Resonant Soft X-ray Scatterometry is an advanced X-ray metrology technique that tunes the X-ray energy to elemental absorption edges — providing material-specific contrast in addition to geometric information, enabling simultaneous measurement of structure AND composition in nanoscale features.

Resonant Soft X-ray Approach

• Tunable Energy: Use synchrotron or advanced lab sources to tune X-ray energy to specific absorption edges (C, N, O, Si K-edges at 100-500 eV).
• Material Contrast: At resonance, the scattering contrast between materials is dramatically enhanced — distinguish materials with similar electron density.
• RSOXS: Resonant Soft X-ray Scattering — combines SAXS with resonant energy tuning.
• Multi-Energy: Measure at multiple energies around absorption edges for maximum material discrimination.

Why It Matters

• Composition + Geometry: Standard scatterometry measures shape; resonant adds material composition — more information per measurement.
• Block Copolymers: Essential for characterizing directed self-assembly (DSA) — distinguish polymer blocks with similar density.
• Chemical Profiles: Measure compositional gradients at interfaces — diffusion profiles, intermixing.

Resonant Soft X-ray Scatterometry is element-specific nano-vision — combining structural measurement with material identification through resonant X-ray contrast.