Cymer, Inc.

Asml Netherlands B.v.

Cymber, Inc.

Alexander Igorevich Ershov

Igor Vladimirovich Fomenkov

William N Partlo

Richard L Sandstrom

Daniel J W Brown

Richard M Ness

Palash P Das

Alexander Bykanov

Eckehard D Onkels

Richard C Ujazdowski

Herve A Besaucele

David Wayne Myers

Oleh V Khodykin

Scott T Smith

Norbert R Bowering

Thomas Hofmann

Toshihiko Ishihara

David S Knowles

Robert N Jacques

Xiaojiang Jason Pan

Robert A Bergstedt

William G Hulburd

Silvia De Dea

David C Brandt

Paul C Melcher

Vladimir B Fleurov

John A Rule

Scot T Smith

Richard G Morton

Georgiy Olegovich Vaschenko

R Kyle Webb

Stuart L Anderson

Andrew David LaForge

Norbert Bowering

Yue Ma

German E Rylov

John P Fallon

Klaus Martin Hummler

Matthew Graham

Tom A Watson

John Martin Algots

Jesse D Buck

Dzmitry Labetski

Ivan Lalovic

Oscar Hemberg

Bruno M La Fontaine

Chunguang Xia

Robert G Ozarski

Jacob P Lipcon

Christianus Wilhelmus Johannes Berendsen

David Robert Evans

Henricus Gerardus Tegenbosch

Raymond F Cybulski

Jerzy R Hoffman

John Tom Stewart, Iv

Marc Guy Langlois

Martinus Hendrikus Antonius Leenders

Johannes Hubertus Josephina Moors

Johannes Henricus Wilhelmus Jacobs

Thomas Patrick Duffey

Jan Steven Christiaan Westerlaken

David J Warkentin

Fei Liu

Thomas A Yager

Antonius Theodorus Wilhelmus Kempen

Daniel Anthony Rothweil

Bob Rollinger

Frederick G Erie

Rajasekhar Rao

Gamaralalage G Padmabandu

J Martin Algots

William Peter Van Drent

Alexey Sergeevich Kuznetsov

William G Oldham

Peter Gerardus Jonkers

Joshua Mark Lukens

Marco Giovanardi

Robert Jay Rafac

Tibor Juhasz

Peter Clarke Newman

Walter Dale Gillespie

John T Melchior

Timothy S Dyer

Paul S Thompson

Fedor Trintchouk

Chirag Rajyaguru

I Roger Oliver

Curtis L Rettig

Ronald L Spangler

Robert A Shannon

Rodney D Simmons

Alex P Ivaschenko

Yoshiho Amada

Shahryar Rokni

Jean-Marc Hueber

Theodorus Wilhelmus Driessen

Alexei Lukashev

David L Evans

Paolo Zambon

Holger K Glatzel

An apparatus includes: a tube; a body including: a first body wall and a second body wall; and a support structure including: a first support portion and a second support portion. The first body wall extends in a first direction, the second body wall extends in a second direction that is different than the first direction, a first portion of the tube passes through an opening in the second body wall the first support portion is configured to attach to the first body wall, and a second portion of the tube is configured to pass through the second support portion when the first support portion is attached to the first body wall. An interior of the tube and an interior of the body are configured to receive molten target material, and the target material emits extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light when in a plasma state.

Nozzle apparatus

An extreme ultraviolet radiation (EUV) source, including: a vessel having an inner vessel wall and an intermediate focus (IF) region; an EUV collector disposed inside the vessel, the EUV collector including a reflective surface configured to reflect EUV radiation toward the intermediate focus region, the reflective surface configured to directionally face the IF region of the vessel; a showerhead disposed along at least a portion of the inner vessel wall, the showerhead including a plurality of nozzles configured to introduce gas into the vessel; and one or more exhausts configured to remove gas introduced into the vessel, the one or more exhausts being oriented along at least a portion of the inner vessel wall so that the gas is caused to flow away from the EUV collector.

Guiding device and associated system

A target material supply apparatus includes: first and second fluid flow components () that define an axial flow path when joined together, in which the axial flow path is between a source of target material fluid and a nozzle supply apparatus; and a coupling apparatus configured to seal the joint between the first and second fluid flow components. The coupling apparatus includes a gasket () having an annular shape defining an inner opening that is a part of the axial flow path when seated and sealed. When the gasket is seated between the first and second fluid flow components to thereby seal the joint formed by attaching the first and second fluid flow components, pressure applied to the gasket from target material fluid traversing the gasket inner opening along the axial flow path improves the hermetic function of the seal at the joint. Optionally, a functional insert like e.g. a flow restrictor () can be seated in the gasket.

Robust fluid coupling apparatus

Degradation of the reflectivity of one or more reflective optical elements in a system for generating EUV radiation is reduced by the controlled introduction of a gas into a vacuum chamber containing the optical element. The gas may be added to the flow of another gas such as hydrogen or alternated with the introduction of hydrogen radicals.

Prolonging optical element lifetime in an EUV lithography system

Disclosed is a system for generating EUV radiation in which current flowing through target material in the orificeof a nozzle in a droplet generator is controlled by providing alternate lower impedance paths for the current and/or by limiting a high frequency component of a drive signal applied to the droplet generator.

Apparatus and method for extending target material delivery system lifetime

Method of and apparatus for repairing an optical element disposed in a vacuum chamber while the optical element is in the vacuum chamber. An exposed surface of the optical element is exposed to an ion flux generated by an ion source to remove at least some areas of the surface that have been damaged by exposure to the environment within the vacuum chamber. The method and apparatus are especially applicable to repair multilayer mirrors serving as collectors in systems for generating EUV light for use in semiconductor photolithography.

Method of and apparatus for in-situ repair of reflective optic

Degradation of the reflectivity of one or more reflective optical elements in a system (SO) for generating EUV radiation is reduced by the controlled introduction of a gas into a vacuum chamber () containing the optical element. The gas may be added to the flow of another gas such as hydrogen or alternated with the introduction of hydrogen radicals.

A device and method are disclosed in which a source material delivery system can be reoriented so that the path of the source material is not directly towards an irradiation region in operating conditions in which the path is expected to be unpredictable. A shroud provided to protect the flow of source material from being disrupted is segmented so with one part of the shroud being movable with respect to another part of the shroud so that the movable part can avoid interfering with the path of the source material when it is not directly towards the irradiation region.

Apparatus for and method of source material delivery in a laser produced plasma EUV light source

A reflective EUV optic such as a collector mirror configured as an array of facets that are spaced apart to form respective gaps between adjacent facets. The gaps are used as inlets for gas flow across one of the facets such that flow is introduced parallel to the optic surface. The facets can be made with offsets such that loss of reflective area of the EUV optic can be minimized. The gas facilitates removal of target material from the surface of the facets.

Faceted EUV optical element

Apparatus for and method of cleaning an electrically conductive surface of an optical element in a system for generating extreme ultraviolet radiation in which electrically conductive surface is used as an electrode for generating a plasma which cleans the surface.

Apparatus for and method of active cleaning of EUV optic with RF plasma field

Disclosed is an EUV system in which a source control loop is established to maintain and optimize debris flux while not unduly affecting optimum EUV generation conditions. One or more temperature sensors, e.g., thermocouples may be installed in the vessel to measure respective local gas temperatures. The respective local temperature as measured by the one or more thermocouples can be used as one or more inputs to the source control loop. The source control loop may then adjust the laser targeting to permit optimization of debris generation and deposition while not affecting EUV production, thus extending the lifetime of the source and its collector.

Method of controlling debris in an EUV light source

Optical element protection systems for protecting optical elements and particularly reflective optical elements from degradation of their optical properties in harsh environments such as the environment inside a vacuum chamber of an EUV light source. The systems include the uses of combinations of materials in various layers where the materials are chosen and the layers are configured and arranged to extend the lifetime of the optical element without compromising its optical properties.

Harsh environment optical element protection

Growing community of inventors

San Diego, CA, United States of America

Alexander Igorevich Ershov