Colliding laser-produced plasmas as targets for laser-generated extreme ultraviolet sources

摘要

Colliding plasmas produced by neodymium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet (Nd:YAG) laser illumination of tin wedge targets form stagnation layers, the physical parameters of which can be controlled to optimise coupling with a carbon dioxide (CO_2) heating laser pulse and subsequent extreme ultraviolet (EUV) production. The conversion efficiency (CE) of total laser energy into EUV emission at 13.5 nm ±1% was 3.6%. Neglecting both the energy required to form the stagnation layer and the EUV light produced before the CO_2 laser pulse is incident results in a CE of 5.1% of the CO_2 laser energy into EUV light.