periodic patterns with a sawtooth form. By depositing stacks of nanometer-thick metal layers on these surfaces, it is possible to significantly enhance the efficiency of the multilayers and to produce advanced optics such as blazed diffraction gratings. Such gratings can generate highly directional beams that are necessary in important applications such as interference imaging, resonant inelastic x-ray scattering, and spectroscopy. This exciting new line of research offers ample opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students to work on a cutting-edge scientific and technological problem in a truly interdisciplinary environment. The breath of the outreach efforts of this project ensures participation of a diverse group of students at all levels.Technical Description: "Ion sculpting," i.e., bombarding a solid with a broad ion beam, can produce a remarkable variety of self-assembled nanoscale patterns on a solid surface. This project combines experiments and theoretical investigations with the goal of demonstrating a novel "ion sculpting" method to fabricate multilayer blazed gratings. This method has the potential to produce gratings of unprecedented efficiency for use at extreme ultraviolet and soft x-ray wavelengths. The project encompasses fundamental research aimed at understanding the interaction of highly directional ion beams with surfaces through experiments and modeling. The theoretical work facilitates the optimization of the ion-sculpting process and guides the experiments. State-of-the-art deposition equipment and at-wavelength metrology provide the infrastructure to fabricate and test the multilayer metal-dielectric gratings.