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US 11,180,866 B2Granted
Passivation of nonlinear optical crystals
AssigneeKLA Corporation
InventorsYung-Ho Alex Chuang, Vladimir Dribinski
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The passivation of a nonlinear optical crystal for use in an inspection tool includes growing a nonlinear optical crystal in the presence of at least one of fluorine, a fluoride ion and a fluoride-containing compound, mechanically preparing the nonlinear optical crystal, performing an annealing process on the nonlinear optical crystal and exposing the nonlinear optical crystal to a hydrogen-containing or deuterium-containing passivating gas.
Claims20
A system comprising:
- an exposure chamber containing a fluorine-doped borate-based nonlinear optical crystal comprising at least one of cesium borate (CBO) or cesium lithium borate (CLBO), wherein the fluorine-doped borate-based nonlinear optical crystal is grown from a melt containing an atomic percent of fluorine of 5-20% of the atomic percentage of boron in the melt to inhibit incorporation of OH into the fluorine-doped borate-based nonlinear optical crystal,
- wherein the exposure chamber contains a passivating gas comprising at least one of deuterium mixed with one or more inert gases or a deuterium-containing compound mixed with one or more inert gases, wherein the at least one of deuterium or the deuterium-containing compound of the passivating gas has a selected concentration in a range of 5 to 10%,
- wherein the exposure chamber includes an annealing stage configured to secure the nonlinear optical crystal within the exposure chamber, the stage including one or more thermal control elements configured to heat the fluorine-doped borate-based nonlinear optical crystal drive OH content out of the fluorine-doped borate-based nonlinear optical crystal.
A system comprising:
- a crystal grower for growing a fluorine-doped borate-based nonlinear optical crystal, the crystal grower containing a melt containing at least one of lithium fluoride or cesium fluoride, wherein an atomic percent of fluorine in the melt is 5-20% of the atomic percentage of boron in the melt to inhibit incorporation of OH into the fluorine-doped borate-based nonlinear optical crystal, wherein the fluorine-doped borate-based nonlinear optical crystal comprises at least one of cesium borate (CBO) or cesium lithium borate (CLBO);
- an exposure chamber for containing the fluorine-doped borate-based nonlinear optical crystal comprising at least one of cesium borate (CBO) or cesium lithium borate (CLBO),
- wherein the exposure chamber contains a passivating gas comprising at least one of deuterium mixed with one or more inert gases or a deuterium-containing compound mixed with one or more inert gases, wherein the at least one of deuterium or the deuterium-containing compound of the passivating gas has a selected concentration in a range of 5 to 10%,
- wherein the exposure chamber includes an annealing stage configured to secure the nonlinear optical crystal within the exposure chamber, the stage including one or more thermal control elements configured to heat the fluorine-doped borate-based nonlinear optical crystal drive OH content out of the fluorine-doped borate-based nonlinear optical crystal.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.