Nanoimaging using soft X-ray and EUV laser-plasma sources

Przemyslaw Wachulak,Andrzej Bartnik,Henryk Fiedorowicz,Alfio Torrisi,Tomasz Fok,Joanna Czwartos,Mesfin Ayele,Łukasz Węgrzyński,L Torrisi,M Cutroneo

doi:10.1051/epjconf/201816703001

Przemyslaw Wachulak, Andrzej Bartnik + Show 8 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/201816703001

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Abstract

In this work we present three experimental, compact desk-top imaging systems: SXR and EUV full field microscopes and the SXR contact microscope. The systems are based on laser-plasma EUV and SXR sources based on a double stream gas puff target. The EUV and SXR full field microscopes, operating at 13.8 nm and 2.88 nm wavelengths are capable of imaging nanostructures with a sub-50 nm spatial resolution and short (seconds) exposure times. The SXR contact microscope operates in the “water-window” spectral range and produces an imprint of the internal structure of the imaged sample in a thin layer of SXR sensitive photoresist. Applications of such desk-top EUV and SXR microscopes, mostly for biological samples (CT26 fibroblast cells and Keratinocytes) are also presented. Details about the sources, the microscopes as well as the imaging results for various objects will be presented and discussed. The development of such compact imaging systems may be important to the new research related to biological, material science and nanotechnology applications.

Highlights

Use Recent advancements in nanoscience and nanotechnology will surely not be possible without nanometer scale resolution imaging tools and techniques, such as extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and soft X-ray (SXR) [1] microscopy
The EUV and SXR full field microscopes, operating at 13.8 nm and 2.88 nm wavelengths are capable of imaging nanostructures with a sub-50 nm spatial resolution and short exposure times
Many efforts have been made to perform nanometer spatial resolution imaging in the EUV and SXR spectral ranges over the last few years employing both large scale and compact sources

Summary

Introduction

Use Recent advancements in nanoscience and nanotechnology will surely not be possible without nanometer scale resolution imaging tools and techniques, such as extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and soft X-ray (SXR) [1] microscopy. Very nice results were recently demonstrated [17] with liquid nitrogen target based system and 1.3 kHz repetition rate Nd:YAG laser to record images of biological samples and nanostructures with half-pitch spatial resolution of 40-50nm, the laser driver was quite complicated and large comparing to other, more compact ones Another interesting and already well established technique for obtaining high resolution images of samples is contact microscopy. To find a good compromise in the desk-top SXR/EUV imaging systems, between the performance (high spatial resolution, low exposure time provided by large scale facilities) and the complexity, size, cost of these setups Some of these problems can be addressed employing laser plasma sources based on double stream gas puff target for microscopy purposes. Both full-field microscopes use reflective optics to focus the short wavelength radiation onto a sample and FZPs to obtain magnified images of the sample with high spatial resolution, while the contact microscope uses the radiation directly, without pre-focusing, to form an imprint of the sample in the photoresist layer

Microscopy systems

Results

Summary and conclusions