A table-top EUV microscope for nano sciences and technologies

A joint research group from Russia, the Ukraine and the USA has developed a table-top microscope, consisting of a pulsed extreme ultraviolet (EUV) capillary discharge laser emitting at 46.9 nm, a Schwarzschild condenser, a zone plate objective, and a CCD camera. To reduce image-degrading effects such as speckle and interference, the team shortened the laser's capillary tube length from 36 to 18 cm to give a low-coherence beam with a pulse energy of around 0.1 mJ. The spatial resolution is currently 100 nm. Typical exposure time is 20~70 seconds. For more information, see the paper, "Reflection mode imaging with nanoscale resolution using a compact extreme ultraviolet laser", F. Brizuela et al., Optics Express, 435, 1210-1213 (2005), http://www.opticsexpress.org/abstract.cfm?URI=OPEX-13-11-3983