Performance and scaling of a dense plasma focus light source for EUV lithography

Igor V. Fomenkov; Richard M. Ness; Ian Roger Oliver; Stephan T. Melnychuk; Oleh V. Khodykin; Norbert R. Bowering; Curtis L. Rettig; Jerzy R. Hoffman

doi:10.1117/12.505303

16 June 2003 Performance and scaling of a dense plasma focus light source for EUV lithography

Igor V. Fomenkov, Richard M. Ness, Ian Roger Oliver, Stephan T. Melnychuk, Oleh V. Khodykin, Norbert R. Bowering, Curtis L. Rettig, Jerzy R. Hoffman

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 5037, Emerging Lithographic Technologies VII; (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.505303
Event: Microlithography 2003, 2003, Santa Clara, California, United States

Abstract

A commercially viable light source for EUV lithography has to meet the large set of requirements of a High Volume Manufacturing (HVM) lithography tool. High optical output power, high-repetition rate, long component lifetime, good source stability, and low debris generation are among the most important parameters. The EUV source, being developed at Cymer, Inc. is a discharge produced plasma source in a dense plasma focus (DPF) configuration. Promising results with Xe as a working gas were demonstrated earlier. To scale the DPF parameters to levels required for HVM our efforts are concentrated on the following areas: (1) thermal engineering of the electrodes utilizing direct water cooling techniques; (2) development of improved pulsed power systems for > 4 kHz operation; (3) study of erosion mechanisms for plasma facing components; (4) development of efficient debris mitigation techniques and debris shields; (5) studies of plasma generation and evolution with emphasis on improving conversion efficiency and source stability; (6) development of EUV metrology techniques and instrumentation for measurements of source size; and (7) development of an optimized collector optic matched to our source parameters. In this paper, we will present results from each of these key areas. The total in-band EUV output energy now approaches 60 mJ/pulse into 2πsr and the conversion efficiency has been increased to near 0.5 %. Routine operation at 4 kHz in burst-mode, and continuous operation at 1 kHz has been demonstrated. Improved at-wavelength source metrology now allows a determination of EUV source size utilizing imaging, and monitoring of key features of the spectrum on a pulse-to-pulse basis. With effective suppression of debris generated from the anode by several orders of magnitude, UV/EUV-catalyzed carbon growth now presents the limit in producing a clean source.

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Igor V. Fomenkov, Richard M. Ness, Ian Roger Oliver, Stephan T. Melnychuk, Oleh V. Khodykin, Norbert R. Bowering, Curtis L. Rettig, and Jerzy R. Hoffman "Performance and scaling of a dense plasma focus light source for EUV lithography", Proc. SPIE 5037, Emerging Lithographic Technologies VII, (16 June 2003); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.505303

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