Sub-38 nm resolution tabletop microscopy with 13 nm wavelength laser light

Abstract

We have acquired images with a spatial resolution better than 38 nm by using a tabletop microscope that combines 13 nm wavelength light from a high-brightness tabletop laser and Fresnel zone plate optics. These results open a gateway to the development of compact and widely available extreme-ultraviolet imaging tools capable of inspecting samples in a variety of environments with a 15-20 nm spatial resolution and a picosecond time resolution.

Water-window microscopy using a compact, laser-plasma SXR source based on a double-stream gas-puff target

“…Using radiation from a table-top capillary discharge EUV laser images were obtained with a spatial resolution of 120-150 nm [6]. k = 13.2 nm wavelength radiation from Ni-like cadmium EUV laser allowed for a sub-38 nm resolution nano-imaging [7]. A quasimonochromatic emission from a laser-plasma EUV source based on a gas puff target [8] allowed for sub-70 nm spatial resolution imaging [9,10] in a very compact system.…”

Spatial coherence measurements of a 13.2 nm transient nickel-like cadmium soft x-ray laser pumped at grazing incidence

“…These sources would make it possible to perform at-wavelength inspection and metrology of EUVL optics on a laboratory scale, instead of using synchrotron radiation facilities as they are now [3][4][5]. Compared with other available EUV sources, EUV lasers have very narrow spectral bandwidth (Δλ/λ typically in the order of 10 -4 ), thus making them ideal sources for applications such as at-wavelength wavefront interferometry [3] and high spatial resolution imaging using Fresnel zone-plates [6,7]. For these potential applications, the spatial coherence property of the beam plays a critical role.…”

Recent advancements in the “water-window” microscopy with laser-plasma SXR source based on a double stream gas-puff target

“…Using radiation from a table−top capillary dischar− ge EUV laser images were obtained with a spatial resolu− tion of 120-150 nm [7], later improved to~50 nm [8,9]. A l = 13.2 nm wavelength radiation from Ni−like cadmium EUV laser allowed for a sub−38 nm resolution nano−imaging [10]. A quasi−monochromatic emission from a laser−plasma EUV source based on a gas puff target [11] allowed for 50 nm spatial resolution imaging [12,13] in a very compact system.…”