Blazed gratings are of dedicated interest for the monochromatization of synchrotron radiation when a high photon flux is required, such as, for example, in resonant inelastic X-ray scattering experiments or when the use of laminar gratings is excluded due to too high flux densities and expected damage, for example at free-electron laser beamlines. Their availability became a bottleneck since the decommissioning of the grating manufacture facility at Carl Zeiss in Oberkochen. To resolve this situation a new technological laboratory was established at the Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin, including instrumentation from Carl Zeiss. Besides the upgraded ZEISS equipment, an advanced grating production line has been developed, including a new ultra-precise ruling machine, ion etching technology as well as laser interference lithography. While the old ZEISS ruling machine GTM-6 allows ruling for a grating length up to 170 mm, the new GTM-24 will have the capacity for 600 mm (24 inch) gratings with groove densities between 50 lines mm⁻¹ and 1200 lines mm⁻¹. A new ion etching machine with a scanning radiofrequency excited ion beam (HF) source allows gratings to be etched into substrates of up to 500 mm length. For a final at-wavelength characterization, a new reflectometer at a new Optics beamline at the BESSY-II storage ring is under operation. This paper reports on the status of the grating fabrication, the measured quality of fabricated items by ex situ and in situ metrology, and future development goals.

An efficient software package for the structure design and simulation of imaging properties of diffraction optical elements has been developed. It operates with point source and consists of: the ZON software, to calculate the structure of an optical element in transmission and reflection; the KRGF software, to simulate the diffraction properties of an ideal optical element with point source; the DS software, to calculate the diffraction properties by taking into consideration material and shadowing effects. Optional software allows simulation with a real non-point source. Zone plate thickness profile, source shape as well as substrate curvature are considered in this calculation. This is especially important for the diffractive focusing elements and gratings at a total external reflection, given that the lateral size of the structure can be up to 1 m. The program package can be used in combination with the Nanomaker software to prepare data for ion and e-beam surface modifications and corrections.