A method of manufacture of an extreme ultraviolet reflective element includes: providing a substrate; forming a multilayer stack on the substrate, the multilayer stack includes a plurality of reflective layer pairs having a first reflective layer and a second reflective layer for forming a Bragg reflector; and forming a capping layer on and over the multilayer stack, the capping layer formed from titanium oxide, ruthenium oxide, niobium oxide, ruthenium tungsten, ruthenium molybdenum, or ruthenium niobium, and the capping layer for protecting the multilayer stack by reducing oxidation and mechanical erosion.