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In this work, we present a compact laser-produced plasma source of X-rays, developed and characterized for application in soft X-ray contact microscopy (SXCM). The source is based on a double stream gas puff target, irradiated with a commercially available Nd:YAG laser, delivering pulses with energy up to 740 mJ and 4 ns pulse duration at 10 Hz repetition rate. The target is formed by pulsed injection of a stream of high-Z gas (argon) into a cloud of low Z-gas (helium) by using an electromagnetic valve with a double nozzle setup. The source is designed to irradiate specimens, both in vacuum and in helium atmosphere with nanosecond pulses of soft X-rays in the “water-window” spectral range. The source is capable of delivering a photon fluence of about 1.09 × 10 3 photon/μm 2 /pulse at a sample placed in vacuum at a distance of about 20 mm downstream the source. It can also deliver a photon fluence of about 9.31 × 10 2 photons/µm 2 /pulse at a sample placed in a helium atmosphere at the same position. The source design and results of the characterization measurements as well as the optimization of the source are presented and discussed. The source was successfully applied in the preliminary experiments on soft X-ray contact microscopy and images of microstructures and biological specimens with ∼80 nm half-pitch spatial resolution, obtained in helium atmosphere, are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography is expected to succeed in 193-nm immersion multi-patterning technology for sub-10-nm critical layer patterning. In order to be successful, EUV lithography has to demonstrate that it can satisfy the industry requirements in the following critical areas: power, dose stability, etendue, spectral content, and lifetime. Currently, development of second-generation laser-produced plasma (LPP) light sources for the ASML's NXE:3300B EUV scanner is complete, and first units are installed and operational at chipmaker customers. We describe different aspects and performance characteristics of the sources, dose stability results, power scaling, and availability data for EUV sources and also report new development results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A laser ion source (LIS) is a promising candidate as an ion source for heavy-ion inertial fusion (HIF), where a pulsed ultra-intense and low-charged heavy ion beam is required. It is a key development for a LIS to transport laser-produced plasma with a magnetic field to achieve a high-current beam. The effect of a tapered magnetic field on laser-produced plasma is demonstrated by comparing the results with a straight solenoid magnet. The magnetic field of interest is a wider aperture on a target side and narrower aperture on an extraction side. Based on the experimentally obtained results, the performance of a scaled LIS for HIF was estimated. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The plasma plume expansion, ion debris and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) emission features of CO 2 laser-produced Sn and SnO 2 plasmas are investigated in this work. The expansion parameters of laser-produced plasma (LPP) are estimated using a fast-gated intensified charge-coupled device (ICCD) imaging system, while the ion debris is detected using a Faraday cup and the time-of-flight (TOF) method. Additionally, the EUV emissions from CO 2 laser-produced Sn and SnO 2 plasmas are measured using a grazing incidence flat-field spectrograph and EUV photodiodes. The ICCD images show that the SnO 2 plasma plume has a broader edge when compared with that of the Sn plasma. Because of the differences between the thermodynamic parameters of the samples, the total ion number and the kinetic energy were both higher for the SnO 2 plasma than for the Sn plasma. The maximum estimated conversion efficiencies (CEs) of the Sn and SnO 2 plasmas were 1.1% and 0.9%, respectively; the difference is due to the lower Sn fraction in SnO 2 . The results of the angularly-resolved EUV emission measurements showed that the detected EUV energy decreases as the angle with respect to the laser axis increases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]