Application of thin molybdenum films in contact masks for manufacturing the micro-relief of diffractive optical elements

We investigate the parameters of microstructures obtained by laser thermochemical writing in molybdenum films of thickness 17, 35, and 70 nm deposited on glass and quartz substrates. Graphs of the spatial resolution of the microstructures as a function of the laser power are plotted for different substrate materials. It is shown that a higher spatial resolution of the microstructures can be achieved in the molybdenum films with a 17-nm thickness.