The Mutual Optical Intensity (MOI) model is further developed to simulate the propagation of partially coherent X-ray vortex beams through free space. The intensity, phase, and amplitude distributions of the degree of coherence in the far field zone are numerically calculated using the MOI model. The effects of the coherence property and topological charge on the vortex beam are analyzed. For Gaussian Schell-model vortex beams, a vortex structure appears around the coherence singularity at the amplitude distribution of the degree of coherence relative to the central point. The number and rotation direction of the vortex structure are consistent with the magnitude and sign of the topological charge of the partially coherent vortex beam. As the spatial coherence decreases, the size of the vortex structure for the phase and amplitude distributions of the degree of coherence gradually increase until they disappear. The intensity of the dark hollow region increases with increasing topological charge. In addition, for the Laguerre–Gaussian Schell-model vortex beam, there is no singularity or vortex structure at the amplitude distribution of the degree of coherence relative to the central point. Therefore, the vortex structure around the coherence singularity at the amplitude distributions of the degree of coherence relative to the central point can be used to measure the vortex beam types and topological charge.

A high-sensitivity inspection method for ultra-low-density defects in the thin films is presented by performing spatial correlation calculations on the x-ray dark-field scattering. The sensitivity of defect inspection is theoretically analyzed under varying exposure times and defect thicknesses. The simulation results demonstrate a 25 times increase in inspection sensitivity compared to scanning scattering contrast microscopy (SSCM). An experiment was performed at the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility and a 56 nm particle defect was successfully inspected with the sensitivity of 8.3. Both theoretical and experimental results indicate that the dark-field spatial correlation spectrum method holds significant potential for advanced defect inspection.

The EUV light emitted by the synchrotron radiation source exhibits a stable wavelength and pollution-free characteristics, making it highly suitable for technical verification in diverse EUV lithography applications and playing a pivotal role in EUV lithography industry research. To guide the EUV light from the beamline into the experimental platform, this paper proposes a deflection system design based on the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF). This system enables beamline diagnostics for EUV light while facilitating precise positioning and performance testing of the Mo/Si multilayer planar deflection mirror. The deflection system achieves accurate installation and alignment through a coordinate transfer protocol. By imaging the EUV incident light spot on a scintillator and analyzing variations in EUV light intensity data before and after the deflection mirror, the system can accurately measure focused light spot parameters from the beamline and achieve submicron alignment accuracy with 10 μrad angular resolution for the deflection mirror. The proposed design provides valuable insights for advancing EUV lithography technology utilizing synchrotron radiation sources.

Artificial multiferroics combining ferroelectric and magnetic materials exhibits a sizable magnetoelectric coupling and further shows a great potential for realizing low power consumption information processing. In this work, hybrid structures consisting of the ferrimagnetic yttrium iron garnet (Y₃Fe₅O_12, (YIG)) layer and anti-ferromagnetic chromium oxide (Cr₂O₃) layer are deposited directly onto (110)-oriented single-crystal Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)_0.7Ti_0.3O₃ (PMN-PT) ferroelectric substrates by means of radio frequency magnetron sputtering and post-annealing procedures. The dynamical properties of YIG films are investigated via ferromagnetic resonance measurements and a low damping constant of 0.00258 is obtained. Combining the element-specific soft x-ray absorption spectroscopy, x-ray magnetic circular dichroism and x-ray magnetic linear dichroism, the magnetic order in YIG film and the Néel order in Cr₂O₃ layers are further characterized. By capping a platinum (Pt) layer on PMN-PT/YIG/Cr₂O₃, a visible spin-charge converted signal has been obtained via both spin pumping and spin Seebeck measurements. These results indicate that the artificial multiferroic structures PMN-PT/YIG/Cr₂O₃/Pt serve as a promising material platform for realizing an efficient manipulation of magnetism via electrical means.

The generation and propagation characteristics of partially coherent X-ray vortex beams are investigated using a numerical simulation method based on the four-dimensional mutual coherence function. The simulation results show that the vortex beams can be constructed even under low-coherence conditions using one-dimensional fork-shaped gratings with a high topological defect. In the experiment, the 4th-order diffraction vortex was successfully observed at 200 eV, demonstrating the generation of an X-ray vortex carrying a topological charge as high as 160. The experimental results demonstrated that the photon flux governs the generation of high topological charge vortex beams rather than the coherence properties of the source. Moreover, the coherence singularities of the vortex beams propagating through the two-dimensional fork-shaped grating are analyzed. The simulation results indicate that the fork-shaped grating can diffractively map the coherence singularities of the input vortex beam onto the vortex array.