Koninklijke Philips Corporation N.V.

Fraunhofer-gesellschaft Zur Foerderung Der Angewandten Forschung E.v.

Philips Corporate Intellectual Property Gmbh

Stefan Seiwart

Willi Neff

Klaus Bergmann

Joseph Rr Pankert

Michael Löken

Jürgen Klein

A method for generating extreme ultraviolet radiation and soft x-ray radiation with a gas discharge operated on the left branch of the Paschen curve, in particular, for EUV lithography, wherein a discharge chamber () of a predetermined gas pressure and two electrodes () are used, wherein the electrodes have an opening (), respectively, positioned on the same symmetry axis () and, in the course of a voltage increase () upon reaching a predetermined ignition voltage (U), generate a plasma () located in the area between their openings (), which plasma is a source of the radiation (') to be generated,wherein an ignition of the plasma () is realized by affecting the gas pressure and/or by triggering,and wherein, with the ignition of the plasma (), an energy storage device supplies by means of the electrodes () stored energy into the plasma (), characterized in that the ignition of the plasma () is realized by using a predetermined ignition delay ().

Method and device for producing extreme ultraviolet radiation and soft x-ray radiation

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Aachen, Germany

Stefan Seiwart