Boron Nitride Aid for High-Z X-ray Optics and Substrate Enhancements

Demonstrate an ALD manufacturing method for depositing boron nitride (BN) films as a low-z material source for a multilayer X-ray optic as well as a possible coating for graphene substrates as a top gate dielectric using a novel reactor design.

Future X-ray missions will require literally thousands of curved, segmented glass mirrors, all coated with multiple layers of different materials to help them capture highly energetic X-ray photons. Current techniques, such as high-temperature sputtering, can damage the underlying substrate. In addition, these techniques also require that the surface of the object to be in the line of sight for it to be coated. Because ALD can apply films in and around pores and other three-dimensional geometries, it is potentially ideal for curved X-ray optics. The principal investigator's research could help scientists drive down the cost of developing these optics because multiple mirrors could be coated at once in a relatively benign reactor.

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