Development of large-size multilayer mirrors with a linear deposition facility for x-ray applications

Abstract. Driven by the growing demand for large-size x-ray mirrors used in synchrotron radiation and free-electron laser facilities, a linear deposition system based on magnetron sputtering technique is built. The layer growth quality and thickness uniformity are optimized by adding masks in front of the cathode to reduce the oblique-incidence particles and tune the sputtering flux distribution. Based on this, a 0.5-m-length W/Si multilayer mirror is demonstrated. The multilayer has a d-spacing of 3 nm and a bilayer number of 60. The surface roughness of the multilayer is only 0.33 to 0.25 nm in the spatial frequency range of 3.0  ×  10  −  3 to 1.0  μm  −  1, and the average interface width is 0.32 nm. The hard x-ray reflectivity and uniformity of the large mirror were characterized at the Optics Beamline in Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility. A maximum reflectivity of 62.5% and 62.7% was measured at 8 and 18 keV, respectively, with an angular resolution of Δθ  /  θ  =  2.7  %  . The d-spacing uniformity over the 0.5-m-length and 60-mm-width area of the mirror is 1.0% and 1.2% (peak-to-valley), respectively. These results indicate a good and uniform quality of the nanoscale multilayer over the large mirror area. The measured second- and third-order reflectivities of the multilayer are more than 2 orders magnitude lower than the first order, implying a good suppression of high harmonics in the monochromator application.