Soft X-ray multilayer mirrors based on depleted uranium

The use of depleted uranium (DU) and DU-based compounds is shown to significantly increase the performance of multilayer mirrors intended for the wavelengths 3–6 nm. In comparison with multilayers based on 3d-elements the increase of peak reflectivity is of a factor 1.3, while the integral reflectivity increases by factor 2. The high chemical reactivity of pure DU hampers its usage. However many DU-compounds are compatible with carbon that makes possible the fabrication of high-quality DU-based multilayer coatings.