Ushio Denki Kabushiki Kaisha

Akihisa Nagano

Yusuke Teramoto

Hideyuki Urakami

Gota Niimi

Daiki Yamatani

Disclosed herein a high temperature plasma raw material supply apparatus capable of appropriately supplying high temperature plasma raw materials in which impurities are suppressed to a reservoir reserving high temperature plasma raw material in a liquid state. A tin filling mechanism includes a raw material reservoir unit rotatably arranged and configured to reserve a plurality of high temperature plasma raw materials in a solid state; a supply nozzle configured to supply the high temperature plasma raw materials to an outside of the raw material reservoir unit; a load lock unit provided between a housing and a chamber; and a supply path unit configured to guide the high temperature plasma raw materials supplied from the supply nozzle to the load lock unit. At least a part of the supply path unit is provided with a hole formed smaller than the high temperature plasma raw material in the solid state.

High-temperature plasma raw material supply apparatus and extreme ultra violet light source apparatus

Disclosed herein a liquid level detection device capable of appropriately detecting a liquid level of a high temperature plasma raw material in a reservoir for storing the high temperature plasma raw material. The liquid level detection device includes: an upper limit level sensor configured to detect that the liquid level of the tin is elevated from downward to reach an upper limit level; and a refilling level sensor configured to detect that the liquid level of the tin is lowered from upward to reach a refilling level or a lower limit level. A detection responsiveness of the liquid level of the upper limit level sensor is higher than the refilling level sensor or the lower limit level sensor, and a detectability of the liquid level of the refilling level sensor or the lower limit level sensor is higher than the upper limit level sensor.

Liquid level detection device, method of detecting liquid level, high temperature plasma raw material supply device and extreme ultra violet light source device

An extreme ultraviolet light source device includes a pair of disk-shaped discharge electrodes which face each other with their peripheral portions being spaced from each other, a pulsed power supply unit for supplying pulsed power to the discharge electrodes, a raw material supply unit for supplying onto the discharge electrodes raw materials that emit extreme ultraviolet light, and an energy beam irradiation unit for irradiating the raw materials on curved surfaces of the discharge electrodes with an energy beam to vaporize the raw materials. At least one of the paired discharge electrodes has a tapered surface at a peripheral portion of at least one of two circular surfaces thereof. The tapered surface inclines radially outward such that the thickness of the discharge electrode decreases in the radially outward direction.

Discharge electrodes and light source device

An extreme ultraviolet light source device includes two discharge electrodes, two plasma raw material containers associated with the discharge electrodes, respectively, and two supply units associated with the containers, respectively. The supply units supply the plasma raw materials from the containers onto the discharge electrodes upon rotations of the discharge electrodes. The light source device also includes an energy beam irradiating unit configured to irradiate the plasma raw material on a circumferential surface of one of the discharge electrodes with an energy beam to vaporize the plasma raw material such that electric discharge takes place between the discharge electrodes to generate the plasma. The light source device also includes two film thickness regulating units associated with the discharge electrodes, respectively. Each film thickness regulating unit is configured to regulate a thickness of the plasma raw material on the circumferential surface of the associated discharge electrode to a predetermined film thickness.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Akihisa Nagano