Towards the Theory of Coherent Imaging for Determining the Complex Refractive Index of Film Structures

Abstract

Based on a simple model of radiation–matter interaction that ignores surface effects, we discuss the determination of optical constants in the soft X-ray range. For long-wavelength ranges, more rigorous models that take into account interfaces are considered: a plane-parallel plate and a free-standing surface. Since coherent imaging methods require calculating the field on the output surface of the sample, we perform a numerical experiment simulating the image of a standard test object. The purpose of the numerical experiment is to evaluate the accuracy of the methods and the required computational effort.