Effects of sputtering power and annealing temperature on surface roughness of gold films for high-reflectivity synchrotron radiation mirrors

Gold films deposited by direct current magnetron sputtering are used for synchrotron radiation optics. In this study, the microstructure and surface roughness of gold films were investigated for the purpose of developing high-reflectivity mirrors. The deposition process was first optimized. Films were fabricated at different sputtering powers (15, 40, 80, and 120 W) and characterized using grazing incidence X-ray reflectometry, X-ray diffraction, and atomic force microscopy. The results showed that all the films were highly textured, having a dominant Au (111) orientation, and the film deposited at 80 W had the lowest surface roughness. Subsequently, post-deposition annealing from 100 to 200℃ in a vacuum was performed on the films deposited at 80 W to investigate the effect of annealing on the microstructure and surface roughness of the films. The grain size, surface roughness, and their relationship were investigated as a function of annealing temperature. AFM and XRD results revealed that at annealing temperatures of 175 ℃ and below, microstructural change of the films was mainly manifested by the elimination of voids. At annealing temperatures higher than 175℃, grain coalescence occurred in addition to the void elimination, causing the surface roughness to increase.

Design and Fabrication of Ni/Ti Multilayer for Neutron Supermirror

In the applications of neutron guides and focusing devices, by using the Ni/Ti multilayer supermirrors （SM）, the neutron flux is significantly enhanced, because the critical reflective angle of supermirrors increases m times compared to the one of natural bulk Ni. We design and fabricate the Ni/Ti multilayer supermirrors by considering the effect of the interfacial imperfection, such as interface roughness and diffusion, and by using the direct current magnetron sputtering technology. The reflective performances of these supermirrors are measured on a V14 neutron beam line at the Berlin Neutron Scattering Centre （BENSC）, Germany. The measurement data suggest that the critical angles of the supermirrors are 1.5 and 2.2 times that of bulk Ni, respectively.

Design, Fabrication and Measurement of Ni/Ti Multilayer Used for Neutron Monochromator

Ni/Ti multilayers, which can be used for neutron monochromators, are designed, fabricated and measured. Firstly, their reflectivities are simulated based on the Nevot-Croce model. Reflectivities of two Ni/Ti multilayer mirrors with periods d = 10.3 nm （M1） and d = 7.8 nm （M2） are calculated. In the calculation, the reflectivity of the Ni/Ti multilayer is taken as a function of the gazing angle with different roughness factors δ =1.0 nm and = 1.5 nm. Secondly, these two multilayers are fabricated by the direct current magnetron sputtering technology. Thirdly their structures are characterized by small-angle x-ray diffraction. The roughness factors are fitted to be 0.68 nm and 1.16nm for M1 and M2, respectively. Finally their reflective performances are measured on the V14 neutron beam line at the Berlin Neutron Scattering Centre （BENSC）, Germany. The experimental data show that the grazing angle of the reflected neutron intensity peak increases, but the reflected neutron intensity decreases, with the decreasing periods of the multilayers.

Two-dimensional precise figuring of 500 mm-long X-ray mirror using one-dimensional ion beam system

In this study,a new method was developed to realize two-dimensional(2D)figure correction of grazing-incidence X-ray mirrors using a one-dimensional(1D)ion-beam figuring system.A mask of holes was specifically designed to generate removal functions at different widths and extend the figuring capability over a wide area.Accordingly,a long mirror could be manufactured.Using this method,the surface height root-mean-square(RMS)error of the center area of 484 mm×16 mm was reduced from 11.49 nm to 2.01 nm,and the 1D meridional RMS error reached 1.0 nm.The proposed method exhibits high precision and cost effectiveness for production of long X-ray mirrors.

Simulation of cross-correlation method for temporal characterization of VUV free-electron-lasers

The cross-correlation method for temporal characterization is investigated using simulations of the two- color above threshold ionization （ATI） on He induced by a vacuum ultraviolet （VUV） free-electron laser （FEL） in the presence of an infrared （IR） field. Non-linear dependencies of the sideband structure pro- duced in the two-color ATI process are expressed as a function of IR laser intensity by considering the spatial distributions and temporal jitter of both lasers. The temporal properties of the FEL pulse can be characterized accurately using the cross-correlation method at a low IR laser intensity of ~3~101~ W/cm2 but with low cross-correlation signals. When the dynamic range of sidebands is increased to high IR intensity, the accuracy of the cross-correlation method becomes crucially dependent on the actual non- linear index. An approach of determining this index is proposed here to improve the accuracy of temporal characterizations.