Patents Assigned to Gigaphoton Inc.
  • Patent number: 11978997
    Abstract: A laser apparatus includes an output coupling mirror; a grating that constitutes an optical resonator together with the output coupling mirror; a laser chamber in an optical path of the optical resonator; at least one prism in an optical path between the laser chamber and the grating; a rotary stage including an actuator that rotates the prism to change an incident angle of a laser beam from the laser chamber on the grating; a wavelength measuring unit that measures a central wavelength of the laser beam from the laser chamber through the output coupling mirror; an angle sensor that detects a rotation angle of the prism; a first control unit that controls the actuator at a first operation frequency; and a second control unit that controls the actuator at a second operation frequency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2024
    Assignee: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventors: Hirotaka Miyamoto, Takuma Yamanaka, Miwa Igarashi
  • Publication number: 20240146011
    Abstract: A gas laser device includes a chamber device including electrodes at an inside thereof to be filled with laser gas and configured to output, through a window to an outside thereof, light generated from the laser gas when a voltage is applied to the electrodes; a mirror arranged at the outside of the chamber device and configured to reflect at least a part of the light output through the window; a holding portion holding the mirror; a support member configured to support the holding portion to be movable along a plane perpendicular to an optical axis of the light output through the window; a moving mechanism configured to move the holding portion with respect to the support member along the plane; and an angle maintaining mechanism configured to maintain an inclination angle of the holding portion with respect to the support member at a predetermined angle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 10, 2024
    Publication date: May 2, 2024
    Applicant: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventors: Koji ASHIKAWA, Shinichi MATSUMOTO
  • Publication number: 20240136787
    Abstract: A gas laser device includes a laser oscillator outputting laser light, and a laser amplifier amplifying the laser light and outputting the amplified laser light. The laser amplifier includes a discharge chamber accommodating electrodes for causing discharge, an input coupling optical system causing part of the laser light to be transmitted toward the discharge chamber, and an output coupling optical system configuring an optical resonator together with the input coupling optical system and causing part of the laser light transmitted through the input coupling optical system and the discharge chamber to be transmitted therethrough and output the amplified laser light. A first focal point of the input coupling optical system and a second focal point of the output coupling optical system in a first direction being perpendicular to a direction of the discharge coincides at a position between the input coupling optical system and the output coupling optical system.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 3, 2024
    Publication date: April 25, 2024
    Applicant: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventor: Yousuke FUJIMAKI
  • Publication number: 20240128702
    Abstract: A bypass apparatus is attachable to and detachable from a laser apparatus, and constitutes a bypass optical path bypassing a pulse width stretching apparatus stretching the pulse width of pulse laser light having entered the pulse width stretching apparatus, the bypass apparatus including optical elements constituting the bypass optical path, and an enclosure housing the optical elements, the optical elements including a first highly reflective mirror that reflects the pulse laser light entering the pulse width stretching apparatus out of the pulse width stretching apparatus and that guides the reflected pulse laser light to the bypass optical path, and a second highly reflective mirror reflecting the pulse laser light reflected off the first highly reflective mirror and incident on the second highly reflective mirror through the bypass optical path to cause the reflected pulse laser light to return to a light-exiting-side optical path of the pulse width stretching apparatus.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 28, 2023
    Publication date: April 18, 2024
    Applicant: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventor: Shinichi MATSUMOTO
  • Publication number: 20240126185
    Abstract: An extreme ultraviolet light generation apparatus includes a target supply unit, a target passage detection device, a delay circuit, a laser device, a target image capturing device, and a processor. Here, the processor controls the vibrating element to provide irregular intervals between droplet targets adjacent to each other; generates integrated image data by integrating plural pieces of image data imaged at different times; specifies a position, in the integrated image data, of the droplet target most emphasized in the integrated image data; and sets a delay time based on a distance from a position of the most emphasized droplet target to a second detection position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 7, 2023
    Publication date: April 18, 2024
    Applicant: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventors: Yoshifumi UENO, Shogo KITASAKA, Yuichi NISHIMURA
  • Publication number: 20240128701
    Abstract: An ultraviolet laser device includes an oscillation stage laser outputting linearly polarized pulse laser light having an ultraviolet wavelength, an optical isolator arranged on an optical path between the oscillation stage laser and an amplifier, and a processor. The optical isolator includes a first polarizer, a first Faraday rotator rotating a polarization direction of the pulse laser light transmitted through the first polarizer in a first rotation direction, a second polarizer arranged so that the pulse laser light output from the first Faraday rotator is transmitted therethrough, a first actuator relatively moving the first magnet and the first Faraday material in an optical axis direction, and a first sensor measuring a power of pulse laser light reflected by the second polarizer among the pulse laser light output from the oscillation stage laser. The processor controls the first actuator based on a measurement result of the first sensor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 7, 2023
    Publication date: April 18, 2024
    Applicant: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventor: Atsushi FUCHIMUKAI
  • Publication number: 20240128706
    Abstract: A control method of a discharge-excitation type laser device including a power source configured to control a pulse energy of pulse laser light includes: during a first period, outputting the pulse laser light including a plurality of pulses from the discharge-excitation type laser device while periodically changing a wavelength; calculating correction data for correcting a voltage command value to be set to the power source in accordance with a change in the wavelength by using first time-series data of pulse energies of the plurality of pulses; and during a second period, acquiring the voltage command value, correcting the acquired voltage command value using the correction data, and outputting the pulse laser light from the discharge-excitation type laser device in accordance with the corrected voltage command value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 15, 2023
    Publication date: April 18, 2024
    Applicant: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventor: Keisuke ISHIDA
  • Publication number: 20240111219
    Abstract: A wavelength control method in a laser apparatus including a wavelength actuator configured to cyclically change the wavelength of pulse laser light output in the form of a burst includes reading data on a wavelength target value, determining from the data a first target wavelength and a second target wavelength shorter than the first target wavelength, and setting wavelengths of at least one first-period long wavelength pulse and at least one first-period short wavelength pulse contained in a first period at a start of a burst to a first set wavelength shorter than the first target wavelength and a second set wavelength longer than the second target wavelength, respectively, by using the first target wavelength and the second target wavelength to control the wavelength actuator.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 14, 2023
    Publication date: April 4, 2024
    Applicant: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventors: Shigeto KISHIMOTO, Hirotaka MIYAMOTO
  • Patent number: 11947263
    Abstract: A laser chamber of a discharge-excitation-type gas laser apparatus may include a container which contains laser gas therein; a pair of discharge electrodes arranged in the container; a cross flow fan configured to supply the laser gas to a discharge space between the discharge electrodes, the cross flow fan including a rotation shaft with which the cross flow fan rotates in a predetermined rotation direction and a plurality of blades, each longitudinal direction of which is parallel to an axial direction of the rotation shaft; and a stabilizer arranged outside a rotation trajectory of the cross flow fan, and arranged such that a difference between a maximum position and a minimum position of an end portion in the rotation direction on a side opposite to the rotation direction is larger than 0 and is smaller than an interval of two blades adjacent to each other among the plurality of blades.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventors: Makoto Tanaka, Yosuke Fujimaki, Takashi Ito, Yousuke Kawagoe
  • Publication number: 20240103305
    Abstract: An optical isolator includes an enclosure, a first polarizer disposed in the enclosure, a first Faraday rotator including a first Faraday material rotating a polarization direction of the light having passed through the first polarizer, and a first magnet producing a first magnetic field applied to a first magnetic field generation region where the first Faraday material is disposed, the first Faraday rotator disposed in the enclosure, and a first position adjustment mechanism moving the first Faraday material relative to the enclosure. A cross-sectional shape of the first Faraday material in a cross section perpendicular to an optical axis of the light passing through the first Faraday material and a cross-sectional shape of the first magnetic field generation region have major axes in the same direction. The first position adjustment mechanism moves the first Faraday material in the direction of a minor axis perpendicular to the major axis.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 7, 2023
    Publication date: March 28, 2024
    Applicant: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventor: Atsushi FUCHIMUKAI
  • Publication number: 20240103336
    Abstract: A laser processing device includes a diffractive optical element dividing laser light into a plurality of beams of laser light and output the beams of laser light; a first acousto-optic element on which the beams of laser light from the diffractive optical element are incident, and which shifts, in accordance with a frequency of a voltage applied thereto, an optical path of the beams of laser light output therefrom along a first direction perpendicular to an irradiation direction of the beams of laser light; a first voltage application circuit applying a voltage of a desired frequency to the first acousto-optic element; a light concentrating optical system concentrating the beams of laser light output from the first acousto-optic element and radiate the beams of laser light to a workpiece; and a processor controlling the first voltage application circuit to adjust the frequency of the voltage applied to the first acousto-optic element.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 8, 2023
    Publication date: March 28, 2024
    Applicant: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventor: Yasufumi KAWASUJI
  • Publication number: 20240100631
    Abstract: A composite component includes a plurality of first fibers extending in a first direction, a plurality of second fibers extending in a second direction different from the first direction, and a matrix material with which gaps between the first fibers and the second fibers are filled, in which a plurality of holes are provided in each of at least one first row along the first direction and at least one second row along the second direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 8, 2023
    Publication date: March 28, 2024
    Applicant: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventor: Yasufumi KAWASUJI
  • Patent number: 11940736
    Abstract: A tin trap device for collecting tin in a chamber device which causes tin to be turned into plasma with laser light in an internal space thereof may include a housing provided with a gas inlet port through which exhaust gas in the chamber device flows and a gas exhaust port through which the exhaust gas is exhausted; and a main heater arranged in the housing, configured to have a temperature equal to or higher than the melting point of tin and lower than the boiling point thereof, and having a projection surface projected toward a direction in which the exhaust gas flows in the gas inlet port cover the gas inlet port.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventors: Gota Niimi, Yoshifumi Ueno, Shinji Nagai
  • Publication number: 20240079844
    Abstract: A laser device includes a master oscillator outputting pulse laser light at a first discharge timing synchronized with a repetition frequency; an amplifier amplifying the pulse laser light by exciting, at a second discharge timing, a laser medium through which the pulse laser light passes; and a processor setting the second discharge timing by adding a delay time to the first discharge timing, holding a first value as a command value of the delay time corresponding to a first repetition frequency, holding a second value as the command value of the delay time corresponding to a second repetition frequency, and outputting the command value of the second value after outputting the command value of a third value between the first value and the second value when the repetition frequency is changed from the first repetition frequency to the second repetition frequency after outputting the command value of the first value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 8, 2023
    Publication date: March 7, 2024
    Applicant: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventor: Takashi SHIGA
  • Patent number: 11924954
    Abstract: An extreme ultraviolet light generation apparatus may include a target supply unit supplying a target to a plasma generation region in a chamber, a laser system emitting first laser light having a polarization direction deflected in one direction and second laser light to generate a secondary target that is the target diffused by irradiating the target with the first laser light from a direction perpendicular to a travel axis of the target and to generate extreme ultraviolet light by irradiating the secondary target with the second laser light, a polarization direction adjustment unit arranged on an optical path of the first laser light and configured to adjust the polarization direction of the first laser light, a secondary target observation unit configured to observe a distribution of the secondary target, and a processor controlling the polarization direction adjustment unit based on an observation result of the secondary target observation unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2024
    Assignee: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventors: Takayuki Yabu, Yuta Takashima
  • Patent number: 11924955
    Abstract: An extreme ultraviolet light generation apparatus includes a target supply unit configured to output a droplet target into a chamber device, a prepulse laser light irradiation system configured to irradiate the droplet target with prepulse laser light having linear polarization to generate a diffusion target, and a main pulse laser light irradiation system configured to irradiate the diffusion target with main pulse laser light to generate extreme ultraviolet light. Here, a cross section perpendicular to an optical axis of the main pulse laser light when being radiated to the diffusion target having a shape longer in a polarization direction of the prepulse laser light when being radiated to the droplet target than in directions other than the polarization direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2024
    Assignee: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventor: Yoshiyuki Honda
  • Publication number: 20240072510
    Abstract: A laser device includes a master oscillator configured to output pulse laser light at a first discharge timing synchronized with a repetition frequency; an amplifier configured to amplify the pulse laser light by exciting, with a charge voltage at a second discharge timing, a laser medium through which the pulse laser light passes; and a processor configured to provide a command on the charge voltage to the amplifier based on a charge voltage command value provided from an exposure apparatus, set the second discharge timing by adding a delay time to the first discharge timing, and perform a process of changing the delay time and a process of correcting the charge voltage command value in accordance with a change of the repetition frequency.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 9, 2023
    Publication date: February 29, 2024
    Applicant: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventor: Takashi SHIGA
  • Publication number: 20240058894
    Abstract: A laser processing apparatus according to the present disclosure includes a placement base on which a processing receiving object is placed, an optical system that guides laser light to the processing receiving object, a gas supply port via which a gas is supplied to a laser light irradiated region of the processing receiving object, a gas recovery port via which the supplied gas is recovered, a mover that moves the irradiated region, and a controller that controls, in accordance with the moving direction of the irradiated region, the direction of the flow of the gas flowing from the gas supply port to the gas recovery port, and the controller changes the direction of the gas flow in response to a change in the moving direction of the irradiated region in such a way that the gas flows in the direction opposite the moving direction of the irradiated region.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 16, 2023
    Publication date: February 22, 2024
    Applicant: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventors: Akira SUWA, Osamu WAKABAYASHI, Masashi SHIMBORI, Masakazu KOBAYASHI
  • Publication number: 20240042544
    Abstract: A laser device includes an oscillator outputting pulse laser light, a wavelength monitor measuring a center wavelength of the pulse laser light, and a processor. The oscillator includes a chamber including discharge electrodes applying a voltage to a laser gas in the chamber, an optical element arranged on an optical path of the pulse laser light, a drive mechanism driving a rotation stage on which the optical element is mounted, a grating, and an output coupling mirror. The processor periodically switches a target value of the center wavelength, controls the center wavelength by outputting a drive command to the drive mechanism to change an incident angle on the grating, and corrects a drive command value of the drive mechanism for outputting the pulse laser light with the same target value in a subsequent cycle based on a deviation between a measurement value of the center wavelength and the target value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 6, 2023
    Publication date: February 8, 2024
    Applicant: GIGAPHOTON INC.
    Inventor: Takuma YAMANAKA
  • Publication number: 20240044711
    Abstract: A wavelength measurement apparatus includes a first spectrometer that has a first free spectral range and generates a first measured waveform from an interference pattern produced by a pulse laser beam, a second spectrometer that has a second free spectral range narrower than the first free spectral range and generates a second measured waveform from the interference pattern produced by the pulse laser beam, and a processor that reads data on a first measurement range of the first spectrometer, sets a second measurement range of the second spectrometer based on the data on the first measurement range, reads data on the second measurement range, and calculates a center wavelength of the pulse laser beam based on the data on the first measurement range and the data on the second measurement range.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 16, 2023
    Publication date: February 8, 2024
    Applicant: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventor: Takuma YAMANAKA