A newly developed beryllium-based multilayer system consisting of polycrystalline Be and amorphous MoRu layers is presented. The multilayer exhibits many remarkable properties: reflectivity as high as 69.3% at a wavelength of 11.4 nm (achieved with 50 bilayers giving a bandwidth of 0.35 nm), near-zero intrinsic stress, and excellent smoothing properties. As compared with Mo/Si multilayers at 13.4 nm, the shorter wavelength of 11.4 nm is better matched to the spectral output of gas-jet laser produced plasma sources, allowing a much higher optical throughput of the extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) tool. The properties of MoRu/Be are compared to other beryllium-based multilayers, which have been considered for reflective coatings for EUVL optics.