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US 2024/0283210 A1Published application
Pulsed power systems with controlled reactor reset
AssigneeCymer, Inc.
InventorsPaul Christopher Melcher, Yuda Wang, Changqi You
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A pulsed power circuit including one or more magnetic switches respectively implemented as one or more inductors having saturable cores wherein, after a discharge pulse, each saturable core is repeatably reset to an initial bias point on its magnetization curve by a reset pulse having variable characteristics determined, for example, by chamber operating conditions so that the saturable core is able to function reliably and consistently.
Claims22
A system comprising:
- a first laser subsystem configured to produce a pulsed seed laser beam, the first laser subsystem comprising:
- a first chamber configured to hold a first gain medium;
- and
- a first excitation mechanism in the first chamber;
- a second laser subsystem configured to produce a pulsed output laser beam based on the pulsed seed laser beam, the second optical subsystem comprising:
- a second chamber configured to hold a second gain medium;
- and
- a second excitation mechanism in the second chamber;
- a first magnetic switching network configured to activate the first excitation mechanism, wherein the first magnetic switching network comprises a first magnetic core, and activating the first excitation mechanism causes the first optical subsystem to produce a pulse of the pulsed seed laser beam;
- and
- a second magnetic switching network configured to activate the second excitation mechanism, wherein the second magnetic switching network comprises a second magnetic core, and activating the second excitation mechanism causes the second optical subsystem to produce a pulse of the pulsed output laser beam;
- a first bias circuit configured to electrically or magnetically couple to the first magnetic core;
- a second bias circuit configured to electrically or magnetically couple to the second magnetic core;
- and
- a controller configured to
- adjust an impedance of the first magnetic core by causing the first bias circuit to produce a first electrical reset current pulse, wherein one or more characteristics of the first electrical reset current pulse are based on an operating condition of the first laser subsystem;
- and
- adjust an impedance of the second magnetic core by causing the second bias circuit to produce a second electrical reset current pulse, wherein one or more characteristics of the second electrical reset current pulse are based on an operating condition of the second laser subsystem.
15 more elements
A controller comprising:
- a trigger module configured to:
- provide a first initiation trigger signal to a first magnetic switching network, the first initiation trigger signal causing a first magnetic core in the first magnetic switching network to saturate such that the first magnetic switching network activates a gain excitation mechanism in a first laser subsystem;
- provide a second initiation trigger signal to a second magnetic switching network, the second initiation trigger signal causing a second magnetic core in the second magnetic switching network to saturate such that the second magnetic switching network activates a gain excitation mechanism in a second laser subsystem;
- and
- an electrical current module configured to:
- determine one or more characteristics of a first electrical reset current pulse based on an operating condition of the first laser subsystem, wherein the first electrical reset current pulse is configured to adjust an impedance of the first magnetic core to a first reset level;
- and
- determine one or more characteristics of a second electrical reset current pulse based on an operating condition of the second laser subsystem, wherein the second electrical reset current pulse is configured to adjust an impedance of the second magnetic core to a second reset level.
5 more elements
A method of controlling an impedance of a magnetic core in a laser system that produces a pulsed laser beam, the method comprising:
- determining one or more characteristics of an electrical reset current pulse based on an operating condition of the first laser subsystem;
- adjusting the impedance of the magnetic core to a reset level by providing the electrical reset current pulse to a coil that is magnetically coupled to the magnetic core;
- and
- after adjusting the impedance of the magnetic core, producing a pulse of laser radiation, wherein producing a pulse of laser radiation comprises saturating the magnetic core such that a discharge electrical pulse is provided to an excitation mechanism of the laser system.
1 more element
A pulsed power system for supplying discharge pulses to a laser discharge chamber, the pulsed power system comprising:
- a compression head module including a compression head module magnetic switch having a compression head module saturable reactor;
- a compression head module reset circuit adapted to supply a compression head module reset pulse to the compression head module saturable reactor to reset an operating point of the compression head module saturable reactor to a predetermined compression head bias point;
- and
- a reset circuit control module arranged to control operation of the compression head reset circuit based on at least one operating condition in the laser discharge chamber.
1 more element
A pulsed power system for supplying discharge pulses including master oscillator (“MO”) discharge pulses to an MO laser chamber, the pulsed power system comprising:
- an MO compression head module including an MO compression head module magnetic switch having an MO compression head module saturable reactor;
- an MO compression head module reset circuit adapted to supply an MO compression head module reset pulse to the MO compression head module saturable reactor to reset an operating point of the MO compression head module saturable reactor to a predetermined MO compression head bias point;
- and
- a reset circuit control module arranged to control operation of the MO compression head reset circuit based on at least one condition in the MO laser chamber.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.