Patent · US Expired

Droplet and filament target stabilizer for EUV source nozzles

US6864497B2 · kind B2 · utility

3Cited by
4References
26Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateDec 11, 2002
Grant dateMar 8, 2005
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 11, 2023

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG03F7/70033
  • WIPO fieldMedical technology
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

An EUV radiation source that creates a stable solid target filament. The source includes a nozzle assembly having a condenser chamber for cryogenically cooling a gaseous target material into a liquid state. The liquid target material is forced through an orifice of a target filament generator into an evaporation chamber as a liquid target stream. The evaporation chamber has a higher pressure than a vacuum process chamber of the source to allow the liquid target material to freeze into a target filament in a stable manner. The frozen target filament is emitted from the evaporation chamber into the process chamber as a stable target filament towards a target area. The higher pressure in the evaporation chamber can be the result of the evaporative cooling of the target material alone or in combination with a supplemental gas.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.