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Completed TRL 2 (started at 2, targeting 3)
Electron-beam lithography (EBL) and KOH patterning processes have been used to create very high-resolution X-ray gratings. However, the application of EBL/KOH patterning processes for blazed ultraviolet (UV) gratings is still in its infancy, as few studies have investigated the efficacy of EBL/KOH for blazed UV gratings. My proposed NSTGRO program will discover how strongly the performance of state-of-the-art UV blazed gratings, created using cutting-edge electron-beam lithography (EBL) and KOH etching, correlates with the grating’s fabricated qualities (e.g., groove placement uniformity, surface roughness). We will use interferometric measurements of the gratings’ surfaces to determine the limiting resolution and the groove placement accuracy, and by extension, the groove uniformity of each grating. If available via a Visiting Technologist Experience, I will use the tools and equipment at NASA Centers to directly image the gratings’ surfaces, thus allowing for the determination of the absolute groove placement uniformity and surface roughness of each grating. The final outcome of this NSTGRO program will determine the trend between a grating’s UV efficiency and the surface qualities of EBL gratings, which in turn helps researchers predict the UV performance of future, large-format EBL gratings using metrology and optical methods without needing to measure each grating in the UV. In addition, this project will play a key role in increasing the TRL of EBL/KOH fabrication for space UV astronomical gratings from TRL ≤ 3 to TRL 4.
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