Enhancement of the reflectivity of multilayer x-ray mirrors by ion polishing

The performance of multilayer x-ray mirrors is improved by smoothing the boundaries within the multilayer stack with ion bombardment at grazing angles of incidence. The process is applied to Co-C and to RhRu-C mirrors for normal incidence telescopes at λ = 64 and λ = 114Å and the reflectivity is increased by a factor of two in both cases. Accumulation of roughness during deposition is eliminated. © 1989, SPIE.