EUV source development for AIMS and blank inspection

With EUV Lithography readying for production, the need for commercially available actinic mask inspection tools is critical. A key to developing a successful tool is a reliable high brightness EUV light source. The Energetiq EQ-10 is a commercially available EUV light source, with demonstrated reliability of over 15 sources in the field. It is being used today for laboratory based actinic mask blank inspection at Selete4. Results will be presented from a program to optimize the EQ-10 for higher brightness. The platform used for this work is a new version of the EQ-10. The redesigned source demonstrates increased EUV power and brightness compared to the standard EQ-10. The program aims to optimize source operating conditions and pinch geometries of the new source to maximize brightness.