Paper
14 September 2001 Ultrahigh-repetition-rate ArF excimer laser with long pulse duration for 193-nm lithography
Kouji Kakizaki, Takashi Matsunaga, Yoichi Sasaki, Toyoharu Inoue, Satoshi Tanaka, Akifumi Tada, Hiroaki Taniguchi, Motohiro Arai, Tatsushi Igarashi
Author Affiliations +
Abstract
High-repetition-rate ArF excimer lasers are needed to enable high throughput and energy-dose stability in 193-nm scanner systems. Last year we described a 4-kHz ArF excimer laser with long pulse duration, which can narrow the spectral bandwidth by increasing the number of round trips and reduce optical damage from low-peak power. The design of the 4-kHz ArF excimer laser has been improved for mass production. Operating rates exceeding 4 kHz are needed to optimize lasers for next-generation technologies that can enable high NA and the development of high-throughput scanners. We have analyzed the possibilities of achieving repetition rates higher than 4 kHz. The discharge width was reduced by about 25 % with a variation of the electric field at the discharge section, and the gas flow and gas-mixture conditions were improved. As a result, we obtained the following performance characteristics: 42-W average power, 3.5 % pulse-to-pulse energy stability of sigma, and a 44-ns integral-square pulse width at 6 kHz with a bandwidth of below 0.45 pm in FWHM. We concluded that developing 6-kHz ArF excimer lasers for next-generation 193-nm lithography is feasible.
© (2001) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Kouji Kakizaki, Takashi Matsunaga, Yoichi Sasaki, Toyoharu Inoue, Satoshi Tanaka, Akifumi Tada, Hiroaki Taniguchi, Motohiro Arai, and Tatsushi Igarashi "Ultrahigh-repetition-rate ArF excimer laser with long pulse duration for 193-nm lithography", Proc. SPIE 4346, Optical Microlithography XIV, (14 September 2001); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.435656
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KEYWORDS
Excimer lasers

Argon

Lithography

Electrodes

Pulsed laser operation

Laser development

Laser stabilization

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