Shaped source of soft x-ray, extreme ultraviolet and ultraviolet radiation
US6307913A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 27, 1999 |
| Grant date | Oct 23, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 27, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG03F7/70033
- WIPO fieldMedical technology
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A shaped plasma discharge system is provided in which a shaped radiation source emits radiation at a desired frequency and in a desired shape. In one embodiment, a laser source provides an output beam at a desired intensity level to shaping optics. The shaping optics alters the output beam into a desired shaped illumination field. In an alternate embodiment, plural laser sources provide plural output beams and the shaping optics can produce a compound illumination field. The illumination field strikes a target material forming a plasma of the desired shape that emits radiation with a desired spatial distribution, at a desired wavelength, preferably in the x-ray, soft x-ray, extreme ultraviolet or ultraviolet spectra. In another embodiment an electric discharge generates the required shaped radiation field. The shaped emitted radiation proceeds through an optical system to a photoresist coated wafer, imprinting a pattern on the wafer.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.