LEAPS-INNOV D4.6 - Workshop on NeXtgrating Technology

Deliverable no. D4.6 Page 1 of 6 Project information Project full title LEAPS pilot to foster open innovation for accelerator-based light sources in Europe Project acronym LEAPS-INNOV Grant agreement no. 101004728 Instrument Research and Innovation Action (RIA) Duration 01/04/2021 – 30/09/2025 Website Deliverable information Deliverable no. D4.6 Deliverable title Workshop on NeXtgrating Technology Deliverable responsible Christian David (PSI) Related Work-Package/Task WP4/Task 3 Type (e.g. Report; other) Report Author(s) C. David (PSI), F. Siewert (HZB), R. Barrett (ESRF), A. Fernandez Herrero (HZB/PTB), N. Samadi (PSI/DESY) Dissemination level Public Document Version 6 Date 20/02/2025 Download page Document information Version no. Date Author(s) Comment 1 06/02/2025 C. David 2 07/02/2025 F. Siewert 3 10/02/2025 R. Barrett 4 12/02/2025 A. Fernandez Herrero 5 13/02/2025 N. Samadi 6 20/02/2025 C. David Final version Deliverable no. D4.6 Page 2 of 6 Table of Contents Project information ................................................................................................................................. 1 Deliverable information .......................................................................................................................... 1 Document information ............................................................................................................................ 1 Report on D4.6: “Workshop on NeXtgrating technology” ...................................................................... 3 Context of Deliverable D4.6 ................................................................................................................ 3 Format of the Workshop ..................................................................................................................... 3 Participants .......................................................................................................................................... 4 Schedule and Presentations ................................................................................................................ 4 Outcome and Results .......................................................................................................................... 6 Deliverable no. D4.6 Page 3 of 6 Report on D4.6: “Workshop on NeXtgrating technology” Context of Deliverable D4.6 WP4 “NeXtgrating” of the LEAPS-Innov project aims at developing new technologies for grating production to relieve a major bottleneck in today's instrumentation at synchrotrons and FELs. NeXtgrating technology will help researchers in Europe to exploit fully the unique opportunities provided by the dramatically enhanced brilliance and coherence of a new generation of light sources. Moreover, WP4 will serve as a nucleation site for innovative companies by giving access to know-how and by providing networking with the relevant community at the photon sources. WP4 incorporates several industrial beneficiaries, including a young spin-off company, paving the way for smooth commercialization of this new class of gratings, thereby assuring that the technology will be available to the LEAPS community and the global market beyond the duration of the LEAPS-INNOV project. In order to make the relevant scientific community and industry aware of the potential of the NeXtgrating technology, WP4 comprises deliverable D4.6: the organization of a specific workshop. Format of the Workshop The workshop on NeXtgrating technology was organized as a part of the 8th International Workshop on Metrology for X-ray Optics, Mirror Design and Fabrication (IWXM 2024) that took place September 2–5, 2024, at the BESSY II synchrotron, Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin, Germany. IWXM 2024 was a satellite meeting of the Synchrotron Radiation and Instrumentation conference 2024. It provides a forum for presentation and discussion on the latest developments in X-ray optics such as mirrors, gratings, reflection zone plates, etc., particularly regarding improvements in metrology, deterministic surface finishing, developments in ML-coatings, design and simulation of optical systems performance. Figure 1: Participants of the IWXM hosting the Workshop on NeXtgrating Technology. Deliverable no. D4.6 Page 4 of 6 Participants The participants of the IWXM represented a large part of the community interested in the NeXtgrating technology. The 5th of September was fully dedicated to present and discuss the achievements and results of LEAPS-Innov WP4 to more than 100 attendees. The participants list contains representatives of most synchrotron and XFEL sources of the world as well as 15 industrial participants from companies providing optical instrumentation. About 10% of the participants (12) were female. Schedule and Presentations Nine presentations showcased all main tasks and achievements of WP4, representing the full technology pipeline of design/simulation, metrology, lithography and testing. Moreover, the three industrial beneficiaries of WP4 – Raith, NOB and XRnanotech – presented their role in the project with particular focus on paths towards commercialization of the technology. The schedule of the Workshop on NeXtgrating Technology is shown in Figure 3, and covered the following contributions: • The work package leader, Christian David of PSI, gave a general introduction to LEAPS. While most participants from Europe were aware of LEAPS, this was particularly relevant for the participants from overseas (~35%). The presentation outlined the basic facts and figures of the LEAPS-Innov project and put the WP4 NeXtgrating activities into its context. • Francois Polack of SOLEIL presented the work performed within Task 4.1 on the design of the blazed prototype grating produced in WP4 as described in the deliverable report 4.1. The design constraints included the limitations of the available lithography tools as well as the needs of potential test beam lines in the LEAPS-Innov WP4 consortium. • The presentation given by Christiaan Zonnevylle of RAITH gave an overview of recent developments in electron-beam lithography with specific focus on efficient and precise writing strategies for diffractive X-ray optical structures. • Nazanin Samadi (PSI/DESY) presented her work on the fabrication of the prototype gratings made at PSI using grey-tone lithography and a thermal oxidation process. She also gave an overview of the at-wavelength measurements performed at BESSY II in collaboration with HZB. Figure 2: IWXM Participants by country. About 35% of the attendees were from outside of Europe. Deliverable no. D4.6 Page 5 of 6 • Kevin Hofhuis (PSI) addressed specific challenges in electron-beam lithography regarding largearea grey-tone exposures of VLS gratings on curved substrates with extreme placement accuracy. • The presentation by Analia Fernandez Herrero (HZB/PTB) showed results from grating fabrication HZB by grey-tone electron-beam lithography and ion beam etching in close collaboration with NOB. A detailed comparison of at-wavelength scattering measurements with ruled gratings was presented, showing the high quality of electron-beam written gratings. • Thomas Krist presented NOB’s developments on the ion beam etching of blazed grating structures. • Ru-Pan Wang of DESY presented the first successful tests of a blazed VLS grating made by NeXtgrating technology performed at the MUSIX chamber installed at the FLASH XFEL at DESY. • Adam Kubec presented XRnanotech’s developments for producing high-aspect ratio nanostructured X-ray optical devices and the company’s plans for commercialization of NeXtgrating technology to provide state-of-the-art blazed gratings to a wide range of customers. The last part of the workshop was organized as a discussion forum to give the attendees the opportunity for questions and feedback. Workshop on NeXtgrating Technology September 5, 2024, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, Germany 09:00 C. David (PSI): NeXtgrating: A New Technology for the Fabrication of Blazed X-Ray Gratings 09:15 F. Polack (Soleil): Design of Two Spherical VLS Blazed Gratings for Evaluating the NeXtgrating E-beam Patterning Process in Real Situation 09:30 C. Zonnevylle (Raith): Overview of State-of-the-Art Electron Beam Lithography Pattern Capabilities for Optical Device Fabrication 09:45 N. Samadi (PSI/DESY): High Efficiency Blazed X-Ray Diffraction Gratings Fabricated by GreyTone Electron-Beam Lithography 10:00 K. Hofhuis (PSI): Designing and Fabricating High-Precision VLS Blazed Gratings on Curved Substrates 10:15 Coffee Break 10:45 A. Fernandez Herrero (HZB/PTB): High-Quality Blazed Profile Gratings through Synergy between EBL and Robust Characterisation Techniques 11:00 T. Krist (NOB): Etching of E-beam Written Blazed Gratings within the NeXtgrating Project 11:15 R.-P. Wang (DESY): First Test of an E-beam Written Grating in a Soft X-Ray Spectrometer 11:30 A. Kubec (XRnanotech): Advancing X-Ray Optics: Commercialization of LEAPS Gratings 11:45 Discussion round 12:30 End of Meeting Figure 3: Schedule of the Workshop on NeXtgrating Technology. Deliverable no. D4.6 Page 6 of 6 Outcome and Results The lively discussions at the end of the workshop revealed the high interest in NeXtgrating technology in the community of optical instrumentation at synchrotron and XFEL sources. One part of the questions focussed on the availability of NeXtgrating technology for external partners and customers. Here, the interested parties could be referred to the industrial partners of WP4. The main part of the discussion involved the present technical limitations and future opportunities of the technology. The key issues in this context were: • Limitations regarding line density. The prototype gratings produced within the LEAPS-Innov project had line densities up to 1000 l/mm, however, the technological limits of the fabrication process remain unclear. Further investigations are needed to assess the feasibility of higher line densities, in order to enable the fabrication of gratings with high spectral resolution. • Development of gratings for tender X-rays. Presently, the prototype gratings are designed for photon energies up to ~1.5 keV. Multilayer coatings would need to be investigated to extend NeXtgrating technology to harder photon energies. • Presently, the maximum grating size produced by NeXtgrating technology are limited by the substrate dimensions that can be loaded into the available electron-beam lithography tools. In particular, the maximum substrate thickness of 10 mm is a severe limitation for the fabrication of monochromator gratings needing efficient cooling. According to RAITH – Europe’s biggest supplier of electron-beam lithography tools – the construction of suitable exposure riggs capable of exposing on considerably larger substrates should be technically feasible. Such a development was identified as a key investment for the Synchrotron and XFEL community. • The achievements of the project were identified as highly promising by many participants (from science as well as industry). It was proposed to evaluate options for a follow-up project with the emphasis on further investigating the presented technology as well as to enable the manufacturing of gratings on significantly larger substrate geometry. This would allow European companies and research institutes to keep their worldwide leading position in the field of diffractive X-ray optics. As a follow-up to the presentations and to further improve the visibility of NeXtgrating technology and the results of the work package, several publications by participants of NeXtgrating workshop are foreseen in a special issue of Review of Scientific Instruments. In addition, all presentations of the workshop are available via the link https://drive.switch.ch/index.php/s/tGBLtThlabALiEL. In summary, the Workshop on NeXtgrating Technology was a success. This is to a large part owed to the fact that it was hosted as a session of the IWXM, and thereby attracted a large audience of more than 100 people from the relevant community. This led to a wide outreach and high visibility in Europe’s expert community and beyond, and many thanks are due to the IWXM organizers for providing this unique opportunity. The presentations as well as the audience involved researchers and representatives from industry. The latter is essential to make the technology developed in WP4 available beyond the scope of LEAPS-Innov.