Performance and Scaling of a Dense Plasma Focus Light Source for EUV Lithography

摘要

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 2π sr 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.