Enhanced reflectivity and stability of high-temperature LPP collector mirrors

The source output power and lifetime, including the collector optics lifetime, are among the key issues for EUV lithography systems. In order to meet the requirements for the EUV collector mirror, both the reflectivity and the long-term thermal stability of its multilayer coating have been enhanced considerably during recent development efforts. Sub-aperture ellipsoidal mirrors of different substrate materials with outer diameters of about 320 mm were coated with laterally graded high-temperature multilayers. The interface-engineered Mo/Si multilayer mirror (MLM) coatings were optimized in terms of high peak reflectivity at 13.5 nm and working temperatures above 400°C. Thin barrier layers were introduced on both interfaces to block thermally induced interdiffusion processes of molybdenum and silicon and to provide long-term optical stability of the coating at elevated temperatures. A normal-incidence reflectance of R ~ 60 % at 13.5 nm was measured on Si wafer samples after heating up to 600°C. No degradation of the optical properties of these multilayer coatings occurred during both long-term heating tests and multiple annealing cycles. On highly polished collector substrates with improved surface roughness a reflectance for s-polarized light exceeding peak values of R = 57 % was obtained. With optimized layer gradient the degree of wavelength matching was improved, as well, resulting in peak reflectivity values above 56 % throughout the clear aperture for a series of measurement points across the mirror. The corresponding area-weighted 2% in-band average reflectance for this collector mirror coating exceeds 52 % for unpolarized light.