Abstract: The present invention provides a reliable, high-repetition rate, production line compatible high energy photon source. A very hot plasma containing an active material is produced in vacuum chamber. The active material is an atomic element having an emission line within a desired extreme ultraviolet (EUV) range. A pulse power source comprising a charging capacitor and a magnetic compression circuit comprising a pulse transformer, provides electrical pulses having sufficient energy and electrical potential sufficient to produce the EUV light at an intermediate focus at rates in excess of 5 Watts. In preferred embodiments designed by Applicants in-band, EUV light energy at the intermediate focus is 45 Watts extendable to 105.8 Watts.

Abstract: It will be understood that an apparatus and method is disclosed, which may comprise a multi-layer reflecting coating forming an EUV reflective surface which may comprise a spectral filter tuned to selectively highly reflect light in a band centered about at a first preferred wavelength and to significantly reduce the reflection of light at a band centered about a second wavelength, e.g., it may be tuned to reflect maximally or almost maximally, near the top of the reflectivity curve, e.g., at around 13.5 nm and at a significantly lower reflectivity at, e.g., around 11 nm, to discriminate against light near 11 nm and favor light at around 13.5 nm. The spectral filter may comprise a plurality of nested grazing angle of incidence shells comprising reflective surfaces comprising the multi-layer reflective coating. e.g. multilayer mirrors, e.g., with one or more reflecting surfaces per shell.

Abstract: A high energy, high repetition rate workpiece surface heating method and apparatus are disclosed which may cmprise a pulsed XeF laser operating at or above 4000 Hz and producing a laser output light pulse beam at a center wavelength of about 351 nm; an optical system narrowing the laser output light pulse beam to less than 20 ?m in a short axis of the laser output light pulse beam and expanding the laser output light pulse beam to form in a long axis of the beam a workpiece covering extent of teh long axis; the optical system including a field stop intermediate the laser and the workpiece; the workpiece comprising a layer to be heated; wherein the optical system focuses the laser output light pulse beam at a field stop with a magnification sufficient to maintain an intensity profile that has sufficiently steep sidewalls to allow the field stop to maintain a sufficiently steep beam profile at the workpiece without blocking the beam profile at too high an intensity level. 2.

Abstract: The present invention provides long life optics for a modular, high repetition rate, ultraviolet gas discharge laser systems producing a high repetition rate high power output beam. The invention includes solutions to a surface damage problem discovered by Applicants on CaF2 optics located in high pulse intensity sections of the output beam of prototype laser systems. Embodiments include an enclosed and purged beam path with beam pointing control for beam delivery of billions of output laser pulses. Optical components and modules described herein are capable of controlling ultraviolet laser output pulses with wavelength less than 200 nm with average output pulse intensities greater than 1.75×106 Watts/cm2 and with peak intensity or greater 3.5×106 Watts/cm2 for many billions of pulses as compared to prior art components and modules which failed after only a few minutes in these pulse intensities.

Abstract: Disclosed is a laser useful in, e.g., photolithography or medical surgery. In one embodiment, the laser comprises a discharge chamber and heat-generating electronics that are enclosed in a baffled enclosure that requires less cooling air to reliably cool the components in the enclosure than previous unbaffled enclosures. A method of reducing the amount of conditioned air is also provided. In a further embodiment, the laser has a heat-exchange system that acts quickly in response to changes in laser gas temperature by adjusting a flow-proportioning valve regulating water flow through a heat exchanger, thereby providing a continuously variable rate of heat exchange through the heat exchanger to maintain the lasing gas temperature constant. Methods of providing a laser beam and of improving the uniformity of a laser beam are disclosed, as are photolithography methods utilizing a laser and method of this invention.