A compact tabletop extreme-ultraviolet source for polarization-sensitive ptychographic imaging

Extreme-ultraviolet light has become more important for advancements in modern computer chip manufacturing, and as such, there needs to be more access to extreme-ultraviolet sources for observing properties of novel technology materials. Some of these extreme-ultraviolet sources need to have the ability to tune the polarization for observing dichroic properties of materials such as magnetism. We present a compact extreme-ultraviolet tabletop source, based on high harmonic generation, designed for use in polarization-sensitive imaging. The source is able to generate circularly polarized harmonics using the MAch-ZEhnder-Less for Threefold Optical Virginia spiderwort apparatus. The linearly polarized 42 and 52 eV beams have been optimized, achieving an average power of 19.4 and 8.0 nW, respectively. Using the 42 eV linearly polarized beam for ptychography, we have imaged a Siemens star test resolution target and obtained a resolution of 160 nm.