1. METROLOGY OF EUV LITHOGRAPHY OPTIC BEGINS AT ALS
by Art Robinson
(Contact: KAGoldberg@lbl.gov)

November 18 saw the long-awaited arrival of the first extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography optic for testing at Branchline 12.0.1.3, which was designed and built by the Center for X-Ray Optics (CXRO) with industry funding specifically for this purpose. The coming of the optic, called a projection optics box (or PO box), was none too late, for CXRO scientists needed to present data at a major semiconductor industry meeting barely more than two weeks later, on December 6. The purpose of the meeting was to evaluate the status of the leading contenders for the next-generation lithography technology that will imprint circuit patterns with features of 100 nm or less onto future computer chips. Although it was their first chance to put the new beamline to use, CXRO scientists found they were able to quickly gather the data they needed for the meeting. Their first measurements have confirmed the diffraction-limited quality of this optic.

To develop EUV lithography, Intel, Motorola, and Advanced Micro Devices joined together and formed the EUV Limited Liability Corporation (EUV LLC) in 1997. Drawing on the technology available in the DOE national laboratories, the EUV LLC entered that year into a three-year cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) with a "Virtual National Laboratory" comprising Berkeley Lab, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratories with the goal of developing an "engineering test stand" for an EUV-lithography system that would combine all the systems needed to imprint patterns on chips. One of the Berkeley Lab contributions has been the development by CXRO of two EUV interferometers on Beamline 12.0.1 (Branchlines 12.0.1.2 and 12.0.1.3) to measure the optical quality of projection optics consisting of multiple mirrors (see ALSNews, Vol. 83, August 6, 1997). For example, the PO box now under testing is a four-mirror system (three of the mirrors are aspherical) that reduces an arc-shaped object field about 4 inches long to a smaller image 1 inch long. After exceeding project milestones for measurement accuracy with its first EUV interferometer, CXRO was given the go-ahead to build a new interferometer branchline capable of handling large-scale, lithographic-quality optics, such as the PO box and possible successors.

2. CALL FOR ABSTRACTS: 1999 COMPENDIUM
(Contact: LSTamura@lbl.gov)

It's the end of the year, and time for all ALS users who performed research at the ALS in 1999 to tell us about it. Users or user groups (including ALS staff members) should submit a one- to three-page abstract describing each project worked on at the ALS during 1999 (January 1 to December 31), whether published, unpublished, or in progress. The submission deadline is January 14, 2000. Detailed information for submitting abstracts can be found on the Web at http://alspubs.lbl.gov/Compendium_old/.

This year, we are implementing a number of new policies. Abstracts will be limited to three pages instead of four, to balance the growing number of users against the finite resources available. We are also eliminating the requirement to submit paper copies; only electronic files need to be submitted, and accuracy will be ensured via electronic reviews. The compendium will be published this year on the Web and on compact disc (CD) only; the hardcopy version will be discontinued. Finally, because we are planning to include compendium CDs in the ALS Activity Report, we are beginning the submission process a few months earlier than in the past, to accommodate the Activity Report's publication schedule.

3. UEC CORNER: NOTES FROM THE USERS' EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
by Stephen Kevan
(Contact: kevan@oregon.uoregon.edu)

We have one news item to relate and some further information on the upcoming BESAC review. First, on December 15th, there will be a first-ever try at systematically increasing the vertical emittance of the ALS beam, probably in three steps from the present condition, so as to explore fully the tradeoff in brightness/flux against lifetime. Several beamlines are already signed up to make careful measurements during this experiment to illuminate this trade-off. If anyone else wants to get involved, please contact Tony Warwick (T_Warwick@lbl.gov), who is coordinating the user end of this activity.

Planning for the BESAC review of the ALS scientific program, now tentatively scheduled for February 3-4, 2000, is well under way. Both the UEC and ALS management think user involvement in planning and executing this review is of prime importance. The bulk of the review will focus on science done by users. Of course, neither the UEC nor the ALS management can truly represent the entire community when making decisions about what needs to be included. We encourage you to make your thoughts on this matter known soon.

4. RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Anders, S., T. Stammler, W. Fong, D.B. Bogy, C.S. Bhatia, and J. Stohr, "Investigation of slider surfaces after wear using photoemission electron microscopy," J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 17(5), 2731-2736 (September 1999).

Diaz, J., S. Anders, A. Cossy-Favre, M. Samant, and J. Stohr, "Enhanced secondary electron yield from oxidized regions on amorphous carbon films studied by x-ray spectromicroscopy," J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 17(5), 2737-2740 (September 1999).

Kurmaev, E.Z., A. Moewes, M. Krietmeyer, K. Endo, T. Ida, S. Shimada, R.P. Winarski, M. Neumann, S.N. Shamin, and D.L. Ederer, "X-ray fluorescence study of organic-inorganic polymer conversion into ceramics induced by ion irradiation," Phys. Rev. B 60(22), 15100-15106 (December 1999).

Kurmaev, E.Z., S.N. Shamin, Y.-N. Xu, W.Y. Ching, A. Moewes, D.L. Ederer, E.B. Yagubskii, and N.D. Kushch, "X-ray fluorescence measurements of organic superconductors kappa-(ET)2Cu[N(CN)2]Br and kappa-(ET)2Cu(NCS)2," Phys. Rev. B 60(18), 13169-13174 (November 1999).

Muramatsu, Y., Y. Tani, Y. Aoi, T. Kaneyoshi, M. Motoyama, J.J. Delaunay, T. Hayashi, M. Grush, T.A. Callcott, D.L. Ederer, et al., "High-resolution soft x-ray emission spectra of crystalline carbon nitride films deposited by electron cyclotron resonance sputtering," Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 38, 5143-5147 (September 1999).

Myneni, S.C.B., J.T. Brown, G.A. Martinez, and W. Meyer-Ilse, "Imaging of humic substance macromolecular structures in water and soils," Science 286(5443), 1335-1337 (November 1999).

Wiesmann, C., M.H. Ultsch, S.H. Bass, and A.M. de Vos, "Crystal structure of nerve growth factor in complex with ligand-binding domain of the TrkA receptor," Nature 401, 184-188 (September 1999).

5. WHO'S IN TOWN: A SAMPLING OF ALS USERS

Following are some of the experimenters who will be collecting data during the next two weeks at the ALS.

Beamline 1.4.3
Felicia Hendrickson and Bob Glaeser (Berkeley Lab)
Ron Simms, Karl Neiman (Utah State Univ.) and Hoi-Ying Holman (Berkeley Lab)
Sherry Zhang and Phil Ross (Berkeley Lab)
Mary Kauffman (Idaho State Univ. and INEEL)

Beamline 5.0.2
Steve Jordan and Rashid Syed (Amgen)
Harry Noller (Univ. of California, Santa Cruz)
Sung-Hou Kim (Berkeley Lab and Univ.of California, Berkeley)
John Tainer (Scripps Institute)

Beamline 7.0.1
Roy Willis (Pennsylvania State Univ.)
Jonathan Denlinger (Berkeley Lab)
Jeff Kortright (Berkeley Lab)
Susan Kauzlarich (Univ. of California, Davis)

Beamline 7.3.1.1
Eric Tober (Berkeley Lab)

Beamline 7.3.3
Sara Paisner (Univ. of California, Berkeley)

Beamline 10.3.1
Dan Strawn and Harvey Doner (Univ. of California, Berkeley)

6. OPERATIONS UPDATE
(Contact: RMMiller@lbl.gov)

Beam reliability for the last two weeks (November 22 to December 5) was 95% for user shifts. There were no significant outages.

Long-term and weekly operations schedules are available on the Web (http://www-als.lbl.gov/als/accelinfo.html). Requests for special operations use of the "scrubbing" shift should be sent to Bob Miller (RMMiller@lbl.gov, x4738) by 1:00 p.m. Friday. The Accelerator Status Hotline at (510) 486-6766 (ext. 6766 from Lab phones) features a recorded message giving up-to-date information on the operational status of the accelerator.