Figure and finish characterization of high performance metal mirrors

摘要

Most metal mirrors currently used in synchrotron radiation (SR) beam lines to reflect soft x-rays are made of electroless nickel plate on an aluminum substrate. This material combination has allowed optical designers to incorporate exotic cylindrical aspheres into grazing incidence x-ray beam-handling systems by taking advantage of single-point diamond machining techniques. But the promise of high-quality electroless nickel surfaces has generally exceeded the performance. We will examine the evolution of electroless nickel surfaces through a study of the quality of mirrors delivered for use at the National Synchrotron Light Source over the past seven years. We have developed techniques to assess surface quality based on the measurement of surface roughness and figure errors with optical profiling instruments. It is instructive to see how the quality of the surface is related to the complexity of the machine operations required to produce it.