Tri-material multilayer coatings with high reflectivity and wide bandwidth for 25 to 50 nm extreme ultraviolet light

Magnesium/silicon carbide (Mg/SiC) multilayers have been fabricated with normal incidence reflectivity in the vicinity of 40% to 50% for wavelengths in the 25 to 50 nm wavelength range. However many applications, for example solar telescopes and ultrafast studies using high harmonic generation sources, desire larger bandwidths than provided by high reflectivity Mg/SiC multilayers. We investigate introducing a third material, Scandium, to create a tri-material Mg/Sc/SiC multilayer allowing an increase the bandwidth while maintaining high reflectivity.