Recent developments of industrial excimer laser technology

The paper reviews recent developments in high power excimer laser technology driven by industrial requirements. Technological achievements as NovaTubeTM laser tube technology and HaloSafeTM halogen generator technology are discussed. Experimental results are presented for various lasers at the most important excimer wavelengths 351 nm (XeF), 308 nm (XeCl), 248 nm (KrF), 193 nm (ArF) and 157 nm (F2) which have been designed for application in micromachining, thin-film-transistor annealing, marking as well as lithography.