Control of lateral thickness gradients of Mo-Si multilayer on curved substrates using genetic algorithm.

An inversion method based on a genetic algorithm has been developed to control the lateral thickness gradients of a Mo-Si multilayer deposited on curved substrates by planar magnetron sputtering. At first, the sputtering distribution of the target is inversed from coating thickness profiles of flat substrates at different heights. Then, the speed profiles of substrates sweeping across the target are optimized according to the desired coating thickness profiles of the primary and secondary mirrors in a two-bounce projection system. The measured coating thickness profiles show that the non-compensable added figure error is below 0.1 nm rms, and the wavelength uniformity across each mirror surface is within +/- 0.2% P-V. The inversion method introduced here exhibits its convenience in obtaining the sputtering distribution of the target and efficiency in coating iterations during process development. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America