Patents Assigned to Gigaphoton
  • Publication number: 20230413411
    Abstract: An EUV light generation system includes a chamber, a target supply device supplying a target to a plasma generation region in the chamber, a laser device outputting pulse laser light, a beam sensor measuring one of a position and an angle of an optical axis of the pulse laser light as a first optical characteristic, a first reflection control mirror whose angle is controlled, and a processor controlling the laser device. The processor calculates a first corrected angle based on a first attenuation curve defined by the angle of the first reflection control mirror at an end of an immediately preceding irradiation period, the angle of the first reflection control mirror at a cold state, an elapsed time from a start of the pause period, and a first time constant, and to change the angle of the first reflection control mirror to the first corrected angle, during a pause period.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 24, 2023
    Publication date: December 21, 2023
    Applicant: GIGAPHOTON INC.
    Inventors: Shogo KITASAKA, Yuichi NISHIMURA, Takayuki YABU
  • Patent number: 11841267
    Abstract: An energy measuring apparatus according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes a first beam splitter, a second beam splitter, a third beam splitter, and a fourth beam splitter, which sequentially reflect part of a main beam and input the beam to an energy sensor. The first beam splitter, the second beam splitter, the third beam splitter, and the fourth beam splitter are each arranged to have such an incident angle and a folding direction of an optical path as to suppress a change in detection value of the energy sensor due to a change in incident angle and a change in polarization purity of the main beam.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2023
    Assignee: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventors: Yosuke Watanabe, Masato Moriya
  • Publication number: 20230396033
    Abstract: A gas laser apparatus includes a laser oscillator including a pair of discharge electrodes disposed to face each other and configured to generate light from laser gas upon application of voltage, and a laser-side resonator in which the light resonates; an amplifier including an amplification unit and an amplification-side resonator; a beam splitter configured to reflect a part of the light from the laser-side resonator; an optical sensor configured to detect the light reflected by the beam splitter; and a processor configured to control the voltage based on an output from the optical sensor. The amplification-side resonator includes a rear mirror and an output coupling mirror. The laser-side resonator includes a grating and an output coupling mirror. The processor maintains the voltage at a constant value equal to or larger than a threshold of the voltage when the voltage is to be smaller than the threshold.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 10, 2023
    Publication date: December 7, 2023
    Applicant: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventor: Keisuke ISHIDA
  • Patent number: 11837839
    Abstract: An optical pulse stretcher includes a first delay optical system including a plurality of concave toroidal mirrors; and a beam splitter including a first surface and a second surface, causing a part of pulse laser light incident on the first surface to be transmitted in a first direction and output as a first beam and another part thereof to be reflected in a second direction and enter the first delay optical system, and causing a part of pulse laser light incident on the second surface from the first delay optical system to be reflected in the first direction and output as a second beam.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2023
    Assignee: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventor: Hirotaka Miyamoto
  • Publication number: 20230387641
    Abstract: A chamber device includes an inner housing including a passage port through which light generated by excitation of laser gas at an internal space thereof passes, an outer housing surrounding at least a part of the inner housing from a lateral side of a travel direction of the light, and a partition wall arranged between the inner housing and the outer housing and fixed to the inner housing and the outer housing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 10, 2023
    Publication date: November 30, 2023
    Applicant: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventors: Junichi FUJIMOTO, Takahiro TATSUMI, Kazuki NAGAI, Jeffrey P. SERCEL
  • Publication number: 20230387644
    Abstract: An extreme ultraviolet light generation apparatus includes a first light source outputting first excitation light, a laser oscillator including an active medium and performing laser oscillation by irradiating the active medium with the first excitation light to output the laser light, a measurement instrument measuring a pulse energy and a pulse time width of the laser light, a temperature regulator that adjusts a temperature of a cooling medium that cools the first light source, and a processor. The processor controls the temperature regulator to adjust the temperature of the cooling medium so that the pulse energy measured by the measurement instrument falls within a target range of the pulse energy, and adjust a current value of a current supplied to the first light source so that the pulse time width measured by the measurement instrument falls within a target range of the pulse time width.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 20, 2023
    Publication date: November 30, 2023
    Applicant: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventor: Takashi SUGANUMA
  • Publication number: 20230387642
    Abstract: A chamber device includes a housing into which a laser gas is filled, a pair of discharge electrodes generating light from the laser gas when a voltage is applied thereto, a window arranged at a wall surface of the housing and transmitting the light therethrough, a first fan causing the laser gas to flow between the discharge electrodes, a filter, a second fan rotating together with the first fan by a drive force of a drive source of the first fan, a fan-side flow path causing the laser gas filtered by the filter to flow by the second fan and a part of the laser gas to flow in a direction away from the window, and a window-side flow path communicating with the fan-side flow path and causing the laser gas flowing from the fan-side flow path by the second fan to flow toward the window.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 10, 2023
    Publication date: November 30, 2023
    Applicant: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventors: Junichi FUJIMOTO, Rei TAKENAKA, Masanori TERAMOTO, Jeffrey P. SERCEL
  • Patent number: 11826852
    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: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2023
    Assignee: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventors: Akira Suwa, Osamu Wakabayashi, Masashi Shimbori, Masakazu Kobayashi
  • Publication number: 20230378713
    Abstract: An ultraviolet laser apparatus includes an oscillation-stage laser, an amplifier that amplifies the pulse laser light, and an optical isolator. The optical isolator includes a first Faraday rotator that rotates the polarization direction of the pulse laser light output from the oscillation-stage laser by a first angle in a first rotation direction, a first polarizer so disposed to transmit the pulse laser light that exits out of the first Faraday rotator at normalized transmittance greater than or equal to 0.9, a second Faraday rotator that rotates the polarization direction of the pulse laser light passing through the first polarizer by a second angle in the opposite direction to the first rotation direction, and a second polarizer so disposed to transmit the pulse laser light that exits out of the second Faraday rotator at the normalized transmittance greater than or equal to 0.9.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 1, 2023
    Publication date: November 23, 2023
    Applicants: Gigaphoton Inc., Inter-University Research Institute Corporation, National Institutes of Natural Sciences
    Inventors: Yuki TAMARU, Taisuke MIURA, Ryo YASUHARA
  • Publication number: 20230377916
    Abstract: A machine learning method includes acquiring image data generated from reflected light of illumination light radiated to a first region of a semiconductor film on a substrate, the first region annealed by pulse laser light, acquiring data on a measured semiconductor property of the first region, generating training data including the image data as input and the measured data as output associated with each other, and performing machine learning using a neural network based on the training data to generate a learned model.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 13, 2023
    Publication date: November 23, 2023
    Applicants: Kyushu University, National University Corporation, Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventors: Hiroshi IKENOUE, Akira MIZUTANI
  • Publication number: 20230375846
    Abstract: An optical isolator according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes a first polarizer through which incident light transmits, a Faraday rotator configured to rotate the polarization direction of the light, and a second polarizer through which the light transmits. The Faraday rotator includes a calcium fluoride crystal. When a, b, and c axes are the [001], [100], and [010] crystallographic axes, respectively, and x, y, and z axes are obtained by rotating the three axes by a first angle of 40° to 50° about the c axis and by a second angle of 45° to 75° about the b axis rotated by the first angle, the z axis is parallel to the propagation direction of the light, and the calcium fluoride crystal is disposed such that the transmission axis of the first polarizer and the x axis have an angle difference of 0° to 45°.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 1, 2023
    Publication date: November 23, 2023
    Applicants: Gigaphoton Inc., Inter-University Research Institute Corporation, National Institutes of Natural Sciences
    Inventors: Yuki TAMARU, Taisuke MIURA, Ryo YASUHARA
  • Publication number: 20230375847
    Abstract: An optical isolator includes a first polarizer arranged such that a transmission axis thereof is set to cause a normalized transmittance with respect to incident light having a wavelength of ultraviolet and linear polarization to be 0.9 or more, a Faraday rotator using a Faraday material configured to rotate a polarization direction of light having transmitted through the first polarizer in a first rotation direction by a first rotation amount by a magnetic field and rotate the polarization direction in a second rotation direction opposite to the first rotation direction by a second rotation amount by optical activity or birefringence, and a second polarizer arranged such that a transmission axis thereof is set to cause a normalized transmittance with respect to the incident light having transmitted through the Faraday rotator to be 0.9 or more.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 1, 2023
    Publication date: November 23, 2023
    Applicants: Gigaphoton Inc., Inter-University Research Institute Corporation, National Institutes of Natural Sciences
    Inventors: Yuki TAMARU, Taisuke MIURA, Ryo YASUHARA
  • Patent number: 11822324
    Abstract: A machine learning method according to a viewpoint of the present disclosure is a machine learning method for creating a learning model configured to estimate the life of a consumable of a laser apparatus, the method including acquiring first life-related information containing data on a parameter relating to the life of the consumable, the data recorded in correspondence with different numbers of oscillation pulses during a period from the start of use of the consumable to replacement thereof, dividing the first life-related information into a plurality of levels each representing the degree of degradation of the consumable in accordance with the numbers of oscillation pulses to create training data, creating the learning model by performing machine learning using the created training data, and saving the created learning model.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2023
    Assignee: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventors: Kunihiko Abe, Yuji Minegishi, Satoru Kikuchi, Osamu Wakabayashi
  • Patent number: 11808629
    Abstract: A sensor degradation evaluation method according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes an evaluation step of evaluating degradation of at least one of a sensor for coarse measurement that receives interference fringes produced by a spectrometer for coarse measurement and a sensor for fine measurement that receives interference fringes produced by a spectrometer for fine measurement, and the evaluation step includes causing a plurality of kinds of laser light having wavelengths different from one another to be sequentially incident on the spectrometer for coarse measurement and the spectrometer for fine measurement and acquiring a coarse-measurement wavelength and a fine-measurement wavelength on a wavelength basis from a plurality of the received interference fringes, acquiring a degradation parameter on a wavelength basis from the coarse-measurement wavelength and the fine-measurement wavelength on a wavelength basis, and comparing the degradation parameter on a wavelength basis with a threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventor: Masato Moriya
  • Publication number: 20230352900
    Abstract: A laser apparatus includes a grating system; an actuator system configured to adjust a first incident angle on the grating system and a second incident angle on the grating system, the first incident angle being an angle of a first part of an optical beam incident on the grating system, the second incident angle being an angle of a second part of the optical beam incident on the grating system; and a processor configured to control the actuator system to periodically vary the first and second incident angles so that the first and second incident angles are different from each other in at least one of phase and variation range.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 7, 2023
    Publication date: November 2, 2023
    Applicant: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventors: Koichi FUJII, Osamu WAKABAYASHI
  • Publication number: 20230349762
    Abstract: A laser system connectable to an exposure apparatus includes a spectrometer configured to acquire a measurement waveform from an interference pattern of laser light output from the laser system, and a processor configured to calculate a convolution spectrum waveform using the measurement waveform and a first intermediate function obtained through a process of deconvolution of an aerial image function of the exposure apparatus with an instrument function of the spectrometer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 13, 2023
    Publication date: November 2, 2023
    Applicant: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventors: Natsuhiko KOUNO, Shunya OIWA, Masato MORIYA
  • Patent number: 11804697
    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: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2023
    Assignee: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventors: Taisuke Miura, Osamu Wakabayashi
  • Patent number: 11789374
    Abstract: An extreme ultraviolet light generation apparatus may include a chamber, a first partition wall covering a plasma generation region in the chamber and having a first opening, an EUV light concentrating mirror located in a first space inside the chamber and outside the first partition wall and configured to concentrate extreme ultraviolet light generated in the plasma generation region and having passed through the first opening, a first gas supply port formed at the chamber and configured to supply gas to the first space, and a gas exhaust port formed in the first partition wall and configured to exhaust gas in a second space inside the first partition wall to outside of both the first partition wall and the chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 9, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2023
    Assignee: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventors: Yusuke Hoshino, Yukio Watanabe, Toshihiro Nishisaka, Atsushi Ueda, Koichiro Koge, Takayuki Osanai, Gouta Niimi
  • Patent number: 11784453
    Abstract: A laser system includes a beam shaping unit, a random phase plate, and a collimating optical system in an optical path between a solid-state laser device and an excimer amplifier. When a traveling direction of a laser beam entering the excimer amplifier is a Z direction, a discharge direction of a pair of discharge electrodes is a V direction, a direction orthogonal to the V and Z directions is an H direction, a shaping direction of the beam shaping unit corresponding to the V direction is a first direction, a shaping direction of the beam shaping unit corresponding to the H direction is a second direction, an expansion rate in the first direction is E1, and an expansion rate in the second direction is E2, the beam shaping unit expands a beam section of the laser beam such that an expansion ratio defined by E2/E1 is higher than 1.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2023
    Assignee: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventors: Yuki Tamaru, Taisuke Miura
  • Publication number: 20230311247
    Abstract: A laser machining method forms a machined portion in a machining area of a machining object by irradiating the machining area with a pulse laser beam. The laser machining method includes an irradiation process of irradiating the machining area with the pulse laser beam output from an excimer laser apparatus by guiding the pulse laser beam to part of the machining area and moving the guided pulse laser beam through irradiation spots, and a movement process of moving the machining object in a height direction of the machining object. The irradiation process is performed at a plurality of height positions on the machining object moved in the height direction in the movement process. In the irradiation process, at least part of each of the irradiation spots of the pulse laser beam overlaps another irradiation spot adjacent to the irradiation spot.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 9, 2023
    Publication date: October 5, 2023
    Applicant: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventor: Takashi ONOSE