Plasma physics and radiation hydrodynamics in developing an extreme ultraviolet light source for lithography

Nishihara, Katsunobu*; Sunahara, Atsushi*; Sasaki, Akira; Nunami, Masanori*; Tanuma, Hajime*; Fujioka, Shinsuke*; Shimada, Yoshinori*; Fujima, Kazumi*; Furukawa, Hiroyuki*; Kato, Takako*; Koike, Fumihiro*; More, R.*; Murakami, Masakatsu*; Nishikawa, Takeshi*; Zhakhovskii, V.*; Gamata, Kohei*; Takata, Akira*; Ueda, Hirofumi*; Nishimura, Hiroaki*; Izawa, Yasukazu*; Miyanaga, Noriaki*; Mima, Kunioki*

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation from laser-produced plasma (LPP) has been thoroughly studied for application in mass-production of the next generation semiconductor devices. One critical issue for realization of a LPP-EUV light source for lithography is the conversion efficiency (CE) from incident laser power to EUV radiation of 13.5 nm wavelength (within 2% bandwidth). Another is solving a problem of damage caused by debris reaching a EUV collecting mirror. We here present an improved power balance model, which can be used for the optimization of laser and target conditions to obtain high CE. An integrated numerical simulation code has been developed for target design. The code is shown to agree well with experimental results not only for the CE but also for detailed EUV spectral structure. We propose a two pulse irradiation scheme for high CE and reduced ion debris using a carbon dioxides laser and a droplet or punch-out target.