Hard and soft x-ray study of the correlation between substrate quality and multilayer performance for Co/C coating produced by electron beam evaporation using ion polishing

Polished silicon crystals, lacquered aluminum foil, and float glass substrates with respect to surface roughness. Co/C multilayers were then deposited by electron-beam evaporation with in situ monitoring x-ray signal and ion polishing (Kr+) for the metal layer. The specular as well as the transverse scan have demonstrated different qualities, influenced by the different substrates. The investigations were performed with both hard x-ray (8.05 keV) as well as soft x-ray (0.25 keV). The reflectivity varies up to factor 3 between the best and the worst of these substrates. The results of these investigations and a comparison between the coating performances are discussed.