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We have developed a new family of EUV multilayer mirror coatings using uranium. Using this approach we have coated a set of six mirrors for the EUV Imager, a component of the IMAGE mission. This mission is a Medium Explorer (MIDEX) program, which is scheduled for launch early in 2000. The EUV Imager will study the distribution of He+ in the Earth's plasmasphere by detecting its resonantly scattered emission at 30.4 nm (41 eV) and will produce images of the structure and dynamics of the cold plasma on a global scale. There is, however, a bright emission at 58.4 nm (21 eV), which comes from neutral helium in the earth's ionosphere which also must be blocked. These photons are at too high an energy to filter with aluminum but at too low an energy to have negligible reflectance from most materials commonly used in EUV mirrors. Thus, a multilayer system which satisfied two optical functions, high reflectance (greater than 20%) at 41 eV and low reflectance (less than 2%) at 21 eV, were designed and successfully fabricated. Such mirrors with dual optical functions in the soft x-ray/EUV had not previously been designed or built. These specifications were particularly challenging because many materials have higher single layer reflectances at 58.4 nm than at 30.4 nm. Essentially, the mirror must have low reflectance at 21 eV without loss of reflection at 30.4 nm. This was accomplished. The top part of the multilayer, which reflects well at 30.4 nm, also acts as antireflection layers at 58.4 nm. In the past, multilayers usually have consisted of periodic bilayers. We have explored the use of a periodic mirrors in place of the standard periodic designs. Along the way we have created the computational tools, which include genetic algorithms, to optimize selection of materials and thicknesses. We are currently in the process of building up an EUV characterization system and developing a general way of measuring the optical constants of air-sensitive thin films. We discuss the other material and fabrication challenges faced, which include: (1) The high absorption of almost everything in the EUV. This means that only a few interfaces in a multilayer will contribute to its reflectance. (2) Surface contamination and corrosion. (3) The deposition on flight mirrors that are highly curved (f equals 0.8).
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