摘要:
The invention is directed to an arrangement for the generation of short-wavelength radiation based on a hot plasma generated by gas discharge and to a method for the production of coolant-carrying electrode housings. It is the object of the invention to find a novel possibility for gas discharge based short-wavelength radiation sources with high average radiation output in quasi-continuous discharge operation by which efficient cooling principles can be implemented using inexpensive and simple means in order to prevent a temporary melting of the electrode surfaces and, therefore, to ensure a long lifetime of the electrodes. According to the invention, this object is met in that special cooling channels for circulating coolant are integrated in electrode collars of the electrode housings. The cooling channels are advanced radially up to within a few millimeters of the highly thermally stressed surface regions and are connected by necked-down channel portions which are arranged coaxial to the axis of symmetry and which are provided with channel structures for increasing the inner surface and for increasing the flow rate of the coolant.
摘要:
The object of an arrangement and a method for the generation of extreme ultraviolet radiation is to construct the radiation source with an increased lifetime of the electrodes for using various emitters, wherein deposits inside the discharge chamber are reduced considerably when using metal emitters. The starting material is supplied as a continuous series of individual volumes which are introduced successively by directed injection and are pre-ionized by a pulsed energy beam. At least the electrode that is thermally loaded to a comparatively greater degree is constructed as a rotating electrode.
摘要:
The invention is directed to an arrangement for the suppression of unwanted spectral components (‘out-of-band’ radiation, as it is called) in a plasma-based radiation source. The object of the invention is to find a novel possibility for the suppression of unwanted spectral components in radiation exiting from a plasma-based EUV radiation source which permits a simple suppression of out-of-band radiation outside the desired EUV range without requiring costly manufacturing and adjustment of diffraction gratings. This object is met according to the invention in that a filter unit is provided between the plasma and an application location of the EUV radiation, which filter unit has at least one gas curtain comprising at least one rapidly flowing gas whose molecules have no absorption maxima for the desired EUV radiation and intensive absorption maxima for other, unwanted wavelengths that are emitted, at least in the IR region. For the purpose of generating the gas curtain, at least one slit nozzle and an efficient gas sink are arranged laterally opposite one another with respect to an optical axis of the beam bundle in order to limit the gas curtain in a spatially defined manner and to remove it again from the vacuum chambers as completely as possible.
摘要:
A method is disclosed for stabilization of the radiation output of a gas discharge-coupled radiation source in pulsed operation, particularly of an EUV source based on a gas discharge. The object of the disclosed invention is to find a novel possibility for stabilizing the radiation output of a gas discharge-coupled radiation source in pulsed operation which allows the pulse energy to be regulated on the basis of pulse energy fluctuations of the radiation emission detected through measurements without requiring regular calibration measurements of the E(U) curve in the stationary operating regime with continuous pulse sequences. According to the invention, this object is met in that continuous measurements of the pulse energy and at least one influencing variable are carried out for every radiation pulse of the EUV source, time averages of the pulse energy and influencing variable are formed, and the deviation of the actual measurement values from the average values are determined, so that a proportionality factor dE/dU determined by statistical analysis is available for PI regulation in the operating point of the averaged pulse energy.
摘要:
An excimer or molecular fluorine laser system includes a laser chamber filled with a gas mixture at least including a halogen-containing species and a buffer gas, and multiple electrodes with the laser chamber connected to a discharge circuit energizing the gas mixture. The laser chamber is within a laser resonator generating an output beam. The resonator includes a line-narrowing package for reducing a bandwidth of the output beam. The line-narrowing package includes a grating or grism element for use with a highly reflective (HR) and/or an anti-reflective (AR) dielectric coating. The grating may serve as a resonator reflector having a dielectric HR coating. The grating may be disposed before a HR mirror and thus have a dielectric AR or HR coating when the grating is configured in transmission or reflection mode, respectively. The grating may be used as an output coupler, and may be partially reflective with or without a coating. The grism may have a dielectric AR coating on any transmissive surface and a dielectric HR coating on any reflective surface.
摘要:
An apparatus measures a spectral distribution of a narrow-band laser beam generated by a line-narrowed excimer laser or a molecular fluorine laser system. The apparatus includes an an interferometric device disposed along an optical path of an output beam of the laser system such that the beam traverses the interferometric device on a first pass, a retro-reflector disposed after the interferometric device along the optical path for retro-reflecting the beam back through the interferometric device on a second pass, and a detector for detecting an intensity of the beam after the second pass through the interferometric device. Preferably, spectral information is determined when the free spectral range of the interferometric device is tuned and the detector measures the intensity of the beam at a plurality of free spectral ranges or when the wavelength of the output beam is tuned.
摘要:
An E-Diagnostic system for monitoring a state of an excimer laser or molecular fluorine laser system includes a processing device and an interface. The processing device runs a program for outputting parameter requests to the laser system, receiving parameter values from the laser system in response to the parameter requests, and storing the parameter values such that a record of the state of the excimer or molecular fluorine laser system is kept. The interface signal-couples the processing device with the laser system permitting the outputting of the parameter requests and the receiving of the parameter values between the processing device and the laser system.
摘要:
The invention is related to a gas discharge-based radiation source which emits short-wavelength radiation, wherein an emitter is ionized and compressed by pulse-shaped currents between two electrodes arranged in a vacuum chamber and is excited to form an emitting plasma. According to the invention, the plasma is preserved by means of a high-frequency sequence of pulse-shaped currents the pulse repetition period of which is adjusted so as to be shorter than a lifetime of the plasma so that the plasma is kept periodically alternating between a high-energy state of an emitting compressed plasma and a low-energy state of a relaxing plasma. For exciting the relaxing plasma to the compressed plasma, excitation energy is coupled into the relaxing plasma by making use of pulse-shaped currents with repetition frequencies between 50 kHz and 4 MHz and pulse widths equal to the pulse repetition period.
摘要:
The invention is directed to a method and an apparatus for stabilizing the source location during the generation of EUV radiation based on a discharge plasma. The object of finding a novel possibility for stabilizing the source location during the generation of EUV radiation which allows changes in position of the source location to be compensated in a simple manner during the operation of the radiation source is met according to the invention in that a first beam aligning unit (7), a second beam aligning unit (4), and a beam focusing unit (5) are arranged in the vaporization beam (3) and are connected to first to third measuring devices (8, 9, 10) and can be adjusted in order to acquire and compensate for direction deviations and divergence deviations of the vaporization beam (3) with respect to reference values.
摘要:
The invention relates to a method and an apparatus for generating EUV radiation from a gas discharge plasma. The object of the invention, to generate EUV radiation from a gas discharge plasma by with is optimized conversion efficiency of the EUV emission while locally limiting the electric discharge channel, is met in that a channel-generating beam of pulsed high-energy radiation is supplied in at least two partial beams which are focused in a pulse-synchronized manner into a superposition region along a spacing axis between the electrodes, and an electrically conductive discharge channel is generated along the superposition region due to an ionization at least of a buffer gas present in the discharge space, wherein the pulsed high-energy radiation of the channel-generating beam is triggered in such a way that the discharge channel is generated before a discharge current pulse has reached its maximum value.