OPTICAL COMPONENT MADE OF QUARTZ GLASS FOR USE IN ArF EXCIMER LASER LITHOGRAPHY AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING THE COMPONENT

An optical component made of synthetic quartz glass for use in ArF excimer laser lithography with an applied wavelength of 193 nm, the optical component comprising:

• a glass structure which is substantially free of oxygen defect sites, the glass structure having a hydrogen content in the range of 0.1×1016 molecules/cm3 to 1.0×1018 molecules/cm3, a content of SiH groups of less than 2×1017 molecules/cm3, a content of hydroxyl groups in the range between 0.1 and 100 wt. ppm, and a fictive temperature of less than 1070° C.,
• wherein the glass structure reacts to irradiation with radiation of an applied wavelength of 193 nm with 5×109 pulses with a pulse width of 125 ns and an energy density of 500 μJ/cm2 each time and a pulse repetition frequency of 2000 Hz with a laser-induced refractive-index change, the amount of which upon measurement with the applied wavelength of 193 nm yields a first measured value M193 nm and upon measurement with a measurement wavelength of 633 nm yields a second measured value M633 nm, and
• wherein M193 nm/M633 nm<1.7.