Microscopy of extreme ultraviolet lithography masks with 13.2 nm tabletop laser illumination

We report the demonstration of a reflection microscope that operates at 13.2 nm wavelength with a spatial resolution of 55 +/- 3 nm. The microscope uses illumination from a tabletop extreme ultraviolet laser to acquire aerial images of photolithography masks with a 20 s exposure time. The modulation transfer function of the optical system was characterized. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America