Comparative study on emission characteristics of extreme ultraviolet radiation from CO2 and Nd:YAG laser-produced tin plasmas

The direct comparison of the emission characteristics of an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light between the CO2 and the Nd:YAG laser-produced plasmas (LPP) with a solid tin target is reported. In the case of the Nd:YAG LPP, the conversion efficiency (C.E.) peaked at a laser intensity of about 5×1010W∕cm2 and decreased at higher laser intensity. In the case of the CO2 LPP, the C.E. monotonically increased up to 2×1010W∕cm2, where the C.E. is comparable to the maximum C.E. of the Nd:YAG LPP. The spectral efficiency of the Nd:YAG LPP within the 2% bandwidth around 13.5 nm decreased with laser intensity. The corresponding spectral efficiency of the CO2 LPP was almost constant. This observation indicates the potential of the CO2 laser-produced LPP as the EUV light source for the EUV lithographic systems.

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