Nitridation and contrast of B4C/La interfaces and X-ray multilayer optics

Chemical diffusion and interlayer formation in thin layers and at interfaces is of increasing influence in nanoscopic devices such as nano-electronics, magneto-optical storage and multilayer X-ray optics. We show that with the nitridation of reactive B4C/La interfaces, both the chemical and optical contrast can be greatly enhanced. Although interaction and diffusion of N-2 from the substrate towards the adlayer does occur, this surfactant mediated growth contributes to chemical and optical interface properties that enable major reflectivity improvements of multilayer optics for 6.7<lambda<7.0 nm. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.