Patents Assigned to Gigaphoton
  • Publication number: 20210288459
    Abstract: A laser system includes a random phase plate in an optical path between a solid-state laser device and an excimer amplifier. Cells of a predetermined shape are periodically arranged on the plate, each cell being a minimum unit region of an irregular pattern, regions of depressions or projections in units of the cells being randomly arranged. When a traveling direction of a laser beam is a Z direction, a discharge direction is a V direction, a direction orthogonal to the V and Z directions is an H direction, an in-plane direction of the plate corresponding to the V direction is a first direction, an in-plane direction of the plate corresponding to the H direction is a second direction, lengths of the cell are d1 in the first direction and d2 in the second direction, an aspect ratio of the cell defined by d2/d1 is 1.2 or more.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 3, 2021
    Publication date: September 16, 2021
    Applicant: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventors: Yuki TAMARU, Taisuke MIURA
  • Patent number: 11119421
    Abstract: An extreme ultraviolet light condensation mirror includes: a substrate; a multi-layer reflective film on the substrate and configured to reflect extreme ultraviolet light having a wavelength of 13.5 nm; and a protective film on the multi-layer reflective film. The protective film includes an oxide silicon layer on the multi-layer reflective film and a titanium oxide layer on the oxide silicon layer having one surface exposed. When x represents the thickness of the titanium oxide layer, the phase of standing wave of the extreme ultraviolet light at the position of the one surface for the maximum reflectance of the extreme ultraviolet light is defined to be zero, and a direction from the one surface toward the multi-layer reflective film is defined to be negative, the position of the one surface is a position at which the phase y of standing wave satisfies the expression below. ?0.313x3+1.44x2+2.57x?51.0?y<0.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventor: Tomoyoshi Toida
  • Publication number: 20210252634
    Abstract: A laser processing apparatus includes a placement base on which a workpiece is placed, a beam shaping optical system that shapes laser light such that a first laser light irradiated region of a mask blocking part of the laser light has a rectangular shape having short edges and long edges, the beam shaping optical system capable of causing one of a first radiation width of the first irradiated region in the direction parallel to the short edges and a second radiation width of the first irradiated region in the direction parallel to the long edges to be fixed and causing the other to be changed, a projection optical system that projects a pattern on the mask onto the workpiece, and a mover that moves the first irradiated region at least in the direction parallel to the short edges to move a second laser light irradiated region of the workpiece.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 4, 2021
    Publication date: August 19, 2021
    Applicant: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventors: Masashi SHIMBORI, Osamu WAKABAYASHI
  • Patent number: 11092896
    Abstract: An extreme ultraviolet light generation apparatus may include: a chamber device including an internal space; a target supply unit disposed at the chamber device and configured to supply a droplet of a target substance to the internal space; a target collection unit disposed at the chamber device, communicated with the internal space through an opening provided to an inner wall of the chamber device, and configured to collect the droplet passing through the opening; a detection unit disposed at the chamber device and configured to detect the target substance accumulating in the vicinity of the opening of the inner wall; and a control unit configured to stop the target supply unit depending on a result of the detection by the detection unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 17, 2021
    Assignee: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventor: Yuta Takashima
  • Publication number: 20210242649
    Abstract: A laser system including: A. a laser apparatus configured to output a pulse laser beam; B. an optical pulse stretcher including a delay optical path for expanding a pulse width of the pulse laser beam; and C. a phase optical element included in the delay optical path and having a function of spatially and randomly shifting a phase of the pulse laser beam. The phase optical element includes a plurality of types of cells providing different amounts of phase shift to the pulse laser beam and arranged irregularly in any direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 22, 2021
    Publication date: August 5, 2021
    Applicant: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventor: Takashi ONOSE
  • Patent number: 11081850
    Abstract: A gas laser apparatus may include: a laser chamber connected through a first control valve to a first laser gas supply source that supplies a first laser gas containing a halogen gas; a purification column that removes at least a part of the halogen gas and a halogen compound from at least a part of a gas exhausted from the laser chamber; a booster pump; and a controller that calculates, on a basis of a first amount of a gas supplied from the booster pump to the laser chamber, a second amount of the first laser gas that is to be supplied to the laser chamber and controls the first control valve on a basis of a result of the calculation of the second amount.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 20, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2021
    Assignee: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventors: Natsushi Suzuki, Osamu Wakabayashi, Hiroaki Tsushima, Masanori Yashiro
  • Patent number: 11079686
    Abstract: An excimer laser apparatus according to the present disclosure includes an etalon spectrometer configured to measure a fringe waveform of a laser beam; and a controller configured to obtain area of a first ratio in a spectral space obtained based on a result of the measurement by the etalon spectrometer, calculate a first spectral line width of the laser beam based on the obtained area of the first ratio, and calibrate a first spectral line width based on a correlation function representing correlation between the first spectral line width and a second spectral line width of the laser beam measured by a reference meter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2021
    Assignee: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventors: Keisuke Ishida, Masato Moriya, Natsuhiko Kouno, Takeshi Asayama, Takashi Kusama
  • Patent number: 11081853
    Abstract: An optical element moving apparatus includes a first holder configured to hold a first optical element, a second holder configured to hold a second optical element and having an inclination that inclines with respect to a first direction in which the second holder approaches the first holder, a guide section configured to be capable of moving the second holder in a direction parallel to the first direction, and an elastic member disposed in a position which is located between the first holder and the second holder and through which a first plane passes, the first plane intersecting the inclination at right angles and being parallel to the first direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2021
    Assignee: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventors: Yoshinobu Watabe, Masahide Kato, Hiroshi Furusato
  • Publication number: 20210235571
    Abstract: An extreme ultraviolet light generation apparatus may include a chamber causing a target substance to be turned into plasma with laser light, a light concentrating mirror concentrating extreme ultraviolet light generated by the turning of the target substance into plasma, a gas supply unit supplying gas into the chamber, a magnetic field generation unit generating a magnetic field including a magnetic field axis that crosses a light path of the extreme ultraviolet light, a first exhaust port arranged at a position through which the magnetic field axis passes in the chamber, a second exhaust port arranged at a position opposite to the light concentrating mirror in the chamber, and a gas exhaust amount adjustment unit adjusting a ratio between an exhaust amount of first exhaust gas exhausted from the first exhaust port and an exhaust amount of second exhaust gas exhausted from the second exhaust port.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 9, 2021
    Publication date: July 29, 2021
    Applicant: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventors: Atsushi UEDA, Shinji NAGAI
  • Publication number: 20210226414
    Abstract: In a laser system according to a viewpoint of the present disclosure, a first amplifier amplifies first pulsed laser light outputted from a first semiconductor laser system into second pulsed laser light, a wavelength conversion system converts the second pulsed laser light in terms of wavelength into third pulsed laser light, and an excimer amplifier amplifies the third pulsed laser light. The first semiconductor laser system includes a first current controller that controls current flowing through a first semiconductor laser in such a way that first laser light outputted from the first semiconductor laser is caused to undergo chirping and a first semiconductor optical amplifier that amplifies the first laser light into pulsed light. The laser system includes a control section that controls the amount of chirping performed on the first pulsed laser light in such a way that excimer laser light having a target spectral linewidth is achieved.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 1, 2021
    Publication date: July 22, 2021
    Applicant: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventors: Taisuke MIURA, Osamu WAKABAYASHI, Hironori IGARASHI
  • Publication number: 20210226411
    Abstract: A laser system according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes a wavelength-variable first solid-state laser device configured to output a first pulse laser beam; a wavelength conversion system including a first nonlinear crystal configured to wavelength-convert the first pulse laser beam and a first rotation stage configured to change a first incident angle of the first pulse laser beam on the first nonlinear crystal; an excimer amplifier configured to amplify a pulse laser beam wavelength-converted by the wavelength conversion system; and a control unit configured to receive, from an external device, data of a target center wavelength of an excimer laser beam output from the excimer amplifier, control a wavelength of the first pulse laser beam in accordance with the instructed target center wavelength, and control the first incident angle on the first nonlinear crystal in accordance with an average value of the target center wavelength.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 2, 2021
    Publication date: July 22, 2021
    Applicant: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventors: Taisuke MIURA, Takashi ONOSE, Osamu WAKABAYASHI
  • Patent number: 11067907
    Abstract: A target supply device includes a vibrating element driven by a square wave electric signal and configured to generate a droplet of a target substance by vibrating the target substance to be output from a nozzle through a vibration propagating path; a temperature adjusting mechanism configured to adjust, to a specified temperature, a temperature of a vibration propagating path member including at least part of the vibration propagating path; a droplet detecting unit configured to output a signal containing information on a droplet detection interval indicating a time interval of droplets continuously generated; and a control unit configured to determine, based on the droplet detection interval, an operation specified temperature that is the specified temperature of the vibration propagating path member and an operation duty value that is a duty value of the electric signal used for driving the vibrating element when the droplet is irradiated with the laser beam.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 20, 2021
    Assignee: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventors: Masaki Nakano, Fumio Iwamoto
  • Patent number: 11061340
    Abstract: A mount includes: A. a mount body including a holding unit that detachably holds a target generation device configured to output a target substance for extreme ultraviolet light generation as a droplet into a chamber; and B. a target position adjustment unit that is provided to the holding unit and configured to adjust a position of the target generation device relative to the chamber; and C. a movement mechanism that moves the mount body at least in a horizontal direction. The target position adjustment unit is a stage configured to move the target generation device in two directions orthogonal to a droplet emission axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 13, 2021
    Assignee: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventor: Toshihiro Nishisaka
  • Patent number: 11050210
    Abstract: To cool a capacitor including a first electrode and a second electrode, a capacitor cooling structure includes: a conducting part electrically connected with the first electrode; an insulating part that has a first surface including a first position and a second surface including a second position, and is connected with the conducting part at the first position; a first fastening part configured to fasten the conducting part and the insulating part to each other; and a cooling part connected with the second position facing the first position, the conducting part and the cooling part being electrically insulated from each other by the insulating part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2021
    Assignee: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventors: Hisakazu Katsuumi, Junichi Fujimoto, Satoshi Tanaka
  • Publication number: 20210194215
    Abstract: A laser system according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes a first solid-state laser device, a wavelength conversion system, an excimer amplifier, and a control unit. The first solid-state laser device includes a first multiple semiconductor laser system, a first semiconductor optical amplifier, and a first fiber amplifier. The first multiple semiconductor laser system includes a plurality of first semiconductor lasers configured to perform continuous wave oscillation in a single longitudinal mode with different wavelengths, a first spectrum monitor, and a first beam combiner. The control unit controls an oscillation wavelength and light intensity of each line of a first multiline spectrum generated by the first semiconductor lasers to obtain an excimer laser beam having at least a target center wavelength or a target spectral line width instructed by an external device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 4, 2021
    Publication date: June 24, 2021
    Applicant: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventors: Taisuke MIURA, Osamu WAKABAYASHI
  • Publication number: 20210193344
    Abstract: An extreme ultraviolet light condensation mirror includes a substrate, and a multi-layer reflective film provided on the substrate, formed by alternately stacking an amorphous silicon layer and a layer having a refractive index different from a refractive index of the amorphous silicon layer, and configured to reflect extreme ultraviolet light, a layer on a most surface side in the multi-layer reflective film being the amorphous silicon layer containing a silicon atom bonded with a cyano radical.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 22, 2020
    Publication date: June 24, 2021
    Applicant: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventor: Masahiko ANDO
  • Patent number: 11042102
    Abstract: An extreme ultraviolet light generation device configured to generate extreme ultraviolet light by irradiating a target containing tin with a pulse laser beam includes a chamber container, a hydrogen gas supply unit configured to supply hydrogen gas into the chamber container, a heat shield disposed between the chamber container and a predetermined region in which the target is irradiated with the pulse laser beam inside the chamber container, a first cooling medium flow path disposed in the chamber container, a second cooling medium flow path disposed in the heat shield, and a cooling device configured to supply a first cooling medium to the first cooling medium flow path and supply a second cooling medium to the second cooling medium flow path so that a temperature of the heat shield becomes lower than a temperature of the chamber container.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 22, 2021
    Assignee: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventors: Shinji Nagai, Takashi Saito
  • Patent number: 11044799
    Abstract: An extreme ultraviolet light generation apparatus includes a chamber (10) having an internal space in which extreme ultraviolet light is generated when a target substance supplied to the internal space is irradiated with a laser beam (301), a gas supply unit (63) configured to supply etching gas to the internal space, a discharge unit (61) configured to discharge residual gas from the internal space, a pressure sensor (26) configured to measure a pressure in the internal space, and a control unit (20), and the control unit (20) may predict a time until the pressure in the internal space reaches a predetermined pressure by using a relation between an elapsed time since start of a predetermined duration including a duration in which the extreme ultraviolet light is generated and a pressure measured in the predetermined duration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 22, 2021
    Assignee: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventor: Tsutomu Kashiwazaki
  • Patent number: 11043784
    Abstract: A laser apparatus includes: a plurality of envelope blocks each provided with an optical element and a first temperature sensor and covering part of a laser beam path, the optical element being disposed on the laser beam path, the first temperature sensor being configured to measure a first temperature of gas at a position away from the optical element; an envelope body including the envelope blocks and covering the laser beam path; and a control unit connected with each first temperature sensor and configured to specify an envelope block at which increase of the first temperature is measured in the envelope body as an envelope block at which anomaly is occurring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 22, 2021
    Assignee: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventors: Tsukasa Hori, Yoshifumi Ueno, Takayuki Yabu, Yoshiaki Kurosawa
  • Patent number: 11036150
    Abstract: An extreme ultraviolet light generation apparatus includes: an optical base; and a chamber module replaceable from the optical base. The chamber module includes a chamber in which extreme ultraviolet light is generated, a condenser mirror disposed inside the chamber and configured to condense extreme ultraviolet light generated inside the chamber, a window configured to transmit, into the chamber, a laser beam introduced into the optical base, and having a function to seal up the chamber, and a laser beam condensation optical system configured to condense the laser beam having transmitted through the window.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 31, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 15, 2021
    Assignee: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventor: Katsuhiko Wakana