W/B short period multilayer structures for soft x-rays

• Main Authors: R. V. Medvedev, A. A. Zameshin, J. M. Sturm, A. E. Yakshin, F. Bijkerk
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: AIP Publishing LLC 2020-04-01
• Series: AIP Advances
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.5143397

X-ray W/B multilayer mirrors with a period of 2.5 nm were deposited by dc magnetron sputtering and studied in comparison with W/Si multilayer systems of the same period. Transmission electron microscopy, grazing incidence X-Ray reflectivity, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis revealed that the layer quality and interfaces of the W/B multilayers are not better than those of the W/Si multilayers. Strong intermixing between W and B is present, which leads to compound formation with little or no pure W left after the interaction: an optically unfavorable boride formation and an increased roughness result in a reduced reflectivity. The deposited W/B multilayer mirrors showed a reflectivity of 34.5% at 0.84 nm and angle of incidence 9.7°, compared to 40% obtained for W/Si multilayers. Ion polishing applied on the boron layers did not result in improvements of the reflectivity.