EUV Source Radiated from Pinch Plasma for Semiconductor Manufacturing

At present, and for the last several decades, optical projection lithography has been the lithographic technique used in the high-volume manufacture of integrated circuits. The elementary line width of semiconductor device is now 90 nm, the extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) with a wavelength in the range of 10 to 14 nm is vying to become the choice of the semiconductor industry for the so-called next generation of lithography that will enable future generations of integrated circuits to be printed with feature sizes of 45 nm and below around 2010. Plasma EUV source is regarded as the most promising source of EUV radiation, and a heated competition is underway over the world. The top priority issue for implementing EUVL is to upgrade the EUV power extensively. In the development of our Z-pinch plasma EUV source, xenon gas is used for the target. The Z-pinch plasma was driven by pulsed current with amplitude of 30 kA and pulse duration of 100 ns. Pinhole imaging, EUV spectrograph and in-band EUV energy monitor were used to characterize the EUV emission from the Z-pinch discharge plasma. In order to improve the convention efficiency (CE) from input electric energy to EUV radiation, also a solid tin rod was used as target material. The experimental analyses have demonstrated the CE was as high as 1.5%