Control of surface mobility for conformal deposition of Mo–Si multilayers on saw-tooth substrates

Abstract

Multilayer-coated blazed gratings (MBG) are the most promising solution for ultra-high resolution soft X-ray spectroscopy, since they can have very high groove density and provide high-order operation and very high diffraction efficiency. The performance of MBGs however depends critically on the conformal deposition of the multilayer (ML) stack on a saw-tooth substrate and the minimization of roughness. We present an analysis of the roughening and smoothing processes during growth of Mo/Si multilayers deposited over a range of pressures of Ar sputtering gas on flat and saw-tooth substrates. A Linear Continuum Model (LCM) of the film growth was used to understand the interplay between smoothing and roughening of the ML films and to predict the optimum conditions for deposition. The MBG coated under the optimal deposition conditions demonstrated high diffraction efficiency in the EUV and soft X-ray wavelength ranges