Fabricating Next Generation Diffraction Gratings Using Electron Beam Lithography

As current X-ray observatories age, development of highly sensitive X-ray instrumentation is necessary to meet the increasing demands of the astronomical community. High resolution soft X-ray spectroscopy (0.2 - 2.0 keV) is required to address important questions raised in the 2010 decadal survey. The only technology that has the resolution and sensitivity necessary to answer these questions is X-ray gratings, which have been rated as priority tier 1 by the NASA Physics of the Cosmos program. The goal of this proposal is to perform an in-depth study of fabricating radially grooved off-plane X-ray reflection gratings that meet the performance requirements for the next decade of X-ray astronomy. Electron beam lithography is the only nanofabrication method with the resolution and control necessary to produce the radial groove pattern required to achieve high resolution. However, no study has been conducted to fully optimize the e-beam tool for grating fabrication. Furthermore, there is no fabrication process that can currently produce an off-plane grating with high efficiency and resolution, only one or the other. Using the nanofabrication lab in the Materials Research Institute at Penn State I will determine the optimal e-beam tool parameters to have tight control over the grating features. This will allow us to write accurate radially grooved X-ray gratings with high resolving power, and to make highly efficient blazes using additional fabrication techniques.

High resolution soft X-ray spectroscopy (0.2 - 2.0 keV) is required to address important questions raised in the 2010 decadal survey. The only technology that has the resolution and sensitivity necessary to answer these questions is X-ray gratings, which have been rated as priority tier 1 by the NASA Physics of the Cosmos program.

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