Apparatus for the temporally stable generation of EUV radiation by means of a laser-induced plasma

摘要

The invention is directed to an apparatus for generating soft x-radiation, particularly EUV radiation, by laser-induced plasma. The object of the invention, to find a novel possibility for generating EUV radiation by means of a laser-induced plasma by which a temporally stable radiation emission in the desired wavelength region is ensured when interacting with the target without active regulation of the laser beam, is met according to the invention in that at least one laser is directed to the target, wherein the laser has at least one defined plane with a highly stable spatial distribution of the power density of the laser, and this defined plane is imaged on the target by an optical imaging system so as to be reduced so that the optical image of the defined plane is active for the plasma generation instead of the laser focus. The invention is applied in exposure machines for semiconductor lithography for spatially stable generation of radiation.