Cymer, Inc.

Asml Netherlands B.v.

Daylight Solutions, Inc.

John Martin Algots

Igor Vladimirovich Fomenkov

Richard L Sandstrom

William N Partlo

Armen Kroyan

Ronald L Spangler

Palash P Das

Robert N Jacques

Ivan Lalovic

Xiaojiang Jason Pan

John A Rule

Jacob P Lipcon

Frederick G Erie

Alexander Igorevich Ershov

Richard C Ujazdowski

Jesse D Buck

Stuart L Anderson

Raymond F Cybulski

Gamaralalage G Padmabandu

Frederick A Palenschat

Richard G Morton

Richard M Ness

Scott T Smith

Thomas A Yager

Paul C Melcher

Peter Michael Baumgart

Vladimir B Fleurov

Chirag Rajyaguru

Curtis L Rettig

Robert A Shannon

Shahryar Rokni

Robert B Saethre

George J Everage

Khurshid Ahmed

Efrain Figueroa

David M Johns

Clay C Titus

Daniel J W Brown

Peter Clarke Newman

Thomas Patrick Duffey

Tom A Watson

R Kyle Webb

David J Warkentin

Norbert R Bowering

Michael B Pushkarsky

Walter Dale Gillespie

Thomas D Steiger

John T Melchior

Robert P Akins

William G Hulburd

James K Howey

Alex P Ivaschenko

John R Craig

Holger K Glatzel

Paolo Zambon

William N Partio

Gerry M Blumenstock

Vladimir A Kulgeyko

Jun Song

Leonard Lublin

Alexander Dromaretsky

Abhiram Govindaraju

Mark Branham

Christian J Wittak

Tetsuya Ishikawa

Joshua C Brown

Elizabeth Marsh

Tae H Chung

Dennis W Cobb

Sunjay Phatak

Michael S Lysik

Christopher A Marchi

Satino Marrone

John Dunlop

Firas F Putris

Matthew Ball

Jerome A Emilo

Alexander N Bykanov

Oscar Hemberg

Steering system for a droplet generator in a EUV system. The steering system permits controlled positioning of a droplet release point of the droplet generator. A movable member holding the droplet generator is coupled to stationary elements of the EUV system through a coupling system having a first subsystem that constrains lateral translation of the movable member, and a second subsystem that controls a relative inclination of the movable member. The first and second subsystems preferably include one or a combination of flexures that permit highly precise and repeatable positioning.

Droplet generator steering system

An EUV light source target material handling system is disclosed which includes a target material dispenser and a target material repository in which solid target material in the target material repository is converted to target material in liquid form through the use of inductive heating.

Apparatus for and method of supplying target material

A laser assembly () that generates a beam () includes (i) a gain medium () that generates the beam () when electrical power is directed to the gain medium (); (ii) a grating () positioned in a path of the beam (); (iii) a grating arm () that retains the grating (); and (iv) a mover assembly () that moves the grating arm () about a pivot axis (). The mover assembly () includes a coarse mover () that makes large scale movements to the grating arm (), and a fine mover () that makes fine movements to the grating arm (). With this design, the mover assembly () can quickly and accurately move the grating () over a relatively large range.

Rapidly tunable laser source assembly with long stroke grating mover

The bandwidth selection mechanism includes a first actuator mounted on a second face of a dispersive optical element, the second face being opposite from a reflective face, the first actuator having a first end coupled to a first end block and a second end coupled to a second end block, the first actuator being operative to apply equal and opposite forces to the first end block and the second end block to bend the body of the dispersive optical element along the longitudinal axis of the body and in a first direction normal to the reflective face of the dispersive optical element. The bandwidth selection mechanism also includes a second actuator being operative to apply equal and opposite forces to bend the body along the longitudinal axis of the body, in a second direction perpendicular to the reflective face of the dispersive optical element.

System method and apparatus for selecting and controlling light source bandwidth

An integrated circuit lithography technique called spectral engineering by Applicants, for bandwidth control of an electric discharge laser. In a preferred process, a computer model is used to model lithographic parameters to determine a desired laser spectrum needed to produce a desired lithographic result. A fast responding tuning mechanism is then used to adjust center wavelength of laser pulses in a burst of pulses to achieve an integrated spectrum for the burst of pulses approximating the desired laser spectrum. The laser beam bandwidth is controlled to produce an effective beam spectrum having at least two spectral peaks in order to produce improved pattern resolution in photo resist film. Line narrowing equipment is provided having at least one piezoelectric drive and a fast bandwidth detection control system having a time response of less than about 2.0 millisecond. In a preferred embodiment, a wavelength tuning mirror is dithered at dither rates of more than 500 dithers per second in phase with the repetition rate of the laser. In one case, the piezoelectric drive was driven with a square wave signal and in a second case it was driven with a sine wave signal. In another embodiment, the maximum displacement was matched on a one-to-one basis with the laser pulses in order to produce a desired average spectrum with two peaks for a series of laser pulses. Other preferred embodiments utilize three separate wavelength tuning positions producing a spectrum with three separate peaks.

Laser spectral engineering for lithographic process

A high power narrow band, high repetition rate laser light source optical improvement apparatus and methods are disclosed with a fast angularly positionable mirror having a mirror mounting frame, a reflective optic with a coefficient different from that of the mounting frame, at least one flexure mount fromed in the mounting frame that is flexible having flexure arm attached the flexture to the mounting frame. The apparatus may include a flexure force mechanism having an elongated rod. The force mechanism may pre-stress the flexure. The mirror maybe a grating which includes a substrate with metallic layer formed on the substrate, and a protective coating made of silica formed on the reflective metallic layer. The grating maybe actively tuned using an electro- or magneto-sensitive element. Oxides of the metal in the reflective layer may be removed by a hydrogen purge system exposed to deep ultraviolet radiation.

DUV light source optical element improvements

A method and apparatus for debris removal from a reflecting surface of an EUV collector in an EUV light source is disclosed which may comprise the reflecting surface comprises a first material and the debris comprises a second material and/or compounds of the second material, the system and method may comprise a controlled sputtering ion source which may comprise a gas comprising the atoms of the sputtering ion material; and a stimulating mechanism exciting the atoms of the sputtering ion material into an ionized state, the ionized state being selected to have a distribution around a selected energy peak that has a high probability of sputtering the second material and a very low probability of sputtering the first material. The stimulating mechanism may comprise an RF or microwave induction mechanism.

Collector for EUV light source

An EUV light source apparatus and method are disclosed, which may comprise a pulsed laser providing laser pulses at a selected pulse repetition rate focused at a desired target ignition site; a target formation system providing discrete targets at a selected interval coordinated with the laser pulse repetition rate; a target steering system intermediate the target formation system and the desired target ignition site; and a target tracking system providing information about the movement of target between the target formation system and the target steering system, enabling the target steering system to direct the target to the desired target ignition site. The target tracking system may provide information enabling the creation of a laser firing control signal, and may comprise a droplet detector comprising a collimated light source directed to intersect a point on a projected delivery path of the target, having a respective oppositely disposed light detector detecting the passage of the target through the respective point, or a detector comprising a linear array of a plurality of photo-sensitive elements aligned to a coordinate axis, the light from the light source intersecting a projected delivery path of the target, at least one of the which may comprise a plane-intercept detection device. The droplet detectors may comprise a plurality of droplet detectors each operating at a different light frequency, or a camera having a field of view and a two dimensional array of pixels imaging the field of view. The apparatus and method may comprise an electrostatic plasma containment apparatus providing an electric plasma confinement field at or near a target ignition site at the time of ignition, with the target tracking system providing a signal enabling control of the electrostatic plasma containment apparatus. The apparatus and method may comprise a vessel having and intermediate wall with a low pressure trap allowing passage of EUV light and maintaining a differential pressure across the low pressure trap. The apparatus and method may comprise a magnetic plasma confinement mechanism creating a magnetic field in the vicinity of the target ignition site to confine the plasma to the target ignition site, which may be pulsed and may be controlled using outputs from the target tracking system.

High repetition rate laser produced plasma EUV light source

A technique for bandwidth control of an electric discharge laser. Line narrowing equipment is provided having at least one piezoelectric drive and a fast bandwidth detection means and a bandwidth control having a time response of less than about 1.0 millisecond. In a preferred embodiment wavelength tuning mirror is dithered at dither rates of more than 500 dithers per second within a very narrow range of pivot angles to cause a dither in nominal wavelength values to produce a desired effective bandwidth of series of laser pulses.

Bandwidth control technique for a laser

The present invention provides long life optics for a modular, high repetition rate, ultraviolet gas discharge laser systems producing a high repetition rate high power output beam. The invention includes solutions to a surface damage problem discovered by Applicants on CaFoptics located in high pulse intensity sections of the output beam of prototype laser systems. Embodiments include an enclosed and purged beam path with beam pointing control for beam delivery of billions of output laser pulses. Optical components and modules described herein are capable of controlling ultraviolet laser output pulses with wavelength less than 200 nm with average output pulse intensities greater than 1.75&#xd7;10Watts/cmand with peak intensity or greater 3.5&#xd7;10Watts/cmfor many billions of pulses as compared to prior art components and modules which failed after only a few minutes in these pulse intensities. Techniques and components are disclosed for minimizing the potential for optical damage and for reducing the pulse energy density to less than 100&#xd7;10J/cm. Important improvements described in this specification have been grouped into the following subject matter categories: (1) Solution to CaFsurface damage discovered by Applicants, (2) description of a high power ArF MOPA laser system, (3) description of beam delivery units, (4) polarization considerations (5) a high speed water-cooled auto shutter energy detector module and (6) other improvements.

High power deep ultraviolet laser with long life optics

The present invention provides an excimer laser capable of producing a high quality pulsed laser beam at pulse rates of about 4,000 Hz at pulse energies of about 5 mJ or greater. A preferred embodiment is an ArF excimer laser specifically designed as a light source for integrated circuit lithography. An improved wavemeter with special software monitors output beam parameters and controls a very fast PZT driven tuning mirror and the pulse power charging voltage to maintain wavelength and pulse energy within desired limits. In a preferred embodiment two fan motors drive a single tangential fan which provides sufficient gas flow to clear discharge debris from the discharge region during the approximately 0.25 milliseconds between pulses.

Four KHz gas discharge laser system

Growing community of inventors

San Diego, CA, United States of America

John Martin Algots