Xtreme Technologies Gmbh

Diethard Kloepfel

Guido Hergenhan

Kai Gaebel

Elma Weber

Todd Byrnes

Mike Möritz

The invention is directed to an arrangement for generating EUV radiation based on a hot plasma using liquid emitter material. The object of the invention is to find a novel possibility for generating EUV radiation which allows a continuous supply of liquid, particularly metal, emitter material () under a defined high pressure without having to interrupt the continuous supply of emitter material () when consumed emitter material () must be replenished. According to the invention, this object is met in that the emitter material supply unit () has at least a first pressure vessel () and a second pressure vessel () between the reservoir vessel () and the injection device () for generating a high emitter material pressure for the injection unit (), the pressure vessels () are acted upon by a high-pressure gas system () with a gas pressure () in the megapascal range, and the emitter material supply unit () has means for switching the high-pressure gas system () from one pressure vessel () to the other pressure vessel () and for correspondingly alternately switching the injection unit () to the constant emitter material pressure of the respective pressure vessel () being pressurized, wherein at least one of the pressure vessels () can be refilled during the continuous operation of droplet generation and plasma generation.

Arrangement for the continuous generation of liquid tin as emitter material in EUV radiation sources

The invention is directed to an arrangement for generating extreme ultraviolet radiation from a plasma generated by an energy beam with high conversion efficiency, particularly for application in radiation sources for EUV lithography. It is the object of the invention to find a novel possibility for generating EUV radiation by means of a plasma induced by an energy beam that permits a more efficient conversion of the energy radiation into EUV radiation in the wavelength region of 13.5 nm and ensures a long lifetime of the optical components and the injection device. According to the invention, this object is met by using a mixture of particles with a carrier gas and the target feed device has a gas liquefaction chamber, wherein the target material is supplied to the injection unit as a mixture of solid particles in liquefied carrier gas, and a droplet generator is provided for generating a defined droplet size and series of droplets, wherein means which are controllable in a frequency-dependent manner and which are triggered by the pulse frequency of the energy beam are connected to the injection unit for the series of droplets.

Arrangement for generating extreme ultraviolet radiation from a plasma generated by an energy beam with high conversion efficiency and minimum contamination

The invention is directed to an arrangement for providing a reproducible target flow for the energy beam-induced generation of short-wavelength radiation. It is the object of the invention to find a novel possibility for providing a reproducibly supplied target flow for the generation of a plasma that emits short-wavelength radiation which ensures a high directional stability of the target flow over a large number of individual plasma generation process for any target materials under given process conditions. According to the invention, this object is met in that a nozzle protection device is provided in the interaction chamber between the target nozzle and the interaction point for the generation of the plasma, and the nozzle protection device contains a gas pressure chamber which has an aperture along the target path for unobstructed passage of the target flow and which is filled with a buffer gas that is maintained at a pressure of some 10 mbar.

Arrangement for providing a reproducible target flow for the energy beam-induced generation of short-wavelength electromagnetic radiation

The invention is directed to an arrangement for metering target material for the generation of short-wavelength electromagnetic radiation from an energy beam induced plasma, in particular X radiation and EUV radiation. The object of the invention is to find a novel possibility for metering target material for the generation of short-wavelength electromagnetic radiation from an energy beam induced plasma which makes it possible to provide reproducibly supplied mass-limited targets in such a way that only the amount of target material for plasma generation that can be effectively converted to radiating plasma in the desired wavelength region arrives in the interaction chamber and, therefore, debris generation and the gas burden in the interaction chamber are minimized. This object is met, according to the invention, in that an injection device is provided for target generation, wherein means are arranged upstream of the nozzle in a nozzle chamber for a defined, temporary pressure increase in order to introduce an individual target into the interaction chamber exclusively when required, and an antechamber is arranged around the nozzle for generating a quasistatic pressure upstream of the interaction chamber, wherein an equilibrium pressure in the antechamber prevents the escape of target material as long as there is no pressure increase in the nozzle chamber.

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Kleinhelmsdorf, Germany

Diethard Kloepfel