Angular and energy dependence of ion bombardment of Mo/Si multilayers

The process of ion bombardment is investigated for the fabrication of Mo/Si multilayer x-ray mirrors using e-beam evaporation. The ion treatment is applied immediately after deposition of each of the Si layers to smoothen the layers by removing an additional thickness of the Si layer. In this study the parameters of Kr+ ion bombardment have been optimized within the energy range 300 eV-2 keV and an angular range between 20 degrees and 50 degrees. The optical performance of the Mo/Si multilayers is determined by absolute measurements of the near-normal-incidence reflectivity at 14.4 nm wavelength. The multilayer structures are analyzed further with small-angle reflectivity measurements using both specular reflectivity and diffuse x-ray scattering. The optimal smoothening parameters are obtained by determining the effect of ion bombardment on the interface roughness of the Si layer. The optimal conditions are found to be 2 keV at 50 degrees angle of incidence with respect to the surface. These settings result in 47% reflectivity at 85 degrees (lambda = 14.4 nm) for a 16-period Mo/Si multilayer mirror, corresponding to an interface roughness of 0.21 nm rms. Analysis shows that the interface roughness is determined by ion induced viscous flow, an effect which increases with ion energy as well as angle of incidence. In order to determine the effect of intermixing of the Si and Mo atoms, the penetration depth of the Kr+ ions is calculated as a function of ion energy and angle of incidence. Furthermore, the angular dependence of the etch yield, obtained from the in situ reflectivity measurements, is investigated in order o determine the optimal ion beam parameters for the production of multilayer mirrors on curved substrates. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics

Design of an Extended Image Field Soft-X-Ray Projection System

A soft-x-ray projection system has been designed, which consists of spherical components to be coated with multilayer reflection coatings. In the design, a two-mirror system and a spherical reflection mask, the optical aberrations were minimized. The design enables a resolution of sub-100 nm over a circular image field with a diameter of 4 mm at a wavelength of 10.5 nm. The assembly tolerances of the system and the fabrication tolerances of the substrates have been calculated. The surface roughness determined from our superpolished quartz substrates amounts to 0.3 nm, which is sufficient to meet the required specifications

Angular and energy dependence of ion bombardment of Mo/Si multilayers

The process of ion bombardment is investigated for the fabrication of Mo/Si multilayer x-ray mirrors using e-beam evaporation. The ion treatment is applied immediately after deposition of each of the Si layers to smoothen the layers by removing an additional thickness of the Si layer. In this study the parameters of Kr+ ion bombardment have been optimized within the energy range 300 eV-2 keV and an angular range between 20 degrees and 50 degrees. The optical performance of the Mo/Si multilayers is determined by absolute measurements of the near-normal-incidence reflectivity at 14.4 nm wavelength. The multilayer structures are analyzed further with small-angle reflectivity measurements using both specular reflectivity and diffuse x-ray scattering. The optimal smoothening parameters are obtained by determining the effect of ion bombardment on the interface roughness of the Si layer. The optimal conditions are found to be 2 keV at 50 degrees angle of incidence with respect to the surface. These settings result in 47% reflectivity at 85 degrees (lambda = 14.4 nm) for a 16-period Mo/Si multilayer mirror, corresponding to an interface roughness of 0.21 nm rms. Analysis shows that the interface roughness is determined by ion induced viscous flow, an effect which increases with ion energy as well as angle of incidence. In order to determine the effect of intermixing of the Si and Mo atoms, the penetration depth of the Kr+ ions is calculated as a function of ion energy and angle of incidence. Furthermore, the angular dependence of the etch yield, obtained from the in situ reflectivity measurements, is investigated in order o determine the optimal ion beam parameters for the production of multilayer mirrors on curved substrates. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics

Temperature induced diffusion in Mo/Si multilayer mirrors

To optimize the growth process of Mo/Si multilayers, the effect of an elevated substrate temperature during deposition has been studied in the temperature range between 300 K and 550 K. Multilayer properties, such as interface roughness, d-spacing, and structure of the layers, have been investigated during deposition and cool-down, after cool-down, and during heating. A number of techniques have been used: small-angle, near-normal incidence, and in situ reflectivity measurements. It is found that the increased substrate temperature changes the interface roughness to a minimum value for samples produced at 488 K. Also, a change of the d-spacing as a function of time and temperature is observed and is explained by annihilation of free volume of the Si layer. The atomic structures of the layers deposited at different temperatures have been analyzed with high resolution electron microscopy (TEM), which shows that both materials are amorphous for the entire temperature range investigated. At the extremes of the temperature range investigated irregular layer structures, such as ripples and V-shaped structures, have been observed by TEM. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics

Cowpea mosaic virus middle component RNA contains a sequence that allows internal binding of ribosomes and that requires eukaryotic initiation factor 4F for optimal translation.

Cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV) middle component RNA (M-RNA) encodes two proteins of 105 and 95 kDa, of which translation starts at nucleotide (nt) 161 and nt 512, respectively. In vitro translation of both proteins directed by T7 transcripts of M-RNA was stimulated fourfold by eukaryotic initiation factor 4F (eIF-4F), the cap-binding protein complex. The ratio of the synthesis of both proteins after translation was not influenced by eIF-4F or by any known eIF. Part of the CPMV 5' sequence was cloned downstream of the 5' untranslated region of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC); the latter untranslated sequence has a highly stable secondary structure, preventing efficient translation of ODC. Insertion of nt 161 to 512 of CPMV M-RNA upstream of the ODC initiation codon resulted in a marked increase in ODC translation, which indicates that the CPMV sequence contains an internal ribosome-binding site. The insertion conferred stimulation by eIF-4F on ODC translation, showing that eIF-4F is able to stimulate internal initiation

Characterization of multilayers by Fourier analysis of x-ray reflectivity

We discuss a new method to characterize multilayer structures with grazing-incidence reflectivity measurements using hard x-ray radiation, such as Cu-K-alpha or Mo-K-alpha radiation. The method is based on the analysis of the reverse Fourier transforms of the reflectivity at the Bragg peaks in q-space, the reflectivity data being obtained from an angular scan (theta-2 theta). This method is faster than curve fitting of the reflectivity data, results in an accurate value of the density and thickness of both materials, and needs no pre-assumptions about the material composition and the parameters of the multilayer. The method makes a distinction between interface roughness and layer thickness errors, and is independent of measurement of the critical angle. A minor disadvantage is that only an average value of the layer thickness is determined, rather than the Individual layer thicknesses. As an example our method is used to analyze small-angle reflectivity measurements of Mo/Si and Co/C multilayers. The parameters thus obtained are used to model a structure, which is subsequently used to predict the near-normal incidence reflectivity at soft x-ray wavelengths. The accuracy thus found corresponds to a relative error of 5%. The densities of a Mo/Si multilayer are determined independently with critical angle measurements to verify the values obtained from the grazing incidence reflectivity measurements. The results of the analysis of the Co/C multilayer are compared to values obtained using a conventional method based on the kinematical theory. However, the conventional method requires additional data of soft x-ray reflectivity measurements. The new method yields the same values for the multilayer parameters but does not require the extra soft x-ray measurements. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics

Enhancement of Reflectivity of Multilayer Mirrors for Soft-X-Ray Projection Lithography by Temperature Optimization and Ion-Bombardment

In this paper we discuss two techniques to optimize the quality of multilayer x-ray mirrors, namely optimization of the temperature of the substrates during deposition and ion-bombardment of the layers. We produced Mo/Si multilayers applying both methods and present the effect on the near normal incidence reflectivity for lambda=13-14 nm radiation. Furthermore an analysis of the homogeneity of the deposited layers is given

EXAFS measurements on the structure of Mo/Si multilayers produced using ion bombardment and increased deposition temperature

This study focuses on explaining differences in soft X-ray reflectivity observed for Mo/Si multilayers produced by e-beam evaporation with two different additional methods: ion etching of the Si layer and optimization of the substrate temperature during deposition. A 32-period multilayer made with ion etching has a near normal incidence reflectivity of 50%, while the one made at an optimum deposition temperature shows only 41%. The values for the interface roughness or layer thickness errors obtained from the analysis of small angle reflectivity measurements cannot explain this difference, but a different morphology of the Si and Mo layers could. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) experiments have been carried out at the Si-K and the Mo-K edge to obtain information on the multilayer structure and chemical composition. The results of these EXAFS measurements on the two types of multilayers indicate that both the Si and the Mo have an amorphous structure and that no Mo-Si compounds are formed at the interfaces. However, it is found that multilayers made with ion etching have a reduced fraction of oxygen (less than or equal to 0.5%) in the Si layer compared to layers produced without etching (4.7%). The latter fraction of oxygen, originating from the background gas in the deposition system, results in higher absorption of soft X-ray radiation and therefore affects the near normal incidence reflectivity. Although both the Si and Mo layers produced with the three different deposition methods are amorphous, some structural differences have been found using the EXAFS analysis