Demonstration of 12 nm resolution Fresnel zone plate lens based soft x-ray microscopy.

To extend soft x-ray microscopy to a resolution of order 10 nm or better, we developed a new nanofabrication process for Fresnel zone plate lenses. The new process, based on the double patterning technique, has enabled us to fabricate high quality gold zone plates with 12 nm outer zones. Testing of the zone plate with the full-field transmission x-ray microscope, XM-1, in Berkeley, showed that the lens clearly resolved 12 nm lines and spaces. This result represents a significant step towards 10 nm resolution and beyond.

Hartmann wave-front measurement at 13.4 nm with lambdaEUV/120 accuracy.

We report, for the first time to our knowledge, experimental demonstration of wave-front analysis via the Hartmann technique in the extreme ultraviolet range. The reference wave front needed to calibrate the sensor was generated by spatially filtering a focused undulator beam with 1.7- and 0.6-microm-diameter pinholes. To fully characterize the sensor, accuracy and sensitivity measurements were performed. The incident beam's wavelength was varied from 7 to 25 nm. Measurements of accuracy better than lambdaEUV/120 (0.11 nm) were obtained at lambdaEUV = 13.4 nm. The aberrations introduced by an additional thin mirror, as well as wave front of the spatially unfiltered incident beam, were also measured.

Fourier-synthesis custom-coherence illuminator for extreme ultraviolet microfield lithography.

Scanning illumination systems provide for a powerful and flexible means for controlling illumination coherence properties. Here we present a scanning Fourier synthesis illuminator that enables microfield extreme ultraviolet lithography to be performed on an intrinsically coherent synchrotron undulator beamline. The effectiveness of the system is demonstrated through a variety of print experiments, including the use of resolution enhancing coherence functions that enable the printing of 50-nm line-space features by use of a lithographic optic with a numerical aperture of 0.1 and an operational wavelength of 13.4 nm.