Polycapillary collimator for laser generated plasma source x-ray lithography

Collimating of the x-ray beam is essential to point source proximity x-ray lithography for controlling radial magnification and increasing the beam intensity. Polycapillary optic collimators were developed to meet the challenges of point source proximity x-ray lithography. Sophisticated modeling software was developed for design and optimization of polycapillary collimators to meet specific requirements. Using this software, a highly efficient collimator was designed to deliver a well-collimated beam centered at 1.1 keV for a 20 mm x 20 mm field. The collimator was constructed and was tested with both an electron bombardment source and a laser generated plasma source. The design goats of intensity gain and divergence controls have been achieved. The intensity variation within the printing field can be less than 2%.