Assessing EUV scanner components and materials: Realistic testing with off-line plasma facilities

Inside EUV lithography machines, low-temperature, low-density hydrogen plasma interacts with nearly all components, causing processes like carbon growth, oxidation, and hydrogen-induced outgassing. These interactions can lead to detrimental effects such as blistering, delamination, and embrittlement, altering the properties of exposed parts and causing contamination. Testing the performance of EUV scanner components in controlled experiments is essential but challenging due to the elusive properties of EUV-induced plasma and varying conditions. Our study compares plasma-matter interactions in aluminum alloy using EUV-induced, electron-beam induced, and electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) induced hydrogen plasma. Aluminum parts exposed solely to hydrogen plasma showed consistent behavior across all tests, while those exposed to both hydrogen plasma and EUV radiation behaved differently. This unique effect was not reproducible in ECR plasma, with only partial similarities observed in electron-beam induced plasma. Further investigation is ongoing to explore these interactions.