Multilayer coatings for focussing hard X-ray telescopes

Several multilayer test coatings for hard X-ray telescopes were fabricated using DC magnetron sputtering. The process parameters were selected from a series of trials of single layer depositions. The samples were characterized using X-ray specular reflectivity scans, AFM, and cross-sectional TEM. Additional measurements (stylus profilometry, RES, and Auger analysis) were used in the optimization of the deposition rate and of the thin film properties (density, composition, surface/interface microroughness). The X-ray reflectivity scans showed that the combinations of reflector and spacer materials tested so far (W/Si and W/C) are suited for graded d-spacing multilayer coatings that present a constant reflectivity bandpass up to 70 keV.