Bilayer and trilayer X-ray mirror coatings containing W, Pt, or Ir, in combination with C, C/Co, B4C, or B4C/Ni: X-ray reflectance, film stress, and temporal stability.

X-ray reflectance and film stress were measured for 12 bilayer and trilayer reflective interference coatings and compared with a single-layer Ir coating. The interference coatings comprise a base layer of W, Pt, or Ir, top layers of either C or B 4 C, and, in the case of the trilayer coatings, middle layers of either Co or Ni. The coatings were deposited by magnetron sputtering. Film stress was measured using the wafer curvature technique, while X-ray reflectance was measured at grazing incidence over the ∼0.1-10k e V energy band using synchrotron radiation. Re-measurements over a period of more than two years of both stress and X-ray reflectance were used to assess temporal stability. The X-ray reflectance of all 12 bilayer and trilayer coatings was found to be both stable over time and substantially higher than single-layer Ir over much of the energy range investigated, particularly below ∼4k e V, except near the B and C K-edges, and the Co and Ni L-edges, where we observe sharp, narrow drops in reflectance due to photo-absorption in layers containing these materials. Film stress was found to be substantially smaller than single-layer Ir in all cases as well; however, film stress was also found to change over time for all coatings (including the single-layer Ir coating). The effective area of future X-ray telescopes will be substantially higher if these high reflectance bilayer and/or trilayer coatings are used in place of single-layer coatings. Additionally, the smaller film stresses found in the bilayer and trilayer coatings relative to single-layer Ir will reduce coating-stress-driven mirror deformations. Nevertheless, as all the interference films studied here have stresses that are far from zero (albeit smaller than that of single-layer Ir), methods to mitigate such deformations must be developed in order to construct high-angular-resolution telescopes using thin mirror segments. Furthermore, unless film stress can be sufficiently stabilized over time, perhaps through thermal annealing, any such mitigation methods must also account for the temporal instability of film stress that was found in all coatings investigated here.

Damage thresholds for blaze diffraction gratings and grazing incidence optics at an X-ray free-electron laser.

The Linac Coherent Light Source is upgrading its machine to high repetition rate and to extended ranges. Novel coatings, with limited surface oxidation, which are able to work at the carbon edge, are required. In addition, high-resolution soft X-ray monochromators become necessary. One of the big challenges is to design the mirror geometry and the grating profile to have high reflectivity (or efficiency) and at the same time survive the high peak energy of the free-electron laser pulses. For these reasons the experimental damage threshold, at 900 eV, of two platinum-coated gratings with different blazed angles has been investigated. The gratings were tested at 1° grazing incidence. To validate a model for which the damage threshold on the blaze grating can be estimated by calculating the damage threshold of a mirror with an angle of incidence identical to the angle of incidence on the grating plus the blaze angle, tests on Pt-coated substrates have also been performed. The results confirmed the prediction. Uncoated silicon, platinum and SiB3 (both deposited on a silicon substrate) were also investigated. In general, the measured damage threshold at grazing incidence is higher than that calculated under the assumption that there is no energy transport from the volume where the photons are absorbed. However, it was found that, for the case of the SiB3 coating, the grazing incidence condition did not increase the damage threshold, indicating that the energy transport away from the extinction volume is negligible.

Diffraction properties of multilayer Laue lenses with an aperture of 102 µm and WSi2/Al bilayers.

We report on the characterization of a multilayer Laue lens (MLL) with large acceptance, made of a novel WSi2/Al bilayer system. Fabrication of multilayers with large deposition thickness is required to obtain MLL structures with sufficient apertures capable of accepting the full lateral coherence length of x-rays at typical nanofocusing beamlines. To date, the total deposition thickness has been limited by stress-buildup in the multilayer. We were able to grow WSi2/Al with low grown-in stress, and asses the degree of stress reduction. X-ray diffraction experiments were conducted at beamline 1-BM at the Advanced Photon Source. We used monochromatic x-rays with a photon energy of 12 keV and a bandwidth of ΔE/E=5.4·10(-4). The MLL was grown with parallel layer interfaces, and was designed to have a large focal length of 9.6 mm. The mounted lens was 2.7 mm in width. We found and quantified kinks and bending of sections of the MLL. Sections with bending were found to partly have a systematic progression in the interface angles. We observed kinking in some, but not all, areas. The measurements are compared with dynamic diffraction calculations made with Coupled Wave Theory. Data are plotted showing the diffraction efficiency as a function of the external tilting angle of the entire mounted lens. This way of plotting the data was found to provide an overview into the diffraction properties of the whole lens, and enabled the following layer tilt analyses.

Achieving hard X-ray nanofocusing using a wedged multilayer Laue lens.

We report on the fabrication and the characterization of a wedged multilayer Laue lens for x-ray nanofocusing. The lens was fabricated using a sputtering deposition technique, in which a specially designed mask was employed to introduce a thickness gradient in the lateral direction of the multilayer. X-ray characterization shows an efficiency of 27% and a focus size of 26 nm at 14.6 keV, in a good agreement with theoretical calculations. These results indicate that the desired wedging is achieved in the fabricated structure. We anticipate that continuous development on wedged MLLs will advance x-ray nanofocusing optics to new frontiers and enrich capabilities and opportunities for hard X-ray microscopy.

Synchrotron X-ray tests of an L-shaped laterally graded multilayer mirror for the analyzer system of the ultra-high-resolution IXS spectrometer at NSLS-II.

Characterization and testing of an L-shaped laterally graded multilayer mirror are presented. This mirror is designed as a two-dimensional collimating optics for the analyzer system of the ultra-high-resolution inelastic X-ray scattering (IXS) spectrometer at National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II). The characterization includes point-to-point reflectivity measurements, lattice parameter determination and mirror metrology (figure, slope error and roughness). The synchrotron X-ray test of the mirror was carried out reversely as a focusing device. The results show that the L-shaped laterally graded multilayer mirror is suitable to be used, with high efficiency, for the analyzer system of the IXS spectrometer at NSLS-II.

An ultrahigh-resolution soft x-ray microscope for quantitative analysis of chemically heterogeneous nanomaterials.

The analysis of chemical states and morphology in nanomaterials is central to many areas of science. We address this need with an ultrahigh-resolution scanning transmission soft x-ray microscope. Our instrument provides multiple analysis tools in a compact assembly and can achieve few-nanometer spatial resolution and high chemical sensitivity via x-ray ptychography and conventional scanning microscopy. A novel scanning mechanism, coupled to advanced x-ray detectors, a high-brightness x-ray source, and high-performance computing for analysis provide a revolutionary step forward in terms of imaging speed and resolution. We present x-ray microscopy with 8-nm full-period spatial resolution and use this capability in conjunction with operando sample environments and cryogenic imaging, which are now routinely available. Our multimodal approach will find wide use across many fields of science and facilitate correlative analysis of materials with other types of probes.

Interexaminer reliability of T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging for lumbar bright facet sign.

OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were to characterize the bright facet response within the lumbar spine, to identify a constellation of findings associated with the response, and to quantify the interexaminer agreement on the previous objectives. METHODS: A retrospective study of lumbar magnetic resonance images obtained on 105 (N = 105) adult subjects (62 men and 43 women; age range, 18-84 years; mean age, 46.51 +/- 16.01 years) were reviewed by 2 musculoskeletal radiologists for the presence of high signal within the facet articulations (bright facet response) on fast spin echo T2-weighted images. RESULTS: Of the 630 lumbar facet articulations imaged (L3/L4 through L5/S1), 340 (54%) and 346 (55%) respectively, per examiner, did show a bright facet response. Interexaminer agreement with respect to the level and grading of a bright facet response was almost perfect with kappa ranging from 0.85 to 0.91 (SE, 0.06). Prevalence of bright facet responses averaged 40.5% at L5/S1, 56.5% at L3/L4, and 66.5% at the L4/L5 level. There was an association with degenerative facet and disk changes. CONCLUSION: The bright facet response was a common phenomenon on T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging of the lumbar spine in these cases. There was sufficient agreement with respect to the presence and extent of the bright facet response to conclude that the examiners' determinations were not made by random chance. There exist sufficient repeatability and reliability that a single descriptive term can be applied to unify the bright facet response, the bright facet sign.

11 nm hard X-ray focus from a large-aperture multilayer Laue lens.

The focusing performance of a multilayer Laue lens (MLL) with 43.4 µm aperture, 4 nm finest zone width and 4.2 mm focal length at 12 keV was characterized with X-rays using ptychography method. The reconstructed probe shows a full-width-at-half-maximum (FWHM) peak size of 11.2 nm. The obtained X-ray wavefront shows excellent agreement with the dynamical calculations, exhibiting aberrations less than 0.3 wave period, which ensures the MLL capable of producing a diffraction-limited focus while offering a sufficient working distance. This achievement opens up opportunities of incorporating a variety of in-situ experiments into ultra high-resolution X-ray microscopy studies.