A XUV Michelson interferometer has been developed by
LIXAM/CEA/LCFIO and has been tested as a Fourier-transform
spectrometer for measurement of X-ray laser line shape. The observed
strong deformation of the interference fringes limited the interest of
such an interferometer for plasma probing. Because the fringe
deformation was coming from a distortion of the beam splitter (5
× 5 mm2 open aperture, about 150 nm thick), several
parameters of the multilayer deposition used for the beam splitter
fabrication have been recently optimized. The flatness has been
improved from 80 nm rms obtained by using the ion beam sputtering
technique, to 20 nm rms by using the magnetron sputtering technique.
Over 3 × 3 mm2, the beam splitter has a flatness
better than 4 nm rms.