Extreme ultraviolet light source
AssigneeASML Netherlands B.V.
InventorsYezheng Tao, John Tom Stewart, IV, Jordan Jur, Daniel Brown
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Abstract
An initial pulse of radiation is generated; a section of the initial pulse of radiation is extracted to form a modified pulse of radiation, the modified pulse of radiation including a first portion and a second portion, the first portion being temporally connected to the second portion, and the first portion having a maximum energy that is less than a maximum energy of the second portion; the first portion of the modified pulse of radiation is interacted with a target material to form a modified target; and the second portion of the modified pulse of radiation is interacted with the modified target to generate plasma that emits extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light.
Claims20
(canceled)
A method comprising:
- directing an optical pulse toward an optical element;
- controlling the optical element to form a modified optical pulse from the optical pulse, the modified optical pulse comprising a first portion and a second portion, the second portion having a temporal energy profile based on a temporal energy profile of the optical pulse, and the first portion having a temporal profile that is different from the temporal energy profile of the optical pulse, wherein one or more characteristics of the modified optical pulse are at least partially determined by controlling the optical element;
- and
- interacting the modified optical pulse with a target comprising target material, wherein an interaction between the second portion of the modified optical pulse and the target converts at least some of the target material to a plasma that emits extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light.
A system for an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light source, the system comprising:
- a light generation module;
- an optical element;
- and
- a control system configured to determine one or more characteristics of a modified optical pulse formed from an optical pulse produced by the light generation module, wherein the modified optical pulse comprises a first portion and a second portion, the second portion has a temporal energy profile based on a temporal energy profile of the optical pulse, and the first portion has a temporal profile that is different from the temporal energy profile of the optical pulse.
An EUV light source comprising:
- a light generation module;
- an optical element;
- a vessel configured to receive a target comprising target material that emits EUV light when in a plasma state;
- and
- a control system configured to determine one or more characteristics of a modified optical pulse formed by the optical element based on an optical pulse produced by the light generation module, wherein the modified optical pulse comprises a first portion and a second portion, the second portion has a temporal energy profile based on a temporal energy profile of the optical pulse, and the first portion has a temporal profile that is different from the temporal energy profile of the optical pulse.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.