Multilayer beam splitter used in a soft X-ray Mach-Zehnder interferometer at working wavelength of 13.9 nm

The soft X-ray Mach-Zehnder interferometer is an important tool in measuring the electron densities of laser-produced plasma near the critical surface. The design, fabrication and characterization of multilayer beam splitters at 13.9 nm for soft X-ray Mach-Zehnder interferometer are presented in the paper. The design of beam splitter is completed based on the standard of maximizing product of reflectivity and transmission of the beam splitter at 13.9 nm. The beam splitters, which are Mo/Si multilayer deposited on 10 mm×10 mm area, 100 nm thickness Si3N4 membranes, are fabricated using the magnetron sputtering. A method based on extended He-Ne laser beam is developed to analyze the figure error of the beam splitters. The data measured by an optical profiler prove that the method based on v