Optimization of extreme ultraviolet photons emission and collection in mass-limited laser produced plasmas for lithography application

The progress in development of commercial system for next generation EUV lithography requires, among other factors, significant improvement in EUV photon sources such as discharge produced plasma (DPP) and laser produced plasma (LPP) devices. There are still many uncertainties in determining the optimum device since there are many parameters for the suitable and efficient energy source and target configuration and size. Complex devices with trigger lasers in DPP or with pre-pulsing in LPP provide wide area for optimization in regards to conversion efficiency (CE) and components lifetime. We considered in our analysis a promising LPP source configuration using 10-30 mu m tin droplet targets, and predicted conditions for the most efficient EUV radiation output and collection as well as calculating photons source location and size. We optimized several parameters of dual-beam lasers and their relationship to target size. We used our HEIGHTS comprehensive and integrated full 3D simulation package to study and optimize LPP processes with various target sizes to maximize the CE of the system. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4740230]