Koninklijke Philips Corporation N.v.

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft Zur Foerderung Der Angewandten Forschung E.V.

Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.v.

Philips Intellectual Property & Standards Gmbh

Peter Zink

Christof Metzmacher

Guenther Hans Derra

Achim Weber

Rolf Theo Anton Apetz

Thomas Kruecken

Willi Neff

Dominik Marcel Vaudrevange

Gunther Hans Derra

Jakob Willi Neff

Oliver Rosier

Joseph Robert Rene Pankert

Günther Hans Derra

The present invention relates to an optical device and a method of in situ treating an optical component () reflecting EUV and/or soft X-ray radiation in said optical device, said optical component () being arranged in a vacuum chamber () of said optical device and comprising one or several reflecting surfaces () having a top layer of one or several surface materials. In the method, a source () of said one or several surface materials is provided in said chamber () of said optical device and surface material from said source () is deposited on said one or several reflecting surfaces () during operation and/or during operation-pauses of said optical device in order to cover or substitute deposited contaminant material and/or to compensate for ablated surface material.

Optical device and method of in situ treating an EUV optical component to enhance a reduced reflectivity

A method of in situ treating an optical component reflecting EUV and/or soft X-ray radiation in an optical device includes providing at least one source of one or several surface materials in a vacuum chamber of the optical device where the optical component is arranged. The optical component includes one or several reflecting surfaces having a top layer of one or several surface materials. The method includes providing a source of the one or several surface materials in the chamber, and depositing surface material from the source on the one or several reflecting surfaces during operation and/or during operation-pauses of the optical device in order to cover or substitute deposited contaminant material and/or to compensate for ablated surface material.

A method of cleaning at least one optical component of at least one irradiation device having at least one radiation source in a vacuum chamber. The source generates in particular extreme ultraviolet and/or soft X-ray radiation whose rays are guided via the optical component onto a workpiece to be treated, during which the optical component is at least partly polluted because of an inorganic substance introduced by the radiation source. A least one reaction partner that is substantially translucent or transparent to the rays is introduced via a feeder device in dependence on the prevailing reaction conditions. The reaction partner reacts chemically with the polluting deposits so as to remove them from the optical component.

Method and device for cleaning at least one optical component

The present invention relates to a method and device for generating optical radiation, in particular EUV radiation or soft x-rays, by means of an electrically operated discharge. A plasma () is ignited in a gaseous medium between at least two electrodes (), wherein said gaseous medium is produced at least partly from a liquid material () which is applied to a surface moving in the discharge space and is at least partially evaporated by one or several pulsed energy beams. In the proposed method and device the pulses () of said pulsed energy beams are directed to at least two different lateral locations with respect to a moving direction of said surface. With this measure, the radiation emission volume is expanded, less sensitive to spatial fluctuations and can be adapted better to the requirements of optical systems of any applications. Furthermore, the optical output power can be increased by this measure.

Method and device for generating EUV radiation or soft X-rays

The present invention relates to a method of increasing the operation lifetime of an optical collector unit ()) arranged in an irradiation device. The irradiation device at least comprises a radiation source () emitting optical radiation, in particular extreme ultraviolet radiation or soft X-rays, said radiation source () generating substances and/or particles colliding with optical surfaces of the optical collector unit (), which forms a radiation beam of a portion of said radiation emitted by said radiation source (), and a debris mitigation unit () arranged between the radiation source () and said optical collector unit (). In the proposed method the optical collector unit () is moved during operation and/or in operation pauses of the device such that deposits or degradation effects caused by collision of said substances and/or particles with said optical surfaces of the collector unit () are distributed more homogeneously on said optical surfaces than without such a movement. With the method and the corresponding device the optical surfaces of the collection unit are degraded more homogeneously resulting in an increased lifetime of the collector unit.

Method of increasing the operation lifetime of a collector optics arranged in an irradiation device

The present invention relates to a method of cleaning and after treatment of optical surfaces in an irradiation unit, said irradiation unit comprising a radiation source () emitting EUV-radiation and/or soft X-rays, a first volume () following said radiation source () and containing first optical components () with said optical surfaces, and a second volume () following said first volume () and containing second optical components (). The method comprises at least one cleaning step in which a first gas or gas mixture is brought into contact with said optical surfaces, thereby forming volatile compounds with contaminations deposited on said optical surfaces, wherein said compounds are pumped out of the first volume () together with the first gas or gas mixture. In an after treatment step following said cleaning step the radiation source () is operated once or several times in order to release residues of the cleaning step from the optical surfaces by irradiating said optical surfaces with said EUV-radiation or soft X-rays while the first volume () is separated from the second volume (), wherein said released residues are pumped out of the first volume (). With this method an improved cleaning result is achieved.

Method of cleaning and after treatment of optical surfaces in an irradiation unit

The present invention provides a method of cleaning optical surfaces in an irradiation unit in order to remove contaminations deposited on said optical surfaces. The method includes a cleaning step in which a first gas or gas mixture is brought into contact with said optical surfaces thereby forming a volatile compound with a first portion of said contaminations. In an operation pause of the irradiation unit prior to the cleaning step, a pretreatment step is performed, in which a second gas or gas mixture is brought into contact with said optical surfaces. Said second gas or gas mixture is selected to react with a second portion of said contaminations different from said first portion to form a reaction product, which is able to form a volatile compound with said first gas or gas mixture.

Method of cleaning optical surfaces of an irradiation unit in a two-step process

A method of generating in particular EUV radiation () and/or soft X-ray radiation () emitted by a plasma () is described. The plasma () is formed by an operating gas () in a discharge space () which comprises at least one radiation emission window () and an electrode system with at least one anode () and at least one cathode (). This electrode system transmits electrical energy to the plasma () by means of charge carriers () introduced into the discharge space (). It is suggested for obtaining a reliable ignition of the plasma () at high repetition frequencies that a radiation () generated by at least one radiation source () is introduced into the discharge space () for making available the discharge carriers ().

Method and device for generating EUV radiation and/or soft X-ray radiation

A cleaning arrangement for an optical system and in particular for an optical system designed for EUV radiation. The cleaning arrangement has a gas inlet () for a reactive gas (). Contaminants () that have deposited on the surface of optical elements () are detached by the reactive gas. Also provided are getter surfaces () that are preferably arranged opposite the surfaces to be clean and by which the contaminants detached from these surfaces are absorbed. This absorption may take place as a result of condensation on the getter surface and also by chemical reaction.

Optical system having a cleaning arrangement

A method for generating extreme ultraviolet and/or soft X-ray radiation by a plasma that can be generated through irradiation of a material. In order to obtain a reduction in the contamination of an optical illumination system as well as an instantaneous optimization of the power of a radiation source, at least a quantity of the material is controlled by a blocking device.

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Aachen, Germany

Peter Zink