SILICON CARBIDE COATINGS FOR SYNCHROTRON OPTICS

THE USE OF ION BEAM ASSISTED DEPOSITION (IBAD) FOR SOFT X-RAY OPTICAL COATINGS HAS MANY ADVANTAGES, INCLUDING SUPERIOR ADHESION, LOW TEMPERATURE APPLICATION, HIGHER DENSITY COATINGS (NO WATER ABSORPTION), LOWER STRESS, AND HIGH DEPOSITION RATES. PRIOR SPIRE WORK HAS DEMONSTRATED THE FEASIBILITY OF PRODUCING DURABLE, EXTREMELY ADHERENT OPTICAL (AL2O3, SI3N4, ZRO2) COATINGS WITH SUPERIOR ADHESIONAND STOICHIOMETRIC COMPOSITIONS, OBTAINED BY EVAPORATION WITH CONCURRENT LOW ENERGY ION BOMBARDMENT IN A REACTIVE ENVIRONMENT. OTHER RESEARCHERS HAVE SHOWN THAT FULLY DENSE OPTICAL COATINGS WITH NEAR-BULK PROPERTIES CAN BE PRODUCED AT LOW TEMPERATURES BY IBAD. HOWEVER, IBAD SIC COATINGS, POTENTIALLY ATTRACTIVE AS OPTICAL COATINGS FOR EXTREME ULTRAVIOLET (EUV) WAVELENGTHS, HAVE NOT YET BEEN PRODUCED AND EVALUATED. PHASE I WILL FOCUS ON DETERMINING IBAD PARAMETERS REQUIRED TO PRODUCE HIGH QUALITY, ADHERENT, SIC COATINGS FOR EUV OPTICAL APPLICATIONS, INCLUDING A DEMONSTRATION OF A SIC REFLECTIVE AND PROTECTIVE COATING. PHASE II EFFORTS WILL ADDRESS SCALABILITY AND COST EFFECTIVENESS OF IBAD SIC COATINGS FOR DURABLE MIRRORS AND DIFFRACTION GRATINGS FOR SYNCHROTRON RADIATION MATERIALS CHARACTERIZATION INSTRUMENTATION, AND FOR APPLICATIONS IN SHORT WAVELENGTH ASTRONOMY, LASERS, MICROSCOPY, AND PLASMA DIAGNOSTIC INSTRUMENTATION.