Investigation of debris dynamics from laser-produced tin plasma for EUV lithography light source

Abstract

The dynamics of debris from the laser-produced tin (Sn) plasma was investigated for an extreme ultraviolet light source in order to establish the guideline for the optimum design of a mitigation system, such as a mass-limited target. The dissemination of the Sn atoms from the different shapes of a wire and a mass-limited droplet target were investigated using the laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) imaging method. The Sn droplet targets with a diameter in the range of 5 to 17 μm were prepared by a new droplet generating technique using a pulsed laser. There was a large difference in the angular distribution of Sn atoms in the plane parallel and perpendicular to the wire axis, indicating the curvature of the target surface governed the angular distribution of the ablated species. The spatial distributions of Sn atoms from the droplet targets were similar to those from the curved surface of the wire targets. The ablation dynamics of the droplet observed by a high-speed imaging camera is also discussed.