SADDLE TOROID ARRAY HOMOGENIZING MIRRORS FOR SYNCHROTRON BASED X-RAY LITHOGRAPHY.

THE PROPOSED MIRROR WILL CONVERT THE LINE-SHAPED, GAUSSIAN CROSS SECTION X-RAY OUTPUT PRODUCED BY A SYNCHROTRON BENDINGMAGNET INTO A NEARLY SQUARE, UNIFORMLY DISTRIBUTED PATCH, IDEAL FOR PROXIMITY LITHOGRAPHY. INITIAL RAYTRACING AND CALCULATIONS INDICATE THAT THE MIRRORSHOULD BE 50 TO 100% MORE EFFICIENT THAN THE SYSTEMS CURRENTLY USED TO SPREAD AND HOMOGENIZE BENDING MAGNET RADIATION, AND WILL HAVE THE ADDED BENEFIT OF HAVING NO MOVING PARTS. PHASE I WILL ADDRESS THE TWO OUTSTANDING CONCERNS ABOUT THE MIRROR. BECAUSE OF ITS UNUSUAL SHAPE, IT IS DIFFICULT TO RAYTRACE ON EXISTING OPTICAL DESIGN PROGRAMS. BY DEVELOPINGA SIMPLE RAYTRACING PACKAGE CAPABLE OF INCORPORATING SUCH A NOVEL MIRROR, IT WILL BE POSSIBLE TO DO THE DETAILED ANALYSIS NECESSARY TO CONFIRM THE ANTICIPATED BENEFITS OF INCREASED FLUX THROUGHPUT WITH APPROPRIATE UNIFORMITY OF ILLUMINATION. EXISTING METHODS OF FABRICATING SUCH OPTICS HAVE USED POLYMERS WHICH WOULD BE UNSUITABLE FOR THE ULTRA HIGH VACUUMENVIRONMENT OF A SYNCHROTRON. A SIMPLE PHYSICAL PROTOTYPE WILL BE CONSTRUCTED AND TESTED TO DEMONSTRATE THAT SUCH MIRRORS CAN BE CONSTRUCTED FROM UHV COMPATIBLE MATERIALS, AND HAVE THE OPTICAL QUALITY REQUIRED AT THE SHORT (1 NM) WAVELENGTHS USED FOR SEMICONDUCTOR X-RAY LITHOGRAPHY.