High resolution Fresnel zone plates for nanoscale three-dimensional imaging of materials by both soft and hard x-rays are increasingly needed by the broad applications in nanoscience and nanotechnology.When the outmos...High resolution Fresnel zone plates for nanoscale three-dimensional imaging of materials by both soft and hard x-rays are increasingly needed by the broad applications in nanoscience and nanotechnology.When the outmost zone-width is shrinking down to 50 nm or even below,patterning the zone plates with high aspect ratio by electron beam lithography still remains a challenge because of the proximity effect.The uneven charge distribution in the exposed resist is still frequently observed even after standard proximity effect correction(PEC),because of the large variety in the line width.This work develops a new strategy,nicknamed as local proximity effect correction(LPEC),efficiently modifying the deposited energy over the whole zone plate on the top of proximity effect correction.By this way,50 nm zone plates with the aspect ratio from 4:1 up to 15:1 and the duty cycle close to 0.5 have been fabricated.Their imaging capability in soft(1.3 keV)and hard(9 keV)x-ray,respectively,has been demonstrated in Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility(SSRF)with the resolution of 50 nm.The local proximity effect correction developed in this work should also be generally significant for the generation of zone plates with high resolutions beyond 50 nm.展开更多
Fresnel zone plates are the key optical elements for nanoscale focusing of X-ray beams with high spatial resolution. Conventional zone plates manufactured by planar nanotechnology processes are limited by the achievab...Fresnel zone plates are the key optical elements for nanoscale focusing of X-ray beams with high spatial resolution. Conventional zone plates manufactured by planar nanotechnology processes are limited by the achievable aspect ratios of their zone structures. Additionally, ultra-high resolution X-ray optics with high efficiency requires three-dimensional （3-D） shaped tilted zones. The combination of high spatial resolution and high diffraction efficiency is a fundamental problem in X-ray optics. Based on electrodynamical simulations, we find that the optimized zone plate profile for volume diffraction is given by zone structures with radially increasing tilt angles and decreasing zone heights. On-chip stacking permits the realization of such advanced 3-D profiles without significant loss of the maximum theoretical efficiency. We developed triple layer on-chip stacked zone plates with an overlay accuracy of sub-2 nm which fulfills the nanofabrication requirements. Efficiency measurements of on-chip stacked zone plates show significantly increased values compared to conventional zone plates.展开更多
We propose axial line-focused spiral zone plates （ALFSZPs） for generating tightly focused X-ray vortex beams with ultra-long depth of focus （DOF） along the propagation direction. In this typical design, compared w...We propose axial line-focused spiral zone plates （ALFSZPs） for generating tightly focused X-ray vortex beams with ultra-long depth of focus （DOF） along the propagation direction. In this typical design, compared with the conventional spiral zone plates （SZPs） under the same numerical aperture （NA）, the DOF of ALFSZPs has been extended to an ultra-length by optimizing the corresponding parameters. Besides, it also exhibits lower side lobes and smaller dark cores in the whole focus volume. The diameters of dark cores increase as the topological charge value increases.展开更多
基金Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.U1732104)China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(Grant No.2017M611443)Shanghai STCSM2019-11-20 Grant,China(Grant No.19142202700)。
文摘High resolution Fresnel zone plates for nanoscale three-dimensional imaging of materials by both soft and hard x-rays are increasingly needed by the broad applications in nanoscience and nanotechnology.When the outmost zone-width is shrinking down to 50 nm or even below,patterning the zone plates with high aspect ratio by electron beam lithography still remains a challenge because of the proximity effect.The uneven charge distribution in the exposed resist is still frequently observed even after standard proximity effect correction(PEC),because of the large variety in the line width.This work develops a new strategy,nicknamed as local proximity effect correction(LPEC),efficiently modifying the deposited energy over the whole zone plate on the top of proximity effect correction.By this way,50 nm zone plates with the aspect ratio from 4:1 up to 15:1 and the duty cycle close to 0.5 have been fabricated.Their imaging capability in soft(1.3 keV)and hard(9 keV)x-ray,respectively,has been demonstrated in Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility(SSRF)with the resolution of 50 nm.The local proximity effect correction developed in this work should also be generally significant for the generation of zone plates with high resolutions beyond 50 nm.
文摘Fresnel zone plates are the key optical elements for nanoscale focusing of X-ray beams with high spatial resolution. Conventional zone plates manufactured by planar nanotechnology processes are limited by the achievable aspect ratios of their zone structures. Additionally, ultra-high resolution X-ray optics with high efficiency requires three-dimensional （3-D） shaped tilted zones. The combination of high spatial resolution and high diffraction efficiency is a fundamental problem in X-ray optics. Based on electrodynamical simulations, we find that the optimized zone plate profile for volume diffraction is given by zone structures with radially increasing tilt angles and decreasing zone heights. On-chip stacking permits the realization of such advanced 3-D profiles without significant loss of the maximum theoretical efficiency. We developed triple layer on-chip stacked zone plates with an overlay accuracy of sub-2 nm which fulfills the nanofabrication requirements. Efficiency measurements of on-chip stacked zone plates show significantly increased values compared to conventional zone plates.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.11404290,61307019,11504333,and 61505178)the National Key Scientific Instruments and Equipments Development of Special Item,China(No.2012YQ130125)+1 种基金the Postdoctoral Science Foundation of Henan Province(No.2013008)the Program for Science&Technology Innovation Talents in Universities of Henan Province(No.172102210481)
文摘We propose axial line-focused spiral zone plates （ALFSZPs） for generating tightly focused X-ray vortex beams with ultra-long depth of focus （DOF） along the propagation direction. In this typical design, compared with the conventional spiral zone plates （SZPs） under the same numerical aperture （NA）, the DOF of ALFSZPs has been extended to an ultra-length by optimizing the corresponding parameters. Besides, it also exhibits lower side lobes and smaller dark cores in the whole focus volume. The diameters of dark cores increase as the topological charge value increases.
