Abstract

We report what is believed to be the first demonstration that volume gratings diffract extreme-ultraviolet light (EUV) or soft x-rays into high orders approximately an order of magnitude more efficiently than predicted by classical thin-grating theory. At the 13-nm wavelength, copolymer grating structures with 200-nm period and aspect ratios of $\sim 10:1$ achieved diffraction efficiencies of 11.2%, 15.3%, 11.5%, and 9.1% in the orders $m$ of 2, 3, 4, and 5, respectively. In addition, the measured transmission spectra are consistent with electrodynamic calculations by coupled-wave theory. High-order diffraction can now be employed for substantially improved diffractive EUV and x-ray optics, e.g., highly resolving diffractive lenses and large-aperture condensers.

© 2001 Optical Society of America

Diffraction efficiency of 200-nm-period critical-angle transmission gratings in the soft x-ray and extreme ultraviolet wavelength bands

Ralf K. Heilmann, Minseung Ahn, Alex Bruccoleri, Chih-Hao Chang, Eric M. Gullikson, Pran Mukherjee, and Mark L. Schattenburg
Appl. Opt. 50(10) 1364-1373 (2011)

Efficiencies of master, replica, and multilayer gratings for the soft-x-ray-extreme-ultraviolet range: modeling based on the modified integral method and comparisons with measurements

Leonid I. Goray and John F. Seely
Appl. Opt. 41(7) 1434-1445 (2002)

Switchable optical element with Bragg mode diffraction

Mykola Kulishov, Sergey Sarkisov, Yuri Boiko, and Pavel Cheben
Opt. Lett. 26(11) 759-761 (2001)

Characterization of diffraction gratings by use of a tabletop soft-x-ray laser

Max Seminario, Jorge J. Rocca, Ricardo A. Depine, Benny Bach, and Bernie Bach
Appl. Opt. 40(30) 5539-5544 (2001)

Asymmetric transmissive behavior of liquid-crystal diffraction gratings

C. M. Titus, J. R. Kelly, E. C. Gartland, S. V. Shiyanovskii, J. A. Anderson, and P. J. Bos
Opt. Lett. 26(15) 1188-1190 (2001)