公开(公告)号：US20060043319A1

公开(公告)日：2006-03-02

申请号：US11213007

申请日：2005-08-26

申请人： Kai Gaebel ,  Diethard Kloepfel ,  Guido Hergenhan

发明人： Kai Gaebel ,  Diethard Kloepfel ,  Guido Hergenhan

IPC分类号： G01J3/10

CPC分类号： H05G2/008 ,  H05G2/003 ,  H05G2/005 ,  H05G2/006

摘要： The invention is directed to an arrangement for providing a reproducible target flow for the energy beam-induced generation of short-wavelength radiation. It is the object of the invention to find a novel possibility for providing a reproducibly supplied target flow for the generation of a plasma that emits short-wavelength radiation which ensures a high directional stability of the target flow over a large number of individual plasma generation process for any target materials under given process conditions. According to the invention, this object is met in that a nozzle protection device is provided in the interaction chamber between the target nozzle and the interaction point for the generation of the plasma, and the nozzle protection device contains a gas pressure chamber which has an aperture along the target path for unobstructed passage of the target flow and which is filled with a buffer gas that is maintained at a pressure of some 10 mbar.

摘要翻译： 本发明涉及一种用于为能量束诱发的短波长辐射的产生提供可再现目标流的装置。 本发明的目的是找到一种新颖的可能性，以提供可重复提供的目标流，用于产生发射短波长辐射的等离子体，其确保目标流在大量单个等离子体产生过程中的高方向稳定性 对于任何目标材料在给定的工艺条件下。 根据本发明，该目的在于，在目标喷嘴和用于产生等离子体的相互作用点之间的相互作用室中设置喷嘴保护装置，并且喷嘴保护装置包含气体压力室，其具有孔径 沿着目标路径通过目标流的无障碍通道，并且填充有保持在约10毫巴压力的缓冲气体。

公开(公告)号：US07372057B2

公开(公告)日：2008-05-13

申请号：US11213007

申请日：2005-08-26

申请人： Kai Gaebel ,  Diethard Kloepfel ,  Guido Hergenhan

发明人： Kai Gaebel ,  Diethard Kloepfel ,  Guido Hergenhan

IPC分类号： G01J3/10

CPC分类号： H05G2/008 ,  H05G2/003 ,  H05G2/005 ,  H05G2/006

摘要： The invention is directed to an arrangement for providing a reproducible target flow for the energy beam-induced generation of short-wavelength radiation. It is the object of the invention to find a novel possibility for providing a reproducibly supplied target flow for the generation of a plasma that emits short-wavelength radiation which ensures a high directional stability of the target flow over a large number of individual plasma generation process for any target materials under given process conditions. According to the invention, this object is met in that a nozzle protection device is provided in the interaction chamber between the target nozzle and the interaction point for the generation of the plasma, and the nozzle protection device contains a gas pressure chamber which has an aperture along the target path for unobstructed passage of the target flow and which is filled with a buffer gas that is maintained at a pressure of some 10 mbar.

摘要翻译： 本发明涉及一种用于为能量束诱发的短波长辐射的产生提供可再现目标流的装置。 本发明的目的是找到一种新颖的可能性，以提供可重复提供的目标流，用于产生发射短波长辐射的等离子体，其确保目标流在大量单个等离子体产生过程中的高方向稳定性 对于任何目标材料在给定的工艺条件下。 根据本发明，该目的在于，在目标喷嘴和用于产生等离子体的相互作用点之间的相互作用室中设置喷嘴保护装置，并且喷嘴保护装置包含气体压力室，其具有孔径 沿着目标路径通过目标流的无障碍通道，并且填充有保持在约10毫巴压力的缓冲气体。

公开(公告)号：US07599470B2

公开(公告)日：2009-10-06

申请号：US11733845

申请日：2007-04-11

申请人： Diethard Kloepfel ,  Kai Gaebel

发明人： Diethard Kloepfel ,  Kai Gaebel

IPC分类号： H05G2/00 ,  G21G4/00

CPC分类号： H05G2/003 ,  H05G2/005 ,  H05G2/008

摘要： The invention is directed to an arrangement for generating extreme ultraviolet radiation from a plasma generated by an energy beam with high conversion efficiency, particularly for application in radiation sources for EUV lithography. It is the object of the invention to find a novel possibility for generating EUV radiation by means of a plasma induced by an energy beam that permits a more efficient conversion of the energy radiation into EUV radiation in the wavelength region of 13.5 nm and ensures a long lifetime of the optical components and the injection device. According to the invention, this object is met by using a mixture of particles with a carrier gas and the target feed device has a gas liquefaction chamber, wherein the target material is supplied to the injection unit as a mixture of solid particles in liquefied carrier gas, and a droplet generator is provided for generating a defined droplet size and series of droplets, wherein means which are controllable in a frequency-dependent manner and which are triggered by the pulse frequency of the energy beam are connected to the injection unit for the series of droplets.

摘要翻译： 本发明涉及一种用于从具有高转换效率的能量束产生的等离子体产生极紫外辐射的装置，特别是用于EUV光刻的辐射源中。 本发明的目的是找到一种通过能量束产生的等离子体产生EUV辐射的新型可能性，该等离子体能够将能量辐射更有效地转换成13.5nm波长区域中的EUV辐射，并确保长时间 光学部件和注射装置的使用寿命。 根据本发明，通过使用颗粒与载体气体的混合物来满足该目的，并且目标进料装置具有气体液化室，其中将目标材料作为液化载气中的固体颗粒的混合物供给到注射单元 ，并且提供液滴发生器，用于产生限定的液滴尺寸和一系列液滴，其中以频率相关方式可控制并且由能量束的脉冲频率触发的装置连接到用于串联的注射单元 的液滴。

公开(公告)号：US20080067456A1

公开(公告)日：2008-03-20

申请号：US11733845

申请日：2007-04-11

申请人： DIETHARD KLOEPFEL ,  Kai Gaebel

发明人： DIETHARD KLOEPFEL ,  Kai Gaebel

IPC分类号： G01J3/10

CPC分类号： H05G2/003 ,  H05G2/005 ,  H05G2/008

摘要： The invention is directed to an arrangement for generating extreme ultraviolet radiation from a plasma generated by an energy beam with high conversion efficiency, particularly for application in radiation sources for EUV lithography. It is the object of the invention to find a novel possibility for generating EUV radiation by means of a plasma induced by an energy beam that permits a more efficient conversion of the energy radiation into EUV radiation in the wavelength region of 13.5 nm and ensures a long lifetime of the optical components and the injection device. According to the invention, this object is met by using a mixture of particles with a carrier gas and the target feed device has a gas liquefaction chamber, wherein the target material is supplied to the injection unit as a mixture of solid particles in liquefied carrier gas, and a droplet generator is provided for generating a defined droplet size and series of droplets, wherein means which are controllable in a frequency-dependent manner and which are triggered by the pulse frequency of the energy beam are connected to the injection unit for the series of droplets.

摘要翻译： 本发明涉及一种用于从具有高转换效率的能量束产生的等离子体产生极紫外辐射的装置，特别是用于EUV光刻的辐射源中。 本发明的目的是找到一种通过能量束产生的等离子体产生EUV辐射的新型可能性，该等离子体能够将能量辐射更有效地转换成13.5nm波长区域中的EUV辐射，并确保长时间 光学部件和注射装置的使用寿命。 根据本发明，通过使用颗粒与载体气体的混合物来满足该目的，并且目标进料装置具有气体液化室，其中将目标材料作为液化载气中的固体颗粒的混合物供给到注射单元 ，并且提供液滴发生器，用于产生限定的液滴尺寸和一系列液滴，其中以频率相关方式可控制并且由能量束的脉冲频率触发的装置连接到用于串联的注射单元 的液滴。

公开(公告)号：US06995382B2

公开(公告)日：2006-02-07

申请号：US10777616

申请日：2004-02-12

申请人： Christian Ziener ,  Kai Gaebel ,  Guido Hergenhan

发明人： Christian Ziener ,  Kai Gaebel ,  Guido Hergenhan

IPC分类号： G01J1/00 ,  G21G4/00

CPC分类号： H05G2/003 ,  H05G2/006

摘要： The invention is directed to an arrangement for generating intensive radiation based on a plasma, particularly short-wavelength radiation from soft x-ray radiation to extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation. The object of the invention is to find a novel possibility for generating radiation generated from plasma in which the individual pulse energy coupled into the plasma and, therefore, the usable radiation output are appreciably increased while retaining the advantages of mass-limited targets. According to the invention, this object is met in that the target generator has a multiple-channel nozzle with a plurality of separate orifices, wherein the orifices generate a plurality of target jets, the excitation radiation for generating plasma being directed simultaneously portion by portion to the target jets.

摘要翻译： 本发明涉及用于基于等离子体产生强烈辐射的装置，特别是从软X射线辐射到极紫外（EUV）辐射的短波长辐射。 本发明的目的是找到用于产生从等离子体产生的辐射的新颖可能性，其中耦合到等离子体中的各个脉冲能量以及因此可用的辐射输出明显地增加，同时保留了大量限制目标的优点。 根据本发明，该目的是满足目标发生器具有多通道喷嘴，其具有多个分开的孔口，其中孔口产生多个目标射流，用于产生等离子体的激发辐射被一部分同时引导到 目标射流。

公开(公告)号：US07274030B2

公开(公告)日：2007-09-25

申请号：US11149916

申请日：2005-06-10

申请人： Guido Hergenhan ,  Christian Ziener ,  Kai Gaebel

发明人： Guido Hergenhan ,  Christian Ziener ,  Kai Gaebel

IPC分类号： H05H1/00

CPC分类号： G03F7/70033 ,  B82Y10/00 ,  H05G2/003 ,  H05G2/008

摘要： The invention is directed to an apparatus for generating soft x-radiation, particularly EUV radiation, by laser-induced plasma. The object of the invention, to find a novel possibility for generating EUV radiation by means of a laser-induced plasma by which a temporally stable radiation emission in the desired wavelength region is ensured when interacting with the target without active regulation of the laser beam, is met according to the invention in that at least one laser is directed to the target, wherein the laser has at least one defined plane with a highly stable spatial distribution of the power density of the laser, and this defined plane is imaged on the target by an optical imaging system so as to be reduced so that the optical image of the defined plane is active for the plasma generation instead of the laser focus. The invention is applied in exposure machines for semiconductor lithography for spatially stable generation of radiation.

摘要翻译： 本发明涉及一种用于通过激光诱导等离子体产生软x辐射，特别是EUV辐射的装置。 本发明的目的是为了找到通过激光诱导等离子体产生EUV辐射的新颖可能性，通过该等离子体，当与靶相互作用而确保在期望波长区域中的时间上稳定的辐射发射而无需主动调节激光束时， 根据本发明满足的是，至少一个激光被引导到目标，其中激光器具有至少一个具有激光功率密度的高度稳定的空间分布的限定平面，并且该定义的平面被成像在目标 通过光学成像系统被减少，使得限定平面的光学图像对于等离子体产生而不是激光焦点是有效的。 本发明应用于用于半导体光刻的曝光机，用于在空间上稳定地产生辐射。

公开(公告)号：US07250621B2

公开(公告)日：2007-07-31

申请号：US11045779

申请日：2005-01-27

申请人： Kai Gaebel ,  Christian Ziener ,  Guido Hergenhan

发明人： Kai Gaebel ,  Christian Ziener ,  Guido Hergenhan

IPC分类号： H01J49/00

CPC分类号： H05G2/003 ,  H05G2/008

摘要： The invention is directed to a method and an arrangement for the plasma-based generation of intensive short-wavelength radiation, particularly EUV radiation. The object of the invention, to find a novel possibility for plasma-based generation of intensive soft x-radiation, particularly EUV radiation, which permits efficient energy conversion in the desired spectral band with high repetition frequency (several kHz) of the plasma excitation, minimized emission of debris and low erosion of the nozzle of the target generator, is met according to the invention in that an additional energy beam is directed on the target flow spatially in advance of its interaction with the high-energy beam, the target flow being acted upon by this additional energy beam with substantially weaker energy pulses compared to the high-energy beam in order to divide the target flow into a first portion and at least one second portion, wherein the target flow is excited at an interaction point within the second portion by the high-energy beam for generating a hot, radiating plasma, and the second portion is decoupled from the first portion and therefore from the target generator in such a way that a hydrodynamic disturbance generated in the second portion by the pulse of the high-energy beam is transmitted into the first portion only negligibly.

摘要翻译： 本发明涉及一种用于等离子体生成强烈的短波长辐射，特别是EUV辐射的方法和装置。 本发明的目的是为了发现等离子体产生强烈的软x辐射，特别是EUV辐射的新颖可能性，其允许在等离子体激发的高重复频率（几kHz）的期望光谱带中进行有效的能量转换， 根据本发明，符合最小化的碎屑的排放和目标发生器的喷嘴的低侵蚀性，因为在与高能束的相互作用之前，另外的能量束在空间上被引导到目标流上，目标流是 为了将目标流分成第一部分和至少一个第二部分，目标流在第二部分内的相互作用点被激发，该能量束与该高能束相比基本上较弱的能量脉冲作用在该附加能量束上 部分由高能束产生热辐射等离子体，第二部分与第一部分分离，因此从目标 发电机，使得通过高能量束的脉冲在第二部分中产生的流体动力学干扰仅可忽略不计地传递到第一部分。

公开(公告)号：US20060219959A1

公开(公告)日：2006-10-05

申请号：US11393325

申请日：2006-03-30

申请人： Guido Hergenhan ,  Kai Gaebel ,  Thomas Brauner

发明人： Guido Hergenhan ,  Kai Gaebel ,  Thomas Brauner

IPC分类号： G01J3/10 ,  H05G2/00

CPC分类号： H05G2/003 ,  G03F7/70841 ,  G03F7/70858 ,  G03F7/70908 ,  G03F7/70916

摘要： In a radiation source for the generation of short-wavelength radiation, it is the object of the invention to effectively increase the protection of the collimator optics by a buffer gas without substantially reducing the radiation transmission. A vacuum chamber which encloses a radiation-emitting plasma and is outfitted with at least one feed line and one outlet line for a buffer gas in order to ensure protection against debris for at least one optical element which directs the radiation to a radiation outlet opening in the vacuum chamber has chamber areas with particle deceleration of varying magnitude by the buffer gas. The particle deceleration is greater at least in a first chamber area in which the optical element is arranged than in any other chamber area.

摘要翻译： 在用于产生短波长辐射的辐射源中，本发明的目的是通过缓冲气体有效地增加对准直器光学元件的保护，而不会基本上减少辐射透射。 包围发射辐射的等离子体的真空室，并配备有用于缓冲气体的至少一个进料管线和一个出口管线，以便确保防止碎片对于至少一个将辐射引导到辐射出口开口处的碎片 真空室具有通过缓冲气体具有不同大小的粒子减速的腔室区域。 至少在布置光学元件的第一室区域中，粒子减速度比在任何其它室区域中更大。

公开(公告)号：US07161163B2

公开(公告)日：2007-01-09

申请号：US11045605

申请日：2005-01-27

申请人： Kai Gaebel ,  Guido Hergenhan ,  Christian Ziener

发明人： Kai Gaebel ,  Guido Hergenhan ,  Christian Ziener

IPC分类号： A61N5/06

CPC分类号： H05G2/003 ,  H05G2/006 ,  H05G2/008

摘要： The invention is directed to a method and an arrangement for plasma-based generation of soft x-radiation, particularly for the generation of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation. The object of the invention, to find a novel possibility for providing a target for a plasma-based radiation source which permits a reduction in the heating and erosion of the nozzle and therefore permits an improved temperature control at the injection device, is met according to the invention in that a closure device is arranged between the target nozzle and the interaction region which interrupts an opening for temporarily passing the target flow by mechanically moving elements, wherein at least a portion of the target flow that is provided in a reproducible manner is separated in order to interact with the energy beam only during those time intervals in which an optical transmission from the interaction region to the target nozzle is prevented by the closure device.

摘要翻译： 本发明涉及一种用于等离子体生成软x辐射的方法和装置，特别是用于产生极紫外（EUV）辐射。 本发明的目的是为了找到提供等离子体辐射源的目标的新颖可能性，其允许减少喷嘴的加热和侵蚀并因此允许喷射装置的改进的温度控制根据 本发明的目的在于，将目标喷嘴与相互作用区域之间的间隔设置在目标喷嘴和相互作用区域之间，该相互作用区域通过机械移动的元件中断用于临时通过目标流的开口，其中以可再现的方式设置的目标流的至少一部分被分离 以便仅在通过闭合装置防止从相互作用区域到目标喷嘴的光学传输的那些时间间隔期间与能量束相互作用。

公开(公告)号：US20060140232A1

公开(公告)日：2006-06-29

申请号：US11293417

申请日：2005-12-02

申请人： Guido Hergenhan ,  Christian Ziener ,  Kai Gaebel

发明人： Guido Hergenhan ,  Christian Ziener ,  Kai Gaebel

IPC分类号： H01S3/13 ,  H01S3/00

CPC分类号： G03F7/70033 ,  B82Y10/00

摘要： The invention is directed to an arrangement for generating a pulsed laser beam with high average output, in particular for generating a hot plasma which emits extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation. It is the object of the invention to find a novel possibility for generating a laser beam with a high repetition rate and average output which allows the repetition frequency and, therefore, the output of the laser system to be increased by connecting together a plurality of individual lasers having limited repetition rate without degradation of the beam quality on the target compared to that of an individual laser. This object is met, according to the invention, in that an oriented mirror surface is associated with each individual laser in such a way that a beam bundle which is emitted by each individual laser so as to be offset with respect to time and which is reflected at the mirror surface is coupled into a common beam path, and laser pulses in the common beam path are directed to a target one after the other in a regular, defined pulse sequence, and, with a continuously dynamic mirror movement for coupling the laser pulses into the common beam path, optical means are provided in the common beam path for compensating the directional change caused by the mirror movement.

摘要翻译： 本发明涉及用于产生具有高平均输出的脉冲激光束的装置，特别是用于产生发射极紫外（EUV）辐射的热等离子体。 本发明的目的是找到一种产生具有高重复率和平均输出的激光束的新颖可能性，其允许通过将多个个体连接在一起来增加激光系统的重复频率，并因此提高激光系统的输出 与单个激光器相比，具有有限重复率的激光器而不降低目标上的光束质量。 根据本发明，满足本发明的目的在于，定向镜表面与每个单独的激光器相关联，使得由每个单独激光器发射的束束相对于时间偏移并被反射 在镜面处被耦合到公共光束路径中，并且公共光束路径中的激光脉冲以规则的限定的脉冲序列一个接一个地引导到目标上，并且通过连续的动态反射镜移动来将激光脉冲 在公共光束路径中，光学装置设置在公共光束路径中，用于补偿由反射镜运动引起的方向变化。