Consequences of high-frequency operation on EUV source efficiency

Abstract

A potential problem of future extreme ultraviolet (EUV) sources, required for high volume manufacture regimes, can be related to the contamination of the chamber environment by products of preceding laser pulse/droplet interactions. Implementation of high, 100 kHz and higher, repetition rate of EUV sources using Sn droplets ignited with laser pulses can cause high accumulation of tin in the chamber in the form of vapor, fine mist, or fragmented clusters. In this work, the effects of the residual tin accumulation in the EUV chamber in dependence on laser parameters and mitigation system efficiency were studied. The effect of various pressures of tin vapor on the CO2 and Nd:YAG laser beam propagation and on the size, the intensity, and the resulting efficiency of the EUV sources was analyzed. The HEIGHTS 3D package was used for this analysis to study the effect of residual background pressure and spatial distribution on EUV photon emission and collection. It was found that background pressure in the range of 1–5 Pa does not significantly influence the EUV source produced by CO2 lasers. A larger volume with this pressure condition, however, can reduce the efficiency of the source. However, an optimized volume of mix with proper density could increase the efficiency of the sources produced by CO2 lasers.