On the maximum conversion efficiency into the 13.5-nm extreme ultraviolet emission under a steady-state laser ablation of tin microspheres

Abstract

Theoretical investigation has been performed on the conversion efficiency (CE) into the 13.5-nm extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation in a scheme where spherical microspheres of tin (Sn) are simultaneously irradiated by two laser pulses with substantially different wavelengths. The low-intensity short-wavelength pulse is used to control the rate of mass ablation and the size of the EUV source, while the high-intensity long-wavelength pulse provides efficient generation of the EUV light at λ=13.5 nm. The problem of full optimization for maximizing the CE is formulated and solved numerically by performing two-dimensional radiation-hydrodynamics simulations with the RALEF-2D code under the conditions of steady-state laser illumination. It is shown that, within the implemented theoretical model, steady-state CE values approaching 9% are feasible; in a transient peak, the maximum instantaneous CE of 11.5% was calculated for the optimized laser-target configuration. The physical factors, bringing down the fully optimized steady-state CE to about one half of the absolute theoretical maximum of CE≈20% for the uniform static Sn plasma, are analyzed in detail.