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The thermal stability of sputter-deposited Mo/Si multilayers was investigated by annealing studies at relatively low temperatures (˜ 250-350 °C) for various times (0.5-3000 h). Two distinct stages of thermally activated Mo/Si interlayer growth were found: a primary surge, followed by a (slower) secondary steady-state growth in which the interdiffusion coefficient is constant. The interdiffusion coefficients for the interlayer formed by deposition of Mo-on-Si are higher than those of the interlayer formed by deposition of Si-on-Mo. Assuming that the activation energy is constant, an extrapolation of our results to ambient temperature finds that interlayer growth is negligible, suggesting long-term thermal stability in soft-x-ray projection lithography applications.

Recent advances in multilayer mirror technology meet many of the stringent demands of soft-x-ray projection lithography (SXPL). The maximum normal-incidence reflectivity achieved to date is 66% for Mo/Si multilayers at a soft-x-ray wavelength of 13.4 am, which is sufficient to satisfy the x-ray throughput requirements of SXPL. These high-performance coatings can be deposited on figured optics with layer thickness control of ˜ 0.5%. Uniform multilayer coatings are required for SXPL imaging optics, for which maintaining the surface figure is critical to achieving diffraction-limited performance.

In contrast the coatings on the condenser optics will be graded to accommodate a large range of angles of incidence. Graded multilayer coatings can also be used to modify the figure of optical substrates without increasing the surface roughness. This offers a potential method for precise fabrication of aspheric imaging optics.

Molybdenum–silicon multilayer (ML) x-ray mirrors have been fabricated using a direct-current planar magnetron sputtering system. The ML structure has been characterized using x-ray diffraction and high-resolution electron microscopy, and the normal incidence x-ray reflectivity has been measured using synchrotron radiation. A striking dependence of the ML morphology on the sputtering gas pressure is observed, exhibiting a transition from layer growth at lower pressures to columnar growth at higher pressures. Correspondingly, the normal incidence x-ray reflectivity is found to decrease strongly with increasing gas pressure. By depositing Mo–Si ML at low sputtering gas pressures we have achieved a normal incidence reflectivity as high as 61% at 132 Å.

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