In this conference, we will report about new EUV research activity in Kyushu-Univ. in Japan. We have been planning EUV Exposure Research Center for support material development (Fig.1) and also new high power EUV source investigation program has been on going. It’s trigger is donation of 30kW CO2 driver laser system from Gigaphoton Inc. in 2022. Also In this paper we will discuss about the Sn plasma dynamics which dominate the EUV emission by using Thomson Scattering (TS) measurement4)(Fig.3). Recent TS results have revealed whole profiles of electron temperature and ion density in the EUV sources. These results mention that there is still sufficient potential to increase EUV output power and conversion efficiency in near future. This conceptual investing encourage us to improve EUV Light Source performance.
Recently progress of LPP EUV light source is remarkable. Ten years ago, power level is only several 10 W level. At present 250W power level is realized in semiconductor mass production factories1) by ASML. On the other hand, pioneer of this Unique technologies including; combination of pulsed CO2 laser and Sn droplets, dual wavelength pico second laser pulses for shooting and debris mitigation by magnetic field have been applied by Gigaphoton2). They have demonstrated high average power >300W EUV power with CO2 laser more than 27kW at output power in cooperation with Gigaphoton and Mitsubishi Electric3). In near future more higher power (>600W) EUV source is required to fit High NA (>0.55) lithography of semiconductor industry.
In this paper we will discuss about the Sn plasma dynamics which dominate the EUV emission by using Tomson scattering (TS) measurement4. Recent TS results have revealed whole profiles of electron temperature and ion density in the EUV sources. These results mention that there is still sufficient potential to increase EUV output power and conversion efficiency in near future.
We evaluated the charge-separated energy spectra of the suprathermal highly charged gadolinium (Gd) ions as debris from a laser-produced plasma (LPP). Laser pulses with pulse durations of 6 ns and 150 ps were irradiated to a solid planar Gd target. Charge-separated suprathermal Gd ions from an LPP were measured using an electrostatic energy analyzer (ESA). The maximum ionic charge state was q = 16, and the maximum energy was about 30 keV (q = 16) at the pulse duration of 150 ps under the laser intensity of IL = 2 × 1012 W/cm2. At the pulse duration of 6 ns under the same laser intensity of IL = 2 × 1012 W/cm2 by a control of a laser pulse energy and a focal spot diameter, the maximum ionic charge state was q = 15, and the maximum energy was 15 keV (q = 10), approximately half of that in the case of the pulse duration of 150 ps.
LiNbO3 and LiTaO3 are frequently used in second harmonic conversion of continuous-wave light from the infrared to the visible regions. Optical damage of LiNbO3-type crystals is a crucial issue in the high-average-power laser systems. The optical damage by a light-induced heating is investigated. We have proposed a light-induced heating by the accumulated long-lived states like polarons or self-trapped excitons. In addition to the long-lived states, point defects as color centers are created by a radiation. A new model includes these states. As a results, it is shown that a creating rate of the color center becomes a important parameter on the determination of critical power.
An ultra-intense short pulse laser induces a shock wave in material. The pressure of shock compression is stronger than a few tens GPa. To characterize shock waves, time-resolved velocity measurement in nano- or pico-second time scale is needed. Frequency domain interferometer and chirped pulse laser provide single-shot time-resolved measurement. We have developed a laser-driven shock compression system and frequency domain interferometer with CPA laser. In this paper, we show the principle of velocity measurement using a frequency domain interferometer and a chirped pulse laser. Next, we numerically calculated spectral interferograms and show the time-resolved velocity measurement can be done from the phase analysis of spectral interferograms. Moreover we conduct the laser driven shock generation and shock velocity measurement. From the spectral fringes, we analyze the velocities of the sample and shockwaves.
We develop a new simulation code for the optimization of efficiency of the laser pumped plasma (LPP) extreme ultra violet (EUV) light source, which is applicable to the pre-plasma formation from a tin droplet target irradiated by a pre-pulse laser. We investigate algorithms of reorganization of the mesh for the Lagrangian hydrodynamics simulation. We also investigate the model of the liquid to gas phase transition to calculate the dynamics of particle formation through the laser ablation.
The effect of sub-ns duration and sub-mJ energy laser pulse on 13.5 nm extreme ultraviolet (EUV) source diameter and conversion efficiency has been investigated. It was demonstrated that an in-band EUV source diameter as low as 18 μm has been produced due to short scale length of the picoseconds duration laser plasma. Such EUV source is suitable for high brightness and high repetition rate metrology applications.
We evaluate the EUV emission and the spatial distributions of the plasma parameters by use of the two-dimensional (2-D) radiation hydrodynamic simulation in the microplasma high-brightness EUV source. The expected EUV source size, which is attributed to the expanding microplasma by the hydrodynamic motion, was evaluated to be 15 μm at the laser pulse duration of 150 ps [full width at half-maximum (FWHM)]. The numerical simulation suggests that the high brightness EUV source should be produced by use of a dot target based microplasma with the source diameter less than 20 μm. The emission at 13.5 nm was attributed to Sn charge states between Sn7+ and Sn12+ with the UTA spectral structure.
We show an atomic model of Sn for the EUV sources. We show an improvement of the model in terms of the
selection of energy levels and correction of the wavelength of the emission lines including resonance and satellite
lines of combined 4d-4f and 4p-4d transition arrays. Calculated spectrum agrees well with experiments, showing
that the present model is useful both for theoretical investigation of the optimum conditions the EUV sources,
and for the analysis of experimental spectrum. A modeling method to estimate the initial spatial profile of the
discharge path for the analysis of laser-assisted discharge pumped plasma sources is also proposed.
We investigate characteristic feature of the atomic radiation from tin plasmas, which allow one to obtain high power EUV emission at λ=13.5nm efficiently. We develop a collisional radiative model of tin ions to calculate steady-state and time dependent ion abundance, level population, and coefficients of radiative transfer of the plasma. The model, which is based atomic data calculated using the Hullac code is refined both theoretically and experimentally. Calculation of the spectral emissivity and opacity are carried out over a wide range of plasma density and temperature, and pumping conditions to obtain high conversion efficiency are discussed.
We propose a new scheme for high conversion efficiency from laser energy to 13.5 nm extreme ultra violet emission
within 2 % band width, a double pulse laser irradiation scheme with a tin droplet target. We consider two-color lasers, a
Nd:YAG laser with 1.06 µm in wavelength as a prepulse and a carbon dioxide laser with 10.6 µm in wavelength for a
main pulse. We show the possibility of obtaining a CE of 5 - 7 % using a benchmarked radiation hydro code. We have
experimentally tested the new scheme and observed increase of CE greater than 4 %. We show many additional
advantages of the new scheme, such as reduction of neutral debris, energy reduction of debris ions, and decrease of out
of band emission. We also discuss debris problems, such as ion sputtering using newly developed MD simulations, ion
mitigation by a newly designed magnetic coil using 3-PIC simulations and tin cleaning experiments.
Laser-produced Sn plasma is an efficient extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light source, however the highest risk in the Sn-based EUV light source is contamination of the first EUV collection mirror caused by debris emitted from the Sn plasma. Minimum mass target is a key term associated with relaxation of the mirror contamination problem. For design of the optimum minimum mass Sn target, opacity effects on the EUV emission from the laser-produced Sn plasma should be considered. Optically thinner plasma produced by shorter laser pulse emits 13.5 nm light more efficiently; 2.0% of conversion efficiency was experimentally attained with drive laser of 2.2 ns in pulse duration, 1.0 × 1011 W/cm2 in intensity, and 1.064 μm in wavelength. Under the optimum laser conditions, the minimum mass required for sufficient EUV emission, which is also affected by the opacity, is equal to the product of the ablation thickness and the required laser spot size. Emission properties of ionized and neutral debris from laser-produced minimum mass Sn plasmas have been measured with particle diagnostics and spectroscopic method. The higher energy ions have higher charge states, and those are emitted from outer region of expanding plasmas. Feasibility of the minimum mass target has been demonstrated to reduce neutral particle generation for the first time. In the proof-of-principle experiments, EUV emission from a punch-out target is found to be comparable to that from a static target, and expansion energy of ion debris was drastically reduced with the use of the punch-out target.
The atomic processes in the Xe and Sn plasmas are investigated. The wavelength of atomic transitions is shown to have a critical effect in reproducing experiments. The wavelengths of resonance lines in our model are improved through detailed comparison with charge specific spectroscopic measurement. Distribution of satellite lines in the presence of the effect of the configuration interaction (CI) is investigated. The spectral profile of Xe and Sn emission, which determines fraction of usable EUV power, is discussed with respect to its dependence on the plasma temperature, density as well as the optical depth.
For EUV lithography the generation of clean and efficient light source and the high-power laser technology are key issues. Theoretical understanding with modeling and simulation of laser-produced EUV source based on detailed experimental database gives us the prediction of optimal plasma conditions and their suitable laser conditions for different target materials (tin, xenon and lithium). With keeping etendue limit the optimal plasma size is determined by an appropriate optical depth which can be controlled by the combination of laser wavelength and pulse width. The most promising candidate is tin (Sn) plasma heated by Nd:YAG laser with a pulse width of a few ns. Therefore the generation technology of clean Sn plasma is a current important subject to be resolved for practical use. For this purpose we have examined the feasibility of laser-driven rocket-like injection of extremely mass-limited Sn or SnO2 (punched-out target) with a speed exceeding 100m/s. Such a mass-limited low-density target is most preferable for substantial reduction of ion energy compared with usual bulk target. For high average power EUV generation we are developing a laser system which is CW laser diode pumped Nd:YAG ceramic laser (master oscillator and power amplifier system) operating at 5-10 kHz repetition rate. The design of practical laser for EUV source is being carried out based on the recent performance of >1 kW output power.
We develop an atomic model for the Xe and Sn plasmas based on the calculated atomic data for the theoretical investigatiion of the laser plasma EUV source. The wavelength and intensity of the emission lines of Xe8-16+ and Sn4-12+ are investigated, and the dominant charge state and emission channels for the radiation at 13.5 nm are identified. The emissivity and opacity at the collisional radiative equilibrium (CRE) are calculated, and their spectral properties are investigated with respect to the accuracy of the wavelength of major emission lines and the effect of satellite lines.
Properties of laser-produced tin (Sn) plasmas were experimentally investigated for application to the Extreme Ultra-Violet (EUV) lithography. Optical thickness of the Sn plasmas affects strongly to EUV energy, efficiency, and spectrum. Opacity structure of uniform Sn plasma was measured with a temporally resolved EUV spectrograph coupled with EUV backlighting technique. Dependence of the EUV conversion efficiency and spectra on Sn target thickness were studied, and the experimental results indicate that control of optical thickness of the Sn plasma is essential to obtain high EUV conversion efficiency and narrow spectrum. The optical thickness is able to be controlled by changing initial density of targets: EUV emission from low-density targets has narrow spectrum peaked at 13.5 nm. The narrowing is attributed to reduction of satellite emission and opacity broadening in the plasma. Furthermore, ion debris emitted from the Sn plasma were measured using a charge collector and a Thomson parabola ion analyzer. Measured ablation thickness of the Sn target is between 30 and 50 nm for the laser intensity of 1.0 x 1011 W/cm2 (1.064 μm of wavelength and 10 ns of pulse duration), and the required minimum thickness for sufficient EUV emission is found to be about 30 nm under the same condition. Thus almost all debris emitted from the 30 nm-thick mass-limited Sn targets are ions, which can be screened out by an electro-magnetic shield. It is found that not only the EUV generation but also ion debris are affected by the Sn target thickness.
Hydrodynamic instabilities are key issues of the physics of inertial confinement fusion (ICF) targets. Among the instabilities, Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) instability is the most important because it gives the largest growth factor in the ICF targets. Perturbations on the laser irradiated surface grow exponentially, but the growth rate is reduced by ablation flow. The growth rate γ is written as Takabe-Betti formula: γ = [kg/(1+kL)]1/2–βkm/pa, where k is wave number of the perturbation, g is acceleration, L is density scale-length, β is a coefficient, m is mass ablation rate per unit surface, and ρa is density at the ablation front. We experimentally measured all the parameters in the formula for polystyrene (CH) targets. Experiments were done on the HIPER laser facility at Institute of Laser Engineering, Osaka University. We found that the β value in the formula is ~ 1.7, which is in good agreements with the theoretical prediction, whereas the β for certain perturbation wavelengths are larger than the prediction. This disagreement between the experiment and the theory is mainly due to the deformation of the cutoff surface, which is created by non-uniform ablation flow from the ablation surface. We also found that high-Z doped plastic targets have multiablation structure, which can reduce the RT growth rate. When a low-Z target with high-Z dopant is irradiated by laser, radiation due to the high-Z dopant creates secondary ablation front deep inside the target. Since, the secondary ablation front is ablated by x-rays, the mass ablation rate is larger than the laser-irradiated ablation surface, that is, further reduction of the RT growth is expected. We measured the RT growth rate of Br-doped polystyrene targets. The experimental results indicate that of the CHBr targets show significantly small growth rate, which is very good news for the design of the ICF targets.
Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) emission from laser produced tin plasma was investigated for 1064, 532 and 266 nm laser wavelengths. The EUV conversion with tin target tends to be high for shorter laser wavelength and is optimized at 4-5x1010 W/cm2 for 1064 and 532 nm. The EUV emission exhibits laser wavelength dependence in terms of angular distribution and structures of emission spectra. It is found that spectra for 532 nm and 266 nm showed spectral dips at around 13.5 nm and these dips are well replicated in computer simulations. Both the angular distribution together with the spectral dips may suggest existence of opaque plasmas surrounding the EUV emission region.
Integrated laser ablation simulation code includes phase transition from liquid to neutral gas to partially ionized plasma, detail laser absorption processes, equation of state, hydrodynamics, and radiation transport, is developed to describe ablation phenomena with phase transition and properties of emission plasmas. For an application of this simulation code, we perform simulations on optimization of laser produced plasmas for extreme ultra violet (EUV) light sources. Because of very low laser intensities (from 1010 W/cm2 to 1011 W/cm2) compared with that in laser fusion cases, it is necessary to include phase transition effects into ablation radiation hydrodynamics code.
A possible design window for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation source has been introduced, which is needed for
its realistic use for next generation lithography. For this goal, we have prepared a set of numerical simulation codes to
estimate the conversion efficiency from laser energy to radiation energy with a wavelength of 13.5 nm with 2 %
bandwidth, which includes atomic structure, opacity and emissibity and hydro dynamics codes. The simulation explains
well the observed conversion efficiency dependence of incident power using GEKKO XII laser system as well as spectral
shapes. It is found that the conversion efficiency into 13.5 nm at 2% bandwidth has its maximum of a few percent at the
laser intensity 1-2 x 1011 W/cm2.
Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) emission from laser produced plasma attracts much attention as a next generation lithography
source. The characterization of EUV emission has been carried out using GEKKO XII laser system. The twelve beams
irradiated tin or tin-oxide coated spherical targets uniformly and dependence of EUV spectra on laser intensity were
obtained with a transmission grating spectrometer and two grazing incidence spectrometers. The EUV Conversion
Efficiency (CE, the ratio of EUV energy at the wavelength of 13.5 nm with 2 % bandwidth to incident laser energy) was
measured using an absolutely calibrated EUV calorimeter. Optimum laser intensities for the highest conversion were
found to be 0.5- 1x1011 W/cm2 with CE of 3 %. The spectroscopic data indicate that shorter wavelength emission
increases at higher laser intensities due to excessive heating beyond optimum temperatures (20- 40 eV). The CE was
almost independent on the initial coating thickness down to 25 nm.
Extremely ultraviolet (EUV) light at around 13.5 nm of wavelength is the most probable candidate of the light source for lithography for semiconductors of next generation. We have been studying about the EUV light source from laser-produced plasma. Detailed understanding of the EUV plasma is required for developments of modeling with simulation codes. Several parameters should be experimentally measured to develop the important issues in the simulation codes. We focused on density profile, properties of EUV emission, and opacity of the laser-produced plasmas. We present re-cent experimental results on these basic properties of the laser-produced EUV plasmas.
Extreme Ultra Violet (EUV) light source produced by laser irradiation emits not only the desired EUV light of
13 ~ 14 nm (about 90 eV) but also shorter x-rays. For example, emissions around 4 ~ 8 nm (about 150 ~ 300 eV)
and 1 ~ 2.5 nm (about 0.5 ~ 1.2 keV) are experimentally observed from Sn and/or SnO2 plasmas. These
emissions are correspond to the N-shell and M-shell transitions, respectively. From the view point of energy
balance and efficiency, these transitions should be suppressed. However, they may, to some extent, contribute
to provide the 5p and 4f levels with electrons which eventually emit the EUV light and enhance the intensity.
To know well about radiative properties and kinematic of the whole plasma, atomic population kinetics and
spectral synthesis codes have been developed. These codes can estimate the atomic population with nl-scheme
and spectral shapes of the EUV light. Radiation hydrodynamic simulation have been proceeding in this analysis.
Finally, the laser intensity dependence of the conversion efficiency calculated by these codes agrees with that of
the corresponding experimental results.
An imploded plasma core is irradiated by a 100 ps laser pulse in a model experiments of fast ignition. Additional laser pulses for drilling and heating are introduced co- axially with the laser beams for the implosion. The preformed imploded core is created by the 12 beams of 0.53 micrometers laser with the total energy of 800 J. The additional heating pluses contain 100 ps pulses separated by 300 ps at the wavelength of 1.06 micrometers with the total energy of 320J. The first pulse is intended for drilling the coronal pulses surrounding the core and the second is for addition heating of the core. We measured the imploded core additionally heated with 100 ps pulses.
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