Koichi Kasuya, S. Ozawa, T. Norimatsu, H. Azechi, K. Mima, S. Nakai, S. Suzuki, B. Budner, W. Mroz, N. Kasuya, W. Kasuya, Kei. Kasuya, Y. Izawa, H. Furukawa, Y. Shimada, T. Yamanaka, M. Nakai, K. Nagai, K. Yokoyama, K. Ezato, M. Enoeda, M. Akiba, A. Prokopiuk
The most recent fundamental research results to investigate surface erosions of nuclear fusion candidate
chamber materials are described in short. We used a commercial surface profiler with a red semiconductor
laser. Various material surfaces ablated and eroded by a rather short pulse electron beam and a short pulse
ArF laser light were measured with this surface profiler and the associated three-dimensional analysis
software. Threshold input levels for various sample surface erosions with electron and laser beams were
clearly decided for the first time with our new method in this article. After the above fundamental results were
gathered, the methods to inspect inner surface conditions of nuclear fusion reactor chambers were newly
proposed with various kinds of laser displacement sensors. The first one is the erosion monitor with the above
profiler, and the second one is the laser induced ultrasonic wave detection method to inspect deeper surface
layers than the first one.
In the present paper, we overview fabrication methods to produce density-controlled tin and xenon targets for generating
extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light. The target can be classified as a mass-limited target. In the case of tin, EUV was
relatively monochromatic, and its conversion efficiency was higher than bulk tin. Using the nano-template method, the
cellular foam size was controlled by the template size. The density was 0.5 ~1.5 g/cm3. In the case of the 0.5 g/cm3
foam, its morphology was controlled by changing the ethanol content of the precursor tin solution. The morphology
difference was useful to control the angular distribution of EUV radiation. SnO2 nanofiber, which is oriented low-density
material, was fabricated continuously using a electrospinning method. The width and the shape of the fiber were
controlled by optimizing precursor solution. A transparent film with tin and SnO2 elliptic spheres were prepared using
liquid crystalline cellulose derivative. Low density xenon was prepared from liquid xenon using a swirl atomizer to
produce a density of 0.2 g/cm3.
We propose a new scheme for high conversion efficiency from laser energy to 13.5 nm extreme ultra violet emission
within 2 % band width, a double pulse laser irradiation scheme with a tin droplet target. We consider two-color lasers, a
Nd:YAG laser with 1.06 µm in wavelength as a prepulse and a carbon dioxide laser with 10.6 µm in wavelength for a
main pulse. We show the possibility of obtaining a CE of 5 - 7 % using a benchmarked radiation hydro code. We have
experimentally tested the new scheme and observed increase of CE greater than 4 %. We show many additional
advantages of the new scheme, such as reduction of neutral debris, energy reduction of debris ions, and decrease of out
of band emission. We also discuss debris problems, such as ion sputtering using newly developed MD simulations, ion
mitigation by a newly designed magnetic coil using 3-PIC simulations and tin cleaning experiments.
Laser-produced Sn plasma is an efficient extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light source, however the highest risk in the Sn-based EUV light source is contamination of the first EUV collection mirror caused by debris emitted from the Sn plasma. Minimum mass target is a key term associated with relaxation of the mirror contamination problem. For design of the optimum minimum mass Sn target, opacity effects on the EUV emission from the laser-produced Sn plasma should be considered. Optically thinner plasma produced by shorter laser pulse emits 13.5 nm light more efficiently; 2.0% of conversion efficiency was experimentally attained with drive laser of 2.2 ns in pulse duration, 1.0 × 1011 W/cm2 in intensity, and 1.064 μm in wavelength. Under the optimum laser conditions, the minimum mass required for sufficient EUV emission, which is also affected by the opacity, is equal to the product of the ablation thickness and the required laser spot size. Emission properties of ionized and neutral debris from laser-produced minimum mass Sn plasmas have been measured with particle diagnostics and spectroscopic method. The higher energy ions have higher charge states, and those are emitted from outer region of expanding plasmas. Feasibility of the minimum mass target has been demonstrated to reduce neutral particle generation for the first time. In the proof-of-principle experiments, EUV emission from a punch-out target is found to be comparable to that from a static target, and expansion energy of ion debris was drastically reduced with the use of the punch-out target.
For EUV lithography the generation of clean and efficient light source and the high-power laser technology are key issues. Theoretical understanding with modeling and simulation of laser-produced EUV source based on detailed experimental database gives us the prediction of optimal plasma conditions and their suitable laser conditions for different target materials (tin, xenon and lithium). With keeping etendue limit the optimal plasma size is determined by an appropriate optical depth which can be controlled by the combination of laser wavelength and pulse width. The most promising candidate is tin (Sn) plasma heated by Nd:YAG laser with a pulse width of a few ns. Therefore the generation technology of clean Sn plasma is a current important subject to be resolved for practical use. For this purpose we have examined the feasibility of laser-driven rocket-like injection of extremely mass-limited Sn or SnO2 (punched-out target) with a speed exceeding 100m/s. Such a mass-limited low-density target is most preferable for substantial reduction of ion energy compared with usual bulk target. For high average power EUV generation we are developing a laser system which is CW laser diode pumped Nd:YAG ceramic laser (master oscillator and power amplifier system) operating at 5-10 kHz repetition rate. The design of practical laser for EUV source is being carried out based on the recent performance of >1 kW output power.
It is very effective for mass-limited tin-foil targets to adapt for the EUV source. Tin-foil targets in account of formation, size, and thickness have been developed for debris mitigation. The amount of ions from targets is 40 % decreased tin-foil targets of 1μm or 5μm thickness than tin-bulk targets. The ion velocity is one order of magnitude less than bulk targets. The EUV emission spectra of tin-foil are more narrowing than bulk targets. The targets supply for high repetition rate of 10 kHz is applied for a novel method. It is called "Punch-out" method. The flight of graphite foil that it is a test targets was succeed to observe by using a gated ICCD camera. The target velocity is achieved to be about 120 m/s. This value can be applied for targets supply with high repetition rate of 10 kHz.
Our institute has been investigating laser-produced tin plasma and EUV emission, and found the highest conversion efficiency of 3% at 13.5 nm in 2% bandwidth. In the present paper, we introduce fabrication methods of density-controlled tin targets to generate relatively monochromatic EUV with keeping similar conversion efficiency.
The first method is the nano-template method, where liquid tin solution was immersed into a polymer film with monodispersed size nanoparticle. The density can be controlled by tin concentration of the solution. The target can be classified into mass-limited target. We have shown a tendency of monochromatic EUV emission around 13.5 nm with decreasing of tin density. The intensity was higher than tin foil with bulk density. The tendency has a merit to mitigate heat effect of the first EUV mirror. The fabrication method has another merit to control not only density but also the poresize of tin oxide to be 100 nm ~ 10 mm. Recent experiments exhibited an EUV character depending on the poresize.
The second is liquid crystalline template method to obtain porous tin oxide. The precursor with tin oxide and cellulose provides mechanically stable and transparent film. The film has wavy sub-microstructure derived from microscopic liquid crystal domain structure. The method is simple and short duration for the hydrolysis reaction to solidify tin compound. This material has a merit of feasibility of fabrication, and was applied for rotation target for 10 Hz and 5 kHz laser repetition.
Properties of laser-produced tin (Sn) plasmas were experimentally investigated for application to the Extreme Ultra-Violet (EUV) lithography. Optical thickness of the Sn plasmas affects strongly to EUV energy, efficiency, and spectrum. Opacity structure of uniform Sn plasma was measured with a temporally resolved EUV spectrograph coupled with EUV backlighting technique. Dependence of the EUV conversion efficiency and spectra on Sn target thickness were studied, and the experimental results indicate that control of optical thickness of the Sn plasma is essential to obtain high EUV conversion efficiency and narrow spectrum. The optical thickness is able to be controlled by changing initial density of targets: EUV emission from low-density targets has narrow spectrum peaked at 13.5 nm. The narrowing is attributed to reduction of satellite emission and opacity broadening in the plasma. Furthermore, ion debris emitted from the Sn plasma were measured using a charge collector and a Thomson parabola ion analyzer. Measured ablation thickness of the Sn target is between 30 and 50 nm for the laser intensity of 1.0 x 1011 W/cm2 (1.064 μm of wavelength and 10 ns of pulse duration), and the required minimum thickness for sufficient EUV emission is found to be about 30 nm under the same condition. Thus almost all debris emitted from the 30 nm-thick mass-limited Sn targets are ions, which can be screened out by an electro-magnetic shield. It is found that not only the EUV generation but also ion debris are affected by the Sn target thickness.
Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) emission from laser produced tin plasma was investigated for 1064, 532 and 266 nm laser wavelengths. The EUV conversion with tin target tends to be high for shorter laser wavelength and is optimized at 4-5x1010 W/cm2 for 1064 and 532 nm. The EUV emission exhibits laser wavelength dependence in terms of angular distribution and structures of emission spectra. It is found that spectra for 532 nm and 266 nm showed spectral dips at around 13.5 nm and these dips are well replicated in computer simulations. Both the angular distribution together with the spectral dips may suggest existence of opaque plasmas surrounding the EUV emission region.
Extreme Ultra Violet (EUV) light source produced by laser irradiation emits not only the desired EUV light of
13 ~ 14 nm (about 90 eV) but also shorter x-rays. For example, emissions around 4 ~ 8 nm (about 150 ~ 300 eV)
and 1 ~ 2.5 nm (about 0.5 ~ 1.2 keV) are experimentally observed from Sn and/or SnO2 plasmas. These
emissions are correspond to the N-shell and M-shell transitions, respectively. From the view point of energy
balance and efficiency, these transitions should be suppressed. However, they may, to some extent, contribute
to provide the 5p and 4f levels with electrons which eventually emit the EUV light and enhance the intensity.
To know well about radiative properties and kinematic of the whole plasma, atomic population kinetics and
spectral synthesis codes have been developed. These codes can estimate the atomic population with nl-scheme
and spectral shapes of the EUV light. Radiation hydrodynamic simulation have been proceeding in this analysis.
Finally, the laser intensity dependence of the conversion efficiency calculated by these codes agrees with that of
the corresponding experimental results.
Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) emission from laser produced plasma attracts much attention as a next generation lithography
source. The characterization of EUV emission has been carried out using GEKKO XII laser system. The twelve beams
irradiated tin or tin-oxide coated spherical targets uniformly and dependence of EUV spectra on laser intensity were
obtained with a transmission grating spectrometer and two grazing incidence spectrometers. The EUV Conversion
Efficiency (CE, the ratio of EUV energy at the wavelength of 13.5 nm with 2 % bandwidth to incident laser energy) was
measured using an absolutely calibrated EUV calorimeter. Optimum laser intensities for the highest conversion were
found to be 0.5- 1x1011 W/cm2 with CE of 3 %. The spectroscopic data indicate that shorter wavelength emission
increases at higher laser intensities due to excessive heating beyond optimum temperatures (20- 40 eV). The CE was
almost independent on the initial coating thickness down to 25 nm.
A new research project on extreme ultraviolet (EUV) source development has just been started at the Institute of Laser Engineering, Osaka University. The main task of this project is to find a scientific basis for generating efficient, high-quality, high power EUV plasma source for semiconductor industry. A set of experimental data is to be provided to develop a detailed atomic model included in computer code through experiments using GEKKO-XII high power laser and smaller but high-repetitive lasers. Optimum conditions for efficient EUV generation will be investigated by changing properties of lasers and targets. As the first step of the experiments, spherical solid tin and tin-oxide targets were illuminated uniformly with twelve beams from the GEKKO XII. It has been confirmed that maximum conversion efficiency into 13.5 nm EUV light is achieved at illumination intensity less than 2 x 1011 W/cm2. No significant difference is found between laser wavelengths of one μm and a half μm. Density structure of the laser-irradiated surface of a planar tin target has beem measured experimentally at 1012 W/cm2 to show formation of double ablation structure with density plateau by thermal radiation transport. An opacity experiment has just been initiated.
The present paper summarized recent activity of the target fabrication group at Institute of Laser Engineering (ILE), Osaka University. We focused on (1) organic photovoltaic materials to suppress the damage from laser-shine-through and (2) new emulsion technique to fabricate polyimide capsule. The following topics describes briefly, (3) organic feromagnetic materials for magnetic levitation of the target, (4) ultralow density foams of hydrocarbon whose density is ~2.0 mg/cc with micrometer-sized structures, and (5) new ultrathin (~nm) adhesion technique to provide laser-shock experiment targets.
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