High Throughput Thin Foil Filters with Enhanced Durability for the Soft X-ray and EUV Regions Luxel Corporation Friday Harbor, WA

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High Throughput Thin Foil Filters with Enhanced
Durability for the Soft X-ray and EUV Regions
Luxel CorporationFriday Harbor, WA
Small Business Innovation Research

• INNOVATION
• Developed a new set of material combinations
  tailored to meet enhancements in durability with
  reduced susceptibility to oxidation and aging
  effects, thereby making it possible to produce
  much larger soft x-ray (40 to 170 Å) and extreme
  ultraviolet (EUV) (600 to 1000 Å) filters with
  improved performance.

• ACCOMPLISHMENTS
• Development of a repeatable and controlled
  process for producing high quality zirconium soft
  x-ray filters. These thin foil filter windows
  are optimized for the lithography wavelength of
  134Å.
• Improved manufacturing techniques were developed
  for Tin and Indium foils, the classic filter
  materials for EUV wavelengths.
• Improved filter support meshes were fostered
  during the project. Over the duration of SBIR,
  the best available mesh transmittance was
  increased from 80 to 90, with no reduction in
  mechanical strength.
• COMMERCIALIZATION
• The leading lithography technology for the next
  generation of integrated circuits uses EUV
  wavelengths. Worldwide demand for production EUV
  lithography devices could be as high as 1000 per
  year, of which filter windows are an essential
  component.
• Manufacturing techniques were developed for
  Zirconium, Palladium, Niobium, Rhodium and
  Ytterbium foils. Filters fabricated using these
  foils are now commercially available from Luxel.

With the foil materials developed, transmission
filters are now available for the entire soft
x-ray and EUV spectrum.

• GOVERNMENT/SCIENCE APPLICATIONS
• The filters developed during this SBIR offer
  improved mission performance for future astronomy
  and earth science experiments at lower cost.
• A supplier is now available to NASA, and other
  customers, for custom filters for the soft x-ray
  and EUV wavelengths.

Goddard Space Flight Center
Points of Contact NASA Ritva Keski-Kuha (301)
286-6706 Luxel Richard Capps [phone]
1998 Phase II, SS5-079, 12/02