Design and progress in the fabrication of an EUV micro exposure tool optics for PREUVE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geyl, Roland; Tanne, Jean-Francois

2001-12-01

SAGEM, through its REOSC product line, is participating since November 1999 to PREUVE, the French EUV initiative, and work within this program especially in the field of EUV illumination and projection optics. After a short description of the PREUVE main lines of activity, we will detail our contributions to this program and work progress. This is mainly focused on basic EUV optics fabrication technology in order to ensure the fabrication of the entire optics assembly of an EUV micro exposure tool.

High-efficiency spectral purity filter for EUV lithography

DOEpatents

Chapman, Henry N [Livermore, CA

2006-05-23

An asymmetric-cut multilayer diffracts EUV light. A multilayer cut at an angle has the same properties as a blazed grating, and has been demonstrated to have near-perfect performance. Instead of having to nano-fabricate a grating structure with imperfections no greater than several tens of nanometers, a thick multilayer is grown on a substrate and then cut at an inclined angle using coarse and inexpensive methods. Effective grating periods can be produced this way that are 10 to 100 times smaller than those produced today, and the diffraction efficiency of these asymmetric multilayers is higher than conventional gratings. Besides their ease of manufacture, the use of an asymmetric multilayer as a spectral purity filter does not require that the design of an EUV optical system be modified in any way, unlike the proposed use of blazed gratings for such systems.

Method of fabricating reflection-mode EUV diffraction elements

DOEpatents

Naulleau, Patrick P.

2002-01-01

Techniques for fabricating a well-controlled, quantized-level, engineered surface that serves as substrates for EUV reflection multilayer overcomes problems associated with the fabrication of reflective EUV diffraction elements. The technique when employed to fabricate an EUV diffraction element that includes the steps of: (a) forming an etch stack comprising alternating layers of first and second materials on a substrate surface where the two material can provide relative etch selectivity; (b) creating a relief profile in the etch stack wherein the relief profile has a defined contour; and (c) depositing a multilayer reflection film over the relief profile wherein the film has an outer contour that substantially matches that of the relief profile. For a typical EUV multilayer, if the features on the substrate are larger than 50 nm, the multilayer will be conformal to the substrate. Thus, the phase imparted to the reflected wavefront will closely match that geometrically set by the surface height profile.

Honing the accuracy of extreme-ultraviolet optical system testing: at-wavelength and visible-light measurements of the ETS Set-2 projection optic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goldberg, Kenneth A.; Naulleau, Patrick P.; Bokor, Jeffrey; Chapman, Henry N.

2002-07-01

As the quality of optical systems for extreme ultraviolet lithography improves, high-accuracy wavefront metrology for alignment and qualification becomes ever more important. To enable the development of diffraction-limited EUV projection optics, visible-light and EUV interferometries must work in close collaboration. We present a detailed comparison of EUV and visible-light wavefront measurements performed across the field of view of a lithographic-quality EUV projection optical system designed for use in the Engineering Test Stand developed by the Virtual National Laboratory and the EUV Limited Liability Company. The comparisons reveal that the present level of RMS agreement lies in the 0.3-0.4-nm range. Astigmatism is the most significant aberration component for the alignment of this optical system; it is also the dominant term in the discrepancy, and the aberration with the highest measurement uncertainty. With EUV optical systems requiring total wavefront quality in the (lambda) EUV/50 range, and even higher surface-figure quality for the individual mirror elements, improved accuracy through future comparisons, and additional studies, are required.

EUV polarimetry for thin film and surface characterization and EUV phase retarder reflector development.

PubMed

Gaballah, A E H; Nicolosi, P; Ahmed, Nadeem; Jimenez, K; Pettinari, G; Gerardino, A; Zuppella, P

2018-01-01

The knowledge and the manipulation of light polarization state in the vacuum ultraviolet and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectral regions play a crucial role from materials science analysis to optical component improvements. In this paper, we present an EUV spectroscopic ellipsometer facility for polarimetry in the 90-160 nm spectral range. A single layer aluminum mirror to be used as a quarter wave retarder has been fully characterized by deriving the optical and structural properties from the amplitude component and phase difference δ measurements. The system can be suitable to investigate the properties of thin films and optical coatings and optics in the EUV region.

Deposition and characterization of B4C/CeO2 multilayers at 6.x nm extreme ultraviolet wavelengths

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sertsu, M. G.; Giglia, A.; Brose, S.; Park, D.; Wang, Z. S.; Mayer, J.; Juschkin, L.; Nicolosi, P.

2016-03-01

New multilayers of boron carbide/cerium dioxide (B4C/CeO2) combination on silicon (Si) substrate are manufactured to represent reflective-optics candidates for future lithography at 6.x nm wavelength. This is one of only a few attempts to make multilayers of this kind. Combination of several innovative experiments enables detailed study of optical properties, structural properties, and interface profiles of the multilayers in order to open up a room for further optimization of the manufacturing process. The interface profile is visualized by high-angle annular dark-field imaging which provides highly sensitive contrast to atomic number. Synchrotron based at-wavelength extreme ultraviolet (EUV) reflectance measurements near the boron (B) absorption edge allow derivation of optical parameters with high sensitivity to local atom interactions. X-ray reflectivity measurements at Cu-Kalpha (8 keV ) determine the period of multilayers with high in-depth resolution. By combining these measurements and choosing robust nonlinear curve fitting algorithms, accuracy of the results has been significantly improved. It also enables a comprehensive characterization of multilayers. Interface diffusion is determined to be a major cause for the low reflectivity performance. Optical constants of B4C and CeO2 layers are derived in EUV wavelengths. Besides, optical properties and asymmetric thicknesses of inter-diffusion layers (interlayers) in EUV wavelengths near the boron edge are determined. Finally, ideal reflectivity of the B4C/CeO2 combination is calculated by using optical constants derived from the proposed measurements in order to evaluate the potentiality of the design.

Extreme ultraviolet lithography machine

DOEpatents

Tichenor, Daniel A.; Kubiak, Glenn D.; Haney, Steven J.; Sweeney, Donald W.

2000-01-01

An extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) machine or system for producing integrated circuit (IC) components, such as transistors, formed on a substrate. The EUVL machine utilizes a laser plasma point source directed via an optical arrangement onto a mask or reticle which is reflected by a multiple mirror system onto the substrate or target. The EUVL machine operates in the 10-14 nm wavelength soft x-ray photon. Basically the EUV machine includes an evacuated source chamber, an evacuated main or project chamber interconnected by a transport tube arrangement, wherein a laser beam is directed into a plasma generator which produces an illumination beam which is directed by optics from the source chamber through the connecting tube, into the projection chamber, and onto the reticle or mask, from which a patterned beam is reflected by optics in a projection optics (PO) box mounted in the main or projection chamber onto the substrate. In one embodiment of a EUVL machine, nine optical components are utilized, with four of the optical components located in the PO box. The main or projection chamber includes vibration isolators for the PO box and a vibration isolator mounting for the substrate, with the main or projection chamber being mounted on a support structure and being isolated.

First environmental data from the EUV engineering test stand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klebanoff, Leonard E.; Malinowski, Michael E.; Grunow, Philip A.; Clift, W. Miles; Steinhaus, Chip; Leung, Alvin H.; Haney, Steven J.

2001-08-01

The first environmental data from the Engineering Test Stand (ETS) has been collected. Excellent control of high-mass hydrocarbons has been observed. This control is a result of extensive outgas testing of components and materials, vacuum compatible design of the ETS, careful cleaning of parts and pre-baking of cables and sub assemblies where possible, and clean assembly procedures. As a result of the hydrocarbon control, the residual ETS vacuum environment is rich in water vapor. Analysis of witness plate data indicates that the ETS environment does not pose a contamination risk to the optics in the absence of EUV irradiation. However, with EUV exposure, the water rich environment can lead to EUV- induced water oxidation of the Si-terminated Mo/Si optics. Added ethanol can prevent optic oxidation, allowing carbon growth via EUV cracking of low-level residual hydrocarbons to occur. The EUV environmental issues are understood, mitigation approaches have been validated, and EUV optic contamination appears to be manageable.

Analysis of buried interfaces in multilayer mirrors using grazing incidence extreme ultraviolet reflectometry near resonance edges.

PubMed

Sertsu, M G; Nardello, M; Giglia, A; Corso, A J; Maurizio, C; Juschkin, L; Nicolosi, P

2015-12-10

Accurate measurements of optical properties of multilayer (ML) mirrors and chemical compositions of interdiffusion layers are particularly challenging to date. In this work, an innovative and nondestructive experimental characterization method for multilayers is discussed. The method is based on extreme ultraviolet (EUV) reflectivity measurements performed on a wide grazing incidence angular range at an energy near the absorption resonance edge of low-Z elements in the ML components. This experimental method combined with the underlying physical phenomenon of abrupt changes of optical constants near EUV resonance edges enables us to characterize optical and structural properties of multilayers with high sensitivity. A major advantage of the method is to perform detailed quantitative analysis of buried interfaces of multilayer structures in a nondestructive and nonimaging setup. Coatings of Si/Mo multilayers on a Si substrate with period d=16.4  nm, number of bilayers N=25, and different capping structures are investigated. Stoichiometric compositions of Si-on-Mo and Mo-on-Si interface diffusion layers are derived. Effects of surface oxidation reactions and carbon contaminations on the optical constants of capping layers and the impact of neighboring atoms' interactions on optical responses of Si and Mo layers are discussed.

Method to adjust multilayer film stress induced deformation of optics

DOEpatents

Mirkarimi, Paul B.; Montcalm, Claude

2000-01-01

A buffer-layer located between a substrate and a multilayer for counteracting stress in the multilayer. Depositing a buffer-layer having a stress of sufficient magnitude and opposite in sign reduces or cancels out deformation in the substrate due to the stress in the multilayer. By providing a buffer-layer between the substrate and the multilayer, a tunable, near-zero net stress results, and hence results in little or no deformation of the substrate, such as an optic for an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography tool. Buffer-layers have been deposited, for example, between Mo/Si and Mo/Be multilayer films and their associated substrate reducing significantly the stress, wherein the magnitude of the stress is less than 100 MPa and respectively near-normal incidence (5.degree.) reflectance of over 60% is obtained at 13.4 nm and 11.4 nm. The present invention is applicable to crystalline and non-crystalline materials, and can be used at ambient temperatures.

CXRO - Mi-Young Im, Staff Scientist

Science.gov Websites

X-Ray Database Zone Plate Education Nanomagnetism X-Ray Microscopy LDJIM EUV Lithography EUV Mask Publications Contact The Center for X-Ray Optics is a multi-disciplined research group within Lawrence Berkeley -Ray Optics X-Ray Database Nanomagnetism X-Ray Microscopy EUV Lithography EUV Mask Imaging

Method for extreme ultraviolet lithography

DOEpatents

Felter, T. E.; Kubiak, Glenn D.

1999-01-01

A method of producing a patterned array of features, in particular, gate apertures, in the size range 0.4-0.05 .mu.m using projection lithography and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation. A high energy laser beam is used to vaporize a target material in order to produce a plasma which in turn, produces extreme ultraviolet radiation of a characteristic wavelength of about 13 nm for lithographic applications. The radiation is transmitted by a series of reflective mirrors to a mask which bears the pattern to be printed. The demagnified focused mask pattern is, in turn, transmitted by means of appropriate optics and in a single exposure, to a substrate coated with photoresists designed to be transparent to EUV radiation and also satisfy conventional processing methods.

Method for extreme ultraviolet lithography

DOEpatents

Felter, T. E.; Kubiak, G. D.

2000-01-01

A method of producing a patterned array of features, in particular, gate apertures, in the size range 0.4-0.05 .mu.m using projection lithography and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation. A high energy laser beam is used to vaporize a target material in order to produce a plasma which in turn, produces extreme ultraviolet radiation of a characteristic wavelength of about 13 nm for lithographic applications. The radiation is transmitted by a series of reflective mirrors to a mask which bears the pattern to be printed. The demagnified focused mask pattern is, in turn, transmitted by means of appropriate optics and in a single exposure, to a substrate coated with photoresists designed to be transparent to EUV radiation and also satisfy conventional processing methods.

Extreme ultraviolet spectroscopy diagnostics of low-temperature plasmas based on a sliced multilayer grating and glass capillary optics.

PubMed

Kantsyrev, V L; Safronova, A S; Williamson, K M; Wilcox, P; Ouart, N D; Yilmaz, M F; Struve, K W; Voronov, D L; Feshchenko, R M; Artyukov, I A; Vinogradov, A V

2008-10-01

New extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectroscopic diagnostics of relatively low-temperature plasmas based on the application of an EUV spectrometer and fast EUV diodes combined with glass capillary optics is described. An advanced high resolution dispersive element sliced multilayer grating was used in the compact EUV spectrometer. For monitoring of the time history of radiation, filtered fast EUV diodes were used in the same spectral region (>13 nm) as the EUV spectrometer. The radiation from the plasma was captured by using a single inexpensive glass capillary that was transported onto the spectrometer entrance slit and EUV diode. The use of glass capillary optics allowed placement of the spectrometer and diodes behind the thick radiation shield outside the direction of a possible hard x-ray radiation beam and debris from the plasma source. The results of the testing and application of this diagnostic for a compact laser plasma source are presented. Examples of modeling with parameters of plasmas are discussed.

Design requirements for a stand alone EUV interferometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Michallon, Ph.; Constancias, C.; Lagrange, A.; Dalzotto, B.

2008-03-01

EUV lithography is expected to be inserted for the 32/22 nm nodes with possible extension below. EUV resist availability remains one of the main issues to be resolved. There is an urgent need to provide suitable tools to accelerate resist development and to achieve resolution, LER and sensitivity specifications simultaneously. An interferometer lithography tool offers advantages regarding conventional EUV exposure tool. It allows the evaluation of resists, free from the deficiencies of optics and mask which are limiting the achieved resolution. Traditionally, a dedicated beam line from a synchrotron, with limited access, is used as a light source in EUV interference lithography. This paper identifies the technology locks to develop a stand alone EUV interferometer using a compact EUV source. It will describe the theoretical solutions adopted and especially look at the feasibility according to available technologies. EUV sources available on the market have been evaluated in terms of power level, source size, spatial coherency, dose uniformity, accuracy, stability and reproducibility. According to the EUV source characteristics, several optic designs were studied (simple or double gratings). For each of these solutions, the source and collimation optic specifications have been determined. To reduce the exposure time, a new grating technology will also be presented allowing to significantly increasing the transmission system efficiency. The optical grating designs were studied to allow multi-pitch resolution print on the same exposure without any focus adjustment. Finally micro mechanical system supporting the gratings was studied integrating the issues due to vacuum environment, alignment capability, motion precision, automation and metrology to ensure the needed placement control between gratings and wafer. A similar study was carried out for the collimation-optics mechanical support which depends on the source characteristics.

EUV laser produced and induced plasmas for nanolithography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sizyuk, Tatyana; Hassanein, Ahmed

2017-10-01

EUV produced plasma sources are being extensively studied for the development of new technology for computer chips production. Challenging tasks include optimization of EUV source efficiency, producing powerful source in 2 percentage bandwidth around 13.5 nm for high volume manufacture (HVM), and increasing the lifetime of collecting optics. Mass-limited targets, such as small droplet, allow to reduce contamination of chamber environment and mirror surface damage. However, reducing droplet size limits EUV power output. Our analysis showed the requirement for the target parameters and chamber conditions to achieve 500 W EUV output for HVM. The HEIGHTS package was used for the simulations of laser produced plasma evolution starting from laser interaction with solid target, development and expansion of vapor/plasma plume with accurate optical data calculation, especially in narrow EUV region. Detailed 3D modeling of mix environment including evolution and interplay of plasma produced by lasers from Sn target and plasma produced by in-band and out-of-band EUV radiation in ambient gas, used for the collecting optics protection and cleaning, allowed predicting conditions in entire LPP system. Effect of these conditions on EUV photon absorption and collection was analyzed. This work is supported by the National Science Foundation, PIRE project.

Design of the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer long-wavelength grazing incidence telescope optics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Finley, David S.; Jelinsky, Patrick; Bowyer, Stuart; Malina, Roger F.

1988-01-01

Designing optics for photometry in the long-wavelength portion of the EUV spectrum (400-900) A) poses different problems from those arising for optics, operating shortward of 400 A. The available filter materials which transmit radiation longward of 400 A are also highly transparent at wavelengths shortward of 100 A. Conventional EUV optics, with grazing engles of less than about 10 deg, have very high throughput in the EUV, which persists to wavelengths shortward of 100 A. Use of such optics with the longer-wavelength EUV filters thus results in an unacceptably large soft X-ray leak. This problem is overcome by developing a mirror design with larger graze angles of not less than 20 deg, which has high throughput at wavelengths longer than 400 A but at the same time very little throughput shortward of 100 A.

High reflectance coatings for space applications in the EUV

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keski-Kuha, Ritva A. M.; Gum, Jeffrey S.; Osantowski, John F.; Fleetwood, Charles M.

1993-01-01

Advances in optical coating and materials technology have made possible the development of instruments with substantially improved efficiency and made possible to consider more complex optical designs in the EUV. The importance of recent developments in chemical vapor deposited silicon carbide (CVD-SiC), SiC films and multilayer coatings is discussed in the context of EUV instrumentation design. The EUV performance of these coatings as well as some strengths and problem areas for their use in space will be addressed.

Microfabrication of through holes in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) sheets using a laser plasma EUV source (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Makimura, Tetsuya; Urai, Hikari; Niino, Hiroyuki

2017-03-01

Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is a material used for cell culture substrates / bio-chips and micro total analysis systems / lab-on-chips due to its flexibility, chemical / thermo-dynamic stability, bio-compatibility, transparency and moldability. For further development, it is inevitable to develop a technique to fabricate precise three dimensional structures on micrometer-scale at high aspect ratio. In the previous works, we reported a technique for high-quality micromachining of PDMS without chemical modification, by means of photo direct machining using laser plasma EUV sources. In the present work, we have investigated fabrication of through holes. The EUV radiations around 10 nm were generated by irradiation of Ta targets with Nd:YAG laser light (10 ns, 500 mJ/pulse). The generated EUV radiations were focused using an ellipsoidal mirror. It has a narrower incident angle than those in the previous works in order to form a EUV beam with higher directivity, so that higher aspect structures can be fabricated. The focused EUV beam was incident on PDMS sheets with a thickness of 15 micrometers, through holes in a contact mask placed on top of them. Using a contact mask with holes with a diameter of three micrometers, complete through holes with a diameter of two micrometers are fabricated in the PDMS sheet. Using a contact mask with two micrometer holes, however, ablation holes almost reaches to the back side of the PDMS sheet. The fabricated structures can be explained in terms of geometrical optics. Thus, we have developed a technique for micromachining of PDMS sheets at high aspect ratios.

Grazing incidence metal optics for the Berkeley Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer satellite - A progress report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Finley, D.; Malina, R. F.; Bowyer, S.

1985-01-01

The four flight Wolter-Schwarzschild mirrors currently under fabrication for the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) satellite are described. The principal figuring operation of these grazing incidence metal mirrors (gold over nickel on an aluminum substrate) is carried out by diamond turning at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories. Turning has been accomplished and optical testing results analyzed for three of the mirrors. As-turned values of 1.7 arc sec full width at half maximum (FWHM) and half energy width (HEW) of 5 arc seconds in the visible have been achieved. These results illustrate the great potential of precision fabrication technology for the production of large grazing incidence optics.

Atomic force microscopy characterization of Zerodur mirror substrates for the extreme ultraviolet telescopes aboard NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.

PubMed

Soufli, Regina; Baker, Sherry L; Windt, David L; Gullikson, Eric M; Robinson, Jeff C; Podgorski, William A; Golub, Leon

2007-06-01

The high-spatial frequency roughness of a mirror operating at extreme ultraviolet (EUV) wavelengths is crucial for the reflective performance and is subject to very stringent specifications. To understand and predict mirror performance, precision metrology is required for measuring the surface roughness. Zerodur mirror substrates made by two different polishing vendors for a suite of EUV telescopes for solar physics were characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The AFM measurements revealed features in the topography of each substrate that are associated with specific polishing techniques. Theoretical predictions of the mirror performance based on the AFM-measured high-spatial-frequency roughness are in good agreement with EUV reflectance measurements of the mirrors after multilayer coating.

Photoresist composition for extreme ultraviolet lithography

DOEpatents

Felter, T. E.; Kubiak, G. D.

1999-01-01

A method of producing a patterned array of features, in particular, gate apertures, in the size range 0.4-0.05 .mu.m using projection lithography and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation. A high energy laser beam is used to vaporize a target material in order to produce a plasma which in turn, produces extreme ultraviolet radiation of a characteristic wavelength of about 13 nm for lithographic applications. The radiation is transmitted by a series of reflective mirrors to a mask which bears the pattern to be printed. The demagnified focused mask pattern is, in turn, transmitted by means of appropriate optics and in a single exposure, to a substrate coated with photoresists designed to be transparent to EUV radiation and also satisfy conventional processing methods. A photoresist composition for extreme ultraviolet radiation of boron carbide polymers, hydrochlorocarbons and mixtures thereof.

Availability of underlayer application to EUV process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kosugi, Hitoshi; Fonseca, Carlos; Iwao, Fumiko; Marumoto, Hiroshi; Kim, Hyun-Woo; Cho, Kyoungyong; Park, Cheol-Hong; Park, Chang-Min; Na, Hai-Sub; Koh, Cha-Won; Cho, Hanku

2011-04-01

EUV lithography is one of the most promising technologies for the fabrication of beyond 30nm HP generation devices. However, it is well-known that EUV lithography still has significant challenges. A great concern is the change of resist material for EUV resist process. EUV resist material formulations will likely change from conventional-type materials. As a result, substrate dependency needs to be understood. TEL has reported that the simulation combined with experiments is a good way to confirm the substrate dependency. In this work the application of HMDS treatment and SiON introduction, as an underlayer, are studied to cause a footing of resist profile. Then, we applied this simulation technique to Samsung EUV process. We will report the benefit of this simulation work and effect of underlayer application. Regarding the etching process, underlayer film introduction could have significant issues because the film that should be etched off increases. For that purpose, thinner films are better for etching. In general, thinner films may have some coating defects. We will report the coating coverage performance and defectivity of ultra thin film coating.

Atomic force microscopy characterization of Zerodur mirror substrates for the extreme ultraviolet telescopes aboard NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Soufli, Regina; Baker, Sherry L.; Windt, David L.

2007-06-01

The high-spatial frequency roughness of a mirror operating at extreme ultraviolet (EUV)wavelengths is crucial for the reflective performance and is subject to very stringent specifications. To understand and predict mirror performance, precision metrology is required for measuring the surface roughness. Zerodur mirror substrates made by two different polishing vendors for a suite of EUV telescopes for solar physics were characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The AFM measurements revealed features in the topography of each substrate that are associated with specific polishing techniques. Theoretical predictions of the mirror performance based on the AFM-measured high-spatial-frequency roughness are in good agreement withmore » EUV reflectance measurements of the mirrors after multilayer coating.« less

Designing a Small-Sized Engineering Model of Solar EUV Telescopr for a Korean Satellite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Jung-Hoon; Jang, Min-Hwan; Kim, Sang-Joon

2001-11-01

For the research of solar EUV (extreme ultraviolet) radiation, we have designed a small-sized engineering model of solar EUV telescope, which is suitable for a Korean satellite. The EUV solar telescope was designed to observe the sun at 584.3Å (He¥°) and 629.7Å (O¥´). The optical system is an f/8 Ritchey-Chrètien, and the effective diameter and focal length are 80§® and 640§®, respectively. The He¥°and O¥´ filters are loaded in a filter wheel. In the detection part, the MCP (MicroChannel Plate) type is Z-stack, and the channel-to-diameter ratio is 40:1. MCP and CCD are connected by fiber optic taper. A commercial optical design software is used for the analysis of the optical system design.

Degradation-Free Spectrometers for Solar EUV Measurements: A Progress Report

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wieman, S. R.; Judge, D. L.; Didkovsky, L. V.

2009-12-01

Solar EUV observations will be made using two new degradation-free EUV spectrometers on a sounding rocket flight scheduled for Summer 2010. The two instruments, a rare gas photoionization-based Optics-Free Spectrometer (OFS) and a Dual Grating Spectrometer (DGS), are filter-free and optics-free. OFS can measure the solar EUV spectrum with a spectral resolution comparable to that of grating-based EUV spectrometers. The DGS is designed to provide solar irradiance at Lyman-alpha and He II to overlap EUV observations from SOHO/SEM and SDO/EVE. Electronic and mechanical designs for the flight prototype instruments and results of tests performed with the instruments in the laboratory are reported. The spectrometers are being developed and demonstrated as part of the Degradation Free Spectrometers (DFS) project under NASA’s Low Cost Access to Space (LCAS) program and are supported by NASA Grant NNX08BA12G.

Evidence for a New Class of Extreme Ultraviolet Sources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maoz, Dan; Ofek, Eran O.; Shemi, Amotz

1997-01-01

Most of the sources detected in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV; 100-600 A) by the ROSAT/WFC and EUVE all-sky surveys have been identified with active late-type stars and hot white dwarfs that are near enough to the Earth to escape absorption by interstellar gas. However, about 15 per cent of EUV sources are as yet unidentified with any optical counterparts. We examine whether the unidentified EUV sources may consist of the same population of late-type stars and white dwarfs. We present B and R photometry of stars in the fields of seven of the unidentified EUV sources. We detect in the optical the entire main-sequence and white dwarf population out to the greatest distances where they could still avoid absorption. We use color-magnitude diagrams to demonstrate that, in most of the fields, none of the observed stars has the colours and magnitudes of late-type dwarfs at distances less than 100 pc. Similarly, none of the observed stars is a white dwarf within 500 pc that is hot enough to be a EUV emitter. The unidentified EUV sources we study are not detected in X-rays, while cataclysmic variables, X-ray binaries, and active galactic nuclei generally are. We conclude that some of the EUV sources may be a new class of nearby objects, which are either very faint at optical bands or which mimic the colours and magnitudes of distant late-type stars or cool white dwarfs. One candidate for optically faint objects is isolated old neutron stars, slowly accreting interstellar matter. Such neutron stars are expected to be abundant in the Galaxy, and have not been unambiguously detected.

High performance EUV multilayer structures insensitive to capping layer optical parameters.

PubMed

Pelizzo, Maria Guglielmina; Suman, Michele; Monaco, Gianni; Nicolosi, Piergiorgio; Windt, David L

2008-09-15

We have designed and tested a-periodic multilayer structures containing protective capping layers in order to obtain improved stability with respect to any possible changes of the capping layer optical properties (due to oxidation and contamination, for example)-while simultaneously maximizing the EUV reflection efficiency for specific applications, and in particular for EUV lithography. Such coatings may be particularly useful in EUV lithographic apparatus, because they provide both high integrated photon flux and higher stability to the harsh operating environment, which can affect seriously the performance of the multilayer-coated projector system optics. In this work, an evolutive algorithm has been developed in order to design these a-periodic structures, which have been proven to have also the property of stable performance with respect to random layer thickness errors that might occur during coating deposition. Prototypes have been fabricated, and tested with EUV and X-ray reflectometry, and secondary electron spectroscopy. The experimental results clearly show improved performance of our new a-periodic coatings design compared with standard periodic multilayer structures.

Film loss-free cleaning chemicals for EUV mask lifetime elongation developed through combinatorial chemical screening

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choi, Jaehyuck; Kim, Jinsu; Lowe, Jeff; Dattilo, Davide; Koh, Soowan; Choi, Jun Yeol; Dietze, Uwe; Shoki, Tsutomu; Kim, Byung Gook; Jeon, Chan-Uk

2015-10-01

EUV masks include many different layers of various materials rarely used in optical masks, and each layer of material has a particular role in enhancing the performance of EUV lithography. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how the mask quality and patterning performance can change during mask fabrication, EUV exposure, maintenance cleaning, shipping, or storage. SPM (Sulfuric acid peroxide mixture) which has been extensively used for acid cleaning of photomask and wafer has serious drawback for EUV mask cleaning. It shows severe film loss of tantalum-based absorber layers and limited removal efficiency of EUV-generated carbon contaminants on EUV mask surface. Here, we introduce such novel cleaning chemicals developed for EUV mask as almost film loss free for various layers of the mask and superior carbon removal performance. Combinatorial chemical screening methods allowed us to screen several hundred combinations of various chemistries and additives under several different process conditions of temperature and time, eventually leading to development of the best chemistry selections for EUV mask cleaning. Recently, there have been many activities for the development of EUV pellicle, driven by ASML and core EUV scanner customer companies. It is still important to obtain film-loss free cleaning chemicals because cleaning cycle of EUV mask should be much faster than that of optic mask mainly due to EUV pellicle lifetime. More frequent cleaning, combined with the adoption of new materials for EUV masks, necessitates that mask manufacturers closely examine the performance change of EUV masks during cleaning process. We have investigated EUV mask quality changes and film losses during 50 cleaning cycles using new chemicals as well as particle and carbon contaminant removal characteristics. We have observed that the performance of new chemicals developed is superior to current SPM or relevant cleaning chemicals for EUV mask cleaning and EUV mask lifetime elongation.

Generation of sub-optical-cycle, carrier-envelope-phase--insensitive, extreme-uv pulses via nonlinear stabilization in a waveguide

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sandhu, Arvinder S.; Gagnon, Etienne; Paul, Ariel

2006-12-15

We present evidence for a new regime of high-harmonic generation in a waveguide where bright, sub-optical-cycle, quasimonochromatic, extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light is generated via a mechanism that is relatively insensitive to carrier-envelope phase fluctuations. The interplay between the transient plasma which determines the phase matching conditions and the instantaneous laser intensity which drives harmonic generation gives rise to a new nonlinear stabilization mechanism in the waveguide, localizing the phase-matched EUV emission to within sub-optical-cycle duration. The sub-optical-cycle EUV emission generated by this mechanism can also be selectively optimized in the spectral domain by simple tuning of parameters.

Optical element for full spectral purity from IR-generated EUV light sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van den Boogaard, A. J. R.; Louis, E.; van Goor, F. A.; Bijkerk, F.

2009-03-01

Laser produced plasma (LLP) sources are generally considered attractive for high power EUV production in next generation lithography equipment. Such plasmas are most efficiently excited by the relatively long, infrared wavelengths of CO2-lasers, but a significant part of the rotational-vibrational excitation lines of the CO2 radiation will be backscattered by the plasma's critical density surface and consequently will be present as parasitic radiation in the spectrum of such sources. Since most optical elements in the EUV collecting and imaging train have a high reflection coefficient for IR radiation, undesirable heating phenomena at the resist level are likely to occur. In this study a completely new principle is employed to obtain full separation of EUV and IR radiation from the source by a single optical component. While the application of a transmission filter would come at the expense of EUV throughput, this technique potentially enables wavelength separation without loosing reflectance compared to a conventional Mo/Si multilayer coated element. As a result this method provides full spectral purity from the source without loss in EUV throughput. Detailed calculations on the principal of functioning are presented.

Use of gas-phase ethanol to mitigate extreme UV/water oxidation of extreme UV optics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klebanoff, L. E.; Malinowski, M. E.; Clift, W. M.; Steinhaus, C.; Grunow, P.

2004-03-01

A technique is described that uses a gas-phase species to mitigate the oxidation of a Mo/Si multilayer optic caused by either extreme UV (EUV) or electron-induced dissociation of adsorbed water vapor. It is found that introduction of ethanol (EtOH) into a water-rich gas-phase environment inhibits oxidation of the outermost Si layer of the Mo/Si EUV reflective coating. Auger electron spectroscopy, sputter Auger depth profiling, EUV reflectivity, and photocurrent measurements are presented that reveal the EUV/water- and electron/water-derived optic oxidation can be suppressed at the water partial pressures used in the tests (~2×10-7-2×10-5 Torr). The ethanol appears to function differently in two time regimes. At early times, ethanol decomposes on the optic surface, providing reactive carbon atoms that scavenge reactive oxygen atoms before they can oxidize the outermost Si layer. At later times, the reactive carbon atoms form a thin (~5 Å), possibly self-limited, graphitic layer that inhibits water adsorption on the optic surface. .

Ultimate waveform reproducibility of extreme-ultraviolet pulses by high-harmonic generation in quartz

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garg, M.; Kim, H. Y.; Goulielmakis, E.

2018-05-01

Optical waveforms of light reproducible with subcycle precision underlie applications of lasers in ultrafast spectroscopies, quantum control of matter and light-based signal processing. Nonlinear upconversion of optical pulses via high-harmonic generation in gas media extends these capabilities to the extreme ultraviolet (EUV). However, the waveform reproducibility of the generated EUV pulses in gases is inherently sensitive to intensity and phase fluctuations of the driving field. We used photoelectron interferometry to study the effects of intensity and carrier-envelope phase of an intense single-cycle optical pulse on the field waveform of EUV pulses generated in quartz nanofilms, and contrasted the results with those obtained in gas argon. The EUV waveforms generated in quartz were found to be virtually immune to the intensity and phase of the driving field, implying a non-recollisional character of the underlying emission mechanism. Waveform-sensitive photonic applications and precision measurements of fundamental processes in optics will benefit from these findings.

Spectroscopy and Photometry of EUVE J1429-38.0:An Eclipsing Magnetic Cataclysmic Variable

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Howell, Steve B.; Craig, Nahide; Roberts, Bryce; McGee, Paddy; Sirk, Martin

1997-06-01

EUVE J1429-38.0 was originally discovered as a variable source by the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) satellite. We present new optical observations which unambiguously confirm this star to be an eclipsing magnetic system with an orbital period of 4() h 46() m. The photometric data are strongly modulated by ellipsoidal variations during low states which allow a system inclination of near 80 degrees to be determined. Our time-resolved optical spectra, which cover only about one-third of the orbital cycle, indicate the clear presence of a gas stream. During high states, EUVE J1429-38.0 shows ~ 1 mag deep eclipses and the apparent formation of a partial accretion disk. EUVE J1429-38.0 presents the observer with properties of both the AM Herculis and the DQ Herculis types of magnetic cataclysmic variable.

Atomic hydrogen cleaning of EUV multilayer optics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Graham, Samuel, Jr.; Steinhaus, Charles A.; Clift, W. Miles; Klebanoff, Leonard E.; Bajt, Sasa

2003-06-01

Recent studies have been conducted to investigate the use of atomic hydrogen as an in-situ contamination removal method for EUV optics. In these experiments, a commercial source was used to produce atomic hydrogen by thermal dissociation of molecular hydrogen using a hot filament. Samples for these experiments consisted of silicon wafers coated with sputtered carbon, Mo/Si optics with EUV-induced carbon, and bare Si-capped and Ru-B4C-capped Mo/Si optics. Samples were exposed to an atomic hydrogen source at a distance of 200 - 500 mm downstream and angles between 0-90° with respect to the source. Carbon removal rates and optic oxidation rates were measured using Auger electron spectroscopy depth profiling. In addition, at-wavelength peak reflectance (13.4 nm) was measured using the EUV reflectometer at the Advanced Light Source. Data from these experiments show carbon removal rates up to 20 Ê/hr for sputtered carbon and 40 Ê/hr for EUV deposited carbon at a distance of 200 mm downstream. The cleaning rate was also observed to be a strong function of distance and angular position. Experiments have also shown that the carbon etch rate can be increased by a factor of 4 by channeling atomic hydrogen through quartz tubes in order to direct the atomic hydrogen to the optic surface. Atomic hydrogen exposures of bare optic samples show a small risk in reflectivity degradation after extended periods. Extended exposures (up to 20 hours) of bare Si-capped Mo/Si optics show a 1.2% loss (absolute) in reflectivity while the Ru-B4C-capped Mo/Si optics show a loss on the order of 0.5%. In order to investigate the source of this reflectivity degradation, optic samples were exposed to atomic deuterium and analyzed using low energy ion scattering direct recoil spectroscopy to determine any reactions of the hydrogen with the multilayer stack. Overall, the results show that the risk of over-etching with atomic hydrogen is much less than previous studies using RF discharge cleaning while providing cleaning rates suitable for EUV lithography operations.

Atomic hydrogen cleaning of EUV multilayer optics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Graham, Samuel, Jr.; Steinhaus, Charles A.; Clift, W. Miles; Klebanoff, Leonard E.; Bajt, Sasa

2003-06-01

Recent studies have been conducted to investigate the use of atomic hydrogen as an in-situ contamination removal method for EUV optics. In these experiments, a commercial source was used to produce atomic hydrogen by thermal dissociation of molecular hydrogen using a hot filament. Samples for these experiments consisted of silicon wafers coated with sputtered carbon, Mo/Si optics with EUV-induced carbon, and bare Si-capped and Ru-B4C-capped Mo/Si optics. Samples were exposed to an atomic hydrogen source at a distance of 200 - 500 mm downstream and angles between 0-90° with respect to the source. Carbon removal rates and optic oxidation rates were measured using Auger electron spectroscopy depth profiling. In addition, at-wavelength peak reflectance (13.4 nm) was measured using the EUV reflectometer at the Advanced Light Source. Data from these experiments show carbon removal rates up to 20 Å/hr for sputtered carbon and 40 Å/hr for EUV deposited carbon at a distance of 200 mm downstream. The cleaning rate was also observed to be a strong function of distance and angular position. Experiments have also shown that the carbon etch rate can be increased by a factor of 4 by channeling atomic hydrogen through quartz tubes in order to direct the atomic hydrogen to the optic surface. Atomic hydrogen exposures of bare optic samples show a small risk in reflectivity degradation after extended periods. Extended exposures (up to 20 hours) of bare Si-capped Mo/Si optics show a 1.2% loss (absolute) in reflectivity while the Ru-B4C-capped Mo/Si optics show a loss on the order of 0.5%. In order to investigate the source of this reflectivity degradation, optic samples were exposed to atomic deuterium and analyzed using low energy ion scattering direct recoil spectroscopy to determine any reactions of the hydrogen with the multilayer stack. Overall, the results show that the risk of over-etching with atomic hydrogen is much less than previous studies using RF discharge cleaning while providing cleaning rates suitable for EUV lithography operations.

Increasing EUV source efficiency via recycling of radiation power

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hassanein, Ahmed; Sizyuk, Valeryi; Sizyuk, Tatyana; Johnson, Kenneth C.

2018-03-01

EUV source power is critical for advanced lithography, for achieving economical throughput performance and also for minimizing stochastic patterning effects. Power conversion efficiency can be increased by recycling plasma-scattered laser radiation and other out-of-band radiation back to the plasma via retroreflective optics. Radiation both within and outside of the collector light path can potentially be recycled. For recycling within the collector path, the system uses a diffractive collection mirror that concomitantly filters all laser and out-of-band radiation out of the EUV output. In this paper we review the optical design concept for power recycling and present preliminary plasma-physics simulation results showing a potential gain of 60% in EUV conversion efficiency.

Selected highlights from the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bowyer, S.; Malina, R. F.

1995-01-01

We present a few scientific highlights from the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) all-sky and deep surveys, from the EUVE Righ Angle Program, and from the EUVE Guest Observer Program. The First EUVE Source Catalog includes 410 extreme ultraviolet (EUV) sources detected in the initial processing of the EUVE all-sky data. A program of optical identification indicates that counterparts include cool star coronae, flare stars, hot white dwarfs, central stars of planetary nebulae, B star photospheres and winds, an X-ray binary, extragalactic objects (active galactic nuclei, BL Lacertae), solar system objects (Moon, Mars, Io,), supernova remnants, and two novae.

Simultaneous Extreme-Ultraviolet Explorer and Optical Observations of Ad Leonis: Evidence for Large Coronal Loops and the Neupert Effect in Stellar Flares

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hawley, Suzanne L.; Fisher, George H.; Simon, Theodore; Cully, Scott L.; Deustua, Susana E.; Jablonski, Marek; Johns-Krull, Christopher; Pettersen, Bjorn R.; Smith, Verne; Spiesman, William J.;

Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer Bright Source List

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Malina, Roger F.; Marshall, Herman L.; Antia, Behram; Christian, Carol A.; Dobson, Carl A.; Finley, David S.; Fruscione, Antonella; Girouard, Forrest R.; Hawkins, Isabel; Jelinsky, Patrick

1994-01-01

Initial results from the analysis of the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) all-sky survey (58-740 A) and deep survey (67-364 A) are presented through the EUVE Bright Source List (BSL). The BSL contains 356 confirmed extreme ultraviolet (EUV) point sources with supporting information, including positions, observed EUV count rates, and the identification of possible optical counterparts. One-hundred twenty-six sources have been detected longward of 200 A.

Contamination Effects on EUV Optics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tveekrem, J.

1999-01-01

During ground-based assembly and upon exposure to the space environment, optical surfaces accumulate both particles and molecular condensibles, inevitably resulting in degradation of optical instrument performance. Currently, this performance degradation (and the resulting end-of-life instrument performance) cannot be predicted with sufficient accuracy using existing software tools. Optical design codes exist to calculate instrument performance, but these codes generally assume uncontaminated optical surfaces. Contamination models exist which predict approximate end-of-life contamination levels, but the optical effects of these contamination levels can not be quantified without detailed information about the optical constants and scattering properties of the contaminant. The problem is particularly pronounced in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV, 300-1,200 A) and far (FUV, 1,200-2,000 A) regimes due to a lack of data and a lack of knowledge of the detailed physical and chemical processes involved. Yet it is in precisely these wavelength regimes that accurate predictions are most important, because EUV/FUV instruments are extremely sensitive to contamination.

Rosat sky survey observations of the eclipsing binary V471 Tauri

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barstow, M. A.; Schmitt, J. H. M. M.; Clemens, J. C.; Pye, J. P.; Denby, M.; Harris, A. W.; Pankiewicz, G. S.

1992-01-01

Rosat observations of the DA white dwarf + K2V binary system V471 Tauri, obtained during the sky survey phase of the mission, are presented. A lower amplitude shorter time-scale variability is seen in both the soft X-ray and EUV bands. This is associated with the white dwarf pulsations previously discovered by Exosat and also observed at optical wavelengths. The minimum in the EUV light curve is found to coincide with the maximum in the optical. This direct comparison of the phases of the optical and EUV pulses confirms the prediction made by an earlier indirect comparison and shows conclusively that the V471 Tau oscillations cannot arise from nonradial g-mode pulsations in the white dwarf. They are argued to be caused by rotation of the white dwarf with accretion-darkened magnetic poles. On the basis of the EUV and optical pulse shapes, the accretion geometry is studied, and it is estimated that the rate of accretion onto the white dwarf is about (4-11) x 10 exp -13 solar mass/yr.

Mask fabrication and its applications to extreme ultra-violet diffractive optics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Yang-Chun

Short-wavelength radiation around 13nm of wavelength (Extreme Ultra-Violet, EUV) is being considered for patterning microcircuits, and other electronic chips with dimensions in the nanometer range. Interferometric Lithography (IL) uses two beams of radiation to form high-resolution interference fringes, as small as half the wavelength of the radiation used. As a preliminary step toward manufacturing technology, IL can be used to study the imaging properties of materials in a wide spectral range and at nanoscale dimensions. A simple implementation of IL uses two transmission diffraction gratings to form the interference pattern. More complex interference patterns can be created by using different types of transmission gratings. In this thesis, I describe the development of a EUV lithography system that uses diffractive optical elements (DOEs), from simple gratings to holographic structures. The exposure system is setup on a EUV undulator beamline at the Synchrotron Radiation Center, in the Center for NanoTechnology clean room. The setup of the EUV exposure system is relatively simple, while the design and fabrication of the DOE "mask" is complex, and relies on advanced nanofabrication techniques. The EUV interferometric lithography provides reliable EUV exposures of line/space patterns and is ideal for the development of EUV resist technology. In this thesis I explore the fabrication of these DOE for the EUV range, and discuss the processes I have developed for the fabrication of ultra-thin membranes. In addition, I discuss EUV holographic lithography and generalized Talbot imaging techniques to extend the capability of our EUV-IL system to pattern arbitrary shapes, using more coherent sources than the undulator. In a series of experiments, we have demonstrated the use of a soft X-ray (EUV) laser as effective source for EUV lithography. EUV-IL, as implemented at CNTech, is being used by several companies and research organizations to characterize photoresist materials.

Effect of SPM-based cleaning POR on EUV mask performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choi, Jaehyuck; Lee, Han-shin; Yoon, Jinsang; Shimomura, Takeya; Friz, Alex; Montgomery, Cecilia; Ma, Andy; Goodwin, Frank; Kang, Daehyuk; Chung, Paul; Shin, Inkyun; Cho, H.

2011-11-01

EUV masks include many different layers of various materials rarely used in optical masks, and each layer of material has a particular role in enhancing the performance of EUV lithography. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how the mask quality and patterning performance can change during mask fabrication, EUV exposure, maintenance cleaning, shipping, or storage. The fact that a pellicle is not used to protect the mask surface in EUV lithography suggests that EUV masks may have to undergo more cleaning cycles during their lifetime. More frequent cleaning, combined with the adoption of new materials for EUV masks, necessitates that mask manufacturers closely examine the performance change of EUV masks during cleaning process. We have investigated EUV mask quality and patterning performance during 30 cycles of Samsung's EUV mask SPM-based cleaning and 20 cycles of SEMATECH ADT exposure. We have observed that the quality and patterning performance of EUV masks does not significantly change during these processes except mask pattern CD change. To resolve this issue, we have developed an acid-free cleaning POR and substantially improved EUV mask film loss compared to the SPM-based cleaning POR.

Calibration techniques and results in the soft X-ray and extreme ultraviolet for components of the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer Satellite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Malina, Roger F.; Jelinsky, Patrick; Bowyer, Stuart

1986-01-01

The calibration facilities and techniques for the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) from 44 to 2500 A are described. Key elements include newly designed radiation sources and a collimated monochromatic EUV beam. Sample results for the calibration of the EUVE filters, detectors, gratings, collimators, and optics are summarized.

X-ray/EUV optics for astronomy, microscopy, polarimetry, and projection lithography; Proceedings of the Meeting, San Diego, CA, July 9-13, 1990

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hoover, Richard B. (Editor); Walker, Arthur B. C., Jr. (Editor)

1991-01-01

Topics discussed in this issue include the fabrication of multilayer X-ray/EUV coatings; the design, characterization, and test of multilayer X-ray/EUV coatings; multilayer X-ray/EUV monochromators and imaging microscopes; X-ray/EUV telescopes; the test and calibration performance of X-ray/EUV instruments; XUV/soft X-ray projection lithography; X-ray/EUV space observatories and missions; X-ray/EUV telescopes for solar research; X-ray/EUV polarimetry; X-ray/EUV spectrographs; and X-ray/EUV filters and gratings. Papers are presented on the deposition-controlled uniformity of multilayer mirrors, interfaces in Mo/Si multilayers, the design and analysis of an aspherical multilayer imaging X-ray microscope, recent developments in the production of thin X-ray reflecting foils, and the ultraprecise scanning technology. Consideration is also given to an active sun telescope array, the fabrication and performance at 1.33 nm of a 0.24-micron-period multilayer grating, a cylindrical proportional counter for X-ray polarimetry, and the design and analysis of the reflection grating arrays for the X-Ray Multi-Mirror Mission.

Method for high-precision multi-layered thin film deposition for deep and extreme ultraviolet mirrors

DOEpatents

Ruffner, Judith Alison

1999-01-01

A method for coating (flat or non-flat) optical substrates with high-reflectivity multi-layer coatings for use at Deep Ultra-Violet ("DUV") and Extreme Ultra-Violet ("EUV") wavelengths. The method results in a product with minimum feature sizes of less than 0.10-.mu.m for the shortest wavelength (13.4-nm). The present invention employs a computer-based modeling and deposition method to enable lateral and vertical thickness control by scanning the position of the substrate with respect to the sputter target during deposition. The thickness profile of the sputter targets is modeled before deposition and then an appropriate scanning algorithm is implemented to produce any desired, radially-symmetric thickness profile. The present invention offers the ability to predict and achieve a wide range of thickness profiles on flat or figured substrates, i.e., account for 1/R.sup.2 factor in a model, and the ability to predict and accommodate changes in deposition rate as a result of plasma geometry, i.e., over figured substrates.

EUV wavefront metrology system in EUVA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hasegawa, Takayuki; Ouchi, Chidane; Hasegawa, Masanobu; Kato, Seima; Suzuki, Akiyoshi; Sugisaki, Katsumi; Murakami, Katsuhiko; Saito, Jun; Niibe, Masahito

2004-05-01

An Experimental extreme ultraviolet (EUV) interferometer (EEI) using an undulator as a light source was installed in New SUBARU synchrotron facility at Himeji Institute of Technology (HIT). The EEI can evaluate the five metrology methods reported before. (1) A purpose of the EEI is to determine the most suitable method for measuring the projection optics of EUV lithography systems for mass production tools.

Novel MRF fluid for ultra-low roughness optical surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dumas, Paul; McFee, Charles

2014-08-01

Over the past few years there have been an increasing number of applications calling for ultra-low roughness (ULR) surfaces. A critical demand has been driven by EUV optics, EUV photomasks, X-Ray, and high energy laser applications. Achieving ULR results on complex shapes like aspheres and X-Ray mirrors is extremely challenging with conventional polishing techniques. To achieve both tight figure and roughness specifications, substrates typically undergo iterative global and local polishing processes. Typically the local polishing process corrects the figure or flatness but cannot achieve the required surface roughness, whereas the global polishing process produces the required roughness but degrades the figure. Magnetorheological Finishing (MRF) is a local polishing technique based on a magnetically-sensitive fluid that removes material through a shearing mechanism with minimal normal load, thus removing sub-surface damage. The lowest surface roughness produced by current MRF is close to 3 Å RMS. A new ULR MR fluid uses a nano-based cerium as the abrasive in a proprietary aqueous solution, the combination of which reliably produces under 1.5Å RMS roughness on Fused Silica as measured by atomic force microscopy. In addition to the highly convergent figure correction achieved with MRF, we show results of our novel MR fluid achieving <1.5Å RMS roughness on fused silica and other materials.

Development of extreme ultraviolet and soft x-ray multilayer optics for scientific studies with femtosecond/attosecond sources

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Aquila, Andrew Lee

The development of multilayer optics for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation has led to advancements in many areas of science and technology, including materials studies, EUV lithography, water window microscopy, plasma imaging, and orbiting solar physics imaging. Recent developments in femtosecond and attosecond EUV pulse generation from sources such as high harmonic generation lasers, combined with the elemental and chemical specificity provided by EUV radiation, are opening new opportunities to study fundamental dynamic processes in materials. Critical to these efforts is the design and fabrication of multilayer optics to transport, focus, shape and image these ultra-fast pulses This thesis describes themore » design, fabrication, characterization, and application of multilayer optics for EUV femtosecond and attosecond scientific studies. Multilayer mirrors for bandwidth control, pulse shaping and compression, tri-material multilayers, and multilayers for polarization control are described. Characterization of multilayer optics, including measurement of material optical constants, reflectivity of multilayer mirrors, and metrology of reflected phases of the multilayer, which is critical to maintaining pulse size and shape, were performed. Two applications of these multilayer mirrors are detailed in the thesis. In the first application, broad bandwidth multilayers were used to characterize and measure sub-100 attosecond pulses from a high harmonic generation source and was performed in collaboration with the Max-Planck institute for Quantum Optics and Ludwig- Maximilians University in Garching, Germany, with Professors Krausz and Kleineberg. In the second application, multilayer mirrors with polarization control are useful to study femtosecond spin dynamics in an ongoing collaboration with the T-REX group of Professor Parmigiani at Elettra in Trieste, Italy. As new ultrafast x-ray sources become available, for example free electron lasers, the multilayer designs described in this thesis can be extended to higher photon energies, and such designs can be used with those sources to enable new scientific studies, such as molecular bonding, phonon, and spin dynamics.« less

Recovery of EUVL substrates

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vernon, S.P.; Baker, S.L.

1995-01-19

Mo/Si multilayers, were removed from superpolished zerodur and fused silica substrates with a dry etching process that, under suitable processing conditions, produces negligible change in either the substrate surface figure or surface roughness. Full recovery of the initial normal incidence extreme ultra-violet (EUV) reflectance response has been demonstrated on reprocessed substrates.

Studies of EUV contamination mitigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Graham, Samual, Jr.; Malinowski, Michael E.; Steinhaus, Chip; Grunow, Philip A.; Klebanoff, Leonard E.

2002-07-01

Carbon contamination removal was investigated using remote RF-O2, RF-H2, and atomic hydrogen experiments. Samples consisted of silicon wafers coated with 100 Angstrom sputtered carbon, as well as bare Si-capped Mo/Si optics. Samples were exposed to atomic hydrogen or RF plasma discharges at 100 W, 200 W, and 300 W. Carbon removal rate, optic oxidation rate, at-wavelength (13.4 nm) peak reflectance, and optic surface roughness were characterized. Data show that RF- O2 removes carbon at a rate approximately 6 times faster RF- H2 for a given discharge power. However, both cleaning techniques induce Mo/Si optic degradation through the loss of reflectivity associated with surface oxide growth for RF-O2 and an unknown mechanism with hydrogen cleaning. Atomic hydrogen cleaning shows carbon removal rates sufficient for use as an in-situ cleaning strategy for EUVoptics with less risk of optic degradation from overexposures than RF-discharge cleaning. While hydrogen cleaning (RF and atomic) of EUV optics has proven effective in carbon removal, attempts to dissociate hydrogen in co-exposures with EUV radiation have resulted in no detectable removal of carbon contamination.

Status of EUVL mask development in Europe (Invited Paper)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peters, Jan H.

2005-06-01

EUV lithography is the prime candidate for the next generation lithography technology after 193 nm immersion lithography. The commercial onset for this technology is expected for the 45 nm half-pitch technology or below. Several European and national projects and quite a large number of companies and research institutions in Europe work on various aspects of the technological challenges to make EUV a commercially viable technology in the not so far future. Here the development of EUV sources, the development of an EUV exposure tools, metrology tools dedicated for characterization of mask, the production of EUV mask blanks and the mask structuring itself are the key areas in which major activities can be found. In this talk we will primarily focus on those activities, which are related to establish an EUV mask supply chain with all its ingredients from substrate production, polishing, deposition of EUV layers, blank characterization, mask patterning process and the consecutive metrology and defect inspection as well as shipping and handling from blank supply to usage in the wafer fab. The EUV mask related projects on the national level are primarily supported by the French Ministry of Economics and Finance (MinEFi) and the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

Integrated approach to improving local CD uniformity in EUV patterning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liang, Andrew; Hermans, Jan; Tran, Timothy; Viatkina, Katja; Liang, Chen-Wei; Ward, Brandon; Chuang, Steven; Yu, Jengyi; Harm, Greg; Vandereyken, Jelle; Rio, David; Kubis, Michael; Tan, Samantha; Dusa, Mircea; Singhal, Akhil; van Schravendijk, Bart; Dixit, Girish; Shamma, Nader

2017-03-01

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography is crucial to enabling technology scaling in pitch and critical dimension (CD). Currently, one of the key challenges of introducing EUV lithography to high volume manufacturing (HVM) is throughput, which requires high source power and high sensitivity chemically amplified photoresists. Important limiters of high sensitivity chemically amplified resists (CAR) are the effects of photon shot noise and resist blur on the number of photons received and of photoacids generated per feature, especially at the pitches required for 7 nm and 5 nm advanced technology nodes. These stochastic effects are reflected in via structures as hole-to-hole CD variation or local CD uniformity (LCDU). Here, we demonstrate a synergy of film stack deposition, EUV lithography, and plasma etch techniques to improve LCDU, which allows the use of high sensitivity resists required for the introduction of EUV HVM. Thus, to improve LCDU to a level required by 5 nm node and beyond, film stack deposition, EUV lithography, and plasma etch processes were combined and co-optimized to enhance LCDU reduction from synergies. Test wafers were created by depositing a pattern transfer stack on a substrate representative of a 5 nm node target layer. The pattern transfer stack consisted of an atomically smooth adhesion layer and two hardmasks and was deposited using the Lam VECTOR PECVD product family. These layers were designed to mitigate hole roughness, absorb out-of-band radiation, and provide additional outlets for etch to improve LCDU and control hole CD. These wafers were then exposed through an ASML NXE3350B EUV scanner using a variety of advanced positive tone EUV CAR. They were finally etched to the target substrate using Lam Flex dielectric etch and Kiyo conductor etch systems. Metrology methodologies to assess dimensional metrics as well as chip performance and defectivity were investigated to enable repeatable patterning process development. Illumination conditions in EUV lithography were optimized to improve normalized image log slope (NILS), which is expected to reduce shot noise related effects. It can be seen that the EUV imaging contrast improvement can further reduce post-develop LCDU from 4.1 nm to 3.9 nm and from 2.8 nm to 2.6 nm. In parallel, etch processes were developed to further reduce LCDU, to control CD, and to transfer these improvements into the final target substrate. We also demonstrate that increasing post-develop CD through dose adjustment can enhance the LCDU reduction from etch. Similar trends were also observed in different pitches down to 40 nm. The solutions demonstrated here are critical to the introduction of EUV lithography in high volume manufacturing. It can be seen that through a synergistic deposition, lithography, and etch optimization, LCDU at a 40 nm pitch can be improved to 1.6 nm (3-sigma) in a target oxide layer and to 1.4 nm (3-sigma) at the photoresist layer.

Results from a new 193nm die-to-database reticle inspection platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Broadbent, William H.; Alles, David S.; Giusti, Michael T.; Kvamme, Damon F.; Shi, Rui-fang; Sousa, Weston L.; Walsh, Robert; Xiong, Yalin

2010-05-01

A new 193nm wavelength high resolution reticle defect inspection platform has been developed for both die-to-database and die-to-die inspection modes. In its initial configuration, this innovative platform has been designed to meet the reticle qualification requirements of the IC industry for the 22nm logic and 3xhp memory generations (and shrinks) with planned extensions to the next generation. The 22nm/3xhp IC generation includes advanced 193nm optical lithography using conventional RET, advanced computational lithography, and double patterning. Further, EUV pilot line lithography is beginning. This advanced 193nm inspection platform has world-class performance and the capability to meet these diverse needs in optical and EUV lithography. The architecture of the new 193nm inspection platform is described. Die-to-database inspection results are shown on a variety of reticles from industry sources; these reticles include standard programmed defect test reticles, as well as advanced optical and EUV product and product-like reticles. Results show high sensitivity and low false and nuisance detections on complex optical reticle designs and small feature size EUV reticles. A direct comparison with the existing industry standard 257nm wavelength inspection system shows measurable sensitivity improvement for small feature sizes

Broadband extreme ultraviolet probing of transient gratings in vanadium dioxide

DOE PAGES

Sistrunk, Emily; Grilj, Jakob; Jeong, Jaewoo; ...

2015-02-11

Nonlinear spectroscopy in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and soft x-ray spectral range offers the opportunity for element selective probing of ultrafast dynamics using core-valence transitions (Mukamel et al., Acc. Chem. Res. 42, 553 (2009)). The study demonstrate a step on this path showing core-valence sensitivity in transient grating spectroscopy with EUV probing. We study the optically induced insulator-to-metal transition (IMT) of a VO 2 film with EUV diffraction from the optically excited sample. The VO 2 exhibits a change in the 3p-3d resonance of V accompanied by an acoustic response. Due to the broadband probing we are able to separatemore » the two features.« less

Exploring EUV and SAQP pattering schemes at 5nm technology node

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamed Fatehy, Ahmed; Kotb, Rehab; Lafferty, Neal; Jiang, Fan; Word, James

2018-03-01

For years, Moore's law keeps driving the semiconductors industry towards smaller dimensions and higher density chips with more devices. Earlier, the correlation between exposure source's wave length and the smallest resolvable dimension, mandated the usage of Deep Ultra-Violent (DUV) optical lithography system which has been used for decades to sustain Moore's law, especially when immersion lithography was introduced with 193nm ArF laser sources. As dimensions of devices get smaller beyond Deep Ultra-Violent (DUV) optical resolution limits, the need for Extremely Ultra-Violent (EUV) optical lithography systems was a must. However, EUV systems were still under development at that time for the mass-production in semiconductors industry. Theretofore, Multi-Patterning (MP) technologies was introduced to swirl about DUV optical lithography limitations in advanced nodes beyond minimum dimension (CD) of 20nm. MP can be classified into two main categories; the first one is to split the target itself across multiple masks that give the original target patterns when they are printed. This category includes Double, Triple and Quadruple patterning (DP, TP, and QP). The second category is the Self-Aligned Patterning (SAP) where the target is divided into Mandrel patterns and non-Mandrel patterns. The Mandrel patterns get printed first, then a self-aligned sidewalls are grown around these printed patterns drawing the other non-Mandrel targets, afterword, a cut mask(s) is used to define target's line-ends. This approach contains Self-Aligned-Double Pattering (SADP) and Self-Aligned- Quadruple-Pattering (SAQP). DUV and MP along together paved the way for the industry down to 7nm. However, with the start of development at the 5nm node and the readiness of EUV, the differentiation question is aroused again, which pattering approach should be selected, direct printing using EUV or DUV with MP, or a hybrid flow that contains both DUV-MP and EUV. In this work we are comparing two potential pattering techniques for Back End Of Line (BEOL) metal layers in the 5nm technology node, the first technique is Single Exposure EUV (SE-EUV) with a Direct Patterning EUV lithography process, and the second one is Self-Aligned Quadruple Patterning (SAQP) with a hybrid lithography processes, where the drawn metal target layer is decomposed into a Mandrel mask and Blocks/Cut mask, Mandrel mask is printed using DUV 193i lithography process, while Block/Cut Mask is printed using SE-EUV lithography process. The pros and cons of each technique are quantified based on Edge-Placement-Error (EPE) and Process Variation Band (PVBand) measured at 1D and 2D edges. The layout used in this comparison is a candidate layout for Foundries 5nm process node.

Hot interstellar gas and ionization of embedded clouds

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cheng, K.-P.; Bruhweiler, F.

1990-01-01

Researchers present detailed photoionization calculations for the instellar cloud in which the Sun is embedded. They consider the EUV radiation field with contribution from discrete stellar sources and from a thermal bremsstrahlung-radiative recombination spectrum emitted from the surrounding 10 to the 6th power k coronal substrate. They establish lower limits to the fractional ionization of hydrogen and helium of 0.17 and 0.29 respectively. The high He ionization fraction results primarily from very strong line emission below 500 A originating in the surrounding coronal substrate while the H ionization is dominated by the EUV radiation from the discrete stellar sources. The dual effects of thermal conduction and the EUV spectrum of the 10 to the 6th k plasma on ionization in the cloud skin are explored. The EUV radiation field and Auger ionization have insignificant effects on the resulting ionic column densities of Si IV, C IV, N V and O VI through the cloud skin. Calculations show that the abundances of these species are dominated by collisional ionization in the thermal conduction front. Because of a low charge exchange rate with hydrogen, the ionic column density ratios of N (CIII)/N (CII) and N (NII)/N (NI) are dominated by the EUV radiation field in the local interstellar medium. These ratios should be important diagnostics for the EUV radiation field and serve as surrogate indicators of the interstellar He and H ionization fraction respectively. Spacecraft such as Lyman which is designed to obtain high resolution spectral data down to the Lyman limit at 912 A could sample interstellar lines of these ions.

Contamination control program for the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer instruments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ray, David C.; Malina, Roger F.; Welsh, Barry Y.; Austin, James D.; Teti, Bonnie Gray

1989-01-01

A contamination-control program has been instituted for the optical components of the EUV Explorer satellite, whose 80-900 A range performance is easily degraded by particulate and molecular contamination. Cleanliness requirements have been formulated for the design, fabrication, and test phases of these instruments; in addition, contamination-control steps have been taken which prominently include the isolation of sensitive components in a sealed optics cavity. Prelaunch monitoring systems encompass the use of quartz crystal microbalances, particle witness plates, direct flight hardware sampling, and optical witness sampling of EUV scattering and reflectivity.

Gibbsian segregating alloys driven by thermal and concentration gradients: A potential grazing collector optics used in EUV lithography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qiu, Huatan

A critical issue for EUV lithography is the minimization of collector degradation from intense plasma erosion and debris deposition. Reflectivity and lifetime of the collector optics will be heavily dependent on surface chemistry interactions between fuels and various mirror materials, in addition to high-energy ion and neutral particle erosion effects. An innovative Gibbsian segregation (GS) concept has been developed for being a self-healing, erosion-resistant collector optics. A Mo-Au GS alloy is developed on silicon using a DC dual-magnetron co-sputtering system in order for enhanced surface roughness properties, erosion resistance, and self-healing characteristics to maintain reflectivity over a longer period of mirror lifetime. A thin Au segregating layer will be maintained through segregation during exposure, even though overall erosion is taking place. The reflective material, Mo, underneath the segregating layer will be protected by this sacrificial layer which is lost due to preferential sputtering. The two dominant driving forces, thermal (temperature) and surface concentration gradient (surface removal flux), are the focus of this work. Both theoretical and experimental efforts have been performed to prove the effectiveness of the GS alloy used as EUV collection optics, and to elucidate the underlying physics behind it. The segregation diffusion, surface balance, erosion, and in-situ reflectivity will be investigated both qualitatively and quantitatively. Results show strong enhancement effect of temperature on GS performance, while only a weak effect of surface removal rate on GS performance. When equilibrium between GS and erosion is reached, the surface smoothness could be self-healed and reflectivity could be maintained at an equilibrium level, instead of continuously dropping down to an unacceptable level as conventional optic mirrors behave. GS process also shows good erosion resistance. The effectiveness of GS alloy as EUV mirror is dependent on the temperature and surface removal rate. The Mo-Au GS alloy could be effective at elevated temperature as the potential grazing mirror as EUV collector optics.

Improvements in resist performance towards EUV HVM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yildirim, Oktay; Buitrago, Elizabeth; Hoefnagels, Rik; Meeuwissen, Marieke; Wuister, Sander; Rispens, Gijsbert; van Oosten, Anton; Derks, Paul; Finders, Jo; Vockenhuber, Michaela; Ekinci, Yasin

2017-03-01

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography with 13.5 nm wavelength is the main option for sub-10nm patterning in the semiconductor industry. We report improvements in resist performance towards EUV high volume manufacturing. A local CD uniformity (LCDU) model is introduced and validated with experimental contact hole (CH) data. Resist performance is analyzed in terms of ultimate printing resolution (R), line width roughness (LWR), sensitivity (S), exposure latitude (EL) and depth of focus (DOF). Resist performance of dense lines at 13 nm half-pitch and beyond is shown by chemical amplified resist (CAR) and non-CAR (Inpria YA Series) on NXE scanner. Resolution down to 10nm half pitch (hp) is shown by Inpria YA Series resist exposed on interference lithography at the Paul Sherrer Institute. Contact holes contrast and consequent LCDU improvement is achieved on a NXE:3400 scanner by decreasing the pupil fill ratio. State-of-the-art imaging meets 5nm node requirements for CHs. A dynamic gas lock (DGL) membrane is introduced between projection optics box (POB) and wafer stage. The DGL membrane will suppress the negative impact of resist outgassing on the projection optics by 100%, enabling a wider range of resist materials to be used. The validated LCDU model indicates that the imaging requirements of the 3nm node can be met with single exposure using a high-NA EUV scanner. The current status, trends, and potential roadblocks for EUV resists are discussed. Our results mark the progress and the improvement points in EUV resist materials to support EUV ecosystem.

Latest developments on EUV reticle and pellicle research and technology at TNO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Verberk, Rogier; Koster, Norbert; te Sligte, Edwin; Staring, Wilbert

2017-06-01

At TNO an extensive EUV optics life time program has been running for over 15 years together with our partners ASML and Carl Zeiss. This has contributed to the upcoming introduction of EUV High Volume Manufacturing (HVM). To further help the industry with the introduction of EUV, TNO has worked on extending their facilities with a number of reticle and pellicle research infrastructure facilities. In this paper we will show some of the facilities that are available at TNO and shortly introduce their capabilities. Recently we have opened our EBL2 facility, which is an EUV Beam Line (EBL2) meant for studying the effects of high power EUV illumination on optics, reticles and pellicles up to the power roadmap of 500 W at intermediate Focus (IF). This facility is open to users from all over the world and is beneficial for the industry in helping developing alternative capping layers and contamination control strategies for optics lifetime, new absorber materials, pellicles and resists. The EBL2 system has seen first light in December 2016 and is now in the final stage of acceptance testing and qualification. It is expected that the system will be fully operational in the third quarter of 2017, and available for users. It is possible to transfer reticles to and from the EBL2 by means of the reticle handler using the dual pod interface. This secures backside cleanliness to NXE standards and thus enables wafer printing on a NXE tool in a later stage after the exposures and inspection at EBL2. Besides EBL2, a high performance and ultra-clean reticle handler is available at TNO. This handler incorporates our particle scanner Rapid Nano 4 for front side inspection of reticle blanks with a detection limit down to 20 nm particles. Attached to the handler is also an Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) inspection tool for back-side reticle or pellicle inspection with a resolution down to 1 micron.

Dual-domain lateral shearing interferometer

DOEpatents

Naulleau, Patrick P.; Goldberg, Kenneth Alan

2004-03-16

The phase-shifting point diffraction interferometer (PS/PDI) was developed to address the problem of at-wavelength metrology of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) optical systems. Although extremely accurate, the fact that the PS/PDI is limited to use with coherent EUV sources, such as undulator radiation, is a drawback for its widespread use. An alternative to the PS/PDI, with relaxed coherence requirements, is lateral shearing interferometry (LSI). The use of a cross-grating, carrier-frequency configuration to characterize a large-field 4.times.-reduction EUV lithography optic is demonstrated. The results obtained are directly compared with PS/PDI measurements. A defocused implementation of the lateral shearing interferometer in which an image-plane filter allows both phase-shifting and Fourier wavefront recovery. The two wavefront recovery methods can be combined in a dual-domain technique providing suppression of noise added by self-interference of high-frequency components in the test-optic wavefront.

Actinic defect counting statistics over 1-cm2 area of EUVL mask blank

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jeong, Seongtae; Lai, Chih-wei; Rekawa, Senajith; Walton, Christopher C.; Bokor, Jeffrey

2000-07-01

As a continuation of comparison experiments between EUV inspection and visible inspection of defects on EUVL mask blanks, we report on the result of an experiment where the EUV defect inspection tool is used to perform at-wavelength defect counting over 1 cm2 of EUVL mask blank. Initial EUV inspection found five defects over the scanned area and the subsequent optical scattering inspection was able to detect all of the five defects. Therefore, if there are any defects that are only detectable by EUV inspection, the density is lower than the order of unity per cm2. An upgrade path to substantially increase the overall throughput of the EUV inspection system is also identified in the manuscript.

Prospects of DUV OoB suppression techniques in EUV lithography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Chang-Min; Kim, Insung; Kim, Sang-Hyun; Kim, Dong-Wan; Hwang, Myung-Soo; Kang, Soon-Nam; Park, Cheolhong; Kim, Hyun-Woo; Yeo, Jeong-Ho; Kim, Seong-Sue

2014-04-01

Though scaling of source power is still the biggest challenge in EUV lithography (EUVL) technology era, CD and overlay controls for transistor's requirement are also precondition of adopting EUVL in mass production. Two kinds of contributors are identified as risks for CDU and Overlay: Infrared (IR) and deep ultraviolet (DUV) out of band (OOB) radiations from laser produced plasma (LPP) EUV source. IR from plasma generating CO2 laser that causes optics heating and wafer overlay error is well suppressed by introducing grating on collector to diffract IR off the optical axis and is the effect has been confirmed by operation of pre-production tool (NXE3100). EUV and DUV OOB which are reflected from mask black boarder (BB) are root causes of EUV-specific CD error at the boundaries of exposed shots which would result in the problem of CDU out of spec unless sufficiently suppressed. Therefore, control of DUV OOB reflection from the mask BB is one of the key technologies that must be developed prior to EUV mass production. In this paper, quantitative assessment on the advantage and the disadvantage of potential OOB solutions will be discussed. EUV and DUV OOB impacts on wafer CDs are measured from NXE3100 & NXE3300 experiments. Significant increase of DUV OOB impact on CD from NXE3300 compared with NXE3100 is observed. There are three ways of technology being developed to suppress DUV OOB: spectral purity filter (SPF) as a scanner solution, multi-layer etching as a solution on mask, and resist top-coating as a process solution. PROs and CONs of on-scanner, on-mask, and on-resist solution for the mass production of EUV lithography will be discussed.

Method for high-precision multi-layered thin film deposition for deep and extreme ultraviolet mirrors

DOEpatents

Ruffner, J.A.

1999-06-15

A method for coating (flat or non-flat) optical substrates with high-reflectivity multi-layer coatings for use at Deep Ultra-Violet (DUV) and Extreme Ultra-Violet (EUV) wavelengths. The method results in a product with minimum feature sizes of less than 0.10 [micro]m for the shortest wavelength (13.4 nm). The present invention employs a computer-based modeling and deposition method to enable lateral and vertical thickness control by scanning the position of the substrate with respect to the sputter target during deposition. The thickness profile of the sputter targets is modeled before deposition and then an appropriate scanning algorithm is implemented to produce any desired, radially-symmetric thickness profile. The present invention offers the ability to predict and achieve a wide range of thickness profiles on flat or figured substrates, i.e., account for 1/R[sup 2] factor in a model, and the ability to predict and accommodate changes in deposition rate as a result of plasma geometry, i.e., over figured substrates. 15 figs.

Objective for EUV microscopy, EUV lithography, and x-ray imaging

DOEpatents

Bitter, Manfred; Hill, Kenneth W.; Efthimion, Philip

2016-05-03

Disclosed is an imaging apparatus for EUV spectroscopy, EUV microscopy, EUV lithography, and x-ray imaging. This new imaging apparatus could, in particular, make significant contributions to EUV lithography at wavelengths in the range from 10 to 15 nm, which is presently being developed for the manufacturing of the next-generation integrated circuits. The disclosure provides a novel adjustable imaging apparatus that allows for the production of stigmatic images in x-ray imaging, EUV imaging, and EUVL. The imaging apparatus of the present invention incorporates additional properties compared to previously described objectives. The use of a pair of spherical reflectors containing a concave and convex arrangement has been applied to a EUV imaging system to allow for the image and optics to all be placed on the same side of a vacuum chamber. Additionally, the two spherical reflector segments previously described have been replaced by two full spheres or, more precisely, two spherical annuli, so that the total photon throughput is largely increased. Finally, the range of permissible Bragg angles and possible magnifications of the objective has been largely increased.

Control of the sidewall angle of an absorber stack using the Faraday cage system for the change of pattern printability in EUVL

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jang, Il-Yong; Huh, Sung-Min; Moon, Seong-Yong; Woo, Sang-Gyun; Lee, Jin-Kwan; Moon, Sang Heup; Cho, HanKu

2008-10-01

A patterned TaN substrate, which is candidate for a mask absorber in extreme ultra-violet lithography (EUVL), was etched to have inclined sidewalls by using a Faraday cage system under the condition of a 2-step process that allowed the high etch selectivity of TaN over the resist. The sidewall angle (SWA) of the patterned substrate, which was in the shape of a parallelogram after etching, could be controlled by changing the slope of a substrate holder that was placed in the Faraday cage. The performance of an EUV mask, which contained the TaN absorber of an oblique pattern over the molybdenum/silicon multi-layer, was simulated for different cases of SWA. The results indicated that the optical properties, such as the critical dimension (CD), an offset in the CD bias between horizontal and vertical patterns (H-V bias), and a shift in the image position on the wafer, could be controlled by changing the SWA of the absorber stack. The simulation result showed that the effect of the SWA on the optical properties became more significant at larger thicknesses of the absorber and smaller sizes of the target CD. Nevertheless, the contrast of the aerial images was not significantly decreased because the shadow effect caused by either sidewall of the patterned substrate cancelled with each other.

Surface phenomena related to mirror degradation in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Madey, Theodore E.; Faradzhev, Nadir S.; Yakshinskiy, Boris V.; Edwards, N. V.

2006-12-01

One of the most promising methods for next generation device manufacturing is extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, which uses 13.5 nm wavelength radiation generated from freestanding plasma-based sources. The short wavelength of the incident illumination allows for a considerable decrease in printed feature size, but also creates a range of technological challenges not present for traditional optical lithography. Contamination and oxidation form on multilayer reflecting optics surfaces that not only reduce system throughput because of the associated reduction in EUV reflectivity, but also introduce wavefront aberrations that compromise the ability to print uniform features. Capping layers of ruthenium, films ∼2 nm thick, are found to extend the lifetime of Mo/Si multilayer mirrors used in EUV lithography applications. However, reflectivities of even the Ru-coated mirrors degrade in time during exposure to EUV radiation. Ruthenium surfaces are chemically reactive and are very effective as heterogeneous catalysts. In the present paper we summarize the thermal and radiation-induced surface chemistry of bare Ru exposed to gases; the emphasis is on H2O vapor, a dominant background gas in vacuum processing chambers. Our goal is to provide insights into the fundamental physical processes that affect the reflectivity of Ru-coated Mo/Si multilayer mirrors exposed to EUV radiation. Our ultimate goal is to identify and recommend practices or antidotes that may extend mirror lifetimes.

Ionization in the local interstellar and intergalactic media

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cheng, K.

1990-01-01

Detailed photoionization calculations for the local interstellar medium (LISM) and the intergalactic medium (IGM) are presented. Constraints in the LISM are imposed by H I column density derived from IUE and Copernicus data toward nearby B stars and hot white dwarfs. The EUV radiation field is modeled including contributions from discrete stellar sources and from a thermal bremsstrahlung-radiative recombination spectrum emitted from the surrounding 10(exp 6) K coronal substrate. Lower limits to the fractional ionization of hydrogen and helium of 0.17 and 0.30 respectively are established. The derived limits have important implications for the interpretation of the H I andmore » He I backscattering results. The high He ionization fraction results primarily from very strong line emission below 500 A originating in the surrounding coronal substrate while the H ionization is dominated by the EUV radiation from the discrete stellar sources. The dual effects of thermal conduction and the EUV spectrum of the 10(exp 6) K plasma on ionization in the cloud skin are explored. The EUV radiation field and Auger ionization have insignificant effects on the resulting ionic column densities of Si IV, C IV, N V and O VI through the cloud skin. Calculations show that the abundances of these species are dominated by collisional ionization in the thermal conduction front. Because of a low charge exchange rate with hydrogen, the ionic column density ratios of N(C III)/N(C II) and N(N II)/N(N I) are dominated by the EUV radiation field in the local interstellar medium. These ratios should be important diagnostics for the EUV radiation field and serve as surrogate indicators of the interstellar He and H ionization fraction respectively. The same photoionization model is applied to the intergalactic medium.« less

The creation of radiation dominated plasmas using laboratory extreme ultra-violet lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tallents, G. J.; Wilson, S.; West, A.; Aslanyan, V.; Lolley, J.; Rossall, A. K.

2017-06-01

Ionization in experiments where solid targets are irradiated by high irradiance extreme ultra-violet (EUV) lasers is examined. Free electron degeneracy effects on ionization in the presence of a high EUV flux of radiation is shown to be important. Overlap of the physics of such plasmas with plasma material under compression in indirect inertial fusion is explored. The design of the focusing optics needed to achieve high irradiance (up to 1014 Wcm-2) using an EUV capillary laser is presented.

In orbit degradation of EUV optical components in the wavelength range 10-40 nm AO 138-3

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Delaboudiniere, J. P.; Carabetian, C.; Hochedez, J. F.

1993-01-01

A complement of EUV optical components, including mirrors and thin film filters, was flown as part of the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) AO 138-3. The most original amongst these components were multilayered interference reflectors for the 10-40 nm wavelength range. Very moderate degradation was observed for those components which were exposed to the sun. The degradation is compatible with the deposition of a few nanometers of absorbing material on the surface of the samples.

RE 1016-053 - A pre-cataclysmic binary, and the first extreme ultraviolet and X-ray detections of a DAO white dwarf

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tweedy, R. W.; Holberg, J. B.; Barstow, M. A.; Bergeron, P.; Grauer, A. D.; Liebert, James; Fleming, T. A.

1993-01-01

Photometric observations and analysis of the optical, UV, EUV, and X-ray spectra are presented for the EUV/X-ray source RE 1016-53. Multiwavelength observations of RE 1016-53 point out that it is a precataclysmic binary. Optical spectra exhibit the steep blue continuum and Balmer absorption typical of a hot white dwarf, but there are bright, narrow emission lines of H I, He I, and Ca II superimposed on this. The white dwarf component, with T (eff) = 55,800 +/- 1000 K and log g = 7.81 +/- 0.007, dominates the spectrum from the optical to the EUV/X-ray. An He II 4686 A absorption line suggests that the white dwarf is a hydrogen-helium (DAO) hybrid star. Four of the five precataclysmic binaries with white dwarfs with T(eff) greater than 40,000 K appear to be DAOs. A mass of 0.57 +/- 0.003 solar mass has been derived.

Efficient extreme-UV-to-extreme-UV conversion by four-wave mixing with intense near-IR pulses in highly charged ion plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chu, Hsu-hsin; Wang, Jyhpyng

2018-05-01

Nonlinear optics in the extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) has been limited by lack of transparent media and small conversion efficiency. To overcome this problem we explore the advantage of using multiply charged ion plasmas as the interacting media between EUV and intense near-infrared (NIR) pulses. Such media are transparent to EUV and can withstand intense NIR driving pulses without damage. We calculate the third-order nonlinear polarizabilities of Ar2 + and Ar3 + ions for EUV and NIR four-wave mixing by using the well-proven Cowan code and find that the EUV-to-EUV conversion efficiency as high as 26% can be expected for practical experimental configurations using multi-terawatt NIR lasers. Such a high efficiency is possible because the driving pulse intensity can be scaled up to several orders of magnitude higher than in conventional nonlinear media, and the group-velocity and phase mismatch are insignificant at the experimental plasma densities. This effective scheme of wave mixing can be utilized for ultrafast EUV waveform measurement and control as well as wavelength conversion.

Bottom Extreme-Ultraviolet-Sensitive Coating for Evaluation of the Absorption Coefficient of Ultrathin Film

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hijikata, Hayato; Kozawa, Takahiro; Tagawa, Seiichi; Takei, Satoshi

2009-06-01

A bottom extreme-ultraviolet-sensitive coating (BESC) for evaluation of the absorption coefficients of ultrathin films such as extreme ultraviolet (EUV) resists was developed. This coating consists of a polymer, crosslinker, acid generator, and acid-responsive chromic dye and is formed by a conventional spin-coating method. By heating the film after spin-coating, a crosslinking reaction is induced and the coating becomes insoluble. A typical resist solution can be spin-coated on a substrate covered with the coating film. The evaluation of the linear absorption coefficients of polymer films was demonstrated by measuring the EUV absorption of BESC substrates on which various polymers were spin-coated.

Study on the lifetime of Mo/Si multilayer optics with pulsed EUV-source at the ETS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schürmann, Mark; Yulin, Sergiy; Nesterenko, Viatcheslav; Feigl, Torsten; Kaiser, Norbert; Tkachenko, Boris; Schürmann, Max C.

2011-06-01

As EUV lithography is on its way into production stage, studies of optics contamination and cleaning under realistic conditions become more and more important. Due to this fact an Exposure Test Stand (ETS) has been constructed at XTREME technologies GmbH in collaboration with Fraunhofer IOF and with financial support of Intel Corporation. This test stand is equipped with a pulsed DPP source and allows for the simultaneous exposure of several samples. In the standard set-up four samples with an exposed area larger than 35 mm2 per sample can be exposed at a homogeneous intensity of 0.25 mW/mm2. A recent update of the ETS allows for simultaneous exposures of two samples with intensities up to 1.0 mW/mm2. The first application of this alternative set-up was a comparative study of carbon contamination rates induced by EUV radiation from the pulsed source with contamination rates induced by quasicontinuous synchrotron radiation. A modified gas-inlet system allows for the introduction of a second gas to the exposure chamber. This possibility was applied to investigate the efficiency of EUV-induced cleaning with different gas mixtures. In particular the enhancement of EUV-induced cleaning by addition of a second gas to the cleaning gas was studied.

Extending CO2 cryogenic aerosol cleaning for advanced optical and EUV mask cleaning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Varghese, Ivin; Bowers, Charles W.; Balooch, Mehdi

2011-11-01

Cryogenic CO2 aerosol cleaning being a dry, chemically-inert and residue-free process is used in the production of optical lithography masks. It is an attractive cleaning option for the mask industry to achieve the requirement for removal of all printable soft defects and repair debris down to the 50nm printability specification. In the technique, CO2 clusters are formed by sudden expansion of liquid from high to almost atmospheric pressure through an optimally designed nozzle orifice. They are then directed on to the soft defects or debris for momentum transfer and subsequent damage free removal from the mask substrate. Unlike aggressive acid based wet cleaning, there is no degradation of the mask after processing with CO2, i.e., no critical dimension (CD) change, no transmission/phase losses, or chemical residue that leads to haze formation. Therefore no restriction on number of cleaning cycles is required to be imposed, unlike other cleaning methods. CO2 aerosol cleaning has been implemented for several years as full mask final clean in production environments at several state of the art mask shops. Over the last two years our group reported successful removal of all soft defects without damage to the fragile SRAF features, zero adders (from the cleaning and handling mechanisms) down to a 50nm printability specification. In addition, CO2 aerosol cleaning is being utilized to remove debris from Post-RAVE repair of hard defects in order to achieve the goal of no printable defects. It is expected that CO2 aerosol cleaning can be extended to extreme ultraviolet (EUV) masks. In this paper, we report advances being made in nozzle design qualification for optimum snow properties (size, velocity and flux) using Phase Doppler Anemometry (PDA) technique. In addition the two new areas of focus for CO2 aerosol cleaning i.e. pellicle glue residue removal on optical masks, and ruthenium (Ru) film on EUV masks are presented. Usually, the residue left over after the pellicle has been removed from returned masks (after long term usage/exposure in the wafer fab), requires a very aggressive SPM wet clean, that drastically reduces the available budget for mask properties (CD, phase/transmission). We show that CO2aerosol cleaning can be utilized to remove the bulk of the glue residue effectively, while preserving the mask properties. This application required a differently designed nozzle to impart the required removal force for the sticky glue residue. A new nozzle was developed and qualified that resulted in PRE in the range of 92-98%. Results also include data on a patterned mask that was exposed in a lithography stepper in a wafer production environment. On EUV mask, our group has experimentally demonstrated that 50 CO2 cleaning cycles of Ru film on the EUV Front-side resulted in no appreciable reflectivity change, implying that no degradation of the Ru film occurs.

Method for the manufacture of phase shifting masks for EUV lithography

DOEpatents

Stearns, Daniel G.; Sweeney, Donald W.; Mirkarimi, Paul B.; Barty, Anton

2006-04-04

A method for fabricating an EUV phase shift mask is provided that includes a substrate upon which is deposited a thin film multilayer coating that has a complex-valued reflectance. An absorber layer or a buffer layer is attached onto the thin film multilayer, and the thickness of the thin film multilayer coating is altered to introduce a direct modulation in the complex-valued reflectance to produce phase shifting features.

Interferometric at-wavelength flare characterization of EUV optical systems

DOEpatents

Naulleau, Patrick P.; Goldberg, Kenneth Alan

2001-01-01

The extreme ultraviolet (EUV) phase-shifting point diffraction interferometer (PS/PDI) provides the high-accuracy wavefront characterization critical to the development of EUV lithography systems. Enhancing the implementation of the PS/PDI can significantly extend its spatial-frequency measurement bandwidth. The enhanced PS/PDI is capable of simultaneously characterizing both wavefront and flare. The enhanced technique employs a hybrid spatial/temporal-domain point diffraction interferometer (referred to as the dual-domain PS/PDI) that is capable of suppressing the scattered-reference-light noise that hinders the conventional PS/PDI. Using the dual-domain technique in combination with a flare-measurement-optimized mask and an iterative calculation process for removing flare contribution caused by higher order grating diffraction terms, the enhanced PS/PDI can be used to simultaneously measure both figure and flare in optical systems.

High efficiency spectrographs for the EUV and soft X-rays

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cash, W.

1983-01-01

The use of grazing incidence optics and reflection grating designs is shown to be a method that improves the performance of spectrographs at wavelengths shorter than 1200 A. Emphasis is laid on spectroscopic designs for X ray and EUV astronomy, with sample designs for an objective reflection grating spectrograph (ORGS) and an echelle spectrograph for wavelengths longer than 100 A. Conical diffraction allows operations at grazing incidence in the echelle spectrograph. In ORGS, the extreme distance of X ray objects aids in collimating the source radiation, which encounters conical diffraction within the instrument, proceeds parallel to the optical axis, and arrives at the detector. A series of gratings is used to achieve the effect. A grazing echelle is employed for EUV observations, and offers a resolution of 20,000 over a 300 A bandpass.

Bidirectional reflectance distribution function of diffuse extreme ultraviolet scatterers and extreme ultraviolet baffle materials.

PubMed

Newell, M P; Keski-Kuha, R A

1997-08-01

Bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) measurements of a number of diffuse extreme ultraviolet (EUV) scatterers and EUV baffle materials have been performed with the Goddard EUV scatterometer. BRDF data are presented for white Spectralon SRS-99 at 121.6 nm; the data exhibit a non-Lambertian nature and a total hemispherical reflectance lower than 0.15. Data are also presented for an evaporated Cu black sample, a black Spectralon SRS-02 sample, and a Martin Optical Black sample at wavelengths of 58.4 and 121.6 nm and for angles of incidence of 15 degrees and 45 degrees. Overall Martin Optical Black exhibited the lowest BRDF characteristic, with a total hemispherical reflectance of the order of 0.01 and measured BRDF values as low as 2 x 10(-3) sr(-1).

Actinic imaging and evaluation of phase structures on EUV lithography masks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mochi, Iacopo; Goldberg, Kenneth; Huh, Sungmin

2010-09-28

The authors describe the implementation of a phase-retrieval algorithm to reconstruct phase and complex amplitude of structures on EUV lithography masks. Many native defects commonly found on EUV reticles are difficult to detect and review accurately because they have a strong phase component. Understanding the complex amplitude of mask features is essential for predictive modeling of defect printability and defect repair. Besides printing in a stepper, the most accurate way to characterize such defects is with actinic inspection, performed at the design, EUV wavelength. Phase defect and phase structures show a distinct through-focus behavior that enables qualitative evaluation of themore » object phase from two or more high-resolution intensity measurements. For the first time, phase of structures and defects on EUV masks were quantitatively reconstructed based on aerial image measurements, using a modified version of a phase-retrieval algorithm developed to test optical phase shifting reticles.« less

Wolter-Schwarzschild optics for the extreme-ultraviolet - The Berkeley stellar spectrometer and the EUV Explorer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Malina, R. F.; Bowyer, S.; Finley, D.; Cash, W.

1979-01-01

The design, fabrication and performance of two Wolter-Schwarzschild grazing incidence optics are described. Both telescopes have been figured by single point diamond turning and have achieved better than 15-arcsec on-axis imaging. The telescope for the stellar spectrometer is an f/10 Type II system with an effective area of 225 sq cm at 250 A and 300 cm2 at 500 A. The primary has a maximum diameter of 38 cm and was fabricated in three elements. The copper-plated aluminum substrate was diamond turned; following nickel plating, the surface was polished and coated with evaporated gold. The performance during a sounding rocket flight is discussed. The prototype telescope for the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer is an f/1.24 Type I system with an effective field of view of 5.0-deg diameter. The telescope has a maximum diameter of 40 cm and was fabricated as a single element. The aluminum substrate is to be diamond turned; the nickel plated surface will be polished and electroplated with gold. The design choice and defocusing optimization aimed at maximizing the field of view and number of image pixels is examined.

Nanoplasmonic generation of ultrashort EUV pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choi, Joonhee; Lee, Dong-Hyub; Han, Seunghwoi; Park, In-Yong; Kim, Seungchul; Kim, Seung-Woo

2012-10-01

Ultrashort extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) light pulses are an important tool for time-resolved pump-probe spectroscopy to investigate the ultrafast dynamics of electrons in atoms and molecules. Among several methods available to generate ultrashort EUV light pulses, the nonlinear frequency upconversion process of high-harmonic generation (HHG) draws attention as it is capable of producing coherent EUV pulses with precise control of burst timing with respect to the driving near-infrared (NIR) femtosecond laser. In this report, we present and discuss our recent experimental data obtained by the plasmon-driven HHG method that generate EUV radiation by means of plasmonic nano-focusing of NIR femtosecond pulses. For experiment, metallic waveguides having a tapered hole of funnel shape inside were fabricated by adopting the focused-ion-beam process on a micro-cantilever substrate. The plasmonic field formed within the funnelwaveguides being coupled with the incident femtosecond pulse permitted intensity enhancement by a factor of ~350, which creates a hot spot of sub-wavelength size with intensities strong enough for HHG. Experimental results showed that with injection of noble gases into the funnel-waveguides, EUV radiation is generated up to wavelengths of 32 nm and 29.6 nm from Ar and Ne gas atoms, respectively. Further, it was observed that lower-order EUV harmonics are cut off in the HHG spectra by the tiny exit aperture of the funnel-waveguide.

EUV multilayer coatings for the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly instrument aboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Soufli, R; Windt, D L; Robinson, J C

2006-02-09

Multilayer coatings for the 7 EUV channels of the AIA have been developed and completed successfully on all AIA flight mirrors. Mo/Si coatings (131, 171, 193.5, 211 {angstrom}) were deposited at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Mg/SiC (304, 335 {angstrom}) and Mo/Y (94 {angstrom}) coatings were deposited at Columbia University. EUV reflectance of the 131/335 {angstrom}, 171 {angstrom}, 193.5/211 {angstrom} primary and secondary flight mirrors and the 94/304 {angstrom} secondary flight mirror was measured at beamline 6.3.2. of the Advanced Light Source (ALS) at LBNL. EUV reflectance of the 94/304 {angstrom} primary and secondary flight mirrors was measured at beamlinemore » X24C of the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) at Brookhaven National Lab. Preliminary EUV reflectance measurements of the 94, 304 and 335 {angstrom} coatings were performed with a laser plasma source reflectometer located at Columbia University. Prior to multilayer coating, Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) characterization and cleaning of all flight substrates was performed at LLNL.« less

Toward compact and ultra-intense laser driven soft x-ray lasers (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sebban, Stéphane

2017-05-01

We report here recent work on an optical-field ionized (OFI), high-order harmonic-seeded EUV laser. The amplifying medium is a plasma of nickel-like krypton obtained by optical field ionization focusing a 1 J, 30 fs, circularly- polarized, infrared pulse into a krypton-filled gas cell or krypton gas jet. The lasing transition is the 3d94p (J=0) --> 3d94p (J=1) transition of Ni-like krypton ions at 32.8 nm and is pumped by collisions with hot electrons. The polarization of the HH-seeded EUV laser beam was studied using an analyzer composed of three grazing incidence EUV multilayer mirrors able to spin under vacuum. For linear polarization, the Malus law has been recovered while in the case of a circularly-polarized seed, the EUV signal is insensitive to the rotation of the analyzer, bearing testimony to circularly polarized. The gain dynamics was probed by seeding the amplifier with a high-order harmonic pulse at different delays. The gain duration monotonically decreased from 7 ps to an unprecedented shortness of 450 fs FWHM as the amplification peak rose from 150 to 1,200 with an increase of the plasma density from 3 × 1018 cm-3 up to 1.2 × 1020 cm-3. The integrated energy of the EUV laser pulse was also measured, and found to be around 2 μJ. It is to be noted that in the ASE mode, longer amplifiers were achieved (up to 3 cm), yielding EUV outputs up to 14 μJ.

Particle control near reticle and optics using showerhead

DOEpatents

Delgado, Gildardo R.; Chilese, Frank; Garcia, Rudy; Torczynski, John R.; Geller, Anthony S.; Rader, Daniel J.; Klebanoff, Leonard E.; Gallis, Michail A.

2016-01-26

A method and an apparatus to protect a reticle against particles and chemicals in an actinic EUV reticle inspection tool are presented. The method and apparatus utilizes a pair of porous metal diffusers in the form of showerheads to provide a continual flow of clean gas. The main showerhead bathes the reticle surface to be inspected in smoothly flowing, low pressure gas, isolating it from particles coming from surrounding volumes. The secondary showerhead faces away from the reticle and toward the EUV illumination and projection optics, supplying them with purge gas while at the same time creating a buffer zone that is kept free of any particle contamination originating from those optics.

Removal of Tin from Extreme Ultraviolet Collector Optics by an In-Situ Hydrogen Plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elg, Daniel Tyler

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, as the semiconductor industry upheld Moore's Law and continuously shrank device feature sizes, the wavelength of the lithography source remained at or below the resolution limit of the minimum feature size. Since 2001, however, the light source has been the 193nm ArF excimer laser. While the industry has managed to keep up with Moore's Law, shrinking feature sizes without shrinking the lithographic wavelength has required extra innovations and steps that increase fabrication time, cost, and error. These innovations include immersion lithography and double patterning. Currently, the industry is at the 14 nm technology node. Thus, the minimum feature size is an order of magnitude below the exposure wavelength. For the 10 nm node, triple and quadruple patterning have been proposed, causing potentially even more cost, fabrication time, and error. Such a trend cannot continue indefinitely in an economic fashion, and it is desirable to decrease the wavelength of the lithography sources. Thus, much research has been invested in extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL), which uses 13.5 nm light. While much progress has been made in recent years, some challenges must still be solved in order to yield a throughput high enough for EUVL to be commercially viable for high-volume manufacturing (HVM). One of these problems is collector contamination. Due to the 92 eV energy of a 13.5 nm photon, EUV light must be made by a plasma, rather than by a laser. Specifically, the industrially-favored EUV source topology is to irradiate a droplet of molten Sn with a laser, creating a dense, hot laser-produced plasma (LPP) and ionizing the Sn to (on average) the +10 state. Additionally, no materials are known to easily transmit EUV. All EUV light must be collected by a collector optic mirror, which cannot be guarded by a window. The plasmas used in EUV lithography sources expel Sn ions and neutrals, which degrade the quality of collector optics. The mitigation of this debris is one of the main problems facing potential manufacturers of EUV sources. which can damage the collector optic in three ways: sputtering, implantation, and deposition. The first two damage processes are irreversible and are caused by the high energies (1-10 keV) of the ion debris. Debris mitigation methods have largely managed to reduce this problem by using collisions with H2 buffer gas to slow down the energetic ions. However, deposition can take place at all ion and neutral energies, and no mitigation method can deterministically deflect all neutrals away from the collector. Thus, deposition still takes place, lowering the collector reflectivity and increasing the time needed to deliver enough EUV power to pattern a wafer. Additionally, even once EUV reaches HVM insertion, source power will need to be continually increased as feature sizes continue to shrink; this increase in source power may potentially come at a cost of increased debris. Thus, debris mitigation solutions that work for the initial generation of commercial EUVL systems may not be adequate for future generations. An in-situ technology to clean collector optics without source downtime is required. which will require an in-situ technology to clean collector optics. The novel cleaning solution described in this work is to create the radicals directly on the collector surface by using the collector itself to drive a capacitively-coupled hydrogen plasma. This allows for radical creation at the desired location without requiring any delivery system and without requiring any source downtime. Additionally, the plasma provides energetic radicals that aid in the etching process. This work will focus on two areas. First, it will focus on experimental collector cleaning and EUV reflectivity restoration. Second, it will focus on developing an understanding of the fundamental processes governing Sn removal. It will be shown that this plasma technique can clean an entire collector optic and restore EUV reflectivity to MLMs without damaging them. Additionally, it will be shown that, within the parameter space explored, the limiting factor in Sn etching is not hydrogen radical flux or SnH4 decomposition but ion energy flux. This will be backed up by experimental measurements, as well as a plasma chemistry model of the radical density and a 3D model of SnH4 transport and redeposition.

EUV high resolution imager on-board solar orbiter: optical design and detector performances

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Halain, J. P.; Mazzoli, A.; Rochus, P.; Renotte, E.; Stockman, Y.; Berghmans, D.; BenMoussa, A.; Auchère, F.

2017-11-01

The EUV high resolution imager (HRI) channel of the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) on-board Solar Orbiter will observe the solar atmospheric layers at 17.4 nm wavelength with a 200 km resolution. The HRI channel is based on a compact two mirrors off-axis design. The spectral selection is obtained by a multilayer coating deposited on the mirrors and by redundant Aluminum filters rejecting the visible and infrared light. The detector is a 2k x 2k array back-thinned silicon CMOS-APS with 10 μm pixel pitch, sensitive in the EUV wavelength range. Due to the instrument compactness and the constraints on the optical design, the channel performance is very sensitive to the manufacturing, alignments and settling errors. A trade-off between two optical layouts was therefore performed to select the final optical design and to improve the mirror mounts. The effect of diffraction by the filter mesh support and by the mirror diffusion has been included in the overall error budget. Manufacturing of mirror and mounts has started and will result in thermo-mechanical validation on the EUI instrument structural and thermal model (STM). Because of the limited channel entrance aperture and consequently the low input flux, the channel performance also relies on the detector EUV sensitivity, readout noise and dynamic range. Based on the characterization of a CMOS-APS back-side detector prototype, showing promising results, the EUI detector has been specified and is under development. These detectors will undergo a qualification program before being tested and integrated on the EUI instrument.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chilese, Francis C.; Torczynski, John R.; Garcia, Rudy

An apparatus for use with extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light comprising A) a duct having a first end opening, a second end opening and an intermediate opening intermediate the first end opening the second end opening, B) an optical component disposed to receive EUV light from the second end opening or to send light through the second end opening, and C) a source of low pressure gas at a first pressure to flow through the duct, the gas having a high transmission of EUV light, fluidly coupled to the intermediate opening. In addition to or rather than gas flow the apparatusmore » may have A) a low pressure gas with a heat control unit thermally coupled to at least one of the duct and the optical component and/or B) a voltage device to generate voltage between a first portion and a second portion of the duet with a grounded insulative portion therebetween.« less

Alignment of a multilayer-coated imaging system using extreme ultraviolet Foucault and Ronchi interferometric testing

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ray-Chaudhuri, A.K.; Ng, W.; Cerrina, F.

1995-11-01

Multilayer-coated imaging systems for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography at 13 nm represent a significant challenge for alignment and characterization. The standard practice of utilizing visible light interferometry fundamentally provides an incomplete picture since this technique fails to account for phase effects induced by the multilayer coating. Thus the development of optical techniques at the functional EUV wavelength is required. We present the development of two EUV optical tests based on Foucault and Ronchi techniques. These relatively simple techniques are extremely sensitive due to the factor of 50 reduction in wavelength. Both techniques were utilized to align a Mo--Si multilayer-coated Schwarzschildmore » camera. By varying the illumination wavelength, phase shift effects due to the interplay of multilayer coating and incident angle were uniquely detected. {copyright} {ital 1995} {ital American} {ital Vacuum} {ital Society}« less

A rare gas optics-free absolute photon flux and energy analyzer to provide absolute photoionization rates of inflowing interstellar neutrals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Judge, Darrell L.

1994-01-01

A prototype spectrometer has been developed for space applications requiring long term absolute EUV photon flux measurements. The energy spectrum of the incoming photons is transformed directly into an electron energy spectrum by taking advantage of the photoelectric effect in one of several rare gases at low pressures. Using an electron energy spectrometer, followed by an electron multiplier detector, pulses due to individual electrons are counted. The overall efficiency of this process can be made essentially independent of gain drifts in the signal path, and the secular degradation of optical components which is often a problem in other techniques is avoided. A very important feature of this approach is its freedom from the problem of overlapping spectral orders that plagues grating EUV spectrometers. An instrument with these features has not been flown before, but is essential to further advances in our understanding of solar EUV flux dynamics, and the coupled dynamics of terrestrial and planetary atmospheres. The detailed characteristics of this optics-free spectrometer are presented in the publications section.

A rare gas optics-free absolute photon flux and energy analyzer for solar and planetary observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Judge, Darrell L.

1994-01-01

We have developed a prototype spectrometer for space applications requiring long term absolute EUV photon flux measurements. In this recently developed spectrometer, the energy spectrum of the incoming photons is transformed directly into an electron energy spectrum by taking advantage of the photoelectric effect in one of several rare gases at low pressures. Using an electron energy spectrometer, followed by an electron multiplier detector, pulses due to individual electrons are counted. The overall efficiency of this process can be made essentially independent of gain drifts in the signal path, and the secular degradation of optical components which is often a problem in other techniques is avoided. A very important feature of this approach is its freedom from the problem of overlapping spectral orders that plagues grating EUV spectrometers. An instrument with these features has not been flown before, but is essential to further advances in our understanding of solar EUV flux dynamics, and the coupled dynamics of terrestrial and planetary atmospheres. The detailed characteristics of this optics-free spectrometer are presented in the publications section.

Correlation of experimentally measured atomic scale properties of EUV photoresist to modeling performance: an exploration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kandel, Yudhishthir; Chandonait, Jonathan; Melvin, Lawrence S.; Marokkey, Sajan; Yan, Qiliang; Grzeskowiak, Steven; Painter, Benjamin; Denbeaux, Gregory

2017-03-01

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography at 13.5 nm stands at the crossroads of next generation patterning technology for high volume manufacturing of integrated circuits. Photo resist models that form the part of overall pattern transform model for lithography play a vital role in supporting this effort. The physics and chemistry of these resists must be understood to enable the construction of accurate models for EUV Optical Proximity Correction (OPC). In this study, we explore the possibility of improving EUV photo-resist models by directly correlating the parameters obtained from experimentally measured atomic scale physical properties; namely, the effect of interaction of EUV photons with photo acid generators in standard chemically amplified EUV photoresist, and associated electron energy loss events. Atomic scale physical properties will be inferred from the measurements carried out in Electron Resist Interaction Chamber (ERIC). This study will use measured physical parameters to establish a relationship with lithographically important properties, such as line edge roughness and CD variation. The data gathered from these measurements is used to construct OPC models of the resist.

Spectroscopy of Highly Charged Tin Ions for AN Extreme Ultraviolet Light Source for Lithography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Torretti, Francesco; Windberger, Alexander; Ubachs, Wim; Hoekstra, Ronnie; Versolato, Oscar; Ryabtsev, Alexander; Borschevsky, Anastasia; Berengut, Julian; Crespo Lopez-Urrutia, Jose

2017-06-01

Laser-produced tin plasmas are the prime candidates for the generation of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light around 13.5 nm in nanolithographic applications. This light is generated primarily by atomic transitions in highly charged tin ions: Sn^{8+}-Sn^{14+}. Due to the electronic configurations of these charge states, thousands of atomic lines emit around 13.5 nm, clustered in a so-called unresolved transition array. As a result, accurate line identification becomes difficult in this regime. Nevertheless, this issue can be circumvented if one turns to the optical: with far fewer atomic states, only tens of transitions take place and the spectra can be resolved with far more ease. We have investigated optical emission lines in an electron-beam-ion-trap (EBIT), where we managed to charge-state resolve the spectra. Based on this technique and on a number of different ab initio techniques for calculating the level structure, the optical spectra could be assigned [1,2]. As a conclusion the assignments of EUV transitions in the literature require corrections. The EUV and optical spectra are measured simultaneously in the controlled conditions of the EBIT as well as in a droplet-based laser-produced plasma source providing information on the contribution of Sn^{q+} charge states to the EUV emission. [1] A. Windberger, F. Torretti, A. Borschevsky, A. Ryabtsev, S. Dobrodey, H. Bekker, E. Eliav, U. Kaldor, W. Ubachs, R. Hoekstra, J.R. Crespo Lopez-Urrutia, O.O. Versolato, Analysis of the fine structure of Sn^{11+} - Sn^{14+} ions by optical spectroscopy in an electron beam ion trap, Phys. Rev. A 94, 012506 (2016). [2] F. Torretti, A. Windberger, A. Ryabtsev, S. Dobrodey, H. Bekker, W. Ubachs, R. Hoekstra, E.V. Kahl, J.C. Berengut, J.R. Crespo Lopez-Urrutia, O.O. Versolato, Optical spectroscopy of complex open 4d-shell ions Sn^{7+} - Sn^{10+}, arXiv:1612.00747

Berkeley extreme-ultraviolet airglow rocket spectrometer - BEARS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cotton, D. M.; Chakrabarti, S.

1992-01-01

The Berkeley EUV airglow rocket spectrometer (BEARS) instrument is described. The instrument was designed in particular to measure the dominant lines of atomic oxygen in the FUV and EUV dayglow at 1356, 1304, 1027, and 989 A, which is the ultimate source of airglow emissions. The optical and mechanical design of the instrument, the detector, electronics, calibration, flight operations, and results are examined.

EUVS Sounding Rocket Payload

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stern, Alan S.

1996-01-01

During the first half of this year (CY 1996), the EUVS project began preparations of the EUVS payload for the upcoming NASA sounding rocket flight 36.148CL, slated for launch on July 26, 1996 to observe and record a high-resolution (approx. 2 A FWHM) EUV spectrum of the planet Venus. These preparations were designed to improve the spectral resolution and sensitivity performance of the EUVS payload as well as prepare the payload for this upcoming mission. The following is a list of the EUVS project activities that have taken place since the beginning of this CY: (1) Applied a fresh, new SiC optical coating to our existing 2400 groove/mm grating to boost its reflectivity; (2) modified the Ranicon science detector to boost its detective quantum efficiency with the addition of a repeller grid; (3) constructed a new entrance slit plane to achieve 2 A FWHM spectral resolution; (4) prepared and held the Payload Initiation Conference (PIC) with the assigned NASA support team from Wallops Island for the upcoming 36.148CL flight (PIC held on March 8, 1996; see Attachment A); (5) began wavelength calibration activities of EUVS in the laboratory; (6) made arrangements for travel to WSMR to begin integration activities in preparation for the July 1996 launch; (7) paper detailing our previous EUVS Venus mission (NASA flight 36.117CL) published in Icarus (see Attachment B); and (8) continued data analysis of the previous EUVS mission 36.137CL (Spica occultation flight).

Update on EUV radiometry at PTB

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laubis, Christian; Barboutis, Annett; Buchholz, Christian; Fischer, Andreas; Haase, Anton; Knorr, Florian; Mentzel, Heiko; Puls, Jana; Schönstedt, Anja; Sintschuk, Michael; Soltwisch, Victor; Stadelhoff, Christian; Scholze, Frank

2016-03-01

The development of technology infrastructure for EUV Lithography (EUVL) still requires higher levels of technology readiness in many fields. A large number of new materials will need to be introduced. For example, development of EUV compatible pellicles to adopt an approved method from optical lithography for EUVL needs completely new thin membranes which have not been available before. To support these developments, PTB with its decades of experience [1] in EUV metrology [2] provides a wide range of actinic and non actinic measurements at in-band EUV wavelengths as well as out of band. Two dedicated, complimentary EUV beamlines [3] are available for radiometric [4,5] characterizations benefiting from small divergence or from adjustable spot size respectively. The wavelength range covered reaches from below 1 nm to 45 nm [6] for the EUV beamlines [7] to longer wavelengths if in addition the VUV beamline is employed. The standard spot size is 1 mm by 1 mm with an option to go as low as 0.1 mm to 0.1 mm. A separate beamline offers an exposure setup. Exposure power levels of 20 W/cm2 have been employed in the past, lower fluencies are available by attenuation or out of focus exposure. Owing to a differential pumping stage, the sample can be held under defined gas conditions during exposure. We present an updated overview on our instrumentation and analysis capabilities for EUV metrology and provide data for illustration.

Debris- and radiation-induced damage effects on EUV nanolithography source collector mirror optics performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allain, J. P.; Nieto, M.; Hendricks, M.; Harilal, S. S.; Hassanein, A.

2007-05-01

Exposure of collector mirrors facing the hot, dense pinch plasma in plasma-based EUV light sources to debris (fast ions, neutrals, off-band radiation, droplets) remains one of the highest critical issues of source component lifetime and commercial feasibility of nanolithography at 13.5-nm. Typical radiators used at 13.5-nm include Xe and Sn. Fast particles emerging from the pinch region of the lamp are known to induce serious damage to nearby collector mirrors. Candidate collector configurations include either multi-layer mirrors (MLM) or single-layer mirrors (SLM) used at grazing incidence. Studies at Argonne have focused on understanding the underlying mechanisms that hinder collector mirror performance at 13.5-nm under fast Sn or Xe exposure. This is possible by a new state-of-the-art in-situ EUV reflectometry system that measures real time relative EUV reflectivity (15-degree incidence and 13.5-nm) variation during fast particle exposure. Intense EUV light and off-band radiation is also known to contribute to mirror damage. For example offband radiation can couple to the mirror and induce heating affecting the mirror's surface properties. In addition, intense EUV light can partially photo-ionize background gas (e.g., Ar or He) used for mitigation in the source device. This can lead to local weakly ionized plasma creating a sheath and accelerating charged gas particles to the mirror surface and inducing sputtering. In this paper we study several aspects of debris and radiation-induced damage to candidate EUVL source collector optics materials. The first study concerns the use of IMD simulations to study the effect of surface roughness on EUV reflectivity. The second studies the effect of fast particles on MLM reflectivity at 13.5-nm. And lastly the third studies the effect of multiple energetic sources with thermal Sn on 13.5-nm reflectivity. These studies focus on conditions that simulate the EUVL source environment in a controlled way.

Recent status of resist outgas testing for metal containing resists at EIDEC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shiobara, Eishi; Mikami, Shinji; Yamada, Kenji

2018-03-01

The metal containing resist is one of the strong candidates for high lithographic performance Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) resists. EIDEC has prepared the infrastructure for outgas testing in hydrogen environment for metal containing resists at High Power EUV irradiation tool (HPEUV). We have experimentally obtained the preliminary results of the non-cleanable metal contamination on witness sample using model material by HPEUV [1]. The metal contamination was observed at only the condition of hydrogen environment. It suggested the generation of volatile metal hydrides by hydrogen radicals. Additionally, the metal contamination on a witness sample covered with Ru was not removed by hydrogen radical cleaning. The strong interaction between the metal hydride and Ru was confirmed by the absorption simulation [2]. Recently, ASML announced a resist outgassing barrier technology using Dynamic Gas Lock (DGL) membrane located between projection optics and wafer stage [3, 4]. DGL membrane blocks the diffusion of all kinds of resist outgassing to the projection optics and prevents the reflectivity loss of EUV mirrors. The investigation of DGL membrane for high volume manufacturing is just going on. It extends the limitation of material design for EUV resists. However, the DGL membrane has an impact for the productivity of EUV scanners due to the transmission loss of EUV light and the necessity of periodic maintenance. The well understanding and control of the outgassing characteristics of metal containing resists may help to improve the productivity of EUV scanner. We consider the outgas evaluation for the resists still useful. For the improvement of resist outgas testing in hydrogen, there are some issues such as the contamination limited regime, the optimization of exposure dose to obtain the measurable contamination film thickness and the detection of minimum amount of metal related outgas species generated. We are considering a new platform of outgas testing for metal containing resists based on the electron-beam irradiation system as one of the solutions for these issues. The concept is presented in this paper.

Application of Laser Plasma Sources of Soft X-rays and Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) in Imaging, Processing Materials and Photoionization Studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fiedorowicz, H.; Bartnik, A.; Wachulak, P. W.; Jarocki, R.; Kostecki, J.; Szczurek, M.; Ahad, I. U.; Fok, T.; Szczurek, A.; Wȩgrzyński, Ł.

In the paper we present new applications of laser plasma sources of soft X-rays and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) in various areas of plasma physics, nanotechnology and biomedical engineering. The sources are based on a gas puff target irradiated with nanosecond laser pulses from commercial Nd: YAG lasers, generating pulses with time duration from 1 to 10 ns and energies from 0.5 to 10 J at a 10 Hz repetition rate. The targets are produced with the use of a double valve system equipped with a special nozzle to form a double-stream gas puff target which allows for high conversion efficiency of laser energy into soft X-rays and EUV without degradation of the nozzle. The sources are equipped with various optical systems to collect soft X-ray and EUV radiation and form the radiation beam. New applications of these sources in imaging, including EUV tomography and soft X-ray microscopy, processing of materials and photoionization studies are presented.

Pattern Inspection of EUV Masks Using DUV Light

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liang, Ted; Tejnil, Edita; Stivers, Alan R.

2002-12-01

Inspection of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography masks requires reflected light and this poses special challenges for inspection tool suppliers as well as for mask makers. Inspection must detect all the printable defects in the absorber pattern as well as printable process-related defects. Progress has been made under the NIST ATP project on "Intelligent Mask Inspection Systems for Next Generation Lithography" in assessing the factors that impact the inspection tool sensitivity. We report in this paper the inspection of EUV masks with programmed absorber defects using 257nm light. All the materials of interests for masks are highly absorptive to EUV light as compared to deep ultraviolet (DUV) light. Residues and contamination from mask fabrication process and handling are prone to be printable. Therefore, it is critical to understand their EUV printability and optical inspectability. Process related defects may include residual buffer layer such as oxide, organic contaminants and possible over-etch to the multilayer surface. Both simulation and experimental results will be presented in this paper.

Extreme ultraviolet interferometry

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Goldberg, Kenneth A.

EUV lithography is a promising and viable candidate for circuit fabrication with 0.1-micron critical dimension and smaller. In order to achieve diffraction-limited performance, all-reflective multilayer-coated lithographic imaging systems operating near 13-nm wavelength and 0.1 NA have system wavefront tolerances of 0.27 nm, or 0.02 waves RMS. Owing to the highly-sensitive resonant reflective properties of multilayer mirrors and extraordinarily tight tolerances set forth for their fabrication, EUV optical systems require at-wavelength EUV interferometry for final alignment and qualification. This dissertation discusses the development and successful implementation of high-accuracy EUV interferometric techniques. Proof-of-principle experiments with a prototype EUV point-diffraction interferometer for themore » measurement of Fresnel zoneplate lenses first demonstrated sub-wavelength EUV interferometric capability. These experiments spurred the development of the superior phase-shifting point-diffraction interferometer (PS/PDI), which has been implemented for the testing of an all-reflective lithographic-quality EUV optical system. Both systems rely on pinhole diffraction to produce spherical reference wavefronts in a common-path geometry. Extensive experiments demonstrate EUV wavefront-measuring precision beyond 0.02 waves RMS. EUV imaging experiments provide verification of the high-accuracy of the point-diffraction principle, and demonstrate the utility of the measurements in successfully predicting imaging performance. Complementary to the experimental research, several areas of theoretical investigation related to the novel PS/PDI system are presented. First-principles electromagnetic field simulations of pinhole diffraction are conducted to ascertain the upper limits of measurement accuracy and to guide selection of the pinhole diameter. Investigations of the relative merits of different PS/PDI configurations accompany a general study of the most significant sources of systematic measurement errors. To overcome a variety of experimental difficulties, several new methods in interferogram analysis and phase-retrieval were developed: the Fourier-Transform Method of Phase-Shift Determination, which uses Fourier-domain analysis to improve the accuracy of phase-shifting interferometry; the Fourier-Transform Guided Unwrap Method, which was developed to overcome difficulties associated with a high density of mid-spatial-frequency blemishes and which uses a low-spatial-frequency approximation to the measured wavefront to guide the phase unwrapping in the presence of noise; and, finally, an expedient method of Gram-Schmidt orthogonalization which facilitates polynomial basis transformations in wave-front surface fitting procedures.« less

Optical and structural characterization of Nb, Zr, Nb/Zr, Zr/Nb thin films on Si3N4 membranes windows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jimenez, K.; Gaballah, A. E. H.; Ahmed, Nadeem; Zuppella, P.; Nicolosi, P.

2017-05-01

High brilliance sources in the EUV spectral range such as Synchrotron and Free Electron Lasers (FEL) are widely used in multiple scientific and technological applications thanks to their peculiar characteristics. One main technical problem of FEL is related to the rejection of high harmonics, seed laser, first stage photons, and diffuse light; in order to improve the quality of the beam delivered by these sources, a suitable optical system acting as band-pass filters is necessary. In this paper we discuss the optical and structure characterization of Nb/Zr and Zr/Nb self-stand transmittance filters, designed for 4.5 nm-20 nm wavelength ranges. In order to understand the properties of these bilayers filters, a campaign of measurements has been planned to be performed on Zr and Nb films on Si3N4 membrane windows and silicon substrates, deposited with e- beam deposition technique. Comparison of the results has been planned too. IMD transmittance and reflectance simulations, together with preliminary AFM and reflectance measurements will be shown in this work.

Evidence of the Dynamics of Relativistic Jet Launching in Quasars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Punsly, Brian

2015-06-01

Hubble Space Telescope (HST) spectra of the EUV, the optically thick emission from the innermost accretion flow onto the central supermassive black hole, indicate that radio loud quasars (RLQs) tend to be EUV weak compared to the radio-quiet quasars; yet the remainder of the optically thick thermal continuum is indistinguishable. The deficit of EUV emission in RLQs has a straightforward interpretation as a missing or a suppressed innermost region of local energy dissipation in the accretion flow. This article is an examination of the evidence for a distribution of magnetic flux tubes in the innermost accretion flow that results in magnetically arrested accretion (MAA) and creates the EUV deficit. These same flux tubes and possibly the interior magnetic flux that they encircle are the sources of the jet power as well. In the MAA scenario, islands of large-scale vertical magnetic flux perforate the innermost accretion flow of RLQs. The first prediction of the theory that is supported by the HST data is that the strength of the (large-scale poloidal magnetic fields) jets in the MAA region is regulated by the ram pressure of the accretion flow in the quasar environment. The second prediction that is supported by the HST data is that the rotating magnetic islands remove energy from the accretion flow as a Poynting flux dominated jet in proportion to the square of the fraction of the EUV emitting gas that is displaced by these islands.

Contrast matching of line gratings obtained with NXE3XXX and EUV- interference lithography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tasdemir, Zuhal; Mochi, Iacopo; Olvera, Karen Garrido; Meeuwissen, Marieke; Yildirim, Oktay; Custers, Rolf; Hoefnagels, Rik; Rispens, Gijsbert; Fallica, Roberto; Vockenhuber, Michaela; Ekinci, Yasin

2017-10-01

Extreme UV lithography (EUVL) has gained considerable attention for several decades as a potential technology for the semiconductor industry and it is now close to being adopted in high-volume manufacturing. At Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), we have focused our attention on EUV resist performance issues by testing available high-performance EUV resists in the framework of a joint collaboration with ASML. For this purpose, we use the grating-based EUV-IL setup installed at the Swiss Light Source (SLS) at PSI, in which a coherent beam with 13.5 nm wavelength is used to produce a periodic aerial image with virtually 100% contrast and large depth of focus. Interference lithography is a relatively simple technique and it does not require many optical components, therefore the unintended flare is minimized and the aerial image is well-defined sinusoidal pattern. For the collaborative work between PSI and ASML, exposures are being performed on the EUV-IL exposure tool at PSI. For better quantitative comparison to the NXE scanner results, it is targeted to determine the actual NILS of the EUV-IL exposure tool at PSI. Ultimately, any resist-related metrology must be aligned and compared with the performance of EUV scanners. Moreover, EUV-IL is a powerful method for evaluating the resist performance and a resist which performs well with EUV-IL, shows, in general, also good performance with NXE scanners. However, a quantitative prediction of the performance based on EUV-IL measurements has not been possible due to the differences in aerial image formation. In this work, we aim to study the performance of EUV resists with different aerial images. For this purpose, after the real interference pattern exposure, we overlay a flat field exposure to emulate different levels of contrast. Finally, the results are compared with data obtained from EUV scanner. This study will enable not only match the data obtained from EUV- IL at PSI with the performance of NXE scanners, but also a better understanding of resist fundamentals by studying the effects of the aerial image on resist performance by changing the aerial image contrast in a controlled manner using EUV-IL.

Multilayer and grazing incidence X-ray/EUV optics; Proceedings of the Meeting, San Diego, CA, July 22-24, 1991

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hoover, Richard B. (Editor)

1992-01-01

The present conference discusses the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF) calibration by means of synchrotron radiation and its X-ray reflectivity, X-ray scattering measurements from thin-foil X-ray mirrors, lobster-eye X-ray optics using microchannel plates, space-based interferometry at EUV and soft X-ray wavelengths, a water-window imaging X-ray telescope, a graded d-spacing multilayer telescope for high energy X-ray astronomy, photographic films for the multispectral solar telescope array, a soft X-ray ion chamber, and the development of hard X-ray optics. Also discussed are X-ray spectroscopy with multilayered optics, a slit aperture for monitoring X-ray experiments, an objective double-crystal spectrometer, a Ly-alpha coronagraph/polarimeter, tungsten/boron nitride multilayers for XUV optical applications, the evaluation of reflectors for soft X-ray optics, the manufacture of elastically bent crystals and multilayer mirrors, and selective photodevices for the VUV.

Development of a 1m-normal-incidence-EUV-Telescope

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grewing, M.; Kraemer, G.; Schulz-Luepertz, E.; Wulf-Mathies, C.; Bowyer, S.; Jacobsen, P.; Jelinsky, P.; Kimble, R.

1982-01-01

A brief description is given of the 1m-EUV-Telescope and its focal plane instrumentation, namely an EUV spectrometer and six EUV/FUV photometers. The telescope is scheduled for launch on an Aries rocket on June 17, 1982. The principal goals are the white dwarf HZ43 and a photometric scan across the sky in an area of the sky where 21 cm line observations reveal a steep density gradient. The optical bench of the telescope is a cylinder made of a graphite epoxy compound. Despite its low specific weight, the bench shows an excellent mechanical performance, with an elasticity modulus of approximately 70,000 N/cu mm. It is pointed out that by carefully combining layers with different winding angles of the carbon fiber, the thermal expansion along the cylinder axis is almost negligible, even under severe thermal loads

Inter-Comparison between July 24, 2014 EUV Data from NASA Sounding Rocket 36.289 and Concurrent Measurements from Orbital Solar Observatories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Didkovsky, L. V.; Wieman, S. R.; Judge, D. L.

2014-12-01

Sounding rocket mission NASA 36.289 Didkovsky provided solar EUV irradiance measurements from four instruments built at the USC Space Sciences Center: the Rare Gas Ionization Cell (RGIC), the Solar Extreme ultraviolet Monitor (SEM), the Dual Grating Spectrometer (DGS), and the Optics-Free Spectrometer (OFS), thus meeting the mission comprehensive success criteria. These sounding rocket data allow us to inter-compare the observed absolute EUV irradiance with the data taken at the same time from the SOHO and SDO solar observatories. The sounding rocket data from the two degradation-free instruments (DGS and OFS) can be used to verify the degradation rates of SOHO and SDO EUV channels and serve as a flight-proven prototypes for future improvements of degradation-free instrumentation for solar physics.

EUV phase-shifting masks and aberration monitors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Yunfei; Neureuther, Andrew R.

2002-07-01

Rigorous electromagnetic simulation with TEMPEST is used to examine the use of phase-shifting masks in EUV lithography. The effects of oblique incident illumination and mask patterning by ion-mixing of multilayers are analyzed. Oblique incident illumination causes streamers at absorber edges and causes position shifting in aerial images. The diffraction waves between ion-mixed and pristine multilayers are observed. The phase-shifting caused by stepped substrates is simulated and images show that it succeeds in creation of phase-shifting effects. The diffraction process at the phase boundary is also analyzed. As an example of EUV phase-shifting masks, a coma pattern and probe based aberration monitor is simulated and aerial images are formed under different levels of coma aberration. The probe signal rises quickly as coma increases as designed.

Optical surface evaluation by soft X-ray scattering

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Green, James C.; Finley, David S.; Bowyer, Stuart; Malina, Roger F.

1986-01-01

During the fabrication of the mirrors for the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE), methods for evaluating the surface quality of the optics have been developed. Measurement of soft X-ray scattering profiles allows for the determination of the surface roughness and correlation lengths for highly polished metal surfaces. With this method, the surface parameters for one of the Wolter Schwarzschild type I mirrors that had been fabricated for the EUVE mission have been determined. The techniques employed, the theoretical basis for the method, and the data that had been taken are presented. The measurements show that the best mirrors have a surface roughness of 20A rms or less.

Design, fabrication and performance of two grazing incidence telescopes for celestial extreme ultraviolet astronomy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lampton, M.; Cash, W.; Malina, R. F.; Bowyer, S.

1977-01-01

The design and performance of grazing incidence telescopes for celestial extreme ultraviolet (EUV) astronomy are described. The telescopes basically consist of a star tracker, collimator, grazing incidence mirror, vacuum box lid, vacuum housing, filters, a ranicon detector, an electronics box, and an aspect camera. For the survey mirror a Wolter-Schwarzschild type II configuration was selected. Diamond-turning was used for mirror fabrication, a technique which machines surfaces to the order of 10 microns over the required dimensions. The design of the EUV spectrometer is discussed with particular reference to the optics for a primarily spectroscopic application and the fabrication of the f/10 optics.

Methods and apparatus for cleaning objects in a chamber of an optical instrument by generating reactive ions using photon radiation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Klebanoff, Leonard E.; Delgado, Gildardo R.; Hollenshead, Jeromy T.

An optical instrument, including a chamber, an object exposed to an interior of the chamber, a source of low-pressure gas, the gas comprising at least one of low-pressure molecular hydrogen gas, low-pressure molecular oxygen and a low-pressure noble gas, the source of low pressure gas being fluidly coupled to the chamber, a low voltage source electrically coupled between the object and a remaining portion of the instrument that is exposed to the interior of the chamber so as to maintain the object at a low voltage relative to the remaining portion, and an EUV/VUV light source adapted to direct EUV/VUVmore » light through the low pressure gas in the chamber onto the object. In such a system, when the EUV/VUV light source is activated ions of the low-pressure gas are formed and directed to the object. The ions may be ions of Hydrogen, Oxygen or a noble gas.« less

Optical coating technology for the EUV

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Osantowski, J. F.; Keski-Kuha, R. A. M.; Herzig, H.; Toft, A. R.; Gum, J. S.; Fleetwood, C. M.

Adavaces in optical coating and materials technology are one of the key motivators for the development of missions such as the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer recently selected by NASA for an Explorer class mission in the mid 1990's. The performance of a range of candidate coatings are reviewed for normal-incidence and glancing-incidence applications, and attention is given to strengths and problem areas for their use in space. The importance of recent developments in multilayer films, chemical-vapor deposited SiC (CVD-SiC) mirrors, and SiC films are discussed in the context of EUV instrumentation design. For example, the choice of optical coatings is a design driver for the selection of the average glancing angle for the FUSE telescope, and impacts efficiency, short-wavelength cut-off, and physical size.

Optical coating technology for the EUV

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Osantowski, J. F.; Keski-Kuha, R. A. M.; Herzig, H.; Toft, A. R.; Gum, J. S.; Fleetwood, C. M.

1991-01-01

Advances in optical coating and materials technology are one of the key motivators for the development of missions such as the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer recently selected by NASA for an Explorer class mission in the mid 1990's. The performance of a range of candidate coatings are reviewed for normal-incidence and glancing-incidence applications, and attention is given to strengths and problem areas for their use in space. The importance of recent developments in multilayer films, chemical-vapor deposited SiC (CVD-SiC) mirrors, and SiC films are discussed in the context of EUV instrumentation design. For example, the choice of optical coatings is a design driver for the selection of the average glancing angle for the FUSE telescope, and impacts efficiency, short-wavelength cut-off, and physical size.

Kr photoionized plasma induced by intense extreme ultraviolet pulses

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bartnik, A., E-mail: andrzej.bartnik@wat.edu.pl; Wachulak, P.; Fiedorowicz, H.

Irradiation of any gas with an intense EUV (extreme ultraviolet) radiation beam can result in creation of photoionized plasmas. The parameters of such plasmas can be significantly different when compared with those of the laser produced plasmas (LPP) or discharge plasmas. In this work, the photoionized plasmas were created in a krypton gas irradiated using an LPP EUV source operating at a 10 Hz repetition rate. The Kr gas was injected into the vacuum chamber synchronously with the EUV radiation pulses. The EUV beam was focused onto a Kr gas stream using an axisymmetrical ellipsoidal collector. The resulting low temperature Krmore » plasmas emitted electromagnetic radiation in the wide spectral range. The emission spectra were measured either in the EUV or an optical range. The EUV spectrum was dominated by emission lines originating from Kr III and Kr IV ions, and the UV/VIS spectra were composed from Kr II and Kr I lines. The spectral lines recorded in EUV, UV, and VIS ranges were used for the construction of Boltzmann plots to be used for the estimation of the electron temperature. It was shown that for the lowest Kr III and Kr IV levels, the local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) conditions were not fulfilled. The electron temperature was thus estimated based on Kr II and Kr I species where the partial LTE conditions could be expected.« less

Kr photoionized plasma induced by intense extreme ultraviolet pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bartnik, A.; Wachulak, P.; Fiedorowicz, H.; Skrzeczanowski, W.

2016-04-01

Irradiation of any gas with an intense EUV (extreme ultraviolet) radiation beam can result in creation of photoionized plasmas. The parameters of such plasmas can be significantly different when compared with those of the laser produced plasmas (LPP) or discharge plasmas. In this work, the photoionized plasmas were created in a krypton gas irradiated using an LPP EUV source operating at a 10 Hz repetition rate. The Kr gas was injected into the vacuum chamber synchronously with the EUV radiation pulses. The EUV beam was focused onto a Kr gas stream using an axisymmetrical ellipsoidal collector. The resulting low temperature Kr plasmas emitted electromagnetic radiation in the wide spectral range. The emission spectra were measured either in the EUV or an optical range. The EUV spectrum was dominated by emission lines originating from Kr III and Kr IV ions, and the UV/VIS spectra were composed from Kr II and Kr I lines. The spectral lines recorded in EUV, UV, and VIS ranges were used for the construction of Boltzmann plots to be used for the estimation of the electron temperature. It was shown that for the lowest Kr III and Kr IV levels, the local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) conditions were not fulfilled. The electron temperature was thus estimated based on Kr II and Kr I species where the partial LTE conditions could be expected.

Patterned mask inspection technology with Projection Electron Microscope (PEM) technique for 11 nm half-pitch (hp) generation EUV masks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hirano, Ryoichi; Iida, Susumu; Amano, Tsuyoshi; Watanabe, Hidehiro; Hatakeyama, Masahiro; Murakami, Takeshi; Yoshikawa, Shoji; Suematsu, Kenichi; Terao, Kenji

2015-07-01

High-sensitivity EUV mask pattern defect detection is one of the major issues in order to realize the device fabrication by using the EUV lithography. We have already designed a novel Projection Electron Microscope (PEM) optics that has been integrated into a new inspection system named EBEYE-V30 ("Model EBEYE" is an EBARA's model code), and which seems to be quite promising for 16 nm hp generation EUVL Patterned mask Inspection (PI). Defect inspection sensitivity was evaluated by capturing an electron image generated at the mask by focusing onto an image sensor. The progress of the novel PEM optics performance is not only about making an image sensor with higher resolution but also about doing a better image processing to enhance the defect signal. In this paper, we describe the experimental results of EUV patterned mask inspection using the above-mentioned system. The performance of the system is measured in terms of defect detectability for 11 nm hp generation EUV mask. To improve the inspection throughput for 11 nm hp generation defect detection, it would require a data processing rate of greater than 1.5 Giga- Pixel-Per-Second (GPPS) that would realize less than eight hours of inspection time including the step-and-scan motion associated with the process. The aims of the development program are to attain a higher throughput, and enhance the defect detection sensitivity by using an adequate pixel size with sophisticated image processing resulting in a higher processing rate.

Laser plasma cryogenic target on translating substrate for generation of continuously repetitive EUV and soft X-ray pulses

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Amano, Sho

2014-06-15

To generate continuously repetitive EUV and soft X-ray pulses with various wavelengths from laser-produced plasmas, a one-dimensionally translating substrate system with a closed He gas cryostat that can continuously supply various cryogenic targets for ∼10 Hz laser pulses has been developed. The system was successfully operated at a lowest temperature of 15 K and at a maximum up-down speed of 12 mm/s. Solid Ar, Kr, and Xe layers were formed, and their growth rates and the laser crater sizes on them were studied. By optimization of the operational parameters in accordance with our design rule, it was shown that stablemore » output power was achieved continuously from the plasma emission at frequencies of 1–10 Hz. The average soft X-ray and EUV powers obtained were 19 mW at 3.2 nm, 33 mW at 10.0 nm, and 66 mW at 10.8 nm, with 10% bandwidths, from the Ar, Kr, and Xe solid targets, respectively, with a laser power of 1 W. We will be able to achieve higher frequencies using a high beam quality laser that produces smaller craters, and can expect higher powers. Although only Ar, Kr, and Xe gases were tested in this study, the target system achieved a temperature of 15 K and can thus solidify almost all target gases, apart from H and He, and can continuously supply the solid target. The use of various target materials will enable expansion of the EUV and soft X-ray emission wavelength range.« less

Discovery of Strong EUV-induced Balmer Emission in the New WD+dM Binary EUVE J2013+40.0 (RE 2013+400)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thorstensen, J. R.; Vennes, S.

1993-12-01

The binary system EUVE J2013+40.0 (= RE 2013+400) was discovered in the EUV-selected sample of white dwarfs identified in the course of the ROSAT Wide Field Camera (WFC) all-sky survey (Pounds et al. 1993, MNRAS, 260, 77). The intense extreme ultraviolet (EUV) emission from the hot white dwarf (DAO type) was also detected in the course of the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) all-sky survey (Bowyer et al. 1993, ApJ, submitted), and the subsequent optical identification campaign suggested the association of EUVE J2013+40.0 with the Feige 24 class of binary systems (see Vennes & Thorstensen, these proceedings). Such systems consist of a hot H-rich white dwarf (DA/DAO) and a red dwarf companion (dM) and are characterized by strong, narrow, variable Balmer emission. We obtained spectroscopy with 4 Angstroms resolution at the Michigan-Dartmouth-MIT Hiltner 2.4 m, covering the Hα and Hβ range. The Hα emission line velocity and equivalent widths varied with a period of 0.708 +/- 0.003 d; the velocity semiamplitude is 89 +/- 3 km s(-1) . The emission equivalent width reaches maximum strength 0.251 +/- 0.007 cycle after maximum emission-line velocity, that is, when the emission source reaches superior conjunction. This is just as expected if the emission arises from reprocessing of the EUV radiation incident upon the face of the dM star facing the white dwarf, as proposed for Feige 24 by Thorstensen et al. (1978, ApJ, 223, 260). EUVE J2013+40.0 is one of a handful of WD+dM binary systems in which the illumination effect is observed with unambiguous clarity. By comparing Feige 24 and EUVE J2013+40.0, and modelling the white dwarf EUV emission and red dwarf Balmer emission, we constrain the orbital inclinations. Additional spectroscopy of EUVE J2013+40.0 is being scheduled to determine the component masses. These are important input data for the study of the close binary systems which arise from common envelope evolution. This work is supported by a forthcoming NASA Guest Observer grant.

A new Schwarzschild optical system for two-dimensional EUV imaging of MRX plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bolgert, P.; Bitter, M.; Efthimion, P.; Hill, K. W.; Ji, H.; Myers, C. E.; Yamada, M.; Yoo, J.; Zweben, S.

2013-10-01

This poster describes the design and construction of a new Schwarzschild optical system for two-dimensional EUV imaging of plasmas. This optical system consists of two concentric spherical mirrors with radii R1 and R2, and is designed to operate with certain angles of incidence θ1 and θ2. The special feature of this system resides in the fact that all the rays passing through the system are tangential to a third concentric circle; it assures that the condition for Bragg reflection is simultaneously fulfilled at each point on the two reflecting surfaces if the spherical mirrors are replaced by spherical multi-layer structures. A prototype of this imaging system will be implemented in the Magnetic Reconnection Experiment (MRX) at PPPL to obtain two-dimensional EUV images of the plasma in the energy range from 18 to 62 eV; the relative intensity of the emitted radiation in this energy range was determined from survey measurements with a photodiode. It is thought that the radiation at these energies is due to Bremsstrahlung and line emission caused by suprathermal electrons. This research is supported by DoE Contract Number DE-AC02-09CH11466 and by the Center for Magnetic Self-Organization (CMSO).

Spectral tailoring of nanoscale EUV and soft x-ray multilayer optics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Qiushi; Medvedev, Viacheslav; van de Kruijs, Robbert; Yakshin, Andrey; Louis, Eric; Bijkerk, Fred

2017-03-01

Extreme ultraviolet and soft X-ray (XUV) multilayer optics have experienced significant development over the past few years, particularly on controlling the spectral characteristics of light for advanced applications like EUV photolithography, space observation, and accelerator- or lab-based XUV experiments. Both planar and three dimensional multilayer structures have been developed to tailor the spectral response in a wide wavelength range. For the planar multilayer optics, different layered schemes are explored. Stacks of periodic multilayers and capping layers are demonstrated to achieve multi-channel reflection or suppression of the reflective properties. Aperiodic multilayer structures enable broadband reflection both in angles and wavelengths, with the possibility of polarization control. The broad wavelength band multilayer is also used to shape attosecond pulses for the study of ultrafast phenomena. Narrowband multilayer monochromators are delivered to bridge the resolution gap between crystals and regular multilayers. High spectral purity multilayers with innovated anti-reflection structures are shown to select spectrally clean XUV radiation from broadband X-ray sources, especially the plasma sources for EUV lithography. Significant progress is also made in the three dimensional multilayer optics, i.e., combining micro- and nanostructures with multilayers, in order to provide new freedom to tune the spectral response. Several kinds of multilayer gratings, including multilayer coated gratings, sliced multilayer gratings, and lamellar multilayer gratings are being pursued for high resolution and high efficiency XUV spectrometers/monochromators, with their advantages and disadvantages, respectively. Multilayer diffraction optics are also developed for spectral purity enhancement. New structures like gratings, zone plates, and pyramids that obtain full suppression of the unwanted radiation and high XUV reflectance are reviewed. Based on the present achievement of the spectral tailoring multilayer optics, the remaining challenges and opportunities for future researches are discussed.

Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer observations of the magnetic cataclysmic variable RE 1938-461

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Warren, John K.; Vallerga, John V.; Mauche, Christopher W.; Mukai, Koji; Siegmund, Oswald H. W.

1993-01-01

The magnetic cataclysmic variable RE 1938-461 was observed by the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) Deep Survey instrument on 1992 July 8-9 during in-orbit calibration. It was detected in the Lexan/ boron (65-190 A) band, with a quiescent count rate of 0.0062 +/- 0.0017/s, and was not detected in the aluminum/carbon (160-360 A) band. The Lexan/boron count rate is lower than the corresponding ROSAT wide-field camera Lexan/boron count rate. This is consistent with the fact that the source was in a low state during an optical observation performed just after the EUVE observation, whereas it was in an optical high state during the ROSAT observation. The quiescent count rates are consistent with a virtual cessation of accretion. Two transient events lasting about 1 hr occurred during the Lexan/boron pointing, the second at a count rate of 0.050 +/- 0.006/s. This appears to be the first detection of an EUV transient during the low state of a magnetic cataclysmic variable. We propose two possible explanations for the transient events.

Preliminary error budget analysis of the coronagraphic instrument metis for the solar orbiter ESA mission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Da Deppo, Vania; Poletto, Luca; Crescenzio, Giuseppe; Fineschi, Silvano; Antonucci, Ester; Naletto, Giampiero

2017-11-01

METIS, the Multi Element Telescope for Imaging and Spectroscopy, is the solar coronagraph foreseen for the ESA Solar Orbiter mission. METIS is conceived to image the solar corona from a near-Sun orbit in three different spectral bands: in the HeII EUV narrow band at 30.4 nm, in the HI UV narrow band at 121.6 nm, and in the polarized visible light band (590 - 650 nm). It also incorporates the capability of multi-slit spectroscopy of the corona in the UV/EUV range at different heliocentric heights. METIS is an externally occulted coronagraph which adopts an "inverted occulted" configuration. The Inverted external occulter (IEO) is a small circular aperture at the METIS entrance; the Sun-disk light is rejected by a spherical mirror M0 through the same aperture, while the coronal light is collected by two annular mirrors M1-M2 realizing a Gregorian telescope. To allocate the spectroscopic part, one portion of the M2 is covered by a grating (i.e. approximately 1/8 of the solar corona will not be imaged). This paper presents the error budget analysis for this new concept coronagraph configuration, which incorporates 3 different sub-channels: UV and EUV imaging sub-channel, in which the UV and EUV light paths have in common the detector and all of the optical elements but a filter, the polarimetric visible light sub-channel which, after the telescope optics, has a dedicated relay optics and a polarizing unit, and the spectroscopic sub-channel, which shares the filters and the detector with the UV-EUV imaging one, but includes a grating instead of the secondary mirror. The tolerance analysis of such an instrument is quite complex: in fact not only the optical performance for the 3 sub-channels has to be maintained simultaneously, but also the positions of M0 and of the occulters (IEO, internal occulter and Lyot stop), which guarantee the optimal disk light suppression, have to be taken into account as tolerancing parameters. In the aim of assuring the scientific requirements are optimally fulfilled for all the sub-channels, the preliminary results of manufacturing, alignment and stability tolerance analysis for the whole instrument will be described and discussed.

Novel EUV mask black border and its impact on wafer imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kodera, Yutaka; Fukugami, Norihito; Komizo, Toru; Watanabe, Genta; Ito, Shin; Yoshida, Itaru; Maruyama, Shingo; Kotani, Jun; Konishi, Toshio; Haraguchi, Takashi

2016-03-01

EUV lithography is the most promising technology for semiconductor device manufacturing of the 10nm node and beyond. The EUV mask is a key element in the lithographic scanner optical path. The image border is a pattern free dark area around the die on the photomask serving as transition area between the parts of the mask that is shielded from the exposure light by the Reticle Masking (REMA) blades and the die. When printing a die at dense spacing on an EUV scanner, the EUV light reflection from the image border overlaps edges of neighboring dies, affecting CD and contrast in this area. To reduce this effect an etched multilayer type black border was developed, and it was demonstrated that CD impact at the edge of a die is strongly reduced with this type of the black border (BB). However, wafer printing result still showed some CD change influenced by the black border reflection. It was proven that the CD shift was caused by DUV Out of Band (OOB) light which is emitted from EUV light source. New types of a multilayer etched BB were evaluated and showed a good potential for DUV light suppression. In this study, a novel black border called Hybrid Black Border has been developed which allows to eliminate EUV and DUV OOB light reflection. Direct measurements of OOB light from HBB and Normal BB are performed on NXE:3300B ASML EUV scanner; it is shown that HBB OOB reflection is 3x lower than that of Normal BB. Finally, we state that HBB is a promising technology allowing for CD control at die edges.

Controlling contamination in Mo/Si multilayer mirrors by Si surface capping modifications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malinowski, Michael E.; Steinhaus, Chip; Clift, W. Miles; Klebanoff, Leonard E.; Mrowka, Stanley; Soufli, Regina

2002-07-01

The performance of Mo/Si multilayer mirrors (MLMs) used to reflect UV (EUV) radiation in an EUV + hydrocarbon (NC) vapor environment can be improved by optimizing the silicon capping layer thickness on the MLM in order to minimize the initial buildup of carbon on MLMs. Carbon buildup is undesirable since it can absorb EUV radiation and reduce MLM reflectivity. A set of Mo/Si MLMs deposited on Si wafers was fabricated such that each MLM had a different Si capping layer thickness ranging form 2 nm to 7 nm. Samples from each MLM wafer were exposed to a combination of EUV light + (HC) vapors at the Advanced Light Source (ALS) synchrotron in order to determine if the Si capping layer thickness affected the carbon buildup on the MLMs. It was found that the capping layer thickness had a major influence on this 'carbonizing' tendency, with the 3 nm layer thickness providing the best initial resistance to carbonizing and accompanying EUV reflectivity loss in the MLM. The Si capping layer thickness deposited on a typical EUV optic is 4.3 nm. Measurements of the absolute reflectivities performed on the Calibration and Standards beamline at the ALS indicated the EUV reflectivity of the 3 nm-capped MLM was actually slightly higher than that of the normal, 4 nm Si-capped sample. These results show that he use of a 3 nm capping layer represents an improvement over the 4 nm layer since the 3 nm has both a higher absolute reflectivity and better initial resistance to carbon buildup. The results also support the general concept of minimizing the electric field intensity at the MLM surface to minimize photoelectron production and, correspondingly, carbon buildup in a EUV + HC vapor environment.

Absorption and emission of single attosecond light pulses in an autoionizing gaseous medium dressed by a time-delayed control field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chu, Wei-Chun; Lin, C. D.

2013-01-01

An extreme ultraviolet (EUV) single attosecond pulse passing through a laser-dressed dense gas is studied theoretically. The weak EUV pulse pumps the helium gas from the ground state to the 2s2p(1P) autoionizing state, which is coupled to the 2s2(1S) autoionizing state by a femtosecond infrared laser with the intensity in the order of 1012 W/cm2. The simulation shows how the transient absorption and emission of the EUV are modified by the coupling laser. A simple analytical expression for the atomic response derived for δ-function pulses reveals the strong modification of the Fano lineshape in the spectra, where these features are quite universal and remain valid for realistic pulse conditions. We further account for the propagation of pulses in the medium and show that the EUV signal at the atomic resonance can be enhanced in the gaseous medium by more than 50% for specifically adjusted laser parameters, and that this enhancement persists as the EUV propagates in the gaseous medium. Our result demonstrates the high-level control of nonlinear optical effects that are achievable with attosecond pulses.

CCD imaging system for the EUV solar telescope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gong, Yan; Song, Qian; Ye, Bing-Xun

2006-01-01

In order to develop the detector adapted to the space solar telescope, we have built a CCD camera system capable of working in the extra ultraviolet (EUV) band, which is composed of one phosphor screen, one intensified system using a photocathode/micro-channel plate(MCP)/ phosphor, one optical taper and one chip of front-illuminated (FI) CCD without screen windows. All of them were stuck one by one with optical glue. The working principle of the camera system is presented; moreover we have employed the mesh experiment to calibrate and test the CCD camera system in 15~24nm, the position resolution of about 19 μm is obtained at the wavelength of 17.1nm and 19.5nm.

Performance of the Multi-Spectral Solar Telescope Array. III - Optical characteristics of the Ritchey-Chretien and Cassegrain telescopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoover, Richard B.; Baker, Phillip C.; Hadaway, James B.; Johnson, R. B.; Peterson, Cynthia; Gabardi, David R.; Walker, Arthur B., Jr.; Lindblom, J. F.; Deforest, Craig; O'Neal, R. H.

1991-12-01

The Multi-Spectral Solar Telescope Array (MSSTA), which is a sounding-rocket-borne observatory for investigating the sun in the soft X-ray/EUV and FUV regimes of the electromagnetic spectrum, utilizes single reflection multilayer coated Herschelian telescopes for wavelengths below 100 A, and five doubly reflecting multilayer coated Ritchey-Chretien and two Cassegrain telescopes for selected wavelengths in the EUV region between 100 and 1000 A. The paper discusses the interferometric alignment, testing, focusing, visible light testing, and optical performance characteristics of the Ritchey-Chretien and Cassegrain telescopes of MSSTA. A schematic diagram of the MSSTA Ritchey-Chretien telescope is presented together with diagrams of the system autocollimation testing.

Models of the Solar Atmospheric Response to Flare Heating

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Allred, Joel

2011-01-01

I will present models of the solar atmospheric response to flare heating. The models solve the equations of non-LTE radiation hydrodynamics with an electron beam added as a flare energy source term. Radiative transfer is solved in detail for many important optically thick hydrogen and helium transitions and numerous optically thin EUV lines making the models ideally suited to study the emission that is produced during flares. I will pay special attention to understanding key EUV lines as well the mechanism for white light production. I will also present preliminary results of how the model solar atmosphere responds to Fletcher & Hudson type flare heating. I will compare this with the results from flare simulations using the standard thick target model.

The future of EUV lithography: enabling Moore's Law in the next decade

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pirati, Alberto; van Schoot, Jan; Troost, Kars; van Ballegoij, Rob; Krabbendam, Peter; Stoeldraijer, Judon; Loopstra, Erik; Benschop, Jos; Finders, Jo; Meiling, Hans; van Setten, Eelco; Mika, Niclas; Dredonx, Jeannot; Stamm, Uwe; Kneer, Bernhard; Thuering, Bernd; Kaiser, Winfried; Heil, Tilmann; Migura, Sascha

2017-03-01

While EUV systems equipped with a 0.33 Numerical Aperture lenses are readying to start volume manufacturing, ASML and Zeiss are ramping up their development activities on a EUV exposure tool with Numerical Aperture greater than 0.5. The purpose of this scanner, targeting a resolution of 8nm, is to extend Moore's law throughout the next decade. A novel, anamorphic lens design, has been developed to provide the required Numerical Aperture; this lens will be paired with new, faster stages and more accurate sensors enabling Moore's law economical requirements, as well as the tight focus and overlay control needed for future process nodes. The tighter focus and overlay control budgets, as well as the anamorphic optics, will drive innovations in the imaging and OPC modelling, and possibly in the metrology concepts. Furthermore, advances in resist and mask technology will be required to image lithography features with less than 10nm resolution. This paper presents an overview of the key technology innovations and infrastructure requirements for the next generation EUV systems.

The constitution of the atmospheric layers and the extreme ultraviolet spectrum of hot hydrogen-rich white dwarfs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vennes, Stephane

1992-01-01

An analysis is presented of the atmospheric properties of hot, H-rich, DA white dwarfs that is based on optical, UV, and X-ray observations aimed at predicting detailed spectral properties of these stars in the range 80-800 A. The divergences between observations from a sample of 15 hot DA white dwarfs emitting in the EUV/soft X-ray range and pure H synthetic spectra calculated from a grid of model atmospheres characterized by Teff and g are examined. Seven out of 15 DA stars are found to consistently exhibit pure hydrogen atmospheres, the remaining seven stars showing inconsistency between FUV and EUV/soft X-ray data that can be explained by the presence of trace EUV/soft X-ray absorbers. Synthetic data are computed assuming two other possible chemical structures: photospheric traces of radiatively levitated heavy elements and a stratified hydrogen/helium distribution. Predictions about forthcoming medium-resolution observations of the EUV spectrum of selected hot H-rich white dwarfs are made.

Spectral dependence on the correction factor of erythemal UV for cloud, aerosol, total ozone, and surface properties: A modeling study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Sang Seo; Jung, Yeonjin; Lee, Yun Gon

2016-07-01

Radiative transfer model simulations were used to investigate the erythemal ultraviolet (EUV) correction factors by separating the UV-A and UV-B spectral ranges. The correction factor was defined as the ratio of EUV caused by changing the amounts and characteristics of the extinction and scattering materials. The EUV correction factors (CFEUV) for UV-A [CFEUV(A)] and UV-B [CFEUV(B)] were affected by changes in the total ozone, optical depths of aerosol and cloud, and the solar zenith angle. The differences between CFEUV(A) and CFEUV(B) were also estimated as a function of solar zenith angle, the optical depths of aerosol and cloud, and total ozone. The differences between CFEUV(A) and CFEUV(B) ranged from -5.0% to 25.0% for aerosols, and from -9.5% to 2.0% for clouds in all simulations for different solar zenith angles and optical depths of aerosol and cloud. The rate of decline of CFEUV per unit optical depth between UV-A and UV-B differed by up to 20% for the same aerosol and cloud conditions. For total ozone, the variation in CFEUV(A) was negligible compared with that in CFEUV(B) because of the effective spectral range of the ozone absorption band. In addition, the sensitivity of the CFEUVs due to changes in surface conditions (i.e., surface albedo and surface altitude) was also estimated by using the model in this study. For changes in surface albedo, the sensitivity of the CFEUVs was 2.9%-4.1% per 0.1 albedo change, depending on the amount of aerosols or clouds. For changes in surface altitude, the sensitivity of CFEUV(B) was twice that of CFEUV(A), because the Rayleigh optical depth increased significantly at shorter wavelengths.

Progress in coherent lithography using table-top extreme ultraviolet lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Wei

Nanotechnology has drawn a wide variety of attention as interesting phenomena occurs when the dimension of the structures is in the nanometer scale. The particular characteristics of nanoscale structures had enabled new applications in different fields in science and technology. Our capability to fabricate these nanostructures routinely for sure will impact the advancement of nanoscience. Apart from the high volume manufacturing in semiconductor industry, a small-scale but reliable nanofabrication tool can dramatically help the research in the field of nanotechnology. This dissertation describes alternative extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography techniques which combine table-top EUV laser and various cost-effective imaging strategies. For each technique, numerical simulations, system design, experiment result and its analysis will be presented. In chapter II, a brief review of the main characteristics of table-top EUV lasers will be addressed concentrating on its high power and large coherence radius that enable the lithography application described herein. The development of a Talbot EUV lithography system which is capable of printing 50nm half pitch nanopatterns will be illustrated in chapter III. A detailed discussion of its resolution limit will be presented followed by the development of X-Y-Z positioning stage, the fabrication protocol for diffractive EUV mask, and the pattern transfer using self- developed ion beam etching, and the dose control unit. In addition, this dissertation demonstrated the capability to fabricate functional periodic nanostructures using Talbot EUV lithography. After that, resolution enhancement techniques like multiple exposure, displacement Talbot EUV lithography, fractional Talbot EUV lithography, and Talbot lithography using 18.9nm amplified spontaneous emission laser will be demonstrated. Chapter IV will describe a hybrid EUV lithography which combines the Talbot imaging and interference lithography rendering a high resolution interference pattern whose lattice is modified by a custom designed Talbot mask. In other words, this method enables filling the arbitrary Talbot cell with ultra-fine interference nanofeatures. Detailed optics modeling, system design and experiment results using He-Ne laser and table top EUV laser are included. The last part of chapter IV will analyze its exclusive advantages over traditional Talbot or interference lithography.

X ray, extreme and far ultraviolet optical thin films for space applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zukic, Muamer; Torr, Douglas G.; Kim, Jongmin

1993-01-01

Far and extreme ultraviolet optical thin film filters find many uses in space astronomy, space astrophysics, and space aeronomy. Spacebased spectrographs are used for studying emission and absorption features of the earth, planets, sun, stars, and the interstellar medium. Most of these spectrographs use transmission or reflection filters. This requirement has prompted a search for selective filtering coatings with high throughput in the FUV and EUV spectral region. Important progress toward the development of thin film filters with improved efficiency and stability has been made in recent years. The goal for this field is the minimization of absorption to get high throughput and enhancement of wavelength selection. The Optical Aeronomy Laboratory (OAL) at the University of Alabama in Huntsville has recently developed the technology to determine optical constants of bulk and film materials for wavelengths extending from x-rays (0.1 nm) to the FUV (200 nm), and several materials have been identified that were used for designs of various optical devices which previously have been restricted to space application in the visible and near infrared. A new design concept called the Pi-multilayer was introduced and applied to the design of optical coatings for wavelengths extending from x-rays to the FUV. Section 3 of this report explains the Pi-multilayer approach and demonstrates its application for the design and fabrication of the FUV coatings. Two layer Pi-stacks have been utilized for the design of reflection filters in the EUV wavelength range from 70 - 100 nm. In order to eliminate losses due to the low reflection of the imaging optics and increase throughput and out-of-band rejection of the EUV instrumentation we introduced a self-filtering camera concept. In the FUV region, MgF2 and LiF crystals are known to be birefringent. Transmission polarizers and quarterwave retarders made of MgF2 or LiF crystals are commercially available but the performances are poor. New techniques for the design of the EUV and FUV polarizers and quarterwave retarders are described in Section 5. X- and gamma-ray detectors rely on a measurement of the electron which is effected when a ray interacts with matter. The design of an x- and gamma-ray telescope to operate in a particular region of the spectrum is, therefore, largely dictated by the mechanism through which the rays interact. Energy selection and the focusing of the incident high energy rays can be achieved with spectrally selective high reflective multilayers. The design and spectral performance of narrowband reflective x-ray Pi-multilayers are presented in section 6.

Solar Imaging UV/EUV Spectrometers Using TVLS Gratings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thomas, R. J.

2003-05-01

It is a particular challenge to develop a stigmatic spectrograph for UV/EUV wavelengths since the very low normal-incidence reflectance of standard materials most often requires that the design be restricted to a single optical element which must simultaneously provide both re-imaging and spectral dispersion. This problem has been solved in the past by the use of toroidal gratings with uniform line-spaced rulings (TULS). A number of solar EUV spectrometers have been based on such designs, including SOHO/CDS, Solar-B/EIS, and the sounding rockets SERTS and EUNIS. More recently, Kita, Harada, and collaborators have developed the theory of spherical gratings with varied line-space rulings (SVLS) operated at unity magnification, which have been flown on several astronomical satellite missions. We now combine these ideas into a spectrometer concept that puts varied-line space rulings onto toroidal gratings. Such TVLS designs are found to provide excellent imaging even at very large spectrograph magnifications and beam-speeds, permitting extremely high-quality performance in remarkably compact instrument packages. Optical characteristics of three new solar spectrometers based on this concept are described: SUMI and RAISE, two sounding rocket payloads, and NEXUS, currently being proposed as a Small-Explorer (SMEX) mission.

EDITORIAL: Extreme Ultraviolet Light Sources for Semiconductor Manufacturing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Attwood, David

2004-12-01

The International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) [1] provides industry expectations for high volume computer chip fabrication a decade into the future. It provides expectations to anticipated performance and requisite specifications. While the roadmap provides a collective projection of what international industry expects to produce, it does not specify the technology that will be employed. Indeed, there are generally several competing technologies for each two or three year step forward—known as `nodes'. Recent successful technologies have been based on KrF (248 nm), and now ArF (193 nm) lasers, combined with ultraviolet transmissive refractive optics, in what are known as step and scan exposure tools. Less fortunate technologies in the recent past have included soft x-ray proximity printing and, it appears, 157 nm wavelength F2 lasers. In combination with higher numerical aperture liquid emersion optics, 193 nm is expected to be used for the manufacture of leading edge chip performance for the coming five years. Beyond that, starting in about 2009, the technology to be employed is less clear. The leading candidate for the 2009 node is extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, however this requires that several remaining challenges, including sufficient EUV source power, be overcome in a timely manner. This technology is based on multilayer coated reflective optics [2] and an EUV emitting plasma. Following Moore's Law [3] it is expected, for example, that at the 2009 `32 nm node' (printable patterns of 32 nm half-pitch), isolated lines with 18 nm width will be formed in resist (using threshold effects), and that these will be further narrowed to 13 nm in transfer to metalized electronic gates. These narrow features are expected to provide computer chips of 19 GHz clock frequency, with of the order of 1.5 billion transistors per chip [1]. This issue of Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics contains a cluster of eight papers addressing the critical issue of available EUV power from electrical discharge pinch plasmas and laser produced plasmas, including the roots of these requirements, the relevant plasma and radiation physics, and current state-of-the-art commercial technology. In the first paper of the cluster, Vadim Banine and Roel Moors of ASML in the Netherlands provide a detailed review of the required EUV power based on an economically viable throughput of one hundred 300 mm diameter wafers per hour, projected resist sensitivity, number of finite reflectivity multilayer coated surfaces and their collective spectral bandwidth, and a collection solid angle set by optical phase-space constraints and plasma source size. Thomas Krücken and his colleagues from Philips and the Fraunhofer Institute in Aachen present a theoretical model of radiation generation and transport based on model density and temperature profiles in an electrical discharge plasma, providing valuable insights into radiation physics and the limits to achievable power. Kenneth Fahy and his colleagues at UCD in Dublin and NIST in the US, in their paper, describe in detail atomic physics calculations of emission from relevant lines and unresolved transition arrays (UTAs) of candidate xenon and tin ions, each of which radiate strongly within the acceptance bandwidth of the multilayer coatings. The different elements, Xe and Sn, however, raise significantly different implications for source debris production and thus of requisite debris mitigation requirements. Björn Hannson and Hans Hertz of KTH University in Stockholm present a substantial review of laser produced plasmas for the EUV, including those based on liquid jet technologies, leading to a path of mass limited target material, and significant stand-off distance from the solid nozzle, which maximize EUV power generation while minimizing debris production. In addition to an extensive review of EUV source related literature, they describe experiments with laser irradiated droplets and filaments, for both Xe and Sn. The embodiment of electrical discharge plasmas and laser-produced plasmas into commercially available EUV sources, with EUV powers that project to suitable levels, is presented in the fifth paper by Uwe Stamm of XTREME Technologies in Göttingen. For discharge produced plasmas, thermal loading and electrode erosion are significant issues. Vladimir Borisov and his colleagues, at the Troitsk Institute outside Moscow, address these issues and provide novel ideas for the multiplexing of several discharge plasmas feeding a single optical system. Igor Fomenkov and his colleagues at Cymer in San Diego describe issues associated with a dense plasma focus pinch, including a comparison of operations with both positive and negative polarity. In the eighth paper, Malcolm McGeoch of Plex in Massachusetts provides a theoretical description of the vaporization and ionization of spherical tin droplets in discharge plasma. Together this cluster of papers provides a broad review of the current status of high power EUV plasma sources for semiconductor manufacturing. This very current topic, of intense interest worldwide, is considered further in a book [4] of collected papers to become available in mid-2005. Additionally, a special journal issue emphasizing coherent EUV sources, albeit at lower average powers, is soon to appear [5]. References [1] http://public.itrsr.net [2] Attwood D 2000 Soft X-Rays and Extreme Ultraviolet Radiation: Principles and Applications (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) www.coe.Berkeley.edu/AST/sxreuv [3] Moore G E 1965 Cramming More Components onto Integrated Circuits Electronics Magazine 114 Moore G E 1995 Lithography and the Future of Moore's Law SPIE 243 2 [4] Bakshi V ed 2005 EUV Sources for Lithography (Bellingham WA:SPIE) at press [5] IEEE J. Special Topics in Quantum Electronics, Short Wavelength and EUV Lasers 10 Dec 2004 at press

Characteristics of extreme ultraviolet emission from high-Z plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ohashi, H.; Higashiguchi, T.; Suzuki, Y.; Kawasaki, M.; Suzuki, C.; Tomita, K.; Nishikino, M.; Fujioka, S.; Endo, A.; Li, B.; Otsuka, T.; Dunne, P.; O'Sullivan, G.

2016-03-01

We demonstrate the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and soft x-ray sources in the 2 to 7 nm spectral region related to the beyond EUV (BEUV) question at 6.x nm and the water window source based on laser-produced high-Z plasmas. Resonance emission from multiply charged ions merges to produce intense unresolved transition arrays (UTAs), extending below the carbon K edge (4.37 nm). An outline of a microscope design for single-shot live cell imaging is proposed based on high-Z plasma UTA source, coupled to multilayer mirror optics.

Erosion resistant nozzles for laser plasma extreme ultraviolet (EUV) sources

DOEpatents

Kubiak, Glenn D.; Bernardez, II, Luis J.

2000-01-04

A gas nozzle having an increased resistance to erosion from energetic plasma particles generated by laser plasma sources. By reducing the area of the plasma-facing portion of the nozzle below a critical dimension and fabricating the nozzle from a material that has a high EUV transmission as well as a low sputtering coefficient such as Be, C, or Si, it has been shown that a significant reduction in reflectance loss of nearby optical components can be achieved even after exposing the nozzle to at least 10.sup.7 Xe plasma pulses.

Defect tolerant transmission lithography mask

DOEpatents

Vernon, Stephen P.

2000-01-01

A transmission lithography mask that utilizes a transparent substrate or a partially transparent membrane as the active region of the mask. A reflective single layer or multilayer coating is deposited on the membrane surface facing the illumination system. The coating is selectively patterned (removed) to form transmissive (bright) regions. Structural imperfections and defects in the coating have negligible effect on the aerial image of the mask master pattern since the coating is used to reflect radiation out of the entrance pupil of the imaging system. Similarly, structural imperfections in the clear regions of the membrane have little influence on the amplitude or phase of the transmitted electromagnetic fields. Since the mask "discards," rather than absorbs, unwanted radiation, it has reduced optical absorption and reduced thermal loading as compared to conventional designs. For EUV applications, the mask circumvents the phase defect problem, and is independent of the thermal load during exposure.

Modeling of thermomechanical changes of extreme-ultraviolet mask and their dependence on absorber variation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ban, Chung-Hyun; Park, Eun-Sang; Park, Jae-Hun; Oh, Hye-Keun

2018-06-01

Thermal and structural deformation of extreme-ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) masks during the exposure process may become important issues as these masks are subject to rigorous image placement and flatness requirements. The reflective masks used for EUVL absorb energy during exposure, and the temperature of the masks rises as a result. This can cause thermomechanical deformation that can reduce the pattern quality. The use of very thick low-thermal-expansion substrate materials (LTEMs) may reduce energy absorption, but they do not completely eliminate mask deformation. Therefore, it is necessary to predict and optimize the effects of energy transferred from the extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) light source and the resultant patterns of structured EUV masks with complex multilayers. Our study shows that heat accumulates in the masks as exposure progresses. It has been found that a higher absorber ratio (pattern density) applied to the patterning of EUV masks exacerbates the problem, especially in masks with more complex patterns.

Measurement of EUV lithography pupil amplitude and phase variation via image-based methodology

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Levinson, Zachary; Verduijn, Erik; Wood, Obert R.

2016-04-01

Here, an approach to image-based EUV aberration metrology using binary mask targets and iterative model-based solutions to extract both the amplitude and phase components of the aberrated pupil function is presented. The approach is enabled through previously developed modeling, fitting, and extraction algorithms. We seek to examine the behavior of pupil amplitude variation in real-optical systems. Optimized target images were captured under several conditions to fit the resulting pupil responses. Both the amplitude and phase components of the pupil function were extracted from a zone-plate-based EUV mask microscope. The pupil amplitude variation was expanded in three different bases: Zernike polynomials,more » Legendre polynomials, and Hermite polynomials. It was found that the Zernike polynomials describe pupil amplitude variation most effectively of the three.« less

A double-stream Xe:He jet plasma emission in the vicinity of 6.7 nm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chkhalo, N. I.; Garakhin, S. A.; Golubev, S. V.; Lopatin, A. Ya.; Nechay, A. N.; Pestov, A. E.; Salashchenko, N. N.; Toropov, M. N.; Tsybin, N. N.; Vodopyanov, A. V.; Yulin, S.

2018-05-01

We present the results of investigations of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light emission in the range from 5 to 10 nm. The light source was a pulsed "double-stream" Xe:He gas jet target irradiated by a laser beam with a power density of ˜1011 W/cm2. The radiation spectra were measured with a Czerny-Turner monochromator with a plane diffraction grating. The conversion efficiency of the laser energy into EUV radiation caused by Xe+14…+16 ion emission in the range of 6-8 nm was measured using a calibrated power meter. The conversion efficiency of the laser radiation into EUV in the vicinity of 6.7 nm was (2.17 ± 0.13)% in a 1 nm spectral band. In the spectral band of the real optical system (0.7% for La/B multilayer mirrors) emitted into the half-space, it was (0.1 ± 0.006)%. The results of this study provide an impetus for further research on laser plasma sources for maskless EUV lithography at a wavelength of 6.7 nm.

High-NA EUV lithography enabling Moore's law in the next decade

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Schoot, Jan; Troost, Kars; Bornebroek, Frank; van Ballegoij, Rob; Lok, Sjoerd; Krabbendam, Peter; Stoeldraijer, Judon; Loopstra, Erik; Benschop, Jos P.; Finders, Jo; Meiling, Hans; van Setten, Eelco; Kneer, Bernhard; Kuerz, Peter; Kaiser, Winfried; Heil, Tilmann; Migura, Sascha; Neumann, Jens Timo

2017-10-01

While EUV systems equipped with a 0.33 Numerical Aperture lenses are readying to start volume manufacturing, ASML and Zeiss are ramping up their activities on a EUV exposure tool with Numerical Aperture of 0.55. The purpose of this scanner, targeting an ultimate resolution of 8nm, is to extend Moore's law throughout the next decade. A novel, anamorphic lens design, capable of providing the required Numerical Aperture has been investigated; This lens will be paired with new, faster stages and more accurate sensors enabling Moore's law economical requirements, as well as the tight focus and overlay control needed for future process nodes. The tighter focus and overlay control budgets, as well as the anamorphic optics, will drive innovations in the imaging and OPC modelling. Furthermore, advances in resist and mask technology will be required to image lithography features with less than 10nm resolution. This paper presents an overview of the target specifications, key technology innovations and imaging simulations demonstrating the advantages as compared to 0.33NA and showing the capabilities of the next generation EUV systems.

Efficient analysis of three dimensional EUV mask induced imaging artifacts using the waveguide decomposition method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shao, Feng; Evanschitzky, Peter; Fühner, Tim; Erdmann, Andreas

2009-10-01

This paper employs the Waveguide decomposition method as an efficient rigorous electromagnetic field (EMF) solver to investigate three dimensional mask-induced imaging artifacts in EUV lithography. The major mask diffraction induced imaging artifacts are first identified by applying the Zernike analysis of the mask nearfield spectrum of 2D lines/spaces. Three dimensional mask features like 22nm semidense/dense contacts/posts, isolated elbows and line-ends are then investigated in terms of lithographic results. After that, the 3D mask-induced imaging artifacts such as feature orientation dependent best focus shift, process window asymmetries, and other aberration-like phenomena are explored for the studied mask features. The simulation results can help lithographers to understand the reasons of EUV-specific imaging artifacts and to devise illumination and feature dependent strategies for their compensation in the optical proximity correction (OPC) for EUV masks. At last, an efficient approach using the Zernike analysis together with the Waveguide decomposition technique is proposed to characterize the impact of mask properties for the future OPC process.

Lifetime estimation of extreme-ultraviolet pellicle at 500 W source power by thermal stress analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Eun-Sang; Ban, Chung-Hyun; Park, Jae-Hun; Oh, Hye-Keun

2017-10-01

The analysis of the thermal stress and the extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) pellicle is important since the pellicle could be easily damaged since the thickness of the pellicle is 50 nm thin due to 90% required EUV transmission. One of the solution is using a high emissivity metallic material on the both sides of the pellicle and it can lower the thermal stress. However, using a metallic coating on pellicle core which is usually consist of silicon group can decrease the EUV transmission compared to using a single core layer pellicle only. Therefore, we optimized thermal and optical properties of the pellicle and elect three types of the pellicle. In this paper we simulated our optimized pellicles with 500W source power. The result shows that the difference of the thermal stress is small for each case. Therefore, our result also shows that using a high emissivity coating is necessary since the cooling of the pellicle strongly depends on emissivity and it can lower the stress effectively even at high EUV source power.

X ray microscope/telescope test and alignment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Walker, Arthur B. C.; Hoover, Richard B.

1991-01-01

The tasks performed by the Center for Applied Optics (CAO) in support of the Normal Incidence Multilayer X-Ray Optics Program are detailed. The Multi-Spectral Solar Telescope Array (MSSTA) was launched on a Terrier-boosted Black Brant sounding rocket from White Sands Missile Range on 13 May 1991. High resolution images of the sun in the soft x ray to extreme ultraviolet (EUV) regime were obtained with normal-incidence Cassegrain, Ritchey-Chretien, and Herschelian telescopes mounted in the sounding rocket. MSSTA represents the first use of multilayer optics to study a very broad range of x ray and EUV solar emissions. Energy-selective properties of multilayer-coated optics allow distinct groups of emission lines to be isolated in the solar corona and transition region. Features of the near and far coronal structures including magnetic loops of plasmas, coronal plumes, coronal holes, faint structures, and cool prominences are visible in these images. MSSTA successfully obtained unprecedented information regarding the structure and dynamics of the solar atmosphere in the temperature range of 10(exp 4)-10(exp 7) K. The performance of the MSSTA has demonstrated a unique combination of ultra-high spatial resolution and spectral differentiation by use of multilayer optics.

EUV Solar Instrument Development at the Marshall Space Flight Center

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kobayashi, K.; Cirtain, J. W.; Davis, J. M.; West, E.; Golub, L.; Korreck, K. E.; Tsuneta, S.; Bando, T.

2009-12-01

The three sounding rocket instrument programs currently underway at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center represent major advances in solar observations, made possible by improvements in EUV optics and detector technology. The Solar Ultraviolet Magnetograph Instrument (SUMI) is an EUV spectropolarimeter designed to measure the Zeeman splitting of two chromospheric EUV lines, the 280 nm MgII and 155 nm CIV lines. SUMI directly observes the magnetic field in the low-beta region where most energetic phenomena are though to originate. In conjunction with visible-light magnetographs, this observation allows us to track the evolution of the magnetic field as it evolves from the photosphere to the upper chromosphere. SUMI incorporates a normal incidence Cassegrain telescope, a MgF2 double-Wollaston polarizing beam splitter and two TVLS (toroidal varied line space) gratings, and is capable of observing two orthogonal polarizations in two wavelength bands simultaneously. SUMI has been fully assembled and tested, and currently scheduled for launch in summer of 2010. The High-resolution Coronal Imager is a normal-incidence EUV imaging telescope designed to achieve 0.2 arcsecond resolution, with a pixel size of 0.1 arcsecond. This is a factor of 25 improvement in aerial resolution over the Transition Region And Coronal Explorer (TRACE). Images obtained by TRACE indicate presence of unresolved structures; higher resolution images will reveal the scale and topology of structures that make up the corona. The telescope mirrors are currently being fabricated, and the instrument has been funded for flight. In addition, a Lyman alpha spectropolarimeter is under development in collaboration with the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. This aims to detect the linear polarization in the chromosphere caused by the Hanle effect. Horizontal magnetic fields in the chromosphere are expected to be detectable as polarization near disk center, and off-limb observations will reveal the magnetic field structure of filaments and prominences. Laboratory tests of candidate optical components are currently underway.

Resonance Scattering of Fe XVII X-ray and EUV Lines

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bhatia, A. K.; Saba, J. L. R.; Fisher, Richard R. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

Over the years a number of calculations have been carried out to derive intensities of various X-ray and EUV lines in Fe XVII to compare with observed spectra. The predicted intensities have not agreed with solar observations, particularly for the line at 1.5.02 Angstroms; resonance scattering has been suggested as the source for much of the disagreement. The atomic data calculated earlier used seven configurations having n=3 orbitals and the scattering calculations were carried out only for incident energies above the threshold of the highest fine-structure level. These calculations have now been extended to thirteen configurations having n=4 orbitals and the scattering calculations are carried out below as well as above the threshold of the highest fine structure level. These improved calculations of Fe XVII change the intensity ratios compared to those obtained earlier, bringing the optically thin F(15.02)/F(16.78) ratio and several other ratios closer to the observed values. However, some disagreement with the solar observations still persists, even thought the agreement of the presently calculated optically thin F(15.02)/F(15.26) ratio with the experimental results of Brown et al. (1998) and Laming et al. (2000) has improved. Some of the remaining discrepancy is still thought to be the effect of opacity, which is consistent with expected physical conditions for solar sources. EUV intensity ratios are also calculated and compared with observations. Level populations and intensity ratios are calculated, as a function of column density of Fe XVII, in the slab and cylindrical geometries. As found previously, the predicted intensities for the resonance lines at 15.02 and 15.26 Angstroms exhibit initial increases in flux relative to the forbidden line at 17.10 Angstroms and the resonance line at 16.78 Angstroms as optical thickness increases. The same behavior is predicted for the lines at 12.262 and 12.122 Angstroms. Predicted intensities for some of the allowed EUV lines are also affected by opacity.

EUV spectroscopy in astrophysics: The role of compact objects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wood, K. S.; Kowalski, M. P.; Cruddace, R. G.; Barstow, M. A.

2006-01-01

The bulk of radiation from million-degree plasmas is emitted at EUV wavelengths. Such plasmas are ubiquitous in astrophysics, and examples include the atmospheres of white dwarfs, accretion phenomena in cataclysmic variables (CVs) and some active galactic nuclei (AGN), the coronae of active stars, and the interstellar medium (ISM) of our own galaxy as well as of others. Internally, white dwarfs are formally analogous to neutron stars, being stellar configurations where the thermal contribution to support is secondary. Both stellar types have various intrinsic and environmental parameters. Comparison of such analogous systems using scaled parameters can be fruitful. Source class characterization is mature enough that such analogies can be used to compare theoretical ideas across a wide dynamic range in parameters, one example being theories of quasiperiodic oscillations. However, the white dwarf side of this program is limited by the available photometry and spectroscopy at EUV wavelengths, where there exist critical spectral features that contain diagnostic information often not available at other wavelengths. Moreover, interstellar absorption makes EUV observations challenging. Results from an observation of the hot white dwarf G191-B2B are presented to demonstrate the promise of high-resolution EUV spectroscopy. Two types of CVs, exemplified by AM Her and EX Hya, are used to illustrate blending of spectroscopy and timing measurements. Dynamical timescales and envisioned performance parameters of next-generation EUV satellites (effective area >20 cm 2, spectral resolution >10,000) make possible a new level of source modeling. The importance of the EUV cannot be overlooked given that observations are continually being pushed to cosmological distances, where the spectral energy distributions of X-ray bright AGNs, for example, will have their maxima redshifted into the EUV. Sometimes wrongly dismissed for limitations of small bandwidth or local view from optical depth limitations, the EUV is instead a gold mine of information bearing upon key issues in compact objects, but it is information that must be won through the triple combination of high-spectral resolution, large area, and application of advanced theory.

Fingerprinting the type of line edge roughness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fernández Herrero, A.; Pflüger, M.; Scholze, F.; Soltwisch, V.

2017-06-01

Lamellar gratings are widely used diffractive optical elements and are prototypes of structural elements in integrated electronic circuits. EUV scatterometry is very sensitive to structure details and imperfections, which makes it suitable for the characterization of nanostructured surfaces. As compared to X-ray methods, EUV scattering allows for steeper angles of incidence, which is highly preferable for the investigation of small measurement fields on semiconductor wafers. For the control of the lithographic manufacturing process, a rapid in-line characterization of nanostructures is indispensable. Numerous studies on the determination of regular geometry parameters of lamellar gratings from optical and Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) scattering also investigated the impact of roughness on the respective results. The challenge is to appropriately model the influence of structure roughness on the diffraction intensities used for the reconstruction of the surface profile. The impact of roughness was already studied analytically but for gratings with a periodic pseudoroughness, because of practical restrictions of the computational domain. Our investigation aims at a better understanding of the scattering caused by line roughness. We designed a set of nine lamellar Si-gratings to be studied by EUV scatterometry. It includes one reference grating with no artificial roughness added, four gratings with a periodic roughness distribution, two with a prevailing line edge roughness (LER) and another two with line width roughness (LWR), and four gratings with a stochastic roughness distribution (two with LER and two with LWR). We show that the type of line roughness has a strong impact on the diffuse scatter angular distribution. Our experimental results are not described well by the present modelling approach based on small, periodically repeated domains.

Formation of silicides in annealed periodic multilayers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maury, H.; Jonnard, P.; Le Guen, K.; André, J.-M.

2009-05-01

Periodic multilayers of nanometric period are widely used as optical components for the X-ray and extreme UV (EUV) ranges, in X-ray space telescopes, X-ray microscopes, EUV photolithography or synchrotron beamlines for example. Their optical performances depend on the quality of the interfaces between the various layers: chemical interdiffusion or mechanical roughness shifts the application wavelength and can drastically decrease the reflectance. Since under high thermal charge interdiffusion is known to get enhanced, the study of the thermal stability of such structures is essential to understand how interfacial compounds develop. We have characterized X-ray and EUV siliconcontaining multilayers (Mo/Si, Sc/Si and Mg/SiC) as a function of the annealing temperature (up to 600°C) using two non-destructive methods. X-ray emission from the silicon atoms, describing the Si valence states, is used to determine the chemical nature of the compounds present in the interphases while X-ray reflectivity in the hard and soft X-ray ranges can be related to the optical properties. In the three cases, interfacial metallic (Mo, Sc, Mg) silicides are evidenced and the thickness of the interphase increases with the annealing temperature. For Mo/Si and Sc/Si multilayers, silicides are even present in the as-prepared multilayers. Characteristic parameters of the stacks are determined: composition of the interphases, thickness and roughness of the layers and interphases if any. Finally, we have evidenced the maximum temperature of application of these multilayers to minimize interdiffusion.

The update of resist outgas testing for metal containing resists at EIDEC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shiobara, Eishi; Mikami, Shinji

2017-10-01

The metal containing resist is one of the candidates for high sensitivity resists. EIDEC has prepared the infrastructure for outgas testing in hydrogen environment for metal containing resists at High Power EUV irradiation tool (HPEUV). We have experimentally obtained the preliminary results of the non-cleanable metal contamination on witness sample using model material by HPEUV [1]. The metal contamination was observed at only the condition of hydrogen environment. It suggested the generation of volatile metal hydrides by hydrogen radicals. Additionally, the metal contamination on a witness sample covered with Ru was not removed by hydrogen radical cleaning. The strong interaction between the metal hydride and Ru was confirmed by the absorption simulation. Recently, ASML announced a resist outgassing barrier technology using Dynamic Gas Lock (DGL) membrane located between projection optics and wafer stage [2], [3]. DGL membrane blocks the diffusion of all kinds of resist outgassing to the projection optics and prevents the reflectivity loss of EUV mirrors. The investigation of DGL membrane for high volume manufacturing is just going on. It extends the limitation of material design for EUV resists. However, the DGL membrane has an impact for the productivity of EUV scanners due to the transmission loss of EUV light and the necessity of periodic maintenance. The well understanding and control of the outgassing characteristics of metal containing resists may help to improve the productivity of EUV scanner. We consider the outgas evaluation for the resists still useful. For the improvement of resist outgas testing by HPEUV, there are some issues such as the contamination limited regime, the optimization of exposure dose to obtain the measurable contamination film thickness and the detection of minimum amount of metal related outgas species generated. The investigation and improvement for these issues are ongoing. The updates will be presented in the conference. This work was supported by Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). [1] Eishi Shiobara, Shinji Mikami, Satoshi Tanaka, International Symposium on EUV Lithography, Hiroshima, Japan, P-RE-01, (2016). [2] Mark van de Kerkhof, Hans Jasper, Leon Levasier, Rudy Peeters, Roderik van Es, Jan-Willem Bosker, Alexander Zdravkov, Egbert Lenderink, Fabrizio Evangelista, Par Broman, Bartosz Bilski, Thorsten Last, Proc. of SPIE Vol. 10143, 101430D (2017). [3] Oktay Yildirim, Elizabeth Buitrago, Rik Hoefnagels, Marieke Meeuwissen, Sander Wuister, Gijsbert Rispens, Anton van Oosten, Paul Derks, Jo Finders, Michaela Vockenhuber, Yasin Ekinci, Proc. of SPIE Vol. 10143, 101430Q (2017).

Prospect of space-based interferometry at EUV and soft X-ray wavelengths

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Welsh, Barry Y.; Chakrabarti, Supriya

1992-01-01

We review the current capabilities of high-resolution, spectroscopic, space-borne instrumentation available for both solar and stellar observations in the EUV and soft X-ray wavelength regimes, and describe the basic design of a compact, all-reflection interferometer based on the spatial heterodyne technique; this is capable of producing a resolving power (lambda/Delta-lambda) of about 20,000 in the 100-200 A region using presently available multilayer optical components. Such an instrument can be readily constructed with existing technology. Due to its small size and lack of moving parts, it is ideally suited to spaceborne applications. Based on best estimates of the efficiency of this instrument at soft X-ray wavelengths, we review the possible use of this high-resolution interferometer in obtaining high-resolution full-disk spectroscopy of the sun. We also discuss its possible use for observations of diffuse sources such as the EUV interstellar background radiation.

Generation of coherent magnons in NiO stimulated by EUV pulses from a seeded free-electron laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simoncig, A.; Mincigrucci, R.; Principi, E.; Bencivenga, F.; Calvi, A.; Foglia, L.; Kurdi, G.; Matruglio, A.; Dal Zilio, S.; Masciotti, V.; Lazzarino, M.; Masciovecchio, C.

2017-12-01

The full comprehension of magnetic phenomena at the femtosecond (fs) time scale is of high demand for current material science and technology. Here we report the observation of coherent collective modes in the antiferromagnetic insulator nickel oxide (NiO) identified by a frequency of 0.86 THz, which matches the expected out-of-plane single-mode magnon resonance. Such collective excitations are inelastically stimulated by extreme ultraviolet (EUV) pulses delivered by a seeded free-electron laser (FEL) and subsequently revealed probing the transient optical activity of NiO looking at the Faraday effect. Moreover, the unique capability of the employed FEL source to deliver circularly polarized pulses allows us to demonstrate optomagnetic control of such collective modes at EUV photon energies. These results may set a starting point for future investigations of magnetic materials at time scales comparable or faster than those typical of exchange interactions.

DUV or EUV: that is the question

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Williamson, David M.

2000-11-01

Lord Rayleigh's well-known equations for resolution and depth of focus indicate that resolution is better improved by reducing the wavelength of light rather than by increasing the numerical aperture (NA) of the projection optics, particularly when NA is approaching its physical limit of 1.0 in air (or vacuum). Vector aerial image simulations of diffraction-limited Deep Ultraviolet (DUV) and Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithographic systems verify this simple view, even though Rayleigh's constants in Microlithography are not constant because of a variety of image enhancement techniques that attempt to compensate for the shortcomings of the aerial image when it is pushed to the limit. The aerial image is not the whole story, however. The competition between DUV and EUV systems will be decided more by economic and technological factors such as risk, time and cost of development and cost of ownership. These in turn depend on cost, availability and quality of light sources, refracting materials, photoresists and reticles.

Use of molecular oxygen to reduce EUV-induced carbon contamination of optics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malinowski, Michael E.; Grunow, Philip A.; Steinhaus, Chip; Clift, W. Miles; Klebanoff, Leonard E.

2001-08-01

Carbon deposition and removal experiments on Mo/Si multilayer mirror (MLM) samples were performed using extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light on Beamline 12.0.1.2 of the Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). Carbon (C) was deposited onto Mo/Si multilayer mirror (MLM) samples when hydrocarbon vapors where intentionally introduced into the MLM test chamber in the presence of EUV at 13.44 nm (92.3eV). The carbon deposits so formed were removed by molecular oxygen + EUV. The MLM reflectivities and photoemission were measured in-situ during these carbon deposition and cleaning procedures. Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES) sputter-through profiling of the samples was performed after experimental runs to help determine C layer thickness and the near-surface compositional-depth profiles of all samples studied. EUV powers were varied from ~0.2mW/mm2 to 3mW/mm2(at 13.44 nm) during both deposition and cleaning experiments and the oxygen pressure ranged from ~5x10-5 to 5x10-4 Torr during the cleaning experiments. C deposition rates as high as ~8nm/hr were observed, while cleaning rates as high as ~5nm/hr could be achieved when the highest oxygen pressure were used. A limited set of experiments involving intentional oxygen-only exposure of the MLM samples showed that slow oxidation of the MLM surface could occur.

Solar Imaging UV/EUV Spectrometers Using TVLS Gratings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thomas, Roger J.

2003-01-01

It is a particular challenge to develop a stigmatic spectrograph for UV, EUV wavelengths since the very low normal-incidence reflectance of standard materials most often requires that the design be restricted to a single optical element which must simultaneously provide both reimaging and spectral dispersion. This problem has been solved in the past by the use of toroidal gratings with uniform line-spaced rulings (TULS). A number of solar extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectrometers have been based on such designs, including SOHO/CDS, Solar-B/EIS, and the sounding rockets Solar Extreme ultraviolet Research Telescope and Spectrograph (SERTS) and Extreme Ultraviolet Normal Incidence Spectrograph (EUNIS). More recently, Kita, Harada, and collaborators have developed the theory of spherical gratings with varied line-space rulings (SVLS) operated at unity magnification, which have been flown on several astronomical satellite missions. We now combine these ideas into a spectrometer concept that puts varied-line space rulings onto toroidal gratings. Such TVLS designs are found to provide excellent imaging even at very large spectrograph magnifications and beam-speeds, permitting extremely high-quality performance in remarkably compact instrument packages. Optical characteristics of three new solar spectrometers based on this concept are described: SUMI and RAISE, two sounding rocket payloads, and NEXUS, currently being proposed as a Small-Explorer (SMEX) mission.

Classification and printability of EUV mask defects from SEM images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cho, Wonil; Price, Daniel; Morgan, Paul A.; Rost, Daniel; Satake, Masaki; Tolani, Vikram L.

2017-10-01

Classification and Printability of EUV Mask Defects from SEM images EUV lithography is starting to show more promise for patterning some critical layers at 5nm technology node and beyond. However, there still are many key technical obstacles to overcome before bringing EUV Lithography into high volume manufacturing (HVM). One of the greatest obstacles is manufacturing defect-free masks. For pattern defect inspections in the mask-shop, cutting-edge 193nm optical inspection tools have been used so far due to lacking any e-beam mask inspection (EBMI) or EUV actinic pattern inspection (API) tools. The main issue with current 193nm inspection tools is the limited resolution for mask dimensions targeted for EUV patterning. The theoretical resolution limit for 193nm mask inspection tools is about 60nm HP on masks, which means that main feature sizes on EUV masks will be well beyond the practical resolution of 193nm inspection tools. Nevertheless, 193nm inspection tools with various illumination conditions that maximize defect sensitivity and/or main-pattern modulation are being explored for initial EUV defect detection. Due to the generally low signal-to-noise in the 193nm inspection imaging at EUV patterning dimensions, these inspections often result in hundreds and thousands of defects which then need to be accurately reviewed and dispositioned. Manually reviewing each defect is difficult due to poor resolution. In addition, the lack of a reliable aerial dispositioning system makes it very challenging to disposition for printability. In this paper, we present the use of SEM images of EUV masks for higher resolution review and disposition of defects. In this approach, most of the defects detected by the 193nm inspection tools are first imaged on a mask SEM tool. These images together with the corresponding post-OPC design clips are provided to KLA-Tencor's Reticle Decision Center (RDC) platform which provides ADC (Automated Defect Classification) and S2A (SEM-to-Aerial printability) analysis of every defect. First, a defect-free or reference mask SEM is rendered from the post-OPC design, and the defective signature is detected from the defect-reference difference image. These signatures help assess the true nature of the defect as evident in e-beam imaging; for example, excess or missing absorber, line-edge roughness, contamination, etc. Next, defect and reference contours are extracted from the grayscale SEM images and fed into the simulation engine with an EUV scanner model to generate corresponding EUV defect and reference aerial images. These are then analyzed for printability and dispositioned using an Aerial Image Analyzer (AIA) application to automatically measure and determine the amount of CD errors. Thus by integrating EUV ADC and S2A applications together, every defect detection is characterized for its type and printability which is essential for not only determining which defects to repair, but also in monitoring the performance of EUV mask process tools. The accuracy of the S2A print modeling has been verified with other commercially-available simulators, and will also be verified with actual wafer print results. With EUV lithography progressing towards volume manufacturing at 5nm technology, and the likelihood of EBMI inspectors approaching the horizon, the EUV ADC-S2A system will continue serving an essential role of dispositioning defects off e-beam imaging.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Naulleau, Patrick; Mochi, Iacopo; Goldberg, Kenneth A.

Defect free masks remain one of the most significant challenges facing the commercialization of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. Progress on this front requires high-performance wavelength-specific metrology of EUV masks, including high-resolution and aerial-image microscopy performed near the 13.5 nm wavelength. Arguably the most cost-effective and rapid path to proliferating this capability is through the development of Fresnel zoneplate-based microscopes. Given the relative obscurity of such systems, however, modeling tools are not necessarily optimized to deal with them and their imaging properties are poorly understood. Here we present a modeling methodology to analyze zoneplate microscopes based on commercially available optical modelingmore » software and use the technique to investigate the imaging performance of an off-axis EUV microscope design. The modeling predicts that superior performance can be achieved by tilting the zoneplate, making it perpendicular to the chief ray at the center of the field, while designing the zoneplate to explicitly work in that tilted plane. Although the examples presented here are in the realm of EUV mask inspection, the methods described and analysis results are broadly applicable to zoneplate microscopes in general, including full-field soft-x-ray microscopes rou tinely used in the synchrotron community.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Naulleau, Patrick P.; Mochi, Iacopo; Goldberg, Kenneth A.

Defect free masks remain one of the most significant challenges facing the commercialization of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. Progress on this front requires high-performance wavelength-specific metrology of EUV masks, including high-resolution and aerial-image microscopy performed near the 13.5 nm wavelength. Arguably the most cost-effective and rapid path to proliferating this capability is through the development of Fresnel zoneplate-based microscopes. Given the relative obscurity of such systems, however, modeling tools are not necessarily optimized to deal with them and their imaging properties are poorly understood. Here we present a modeling methodology to analyze zoneplate microscopes based on commercially available optical modelingmore » software and use the technique to investigate the imaging performance of an off-axis EUV microscope design. The modeling predicts that superior performance can be achieved by tilting the zoneplate, making it perpendicular to the chief ray at the center of the field, while designing the zoneplate to explicitly work in that tilted plane. Although the examples presented here are in the realm of EUV mask inspection, the methods described and analysis results are broadly applicable to zoneplate microscopes in general, including full-field soft-x-ray microscopes routinely used in the synchrotron community.« less

Relation between electron- and photon-caused oxidation in EUVL optics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malinowski, Michael E.; Steinhaus, Charles A.; Meeker, Donald E.; Clift, W. Miles; Klebanoff, Leonard E.; Bajt, Sasa

2003-06-01

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV)-induced oxidation of silicon-capped, [Mo/Si] multilayer mirrors in the presence of background levels of water vapor is recognized as one of the most serious threats to multilayer lifetime since oxidation of the top silicon layer is an irreversible process. The current work directly compares the oxidation on a silicon-capped, [Mo/Si] multilayers caused by EUV photons with the oxidation caused by 1 keV electrons in the presence of the same water vapor environment (2 x 10-6 Torr). Similar, 4 nm, silicon-capped, [Mo/Si] multilayer mirror samples were exposed to photons (95.3 eV) + water vapor at the ALS, LBNL, and also to a 1 keV electron beam + water vapor in separate experimental systems. The results of this work showed that the oxidation produced by ~1 µA of e-beam current was found to be equivalent to that produced by ~1 mW of EUV exposure. These results will help allow the use of 1 keV electrons beams, instead of EUV photons, to perform environmental testing of multilayers in a low-pressure water environment and to more accurately determine projected mirror lifetimes based on the electron beam exposures.

Relation between electron- and photon-caused oxidation in EUVL optics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malinowski, Michael E.; Steinhaus, Charles A.; Meeker, Donald E.; Clift, W. Miles; Klebanoff, Leonard E.; Bajt, Sasa

2003-06-01

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV)-induced oxidation of silicon-capped, [Mo/Si] multilayer mirrors in the presence of background levels of water vapor is recognized as one of the most serious threats to multilayer lifetime since oxidation of the top silicon layer is an irreversible process. The current work directly compares the oxidation on a silicon-capped, [Mo/Si] multilayers caused by EUV photons with the oxidation caused by 1 keV electrons in the presence of the same water vapor environment (2 x 10-6 Torr). Similar, 4 nm, silicon-capped, [Mo/Si] multilayer mirror samples were exposed to photons (95.3 eV) + water vapor at the ALS, LBNL, and also to a 1 keV electron beam + water vapor in separate experimental systems. The results of this work showed that the oxidation produced by ~1 ´A of e-beam current was found to be equivalent to that produced by ~1 mW of EUV exposure. These results will help allow the use of 1 keV electrons beams, instead of EUV photons, to perform environmental testing of multilayers in a low-pressure water environment and to more accurately determine projected mirror lifetimes based on the electron beam exposures.

Short wavelength laser

DOEpatents

Hagelstein, P.L.

1984-06-25

A short wavelength laser is provided that is driven by conventional-laser pulses. A multiplicity of panels, mounted on substrates, are supported in two separated and alternately staggered facing and parallel arrays disposed along an approximately linear path. When the panels are illuminated by the conventional-laser pulses, single pass EUV or soft x-ray laser pulses are produced.

A Sounding Rocket Mission Concept to Acquire High-Resolution Radiometric Spectra Spanning the 9 nm - 31 nm Wavelength Range

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Krause, L. Habash; Cirtain, Jonathan; McGuirck, Michael; Pavelitz, Steven; Weber, Ed.; Winebarger, Amy

2012-01-01

When studying Solar Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) emissions, both single-wavelength, two- dimensional (2D) spectroheliograms and multi-wavelength, one-dimensional (1D) line spectra are important, especially for a thorough understanding of the complex processes in the solar magnetized plasma from the base of the chromosphere through the corona. 2D image data are required for a detailed study of spatial structures, whereas radiometric (i.e., spectral) data provide information on relevant atomic excitation/ionization state densities (and thus temperature). Using both imaging and radiometric techniques, several satellite missions presently study solar dynamics in the EUV, including the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), Hinode, and the Solar-Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO). The EUV wavelengths of interest typically span 9 nm to 31 nm, with the shorter wavelengths being associated with the hottest features (e.g., intense flares and bright points) and the longer wavelengths associated with cooler features (e.g., coronal holes and filaments). Because the optical components of satellite instruments degrade over time, it is not uncommon to conduct sounding rocket underflights for calibration purposes. The authors have designed a radiometric sounding rocket payload that could serve as both a calibration underflight for and a complementary scientific mission to the upcoming Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI) mission aboard the GOES-R satellite (scheduled for a 2015 launch). The challenge to provide quality radiometric line spectra over the 9-31 nm range covered by SUVI was driven by the multilayer coatings required to make the optical components, including mirrors and gratings, reflective over the entire range. Typically, these multilayers provide useful EUV reflectances over bandwidths of a few nm. Our solution to this problem was to employ a three-telescope system in which the optical components were coated with multilayers that spanned three wavelength ranges to cover the three pairs of SUVI bands. The complete system was designed to fit within the Black Brandt-IX 22.-diameter payload skin envelope. The basic optical path is that of a simple parabolic telescope in which EUV light is focused onto a slit and shutter assembly and imaged onto a normal-incidence diffraction grating, which then disperses the light onto a 2048 2048 CCD sensor. The CCD thus records 1D spatial information along one axis and spectral information along the other. The slit spans 40 arc-minutes in length, thus covering a solar diameter out to +/- 1.3 solar radii. Our operations concept includes imaging at three distinct positions: the north-south meridian, the northeast-southwest diagonal, and real-time pointing at an active region. Six 10-second images will be obtained at each position. Fine pointing is provided by the SPARCS-VII attitude control system typically employed on Black Brandt solar missions. Both before and after launch, all three telescopes will be calibrated with the EUV line emission source and monochromater system at NASA's Stray Light Facility at Marshall Spaceflight Center. Details of the payload design, operations concept, and data application will be presented.

EUV multilayer mirrors with enhanced stability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benoit, Nicolas; Yulin, Sergiy; Feigl, Torsten; Kaiser, Norbert

2006-08-01

The application of multilayer optics in EUV lithography requires not only the highest possible normal-incidence reflectivity but also a long-term thermal and radiation stability at operating temperatures. This requirement is most important in the case of the collector mirror of the illumination system close to the EUV source where a short-time decrease in reflectivity is most likely. Mo/Si multilayer mirrors, designed for high normal reflectivity at the wavelength of 13.5 nm and deposited by dc magnetron sputtering, were directly exposed to EUV radiation without mitigation system. They presented a loss of reflectivity of more than 18% after only 8 hours of irradiation by a Xe-discharge source. Another problem of Mo/Si multilayers is the instability of reflectivity and peak wavelength under high heat load. It becomes especially critical at temperatures above 200°C, where interdiffusion between the molybdenum and the silicon layers is observed. The development of high-temperature multilayers was focused on two alternative Si-based systems: MoSi II/Si and interface engineered Mo/C/Si/C multilayer mirrors. The multilayer designs as well as the deposition parameters of all systems were optimized in terms of high peak reflectivity (>= 60 %) at a wavelength of 13.5 nm and high thermal stability. Small thermally induced changes of the MoSi II/Si multilayer properties were found but they were independent of the annealing time at all temperatures examined. A wavelength shift of -1.7% and a reflectivity drop of 1.0% have been found after annealing at 500°C for 100 hours. The total degradation of optical properties above 650°C can be explained by a recrystallization process of MoSi II layers.

UNDERCOVER EUV SOLAR JETS OBSERVED BY THE INTERFACE REGION IMAGING SPECTROGRAPH

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chen, N.-H.; Innes, D. E.

It is well-known that extreme ultraviolet (EUV) emission emitted at the solar surface is absorbed by overlying cool plasma. Especially in active regions, dark lanes in EUV images suggest that much of the surface activity is obscured. Simultaneous observations from the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, consisting of UV spectra and slit-jaw images (SJI), give vital information with sub-arcsecond spatial resolution on the dynamics of jets not seen in EUV images. We studied a series of small jets from recently formed bipole pairs beside the trailing spot of active region 11991, which occurred on 2014 March 5 from 15:02:21 UT tomore » 17:04:07 UT. Collimated outflows with bright roots were present in SJI 1400 Å (transition region) and 2796 Å (upper chromosphere) that were mostly not seen in Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) 304 Å (transition region) and AIA 171 Å (lower corona) images. The Si iv spectra show a strong blue wing enhancement, but no red wing, in the line profiles of the ejecta for all recurrent jets, indicating outward flows without twists. We see two types of Mg ii line profiles produced by the jets spires: reversed and non-reversed. Mg ii lines remain optically thick, but turn optically thin in the highly Doppler shifted wings. The energy flux contained in each recurrent jet is estimated using a velocity differential emission measure technique that measures the emitting power of the plasma as a function of the line-of-sight velocity. We found that all the recurrent jets release similar energy (10{sup 8} erg cm{sup −2} s{sup −1}) toward the corona and the downward component is less than 3%.« less

Undercover EUV Solar Jets Observed by the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, N.-H.; Innes, D. E.

2016-12-01

It is well-known that extreme ultraviolet (EUV) emission emitted at the solar surface is absorbed by overlying cool plasma. Especially in active regions, dark lanes in EUV images suggest that much of the surface activity is obscured. Simultaneous observations from the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, consisting of UV spectra and slit-jaw images (SJI), give vital information with sub-arcsecond spatial resolution on the dynamics of jets not seen in EUV images. We studied a series of small jets from recently formed bipole pairs beside the trailing spot of active region 11991, which occurred on 2014 March 5 from 15:02:21 UT to 17:04:07 UT. Collimated outflows with bright roots were present in SJI 1400 Å (transition region) and 2796 Å (upper chromosphere) that were mostly not seen in Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) 304 Å (transition region) and AIA 171 Å (lower corona) images. The Si IV spectra show a strong blue wing enhancement, but no red wing, in the line profiles of the ejecta for all recurrent jets, indicating outward flows without twists. We see two types of Mg II line profiles produced by the jets spires: reversed and non-reversed. Mg II lines remain optically thick, but turn optically thin in the highly Doppler shifted wings. The energy flux contained in each recurrent jet is estimated using a velocity differential emission measure technique that measures the emitting power of the plasma as a function of the line-of-sight velocity. We found that all the recurrent jets release similar energy (108 erg cm-2 s-1) toward the corona and the downward component is less than 3%.

EUV microexposures at the ALS using the 0.3-NA MET projectionoptics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Naulleau, Patrick; Goldberg, Kenneth A.; Anderson, Erik

2005-09-01

The recent development of high numerical aperture (NA) EUV optics such as the 0.3-NA Micro Exposure Tool (MET) optic has given rise to a new class of ultra-high resolution microexposure stations. Once such printing station has been developed and implemented at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Advanced Light Source. This flexible printing station utilizes a programmable coherence illuminator providing real-time pupil-fill control for advanced EUV resist and mask development. The Berkeley exposure system programmable illuminator enables several unique capabilities. Using dipole illumination out to {sigma}=1, the Berkeley tool supports equal-line-space printing down to 12 nm, well beyond the capabilities of similarmore » tools. Using small-sigma illumination combined with the central obscuration of the MET optic enables the system to print feature sizes that are twice as small as those coded on the mask. In this configuration, the effective 10x-demagnification for equal lines and spaces reduces the mask fabrication burden for ultra-high-resolution printing. The illuminator facilitates coherence studies such as the impact of coherence on line-edge roughness (LER) and flare. Finally the illuminator enables novel print-based aberration monitoring techniques as described elsewhere in these proceedings. Here we describe the capabilities of the new MET printing station and present system characterization results. Moreover, we present the latest printing results obtained in experimental resists. Limited by the availability of high-resolution photoresists, equal line-space printing down to 25 nm has been demonstrated as well as isolated line printing down to 29 nm with an LER of approaching 3 nm.« less

Stability and imaging of the ASML EUV alpha demo tool

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hermans, Jan V.; Baudemprez, Bart; Lorusso, Gian; Hendrickx, Eric; van Dijk, Andre; Jonckheere, Rik; Goethals, Anne-Marie

2009-03-01

Extreme Ultra-Violet (EUV) lithography is the leading candidate for semiconductor manufacturing of the 22nm technology node and beyond, due to the very short wavelength of 13.5nm. However, reducing the wavelength adds complexity to the lithographic process. The impact of the EUV specific conditions on lithographic performance needs to be understood, before bringing EUV lithography into pre-production. To provide early learning on EUV, an EUV fullfield scanner, the Alpha Demo Tool (ADT) from ASML was installed at IMEC, using a Numerical Aperture (NA) of 0.25. In this paper we report on different aspects of the ADT: the imaging and overlay performance and both short and long-term stability. For 40nm dense Lines-Spaces (LS), the ADT shows an across field overlapping process window of 270nm Depth Of Focus (DOF) at 10% Exposure Latitude (EL) and a wafer CD Uniformity (CDU) of 3nm 3σ, without any corrections for process or reticle. The wafer CDU is correlated to different factors that are known to influence the CD fingerprint from traditional lithography: slit intensity uniformity, focus plane deviation and reticle CD error. Taking these contributions into account, the CD through slit fingerprint for 40nm LS is simulated with excellent agreement to experimental data. The ADT shows good CD stability over 9 months of operation, both intrafield and across wafer. The projection optics reflectivity has not degraded over 9 months. Measured overlay performance with respect to a dry tool shows |Mean|+3σ below 20nm with more correction potential by applying field-by-field corrections (|Mean|+3σ <=10nm). For 22nm SRAM application, both contact hole and metal layer were printed in EUV with 10% CD and 15nm overlay control. Below 40nm, the ADT shows good wafer CDU for 30nm dense and isolated lines (on the same wafer) and 38nm dense Contact Holes (CH). First 28nm dense line CDU data are achieved. The results indicate that the ADT can be used effectively for EUV process development before installation of the pre-production tool, the ASML NXE Gen. 1 at IMEC.

Relationship between resist outgassing and EUV witness sample contamination in NXE outgas qualification using electrons and EUV photons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pollentier, I.; Tirumala Venkata, A.; Gronheid, R.

2014-04-01

EUV photoresists are considered as a potential source of optics contamination, since they introduce irradiation-induced outgassing in the EUV vacuum environment. Therefore, before these resists can be used on e.g. ASML NXE:3100 or NXE:3300, they need to be tested in dedicated equipment according to a well-defined procedure, which is based on exposing a witness sample (WS) in the vicinity of a simultaneously exposed resist as it outgasses. Different system infrastructures are used at multiple sites (e.g. NIST, CNSE, Sematech, EIDEC, and imec) and were calibrated to each other by a detailed test plan. Despite this detailed tool qualifications, a first round robin comparison of identical materials showed inconsistent outgas test results, and required further investigation by a second round robin. Since the resist exposure mode is different at the various locations (some sites are using EUV photons while others use E-gun electrons), this difference has always a point of concern for variability of test results. In this work we compare the outgas test results from EUV photon and electron exposure using the resist materials of the second round robin. Since the imec outgas tester allows both exposure methods on the resist, a within-system comparison is possible and showed limited variation between photon and electron exposure mode. Therefore the system-to-system variability amongst the different outgas test sites is expected to be related to other parameters than the electron/photon exposure mode. Initial work showed that the variability might be related to temperature, E-gun emission excursion, and/or residual outgassing scaled by different wafer areas at the different sites.

Novel EUV mask black border suppressing EUV and DUV OoB light reflection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ito, Shin; Kodera, Yutaka; Fukugami, Norihito; Komizo, Toru; Maruyama, Shingo; Watanabe, Genta; Yoshida, Itaru; Kotani, Jun; Konishi, Toshio; Haraguchi, Takashi

2016-05-01

EUV lithography is the most promising technology for semiconductor device manufacturing of the 10nm node and beyond. The image border is a pattern free dark area around the die on the photomask serving as transition area between the parts of the mask that is shielded from the exposure light by the Reticle Masking (REMA) blades and the die. When printing a die at dense spacing on an EUV scanner, the reflection from the image border overlaps edges of neighboring dies, affecting CD and contrast in this area. This is related to the fact that EUV absorber stack reflects 1-3% of actinic EUV light. To reduce this effect several types of image border with reduced EUV reflectance (<0.05%) have been proposed; such an image border is referred to as a black border. In particular, an etched multilayer type black border was developed; it was demonstrated that CD impact at the edge of a die is strongly reduced with this type of the black border (BB). However, wafer printing result still showed some CD change in the die influenced by the black border reflection. It was proven that the CD shift was caused by DUV Out of Band (OOB) light from the EUV light source. New types of a multilayer etched BB were evaluated and showed a good potential for DUV light suppression. In this study, a novel BB called `Hybrid Black Border' (HBB) has been developed to eliminate EUV and DUV OOB light reflection by applying optical design technique and special micro-fabrication technique. A new test mask with HBB is fabricated without any degradation of mask quality according to the result of CD performance in the main pattern, defectivity and cleaning durability. The imaging performance for N10 imaging structures is demonstrated on NXE:3300B in collaboration with ASML. This result is compared to the imaging results obtained for a mask with the earlier developed BB, and HBB has achieved ~3x improvement; less than 0.2 nm CD changes are observed in the corners of the die. A CD uniformity budget including impact of OOB light in the die edge area is evaluated which shows that the OOB impact from HBB becomes comparable with other CDU contributors in this area. Finally, we state that HBB is a promising technology allowing for CD control at die edges.

Plasma cleaning of nanoparticles from EUV mask materials by electrostatics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lytle, W. M.; Raju, R.; Shin, H.; Das, C.; Neumann, M. J.; Ruzic, D. N.

2008-03-01

Particle contamination on surfaces used in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) mask blank deposition, mask fabrication, and patterned mask handling must be avoided since the contamination can create significant distortions and loss of reflectivity. Particles on the order of 10nm are problematic during MLM mirror fabrication, since the introduced defects disrupt the local Bragg planes. The most serious problem is the accumulation of particles on surfaces of patterned blanks during EUV light exposure, since > 25nm particles will be printed without an out-of-focus pellicle. Particle contaminants are also a problem with direct imprint processes since defects are printed every time. Plasma Assisted Cleaning by Electrostatics (PACE) works by utilizing a helicon plasma as well as a pulsed DC substrate bias to charge particle and repel them electrostatically from the surface. Removal of this nature is a dry cleaning method and removes contamination perpendicular from the surface instead of rolling or sweeping the particles off the surface, a benefit when cleaning patterned surfaces where contamination can be rolled or trapped between features. Also, an entire mask can be cleaned at once since the plasma can cover the entire surface, thus there is no need to focus in on an area to clean. Sophisticated particle contamination detection system utilizing high power laser called DEFCON is developed to analyze the particle removal after PACE cleaning process. PACE has shown greater than 90 % particle removal efficiencies for 30 to 220 nm PSL particles on ruthenium capped quartz. Removal results for silicon surfaces and quartz surfaces show similar removal efficiencies. Results of cleaning 80 nm PSL spheres from silicon substrates will be shown.

Simultaneous retrieval of the solar EUV flux and neutral thermospheric O, O2, N2, and temperature from twilight airglow

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fennelly, J. A.; Torr, D. G.; Richards, P. G.; Torr, M. R.

1994-01-01

We present a method to retrieve neutral thermospheric composition and the solar EUV flux from ground-based twilight optical measurements of the O(+) ((exp 2)P) 7320 A and O((exp 1)D) 6300 A airglow emissions. The parameters retrieved are the neutral temperature, the O, O2, N2 density profiles, and a scaling factor for the solar EUV flux spectrum. The temperature, solar EUV flux scaling factor, and atomic oxygen density are first retrieved from the 7320-A emission, which are then used with the 6300-A emission to retrieve the O2 and N2 densities. The retrieval techniques have been verified by computer simulations. We have shown that the retrieval technique is able to statistically retrieve values, between 200 and 400 km, within an average error of 3.1 + or - 0.6% for thermospheric temperature, 3.3 + or - 2.0% for atomic oxygen, 2.3 + or - 1.3% for molecular oxygen, and 2.4 + or - 1.3% for molecular nitrogen. The solar EUV flux scaling factor was found to have a retrieval error of 5.1 + or - 2.3%. All the above errors have a confidence level of 95%. The purpose of this paper is to prove the viability and usefulness of the retrieval technique by demonstrating the ability to retrieve known quantities under a realistic simulation of the measurement process, excluding systematic effects.

MoRu/Be multilayers for extreme ultraviolet applications

DOEpatents

Bajt, Sasa C.; Wall, Mark A.

2001-01-01

High reflectance, low intrinsic roughness and low stress multilayer systems for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography comprise amorphous layers MoRu and crystalline Be layers. Reflectance greater than 70% has been demonstrated for MoRu/Be multilayers with 50 bilayer pairs. Optical throughput of MoRu/Be multilayers can be 30-40% higher than that of Mo/Be multilayer coatings. The throughput can be improved using a diffusion barrier to make sharper interfaces. A capping layer on the top surface of the multilayer improves the long-term reflectance and EUV radiation stability of the multilayer by forming a very thin native oxide that is water resistant.

Determination of line profiles on nano-structured surfaces using EUV and x-ray scattering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soltwisch, Victor; Wernecke, Jan; Haase, Anton; Probst, Jürgen; Schoengen, Max; Krumrey, Michael; Scholze, Frank; Pomplun, Jan; Burger, Sven

2014-09-01

Non-imaging techniques like X-ray scattering are supposed to play an important role in the further development of CD metrology for the semiconductor industry. Grazing Incidence Small Angle X-ray Scattering (GISAXS) provides directly assessable information on structure roughness and long-range periodic perturbations. The disadvantage of the method is the large footprint of the X-ray beam on the sample due to the extremely shallow angle of incidence. This can be overcome by using wavelengths in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectral range, EUV small angle scattering (EUVSAS), which allows for much steeper angles of incidence but preserves the range of momentum transfer that can be observed. Generally, the potentially higher momentum transfer at shorter wavelengths is counterbalanced by decreasing diffraction efficiency. This results in a practical limit of about 10 nm pitch for which it is possible to observe at least the +/- 1st diffraction orders with reasonable efficiency. At the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), the available photon energy range extends from 50 eV up to 10 keV at two adjacent beamlines. PTB commissioned a new versatile Ellipso-Scatterometer which is capable of measuring 6" square substrates in a clean, hydrocarbon-free environment with full flexibility regarding the direction of the incident light polarization. The reconstruction of line profiles using a geometrical model with six free parameters, based on a finite element method (FEM) Maxwell solver and a particle swarm based least-squares optimization yielded consistent results for EUV-SAS and GISAXS. In this contribution we present scatterometry data for line gratings and consistent reconstruction results of the line geometry for EUV-SAS and GISAXS.

The Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer - Optics fabrication and performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Green, J.; Finley, D.; Bowyer, S.; Malina, R. F.

1986-01-01

The fabrication methods, testing and evaluation techniques, and performance results are presented for the mirrors for the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE). The finest mirror produced to date has a measured half energy width of 8 arcsec at optical wavelengths. With a polished nickel surface, the telescope throughput was 35 percent at 44 A and 60 percent at 256 A. The surface roughness is 20 A rms.

Low-cost method for producing extreme ultraviolet lithography optics

DOEpatents

Folta, James A [Livermore, CA; Montcalm, Claude [Fort Collins, CO; Taylor, John S [Livermore, CA; Spiller, Eberhard A [Mt. Kisco, NY

2003-11-21

Spherical and non-spherical optical elements produced by standard optical figuring and polishing techniques are extremely expensive. Such surfaces can be cheaply produced by diamond turning; however, the roughness in the diamond turned surface prevent their use for EUV lithography. These ripples are smoothed with a coating of polyimide before applying a 60 period Mo/Si multilayer to reflect a wavelength of 134 .ANG. and have obtained peak reflectivities close to 63%. The savings in cost are about a factor of 100.

Contamination monitoring approaches for EUV space optics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ray, David C.; Malina, Roger F.; Welsh, Barry J.; Battel, Steven J.

1989-01-01

Data from contaminant-induced UV optics degradation studies and particulate models are used here to develop end-of-service-life instrument contamination requirements which are very stringent but achievable. The budget is divided into allocations for each phase of hardware processing. Optical and nonoptical hardware are monitored for particulate and molecular contamination during initial cleaning and baking, assembly, test, and calibration phases. The measured contamination levels are compared to the requirements developed for each phase to provide confidence that the required end-of-life levels will be met.

Characterization of gas targets for laser produced extreme ultraviolet plasmas with a Hartmann-Shack sensor

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Peth, Christian; Kranzusch, Sebastian; Mann, Klaus

2004-10-01

A table top extreme ultraviolet (EUV)-source was developed at Laser-Laboratorium Goettingen for the characterization of optical components and sensoric devices in the wavelength region from 11 to 13 nm. EUV radiation is generated by focusing the beam of a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser into a pulsed xenon gas jet. Since a directed gas jet with a high number density is needed for an optimal performance of the source, conical nozzles with different cone angles were drilled with an excimer laser to produce a supersonic gas jet. The influence of the nozzle geometry on the gas jet was characterized with a Hartmann-Shackmore » wave front sensor. The deformation of a planar wave front after passing the gas jet was analyzed with this sensor, allowing a reconstruction of the gas density distribution. Thus, the gas jet was optimized resulting in an increase of EUV emission by a factor of two and a decrease of the plasma size at the same time.« less

Plasma Surface Interactions Common to Advanced Fusion Wall Materials and EUV Lithography - Lithium and Tin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ruzic, D. N.; Alman, D. A.; Jurczyk, B. E.; Stubbers, R.; Coventry, M. D.; Neumann, M. J.; Olczak, W.; Qiu, H.

2004-09-01

Advanced plasma facing components (PFCs) are needed to protect walls in future high power fusion devices. In the semiconductor industry, extreme ultraviolet (EUV) sources are needed for next generation lithography. Lithium and tin are candidate materials in both areas, with liquid Li and Sn plasma material interactions being critical. The Plasma Material Interaction Group at the University of Illinois is leveraging liquid metal experimental and computational facilities to benefit both fields. The Ion surface InterAction eXperiment (IIAX) has measured liquid Li and Sn sputtering, showing an enhancement in erosion with temperature for light ion bombardment. Surface Cleaning of Optics by Plasma Exposure (SCOPE) measures erosion and damage of EUV mirror samples, and tests cleaning recipes with a helicon plasma. The Flowing LIquid surface Retention Experiment (FLIRE) measures the He and H retention in flowing liquid metals, with retention coefficients varying between 0.001 at 500 eV to 0.01 at 4000 eV.

Evolution analysis of EUV radiation from laser-produced tin plasmas based on a radiation hydrodynamics model

PubMed Central

Su, M. G.; Min, Q.; Cao, S. Q.; Sun, D. X.; Hayden, P.; O’Sullivan, G.; Dong, C. Z.

2017-01-01

One of fundamental aims of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography is to maximize brightness or conversion efficiency of laser energy to radiation at specific wavelengths from laser produced plasmas (LPPs) of specific elements for matching to available multilayer optical systems. Tin LPPs have been chosen for operation at a wavelength of 13.5 nm. For an investigation of EUV radiation of laser-produced tin plasmas, it is crucial to study the related atomic processes and their evolution so as to reliably predict the optimum plasma and experimental conditions. Here, we present a simplified radiation hydrodynamic model based on the fluid dynamic equations and the radiative transfer equation to rapidly investigate the evolution of radiation properties and dynamics in laser-produced tin plasmas. The self-absorption features of EUV spectra measured at an angle of 45° to the direction of plasma expansion have been successfully simulated and explained, and the evolution of some parameters, such as the plasma temperature, ion distribution and density, expansion size and velocity, have also been evaluated. Our results should be useful for further understanding of current research on extreme ultraviolet and soft X-ray source development for applications such as lithography, metrology and biological imaging. PMID:28332621

Separating the optical contributions to line-edge roughness in EUV lithography using stochastic simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chunder, Anindarupa; Latypov, Azat; Chen, Yulu; Biafore, John J.; Levinson, Harry J.; Bailey, Todd

2017-03-01

Minimization and control of line-edge roughness (LER) and contact-edge roughness (CER) is one of the current challenges limiting EUV line-space and contact hole printability. One significant contributor to feature roughness and CD variability in EUV is photon shot noise (PSN); others are the physical and chemical processes in photoresists, known as resist stochastic effect. Different approaches are available to mitigate each of these contributions. In order to facilitate this mitigation, it is important to assess the magnitude of each of these contributions separately from others. In this paper, we present and test a computational approach based on the concept of an `ideal resist'. An ideal resist is assumed to be devoid of all resist stochastic effects. Hence, such an ideal resist can only be simulated as an `ideal resist model' (IRM) through explicit utilization of the Poisson statistics of PSN2 or direct Monte Carlo simulation of photon absorption in resist. LER estimated using IRM, thus quantifies the exclusive contribution of PSN to LER. The result of the simulation study done using IRM indicates higher magnitude of contribution (60%) from PSN to LER with respect to total or final LER for a sufficiently optimized high dose `state of the art' EUV chemically amplified resist (CAR) model.

EUV emission stimulated by use of dual laser pulses from continus liquid microjet targets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Higashiguchi, Takeshi; Rajyaguru, Chirag; Sasaki, Wataru; Kubodera, Shoichi

2004-11-01

A continuous water-jet or water-jet mixed with LiF with several tens μm diameter was formed in a vacuum chamber through a small capillary nozzle. Usage of two laser pulses is an efficient way to produce EUV emission, since a density and temperature of a plasma formed by the first laser pulse are regulated by the second laser pulse. By adjusting the delay of the second pulse, one could maximize the EUV emission. A subpicosecond Ti:Sapphire laser at a wavelength of 800 nm produced a maximum energy around 30 mJ. The beam was divided by a Michelson interferometer, which produced two laser pulses with energies of 5 mJ. The pulse duration was adjusted around 300 fs (FWHM). Both beams were focused on a micro-jet using a lens with a focal length of 15 cm. The delay time between the two pulses was varied from 100 to 800 ps by use of an optical delay line. Clear enhancement of the EUV emission yield was observed when the delay between the two pulses was around 500 ps. The experimentally observed delay agrees reasonably well with that of a plasma to expand to its critical density of 10^21 cm-3.

Method for fabricating an ultra-low expansion mask blank having a crystalline silicon layer

DOEpatents

Cardinale, Gregory F.

2002-01-01

A method for fabricating masks for extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) using Ultra-Low Expansion (ULE) substrates and crystalline silicon. ULE substrates are required for the necessary thermal management in EUVL mask blanks, and defect detection and classification have been obtained using crystalline silicon substrate materials. Thus, this method provides the advantages for both the ULE substrate and the crystalline silicon in an Extreme Ultra-Violet (EUV) mask blank. The method is carried out by bonding a crystalline silicon wafer or member to a ULE wafer or substrate and thinning the silicon to produce a 5-10 .mu.m thick crystalline silicon layer on the surface of the ULE substrate. The thinning of the crystalline silicon may be carried out, for example, by chemical mechanical polishing and if necessary or desired, oxidizing the silicon followed by etching to the desired thickness of the silicon.

Local Interstellar Medium. International Astronomical Union Colloquium No. 81

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kondo, Y. (Editor); Bruhweiler, F. C. (Editor); Savage, B. D. (Editor)

1984-01-01

Helium and hydrogen backscattering; ultraviolet and EUV absorption spectra; optical extinction and polarization; hot gases; soft X-ray observations; infrared and millimeter wavelengths; radio wavelengths and theoretical models of the interstellar matter within about 150 parsecs of the Sun were examined.

A long-term optical and X-ray ephemeris of the polar EK Ursae Majoris

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beuermann, K.; Diese, J.; Paik, S.; Ploch, A.; Zachmann, J.; Schwope, A. D.; Hessman, F. V.

2009-11-01

Aims: We searched for long-term period changes in the polar EK UMa using new optical data and archival X-ray/EUV data. Methods: An optical ephemeris was derived from data taken remotely with the MONET/N telescope and compared with the X-ray ephemeris based on Einstein, ROSAT, and EUVE data. A three-parameter fit to the combined data sets yields the epoch, the period, and the phase offset between the optical minima and the X-ray absorption dips. An added quadratic term is insignificant and sets a limit to the period change. Results: The derived linear ephemeris is valid over 30 years and the common optical and X-ray period is P = 0.0795440225(24) days. There is no evidence of long-term O-C variations or a period change over the past 17 years (ΔP = -0.14 ± 0.50 ms). We suggest that the observed period is the orbital period and that the system is tightly synchronized. The limit on ΔP and the phase constancy of the bright part of the light curve indicate that O-C variations of the type seen in the polars DP Leo and HU Aqr or the pre-CV NN Ser do not seem to occur in EK UMa. The X-ray dips lag the optical minima by 9.5° ± 0.7° in azimuth, providing some insight into the accretion geometry.

Synchrotron-based EUV lithography illuminator simulator

DOEpatents

Naulleau, Patrick P.

2004-07-27

A lithographic illuminator to illuminate a reticle to be imaged with a range of angles is provided. The illumination can be employed to generate a pattern in the pupil of the imaging system, where spatial coordinates in the pupil plane correspond to illumination angles in the reticle plane. In particular, a coherent synchrotron beamline is used along with a potentially decoherentizing holographic optical element (HOE), as an experimental EUV illuminator simulation station. The pupil fill is completely defined by a single HOE, thus the system can be easily modified to model a variety of illuminator fill patterns. The HOE can be designed to generate any desired angular spectrum and such a device can serve as the basis for an illuminator simulator.

Passivating overcoat bilayer for multilayer reflective coatings for extreme ultraviolet lithography

DOEpatents

Montcalm, Claude; Stearns, Daniel G.; Vernon, Stephen P.

1999-01-01

A passivating overcoat bilayer is used for multilayer reflective coatings for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) or soft x-ray applications to prevent oxidation and corrosion of the multilayer coating, thereby improving the EUV optical performance. The overcoat bilayer comprises a layer of silicon or beryllium underneath at least one top layer of an elemental or a compound material that resists oxidation and corrosion. Materials for the top layer include carbon, palladium, carbides, borides, nitrides, and oxides. The thicknesses of the two layers that make up the overcoat bilayer are optimized to produce the highest reflectance at the wavelength range of operation. Protective overcoat systems comprising three or more layers are also possible.

Combined SDO/AIA, Hinode/XRT and FOXSI-2 microflare observations - DEM analysis and energetics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Panchapakesan, S. A.; Glesener, L.; Vievering, J. T.; Ryan, D.; Christe, S.; Inglis, A. R.; Buitrago-Casas, J. C.; Musset, S.; Krucker, S.

2017-12-01

The Focusing Optics X-ray Solar Imager (FOXSI) sounding rocket makes directimaging and spectral observation of the Sun in hard X-rays (HXRs) using highlysensitive focusing HXR optics. The second flight of FOXSI was launchedsuccessfully on 11 December 2014 and observed significant HXR emissions duringmicroflares. Some of these flares showed heating up to severalmillion Kelvin and were visible in the Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) with the AtmosphericImaging Assembly (SDO/AIA). Spectral observations from FOXSI suggest emission upto 10-12 MK. We utilize SDO/AIA EUV, Hinode/XRT soft X-ray, and FOXSI-2 highenergy X-ray observations to derive the differential emission measure (DEM) ofthe microflares. The AIA and XRT observations provide broad temperaturecoverage but are poorly constrained at the hotter end. We therefore use FOXSI-2to better determine the high temperature component, thus producing a moreconstrained DEM than is possible with typically available observations. We usethis more highly constrained DEM to investigate the energetics of the observedmicroflares.

A study of acoustic heating and forced convection in the solar corona

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Foukal, P. V.

1980-01-01

The S055 EUV spectra was used to perform emission measure and line intensity ratio analyses of loop plasma conditions in a study on the thermodynamics of magnetic loops in the solar corona. The evidence that loops contain plasma hotter than the background corona, and thus, require enhanced local dissipation of magnetic or mechanical energy is discussed. The S055 EUV raster pictures were used to study physical conditions in cool ultraviolet absorbing clouds in the solar corona, and optical data were used to derive constraints on the dimension, time scales and optical depths in dark opaque clouds not seen in H alpha and CaK as filaments or prominences. Theoretical modelling of propagation of magnetically guided acoustic shocks in the solar chromosphere finds it still unlikely that high frequency acoustic shocks could reach the solar corona. Dynamic modelling of spicules shows that such guided slow mode shocks can explain the acceleration of cool spicular material seen high in the corona.

Sub-50-as isolated extreme ultraviolet continua generated by 1.6-cycle near-infrared pulse combined with double optical gating scheme

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oguri, Katsuya; Mashiko, Hiroki; Ogawa, Tatsuya; Hanada, Yasutaka; Nakano, Hidetoshi; Gotoh, Hideki

2018-04-01

We demonstrate the generation of ultrabroad bandwidth attosecond continua extending to sub-50-as duration in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) region based on a 1.6-cycle Ti:sapphire laser pulse. The combination of the amplitude gating scheme with a sub-two-cycle driver pulse and the double optical gating scheme achieves the continuum generation with a bandwidth of 70 eV at the full width at half maximum near the peak photon energy of 140 eV, which supports a Fourier-transform-limited pulse duration as short as 32 as. The carrier-envelope-phase (CEP) dependence of the attosecond continua shows a single-peak structure originating from the half-cycle cut-off at appropriate CEP values, which strongly indicates the generation of a single burst of an isolated attosecond pulse. Our approach suggests a possibility for isolated sub-50-as pulse generation in the EUV region by compensating for the intrinsic attosecond chirp with a Zr filter.

Conventional and modified Schwarzschild objective for EUV lithography: design relations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bollanti, S.; di Lazzaro, P.; Flora, F.; Mezi, L.; Murra, D.; Torre, A.

2006-12-01

The design criteria of a Schwarzschild-type optical system are reviewed in relation to its use as an imaging system in an extreme ultraviolet lithography setup. Both the conventional and the modified reductor imaging configurations are considered, and the respective performances, as far as the geometrical resolution in the image plane is concerned, are compared. In this connection, a formal relation defining the modified configuration is elaborated, refining a rather naïve definition presented in an earlier work. The dependence of the geometrical resolution on the image-space numerical aperture for a given magnification is investigated in detail for both configurations. So, the advantages of the modified configuration with respect to the conventional one are clearly evidenced. The results of a semi-analytical procedure are compared with those obtained from a numerical simulation performed by an optical design program. The Schwarzschild objective based system under implementation at the ENEA Frascati Center within the context of the Italian FIRB project for EUV lithography has been used as a model. Best-fit functions accounting for the behaviour of the system parameters vs. the numerical aperture are reported; they can be a useful guide for the design of Schwarzschild objective type optical systems.

EUVL masks: paving the path for commercialization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mangat, Pawitter J. S.; Hector, Scott D.

2001-09-01

Optical projection lithography has been the principal vehicle of semiconductor manufacturing for more than 20 years and is marching aggressively to satisfy the needs of semiconductor manufacturers for 100nm devices. However, the complexity of optical lithography continues to increase as wavelength reduction continues to 157nm. Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography (EUVL), with wavelength from 13-14 nm, is evolving as a leading next generation lithography option for semiconductor industry to stay on the path laid by Moore's Law. Masks are a critical part of the success of any technology and are considered to be high risk both for optical lithography and NGL technologies for sub-100nm lithography. Two key areas of EUV mask fabrication are reflective multilayer deposition and absorber patterning. In the case of reflective multilayers, delivering defect free multilayers for mask blanks is the biggest challenge. Defect mitigation is being explored as a possible option to smooth the multilayer defects in addition to optimization of the deposition process to reduce defect density. The mask patterning process needs focus on the defect-free absorber stack patterning process, mask cleaning, inspection and repair. In addition, there is considerable effort to understand by simulations, the defect printability, thermal and mechanical distortions, and non-telecentric illumination, to mention a few. To protect the finished mask from defects added during use, a removable pellicle strategy combined with thermophoretic protection during exposure is being developed. Recent migration to square form factor using low thermal expansion material (LTEM) is advantageous as historical developments in optical masks can be applied to EUV mask patterning. This paper addresses recent developments in the EUV mask patterning and highlights critical manufacturing process controls needed to fabricate defect-free full field masks with CD and image placement specifications for sub-70nm node lithography. No technology can be implemented without establishing the commercial infrastructure. The rising cost seems to be a major issue affecting the technology development. With respect to mask fabrication for commercial availability, a virtual mask shop analysis is presented that indicates that the process cost for EUVL masks are comparable to the high end optical mask with a reasonable yield. However, the cost for setting up a new mask facility is considerably high.

Extended surface parallel coating inspection method

DOEpatents

Naulleau, Patrick P.

2006-03-21

Techniques for rapidly characterizing reflective surfaces and especially multi-layer EUV reflective surfaces of optical components involve illuminating the entire reflective surface instantaneously and detecting the image far field. The technique provides a mapping of points on the reflective surface to corresponding points on a detector, e.g., CCD. This obviates the need to scan a probe over the entire surface of the optical component. The reflective surface can be flat, convex, or concave.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mauche, C W; Brickhouse, N S; Hoogerwerf, R

Recent satellite observations demonstrate that the phase of maximum flux of the 67 min spin modulation of the white dwarf in the cataclysmic variable EX Hya is drifting away from the optical quadratic ephemeris of Hellier & Sproats (1992, hereafter HS92). Relative to that ephemeris, the peak of the spin-phase extreme ultraviolet (EUV) flux modulation measured with the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) was {phi}{sub 67} = 0.040 {+-} 0.002 in 1994 May (Mauche 1999) and {phi}{sub 67} = 0.115 {+-} 0.001 in 2000 May (Belle et al. 2002). Similarly, the peak of the spin-phase X-ray flux modulation measured with themore » Chandra X-ray Observatory was {phi}{sub 67} {approx} 0.1 in 2000 May (Hoogerwerf, Brickhouse, & Mauche 2004) and {phi}{sub 67} {approx} 0.2 in 2007 May (Luna, Brickhouse, & Mauche 2008). Because the discrepancy between the observed O and calculated C phases of the spin-phase flux modulation of EX Hya is now approaching a significant fraction of a spin cycle, we have undertaken the task of updating the ephemeris. Toward that end, we have combined the optical data of Vogt, Krzeminski, & Sterken (1980, hereafter VKS80), Gilliland (1982), Sterken et al. (1983), Hill & Watson (1984), Jablonski & Busko (1985), Bond & Freeth (1988), HS92, Walker & Allen (2000), and Belle et al. (2005) with the optical, EUV, and X-ray data listed in Table 1. The optical data were obtained by CS at ESO La Silla using the Danish 1.5-m telescope and the DFOSC CCD camera. Differential V-band magnitudes were obtained by aperture photometry extracted from flat-fielded and bias-corrected CCD frames. Other than the EXOSAT and Ginga data, which have been taken from the given references, all other times of spin maximum in the table have been derived by us from the various datasets. In the processes, we have corrected an error in the (spin and orbit) phases of the ASCA data published by Ishida, Mukai, & Osborne (1994) and the RXTE data published by Mukai et al. (1998). We note that our result for the second EUVE observation agrees within the errors with the result derived independently by Belle et al. (2002). Table 1 lists the observed times of spin maximum in Barycentric Julian Date, the corresponding cycle number derived from the HS92 quadratic ephemeris, and the O-C residuals relative to the VKS80 linear ephemeris, the HS92 quadratic ephemeris, and our cubic ephemeris (eqn. 1).« less

The lithographer's dilemma: shrinking without breaking the bank

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Levinson, Harry J.

2013-10-01

It can no longer be assumed that the lithographic scaling which has previously driven Moore's Law will lead in the future to reduced cost per transistor. Until recently, higher prices for lithography tools were offset by improvements in scanner productivity. The necessity of using double patterning to extend scaling beyond the single exposure resolution limit of optical lithography has resulted in a sharp increase in the cost of patterning a critical construction layer that has not been offset by improvements in exposure tool productivity. Double patterning has also substantially increased the cost of mask sets. EUV lithography represents a single patterning option, but the combination of very high exposure tools prices, moderate throughput, high maintenance costs, and expensive mask blanks makes this a solution more expensive than optical double patterning but less expensive than triple patterning. Directed self-assembly (DSA) could potentially improve wafer costs, but this technology currently is immature. There are also design layout and process integration issues associated with DSA that need to be solved in order to obtain full benefit from tighter pitches. There are many approaches for improving the cost effectiveness of lithography. Innovative double patterning schemes lead to smaller die. EUV lithography productivity can be improved with higher power light sources and improved reliability. There are many technical and business challenges for extending EUV lithography to higher numerical apertures. Efficient contact hole and cut mask solutions are needed, as well as very tight overlay control, regardless of lithographic solution.

Carbon contamination analysis and its effect on extreme ultra violet mask imaging performance using coherent scattering microscopy/in-situ accelerated contamination system.

PubMed

Jeong, Chang Young; Lee, Sangsul; Doh, Jong Gul; Lee, Jae Uk; Cha, Han-sun; Nichols, William T; Lee, Dong Gun; Kim, Seong Sue; Cho, Han Ku; Rah, Seung-yu; Ahn, Jinho

2011-07-01

The coherent scattering microscopy/in-situ accelerated contamination system (CSM/ICS) is a developmental metrology tool designed to analyze the impact of carbon contamination on the imaging performance. It was installed at 11B EUVL beam-line of the Pohang Accelerator Laboratory (PAL). Monochromatized 13.5 nm wavelength beam with Mo/Si multilayer mirrors and zirconium filters was used. The CSM/ICS is composed of the CSM for measuring imaging properties and the ICS for implementing acceleration of carbon contamination. The CSM has been proposed as an actinic inspection technique that records the coherent diffraction pattern from the EUV mask and reconstructs its aerial image using a phase retrieval algorithm. To improve the CSM measurement accuracy, optical and electrical noises of main chamber were minimized. The background noise level measured by CCD camera was approximately 8.5 counts (3 sigma) when the EUV beam was off. Actinic CD measurement repeatability was <1 A (3 sigma) at 17.5 nm line and space pattern. The influence of carbon contamination on the imaging properties can be analyzed by transferring EUV mask to CSM imaging center position after executing carbon contamination without a fine alignment system. We also installed photodiode and ellipsometry for in-situ reflectivity and thickness measurement. This paper describes optical design and system performance observed during the first phase of integration, including CSM imaging performance and carbon contamination analysis results.

A Magnetron Sputter Deposition System for the Development of Multilayer X-Ray Optics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Broadway, David; Ramsey, Brian; Gubarev, Mikhail

2014-01-01

The proposal objective is to establish the capability to deposit multilayer structures for x-ray, neutron, and EUV optic applications through the development of a magnetron sputtering deposition system. A specific goal of this endeavor is to combine multilayer deposition technology with the replication process in order to enhance the MSFC's position as a world leader in the design of innovative X-ray instrumentation through the development of full shell replicated multilayer optics. The development of multilayer structures is absolutely necessary in order to advance the field of X-ray astronomy by pushing the limit for observing the universe to ever increasing photon energies (i. e. up to 200 keV or higher); well beyond Chandra (approx. 10 keV) and NuStar's (approx. 75 keV) capability. The addition of multilayer technology would significantly enhance the X-ray optics capability at MSFC and allow NASA to maintain its world leadership position in the development, fabrication and design of innovative X-ray instrumentation which would be the first of its kind by combining multilayer technology with the mirror replication process. This marriage of these technologies would allow astronomers to see the universe in a new light by pushing to higher energies that are out of reach with today's instruments.To this aim, a magnetron vacum sputter deposition system for the deposition of novel multilayer thin film X-ray optics is proposed. A significant secondary use of the vacuum deposition system includes the capability to fabricate multilayers for applications in the field of EUV optics for solar physics, neutron optics, and X-ray optics for a broad range of applications including medical imaging.

A Magnetron Sputter Deposition System for the Development of X-Ray Multilayer Optics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Broadway, David

2015-01-01

The project objective is to establish the capability to deposit multilayer structures for x-ray, neutron, and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) optic applications through the development of a magnetron sputtering deposition system. A specific goal of this endeavor is to combine multilayer deposition technology with the replication process in order to enhance NASA Marshall Space Flight Center's (MSFC's) position as a world leader in the design of innovative x-ray instrumentation through the development of full shell replicated multilayer optics. The development of multilayer structures are absolutely necessary in order to advance the field of x-ray astronomy by pushing the limit for observing the universe to ever-increasing photon energies (i.e., up to 200 keV or higher), well beyond Chandra's (approx.10 keV) and NuStar's (approx.75 keV) capability. The addition of multilayer technology would significantly enhance the x-ray optics capability at MSFC and allow NASA to maintain its world leadership position in the development, fabrication, and design of innovative x-ray instrumentation, which would be the first of its kind by combining multilayer technology with the mirror replication process. This marriage of these technologies would allow astronomers to see the universe in a new light by pushing to higher energies that are out of reach with today's instruments. To this aim, a magnetron vacuum sputter deposition system for the deposition of novel multilayer thin film x-ray optics is proposed. A significant secondary use of the vacuum deposition system includes the capability to fabricate multilayers for applications in the field of EUV optics for solar physics, neutron optics, and x-ray optics for a broad range of applications including medical imaging.

EUV near normal incidence collector development at SAGEM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mercier Ythier, R.; Bozec, X.; Geyl, R.; Rinchet, A.; Hecquet, Christophe; Ravet-Krill, Marie-Françoise; Delmotte, Franck; Sassolas, Benoît; Flaminio, Raffaele; Mackowski, Jean-Marie; Michel, Christophe; Montorio, Jean-Luc; Morgado, Nazario; Pinard, Laurent; Roméo, Elodie

2008-03-01

Through its participation to European programs, SAGEM has worked on the design and manufacturing of normal incidence collectors for EUV sources. By opposition to grazing incidence, normal incidence collectors are expected to collect more light with a simpler and cheaper design. Designs are presented for the two current types of existing sources: Discharge Produced Plasma (DPP) and Laser Produced Plasma (LPP). Collection efficiency is calculated in both cases. It is shown that these collectors can achieve about 10 % efficiency for DPP sources and 40 % for LPP sources. SAGEM works on the collectors manufacturability are also presented, including polishing, coating and cooling. The feasibility of polishing has been demonstrated with a roughness better than 2 angstroms obtained on several materials (glass, silicon, Silicon Carbide, metals...). SAGEM is currently working with the Institut d'Optique and the Laboratoire des Materiaux Avancés on the design and the process of EUV coatings for large mirrors. Lastly, SAGEM has studied the design and feasibility of an efficient thermal control, based on a liquid cooling through slim channels machined close to the optical surface.

The quiescent and flaring EUV spectrum of Algol and its relationship to other active coronae. EUV spectroscopy of bright hyades coronae: 71 Tauri and Theta 1 Tauri

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stern, Robert A.

1994-01-01

This program involves analysis and interpretation of EUVE spectrometer observations of the active stars Algol (beta Per) and 71 Tauri. The EUVE satellite spectrometers observed the prototype eclipsing binary Algol over nearly 1.5 orbital periods. Effective exposure times were 100 ksec and 89 ksec in the short wave (70-180 A) and medium wave (140-370 A) channels. High temperature (up to 20 MK) Fe XVI-XXIV emission lines are clearly detected in the overall spectrum. In addition, a quiescent continuum is present which increases towards shorter wavelengths. Using synthesized spectra of optically thin line and continuum emission folded through the instrumental response, we have examined constraints on the (Fe/H) coronal abundance in Algol. We find that the coronal Fe is underabundant by factors that approximately equal 2-4 relative to solar photospheric values, unless an unreasonably large quantity of coronal plasma at T greater than 30 MK is present in the quiescent spectrum. The latter possibility is, however, inconsistent with available X-ray data. Lightcurves of the high temperature EUV lines compared to line emission at He II 304 A show considerable differences, with much deeper minima present in the He II line during both primary and secondary eclipses. Toward the end of the observation a moderate flare lasting approximately 6 hours was detected in the high temperature Fe emission lines. The 71 Tau observation, for about the same exposure time, revealed only a handful of weak emission lines; however, the strongest lines were also those of Fe XXIII/XX, suggesting a hot coronal plasma. No obvious flaring or other variation was present in the 71 Tau Deep Survey lightcurve.

Plasma-assisted oxide removal from ruthenium-coated EUV optics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dolgov, A.; Lee, C. J.; Bijkerk, F.; Abrikosov, A.; Krivtsun, V. M.; Lopaev, D.; Yakushev, O.; van Kampen, M.

2018-04-01

An experimental study of oxide reduction at the surface of ruthenium layers on top of multilayer mirrors and thin Ru/Si films is presented. Oxidation and reduction processes were observed under conditions close to those relevant for extreme ultraviolet lithography. The oxidized ruthenium surface was exposed to a low-temperature hydrogen plasma, similar to the plasma induced by extreme ultraviolet radiation. The experiments show that hydrogen ions are the main reducing agent. Furthermore, the addition of hydrogen radicals increases the reduction rate beyond that expected from simple flux calculations. We show that low-temperature hydrogen plasmas can be effective for reducing oxidized top surfaces. Our proof-of-concept experiments show that an in situ, EUV-generated plasma cleaning technology is feasible.

Investigation of plasma-induced erosion of multilayer condenser optics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, Richard J.; Buchenauer, Dean A.; Williams, K. A.; Clift, W. M.; Klebanoff, L. E.; Edwards, N. V.; Wood, O. R., II; Wurm, S.

2005-05-01

Experiments are presented that investigate the mechanistic cause of multilayer erosion observed from condenser optics exposed to EUV laser-produced plasma (LPP) sources. Using a Xe filament jet source excited with Nd-YAG laser radiation (300 mJ/pulse), measurements were made of material erosion from Au, Mo, Si and C using coated quartz microbalances located 127 mm from the plasma. The observed erosion rates were as follows: Au=99nm/106 shots, Mo= 26nm/106 shots, Si=19nm/106 shots, and C=6nm/106 shots. The relative ratio Au:Mo:Si:C of erosion rates observed experimentally, 16:4:3:1 compares favorably with that predicted from an atomic sputtering model assuming 20 kV Xe ions, 16:6:4:1. The relative agreement indicates that Xe-substrate sputtering is largely responsible for the erosion of Mo/Si multilayers on condenser optics that directly face the plasma. Time-of-flight Faraday cup measurements reveal the emission of high energy Xe ions from the Xe-filament jet plasma. The erosion rate does not depend on the repetition rate of the laser, suggesting a thermal mechanism is not operative. The Xe-filament jet erosion is ~20x that observed from a Xe spray jet. Since the long-lived (millisecond time scale) plasma emanating from these two sources are the same to within ~30%, sputtering from this long-lived plasma can be ruled out as an erosion agent.

The development and test of a deformable diffraction grating for a stigmatic EUV spectroheliometer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Timothy, J. Gethyn; Walker, A. B. C., Jr.; Morgan, J. S.; Huber, M. C. E.; Tondello, G.

1992-01-01

The objectives were to address currently unanswered fundamental questions concerning the fine scale structure of the chromosphere, transition region, and corona. The unique characteristics of the spectroheliometer was used in combination with plasma diagnostic techniques to study the temperature, density, and velocity structures of specific features in the solar outer atmosphere. A unified understanding was sought of the interplay between the time dependent geometry of the magnetic field structure and the associated flows of mass and energy, the key to which lies in the smallest spatial scales that are unobservable with current EUV instruments. Toroidal diffraction gratings were fabricated and tested by a new technique using an elastically deformable substrate. The toroidal diffraction gratings was procured and tested to be used for the evaluation of the Multi-Anode Microchannel Array (MAMA) detector systems for the Solar Ultraviolet Measurements of Emitted Radiation (SUMER) and UV Coronagraph Spectrometer (UVCS) instruments on the SOHO mission.

Thermal conduction properties of Mo/Si multilayers for extreme ultraviolet optics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bozorg-Grayeli, Elah; Li, Zijian; Asheghi, Mehdi; Delgado, Gil; Pokrovsky, Alexander; Panzer, Matthew; Wack, Daniel; Goodson, Kenneth E.

2012-10-01

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography requires nanostructured optical components, whose reliability can be influenced by radiation absorption and thermal conduction. Thermal conduction analysis is complicated by sub-continuum electron and phonon transport and the lack of thermal property data. This paper measures and interprets thermal property data, and their evolution due to heating exposure, for Mo/Si EUV mirrors with 6.9 nm period and Mo/Si thickness ratios of 0.4/0.6 and 0.6/0.4. We use time-domain thermoreflectance and the 3ω method to estimate the thermal resistance between the Ru capping layer and the Mo/Si multilayers (RRu-Mo/Si = 1.5 m2 K GW-1), as well as the out-of-plane thermal conductivity (kMo/Si 1.1 W m-1 K-1) and thermal anisotropy (η = 13). This work also reports the impact of annealing on thermal conduction in a co-deposited MoSi2 layer, increasing the thermal conductivity from 1.7 W m-1 K-1 in the amorphous phase to 2.8 W m-1 K-1 in the crystalline phase.

Ultra-high density diffraction grating

DOEpatents

Padmore, Howard A.; Voronov, Dmytro L.; Cambie, Rossana; Yashchuk, Valeriy V.; Gullikson, Eric M.

2012-12-11

A diffraction grating structure having ultra-high density of grooves comprises an echellette substrate having periodically repeating recessed features, and a multi-layer stack of materials disposed on the echellette substrate. The surface of the diffraction grating is planarized, such that layers of the multi-layer stack form a plurality of lines disposed on the planarized surface of the structure in a periodical fashion, wherein lines having a first property alternate with lines having a dissimilar property on the surface of the substrate. For example, in one embodiment, lines comprising high-Z and low-Z materials alternate on the planarized surface providing a structure that is suitable as a diffraction grating for EUV and soft X-rays. In some embodiments, line density of between about 10,000 lines/mm to about 100,000 lines/mm is provided.

Protection of extreme ultraviolet lithography masks. II. Showerhead flow mitigation of nanoscale particulate contamination [Protection of EUV lithography masks II: Showerhead flow mitigation of nanoscale particulate contamination

DOE PAGES

Klebanoff, Leonard E.; Torczynski, John R.; Geller, Anthony S.; ...

2015-03-27

An analysis is presented of a method to protect the reticle (mask) in an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) mask inspection tool using a showerhead plenum to provide a continuous flow of clean gas over the surface of a reticle. The reticle is suspended in an inverted fashion (face down) within a stage/holder that moves back and forth over the showerhead plenum as the reticle is inspected. It is essential that no particles of 10-nm diameter or larger be deposited on the reticle during inspection. Particles can originate from multiple sources in the system, and mask protection from each source is explicitlymore » analyzed. The showerhead plate has an internal plenum with a solid conical wall isolating the aperture. The upper and lower surfaces of the plate are thin flat sheets of porous-metal material. These porous sheets form the top and bottom showerheads that supply the region between the showerhead plate and the reticle and the region between the conical aperture and the Optics Zone box with continuous flows of clean gas. The model studies show that the top showerhead provides robust reticle protection from particles of 10-nm diameter or larger originating from the Reticle Zone and from plenum surfaces contaminated by exposure to the Reticle Zone. Protection is achieved with negligible effect on EUV transmission. Furthermore, the bottom showerhead efficiently protects the reticle from nanoscale particles originating from the Optics Zone.« less

Soft x-ray microscopy and extreme ultraviolet lithography: Imaging in the 20-50 nm regime (abstract) (invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Attwood, David

2002-03-01

Advances in short wavelength optics, covering the range from 1 to 14 nm, are providing new results and new opportunities. Zone plate lenses [E. Anderson et al., J. Vac. Sci. Techno. B 18, 2970 (2000)] for soft x-ray microscopy [G. Denbeaux, Rev. Sci. Instrum. (these proceedings); W. Chao, Proc. SPIE 4146, 171 (2000)] are now made to high accuracy with outer zone widths of 25 nm, and demonstrated resolution of 23 nm with proper illumination and stability. These permit important advances in the study of protein specific transport and structure in the life sciences [C. Larabell (private communication); W. Meyer-Ilse et al., J. Microsc. 201, 395 (2001)] and the study of magnetic materials [P. Fischer et al., J. Synchrotron. Radiat. 8, 325 (2001)] with elemental sensitivity at the resolution of individual domains. Major corporations (members of the EUV Limited Liability Company are Intel, Motorola, AMD, Micron, Infineon, and IBM) are now preparing the path for the fabrication of future computer chips, in the years 2007 and beyond, using multilayer coated reflective optics, which achieve reflectivities of 70% in the 11-14 nm region [T. Barbee et al., Appl. Opt. 24, 883 (1985); C. Montcalm et al., Proc. SPIE 3676, 710 (1999)]. These coated optics are to be incorporated in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) print cameras, known as "steppers." Electronic patterns with features in the range of 50-70 nm have been printed. The first alpha tool stepper recently demonstrated all critical technologies [D. Tichenor et al., Proc. SPIE 4343, 19 (2001)] needed for EUV lithography. Preproduction beta tools are targeted for delivery by leading suppliers [ASML, the Netherlands, at the SPIE Microlithography Conference, Santa Clara, CA, March 2001] in 2004, with high volume production tools available in late 2006 for manufacturing in 2007. New results in these two areas will be discussed in the context of the synergy of science and technology.

Study of performance loss of Lyman alpha filters due to chemical contamination

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Faye, Delphine; Zhang, Xueyan; Etcheto, Pierre; Auchère, Frédéric

2017-05-01

Observations in the UV and EUV allow many diagnostics of the outer layers of the stars and the Sun so that more and more space telescopes are developed to operate in this fundamental spectral range. However, absorption by residual contaminants coming from polymers outgassing causes critical effects such as loss of signal, spectral shifts, stray light… Thus, a cleanliness and contamination control plan has to be defined to mitigate the risk of damage of sensitive surfaces. In order to specify acceptable cleanliness levels, it is paramount to improve our knowledge and understanding of contamination effects, especially in the UV/EUV range. Therefore, an experimental study has been carried out in collaboration between CNES and IAS, in the frame of the development of the Extreme UV Imager suite for the ESA Solar Orbiter mission; this instrument consists of two High Resolution Imagers and one Full Sun Imager designed for narrow pass-band EUV imaging of the solar corona, and thus very sensitive to contamination. Here, we describe recent results of performance loss measured on representative optical samples. Six narrow pass-band filters, with a multilayer coating designed to select the solar Lyman Alpha emission ray, were contaminated with different amounts of typical chemical species. The transmittance spectra were measured between 100 and 200 nm under high vacuum on the SOLEIL synchrotron beam line. They were compared before and after contamination, and also after a long exposure of the contaminated area to EUV-visible radiations.

Measuring Solar Doppler Velocities in the He II 30.38 nm Emission Using the EUV Variability Experiment (EVE)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chamberlin, Phillip Clyde

2016-01-01

The EUV Variability Experiment (EVE) onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory has provided unprecedented measurements of the solar EUV irradiance at high temporal cadence with good spectral resolution and range since May 2010. The main purpose of EVE was to connect the Sun to the Earth by providing measurements of the EUV irradianceas a driver for space weather and Living With a Star studies, but after launch the instrument has demonstrated the significance of its measurements in contributing to studies looking at the sources of solar variability for pure solar physics purposes. This paper expands upon previous findings that EVE can in fact measure wavelength shifts during solar eruptive events and therefore provide Doppler velocities for plasma at all temperatures throughout the solar atmosphere from the chromosphere to hot flaring temperatures. This process is not straightforward as EVE was not designed or optimized for these types of measurements. In this paper we describe the many detailed instrumental characterizations needed to eliminate the optical effects in order to provide an absolute baseline for the Doppler shift studies. An example is given of a solar eruption on 7 September 2011 (SOL2011-09-07), associated with an X1.2 flare, where EVE Doppler analysis shows plasma ejected from the Sun in the He II 30.38 nm emission at a velocity of almost 120 km s(exp -1) along the line-of-sight.

Ion beam deposition system for depositing low defect density extreme ultraviolet mask blanks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jindal, V.; Kearney, P.; Sohn, J.; Harris-Jones, J.; John, A.; Godwin, M.; Antohe, A.; Teki, R.; Ma, A.; Goodwin, F.; Weaver, A.; Teora, P.

2012-03-01

Extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) is the leading next-generation lithography (NGL) technology to succeed optical lithography at the 22 nm node and beyond. EUVL requires a low defect density reflective mask blank, which is considered to be one of the top two critical technology gaps for commercialization of the technology. At the SEMATECH Mask Blank Development Center (MBDC), research on defect reduction in EUV mask blanks is being pursued using the Veeco Nexus deposition tool. The defect performance of this tool is one of the factors limiting the availability of defect-free EUVL mask blanks. SEMATECH identified the key components in the ion beam deposition system that is currently impeding the reduction of defect density and the yield of EUV mask blanks. SEMATECH's current research is focused on in-house tool components to reduce their contributions to mask blank defects. SEMATECH is also working closely with the supplier to incorporate this learning into a next-generation deposition tool. This paper will describe requirements for the next-generation tool that are essential to realize low defect density EUV mask blanks. The goal of our work is to enable model-based predictions of defect performance and defect improvement for targeted process improvement and component learning to feed into the new deposition tool design. This paper will also highlight the defect reduction resulting from process improvements and the restrictions inherent in the current tool geometry and components that are an impediment to meeting HVM quality EUV mask blanks will be outlined.

Mission Concepts for High-Resolution Solar Imaging with a Photon Sieve

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rabin, Douglas M.; Davila, Joseph; Daw, Adrian N.; Denis, Kevin L.; Novo-Gradac, Anne-Marie; Shah, Neerav; Widmyer, Thomas R.

2017-08-01

The best EUV coronal imagers are unable to probe the expected energy dissipation scales of the solar corona (<100 km) because conventional optics cannot be figured to near diffraction-limited accuracy at these wavelengths. Davila (2011) has proposed that a photon sieve, a diffractive imaging element similar to a Fresnel zone plate, provides a technically feasible path to the required angular resolution. We have produced photon sieves as large as 80 mm clear aperture. We discuss laboratory measurements of these devices and the path to larger apertures. The focal length of a sieve with high EUV resolution is at least 10 m. Options for solar imaging with such a sieve include a sounding rocket, a single spacecraft with a deployed boom, and two spacecraft flying in precise formation.

The SWAP EUV Imaging Telescope Part I: Instrument Overview and Pre-Flight Testing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seaton, D. B.; Berghmans, D.; Nicula, B.; Halain, J.-P.; De Groof, A.; Thibert, T.; Bloomfield, D. S.; Raftery, C. L.; Gallagher, P. T.; Auchère, F.; Defise, J.-M.; D'Huys, E.; Lecat, J.-H.; Mazy, E.; Rochus, P.; Rossi, L.; Schühle, U.; Slemzin, V.; Yalim, M. S.; Zender, J.

2013-08-01

The Sun Watcher with Active Pixels and Image Processing (SWAP) is an EUV solar telescope onboard ESA's Project for Onboard Autonomy 2 (PROBA2) mission launched on 2 November 2009. SWAP has a spectral bandpass centered on 17.4 nm and provides images of the low solar corona over a 54×54 arcmin field-of-view with 3.2 arcsec pixels and an imaging cadence of about two minutes. SWAP is designed to monitor all space-weather-relevant events and features in the low solar corona. Given the limited resources of the PROBA2 microsatellite, the SWAP telescope is designed with various innovative technologies, including an off-axis optical design and a CMOS-APS detector. This article provides reference documentation for users of the SWAP image data.

Prospective EUV observations of hot DA white dwarfs with the EUV Explorer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Finley, David S.; Malina, Roger F.; Bowyer, Stuart

1987-01-01

The Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) will perform a high sensitivity EUV all-sky survey. A major category of sources which will be detected with the EUVE instruments consists of hot white dwarfs. Detailed preliminary studies of synthetic EUV observations of white dwarfs have been carried out using the predicted EUVE instrumental response functions. Using available information regarding space densities of white dwarfs and the distribution of neutral hydrogen in the interstellar medium, the numbers of DA white dwarfs which will be detectable in the different EUV bandpasses have been estimated.

Contamination of grazing incidence EUV mirrors - An assessment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Osantowski, John F.; Fleetwood, C. F.

1988-01-01

Contamination assessment for space optical systems requires an understanding of the sensitivity of component performance, e.g. mirror reflectance, to materials deposited on the mirror surface. In a previous study, the sensitivity of typical normal incidence mirror coatings to surface deposits of generic hydrocarbons was reported. Recent activity in the development of grazing incidence telescopes for extreme ultraviolet space astronomy has stimulated the need for a similar assessment in the spectral region extending from approximately 100 A to 1000 A. The model used for analysis treats the contamination layer as a continuous thin film deposited on the mirror surface. The mirror surfaces selected for this study are opaque vacuum deposited gold and the uncoated and polished Zerodur. Scatter caused by film irregularities or particulates are not included in this assessment. Parametric evaluations at 100, 500, and 1000 A determine the sensitivity of mirror reflectance to a range of optical constants selected for the generic contaminants. This sensitivity analysis combined with the limited amount of optical data in the EUV for hydrocarbons, is used to select representative optical constants for the three wavelength regions. Reflectance versus contamination layer thickness curves are then calculated and used to determine critical thickness limits based on allowable reflectance change. Initial observations indicate that thickness limits will be highly dependent on the real part of the complex index of refraction of the contaminant film being less than 1.0. Preliminary laboratory measurements of samples contaminated with some commonly encountered hydrocarbons confirm trends indicated in the analytical studies.

Method to adjust multilayer film stress induced deformation of optics

DOEpatents

Spiller, Eberhard A.; Mirkarimi, Paul B.; Montcalm, Claude; Bajt, Sasa; Folta, James A.

2000-01-01

Stress compensating systems that reduces/compensates stress in a multilayer without loss in reflectivity, while reducing total film thickness compared to the earlier buffer-layer approach. The stress free multilayer systems contain multilayer systems with two different material combinations of opposite stress, where both systems give good reflectivity at the design wavelengths. The main advantage of the multilayer system design is that stress reduction does not require the deposition of any additional layers, as in the buffer layer approach. If the optical performance of the two systems at the design wavelength differ, the system with the poorer performance is deposited first, and then the system with better performance last, thus forming the top of the multilayer system. The components for the stress reducing layer are chosen among materials that have opposite stress to that of the preferred multilayer reflecting stack and simultaneously have optical constants that allow one to get good reflectivity at the design wavelength. For a wavelength of 13.4 nm, the wavelength presently used for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, Si and Be have practically the same optical constants, but the Mo/Si multilayer has opposite stress than the Mo/Be multilayer. Multilayer systems of these materials have practically identical reflectivity curves. For example, stress free multilayers can be formed on a substrate using Mo/Be multilayers in the bottom of the stack and Mo/Si multilayers at the top of the stack, with the switch-over point selected to obtain zero stress. In this multilayer system, the switch-over point is at about the half point of the total thickness of the stack, and for the Mo/Be--Mo/Si system, there may be 25 deposition periods Mo/Be to 20 deposition periods Mo/Si.

Experimental station for ultrafast extreme ultraviolet spectroscopy for non-equilibrium dynamics in warm dense matter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Jong-won; Geng, Xiaotao; Jung, Jae Hyung; Cho, Min Sang; Yang, Seong Hyeok; Jo, Jawon; Lee, Chang-lyoul; Cho, Byoung Ick; Kim, Dong-Eon

2018-07-01

Recent interest in highly excited matter generated by intense femtosecond laser pulses has led to experimental methods that directly investigate ultrafast non-equilibrium electronic and structural dynamics. We present a tabletop experimental station for the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectroscopy used to trace L-edge dynamics in warm dense aluminum with a temporal resolution of a hundred femtoseconds. The system consists of the EUV probe generation part via a high-order harmonic generation process of femtosecond laser pulses with atomic clusters, a beamline with high-throughput optics and a sample-refreshment system of nano-foils utilizing the full repetition rate of the probe, and a flat-field EUV spectrograph. With the accumulation of an order of a hundred shots, a clear observation of the change in the aluminum L-shell absorption was achieved with a temporal resolution of 90 fs in a 600-fs window. The signature of a non-equilibrium electron distribution over a 10-eV range and its evolution to a 1-eV Fermi distribution are observed. This demonstrates the capability of this apparatus to capture the non-equilibrium electron-hole dynamics in highly excited warm dense matter conditions.

Toward compact and ultra-intense laser-based soft x-ray lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sebban, S.; Depresseux, A.; Oliva, E.; Gautier, J.; Tissandier, F.; Nejdl, J.; Kozlova, M.; Maynard, G.; Goddet, J. P.; Tafzi, A.; Lifschitz, A.; Kim, H. T.; Jacquemot, S.; Rousseau, P.; Zeitoun, P.; Rousse, A.

2018-01-01

We report here recent work on an optical field ionized (OFI), high-order harmonic-seeded EUV laser. The amplifying medium is a plasma of nickel-like krypton obtained by OFI when focusing a 1 J, 30 fs, circularly-polarized, infrared pulse into a krypton-filled gas cell or krypton gas jet. The lasing transition is the 3d94d (J = 0) → 3d94p (J = 1) transition of Ni-like krypton ions at 32.8 nm and is pumped by collisions with hot electrons. The gain dynamics was probed by seeding the amplifier with a high-order harmonic pulse at different delays. The gain duration monotonically decreased from 7 ps to an unprecedented shortness of 450 fs full width at half-maximum as the amplification peak rose from 150 to 1200 with an increase of the plasma density from 3 × 1018 to 1.2 × 1020 cm-3. The integrated energy of the EUV laser pulse was also measured, and found to be around 2 μJ. It is to be noted that in the ASE mode, longer amplifiers were achieved (up to 2 cm), yielding EUV outputs up to 14 μJ.

High-precision MoSi multilayer coatings for radial and 2D designs on curved optics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kriese, Michael D.; Li, Yang; Platonov, Yuriy Y.

2017-10-01

The development of industrial infrastructure for EUV lithography requires a wide array of optics beyond the mask and the scanner optics, which include optics for critical instruments such as exposure testing and actinic inspection. This paper will detail recent results in the production of a variety of high-precision multilayer coatings achieved to support this development. It is critical that the optical designs factor in the capabilities of the achievable multilayer gradients and the associated achievable precision, including impact to surface distortion from the added figure error of the multilayer coating, which adds additional requirements of a specific shape to the period distribution. For example, two different coatings may achieve a ±0.2% variation in multilayer period, but have considerably different added figure error. Part I of the paper will focus on radially-symmetric spherical and aspherical optics. Typical azimuthal uniformity (variation at a fixed radius) achieved is less than ±0.005nm total variation, including measurement precision, on concave optics up to 200mm diameter. For highly curved convex optics (radius of curvature less than 50mm), precision is more challenging and the total variation increases to ±0.01nm total variation for optics 10-30mm in diameter. Total added figure error achieved has been as low as 0.05nm. Part II of the paper will focus on multilayer designs graded in two directions, rather than radially, in order to accommodate the increased complexity of elliptical, toroidal and hyperbolic surfaces. In most cases, the symmetry of the required multilayer gradient does not match the symmetry of the optical surface, and this interaction must be countered via the process design. Achieving such results requires additional flexibility in the design of the deposition equipment, and will be discussed with several examples in the paper, such as the use of variable velocity of an inline substrate carrier in conjunction with a shaped target aperture to produce ±0.03nm total variation on an off-axis elliptical surface.

High-NA metrology and sensing on Berkeley MET5

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miyakawa, Ryan; Anderson, Chris; Naulleau, Patrick

2017-03-01

In this paper we compare two non-interferometric wavefront sensors suitable for in-situ high-NA EUV optical testing. The first is the AIS sensor, which has been deployed in both inspection and exposure tools. AIS is a compact, optical test that directly measures a wavefront by probing various parts of the imaging optic pupil and measuring localized wavefront curvature. The second is an image-based technique that uses an iterative algorithm based on simulated annealing to reconstruct a wavefront based on matching aerial images through focus. In this technique, customized illumination is used to probe the pupil at specific points to optimize differences in aberration signatures.

Performance evaluation of nonchemically amplified negative tone photoresists for e-beam and EUV lithography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Vikram; Satyanarayana, Vardhineedi Sri Venkata; Batina, Nikola; Reyes, Israel Morales; Sharma, Satinder K.; Kessler, Felipe; Scheffer, Francine R.; Weibel, Daniel E.; Ghosh, Subrata; Gonsalves, Kenneth E.

2014-10-01

Although extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography is being considered as one of the most promising next-generation lithography techniques for patterning sub-20 nm features, the development of suitable EUV resists remains one of the main challenges confronting the semiconductor industry. The goal is to achieve sub-20 nm line patterns having low line edge roughness (LER) of <1.8 nm and a sensitivity of 5 to 20 mJ/cm2. The present work demonstrates the lithographic performance of two nonchemically amplified (n-CARs) negative photoresists, MAPDST homopolymer and MAPDST-MMA copolymer, prepared from suitable monomers containing the radiation sensitive sulfonium functionality. Investigations into the effect of several process parameters are reported. These include spinning conditions to obtain film thicknesses <50 nm, baking regimes, exposure conditions, and the resulting surface topographies. The effect of these protocols on sensitivity, contrast, and resolution has been assessed for the optimization of 20 nm features and the corresponding LER/line width roughness. These n-CARs have also been found to possess high etch resistance. The etch durability of MAPDST homopolymer and MAPDST-MMA copolymer (under SF6 plasma chemistry) with respect to the silicon substrate are 7.2∶1 and 8.3∶1, respectively. This methodical investigation will provide guidance in designing new resist materials with improved efficiency for EUVL through polymer microstructure engineering.

Unraveling the role of secondary electrons upon their interaction with photoresist during EUV exposure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pollentier, Ivan; Vesters, Yannick; Jiang, Jing; Vanelderen, Pieter; de Simone, Danilo

2017-10-01

The interaction of 91.6eV EUV photons with photoresist is very different to that of optical lithography at DUV wavelength. The latter is understood quite well and it is known that photons interact with the resist in a molecular way through the photoacid generator (PAG) of the chemically amplified resist (CAR). In EUV however, the high energy photons interact with the matter on atomic scale, resulting in the generation of secondary electrons. It is believed that these secondary electrons in their turn are responsible in chemical modification and lead to switching reactions that enable resist local dissolution. However, details of the interaction are still unclear, e.g. which reaction an electron with a given energy can initiate. In this work we have introduced a method to measure the chemical interaction of the secondary electrons with the EUV resist. The method is based on electron gun exposures of low energy electrons (range 1eV to 80eV) in the photoresist. The chemical interaction is then measured by Residual Gas Analysis (RGA), which can analyze out of the outgassing which and how much reaction products are generated. In this way a `chemical yield' can be quantified as function of electron energy. This method has been successfully applied to understand the interaction of secondary electrons on the traditional CAR materials. The understanding was facilitated by testing different compositions of an advanced EUV CAR, where resp. polymer only, polymer+PAG, and polymer+PAG+quencher are tested with the electron gun. It was found that low energy electrons down to 3-4eV can activate PAG dissociation, which can lead to polymer deprotection. However it was observed too that energy electrons of 12eV and higher can do direct deprotection even in absence of the PAG. In addition, testing suggests that electrons can generate also other chemical changes on the polymer chain that could lead to cross-linking.

Compensation of flare-induced CD changes EUVL

DOEpatents

Bjorkholm, John E [Pleasanton, CA; Stearns, Daniel G [Los Altos, CA; Gullikson, Eric M [Oakland, CA; Tichenor, Daniel A [Castro Valley, CA; Hector, Scott D [Oakland, CA

2004-11-09

A method for compensating for flare-induced critical dimensions (CD) changes in photolithography. Changes in the flare level results in undesirable CD changes. The method when used in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography essentially eliminates the unwanted CD changes. The method is based on the recognition that the intrinsic level of flare for an EUV camera (the flare level for an isolated sub-resolution opaque dot in a bright field mask) is essentially constant over the image field. The method involves calculating the flare and its variation over the area of a patterned mask that will be imaged and then using mask biasing to largely eliminate the CD variations that the flare and its variations would otherwise cause. This method would be difficult to apply to optical or DUV lithography since the intrinsic flare for those lithographies is not constant over the image field.

Detection of a stellar flare at extreme ultraviolet wavelengths

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barstow, M. A.; Denby, M.; Pye, J. P.; Pankiewicz, G. S.; Bromage, G. E.; Gonzalez-Riestra, R.

1991-01-01

During the all-sky survey conducted by the Rosat Wide Field Camera, the binary flare star system BY Draconis was monitored with coverage by the IUE satellite far-UV and optical observations and by the Rosat X-ray telescope for part of the time. A stellar flare was detected in all four wavebands. This is the first unambiguous EUV detection of a flare and one of the widest simultaneous wavelength-range coverages obtained. The peak luminosity and total energy of this flare in the photon energy range 0.08-0.18 keV are comparable with the values obtained for a number of flares integrated over a larger energy range by Exosat satellite observations in 1983-86. It is concluded that radiation in the EUV carries away a substantial fraction of the total flare energy.

Optical Design of the MOSES Sounding Rocket Experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thomas, Roger J.; Kankelborg, Charles C.; Fisher, Richard R. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

The Multi-Order Solar EUV Spectrograph (MOSES) is a sounding rocket payload now being developed by Montana State University in collaboration with the Goddard Space Flight Center, Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center, and Mullard Space Science Laboratory. The instrument utilizes a unique optical design to provide solar EUV measurements with true 2-pixel resolutions of 1.0 arcsec and 60 mA over a full two-dimensional field of view of 1056 x 528 arcsec, all at a time cadence of 10 s. This unprecedented capability is achieved by means of an objective spherical grating 100 mm in diameter, ruled at 833 gr/mm. The concave grating focuses spectrally dispersed solar radiation onto three separate detectors, simultaneously recording the zero-order as well as the plus and minus first-spectral-order images. Data analysis procedures, similar to those used in X-ray tomography reconstructions, can then disentangle the mixed spatial and spectral information recorded by the multiple detectors. A flat folding mirror permits an imaging focal length of 4.74 m to be packaged within the payload's physical length of 2.82 m. Both the objective grating and folding flat have specialized, closely matched, multilayer coatings that strongly enhance their EUV reflectance while also suppressing off-band radiation that would otherwise complicate data inversion. Although the spectral bandpass is rather narrow, several candidate wavelength intervals are available to carry out truly unique scientific studies of the outer solar atmosphere. Initial flights of MOSES, scheduled to begin in 2004, will observe a 10 Angstrom band that covers very strong emission lines characteristic of both the sun's corona (Si XI 303 Angstroms) and transition-region (He II 304 Angstroms). The MOSES program is supported by a grant from NASA's Office of Space Science.

The UV Spectral Components in RE1938-461, the Brightest ROSAT WFC Discovered Polar with a High Euv/optical Ratio: CYCLE4 Medium.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosen, Simon

1994-01-01

Eight new magnetic cataclysmic variables were discovered during the ROSAT WFC survey. Seven of these have been identified with polar (or AM Her) systems. A striking result that has emerged is that the new polars appear to populate a region of high EUV/optical flux ratio when compared to that measured for the previously known systems that were also detected in the WFC survey. It is highly likely that these new polars also possess large soft/hard X-ray flux ratios. In this case, the WFC result suggests that a) polars with large soft excesses are more common than previously believed and b) that the mode of accretion in these particular systems is likely to be via the direct penetration of the white dwarf's surface by blobs of accreting material rather than by the formation of a hard X-ray emitting column above the surface. The new polars will have a direct bearing on the division between the two different modes of accretion. They also provide the means to probe the detailed nature of the processes occurring in the accretion region. We are proposing low resolution HST FOS observations of the brightest of these EUV luminous polars discovered in the WFC survey to a) search for the tail of the emission component from the heated region around the accreting pole to constrain the luminosity, size and temperature of this constituent and b) to perform an initial study of the UV emission lines, measuring their flux and radial velocity motion to constrain the dynamics and physical (ionization) structure within the accretion flow.

A study on EUV reticle surface molecular contamination under different storage conditions in a HVM foundry fab

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, SherJang; Yatzor, Brett; Taylor, Ron; Wood, Obert; Mangat, Pawitter

2017-03-01

The prospect of EUVL (Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography) insertion into HVM (High Volume Manufacturing) has never been this promising. As technology is prepared for "lab to fab" transition, it becomes important to comprehend challenges associated with integrating EUVL infrastructure within existing high volume chip fabrication processes in a foundry fab. The existing 193nm optical lithography process flow for reticle handling and storage in a fab atmosphere is well established and in-fab reticle contamination concerns are mitigated with the reticle pellicle. However EUVL reticle pellicle is still under development and if available, may only provide protection against particles but not molecular contamination. HVM fab atmosphere is known to be contaminated with trace amounts of AMC's (Atmospheric Molecular Contamination). If such contaminants are organic in nature and get absorbed on the reticle surface, EUV photon cause photo-dissociation resulting into carbon generation which is known to reduce multilayer reflectivity and also degrades exposure uniformity. Chemical diffusion and aggregation of other ions is also reported under the e-beam exposure of a EUV reticle which is known to cause haze issues in optical lithography. Therefore it becomes paramount to mitigate absorbed molecular contaminant concerns on EUVL reticle surface. In this paper, we have studied types of molecular contaminants that are absorbed on an EUVL reticle surface under HVM fab storage and handling conditions. Effect of storage conditions (gas purged vs atmospheric) in different storage pods (Dual pods, Reticle Clamshells) is evaluated. Absorption analysis is done both on ruthenium capping layer as well as TaBN absorber. Ru surface chemistry change as a result of storage is also studied. The efficacy of different reticle cleaning processes to remove absorbed contaminant is evaluated as well.

Responses of Solar Irradiance and the Ionosphere to an Intense Activity Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yiding; Liu, Libo; Le, Huijun; Wan, Weixing

2018-03-01

Solar rotation (SR) variation dominates solar extremely ultraviolet (EUV) changes on the timescale of days. The F10.7 index is usually used as an indicator for solar EUV. The SR variation of F10.7 significantly enhanced during the 2008th-2009th Carrington rotations (CRs) owing to an intense active region; F10.7 increased about 180 units during that SR period. That was the most prominent SR variation of F10.7 during solar cycle 23. In this paper, global electron content (GEC) is used to investigate ionospheric response to that strong variation of solar irradiance indicated by F10.7. The variation of GEC with F10.7 was anomalous (GEC-F10.7 slope significantly decreased) during the 2008th-2009th CRs; however, GEC versus EUV variation during that period was consistent with that during adjacent time intervals when using Solar Heliospheric Observatory/Solar EUV Monitor 26-34 nm EUV measurements. The reason is that F10.7 response to that intense active region was much stronger than EUV response; thus, the EUV-F10.7 slope decreased. We confirmed decreased EUV-F10.7 slope during the 2008th-2009th CRs for different wavelengths within 27-120 nm using Thermosphere, Ionosphere, Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics/Solar EUV Experiment high spectral resolution EUV measurements. And on the basis of Solar Heliospheric Observatory/Solar EUV Monitor EUV measurements during solar cycle 23, we further presented that EUV-F10.7 slope statistically tends to decrease when the SR variation of F10.7 significantly enhances. Moreover, we found that ionospheric time lag effect to EUV is exaggerated when using F10.7, owing to the time lag effect of EUV to F10.7.

Toroidal varied-line space (TVLS) gratings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thomas, Roger J.

2003-02-01

It is a particular challenge to develop a stigmatic spectrograph for EUV wavelengths since the very low normal-incidence reflectance of standard materials most often requires that the design be restricted to a single optical element which must simultaneously provide both re-imaging and spectral dispersion. This problem has been solved in the past by the use of toroidal gratings with uniform line-space rulings (TULS). A number of solar EUV spectrographs have been based on such designs, including SOHO/CDS, Solar-B/EIS, and the sounding rockets SERTS and EUNIS. More recently, Kita, Harada, and collaborators have developed the theory of spherical gratings with varied line-space rulings (SVLS) operated at unity magnification, which have been flown on several astronomical satellite missions. These ideas are now combined into a spectrograph concept that considers varied-line space grooves ruled onto toroidal gratings. Such TVLS designs are found to provide excellent imaging even at very large spectrograph magnifications and beam-speeds, permitting extremely high-quality performance in remarkably compact instrument packages. Optical characteristics of two solar spectrographs based on this concept are described: SUMI, proposed as a sounding rocket experiment, and NEXUS, proposed for the Solar Dynamics Observatory mission.

Serendipitous EUV sources detected during the first year of the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer right angle program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcdonald, K.; Craig, N.; Sirk, M. M.; Drake, J. J.; Fruscione, A.; Vallerga, J. V.; Malina, R. F.

1994-01-01

We report the detection of 114 extreme ultraviolet (EUV; 58 - 740 A) sources, of which 99 are new serendipitous sources, based on observations made with the imaging telescopes on board the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) during the Right Angle Program (RAP). These data were obtained using the survey scanners and the Deep Survey instrument during the first year of the spectroscopic guest observer phase of the mission, from January 1993 to January 1994. The data set consists of 162 discrete pointings whose exposure times are typically two orders of magnitude longer than the average exposure times during the EUVE all-sky survey. Based on these results, we can expect that EUVE will serendipitously detect approximately 100 new EUV sources per year, or about one new EUV source per 10 sq deg, during the guest observer phase of the EUVE mission. New EUVE sources of note include one B star and three extragalactic objects. The B star (HR 2875, EUVE J0729 - 38.7) is detected in both the Lexan/B (approximately 100 A) and Al/Ti/C (approximately 200 A) bandpasses, and the detection is shown not to be a result of UV leaks. We suggest that we are detecting EUV and/or soft x rays from a companion to the B star. Three sources, EUVE J2132+10.1, EUVE J2343-14.9, and EUVE J2359-30.6 are identified as the active galactic nuclei MKN 1513, MS2340.9-1511, and 1H2354-315, respectively.

Mapper: high throughput maskless lithography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuiper, V.; Kampherbeek, B. J.; Wieland, M. J.; de Boer, G.; ten Berge, G. F.; Boers, J.; Jager, R.; van de Peut, T.; Peijster, J. J. M.; Slot, E.; Steenbrink, S. W. H. K.; Teepen, T. F.; van Veen, A. H. V.

2009-01-01

Maskless electron beam lithography, or electron beam direct write, has been around for a long time in the semiconductor industry and was pioneered from the mid-1960s onwards. This technique has been used for mask writing applications as well as device engineering and in some cases chip manufacturing. However because of its relatively low throughput compared to optical lithography, electron beam lithography has never been the mainstream lithography technology. To extend optical lithography double patterning, as a bridging technology, and EUV lithography are currently explored. Irrespective of the technical viability of both approaches, one thing seems clear. They will be expensive [1]. MAPPER Lithography is developing a maskless lithography technology based on massively-parallel electron-beam writing with high speed optical data transport for switching the electron beams. In this way optical columns can be made with a throughput of 10-20 wafers per hour. By clustering several of these columns together high throughputs can be realized in a small footprint. This enables a highly cost-competitive alternative to double patterning and EUV alternatives. In 2007 MAPPER obtained its Proof of Lithography milestone by exposing in its Demonstrator 45 nm half pitch structures with 110 electron beams in parallel, where all the beams where individually switched on and off [2]. In 2008 MAPPER has taken a next step in its development by building several tools. A new platform has been designed and built which contains a 300 mm wafer stage, a wafer handler and an electron beam column with 110 parallel electron beams. This manuscript describes the first patterning results with this 300 mm platform.

Quality control of EUVE databases

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

John, L. M.; Drake, J.

1992-01-01

The publicly accessible databases for the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer include: the EUVE Archive mailserver; the CEA ftp site; the EUVE Guest Observer Mailserver; and the Astronomical Data System node. The EUVE Performance Assurance team is responsible for verifying that these public EUVE databases are working properly, and that the public availability of EUVE data contained therein does not infringe any data rights which may have been assigned. In this poster, we describe the Quality Assurance (QA) procedures we have developed from the approach of QA as a service organization, thus reflecting the overall EUVE philosophy of Quality Assurance integrated into normal operating procedures, rather than imposed as an external, post facto, control mechanism.

Modeling and measurement of hydrogen radical densities of in situ plasma-based Sn cleaning source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elg, Daniel T.; Panici, Gianluca A.; Peck, Jason A.; Srivastava, Shailendra N.; Ruzic, David N.

2017-04-01

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography sources expel Sn debris. This debris deposits on the collector optic used to focus the EUV light, lowering its reflectivity and EUV throughput to the wafer. Consequently, the collector must be cleaned, causing source downtime. To solve this, a hydrogen plasma source was developed to clean the collector in situ by using the collector as an antenna to create a hydrogen plasma and create H radicals, which etch Sn as SnH4. This technique has been shown to remove Sn from a 300-mm-diameter stainless steel dummy collector. The H radical density is of key importance in Sn etching. The effects of power, pressure, and flow on radical density are explored. A catalytic probe has been used to measure radical density, and a zero-dimensional model is used to provide the fundamental science behind radical creation and predict radical densities. Model predictions and experimental measurements are in good agreement. The trends observed in radical density, contrasted with measured Sn removal rates, show that radical density is not the limiting factor in this etching system; other factors, such as SnH4 redeposition and energetic ion bombardment, must be more fully understood in order to predict removal rates.

The First ALMA Observation of a Solar Plasmoid Ejection from an X-Ray Bright Point

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shimojo, Masumi; Hudson, Hugh S.; White, Stephen M.

2017-05-20

Eruptive phenomena such as plasmoid ejections or jets are important features of solar activity and have the potential to improve our understanding of the dynamics of the solar atmosphere. Such ejections are often thought to be signatures of the outflows expected in regions of fast magnetic reconnection. The 304 Å EUV line of helium, formed at around 10{sup 5} K, is found to be a reliable tracer of such phenomena, but the determination of physical parameters from such observations is not straightforward. We have observed a plasmoid ejection from an X-ray bright point simultaneously at millimeter wavelengths with ALMA, atmore » EUV wavelengths with SDO /AIA, and in soft X-rays with Hinode /XRT. This paper reports the physical parameters of the plasmoid obtained by combining the radio, EUV, and X-ray data. As a result, we conclude that the plasmoid can consist either of (approximately) isothermal ∼10{sup 5} K plasma that is optically thin at 100 GHz, or a ∼10{sup 4} K core with a hot envelope. The analysis demonstrates the value of the additional temperature and density constraints that ALMA provides, and future science observations with ALMA will be able to match the spatial resolution of space-borne and other high-resolution telescopes.« less

Nanometer-scale ablation using focused, coherent extreme ultraviolet/soft x-ray light

DOEpatents

Menoni, Carmen S [Fort Collins, CO; Rocca, Jorge J [Fort Collins, CO; Vaschenko, Georgiy [San Diego, CA; Bloom, Scott [Encinitas, CA; Anderson, Erik H [El Cerrito, CA; Chao, Weilun [El Cerrito, CA; Hemberg, Oscar [Stockholm, SE

2011-04-26

Ablation of holes having diameters as small as 82 nm and having clean walls was obtained in a poly(methyl methacrylate) on a silicon substrate by focusing pulses from a Ne-like Ar, 46.9 nm wavelength, capillary-discharge laser using a freestanding Fresnel zone plate diffracting into third order is described. Spectroscopic analysis of light from the ablation has also been performed. These results demonstrate the use of focused coherent EUV/SXR light for the direct nanoscale patterning of materials.

Effects of cloud, aerosol, and ozone on surface spectral Ultraviolet and total irradiance observed in Seoul, Korea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Hana; Kim, Jhoon; Kim, Woogyung; Lee, Yun Gon; Cho, Hi Ku

2015-04-01

In recent years, there have been substantial attempts to model the radiative transfer for climatological and biological purposes. However, the incorporation of clouds, aerosols and ozone into the modeling process is one of the difficult tasks due to their variable transmission in both temporal and space domains. In this study we quantify the atmospheric transmissions by clouds, aerosol optical depth (AOD at 320 nm) and total ozone (Ozone) together with all skies in three solar radiation components of the global solar (GS 305-2800nm), total ultraviolet (TUV 290-363nm) and the erythemal weighted ultraviolet (EUV 290-325nm) irradiances with statistical methods using the data at Seoul. The purpose of this study also is to clarify the different characteristics between cloud, AOD and Ozone in the wavelength-dependent solar radiation components. The ozone, EUV and TUV used in this study (March 2003 - February 2014) have been measured with Dobson Spectrophotometer (Beck #124) and Brewer Spectrophotometer (SCI-TEC#148) at Yonsei University, respectively. GS, Cloud Cover (CC) are available from the Korean Meteorological Agency. The measured total (effect of cloud, aerosol, and ozone) transmissions on annual average showed 74%, 76% and 80% of GS, TUV and EUV irradiance, respectively. For the comparison of the measured values with modeled, we have also constructed a multiple linear regression model for the total transmission. The average ratio of measured to modeled total transmission were 0.94, 0.96 and 0.96 with higher measured than modeled value in the three components, respectively, The individual transmission by clouds under the constant AOD and Ozone atmosphere on average showed 68%, 71% and 76% and further the overcast clouds reduced the transmissions to the 45%, 54% and 59% of the clear sky irradiance in the GS, TUV and EUV, respectively. The annual transmissions by AOD showed on average 67%, 70% and 74% and further the high loadings 2.5-4.0 AOD reduced the transmission to 50%, 52% and 55% of clear sky irradiance under the contact cloud and ozone atmosphere in the GS, TUV and EUV, respectively. And annual average EUV transmission by Ozone was 75 % of the clear-sky value under the constant CC and AOD. In future study, we are compare OMI data with ground-based instruments in order to use measured data for scientific studies.

Amorphous silicon carbide coatings for extreme ultraviolet optics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kortright, J. B.; Windt, David L.

1988-01-01

Amorphous silicon carbide films formed by sputtering techniques are shown to have high reflectance in the extreme ultraviolet spectral region. X-ray scattering verifies that the atomic arrangements in these films are amorphous, while Auger electron spectroscopy and Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy show that the films have composition close to stoichiometric SiC, although slightly C-rich, with low impurity levels. Reflectance vs incidence angle measurements from 24 to 1216 A were used to derive optical constants of this material, which are presented here. Additionally, the measured extreme ultraviolet efficiency of a diffraction grating overcoated with sputtered amorphous silicon carbide is presented, demonstrating the feasibility of using these films as coatings for EUV optics.

Normal incidence reflectance of ion beam deposited SiC films in the EUV

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keski-Kuha, Ritva A. M.; Osantowski, John F.; Herzig, Howard; Gum, Jeffrey S.; Toft, Albert R.

1988-01-01

Results are presented from an experimental investigation of the normal-incidence reflectance at 58.4, 92.0, and 121.6 nm wavelength of 30- and 80-nm-thick SiC films produced by ion-beam deposition on unheated 5 x 5-cm microscope slides. The films were deposited in the 2-m evaporator described by Bradford et al. (1969) with chamber base pressure 1 microtorr, operating pressure 40 microtorr, and a 50-62-mA 750-eV Ar ion beam; the reflectance measurements were obtained in the reflector-monochromator system described by Osantowski (1974). Reflectances of over 30 percent were found at 92 and 121.6 nm, almost equal to those of polished CVD films of SiC and degrading only slightly after aging for 4 months. It is suggested that ion-beam deposition may be the best low-temperature technique for coating EUV optics for space astronomy.

Global Plasmaspheric Imaging: A New "Light" Focusing on Familiar Questions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Adrian, M. L.; Six, N. Frank (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

Until recently plasmaspheric physics, for that matter, magnetospheric physics as a whole, has relied primarily on single point in-situ measurement, theory, modeling, and a considerable amount of extrapolation in order to envision the global structure of the plasmasphere. This condition changed with the launch of the IMAGE satellite in March 2000. Using the Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) imager on WAGE, we can now view the global structure of the plasmasphere bathed in the glow of resonantly scattered 30.4 nm radiation allowing the space physics community to view the dynamics of this global structure as never before. This talk will: (1) define the plasmasphere from the perspective of plasmaspheric physics prior to March 2000; (2) present a review of EUV imaging optics and the IMAGE mission; and focus on efforts to understand an old and familiar feature of plasmaspheric physics, embedded plasmaspheric density troughs, in this new global light with the assistance of forward modeling.

Miniature Extreme Ultraviolet Solar Radiometers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McMullin, D. R.; Seely, J. F.; Bremer, J.; Jones, A. R.; Vest, R.; Sakdinawat, A.

2015-12-01

Free-standing zone plates for use in EUV solar radiometers have been fabricated using electron beam lithography and calibrated at the NIST SURF synchrotron facility. The radiometers that we are developing use zone plates (ZPs) to focus the total solar irradiance in narrow EUV spectral bands and measure it with negligible sensitivity to field angle and polarization, and with greater accuracy and greater long-term stability than radiometers that have alternative architectures. These radiometers are easy to accommodate on spacecraft due to their small size, low mass, low power requirements, low data rates, and modest pointing requirements. A proto-type instrument will be presented with performance characteristics and spacecraft resource requirements for hosting these new instruments. The compact size of the optical train make these zone plates attractive for small CubeSats. The robustness of the compact design makes these radiometers available for a large variety of applications.

Scatter from optical components; Proceedings of the Meeting, San Diego, CA, Aug. 8-10, 1989

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stover, John C.

Various papers on scatter from optical components are presented. Individual topics addressed include: BRDF of SiC and Al foam compared to black paint at 3.39 microns, characterization of optical baffle materials, bidirectional transmittance distribution function of several IR materials at 3.39 microns, thermal cycling effects on the BRDF of beryllium mirrors, BTDV of ZnSe with multilayer coatings at 3.39 microns, scattering from contaminated surfaces, cleanliness correlation by BRDF and PFO instruments, contamination effects on optical surfaces, means of eliminating the effects of particulate contamination on scatter measurements of superfine optical surfaces, vacuum BRDF measurement of cryogenic optical surfaces, Monte Carlo simulation of contaminant transport to and deposition on complex spacecraft surfaces, surface particle observation and BRDF predictions, satellite material contaminant optical properties, dark field photographic techniques for documenting optical surface contamination, design of a laboratory study of contaminant film darkening in space, contamination monitoring approaches for EUV space optics.

Enabling laboratory EUV research with a compact exposure tool

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brose, Sascha; Danylyuk, Serhiy; Tempeler, Jenny; Kim, Hyun-su; Loosen, Peter; Juschkin, Larissa

2016-03-01

In this work we present the capabilities of the designed and realized extreme ultraviolet laboratory exposure tool (EUVLET) which has been developed at the RWTH-Aachen, Chair for the Technology of Optical Systems (TOS), in cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology (ILT) and Bruker ASC GmbH. Main purpose of this laboratory setup is the direct application in research facilities and companies with small batch production, where the fabrication of high resolution periodic arrays over large areas is required. The setup can also be utilized for resist characterization and evaluation of its pre- and post-exposure processing. The tool utilizes a partially coherent discharge produced plasma (DPP) source and minimizes the number of other critical components to a transmission grating, the photoresist coated wafer and the positioning system for wafer and grating and utilizes the Talbot lithography approach. To identify the limits of this approach first each component is analyzed and optimized separately and relations between these components are identified. The EUV source has been optimized to achieve the best values for spatial and temporal coherence. Phase-shifting and amplitude transmission gratings have been fabricated and exposed. Several commercially available electron beam resists and one EUV resist have been characterized by open frame exposures to determine their contrast under EUV radiation. Cold development procedure has been performed to further increase the resist contrast. By analyzing the exposure results it can be demonstrated that only a 1:1 copy of the mask structure can be fully resolved by the utilization of amplitude masks. The utilized phase-shift masks offer higher 1st order diffraction efficiency and allow a demagnification of the mask structure in the achromatic Talbot plane.

SEMI-EMPIRICAL MODELING OF THE PHOTOSPHERE, CHROMOPSHERE, TRANSITION REGION, AND CORONA OF THE M-DWARF HOST STAR GJ 832

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fontenla, J. M.; Linsky, Jeffrey L.; Witbrod, Jesse

Stellar radiation from X-rays to the visible provides the energy that controls the photochemistry and mass loss from exoplanet atmospheres. The important extreme ultraviolet (EUV) region (10–91.2 nm) is inaccessible and should be computed from a reliable stellar model. It is essential to understand the formation regions and physical processes responsible for the various stellar emission features to predict how the spectral energy distribution varies with age and activity levels. We compute a state-of-the-art semi-empirical atmospheric model and the emergent high-resolution synthetic spectrum of the moderately active M2 V star GJ 832 as the first of a series of modelsmore » for stars with different activity levels. We construct a one-dimensional simple model for the physical structure of the star’s chromosphere, chromosphere-corona transition region, and corona using non-LTE radiative transfer techniques and many molecular lines. The synthesized spectrum for this model fits the continuum and lines across the UV-to-optical spectrum. Particular emphasis is given to the emission lines at wavelengths that are shorter than 300 nm observed with the Hubble Space Telescope , which have important effects on the photochemistry of the exoplanet atmospheres. The FUV line ratios indicate that the transition region of GJ 832 is more biased to hotter material than that of the quiet Sun. The excellent agreement of our computed EUV luminosity with that obtained by two other techniques indicates that our model predicts reliable EUV emission from GJ 832. We find that the unobserved EUV flux of GJ 832, which heats the outer atmospheres of exoplanets and drives their mass loss, is comparable to the active Sun.« less

A Search for EUV Emission from the O4f Star Zeta Puppis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Waldron, Wayne L.; Vallerga, John

1996-01-01

We obtained a 140 ks EUVE observation of the O4f star, zeta Puppis. Because of its low ISM column density and highly ionized stellar wind, a unique EUV window is accessible for viewing between 128 to 140 A, suggesting that this star may he the only O star observable with the EUVE. Although no SW spectrometer wavelength bin had a signal to noise greater than 3, a bin at 136 A had a signal to noise of 2.4. This bin is where models predict the brightest line due to OV emission should occur. We present several EUV line emission models. These models were constrained by fitting the ROSAT PSPC X-ray data and our EUVE data. If the OV emission is real, the best fits to the data suggest that there are discrepancies in our current understanding of EUV/X-ray production mechanisms. In particular, the emission measure of the EUV source is found to be much greater than the total wind emission measure, suggesting that the EUV shock must produce a very large density enhancement. In addition, the location of the EUV and X-ray shocks are found to be separated by approx. 0.3 stellar radii, but the EUV emission region is found to be approx. 400 times larger than the X-ray emission region. We also discuss the implications of a null detection and present relevant upper limits.

PECULIAR STATIONARY EUV WAVE FRONTS IN THE ERUPTION ON 2011 MAY 11

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chandra, R.; Fulara, A.; Chen, P. F.

We present and interpret the observations of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) waves associated with a filament eruption on 2011 May 11. The filament eruption also produces a small B-class two ribbon flare and a coronal mass ejection. The event is observed by the Solar Dynamic Observatory with high spatio-temporal resolution data recorded by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly. As the filament erupts, we observe two types of EUV waves (slow and fast) propagating outwards. The faster EUV wave has a propagation velocity of ∼500 km s{sup −1} and the slower EUV wave has an initial velocity of ∼120 km s{sup −1}. Wemore » report, for the first time, that not only does the slower EUV wave stop at a magnetic separatrix to form bright stationary fronts, but also the faster EUV wave transits a magnetic separatrix, leaving another stationary EUV front behind.« less

Center-to-Limb Variability of Hot Coronal EUV Emissions During Solar Flares

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thiemann, E. M. B.; Chamberlin, P. C.; Eparvier, F. G.; Epp, L.

2018-02-01

It is generally accepted that densities of quiet-Sun and active region plasma are sufficiently low to justify the optically thin approximation, and this is commonly used in the analysis of line emissions from plasma in the solar corona. However, the densities of solar flare loops are substantially higher, compromising the optically thin approximation. This study begins with a radiative transfer model that uses typical solar flare densities and geometries to show that hot coronal emission lines are not generally optically thin. Furthermore, the model demonstrates that the observed line intensity should exhibit center-to-limb variability (CTLV), with flares observed near the limb being dimmer than those occurring near disk center. The model predictions are validated with an analysis of over 200 flares observed by the EUV Variability Experiment (EVE) on the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), which uses six lines, with peak formation temperatures between 8.9 and 15.8 MK, to show that limb flares are systematically dimmer than disk-center flares. The data are then used to show that the electron column density along the line of sight typically increases by 1.76 × 10^{19} cm^{-2} for limb flares over the disk-center flare value. It is shown that the CTLV of hot coronal emissions reduces the amount of ionizing radiation propagating into the solar system, and it changes the relative intensities of lines and bands commonly used for spectral analysis.

Model based high NA anamorphic EUV RET

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Fan; Wiaux, Vincent; Fenger, Germain; Clifford, Chris; Liubich, Vlad; Hendrickx, Eric

2018-03-01

With the announcement of the extension of the Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) roadmap to a high NA lithography tool that utilizes anamorphic optics design, an investigation of design tradeoffs unique to the imaging of anamorphic lithography tool is shown. An anamorphic optical proximity correction (OPC) solution has been developed that models fully the EUV near field electromagnetic effects and the anamorphic imaging using the Domain Decomposition Method (DDM). Clips of imec representative for the N3 logic node were used to demonstrate the OPC solutions on critical layers that will benefit from the increased contrast at high NA using anamorphic imaging. However, unlike isomorphic case, from wafer perspective, OPC needs to treat x and y differently. In the paper, we show a design trade-off seen unique to Anamorphic EUV, namely that using a mask rule of 48nm (mask scale), approaching current state of the art, limitations are observed in the available correction that can be applied to the mask. The metal pattern has a pitch of 24nm and CD of 12nm. During OPC, the correction of the metal lines oriented vertically are being limited by the mask rule of 12nm 1X. The horizontally oriented lines do not suffer from this mask rule limitation as the correction is allowed to go to 6nm 1X. For this example, the masks rules will need to be more aggressive to allow complete correction, or design rules and wafer processes (wafer rotation) would need to be created that utilize the orientation that can image more aggressive features. When considering VIA or block level correction, aggressive polygon corner to corner designs can be handled with various solutions, including applying a 45 degree chop. Multiple solutions are discussed with the metrics of edge placement error (EPE) and Process Variation Bands (PVBands), together with all the mask constrains. Noted in anamorphic OPC, the 45 degree chop is maintained at the mask level to meet mask manufacturing constraints, but results in skewed angle edge in wafer level correction. In this paper, we used both contact (Via/block) patterns and metal patterns for OPC practice. By comparing the EPE of horizontal and vertical patterns with a fixed mask rule check (MRC), and the PVBand, we focus on the challenges and the solutions of OPC with anamorphic High-NA lens.

Edge placement error control and Mask3D effects in High-NA anamorphic EUV lithography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Setten, Eelco; Bottiglieri, Gerardo; de Winter, Laurens; McNamara, John; Rusu, Paul; Lubkoll, Jan; Rispens, Gijsbert; van Schoot, Jan; Neumann, Jens Timo; Roesch, Matthias; Kneer, Bernhard

2017-10-01

To enable cost-effective shrink at the 3nm node and beyond, and to extend Moore's law into the next decade, ASML is developing a new high-NA EUV platform. The high-NA system is targeted to feature a numerical aperture (NA) of 0.55 to extend the single exposure resolution limit to 8nm half pitch. The system is being designed to achieve an on-product-overlay (OPO) performance well below 2nm, a high image contrast to drive down local CD errors and to obtain global CDU at sub-1nm level to be able to meet customer edge placement error (EPE) requirements for the devices of the future. EUV scanners employ reflective Bragg multi-layer mirrors in the mask and in the Projection Optics Box (POB) that is used to project the mask pattern into the photoresist on the silicon wafer. These MoSi multi-layer mirrors are tuned for maximum reflectivity, and thus productivity, at 13.5nm wavelength. The angular range of incident light for which a high reflectivity at the reticle can be obtained is limited to +/- 11o, exceeding the maximum angle occurring in current 0.33NA scanners at 4x demagnification. At 0.55NA the maximum angle at reticle level would extend up to 17o in the critical (scanning) direction and compromise the imaging performance of horizontal features severely. To circumvent this issue a novel anamorphic optics design has been introduced, which has a 4x demagnification in the X- (slit) direction and 8x demagnification in the Y- (scanning) direction as well as a central obscuration in the exit pupil. In this work we will show that the EUV high-NA anamorphic concept can successfully solve the angular reflectivity issues and provide good imaging performance in both directions. Several unique imaging challenges in comparison to the 0.33NA isomorphic baseline are being studied, such as the impact of the central obscuration in the POB and Mask-3D effects at increased NA that seem most pronounced for vertical features. These include M3D induced contrast loss and non-telecentricity. We will explore the solutions needed to mitigate these effects and to offer high quality imaging to be able to meet the required EPE performance in both orientations.

Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer. Long look at the next window

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maran, Stephen P.

1991-01-01

The Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) will map the entire sky to determine the existence, direction, brightness, and temperature of thousands of objects that are sources of so-called extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation. The EUV spectral region is located between the x-ray and ultraviolet regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. From the sky survey by EUVE, astronomers will determine the nature of sources of EUV light in our galaxy, and infer the distribution of interstellar gas for hundreds of light years around the solar system. It is from this gas and the accompanying dust in space that new stars and solar systems are born and to which evolving and dying stars return much of their material in an endless cosmic cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. Besides surveying the sky, astronomers will make detailed studies of selected objects with EUVE to determine their physical properties and chemical compositions. Also, they will learn about the conditions that prevail and the processes at work in stars, planets, and other sources of EUV radiation, maybe even quasars. The EUVE mission and instruments are described. The objects that EUVE will likely find are described.

Monolithic pattern-sensitive detector

DOEpatents

Berger, Kurt W.

2000-01-01

Extreme ultraviolet light (EUV) is detected using a precisely defined reference pattern formed over a shallow junction photodiode. The reference pattern is formed in an EUV absorber preferably comprising nickel or other material having EUV- and other spectral region attenuating characteristics. An EUV-transmissive energy filter is disposed between a passivation oxide layer of the photodiode and the EUV transmissive energy filter. The device is monolithically formed to provide robustness and compactness.

Analytical techniques for mechanistic characterization of EUV photoresists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grzeskowiak, Steven; Narasimhan, Amrit; Murphy, Michael; Ackerman, Christian; Kaminsky, Jake; Brainard, Robert L.; Denbeaux, Greg

2017-03-01

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV, 13.5 nm) lithography is the prospective technology for high volume manufacturing by the microelectronics industry. Significant strides towards achieving adequate EUV source power and availability have been made recently, but a limited rate of improvement in photoresist performance still delays the implementation of EUV. Many fundamental questions remain to be answered about the exposure mechanisms of even the relatively well understood chemically amplified EUV photoresists. Moreover, several groups around the world are developing revolutionary metal-based resists whose EUV exposure mechanisms are even less understood. Here, we describe several evaluation techniques to help elucidate mechanistic details of EUV exposure mechanisms of chemically amplified and metal-based resists. EUV absorption coefficients are determined experimentally by measuring the transmission through a resist coated on a silicon nitride membrane. Photochemistry can be evaluated by monitoring small outgassing reaction products to provide insight into photoacid generator or metal-based resist reactivity. Spectroscopic techniques such as thin-film Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy can measure the chemical state of a photoresist system pre- and post-EUV exposure. Additionally, electrolysis can be used to study the interaction between photoresist components and low energy electrons. Collectively, these techniques improve our current understanding of photomechanisms for several EUV photoresist systems, which is needed to develop new, better performing materials needed for high volume manufacturing.

Thermal casting of polymers in centrifuge for producing X-ray optics

DOEpatents

Hill, Randy M [Livermore, CA; Decker, Todd A [Livermore, CA

2012-03-27

An optic is produced by the steps of placing a polymer inside a rotateable cylindrical chamber, the rotateable cylindrical chamber having an outside wall, rotating the cylindrical chamber, heating the rotating chamber forcing the polymer to the outside wall of the cylindrical chamber, allowing the rotateable cylindrical chamber to cool while rotating producing an optic substrate with a substrate surface, sizing the optic substrate, and coating the substrate surface of the optic substrate to produce the optic with an optic surface.

Electro-optic device with gap-coupled electrode

DOEpatents

Deri, Robert J.; Rhodes, Mark A.; Bayramian, Andrew J.; Caird, John A.; Henesian, Mark A.; Ebbers, Christopher A.

2013-08-20

An electro-optic device includes an electro-optic crystal having a predetermined thickness, a first face and a second face. The electro-optic device also includes a first electrode substrate disposed opposing the first face. The first electrode substrate includes a first substrate material having a first thickness and a first electrode coating coupled to the first substrate material. The electro-optic device further includes a second electrode substrate disposed opposing the second face. The second electrode substrate includes a second substrate material having a second thickness and a second electrode coating coupled to the second substrate material. The electro-optic device additionally includes a voltage source electrically coupled to the first electrode coating and the second electrode coating.

Flat-field anastigmatic mirror objective for high-magnification extreme ultraviolet microscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toyoda, Mitsunori

2015-08-01

To apply high-definition microscopy to the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) region in practice, i.e. to enable in situ observation of living tissue and the at-wavelength inspection of lithography masks, we constructed a novel reflective objective made of three multilayer mirrors. This objective is configured as a two-stage imaging system made of a Schwarzschild two-mirror system as the primary objective and an additional magnifier with a single curved mirror. This two-stage configuration can provide a high magnification of 1500, which is suitable for real-time observation with an EUV charge coupled device (CCD) camera. Besides, since off-axis aberrations can be corrected by the magnifier, which provides field flattener optics, we are able to configure the objective as a flat-field anastigmatic system, in which we will have a diffraction-limited spatial resolution over a large field-of-view. This paper describes in detail the optical design of the present objective. After calculating the closed-form equations representing the third-order aberrations of the objective, we apply these equations to practical design examples with a numerical aperture of 0.25 and an operation wavelength of 13.5 nm. We also confirm the imaging performances of this novel design by using the numerical ray-tracing method.

Surface Inhomogeneities of the White Dwarf in the Binary EUVE J2013+400

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vennes, Stephane

We propose to study the white dwarf in the binary EUVE J2013+400. The object is paired with a dMe star and new extreme ultraviolet (EUV) observations will offer critical insights into the properties of the white dwarf. The binary behaves, in every other aspects, like its siblings EUVE J0720-317 and EUVE J1016-053 and new EUV observations will help establish their class properties; in particular, EUV photometric variations in 0720-317 and 1016-053 over a period of 11 hours and 57 minutes, respectively, are indicative of surface abundance inhomogeneities coupled with the white dwarfs rotation period. These variations and their large photospheric helium abundance are best explained by a diffusion-accretion model in which time-variable accretion and possible coupling to magnetic poles contribute to abundance variations across the surface and possibly as a function of depth. EUV spectroscopy will also enable a study of the helium abundance as a function of depth and a detailed comparison with theoretical diffusion profile.

Coded aperture detector: an image sensor with sub 20-nm pixel resolution.

PubMed

Miyakawa, Ryan; Mayer, Rafael; Wojdyla, Antoine; Vannier, Nicolas; Lesser, Ian; Aron-Dine, Shifrah; Naulleau, Patrick

2014-08-11

We describe the coded aperture detector, a novel image sensor based on uniformly redundant arrays (URAs) with customizable pixel size, resolution, and operating photon energy regime. In this sensor, a coded aperture is scanned laterally at the image plane of an optical system, and the transmitted intensity is measured by a photodiode. The image intensity is then digitally reconstructed using a simple convolution. We present results from a proof-of-principle optical prototype, demonstrating high-fidelity image sensing comparable to a CCD. A 20-nm half-pitch URA fabricated by the Center for X-ray Optics (CXRO) nano-fabrication laboratory is presented that is suitable for high-resolution image sensing at EUV and soft X-ray wavelengths.

Contamination control program results from three years of ground operations on the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer instruments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ray, David C.; Jelinsky, Sharon; Welsh, Barry Y.; Malina, Roger F.

1990-01-01

A stringent contamination-control plan has been developed for the optical components of the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer instruments, whose performance in the 80-900 A wavelength range is highly sensitive to particulate and molecular contamination. The contamination-control program has been implemented over the last three years during assembly, test and calibration phases of the instrument. These phases have now been completed and the optics cavities of the instruments have been sealed until deployment in space. Various approaches are discussed which have been used during ground operations to meet optics' contamination goals within the project schedule and budget. The measured optical properties of EUV witness mirrors are also presented which remained with the flight mirrors during ground operations. These were used to track optical degradation due to contamination from the cleanroom and high-vacuum test-chamber environments.

A new mask exposure and analysis facility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

te Sligte, Edwin; Koster, Norbert; Deutz, Alex; Staring, Wilbert

2014-10-01

The introduction of ever higher source powers in EUV systems causes increased risks for contamination and degradation of EUV masks and pellicles. Appropriate testing can help to inventory and mitigate these risks. To this end, we propose EBL2: a laboratory EUV exposure system capable of operating at high EUV powers and intensities, and capable of exposing and analyzing EUV masks. The proposed system architecture is similar to the EBL system which has been operated jointly by TNO and Carl Zeiss SMT since 2005. EBL2 contains an EUV Beam Line, in which samples can be exposed to EUV irradiation in a controlled environment. Attached to this Beam Line is an XPS system, which can be reached from the Beam Line via an in-vacuum transfer system. This enables surface analysis of exposed masks without breaking vacuum. Automated handling with dual pods is foreseen so that exposed EUV masks will still be usable in EUV lithography tools to assess the imaging impact of the exposure. Compared to the existing system, large improvements in EUV power, intensity, reliability, and flexibility are proposed. Also, in-situ measurements by e.g. ellipsometry is foreseen for real time monitoring of the sample condition. The system shall be equipped with additional ports for EUVR or other analysis tools. This unique facility will be open for external customers and other research groups.

Dry etching technologies for reflective multilayer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iino, Yoshinori; Karyu, Makoto; Ita, Hirotsugu; Kase, Yoshihisa; Yoshimori, Tomoaki; Muto, Makoto; Nonaka, Mikio; Iwami, Munenori

2012-11-01

We have developed a highly integrated methodology for patterning Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) mask, which has been highlighted for the lithography technique at the 14nm half-pitch generation and beyond. The EUV mask is characterized as a reflective-type mask which is completely different compared with conventional transparent-type of photo mask. And it requires not only patterning of absorber layer without damaging the underlying multi reflective layers (40 Si/Mo layers) but also etching multi reflective layers. In this case, the dry etch process has generally faced technical challenges such as the difficulties in CD control, etch damage to quartz substrate and low selectivity to the mask resist. Shibaura Mechatronics ARESTM mask etch system and its optimized etch process has already achieved the maximal etch performance at patterning two-layered absorber. And in this study, our process technologies of multi reflective layers will be evaluated by means of optimal combination of process gases and our optimized plasma produced by certain source power and bias power. When our ARES™ is used for multilayer etching, the user can choose to etch the absorber layer at the same time or etch only the multilayer.

Novel EUV photoresist for sub-7nm node (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Furukawa, Tsuyoshi; Naruoka, Takehiko; Nakagawa, Hisashi; Miyata, Hiromu; Shiratani, Motohiro; Hori, Masafumi; Dei, Satoshi; Ayothi, Ramakrishnan; Hishiro, Yoshi; Nagai, Tomoki

2017-04-01

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography has been recognized as a promising candidate for the manufacturing of semiconductor devices as LS and CH pattern for 7nm node and beyond. EUV lithography is ready for high volume manufacturing stage. For the high volume manufacturing of semiconductor devices, significant improvement of sensitivity and line edge roughness (LWR) and Local CD Uniformity (LCDU) is required for EUV resist. It is well-known that the key challenge for EUV resist is the simultaneous requirement of ultrahigh resolution (R), low line edge roughness (L) and high sensitivity (S). Especially high sensitivity and good roughness is important for EUV lithography high volume manufacturing. We are trying to improve sensitivity and LWR/LCDU from many directions. From material side, we found that both sensitivity and LWR/LCDU are simultaneously improved by controlling acid diffusion length and efficiency of acid generation using novel resin and PAG. And optimizing EUV integration is one of the good solution to improve sensitivity and LWR/LCDU. We are challenging to develop new multi-layer materials to improve sensitivity and LWR/LCDU. Our new multi-layer materials are designed for best performance in EUV lithography system. From process side, we found that sensitivity was substantially improved maintaining LWR applying novel type of chemical amplified resist (CAR) and process. EUV lithography evaluation results obtained for new CAR EUV interference lithography. And also metal containing resist is one possibility to break through sensitivity and LWR trade off. In this paper, we will report the recent progress of sensitivity and LWR/LCDU improvement of JSR novel EUV resist and process.

EUVE and IR observations of the Polars HU Aqr and AR UMa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Howell, S.; Ciardi, D.

1999-12-01

Simultaneous EUVE and ground-based near-infrared J and K observations of the magnetic CV HU Aqr were performed. The observations occurred during a super-high state never before observed in HU Aqr. The average EUVE count-rate was 30-60 times higher than had been measured previously, allowing us to present the first ever EUV spectra of HU Aqr. The near-infrared observations show a corresponding flux increase of 2-3 times over previous J and K observations. However, the near-infrared eclipse minimum during this super-high state are the same as seen in previous observations, indicating that the eclipse in the near-infrared is total. We present a detailed comparison of the EUV and near-infrared emission of HU Aqr as a function of orbital phase and discuss the geometry and physical properties of the high energy and infrared emitting regions. AR UMa is the brightest EUV source yet observed with the EUVE satellite and is also the polar with the largest magnetic field, 250 MG. EUVE observations of the polar AR UMa have allowed, for the first time, EUV time-resolved spectral analysis and radial velocity measurements. We present EUV phase-resolved photometry and spectroscopy and show that the He 304 emission line is not produced on the heated face of the secondary star, but emanates from the inner illuminated regions of the coupling region and accretion stream. We comment on the overall structure of the accretion geometry as well. The authors acknowledge partial support of the research by NASA cooperative agreement NCC5-138 via an EUVE guest Observer mini-grant.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Naulleau, Patrick

With demonstrated resist resolution of 20 nm half pitch, the SEMATECH Berkeley BUV microfield exposure tool continues to push crucial advances in the areas of BUY resists and masks. The ever progressing shrink in computer chip feature sizes has been fueled over the years by a continual reduction in the wavelength of light used to pattern the chips. Recently, this trend has been threatened by unavailability of lens materials suitable for wavelengths shorter than 193 nm. To circumvent this roadblock, a reflective technology utilizing a significantly shorter extreme ultraviolet (EUV) wavelength (13.5 nm) has been under development for the pastmore » decade. The dramatic wavelength shrink was required to compensate for optical design limitations intrinsic in mirror-based systems compared to refractive lens systems. With this significant reduction in wavelength comes a variety of new challenges including developing sources of adequate power, photoresists with suitable resolution, sensitivity, and line-edge roughness characteristics, as well as the fabrication of reflection masks with zero defects. While source development can proceed in the absence of available exposure tools, in order for progress to be made in the areas of resists and masks it is crucial to have access to advanced exposure tools with resolutions equal to or better than that expected from initial production tools. These advanced development tools, however, need not be full field tools. Also, implementing such tools at synchrotron facilities allows them to be developed independent of the availability of reliable stand-alone BUY sources. One such tool is the SEMATECH Berkeley microfield exposure tool (MET). The most unique attribute of the SEMA TECH Berkeley MET is its use of a custom-coherence illuminator made possible by its implementation on a synchrotron beamline. With only conventional illumination and conventional binary masks, the resolution limit of the 0.3-NA optic is approximately 25 nm, however, with EUV not expected in production before the 22-nm half pitch node even finer resolution capabilities are now required from development tools. The SEMATECH Berkeley MET's custom-coherence illuminator allows it to be used with aggressive modified illumination enabling kJ factors as low as 0.25. Noting that the lithographic resolution of an exposure tool is defined as k{sub 1}{lambda}/NA, yielding an ultimate resolution limit of 11 nm. To achieve sub-20-nm aerial-image resolution while avoiding forbidden pitches on Manhattan-geometry features with the centrally-obscured MET optic, a 45-degree oriented dipole pupil fill is used. Figure 1 shows the computed aerial-image contrast as a function of half pitch for a dipole pupil fill optimized to print down to the 19-nm half pitch level. This is achieved with relatively uniform performance at larger dimensions. Using this illumination, printing down to the 20-nm half pitch level has been demonstrated in chemically amplified resists as shown in Fig. 2. The SEMATECH Berkeley MET tool plays a crucial role in the advancement of EUV resists. The unique programmable coherence properties of this tool enable it to achieve higher resolution than other EUV projection tools. As presented here, over the past year the tool has been used to demonstrate resist resolutions of 20 half pitch. Although not discussed here, because the Berkeley MET tool is a true projection lithography tool, it also plays a crucial role in advanced EUV mask research. Examples of the work done in this area include defect printability, mask architecture, and phase shift masks.« less

Structural properties of Al/Mo/SiC multilayers with high reflectivity for extreme ultraviolet light.

PubMed

Hu, Min-Hui; Le Guen, Karine; André, Jean-Michel; Jonnard, Philippe; Meltchakov, Evgueni; Delmotte, Franck; Galtayries, Anouk

2010-09-13

We present the results of an optical and chemical, depth and surface study of Al/Mo/SiC periodic multilayers, designed as high reflectivity coatings for the extreme ultra-violet (EUV) range. In comparison to the previously studied Al/SiC system, the introduction of Mo as a third material in the multilayer structure allows us to decrease In comparison to the previously studied Al/SiC system with a reflectance of 37% at near normal incidence around 17 nm, the introduction of Mo as a third material in the multilayer structure allows us to decrease the interfacial roughness and achieve an EUV reflectivity of 53.4%, measured with synchrotron radiation. This is the first report of a reflectivity higher than 50% around 17 nm. Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements are performed on the Al/Mo/SiC system in order to analyze the individual layers within the stack. ToF-SIMS and XPS results give evidence that the first SiC layer is partially oxidized, but the O atoms do not reach the first Mo and Al layers. We use these results to properly describe the multilayer stack and discuss the possible reasons for the difference between the measured and simulated EUV reflectivity values.

Emulation of anamorphic imaging on the SHARP extreme ultraviolet mask microscope

DOE PAGES

Benk, Markus P.; Wojdyla, Antoine; Chao, Weilun; ...

2016-07-12

The SHARP high-numerical aperture actinic reticle review project is a synchrotron-based, extreme ultraviolet (EUV) microscope dedicated to photomask research. SHARP emulates the illumination and imaging conditions of current EUV lithography scanners and those several generations into the future. An anamorphic imaging optic with increased mask-side numerical aperture (NA) in the horizontal and increased demagnification in the vertical direction has been proposed in this paper to overcome limitations of current multilayer coatings and extend EUV lithography beyond 0.33 NA. Zoneplate lenses with an anamorphic 4×/8× NA of 0.55 are fabricated and installed in the SHARP microscope to emulate anamorphic imaging. SHARP’smore » Fourier synthesis illuminator with a range of angles exceeding the collected solid angle of the newly designed elliptical zoneplates can produce arbitrary angular source spectra matched to anamorphic imaging. A target with anamorphic dense features down to 50-nm critical dimension is fabricated using 40 nm of nickel as the absorber. In a demonstration experiment, anamorphic imaging at 0.55 4×/8× NA and 6 deg central ray angle (CRA) is compared with conventional imaging at 0.5 4× NA and 8 deg CRA. A significant contrast loss in horizontal features is observed in the conventional images. Finally, the anamorphic images show the same image quality in the horizontal and vertical directions.« less

Emulation of anamorphic imaging on the SHARP extreme ultraviolet mask microscope

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Benk, Markus P.; Wojdyla, Antoine; Chao, Weilun

The SHARP high-numerical aperture actinic reticle review project is a synchrotron-based, extreme ultraviolet (EUV) microscope dedicated to photomask research. SHARP emulates the illumination and imaging conditions of current EUV lithography scanners and those several generations into the future. An anamorphic imaging optic with increased mask-side numerical aperture (NA) in the horizontal and increased demagnification in the vertical direction has been proposed in this paper to overcome limitations of current multilayer coatings and extend EUV lithography beyond 0.33 NA. Zoneplate lenses with an anamorphic 4×/8× NA of 0.55 are fabricated and installed in the SHARP microscope to emulate anamorphic imaging. SHARP’smore » Fourier synthesis illuminator with a range of angles exceeding the collected solid angle of the newly designed elliptical zoneplates can produce arbitrary angular source spectra matched to anamorphic imaging. A target with anamorphic dense features down to 50-nm critical dimension is fabricated using 40 nm of nickel as the absorber. In a demonstration experiment, anamorphic imaging at 0.55 4×/8× NA and 6 deg central ray angle (CRA) is compared with conventional imaging at 0.5 4× NA and 8 deg CRA. A significant contrast loss in horizontal features is observed in the conventional images. Finally, the anamorphic images show the same image quality in the horizontal and vertical directions.« less

EUV focus sensor: design and modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goldberg, Kenneth A.; Teyssier, Maureen E.; Liddle, J. Alexander

2005-05-01

We describe performance modeling and design optimization of a prototype EUV focus sensor (FS) designed for use with existing 0.3-NA EUV projection-lithography tools. At 0.3-NA and 13.5-nm wavelength, the depth of focus shrinks to 150 nm increasing the importance of high-sensitivity focal-plane detection tools. The FS is a free-standing Ni grating structure that works in concert with a simple mask pattern of regular lines and spaces at constant pitch. The FS pitch matches that of the image-plane aerial-image intensity: it transmits the light with high efficiency when the grating is aligned with the aerial image laterally and longitudinally. Using a single-element photodetector, to detect the transmitted flux, the FS is scanned laterally and longitudinally so the plane of peak aerial-image contrast can be found. The design under consideration has a fixed image-plane pitch of 80-nm, with aperture widths of 12-40-nm (1-3 wave-lengths), and aspect ratios of 2-8. TEMPEST-3D is used to model the light transmission. Careful attention is paid to the annular, partially coherent, unpolarized illumination and to the annular pupil of the Micro-Exposure Tool (MET) optics for which the FS is designed. The system design balances the opposing needs of high sensitivity and high throughput opti-mizing the signal-to-noise ratio in the measured intensity contrast.

EUV Focus Sensor: Design and Modeling

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Goldberg, Kenneth A.; Teyssier, Maureen E.; Liddle, J. Alexander

We describe performance modeling and design optimization of a prototype EUV focus sensor (FS) designed for use with existing 0.3-NA EUV projection-lithography tools. At 0.3-NA and 13.5-nm wavelength, the depth of focus shrinks to 150 nm increasing the importance of high-sensitivity focal-plane detection tools. The FS is a free-standing Ni grating structure that works in concert with a simple mask pattern of regular lines and spaces at constant pitch. The FS pitch matches that of the image-plane aerial-image intensity: it transmits the light with high efficiency when the grating is aligned with the aerial image laterally and longitudinally. Using amore » single-element photodetector, to detect the transmitted flux, the FS is scanned laterally and longitudinally so the plane of peak aerial-image contrast can be found. The design under consideration has a fixed image-plane pitch of 80-nm, with aperture widths of 12-40-nm (1-3 wavelengths), and aspect ratios of 2-8. TEMPEST-3D is used to model the light transmission. Careful attention is paid to the annular, partially coherent, unpolarized illumination and to the annular pupil of the Micro-Exposure Tool (MET) optics for which the FS is designed. The system design balances the opposing needs of high sensitivity and high throughput optimizing the signal-to-noise ratio in the measured intensity contrast.« less

Universal EUV in-band intensity detector

DOEpatents

Berger, Kurt W.

2004-08-24

Extreme ultraviolet light is detected using a universal in-band detector for detecting extreme ultraviolet radiation that includes: (a) an EUV sensitive photodiode having a diode active area that generates a current responsive to EUV radiation; (b) one or more mirrors that reflects EUV radiation having a defined wavelength(s) to the diode active area; and (c) a mask defining a pinhole that is positioned above the diode active area, wherein EUV radiation passing through the pinhole is restricted substantially to illuminating the diode active area.

The extreme ultraviolet explorer mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Malina, R. F.; Bowyer, S.

1988-01-01

The science design goals and engineering implementation for the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) science payload are discussed. The primary scientific goal of the EUVE payload is to carry out an all-sky survey in the 100- to 900-A band of the spectrum. Another goal of the mission is to demonstrate the use of a scientific platform in near-earth orbit. EUVE data will be used to study the distribution of EUV stars in the neighborhood of the sun and the emission physics responsible for the EUV mission.

Characterization of extreme ultraviolet laser ablation mass spectrometry for actinide trace analysis and nanoscale isotopic imaging

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Green, Tyler; Kuznetsov, Ilya; Willingham, David

The purpose of this research was to characterize Extreme Ultraviolet Time-of-Flight (EUV TOF) Laser Ablation Mass Spectrometry for high spatial resolution elemental and isotopic analysis. We compare EUV TOF results with Secondary Ionization Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) to orient the EUV TOF method within the overall field of analytical mass spectrometry. Using the well-characterized NIST 61x glasses, we show that the EUV ionization approach produces relatively few molecular ion interferences in comparison to TOF SIMS. We demonstrate that the ratio of element ion to element oxide ion is adjustable with EUV laser pulse energy and that the EUV TOF instrument hasmore » a sample utilization efficiency of 0.014%. The EUV TOF system also achieves a lateral resolution of 80 nm and we demonstrate this lateral resolution with isotopic imaging of closely spaced particles or uranium isotopic standard materials.« less

EUV Cross-Calibration Strategies for the GOES-R SUVI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Darnel, Jonathan; Seaton, Daniel

2016-10-01

The challenges of maintaining calibration for solar EUV instrumentation is well-known. The lack of standard calibration sources and the fact that most solar EUV telescopes are incapable of utilizing bright astronomical EUV sources for calibration make knowledge of instrument performance quite difficult. In the recent past, calibration rocket underflights have helped establish a calibration baseline. The EVE instrument on SDO for a time provided well-calibrated, high spectral resolution solar spectra for a broad range of the EUV, but has suffered a loss of coverage at the shorter wavelengths. NOAA's Solar UltraViolet Imager (SUVI), a solar EUV imager with similarities to SDO/AIA, will provide solar imagery over nearly an entire solar cycle. In order to maintain the scientific value of the SUVI's dataset, novel approaches to calibration are necessary. Here we demonstrate a suite of methods to cross-calibrate SUVI against other solar EUV instruments through the use of proxy solar spectra.

Particle protection capability of SEMI-compliant EUV-pod carriers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, George; He, Long; Lystad, John; Kielbaso, Tom; Montgomery, Cecilia; Goodwin, Frank

2010-04-01

With the projected rollout of pre-production extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) scanners in 2010, EUVL pilot line production will become a reality in wafer fabrication companies. Among EUVL infrastructure items that must be ready, EUV mask carriers remain critical. To keep non-pellicle EUV masks free from particle contamination, an EUV pod concept has been extensively studied. Early prototypes demonstrated nearly particle-free results at a 53 nm PSL equivalent inspection sensitivity during EUVL mask robotic handling, shipment, vacuum pump-purge, and storage. After the passage of SEMI E152, which specifies the EUV pod mechanical interfaces, standards-compliant EUV pod prototypes, including a production version inner pod and prototype outer pod, were built and tested. Their particle protection capability results are reported in this paper. A state-of-the-art blank defect inspection tool was used to quantify their defect protection capability during mask robotic handling, shipment, and storage tests. To ensure the availability of an EUV pod for 2010 pilot production, the progress and preliminary test results of pre-production EUV outer pods are reported as well.

Initial results from the extreme ultraviolet explorer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bowyer, S.; Malina, R. F.

1993-01-01

Data obtained during the first five months of calibration and science operation of the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) are presented. Spectra of an extragalactic object were obtained; the object is detectable to wavelenghts longer than 100 A, demonstrating that extragalactic EUV astronomy is possible. Spectra of a hot white dwarf, and a late-type star in quiescence and flaring are shown as examples of the type of spectrographic data obtainable with EUVE. Other objects for which broad band photometric mode data have been obtained and analyzed include an RS CVn star and several late-type stars. The backgrounds in the EUVE detectors are quite low and the character of the diffuse astronomical EUV background has been investigated using these very low rates. Evidence is presented showing that, contrary to previously published reports, EUVE is about three times more sensitive than the English Wide Field Camera in the short wavelength bandpass covered by both instruments. Only limited information has been extracted from the longer bandpasses coered only by EUVE. Nonetheless, the brightest EUV source in the sky, a B star, has been discovered and is detected only in these longer bandpasses.

Surface roughness control by extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahad, Inam Ul; Obeidi, Muhannad Ahmed; Budner, Bogusław; Bartnik, Andrzej; Fiedorowicz, Henryk; Brabazon, Dermot

2017-10-01

Surface roughness control of polymeric materials is often desirable in various biomedical engineering applications related to biocompatibility control, separation science and surface wettability control. In this study, Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) polymer films were irradiated with Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) photons in nitrogen environment and investigations were performed on surface roughness modification via EUV exposure. The samples were irradiated at 3 mm and 4 mm distance from the focal spot to investigate the effect of EUV fluence on topography. The topography of the EUV treated PET samples were studied by AFM. The detailed scanning was also performed on the sample irradiated at 3 mm. It was observed that the average surface roughness of PET samples was increased from 9 nm (pristine sample) to 280 nm and 253 nm for EUV irradiated samples. Detailed AFM studies confirmed the presence of 1.8 mm wide period U-shaped channels in EUV exposed PET samples. The walls of the channels were having FWHM of about 0.4 mm. The channels were created due to translatory movements of the sample in horizontal and transverse directions during the EUV exposure. The increased surface roughness is useful for many applications. The nanoscale channels fabricated by EUV exposure could be interesting for microfluidic applications based on lab-on-a-chip (LOC) devices.

EUV mask pilot line at Intel Corporation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stivers, Alan R.; Yan, Pei-Yang; Zhang, Guojing; Liang, Ted; Shu, Emily Y.; Tejnil, Edita; Lieberman, Barry; Nagpal, Rajesh; Hsia, Kangmin; Penn, Michael; Lo, Fu-Chang

2004-12-01

The introduction of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography into high volume manufacturing requires the development of a new mask technology. In support of this, Intel Corporation has established a pilot line devoted to encountering and eliminating barriers to manufacturability of EUV masks. It concentrates on EUV-specific process modules and makes use of the captive standard photomask fabrication capability of Intel Corporation. The goal of the pilot line is to accelerate EUV mask development to intersect the 32nm technology node. This requires EUV mask technology to be comparable to standard photomask technology by the beginning of the silicon wafer process development phase for that technology node. The pilot line embodies Intel's strategy to lead EUV mask development in the areas of the mask patterning process, mask fabrication tools, the starting material (blanks) and the understanding of process interdependencies. The patterning process includes all steps from blank defect inspection through final pattern inspection and repair. We have specified and ordered the EUV-specific tools and most will be installed in 2004. We have worked with International Sematech and others to provide for the next generation of EUV-specific mask tools. Our process of record is run repeatedly to ensure its robustness. This primes the supply chain and collects information needed for blank improvement.

EUVE GO Survey: High Levels of User Satisfaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stroozas, B. A.

2000-12-01

This paper describes the results of a detailed customer survey of Guest Observers (GOs) for NASA's Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) astronomy satellite observatory. The purpose of the research survey was to (1) measure the levels of GO customer satisfaction with respect to EUVE observing services, and (2) compare the observing experiences of EUVE GOs with their experiences using other satellite observatories. This survey was conducted as a business research project -- part of the author's graduate work as an MBA candidate. A total sample of 38 respondents, from a working population of 101 "active" EUVE GOs, participated in this survey. The results, which provided a profile of the "typical" EUVE GO, showed in a statistically significant fashion that these GOs were more than satisfied with the available EUVE observing services. In fact, the sample GOs generally rated their EUVE observing experiences to be better than average as compared to their experiences as GOs on other missions. These relatively high satisfaction results are particularly pleasing to the EUVE Project which, given its significantly reduced staffing environment at U.C. Berkeley, has continued to do more with less. This paper outlines the overall survey process: the relevant background and previous research, the survey design and methodology, and the final results and their interpretation. The paper also points out some general limitations and weaknesses of the study, along with some recommended actions for the EUVE Project and for NASA in general. This work was funded by NASA/UCB Cooperative Agreement NCC5-138.

Temporal variations of solar EUV, UV, and 10,830-A radiations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Donnelly, R. F.; Hinteregger, H. E.; Heath, D. F.

1986-01-01

The temporal characteristics of the full-disk chromospheric EUV fluxes agree well with those of the ground-based measurements of the chromospheric He I absorption line at 10,830 A and differ systematically from those of the coronal EUV and 10.7-cm flux. The ratio of the flux increase during the rise of solar cycle 21 to that during solar rotation variations is uniformly high for the chromospheric EUV and corroborating 10,830-A fluxes, highest for the transition region and 'cool' coronal EUV fluxes (T less than 2 x 10 to the 6th K), and lowest for the 'hot' coronal EUV and 10.7-cm flux. The rise and decay rates of episodes of major activity progress from those for the hot coronal EUV lines and the 10.7-cm flux to slower values for the chromospheric H Lyman alpha line, 10,830-A line, and photospheric 2050-A UV flux. It is suggested that active region remnants contribute significantly to the solar cycle increase and during the decay of episodes of major activity. The ratio of power in 13-day periodicity to that for 27 days in high (1/3) for the photospheric UV flux, medium (1/6) for the chromospheric EUV and 10,830-A fluxes, and small to negligible for the hot coronal EUV fluxes. These ratios are used to estimate the dependence of active region emission on the solar central meridian distance for chromospheric and coronal EUV flux.

Fundamentals of EUV resist-inorganic hardmask interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goldfarb, Dario L.; Glodde, Martin; De Silva, Anuja; Sheshadri, Indira; Felix, Nelson M.; Lionti, Krystelle; Magbitang, Teddie

2017-03-01

High resolution Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) patterning is currently limited by EUV resist thickness and pattern collapse, thus impacting the faithful image transfer into the underlying stack. Such limitation requires the investigation of improved hardmasks (HMs) as etch transfer layers for EUV patterning. Ultrathin (<5nm) inorganic HMs can provide higher etch selectivity, lower post-etch LWR, decreased defectivity and wet strippability compared to spin-on hybrid HMs (e.g., SiARC), however such novel layers can induce resist adhesion failure and resist residue. Therefore, a fundamental understanding of EUV resist-inorganic HM interactions is needed in order to optimize the EUV resist interfacial behavior. In this paper, novel materials and processing techniques are introduced to characterize and improve the EUV resist-inorganic HM interface. HM surface interactions with specific EUV resist components are evaluated for open-source experimental resist formulations dissected into its individual additives using EUV contrast curves as an effective characterization method to determine post-development residue formation. Separately, an alternative adhesion promoter platform specifically tailored for a selected ultrathin inorganic HM based on amorphous silicon (aSi) is presented and the mitigation of resist delamination is exemplified for the cases of positive-tone and negative-tone development (PTD, NTD). Additionally, original wafer priming hardware for the deposition of such novel adhesion promoters is unveiled. The lessons learned in this work can be directly applied to the engineering of EUV resist materials and processes specifically designed to work on such novel HMs.

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) solar spectral irradiance (SSI) for ionospheric application - history and contemporary state-of-art

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmidtke, G.; Jacobi, Ch.; Nikutowski, B.; Erhardt, Ch.

2014-11-01

After a historical survey of space related EUV measurements in Germany and the role of Karl Rawer in pursuing this work, we describe present developments in EUV spectroscopy and provide a brief outlook on future activities. The group of Karl Rawer has performed the first scientific space project in Western Europe on 19th October 1954. Then it was decided to include the field of solar EUV spectroscopy in ionospheric investigations. Starting in 1957 an intensified development of instrumentation was going on to explore solar EUV radiation, atmospheric airglow and auroral emissions until the institute had to stop space activities in the early nineteen-eighties. EUV spectroscopy was continued outside of the institute during eight years. This area of work was supported again by the institute developing the Auto-Calibrating Spectrometers (SolACES) for a mission on the International Space Station (ISS). After more than six years in space the instrument is still in operation. Meanwhile the work on the primary task also to validate EUV data available from other space missions has made good progress. The first results of validating those data and combine them into one set of EUV solar spectral irradiance are very promising. It will be recommended for using it by the science and application community. Moreover, a new low-cost type of an EUV spectrometer is presented for monitoring the solar EUV radiation. It shall be further developed for providing EUV-TEC data to be applied in ionospheric models replacing the Covington index F10.7. Applying these data for example in the GNSS signal evaluation a more accurate determination of GNSS receiver positions is expected for correcting the propagation delays of navigation signals traveling through the ionosphere from space to earth. - Latest results in the field of solar EUV spectroscopy are discussed, too.

EUV imager and spectrometer for LYOT and solar orbiter space missions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Millard, Anne; Lemaire, Philippe; Vial, Jean-Claude

2017-11-01

In the 2010 horizon, solar space missions such as LYOT and Solar Orbiter will allow high cadence UV observations of the Sun at spatial and spectral resolution never obtained before. To reach these goals, the two missions could take advantage of spectro-imagers. A reflective only optical solution for such an instrument is described in this paper and the first results of the mock-up being built at IAS are shown.

EUV imager and spectrometer for Lyot and Solar Orbiter space missions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Millard, Anne; Lemaire, Philippe; Vial, Jean-Claude

2004-06-01

In the 2010 horizon, solar space missions such as LYOT and Solar Orbiter will allow high cadence UV observations of the Sun at spatial and spectral resolution never obtained before. To reach these goals, the two missions could take advantage of spectro-imagers. A reflective only optical solution for such an instrument is described in this paper and the first results of the mock-up being built at IAS are shown.

MAPPER: high-throughput maskless lithography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wieland, M. J.; de Boer, G.; ten Berge, G. F.; Jager, R.; van de Peut, T.; Peijster, J. J. M.; Slot, E.; Steenbrink, S. W. H. K.; Teepen, T. F.; van Veen, A. H. V.; Kampherbeek, B. J.

2009-03-01

Maskless electron beam lithography, or electron beam direct write, has been around for a long time in the semiconductor industry and was pioneered from the mid-1960s onwards. This technique has been used for mask writing applications as well as device engineering and in some cases chip manufacturing. However because of its relatively low throughput compared to optical lithography, electron beam lithography has never been the mainstream lithography technology. To extend optical lithography double patterning, as a bridging technology, and EUV lithography are currently explored. Irrespective of the technical viability of both approaches, one thing seems clear. They will be expensive [1]. MAPPER Lithography is developing a maskless lithography technology based on massively-parallel electron-beam writing with high speed optical data transport for switching the electron beams. In this way optical columns can be made with a throughput of 10-20 wafers per hour. By clustering several of these columns together high throughputs can be realized in a small footprint. This enables a highly cost-competitive alternative to double patterning and EUV alternatives. In 2007 MAPPER obtained its Proof of Lithography milestone by exposing in its Demonstrator 45 nm half pitch structures with 110 electron beams in parallel, where all the beams where individually switched on and off [2]. In 2008 MAPPER has taken a next step in its development by building several tools. The objective of building these tools is to involve semiconductor companies to be able to verify tool performance in their own environment. To enable this, the tools will have a 300 mm wafer stage in addition to a 110-beam optics column. First exposures at 45 nm half pitch resolution have been performed and analyzed. On the same wafer it is observed that all beams print and based on analysis of 11 beams the CD for the different patterns is within 2.2 nm from target and the CD uniformity for the different patterns is better than 2.8 nm.

Development of a EUV Test Facility at the Marshall Space Flight Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

West, Edward; Pavelitz, Steve; Kobayashi, Ken; Robinson, Brian; Cirtain, Johnathan; Gaskin, Jessica; Winebarger, Amy

2011-01-01

This paper will describe a new EUV test facility that is being developed at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) to test EUV telescopes. Two flight programs, HiC - high resolution coronal imager (sounding rocket) and SUVI - Solar Ultraviolet Imager (GOES-R), set the requirements for this new facility. This paper will discuss those requirements, the EUV source characteristics, the wavelength resolution that is expected and the vacuum chambers (Stray Light Facility, Xray Calibration Facility and the EUV test chamber) where this facility will be used.

EUV nanosecond laser ablation of silicon carbide, tungsten and molybdenum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frolov, Oleksandr; Kolacek, Karel; Schmidt, Jiri; Straus, Jaroslav; Choukourov, Andrei; Kasuya, Koichi

2015-09-01

In this paper we present results of study interaction of nanosecond EUV laser pulses at wavelength of 46.9 nm with silicon carbide (SiC), tungsten (W) and molybdenum (Mo). As a source of laser radiation was used discharge-plasma driver CAPEX (CAPillary EXperiment) based on high current capillary discharge in argon. The laser beam is focused with a spherical Si/Sc multilayer-coated mirror on samples. Experimental study has been performed with 1, 5, 10, 20 and 50 laser pulses ablation of SiC, W and Mo at various fluence values. Firstly, sample surface modification in the nanosecond time scale have been registered by optical microscope. And the secondly, laser beam footprints on the samples have been analyzed by atomic-force microscope (AFM). This work supported by the Czech Science Foundation under Contract GA14-29772S and by the Grant Agency of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic under Contract LG13029.

Optical design of a stigmatic spectroheliometer for photometric studies of dynamic phenomena at extreme-ultraviolet wavelengths

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Huber, M. C. E.; Timothy, J. G.

1977-01-01

The design of a stigmatic spectroheliometer for photometric studies of dynamic phenomena in the solar atmosphere at extreme ultraviolet (EUV) wavelengths is described. The normal-incidence spectrometer requires only one reflective surface, and is equipped with a series of exit slits and associated one-dimensional detector arrays that are mounted at the secondary (vertical) foci of the concave diffraction grating. It is shown that such a spectrometer mounted at the focus of an off-axis paraboloid telescope mirror of the size employed in the EUV spectroheliometer flown on Skylab could record monochromatic images of a 2 x 2 (arcmin) sq field-of-view with a spatial resolution element of 1 x 1 (arcsec) sq in a time of 4 s, 24 s, or 4 min, depending on whether the region studied is flaring, active, or quiet. The resulting spectroheliograms would have an average photometric precision of 10% and a spectral purity of 0.1 A.

Impact of design-parameters on the optical performance of a high-power adaptive mirror

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koek, Wouter D.; Nijkerk, David; Smeltink, Jeroen A.; van den Dool, Teun C.; van Zwet, Erwin J.; van Baars, Gregor E.

2017-02-01

TNO is developing a High Power Adaptive Mirror (HPAM) to be used in the CO2 laser beam path of an Extreme Ultra- Violet (EUV) light source for next-generation lithography. In this paper we report on a developed methodology, and the necessary simulation tools, to assess the performance and associated sensitivities of this deformable mirror. Our analyses show that, given the current limited insight concerning the process window of EUV generation, the HPAM module should have an actuator pitch of <= 4 mm. Furthermore we have modelled the sensitivity of performance with respect to dimpling and actuator noise. For example, for a deformable mirror with an actuator pitch of 4 mm, and if the associated performance impact is to be limited to smaller than 5%, the actuator noise should be smaller than 45 nm (rms). Our tools assist in the detailed design process by assessing the performance impact of various design choices, including for example those that affect the shape and spectral content of the influence function.

Non-astigmatic imaging with matched pairs of spherically bent reflectors

DOEpatents

Bitter, Manfred Ludwig [Princeton, NJ; Hill, Kenneth Wayne [Plainsboro, NJ; Scott, Steven Douglas [Wellesley, MA; Feder, Russell [Newton, PA; Ko, Jinseok [Cambridge, MA; Rice, John E [N. Billerica, MA; Ince-Cushman, Alexander Charles [New York, NY; Jones, Frank [Manalapan, NJ

2012-07-10

Arrangements for the point-to-point imaging of a broad spectrum of electromagnetic radiation and ultrasound at large angles of incidence employ matched pairs of spherically bent reflectors to eliminate astigmatic imaging errors. Matched pairs of spherically bent crystals or spherically bent multi-layers are used for X-rays and EUV radiation; and matched pairs of spherically bent mirrors that are appropriate for the type of radiation are used with microwaves, infrared and visible light, or ultrasound. The arrangements encompass the two cases, where the Bragg angle--the complement to the angle of incidence in optics--is between 45.degree. and 90.degree. on both crystals/mirrors or between 0.degree. and 45.degree. on the first crystal/mirror and between 45.degree. and 90.degree. on the second crystal/mirror, where the angles of convergence and divergence are equal. For x-rays and EUV radiation, also the Bragg condition is satisfied on both spherically bent crystals/multi-layers.

Design of a grazing incidence EUV imaging spectrometer for the solar orbiter ESA mission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Da Deppo, Vania; Poletto, Luca

2017-11-01

The paper describes the optical design and performance of an extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) spectrometer for imaging spectroscopy to be part of the scientific payload of the Solar Orbiter (SOLO) mission. The main scientific objectives are to study the solar polar region and observe in detail the evolution of corona structures from a favourable point of view at only 45 solar radii from the Sun (0.2 AU). The instrument concept is based on a grazing incidence telescope, (1200 m focal length, 18 arcmin x 18 arcmin FoV), in Wolter configuration couple to a normalincidence VLS grating spectrometer, which preserve the stigmaticity in an extended spectral region and in the whole field-of-view. The spectral range covered by the instrument is the 116-126 nm region at the first order and the 57-63 nm region at the second order. The spectral resolving element is 65 mÅ (I order), corresponding to a velocity resolution of 16 km/s.

Design of a normal incidence multilayer imaging X-ray microscope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shealy, David L.; Gabardi, David R.; Hoover, Richard B.; Walker, Arthur B. C., Jr.; Lindblom, Joakim F.

Normal incidence multilayer Cassegrain X-ray telescopes were flown on the Stanford/MSFC Rocket X-ray Spectroheliograph. These instruments produced high spatial resolution images of the sun and conclusively demonstrated that doubly reflecting multilayer X-ray optical systems are feasible. The images indicated that aplanatic imaging soft X-ray/EUV microscopes should be achievable using multilayer optics technology. A doubly reflecting normal incidence multilayer imaging X-ray microscope based on the Schwarzschild configuration has been designed. The design of the microscope and the results of the optical system ray trace analysis are discussed. High resolution aplanatic imaging X-ray microscopes using normal incidence multilayer X-ray mirrors should have many important applications in advanced X-ray astronomical instrumentation, X-ray lithography, biological, biomedical, metallurgical, and laser fusion research.

Mechanisms of EUV exposure: electrons and holes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Narasimhan, Amrit; Grzeskowiak, Steven; Ackerman, Christian; Flynn, Tracy; Denbeaux, Greg; Brainard, Robert L.

2017-03-01

In extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, 92 eV photons are used to expose photoresists. Current EUV photoresists are composed of photoacid generators (PAGs) in polymer matrices. Secondary electrons (2 - 80 eV) created in resists during EUV exposure play large role in acid-production. There are several proposed mechanisms for electron-resist interactions: internal excitation, electron trapping, and hole-initiated chemistry. Here, we will address two central questions in EUV resist research: (1) How many electrons are generated per EUV photon absorption? (2) By which mechanisms do these electrons interact and react with molecules in the resist? We will use this framework to evaluate the contributions of electron trapping and hole initiated chemistry to acid production in chemically amplified photoresists, with specific emphasis on the interdependence of these mechanisms. We will show measurements of acid yield from direct bulk electrolysis of PAGs and EUV exposures of PAGs in phenolic and nonphenolic polymers to narrow down the mechanistic possibilities in chemically amplified resists.

Solar EUV irradiance for space weather applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Viereck, R. A.

2015-12-01

Solar EUV irradiance is an important driver of space weather models. Large changes in EUV and x-ray irradiances create large variability in the ionosphere and thermosphere. Proxies such as the F10.7 cm radio flux, have provided reasonable estimates of the EUV flux but as the space weather models become more accurate and the demands of the customers become more stringent, proxies are no longer adequate. Furthermore, proxies are often provided only on a daily basis and shorter time scales are becoming important. Also, there is a growing need for multi-day forecasts of solar EUV irradiance to drive space weather forecast models. In this presentation we will describe the needs and requirements for solar EUV irradiance information from the space weather modeler's perspective. We will then translate these requirements into solar observational requirements such as spectral resolution and irradiance accuracy. We will also describe the activities at NOAA to provide long-term solar EUV irradiance observations and derived products that are needed for real-time space weather modeling.

Design and pitch scaling for affordable node transition and EUV insertion scenario

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Ryoung-han; Ryckaert, Julien; Raghavan, Praveen; Sherazi, Yasser; Debacker, Peter; Trivkovic, Darko; Gillijns, Werner; Tan, Ling Ee; Drissi, Youssef; Blanco, Victor; Bekaert, Joost; Mao, Ming; Larivière, Stephane; McIntyre, Greg

2017-04-01

imec's DTCO and EUV achievement toward imec 7nm (iN7) technology node which is industry 5nm node equivalent is reported with a focus on cost and scaling. Patterning-aware design methodology supports both iArF multiple patterning and EUV under one compliant design rule. FinFET device with contacted poly pitch of 42nm and metal pitch of 32nm with 7.5-track, 6.5-track, and 6-track standard cell library are explored. Scaling boosters are used to provide additional scaling and die cost benefit while lessening pitch shrink burden, and it makes EUV insertion more affordable. EUV pattern fidelity is optimized through OPC, SMO, M3D, mask sizing and SRAF. Processed wafers were characterized and edge-placement-error (EPE) variability is validated for EUV insertion. Scale-ability and cost of ownership of EUV patterning in aligned with iN7 standard cell design, integration and patterning specification are discussed.

EUV mask manufacturing readiness in the merchant mask industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Green, Michael; Choi, Yohan; Ham, Young; Kamberian, Henry; Progler, Chris; Tseng, Shih-En; Chiou, Tsann-Bim; Miyazaki, Junji; Lammers, Ad; Chen, Alek

2017-10-01

As nodes progress into the 7nm and below regime, extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) becomes critical for all industry participants interested in remaining at the leading edge. One key cost driver for EUV in the supply chain is the reflective EUV mask. As of today, the relatively few end users of EUV consist primarily of integrated device manufactures (IDMs) and foundries that have internal (captive) mask manufacturing capability. At the same time, strong and early participation in EUV by the merchant mask industry should bring value to these chip makers, aiding the wide-scale adoption of EUV in the future. For this, merchants need access to high quality, representative test vehicles to develop and validate their own processes. This business circumstance provides the motivation for merchants to form Joint Development Partnerships (JDPs) with IDMs, foundries, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and other members of the EUV supplier ecosystem that leverage complementary strengths. In this paper, we will show how, through a collaborative supplier JDP model between a merchant and OEM, a novel, test chip driven strategy is applied to guide and validate mask level process development. We demonstrate how an EUV test vehicle (TV) is generated for mask process characterization in advance of receiving chip maker-specific designs. We utilize the TV to carry out mask process "stress testing" to define process boundary conditions which can be used to create Mask Rule Check (MRC) rules as well as serve as baseline conditions for future process improvement. We utilize Advanced Mask Characterization (AMC) techniques to understand process capability on designs of varying complexity that include EUV OPC models with and without sub-resolution assist features (SRAFs). Through these collaborations, we demonstrate ways to develop EUV processes and reduce implementation risks for eventual mass production. By reducing these risks, we hope to expand access to EUV mask capability for the broadest community possible as the technology is implemented first within and then beyond the initial early adopters.

The optimization of the inverted occulter of the solar orbiter/METIS coronagraph/spectrometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Landini, F.; Vives, S.; Romoli, M.; Guillon, C.; Pancrazzi, M.; Escolle, C.; Focardi, M.; Fineschi, S.; Antonucci, E.; Nicolini, G.; Naletto, G.; Nicolosi, P.; Spadaro, D.

2017-11-01

The coronagraph/spectrometer METIS (Multi Element Telescope for Imaging and Spectroscopy), selected to fly aboard the Solar Orbiter ESA/NASA mission, is conceived to perform imaging (in visible, UV and EUV) and spectroscopy (in EUV) of the solar corona. It is an integrated instrument suite located on a single optical bench and sharing a unique aperture on the satellite heat shield. As every coronagraph, METIS is highly demanding in terms of stray light suppression. In order to meet the strict thermal requirements of Solar Orbiter, METIS optical design has been optimized by moving the entrance pupil at the level of the external occulter on the S/C thermal shield, thus reducing the size of the external aperture. The scheme is based on an inverted external-occulter (IEO). The IEO consists of a circular aperture on the Solar Orbiter thermal shield. A spherical mirror rejects back the disk-light through the IEO. The experience built on all the previous space coronagraphs forces designers to dedicate a particular attention to the occulter optimization. Two breadboards were manufactured to perform occulter optimization measurements: BOA (Breadboard of the Occulting Assembly) and ANACONDA (AN Alternative COnfiguration for the Occulting Native Design Assembly). A preliminary measurement campaign has been carried on at the Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille. In this paper we describe BOA and ANACONDA designs, the laboratory set-up and the preliminary results.

From powerful research platform for industrial EUV photoresist development, to world record resolution by photolithography: EUV interference lithography at the Paul Scherrer Institute

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buitrago, Elizabeth; Fallica, Roberto; Fan, Daniel; Karim, Waiz; Vockenhuber, Michaela; van Bokhoven, Jeroen A.; Ekinci, Yasin

2016-09-01

Extreme ultraviolet interference lithography (EUV-IL, λ = 13.5 nm) has been shown to be a powerful technique not only for academic, but also for industrial research and development of EUV materials due to its relative simplicity yet record high-resolution patterning capabilities. With EUV-IL, it is possible to pattern high-resolution periodic images to create highly ordered nanostructures that are difficult or time consuming to pattern by electron beam lithography (EBL) yet interesting for a wide range of applications such as catalysis, electronic and photonic devices, and fundamental materials analysis, among others. Here, we will show state-of the-art research performed using the EUV-IL tool at the Swiss Light Source (SLS) synchrotron facility in the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI). For example, using a grating period doubling method, a diffraction mask capable of patterning a world record in photolithography of 6 nm half-pitch (HP), was produced. In addition to the description of the method, we will give a few examples of applications of the technique. Well-ordered arrays of suspended silicon nanowires down to 6.5 nm linewidths have been fabricated and are to be studied as field effect transistors (FETs) or biosensors, for instance. EUV achromatic Talbot lithography (ATL), another interference scheme that utilizes a single grating, was shown to yield well-defined nanoparticles over large-areas with high uniformity presenting great opportunities in the field of nanocatalysis. EUV-IL is in addition, playing a key role in the future introduction of EUV lithography into high volume manufacturing (HVM) of semiconductor devices for the 7 and 5 nm logic node (16 nm and 13 nm HP, respectively) and beyond while the availability of commercial EUV-tools is still very much limited for research.

Energy deposition in ultrathin extreme ultraviolet resist films: extreme ultraviolet photons and keV electrons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kyser, David F.; Eib, Nicholas K.; Ritchie, Nicholas W. M.

2016-07-01

The absorbed energy density (eV/cm3) deposited by extreme ultraviolet (EUV) photons and electron beam (EB) high-keV electrons is proposed as a metric for characterizing the sensitivity of EUV resist films. Simulations of energy deposition are used to calculate the energy density as a function of the incident aerial flux (EUV: mJ/cm2, EB: μC/cm2). Monte Carlo calculations for electron exposure are utilized, and a Lambert-Beer model for EUV absorption. The ratio of electron flux to photon flux which results in equivalent energy density is calculated for a typical organic chemically amplified resist film and a typical inorganic metal-oxide film. This ratio can be used to screen EUV resist materials with EB measurements and accelerate advances in EUV resist systems.

Estimation of soft X-ray and EUV transition radiation power emitted from the MIRRORCLE-type tabletop synchrotron.

PubMed

Toyosugi, N; Yamada, H; Minkov, D; Morita, M; Yamaguchi, T; Imai, S

2007-03-01

The tabletop synchrotron light sources MIRRORCLE-6X and MIRRORCLE-20SX, operating at electron energies E(el) = 6 MeV and E(el) = 20 MeV, respectively, can emit powerful transition radiation (TR) in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and the soft X-ray regions. To clarify the applicability of these soft X-ray and EUV sources, the total TR power has been determined. A TR experiment was performed using a 385 nm-thick Al foil target in MIRRORCLE-6X. The angular distribution of the emitted power was measured using a detector assembly based on an NE102 scintillator, an optical bundle and a photomultiplier. The maximal measured total TR power for MIRRORCLE-6X is P(max) approximately equal 2.95 mW at full power operation. Introduction of an analytical expression for the lifetime of the electron beam allows calculation of the emitted TR power by a tabletop synchrotron light source. Using the above measurement result, and the theoretically determined ratio between the TR power for MIRRORCLE-6X and MIRRORCLE-20SX, the total TR power for MIRRORCLE-20SX can be obtained. The one-foil TR target thickness is optimized for the 20 MeV electron energy. P(max) approximately equal 810 mW for MIRRORCLE-20SX is obtained with a single foil of 240 nm-thick Be target. The emitted bremsstrahlung is negligible with respect to the emitted TR for optimized TR targets. From a theoretically known TR spectrum it is concluded that MIRRORCLE-20SX can emit 150 mW of photons with E > 500 eV, which makes it applicable as a source for performing X-ray lithography. The average wavelength, \\overline\\lambda = 13.6 nm, of the TR emission of MIRRORCLE-20SX, with a 200 nm Al target, could provide of the order of 1 W EUV.

Adding EUV reflectance to aluminum-coated mirrors for space-based observation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allred, David D.; Turley, R. Steven; Thomas, Stephanie M.; Willett, Spencer G.; Greenburg, Michael J.; Perry, Spencer B.

2017-09-01

Protective layers on aluminum mirror surfaces which can be removed via the use of atomic hydrogen or hydrogen plasmas at the point of use in space may allow an expansion of broad-band mirrors into the EUV. LUVOIR (large, UV-optical-IR telescope) is a potential NASA flagship space-based observatory of the 2020's or 30's. It would utilize the largest mirrors ever flown1 . Their reflective coating will almost certainly be aluminum, since such telescopes would profit from truly broad-band mirrors. To achieve reflectance over the broadest band, the top surface of such aluminum mirrors, however, needs to be bare, without the oxide layers that naturally form in air. This will open the 11 to 15 eV band. Since thin aluminum films are largely transparent between 15 and 70 eV an EUV mirror under the aluminum could make EUV bands such as 30.4 nm available for space-based astrophysics without sacrificing mirror IR, visible and UV reflectance. The local space environment for the observatory is sufficiently oxygen-free that the surface should remain bare for decades. We discuss protecting as-deposited aluminum mirrors with robust, oxygenimpenetrable, barrier layers applied in vacuo to the aluminum immediately after deposition and before air contact. The goal is that the barrier could also be cleanly, and relatively easily, removed once the mirror is in space. We propose hydrogen atoms as the means for removing the overcoat, since they can be expected to meet the criteria that the means is gentle enough to not roughen the mirror surface, and does not redeposit material on the mirror or other spacecraft components. We have investigated both organic and inorganic (such as, a-Si) hydrogen-removable films that can be applied to the aluminum immediately after its deposition have been investigated. We also examined the REVAP technique, using Cd and Zn. Agglomeration limited their effectiveness as barrier layers. That and dealing with the reevaporated atoms may limit their utility as barrier materials.

SAQP and EUV block patterning of BEOL metal layers on IMEC's iN7 platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bekaert, Joost; Di Lorenzo, Paolo; Mao, Ming; Decoster, Stefan; Larivière, Stéphane; Franke, Joern-Holger; Blanco Carballo, Victor M.; Kutrzeba Kotowska, Bogumila; Lazzarino, Frederic; Gallagher, Emily; Hendrickx, Eric; Leray, Philippe; Kim, R. Ryoung-han; McIntyre, Greg; Colsters, Paul; Wittebrood, Friso; van Dijk, Joep; Maslow, Mark; Timoshkov, Vadim; Kiers, Ton

2017-03-01

The imec N7 (iN7) platform has been developed to evaluate EUV patterning of advanced logic BEOL layers. Its design is based on a 42 nm first-level metal (M1) pitch, and a 32 nm pitch for the subsequent M2 layer. With these pitches, the iN7 node is an `aggressive' full-scaled N7, corresponding to IDM N7, or foundry N5. Even in a 1D design style, single exposure of the 16 nm half-pitch M2 layer is very challenging for EUV lithography, because of its tight tip-to-tip configurations. Therefore, the industry is considering the hybrid use of ArFi-based SAQP combined with EUV Block as an alternative to EUV single exposure. As a consequence, the EUV Block layer may be one of the first layers to adopt EUV lithography in HVM. In this paper, we report on the imec iN7 SAQP + Block litho performance and process integration, targeting the M2 patterning for a 7.5 track logic design. The Block layer is exposed on an ASML NXE:3300 EUV-scanner at imec, using optimized illumination conditions and state-of-the-art metal-containing negative tone resist (Inpria). Subsequently, the SAQP and block structures are characterized in a morphological study, assessing pattern fidelity and CD/EPE variability. The work is an experimental feasibility study of EUV insertion, for SAQP + Block M2 patterning on an industry-relevant N5 use-case.

How active was solar cycle 22?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hoegy, W. R.; Pesnell, W. D.; Woods, T. N.; Rottman, G. J.

1993-01-01

Solar EUV observations from the Langmuir probe on Pioneer Venus Orbiter suggest that at EUV wavelengths solar cycle 22 was more active than solar cycle 21. The Langmuir probe, acting as a photodiode, measured the integrated solar EUV flux over a 13 1/2 year period from January 1979 to June 1992, the longest continuous solar EUV measurement. The Ipe EUV flux correlated very well with the SME measurement of L-alpha during the lifetime of SME and with the UARS SOLSTICE L-alpha from October 1991 to June 1992 when the Ipe measurement ceased. Starting with the peak of solar cycle 21, there was good general agreement of Ipe EUV with the 10.7 cm, Ca K, and He 10830 solar indices, until the onset of solar cycle 22. From 1989 to the start of 1992, the 10.7 cm flux exhibited a broad maximum consisting of two peaks of nearly equal magnitude, whereas Ipe EUV exhibited a strong increase during this time period making the second peak significantly higher than the first. The only solar index that exhibits the same increase in solar activity as Ipe EUV and L-alpha during the cycle 22 peak is the total magnetic flux. The case for high activity during this peak is also supported by the presence of very high solar flare intensity.

Low temperature plasmas induced in SF6 by extreme ultraviolet (EUV) pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bartnik, A.; Skrzeczanowski, W.; Czwartos, J.; Kostecki, J.; Fiedorowicz, H.; Wachulak, P.; Fok, T.

2018-06-01

In this work, a comparative study of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) induced low temperature SF6-based plasmas, created using two different irradiation systems, was performed. Both systems utilized laser-produced plasma (LPP) EUV sources. The essential difference between the systems concerned the formation of the driving EUV beam. The first one contained an efficient ellipsoidal EUV collector allowing for focusing of the EUV radiation at a large distance from the LPP source. The spectrum of focused radiation was limited to the long-wavelength part of the total LPP emission, λ > 8 nm, due to the reflective properties of the collector. The second system did not contain any EUV collector. The gas to be ionized was injected in the vicinity of the LPP, at a distance of the order of 10 mm. In both systems, energies of the driving photons were high enough for dissociative ionization of the SF6 molecules and ionization of atoms or even singly charged ions. Plasmas, created due to these processes, were investigated by spectral measurements in the EUV, ultraviolet (UV), and visible (VIS) spectral ranges. These low temperature plasmas were employed for preliminary experiments concerning surface treatment. The formation of pronounced nanostructures on the silicon surface after plasma treatment was demonstrated.

Influence of cloud fraction and snow cover to the variation of surface UV radiation at King Sejong station, Antarctica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Yun Gon; Koo, Ja-Ho; Kim, Jhoon

2015-10-01

This study investigated how cloud fraction and snow cover affect the variation of surface ultraviolet (UV) radiation by using surface Erythemal UV (EUV) and Near UV (NUV) observed at the King Sejong Station, Antarctica. First the Radiative Amplification Factor (RAF), the relative change of surface EUV according to the total-column ozone amount, is compared for different cloud fractions and solar zenith angles (SZAs). Generally, all cloudy conditions show that the increase of RAF as SZA becomes larger, showing the larger effects of vertical columnar ozone. For given SZA cases, the EUV transmission through mean cloud layer gradually decreases as cloud fraction increases, but sometimes the maximum of surface EUV appears under partly cloudy conditions. The high surface EUV transmittance under broken cloud conditions seems due to the re-radiation of scattered EUV by cloud particles. NUV transmission through mean cloud layer also decreases as cloud amount increases but the sensitivity to the cloud fraction is larger than EUV. Both EUV and NUV radiations at the surface are also enhanced by the snow cover, and their enhancement becomes higher as SZA increases implying the diurnal variation of surface albedo. This effect of snow cover seems large under the overcast sky because of the stronger interaction between snow surface and cloudy sky.

A volume-limited survey of High Galactic latitude planetary nebulae with the Extrme Ultraviolet Explorer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fruscione, Antonella; Drake, Jeremy J.; Mcdonald, Kelley; Malina, Roger F.

1995-01-01

We present the results of a complete survey, at extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) wavelengths (58-234 A), of the high Galactic latitude (absolute value of b greater than or = to 20 deg) planetary nebulae (PNs) with at least one determination of the distance within 1 kpc of the Sun. The sample comprises 27 objects observed during the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) all-sky survey and represents the majority of PN likely to be accessible at EUV wavelengths. Six PNs (NGC 246, NGC 1360, K1-16, LoTr 5, NGC 4361, and NGC 3587) were detected in the shortest EUV band (58-174 A). A seventh PN (NGC 6853), not included in the sample, was also detected during the survey. The emission is consistent in all cases with that of a point source and therefore most probably originates from the PN central star. Accurate EUV count rates or upper limits in the two shorter EUVE bands (centered at approximately 100 and 200 A) are given for all the sources in the sample. NGC 4361 and NGC 3587 are reported here for the first time as sources of EUV radiation. As might be expected, attenuation by the interstellar medium dominates the PN distribution in the EUV sky.

Technological innovations for a sustainable business model in the semiconductor industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Levinson, Harry J.

2014-09-01

Increasing costs of wafer processing, particularly for lithographic processes, have made it increasingly difficult to achieve simultaneous reductions in cost-per-function and area per device. Multiple patterning techniques have made possible the fabrication of circuit layouts below the resolution limit of single optical exposures but have led to significant increases in the costs of patterning. Innovative techniques, such as self-aligned double patterning (SADP) have enabled good device performance when using less expensive patterning equipment. Other innovations have directly reduced the cost of manufacturing. A number of technical challenges must be overcome to enable a return to single-exposure patterning using short wavelength optical techniques, such as EUV patterning.

Method and apparatus for detecting the presence and thickness of carbon and oxide layers on EUV reflective surfaces

DOEpatents

Malinowski, Michael E.

2005-01-25

The characteristics of radiation that is reflected from carbon deposits and oxidation formations on highly reflective surfaces such as Mo/Si mirrors can be quantified and employed to detect and measure the presence of such impurities on optics. Specifically, it has been shown that carbon deposits on a Mo/Si multilayer mirror decreases the intensity of reflected HeNe laser (632.8 nm) light. In contrast, oxide layers formed on the mirror should cause an increase in HeNe power reflection. Both static measurements and real-time monitoring of carbon and oxide surface impurities on optical elements in lithography tools should be achievable.

``Big Bang" for NASA's Buck: Nearly Three Years of EUVE Mission Operations at UCB

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stroozas, B. A.; Nevitt, R.; McDonald, K. E.; Cullison, J.; Malina, R. F.

1999-12-01

After over seven years in orbit, NASA's Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) satellite continues to perform flawlessly and with no significant loss of science capabilities. EUVE continues to produce important and exciting science results and, with reentry not expected until 2003-2004, many more such discoveries await. In the nearly three years since the outsourcing of EUVE from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, the small EUVE operations team at the University of California at Berkeley (UCB) has successfully conducted all aspects of the EUVE mission -- from satellite operations, science and mission planning, and data processing, delivery, and archival, to software support, systems administration, science management, and overall mission direction. This paper discusses UCB's continued focus on automation and streamlining, in all aspects of the Project, as the means to maximize EUVE's overall scientific productivity while minimizing costs. Multitasking, non-traditional work roles, and risk management have led to expanded observing capabilities while achieving significant cost reductions and maintaining the mission's historical 99 return. This work was funded under NASA Cooperative Agreement NCC5-138.

Optical proximity correction for anamorphic extreme ultraviolet lithography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clifford, Chris; Lam, Michael; Raghunathan, Ananthan; Jiang, Fan; Fenger, Germain; Adam, Kostas

2017-10-01

The change from isomorphic to anamorphic optics in high numerical aperture (NA) extreme ultraviolet (EUV) scanners necessitates changes to the mask data preparation flow. The required changes for each step in the mask tape out process are discussed, with a focus on optical proximity correction (OPC). When necessary, solutions to new problems are demonstrated, and verified by rigorous simulation. Additions to the OPC model include accounting for anamorphic effects in the optics, mask electromagnetics, and mask manufacturing. The correction algorithm is updated to include awareness of anamorphic mask geometry for mask rule checking (MRC). OPC verification through process window conditions is enhanced to test different wafer scale mask error ranges in the horizontal and vertical directions. This work will show that existing models and methods can be updated to support anamorphic optics without major changes. Also, the larger mask size in the Y direction can result in better model accuracy, easier OPC convergence, and designs which are more tolerant to mask errors.

EUV lithography for 22nm half pitch and beyond: exploring resolution, LWR, and sensitivity tradeoffs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Putna, E. Steve; Younkin, Todd R.; Leeson, Michael; Caudillo, Roman; Bacuita, Terence; Shah, Uday; Chandhok, Manish

2011-04-01

The International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) denotes Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography as a leading technology option for realizing the 22nm half pitch node and beyond. According to recent assessments made at the 2010 EUVL Symposium, the readiness of EUV materials remains one of the top risk items for EUV adoption. The main development issue regarding EUV resists has been how to simultaneously achieve high resolution, high sensitivity, and low line width roughness (LWR). This paper describes our strategy, the current status of EUV materials, and the integrated post-development LWR reduction efforts made at Intel Corporation. Data collected utilizing Intel's Micro- Exposure Tool (MET) is presented in order to examine the feasibility of establishing a resist process that simultaneously exhibits <=22nm half-pitch (HP) L/S resolution at <=11.3mJ/cm2 with <=3nm LWR.

Mask technology for EUV lithography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bujak, M.; Burkhart, Scott C.; Cerjan, Charles J.; Kearney, Patrick A.; Moore, Craig E.; Prisbrey, Shon T.; Sweeney, Donald W.; Tong, William M.; Vernon, Stephen P.; Walton, Christopher C.; Warrick, Abbie L.; Weber, Frank J.; Wedowski, Marco; Wilhelmsen, Karl C.; Bokor, Jeffrey; Jeong, Sungho; Cardinale, Gregory F.; Ray-Chaudhuri, Avijit K.; Stivers, Alan R.; Tejnil, Edita; Yan, Pei-yang; Hector, Scott D.; Nguyen, Khanh B.

1999-04-01

Extreme UV Lithography (EUVL) is one of the leading candidates for the next generation lithography, which will decrease critical feature size to below 100 nm within 5 years. EUVL uses 10-14 nm light as envisioned by the EUV Limited Liability Company, a consortium formed by Intel and supported by Motorola and AMD to perform R and D work at three national laboratories. Much work has already taken place, with the first prototypical cameras operational at 13.4 nm using low energy laser plasma EUV light sources to investigate issues including the source, camera, electro- mechanical and system issues, photoresists, and of course the masks. EUV lithograph masks are fundamentally different than conventional photolithographic masks as they are reflective instead of transmissive. EUV light at 13.4 nm is rapidly absorbed by most materials, thus all light transmission within the EUVL system from source to silicon wafer, including EUV reflected from the mask, is performed by multilayer mirrors in vacuum.

Single-expose patterning development for EUV lithography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Silva, Anuja; Petrillo, Karen; Meli, Luciana; Shearer, Jeffrey C.; Beique, Genevieve; Sun, Lei; Seshadri, Indira; Oh, Taehwan; Han, Seulgi; Saulnier, Nicole; Lee, Joe; Arnold, John C.; Hamieh, Bassem; Felix, Nelson M.; Furukawa, Tsuyoshi; Singh, Lovejeet; Ayothi, Ramakrishnan

2017-03-01

Initial readiness of EUV (extreme ultraviolet) patterning was demonstrated in 2016 with IBM Alliance's 7nm device technology. The focus has now shifted to driving the 'effective' k1 factor and enabling the second generation of EUV patterning. With the substantial cost of EUV exposure there is significant interest in extending the capability to do single exposure patterning with EUV. To enable this, emphasis must be placed on the aspect ratios, adhesion, defectivity reduction, etch selectivity, and imaging control of the whole patterning process. Innovations in resist materials and processes must be included to realize the full entitlement of EUV lithography at 0.33NA. In addition, enhancements in the patterning process to enable good defectivity, lithographic process window, and post etch pattern fidelity are also required. Through this work, the fundamental material challenges in driving down the effective k1 factor will be highlighted.

Plans for the extreme ultraviolet explorer data base

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Marshall, Herman L.; Dobson, Carl A.; Malina, Roger F.; Bowyer, Stuart

1988-01-01

The paper presents an approach for storage and fast access to data that will be obtained by the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE), a satellite payload scheduled for launch in 1991. The EUVE telescopes will be operated remotely from the EUVE Science Operation Center (SOC) located at the University of California, Berkeley. The EUVE science payload consists of three scanning telescope carrying out an all-sky survey in the 80-800 A spectral region and a Deep Survey/Spectrometer telescope performing a deep survey in the 80-250 A spectral region. Guest Observers will remotely access the EUVE spectrometer database at the SOC. The EUVE database will consist of about 2 X 10 to the 10th bytes of information in a very compact form, very similar to the raw telemetry data. A history file will be built concurrently giving telescope parameters, command history, attitude summaries, engineering summaries, anomalous events, and ephemeris summaries.

Patterning highly ordered arrays of complex nanofeatures through EUV directed polarity switching of non chemically amplified photoresist

PubMed Central

Ghosh, Subrata; Satyanarayana, V. S. V.; Pramanick, Bulti; Sharma, Satinder K.; Pradeep, Chullikkattil P.; Morales-Reyes, Israel; Batina, Nikola; Gonsalves, Kenneth E.

2016-01-01

Given the importance of complex nanofeatures in the filed of micro-/nanoelectronics particularly in the area of high-density magnetic recording, photonic crystals, information storage, micro-lens arrays, tissue engineering and catalysis, the present work demonstrates the development of new methodology for patterning complex nanofeatures using a recently developed non-chemically amplified photoresist (n-CARs) poly(4-(methacryloyloxy)phenyl)dimethylsulfoniumtriflate) (polyMAPDST) with the help of extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) as patterning tool. The photosensitivity of polyMAPDST is mainly due to the presence of radiation sensitive trifluoromethanesulfonate unit (triflate group) which undergoes photodegradation upon exposure with EUV photons, and thus brings in polarity change in the polymer structure. Integration of such radiation sensitive unit into polymer network avoids the need of chemical amplification which is otherwise needed for polarity switching in the case of chemically amplified photoresists (CARs). Indeed, we successfully patterned highly ordered wide-raging dense nanofeatures that include nanodots, nanowaves, nanoboats, star-elbow etc. All these developed nanopatterns have been well characterized by FESEM and AFM techniques. Finally, the potential of polyMAPDST has been established by successful transfer of patterns into silicon substrate through adaptation of compatible etch recipes. PMID:26975782

An Extreme-ultraviolet Wave Generating Upward Secondary Waves in a Streamer-like Solar Structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Ruisheng; Chen, Yao; Feng, Shiwei; Wang, Bing; Song, Hongqiang

2018-05-01

Extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) waves, spectacular horizontally propagating disturbances in the low solar corona, always trigger horizontal secondary waves (SWs) when they encounter the ambient coronal structure. We present the first example of upward SWs in a streamer-like structure after the passing of an EUV wave. This event occurred on 2017 June 1. The EUV wave happened during a typical solar eruption including a filament eruption, a coronal mass ejection (CME), and a C6.6 flare. The EUV wave was associated with quasi-periodic fast propagating (QFP) wave trains and a type II radio burst that represented the existence of a coronal shock. The EUV wave had a fast initial velocity of ∼1000 km s‑1, comparable to high speeds of the shock and the QFP wave trains. Intriguingly, upward SWs rose slowly (∼80 km s‑1) in the streamer-like structure after the sweeping of the EUV wave. The upward SWs seemed to originate from limb brightenings that were caused by the EUV wave. All of the results show that the EUV wave is a fast-mode magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) shock wave, likely triggered by the flare impulses. We suggest that part of the EUV wave was probably trapped in the closed magnetic fields of the streamer-like structure, and upward SWs possibly resulted from the release of slow-mode trapped waves. It is believed that the interplay of the strong compression of the coronal shock and the configuration of the streamer-like structure is crucial for the formation of upward SWs.

Ultra-sensitive EUV resists based on acid-catalyzed polymer backbone breaking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manouras, Theodoros; Kazazis, Dimitrios; Koufakis, Eleftherios; Ekinci, Yasin; Vamvakaki, Maria; Argitis, Panagiotis

2018-03-01

The main target of the current work was to develop new sensitive polymeric materials for lithographic applications, focusing in particular to EUV lithography, the main chain of which is cleaved under the influence of photogenerated acid. Resist materials based on the cleavage of polymer main chain are in principle capable to create very small structures, to the dimensions of the monomers that they consist of. Nevertheless, in the case of the commonly used nonchemically amplified materials of this type issues like sensitivity and poor etch resistance limit their areas of application, whereas inadequate etch resistance and non- satisfactory process reliability are the usual problems encountered in acid catalysed materials based on main chain scission. In our material design the acid catalyzed chain cleavable polymers contain very sensitive moieties in their backbone while they remain intact in alkaline ambient. These newly synthesized polymers bear in addition suitable functional groups for the achievement of desirable lithographic characteristics (thermal stability, acceptable glass transition temperature, etch resistance, proper dissolution behavior, adhesion to the substrate). Our approach for achieving acceptable etch resistance, a main drawback in other main chain cleavable resists, is based on the introduction of polyaromatic hydrocarbons in the polymeric backbone, whereas the incorporation of an inorganic component further enhances the etch resistance. Single component systems can also be designed following the proposed approach by the incorporation of suitable PAGs and base quencher molecules in the main chain. Resist formulations based on a random copolymer designed according to the described rules evaluated in EUV exhibit ultrahigh sensitivity, capability for high resolution patterning and overall processing characteristics that make them strong candidates for industrial use upon further optimization.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Upadhyaya, Mihir; Jindal, Vibhu; Basavalingappa, Adarsh

The availability of defect-free masks is considered to be a critical issue for enabling extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) as the next generation technology. Since completely defect-free masks will be hard to achieve, it is essential to have a good understanding of the printability of the native EUV mask defects. In this work, we performed a systematic study of native mask defects to understand the defect printability caused by them. The multilayer growth over native substrate mask blank defects was correlated to the multilayer growth over regular-shaped defects having similar profiles in terms of their width and height. To model themore » multilayer growth over the defects, a novel level-set multilayer growth model was used that took into account the tool deposition conditions of the Veeco Nexus ion beam deposition tool. The same tool was used for performing the actual deposition of the multilayer stack over the characterized native defects, thus ensuring a fair comparison between the actual multilayer growth over native defects, and modeled multilayer growth over regular-shaped defects. Further, the printability of the characterized native defects was studied with the SEMATECH-Berkeley Actinic Inspection Tool (AIT), an EUV mask-imaging microscope at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). Printability of the modeled regular-shaped defects, which were propagated up the multilayer stack using level-set growth model was studied using defect printability simulations implementing the waveguide algorithm. Good comparison was observed between AIT and the simulation results, thus demonstrating that multilayer growth over a defect is primarily a function of a defect’s width and height, irrespective of its shape. This would allow us to predict printability of the arbitrarily-shaped native EUV mask defects in a systematic and robust manner.« less

Extreme ultraviolet spectral irradiance measurements since 1946

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmidtke, G.

2015-03-01

In the physics of the upper atmosphere the solar extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation plays a dominant role controlling most of the thermospheric/ionospheric (T/I) processes. Since this part of the solar spectrum is absorbed in the thermosphere, platforms to measure the EUV fluxes became only available with the development of rockets reaching altitude levels exceeding 80 km. With the availability of V2 rockets used in space research, recording of EUV spectra started in 1946 using photographic films. The development of pointing devices to accurately orient the spectrographs toward the sun initiated intense activities in solar-terrestrial research. The application of photoelectric recording technology enabled the scientists placing EUV spectrometers aboard satellites observing qualitatively strong variability of the solar EUV irradiance on short-, medium-, and long-term scales. However, as more measurements were performed more radiometric EUV data diverged due to the inherent degradation of the EUV instruments with time. Also, continuous recording of the EUV energy input to the T/I system was not achieved. It is only at the end of the last century that there was progress made in solving the serious problem of degradation enabling to monitore solar EUV fluxes with sufficient radiometric accuracy. The data sets available allow composing the data available to the first set of EUV data covering a period of 11 years for the first time. Based on the sophisticated instrumentation verified in space, future EUV measurements of the solar spectral irradiance (SSI) are promising accuracy levels of about 5% and less. With added low-cost equipment, real-time measurements will allow providing data needed in ionospheric modeling, e.g., for correcting propagation delays of navigation signals from space to earth. Adding EUV airglow and auroral emission monitoring by airglow cameras, the impact of space weather on the terrestrial T/I system can be studied with a spectral terrestrial irradiance camera (STI-Cam) and also be used investigating real-time space weather effects and deriving more detailed correction procedures for the evaluation of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals. Progress in physics goes with achieving higher accuracy in measurements. This review historically guides the reader on the ways of exploring the impact of the variable solar radiation in the extreme ultraviolet spectral region on our upper atmosphere in the altitude regime from 80 to 1000 km.

Reconstruction and analysis of erythemal UV radiation time series from Hradec Králové (Czech Republic) over the past 50 years

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Čížková, Klára; Láska, Kamil; Metelka, Ladislav; Staněk, Martin

2018-02-01

This paper evaluates the variability of erythemal ultraviolet (EUV) radiation from Hradec Králové (Czech Republic) in the period 1964-2013. The EUV radiation time series was reconstructed using a radiative transfer model and additional empirical relationships, with the final root mean square error of 9.9 %. The reconstructed time series documented the increase in EUV radiation doses in the 1980s and the 1990s (up to 15 % per decade), which was linked to the steep decline in total ozone (10 % per decade). The changes in cloud cover were the major factor affecting the EUV radiation doses especially in the 1960s, 1970s, and at the beginning of the new millennium. The mean annual EUV radiation doses in the decade 2004-2013 declined by 5 %. The factors affecting the EUV radiation doses differed also according to the chosen integration period (daily, monthly, and annually): solar zenith angle was the most important for daily doses, cloud cover, and surface UV albedo for their monthly means, and the annual means of EUV radiation doses were most influenced by total ozone column. The number of days with very high EUV radiation doses increased by 22 % per decade, the increase was statistically significant in all seasons except autumn. The occurrence of the days with very high EUV doses was influenced mostly by low total ozone column (82 % of days), clear-sky or partly cloudy conditions (74 % of days) and by increased surface albedo (19 % of days). The principal component analysis documented that the occurrence of days with very high EUV radiation doses was much affected by the positive phase of North Atlantic Oscillation with an Azores High promontory reaching over central Europe. In the stratosphere, a strong Arctic circumpolar vortex and the meridional inflow of ozone-poor air from the southwest were favorable for the occurrence of days with very high EUV radiation doses. This is the first analysis of the relationship between the high EUV radiation doses and macroscale circulation patterns, and therefore more attention should be given also to other dynamical variables that may affect the solar UV radiation on the Earth surface.

Optical setup for two-colour experiments at the low density matter beamline of FERMI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Finetti, Paola; Demidovich, Alexander; Plekan, Oksana; Di Fraia, Michele; Cucini, Riccardo; Callegari, Carlo; Cinquegrana, Paolo; Sigalotti, Paolo; Ivanov, Rosen; Danailov, Miltcho B.; Fava, Claudio; De Ninno, Giovanni; Coreno, Marcello; Grazioli, Cesare; Feifel, Raimund; Squibb, Richard J.; Mazza, Tommaso; Meyer, Michael; Prince, Kevin C.

2017-11-01

The low density matter beamline of the free electron laser facility FERMI is dedicated to the study of atomic, molecular and cluster systems, and here we describe the optical setup available for two-colour experiments. Samples can be exposed to ultrashort pulses from a Ti:Sapphire source (fundamental, or second or third harmonic), and ultrashort light pulses of FERMI in the EUV/soft x-ray region with a well-defined temporal delay, and negligible jitter (<10 fs) compared to the pulse durations (40-100 fs). Detection schemes available include electron, ion and optical spectroscopy. The majority of experiments using this apparatus are pump-and-probe, where either wavelength can be pump or probe, but the system is also useful for other techniques, such as multi-photon spectroscopy, cross-correlation measurements and alignment of molecules in space.

Light sources for high-volume manufacturing EUV lithography: technology, performance, and power scaling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fomenkov, Igor; Brandt, David; Ershov, Alex; Schafgans, Alexander; Tao, Yezheng; Vaschenko, Georgiy; Rokitski, Slava; Kats, Michael; Vargas, Michael; Purvis, Michael; Rafac, Rob; La Fontaine, Bruno; De Dea, Silvia; LaForge, Andrew; Stewart, Jayson; Chang, Steven; Graham, Matthew; Riggs, Daniel; Taylor, Ted; Abraham, Mathew; Brown, Daniel

2017-06-01

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography is expected to succeed in 193-nm immersion multi-patterning technology for sub-10-nm critical layer patterning. In order to be successful, EUV lithography has to demonstrate that it can satisfy the industry requirements in the following critical areas: power, dose stability, etendue, spectral content, and lifetime. Currently, development of second-generation laser-produced plasma (LPP) light sources for the ASML's NXE:3300B EUV scanner is complete, and first units are installed and operational at chipmaker customers. We describe different aspects and performance characteristics of the sources, dose stability results, power scaling, and availability data for EUV sources and also report new development results.

Monte Carlo sensitivity analysis of EUV mask reflectivity and its impact on OPC accuracy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yulu; Wood, Obert; Rankin, Jed; Gullikson, Eric; Meyer-Ilse, Julia; Sun, Lei; Qi, Zhengqing John; Goodwin, Francis; Kye, Jongwook

2017-03-01

Unlike optical masks which are transmissive optical elements, use of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation requires a reflective mask structure - a multi-layer coating consisting of alternating layers of high-Z (wave impedance) and low-Z materials that provide enhanced reflectivity over a narrow wavelength band peaked at the Bragg wavelength.1 Absorber side wall angle, corner rounding,2 surface roughness,3 and defects4 affect mask performance, but even seemingly simple parameters like bulk reflectivity on mirror and absorber surfaces can have a profound influence on imaging. For instance, using inaccurate reflectivity values at small and large incident angles would diminish the benefits of source mask co-optimization (SMO) and result in larger than expected pattern shifts. The goal of our work is to calculate the variation in mask reflectivity due to various sources of inaccuracies using Monte Carlo simulations. Such calculation is necessary as small changes in the thickness and optical properties of the high-Z and low-Z materials can cause substantial variations in reflectivity. This is further complicated by undesirable intermixing between the two materials used to create the reflector.5 One of the key contributors to mask reflectivity fluctuation is identified to be the intermixing layer thickness. We also investigate the impacts on OPC when the wrong mask information is provided, and evaluate the deterioration of overlapping process window. For a hypothetical N7 via layer, the lack of accurate mask information costs 25% of the depth of focus at 5% exposure latitude. Our work would allow the determination of major contributors to mask reflectivity variation, drive experimental efforts of measuring such contributors, provide strategies to optimize mask reflectivity, and quantize the OPC errors due to imperfect mask modeling.

Coordinated XTE/EUVE Observations of Algol

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stern, Robert A.

1997-01-01

EUVE, ASCA, and XTE observed the eclipsing binary Algol (Beta Per) from 1-7 Feb. 96. The coordinated observation covered approximately 2 binary orbits of the system, with a net exposure of approximately 160 ksec for EUVE, 40 ksec for ASCA (in 4 pointing), and 90 ksec for XTE (in 45 pointings). We discuss results of modeling the combined EUVE, ASCA, and XTE data using continuous differential emission measure distributions, and provide constraints on the Fe abundance in the Algol system.

Seasonal variability of Martian ion escape through the plume and tail from MAVEN observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dong, Y.; Fang, X.; Brain, D. A.; McFadden, J. P.; Halekas, J. S.; Connerney, J. E. P.; Eparvier, F.; Andersson, L.; Mitchell, D.; Jakosky, B. M.

2017-04-01

We study the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution spacecraft observations of Martian planetary ion escape during two time periods: 11 November 2014 to 19 March 2015 and 4 June 2015 to 24 October 2015, with the focus on understanding the seasonal variability of Martian ion escape in response to the solar extreme ultraviolet (EUV) flux. We organize the >6 eV O+ ion data by the upstream electric field direction to estimate the escape rates through the plume and tail. To investigate the ion escape dependence on the solar EUV flux, we constrain the solar wind dynamic pressure and interplanetary magnetic filed strength and compare the ion escape rates through the plume and tail in different energy ranges under high and low EUV conditions. We found that the total >6 eV O+ escape rate increases from 2 to 3 × 1024 s-1 as the EUV irradiance increases by almost the same factor, mostly on the <1 keV tailward escape. The plume escape rate does not vary significantly with EUV. The relative contribution from the plume to the total escape varies between 30% and 20% from low to high EUV. Our results suggest that the Martian ion escape is sensitive to the seasonal EUV variation, and the contribution from plume escape becomes more important under low EUV conditions.

Lobster eye as a collector for water window microscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pina, L.; Maršíková, V.; Inneman, A.; Nawaz, M. F.; Jančárek, A.; Havlíková, R.

2017-08-01

Imaging in EUV, SXR and XR spectral bands of radiation is of increasing interest. Material science, biology and hot plasma are examples of relevant fast developing areas. Applications include spectroscopy, astrophysics, Soft X-ray Ray metrology, Water Window microscopy, radiography and tomography. Especially Water Window imaging has still not fully recognized potential in biology and medicine microscopy applications. Theoretical study and design of Lobster Eye (LE) optics as a collector for water window (WW) microscopy and comparison with a similar size ellipsoidal mirror condensor are presented.

Design considerations of 10 kW-scale, extreme ultraviolet SASE FEL for lithography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pagani, C.; Saldin, E. L.; Schneidmiller, E. A.; Yurkov, M. V.

2001-12-01

The semiconductor industry growth is driven to a large extent by steady advancements in microlithography. According to the newly updated industry road map, the 70 nm generation is anticipated to be available in the year 2008. However, the path to get there is not clear. The problem of construction of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) quantum lasers for lithography is still unsolved: progress in this field is rather moderate and we cannot expect a significant breakthrough in the near future. Nevertheless, there is clear path for optical lithography to take us to sub-100 nm dimensions. Theoretical and experimental work in Self-Amplified Spontaneous Emission (SASE) Free Electron Lasers (FEL) physics and the physics of superconducting linear accelerators over the last 10 years has pointed to the possibility of the generation of high-power optical beams with laser-like characteristics in the EUV spectral range. Recently, there have been important advances in demonstrating a high-gain SASE FEL at 100 nm wavelength (J. Andruszkov, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 85 (2000) 3821). The SASE FEL concept eliminates the need for an optical cavity. As a result, there are no apparent limitations which would prevent operating at very short wavelength range and increasing the average output power of this device up to 10-kW level. The use of super conducting energy-recovery linac could produce a major, cost-efficient facility with wall plug power to output optical power efficiency of about 1%. A 10-kW scale transversely coherent radiation source with narrow bandwidth (0.5%) and variable wavelength could be excellent tool for manufacturing computer chips with the minimum feature size below 100 nm. All components of the proposed SASE FEL equipment (injector, driver accelerator structure, energy recovery system, undulator, etc.) have been demonstrated in practice. This is guaranteed success in the time-schedule requirement.

EUV Spectroscopy of High-redshift X-ray Objects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kowalski, Michael Paul; Wolff, M. T.; Wood, K. S.; Barbee, T. W., Jr.

2010-03-01

As astronomical observations are pushed to cosmological distances (z>3) the spectral energy distributions of X-ray objects, AGNs for example, will have their maxima redshifted into the EUV waveband ( 90-912 Å/0.1-0.01 keV). Consequently, a wealth of spectral diagnostics, provided by, for example, the Fe L-shell complex ( 60-6 Å/0.2-2.0 keV) and the O VII/VIII lines ( 20 Å/0.5 keV), will be lost to X-ray instruments operating at traditional ( 0.5-10 keV) and higher X-ray energies. There are precedents in other wavebands. For example, HST evolutionary studies will become largely the province of JWST. Despite the successes of EUVE, the ROSAT WFC, and the Chandra LETG, the EUV continues to be unappreciated and under-utilized, partly because of a preconception that absorption by neutral galactic Hydrogen in the ISM prevents any useful extragalactic measurements at all EUV wavelengths and, until recently, by a lack of a suitable enabling technology. Thus, if future planned X-ray missions (e.g., IXO, Gen-X) are optimized again for traditional X-ray energies, their performance (effective area, resolving power) will be cut off at ultrasoft X-ray energies or at best be radically reduced in the EUV. This opens up a critical gap in performance located right at short EUV wavelengths, where the critical X-ray spectral transitions occur in high-z objects. However, normal-incidence multilayer-grating technology, which performs best precisely at such wavelengths, together with advanced nano-laminate fabrication techniques have been developed and are now mature to the point where advanced EUV instrument designs with performance complementary to IXO and Gen-X are practical. Such EUV instruments could be flown either independently or as secondary instruments on these X-ray missions. We present here a critical examination of the limits placed on extragalactic EUV measurements by ISM absorption, the range where high-z measurements are practical, and the requirements this imposes on next-generation instrument designs.

Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment (EVE) on the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO): Overview of Science Objectives, Instrument Design, Data Products, and Model Developments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Woods, T. N.; Eparvier, F. G.; Hock, R.; Jones, A. R.; Woodraska, D.; Judge, D.; Didkovsky, L.; Lean, J.; Mariska, J.; Warren, H.;

EUV Waves Driven by the Sudden Expansion of Transequatorial Loops Caused by Coronal Jets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, Yuandeng; Tang, Zehao; Miao, Yuhu; Su, Jiangtao; Liu, Yu

2018-06-01

We present two events to study the driving mechanism of extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) waves that are not associated with coronal mass ejections (CMEs), by using high-resolution observations taken by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory. Observational results indicate that the observed EUV waves were accompanied by flares and coronal jets, but not the CMEs that were regarded as drivers of most EUV waves in previous studies. In the first case, it is observed that a coronal jet is ejected along a transequatorial loop system at a plane-of-the-sky (POS) speed of 335 ± 22 km s{}-1; in the meantime, an arc-shaped EUV wave appeared on the eastern side of the loop system. In addition, the EUV wave further interacted with another interconnecting loop system and launched a fast propagating (QFP) magnetosonic wave along the loop system, which had a period of 200 s and a speed of 388 ± 65 km s{}-1, respectively. In the second case, we observed a coronal jet that ejected at a POS speed of 282 ± 44 km s{}-1 along a transequatorial loop system as well as the generation of bright EUV waves on the eastern side of the loop system. Based on the observational results, we propose that the observed EUV waves on the eastern side of the transequatorial loop systems are fast-mode magnetosonic waves and that they are driven by the sudden lateral expansion of the transequatorial loop systems due to the direct impingement of the associated coronal jets, while the QFP wave in the fist case formed due to the dispersive evolution of the disturbance caused by the interaction between the EUV wave and the interconnecting coronal loops. It is noted that EUV waves driven by sudden loop expansions have shorter lifetimes than those driven by CMEs.

Optical connections on flexible substrates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bosman, Erwin; Geerinck, Peter; Christiaens, Wim; Van Steenberge, Geert; Vanfleteren, Jan; Van Daele, Peter

2006-04-01

Optical interconnections integrated on a flexible substrate combine the advantages of optical data transmissions (high bandwidth, no electromagnetic disturbance and low power consumption) and those of flexible substrates (compact, ease of assembly...). Especially the flexible character of the substrates can significantly lower the assembly cost and leads to more compact modules. Especially in automotive-, avionic-, biomedical and sensing applications there is a great potential for these flexible optical interconnections because of the increasing data-rates, increasing use of optical sensors and requirement for smaller size and weight. The research concentrates on the integration of commercially available polymer optical layers (Truemode Backplane TM Polymer, Ormocer®) on a flexible Polyimide film, the fabrication of waveguides and out-of plane deflecting 45° mirrors, the characterization of the optical losses due to the bending of the substrate, and the fabrication of a proof-of-principal demonstrator. The resulting optical structures should be compatible with the standard fabrication of flexible printed circuit boards.

Maskless EUV lithography: an already difficult technology made even more complicated?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yijian

2012-03-01

In this paper, we present the research progress made in maskless EUV lithography and discuss the emerging opportunities for this disruptive technology. It will be shown nanomirrors based maskless approach is one path to costeffective and defect-free EUV lithography, rather than making it even more complicated. The focus of our work is to optimize the existing vertical comb process and scale down the mirror size from several microns to sub-micron regime. The nanomirror device scaling, system configuration, and design issues will be addressed. We also report our theoretical and simulation study of reflective EUV nanomirror based imaging behavior. Dense line/space patterns are formed with an EUV nanomirror array by assigning a phase shift of π to neighboring nanomirrors. Our simulation results show that phase/intensity imbalance is an inherent characteristic of maskless EUV lithography while it only poses a manageable challenge to CD control and process window. The wafer scan and EUV laser jitter induced image blur phenomenon is discussed and a blurred imaging theory is constructed. This blur effect is found to degrade the image contrast at a level that mainly depends on the wafer scan speed.

Modeling 13.3nm Fe XXIII Flare Emissions Using the GOES-R EXIS Instrument

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rook, H.; Thiemann, E.

2017-12-01

The solar EUV spectrum is dominated by atomic transitions in ionized atoms in the solar atmosphere. As solar flares evolve, plasma temperatures and densities change, influencing abundances of various ions, changing intensities of different EUV wavelengths observed from the sun. Quantifying solar flare spectral irradiance is important for constraining models of Earth's atmosphere, improving communications quality, and controlling satellite navigation. However, high time cadence measurements of flare irradiance across the entire EUV spectrum were not available prior to the launch of SDO. The EVE MEGS-A instrument aboard SDO collected 0.1nm EUV spectrum data from 2010 until 2014, when the instrument failed. No current or future instrument is capable of similar high resolution and time cadence EUV observation. This necessitates a full EUV spectrum model to study EUV phenomena at Earth. It has been recently demonstrated that one hot flare EUV line, such as the 13.3nm Fe XXIII line, can be used to model cooler flare EUV line emissions, filling the role of MEGS-A. Since unblended measurements of Fe XXIII are typically unavailable, a proxy for the Fe XXIII line must be found. In this study, we construct two models of this line, first using the GOES 0.1-0.8nm soft x-ray (SXR) channel as the Fe XXIII proxy, and second using a physics-based model dependent on GOES emission measure and temperature data. We determine that the more sophisticated physics-based model shows better agreement with Fe XXIII measurements, although the simple proxy model also performs well. We also conclude that the high correlation between Fe XXIII emissions and the GOES 0.1-0.8nm band is because both emissions tend to peak near the GOES emission measure peak despite large differences in their contribution functions.

ILT optimization of EUV masks for sub-7nm lithography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hooker, Kevin; Kuechler, Bernd; Kazarian, Aram; Xiao, Guangming; Lucas, Kevin

2017-06-01

The 5nm and 7nm technology nodes will continue recent scaling trends and will deliver significantly smaller minimum features, standard cell areas and SRAM cell areas vs. the 10nm node. There are tremendous economic pressures to shrink each subsequent technology, though in a cost-effective and performance enhancing manner. IC manufacturers are eagerly awaiting EUV so that they can more aggressively shrink their technology than they could by using complicated MPT. The current 0.33NA EUV tools and processes also have their patterning limitations. EUV scanner lenses, scanner sources, masks and resists are all relatively immature compared to the current lithography manufacturing baseline of 193i. For example, lens aberrations are currently several times larger (as a function of wavelength) in EUV scanners than for 193i scanners. Robustly patterning 16nm L/S fully random logic metal patterns and 40nm pitch random logic rectangular contacts with 0.33NA EUV are tough challenges that will benefit from advanced OPC/RET. For example, if an IC manufacturer can push single exposure device layer resolution 10% tighter using improved ILT to avoid using DPT, there will be a significant cost and process complexity benefit to doing so. ILT is well known to have considerable benefits in finding flexible 193i mask pattern solutions to improve process window, improve 2D CD control, improve resolution in low K1 lithography regime and help to delay the introduction of DPT. However, ILT has not previously been applied to EUV lithography. In this paper, we report on new developments which extend ILT method to EUV lithography and we characterize the benefits seen vs. traditional EUV OPC/RET methods.

The Extreme Ultraviolet Flux of Very Low Mass Stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Drake, Jeremy

2017-09-01

The X-ray and EUV emission of stars is vital for understanding the atmospheres and evolution of their planets. The coronae of dwarf stars later than M6 behave differently to those of earlier spectral types and are more X-ray dim and radio bright. Too faint to have been observed by EUVE, their EUV behavior is currently highly uncertain. We propose to observe a small sample of late M dwarfs using the off-axis HRC-S thin Al" filter that is sensitive to EUV emission in the 50-200 A range. The measured fluxes will be used to understand the amount of cooler coronal plasma present, and extend X-ray-EUV flux relations to the latest stellar types.

Study on photochemical analysis system (VLES) for EUV lithography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sekiguchi, A.; Kono, Y.; Kadoi, M.; Minami, Y.; Kozawa, T.; Tagawa, S.; Gustafson, D.; Blackborow, P.

2007-03-01

A system for photo-chemical analysis of EUV lithography processes has been developed. This system has consists of 3 units: (1) an exposure that uses the Z-Pinch (Energetiq Tech.) EUV Light source (DPP) to carry out a flood exposure, (2) a measurement system RDA (Litho Tech Japan) for the development rate of photo-resists, and (3) a simulation unit that utilizes PROLITH (KLA-Tencor) to calculate the resist profiles and process latitude using the measured development rate data. With this system, preliminary evaluation of the performance of EUV lithography can be performed without any lithography tool (Stepper and Scanner system) that is capable of imaging and alignment. Profiles for 32 nm line and space pattern are simulated for the EUV resist (Posi-2 resist by TOK) by using VLES that hat has sensitivity at the 13.5nm wavelength. The simulation successfully predicts the resist behavior. Thus it is confirmed that the system enables efficient evaluation of the performance of EUV lithography processes.

Estimation of resist sensitivity for extreme ultraviolet lithography using an electron beam

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Oyama, Tomoko Gowa, E-mail: ohyama.tomoko@qst.go.jp; Oshima, Akihiro; Tagawa, Seiichi, E-mail: tagawa@sanken.osaka-u.ac.jp

2016-08-15

It is a challenge to obtain sufficient extreme ultraviolet (EUV) exposure time for fundamental research on developing a new class of high sensitivity resists for extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) because there are few EUV exposure tools that are very expensive. In this paper, we introduce an easy method for predicting EUV resist sensitivity by using conventional electron beam (EB) sources. If the chemical reactions induced by two ionizing sources (EB and EUV) are the same, the required absorbed energies corresponding to each required exposure dose (sensitivity) for the EB and EUV would be almost equivalent. Based on this theory, wemore » calculated the resist sensitivities for the EUV/soft X-ray region. The estimated sensitivities were found to be comparable to the experimentally obtained sensitivities. It was concluded that EB is a very useful exposure tool that accelerates the development of new resists and sensitivity enhancement processes for 13.5 nm EUVL and 6.x nm beyond-EUVL (BEUVL).« less

AWARE - The Automated EUV Wave Analysis and REduction algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ireland, J.; Inglis; A. R.; Shih, A. Y.; Christe, S.; Mumford, S.; Hayes, L. A.; Thompson, B. J.

2016-10-01

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) waves are large-scale propagating disturbances observed in the solar corona, frequently associated with coronal mass ejections and flares. Since their discovery over two hundred papers discussing their properties, causes and physics have been published. However, their fundamental nature and the physics of their interactions with other solar phenomena are still not understood. To further the understanding of EUV waves, and their relation to other solar phenomena, we have constructed the Automated Wave Analysis and REduction (AWARE) algorithm for the detection of EUV waves over the full Sun. The AWARE algorithm is based on a novel image processing approach to isolating the bright wavefront of the EUV as it propagates across the corona. AWARE detects the presence of a wavefront, and measures the distance, velocity and acceleration of that wavefront across the Sun. Results from AWARE are compared to results from other algorithms for some well known EUV wave events. Suggestions are also give for further refinements to the basic algorithm presented here.

Ionospheric Change and Solar EUV Irradiance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sojka, J. J.; David, M.; Jensen, J. B.; Schunk, R. W.

2011-12-01

The ionosphere has been quantitatively monitored for the past six solar cycles. The past few years of observations are showing trends that differ from the prior cycles! Our good statistical relationships between the solar radio flux index at 10.7 cm, the solar EUV Irradiance, and the ionospheric F-layer peak density are showing indications of divergence! Present day discussion of the Sun-Earth entering a Dalton Minimum would suggest change is occurring in the Sun, as the driver, followed by the Earth, as the receptor. The dayside ionosphere is driven by the solar EUV Irradiance. But different components of this spectrum affect the ionospheric layers differently. For a first time the continuous high cadence EUV spectra from the SDO EVE instrument enable ionospheric scientists the opportunity to evaluate solar EUV variability as a driver of ionospheric variability. A definitive understanding of which spectral components are responsible for the E- and F-layers of the ionosphere will enable assessments of how over 50 years of ionospheric observations, the solar EUV Irradiance has changed. If indeed the evidence suggesting the Sun-Earth system is entering a Dalton Minimum periods is correct, then the comprehensive EVE solar EUV Irradiance data base combined with the ongoing ionospheric data bases will provide a most fortuitous fiduciary reference baseline for Sun-Earth dependencies. Using the EVE EUV Irradiances, a physics based ionospheric model (TDIM), and 50 plus years of ionospheric observation from Wallops Island (Virginia) the above Sun-Earth ionospheric relationship will be reported on.

Theoretical study of fabrication of line-and-space patterns with 7 nm quarter-pitch using electron beam lithography with chemically amplified resist process: III. Post exposure baking on quartz substrates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kozawa, Takahiro

2015-09-01

Electron beam (EB) lithography is a key technology for the fabrication of photomasks for ArF immersion and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography and molds for nanoimprint lithography. In this study, the temporal change in the chemical gradient of line-and-space patterns with a 7 nm quarter-pitch (7 nm space width and 21 nm line width) was calculated until it became constant, independently of postexposure baking (PEB) time, to clarify the feasibility of single nano patterning on quartz substrates using EB lithography with chemically amplified resist processes. When the quencher diffusion constant is the same as the acid diffusion constant, the maximum chemical gradient of the line-and-space pattern with a 7 nm quarter-pitch did not differ much from that with a 14 nm half-pitch under the condition described above. Also, from the viewpoint of process control, a low quencher diffusion constant is considered to be preferable for the fabrication of line-and-space patterns with a 7 nm quarter-pitch on quartz substrates.

The First ALMA Observation of a Solar Plasmoid Ejection from an X-Ray Bright Point

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shimojo, M.; Hudson, H. S.; White, S. M.; Bastian, T.; Iwai, K.

2017-12-01

Eruptive phenomena are important features of energy releases events, such solar flares, and have the potential to improve our understanding of the dynamics of the solar atmosphere. The 304 A EUV line of helium, formed at around 10^5 K, is found to be a reliable tracer of such phenomena, but the determination of physical parameters from such observations is not straightforward. We have observed a plasmoid ejection from an X-ray bright point simultaneously with ALMA, SDO/AIA, and Hinode/XRT. This paper reports the physical parameters of the plasmoid obtained by combining the radio, EUV, and X-ray data. As a result, we conclude that the plasmoid can consist either of (approximately) isothermal ˜10^5 K plasma that is optically thin at 100 GHz, or a ˜10^4 K core with a hot envelope. The analysis demonstrates the value of the additional temperature and density constraints that ALMA provides, and future science observations with ALMA will be able to match the spatial resolution of space-borne and other high-resolution telescopes.

A new approach in dry technology for non-degrading optical and EUV mask cleaning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Varghese, Ivin; Smith, Ben; Balooch, Mehdi; Bowers, Chuck

2012-11-01

The Eco-Snow Systems group of RAVE N.P., Inc. has developed a new cleaning technique to target several of the advanced and next generation mask clean challenges. This new technique, especially when combined with Eco-Snow Systems cryogenic CO2 cleaning technology, provides several advantages over existing methods because it: 1) is solely based on dry technique without requiring additional complementary aggressive wet chemistries that degrade the mask, 2) operates at atmospheric pressure and therefore avoids expensive and complicated equipment associated with vacuum systems, 3) generates ultra-clean reactants eliminating possible byproduct adders, 4) can be applied locally for site specific cleaning without exposing the rest of the mask or can be used to clean the entire mask, 5) removes organic as well as inorganic particulates and film contaminations, and 6) complements current techniques utilized for cleaning of advanced masks such as reduced chemistry wet cleans. In this paper, we shall present examples demonstrating the capability of this new technique for removal of pellicle glue residues and for critical removal of carbon contamination on EUV masks.

The XUV environments of exoplanets from Jupiter-size to super-Earth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

King, George W.; Wheatley, Peter J.; Salz, Michael; Bourrier, Vincent; Czesla, Stefan; Ehrenreich, David; Kirk, James; Lecavelier des Etangs, Alain; Louden, Tom; Schmitt, Jürgen; Schneider, P. Christian

2018-07-01

Planets that reside close-in to their host star are subject to intense high-energy irradiation. Extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) and X-ray radiation (together, XUV) is thought to drive mass-loss from planets with volatile envelopes. We present XMM-Newton observations of six nearby stars hosting transiting planets in tight orbits (with orbital period, Porb < 10 d), wherein we characterize the XUV emission from the stars and subsequent irradiation levels at the planets. In order to reconstruct the unobservable EUV emission, we derive a new set of relations from Solar TIMED/SEE data that are applicable to the standard bands of the current generation of X-ray instruments. From our sample, WASP-80b and HD 149026b experience the highest irradiation level, but HAT-P-11b is probably the best candidate for Ly α evaporation investigations because of the system's proximity to the Solar system. The four smallest planets have likely lost a greater percentage of their mass over their lives than their larger counterparts. We also detect the transit of WASP-80b in the near-ultraviolet with the optical monitor on XMM-Newton.

The XUV environments of exoplanets from Jupiter-size to super-Earth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

King, George W.; Wheatley, Peter J.; Salz, Michael; Bourrier, Vincent; Czesla, Stefan; Ehrenreich, David; Kirk, James; Lecavelier des Etangs, Alain; Louden, Tom; Schmitt, Jürgen; Schneider, P. Christian

2018-05-01

Planets that reside close-in to their host star are subject to intense high-energy irradiation. Extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) and X-ray radiation (together, XUV) is thought to drive mass loss from planets with volatile envelopes. We present XMM-Newton observations of six nearby stars hosting transiting planets in tight orbits (with orbital period, Porb < 10 d), wherein we characterise the XUV emission from the stars and subsequent irradiation levels at the planets. In order to reconstruct the unobservable EUV emission, we derive a new set of relations from Solar TIMED/SEE data that are applicable to the standard bands of the current generation of X-ray instruments. From our sample, WASP-80b and HD 149026b experience the highest irradiation level, but HAT-P-11b is probably the best candidate for Ly α evaporation investigations because of the system's proximity to the Solar System. The four smallest planets have likely lost a greater percentage of their mass over their lives than their larger counterparts. We also detect the transit of WASP-80b in the near ultraviolet with the Optical Monitor on XMM-Newton

Method and system for evaluating integrity of adherence of a conductor bond to a mating surface of a substrate

DOEpatents

Telschow, K.L.; Siu, B.K.

1996-07-09

A method of evaluating integrity of adherence of a conductor bond to a substrate includes: (a) impinging a plurality of light sources onto a substrate; (b) detecting optical reflective signatures emanating from the substrate from the impinged light; (c) determining location of a selected conductor bond on the substrate from the detected reflective signatures; (d) determining a target site on the selected conductor bond from the detected reflective signatures; (e) optically imparting an elastic wave at the target site through the selected conductor bond and into the substrate; (f) optically detecting an elastic wave signature emanating from the substrate resulting from the optically imparting step; and (g) determining integrity of adherence of the selected conductor bond to the substrate from the detected elastic wave signature emanating from the substrate. A system is disclosed which is capable of conducting the method. 13 figs.

Method and system for evaluating integrity of adherence of a conductor bond to a mating surface of a substrate

DOEpatents

Telschow, Kenneth L.; Siu, Bernard K.

1996-01-01

A method of evaluating integrity of adherence of a conductor bond to a substrate includes: a) impinging a plurality of light sources onto a substrate; b) detecting optical reflective signatures emanating from the substrate from the impinged light; c) determining location of a selected conductor bond on the substrate from the detected reflective signatures; d) determining a target site on the selected conductor bond from the detected reflective signatures; e) optically imparting an elastic wave at the target site through the selected conductor bond and into the substrate; f) optically detecting an elastic wave signature emanating from the substrate resulting from the optically imparting step; and g) determining integrity of adherence of the selected conductor bond to the substrate from the detected elastic wave signature emanating from the substrate. A system is disclosed which is capable of conducting the method.

Wafer bonded virtual substrate and method for forming the same

DOEpatents

Atwater, Jr., Harry A.; Zahler, James M [Pasadena, CA; Morral, Anna Fontcuberta i [Paris, FR

2007-07-03

A method of forming a virtual substrate comprised of an optoelectronic device substrate and handle substrate comprises the steps of initiating bonding of the device substrate to the handle substrate, improving or increasing the mechanical strength of the device and handle substrates, and thinning the device substrate to leave a single-crystal film on the virtual substrate such as by exfoliation of a device film from the device substrate. The handle substrate is typically Si or other inexpensive common substrate material, while the optoelectronic device substrate is formed of more expensive and specialized electro-optic material. Using the methodology of the invention a wide variety of thin film electro-optic materials of high quality can be bonded to inexpensive substrates which serve as the mechanical support for an optoelectronic device layer fabricated in the thin film electro-optic material.

Wafer bonded virtual substrate and method for forming the same

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Atwater, Jr., Harry A. (Inventor); Zahler, James M. (Inventor); Morral, Anna Fontcuberta i (Inventor)

2007-01-01

A method of forming a virtual substrate comprised of an optoelectronic device substrate and handle substrate comprises the steps of initiating bonding of the device substrate to the handle substrate, improving or increasing the mechanical strength of the device and handle substrates, and thinning the device substrate to leave a single-crystal film on the virtual substrate such as by exfoliation of a device film from the device substrate. The handle substrate is typically Si or other inexpensive common substrate material, while the optoelectronic device substrate is formed of more expensive and specialized electro-optic material. Using the methodology of the invention a wide variety of thin film electro-optic materials of high quality can be bonded to inexpensive substrates which serve as the mechanical support for an optoelectronic device layer fabricated in the thin film electro-optic material.

A photoionization model for the optical line emission from cooling flows

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Donahue, Megan; Voit, G. M.

1991-01-01

The detailed predictions of a photoionization model previously outlined in Voit and Donahue (1990) to explain the optical line emission associated with cooling flows in X-ray emitting clusters of galaxies are presented. In this model, EUV/soft X-ray radiation from condensing gas photoionizes clouds that have already cooled. The energetics and specific consequences of such a model, as compared to other models put forth in the literature is discussed. Also discussed are the consequences of magnetic fields and cloud-cloud shielding. The results illustrate how varying the individual column densities of the ionized clouds can reproduce the range of line ratios observed and strongly suggest that the emission-line nebulae are self-irradiated condensing regions at the centers of cooling flows.

Optimization of the occulter for the Solar Orbiter/METIS coronagraph

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Landini, Federico; Vivès, Sébastien; Romoli, Marco; Guillon, Christophe; Pancrazzi, Maurizio; Escolle, Clement; Focardi, Mauro; Antonucci, Ester; Fineschi, Silvano; Naletto, Giampiero; Nicolini, Gianalfredo; Nicolosi, Piergiorgio; Spadaro, Daniele

2012-09-01

METIS (Multi Element Telescope for Imaging and Spectroscopy investigation), selected to fly aboard the Solar Orbiter ESA/NASA mission, is conceived to perform imaging (in visible, UV and EUV) and spectroscopy (in EUV) of the solar corona, by means of an integrated instrument suite located on a single optical bench and sharing the same aperture on the satellite heat shield. As every coronagraph, METIS is highly demanding in terms of stray light suppression. Coronagraphs history teaches that a particular attention must be dedicated to the occulter optimization. The METIS occulting system is of particular interest due to its innovative concept. In order to meet the strict thermal requirements of Solar Orbiter, METIS optical design has been optimized by moving the entrance pupil at the level of the external occulter on the S/C thermal shield, thus reducing the size of the external aperture. The scheme is based on an inverted external-occulter (IEO). The IEO consists of a circular aperture on the Solar Orbiter thermal shield. A spherical mirror rejects back the disk-light through the IEO. A breadboard of the occulting assembly (BOA) has been manufactured in order to perform stray light tests in front of two solar simulators (in Marseille, France and in Torino, Italy). A first measurement campaign has been carried on at the Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille. In this paper we describe the BOA design, the laboratory set-up and the preliminary results.

EUVE observations of the Moon

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gladstone, G. R.; Mcdonald, J. S.; Boyd, W. T.

1993-01-01

During its all-sky survey, the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) satellite observed the Moon several times at first and last quarters, and once near the Dec. 10, 1992 lunar eclipse. We present a preliminary reduction and analysis of this data, in the form of EUV images of the Moon and derived albedos.

Coordinated ASCA/EUVE/XTE Observations of Algol

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stern, Robert A.

1997-01-01

EUVE, Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics (ASCA), and X-ray Timing Explorer (XTE) observed the eclipsing binary Algol (Beta Per) from 1-7 Feb 1996. The coordinated observation covered approx. 2 binary orbits of the system, with a net exposure of approx. 160 ksec for EUVE, 40 ksec for ASCA (in 4 pointings), and 90 ksec for XTE (in 45 pointings). We discuss results of modeling the combined EUVE, ASCA, and XTE data using continuous differential emission measure distributions, and provide constraints on the abundance in the Algol system.

The Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Malina, R. F.; Bowyer, S.; Lampton, M.; Finley, D.; Paresce, F.; Penegor, G.; Heetderks, H.

1982-01-01

The Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer Mission is described. The purpose of this mission is to search the celestial sphere for astronomical sources of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation (100 to 1000 A). The search will be accomplished with the use of three EUV telescopes, each sensitive to different bands within the EUV band. A fourth telescope will perform a higher sensitivity search of a limited sample of the sky in a single EUV band. In six months, the entire sky will be scanned at a sensitivity level comparable to existing surveys in other more traditional astronomical bandpasses.

EUV lithography for 30nm half pitch and beyond: exploring resolution, sensitivity, and LWR tradeoffs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Putna, E. Steve; Younkin, Todd R.; Chandhok, Manish; Frasure, Kent

2009-03-01

The International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) denotes Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography as a leading technology option for realizing the 32nm half-pitch node and beyond. Readiness of EUV materials is currently one high risk area according to assessments made at the 2008 EUVL Symposium. The main development issue regarding EUV resist has been how to simultaneously achieve high sensitivity, high resolution, and low line width roughness (LWR). This paper describes the strategy and current status of EUV resist development at Intel Corporation. Data is presented utilizing Intel's Micro-Exposure Tool (MET) examining the feasibility of establishing a resist process that simultaneously exhibits <=30nm half-pitch (HP) L/S resolution at <=10mJ/cm2 with <=4nm LWR.

EUV lithography for 22nm half pitch and beyond: exploring resolution, LWR, and sensitivity tradeoffs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Putna, E. Steve; Younkin, Todd R.; Caudillo, Roman; Chandhok, Manish

2010-04-01

The International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) denotes Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography as a leading technology option for realizing the 22nm half pitch node and beyond. Readiness of EUV materials is currently one high risk area according to recent assessments made at the 2009 EUVL Symposium. The main development issue regarding EUV resist has been how to simultaneously achieve high sensitivity, high resolution, and low line width roughness (LWR). This paper describes the strategy and current status of EUV resist development at Intel Corporation. Data collected utilizing Intel's Micro-Exposure Tool (MET) is presented in order to examine the feasibility of establishing a resist process that simultaneously exhibits <=22nm half-pitch (HP) L/S resolution at <= 12.5mJ/cm2 with <= 4nm LWR.

Utilizing the EUVE Innovative Technology Testbed to Reduce Operations Cost for Present and Future Orbiting Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

This report summarizes work done under Cooperative Agreement (CA) on the following testbed projects: TERRIERS - The development of the ground systems to support the TERRIERS satellite mission at Boston University (BU). HSTS - The application of ARC's Heuristic Scheduling Testbed System (HSTS) to the EUVE satellite mission. SELMON - The application of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory's (JPL) Selective Monitoring (SELMON) system to the EUVE satellite mission. EVE - The development of the EUVE Virtual Environment (EVE), a prototype three-dimensional (3-D) visualization environment for the EUVE satellite and its sensors, instruments, and communications antennae. FIDO - The development of the Fault-Induced Document Officer (FIDO) system, a prototype application to respond to anomalous conditions by automatically searching for, retrieving, and displaying relevant documentation for an operators use.

Continued Analysis of EUVE Solar System Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gladstone, G. Randall

2001-01-01

This is the final report for this project. We proposed to continue our work on extracting important results from the EUVE (Extreme UltraViolet Explorer) archive of lunar and jovian system observations. In particular, we planned to: (1) produce several monochromatic images of the Moon at the wavelengths of the brightest solar EUV emission lines; (2) search for evidence of soft X-ray emissions from the Moon and/or X-ray fluorescence at specific EUV wavelengths; (3) search for localized EUV and soft X-ray emissions associated with each of the Galilean satellites; (4) search for correlations between localized Io Plasma Torus (IPT) brightness and volcanic activity on Io; (5) search for soft X-ray emissions from Jupiter; and (6) determine the long term variability of He 58.4 nm emissions from Jupiter, and relate these to solar variability. However, the ADP review panel suggested that the work concentrate on the Jupiter/IPT observations, and provided half the requested funding. Thus we have performed no work on the first two tasks, and instead concentrated on the last three. In addition we used funds from this project to support reduction and analysis of EUVE observations of Venus. While this was not part of the original statement of work, it is entirely in keeping with extracting important results from EUVE solar system observations.

Protection efficiency of a standard compliant EUV reticle handling solution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Long; Lystad, John; Wurm, Stefan; Orvek, Kevin; Sohn, Jaewoong; Ma, Andy; Kearney, Patrick; Kolbow, Steve; Halbmaier, David

2009-03-01

For successful implementation of extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) technology for late cycle insertion at 32 nm half-pitch (hp) and full introduction for 22 nm hp high volume production, the mask development infrastructure must be in place by 2010. The central element of the mask infrastructure is contamination-free reticle handling and protection. Today, the industry has already developed and balloted an EUV pod standard for shipping, transporting, transferring, and storing EUV masks. We have previously demonstrated that the EUV pod reticle handling method represents the best approach in meeting EUVL high volume production requirements, based on then state-of-the-art inspection capability at ~53nm polystyrene latex (PSL) equivalent sensitivity. In this paper, we will present our latest data to show defect-free reticle handling is achievable down to 40 nm particle sizes, using the same EUV pod carriers as in the previous study and the recently established world's most advanced defect inspection capability of ~40 nm SiO2 equivalent sensitivity. The EUV pod is a worthy solution to meet EUVL pilot line and pre-production exposure tool development requirements. We will also discuss the technical challenges facing the industry in refining the EUV pod solution to meet 22 nm hp EUVL production requirements and beyond.

Electrical comparison of iN7 EUV hybrid and EUV single patterning BEOL metal layers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Larivière, Stéphane; Wilson, Christopher J.; Kutrzeba Kotowska, Bogumila; Versluijs, Janko; Decoster, Stefan; Mao, Ming; van der Veen, Marleen H.; Jourdan, Nicolas; El-Mekki, Zaid; Heylen, Nancy; Kesters, Els; Verdonck, Patrick; Béral, Christophe; Van den Heuvel, Dieter; De Bisschop, Peter; Bekaert, Joost; Blanco, Victor; Ciofi, Ivan; Wan, Danny; Briggs, Basoene; Mallik, Arindam; Hendrickx, Eric; Kim, Ryoung-han; McIntyre, Greg; Ronse, Kurt; Bömmels, Jürgen; Tőkei, Zsolt; Mocuta, Dan

2018-03-01

The semiconductor scaling roadmap shows the continuous node to node scaling to push Moore's law down to the next generations. In that context, the foundry N5 node requires 32nm metal pitch interconnects for the advanced logic Back- End of Line (BEoL). 193immersion usage now requires self-aligned and/or multiple patterning technique combinations to enable such critical dimension. On the other hand, EUV insertion investigation shows that 32nm metal pitch is still a challenge but, related to process flow complexity, presents some clear motivations. Imec has already evaluated on test chip vehicles with different patterning approaches: 193i SAQP (Self-Aligned Quadruple Patterning), LE3 (triple patterning Litho Etch), tone inversion, EUV SE (Single Exposure) with SMO (Source-mask optimization). Following the run path in the technology development for EUV insertion, imec N7 platform (iN7, corresponding node to the foundry N5) is developed for those BEoL layers. In this paper, following technical motivation and development learning, a comparison between the iArF SAQP/EUV block hybrid integration scheme and a single patterning EUV flow is proposed. These two integration patterning options will be finally compared from current morphological and electrical criteria.

When things go pear shaped: contour variations of contacts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Utzny, Clemens

2013-04-01

Traditional control of critical dimensions (CD) on photolithographic masks considers the CD average and a measure for the CD variation such as the CD range or the standard deviation. Also systematic CD deviations from the mean such as CD signatures are subject to the control. These measures are valid for mask quality verification as long as patterns across a mask exhibit only size variations and no shape variation. The issue of shape variations becomes especially important in the context of contact holes on EUV masks. For EUV masks the CD error budget is much smaller than for standard optical masks. This means that small deviations from the contact shape can impact EUV waver prints in the sense that contact shape deformations induce asymmetric bridging phenomena. In this paper we present a detailed study of contact shape variations based on regular product data. Two data sets are analyzed: 1) contacts of varying target size and 2) a regularly spaced field of contacts. Here, the methods of statistical shape analysis are used to analyze CD SEM generated contour data. We demonstrate that contacts on photolithographic masks do not only show size variations but exhibit also pronounced nontrivial shape variations. In our data sets we find pronounced shape variations which can be interpreted as asymmetrical shape squeezing and contact rounding. Thus we demonstrate the limitations of classic CD measures for describing the feature variations on masks. Furthermore we show how the methods of statistical shape analysis can be used for quantifying the contour variations thus paving the way to a new understanding of mask linearity and its specification.

Probing the Production of Extreme-ultraviolet Late-phase Solar Flares Using the Model Enthalpy-based Thermal Evolution of Loops

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dai, Yu; Ding, Mingde

2018-04-01

Recent observations in extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) wavelengths reveal an EUV late phase in some solar flares that is characterized by a second peak in warm coronal emissions (∼3 MK) several tens of minutes to a few hours after the soft X-ray (SXR) peak. Using the model enthalpy-based thermal evolution of loops (EBTEL), we numerically probe the production of EUV late-phase solar flares. Starting from two main mechanisms of producing the EUV late phase, i.e., long-lasting cooling and secondary heating, we carry out two groups of numerical experiments to study the effects of these two processes on the emission characteristics in late-phase loops. In either of the two processes an EUV late-phase solar flare that conforms to the observational criteria can be numerically synthesized. However, the underlying hydrodynamic and thermodynamic evolutions in late-phase loops are different between the two synthetic flare cases. The late-phase peak due to a long-lasting cooling process always occurs during the radiative cooling phase, while that powered by a secondary heating is more likely to take place in the conductive cooling phase. We then propose a new method for diagnosing the two mechanisms based on the shape of EUV late-phase light curves. Moreover, from the partition of energy input, we discuss why most solar flares are not EUV late flares. Finally, by addressing some other factors that may potentially affect the loop emissions, we also discuss why the EUV late phase is mainly observed in warm coronal emissions.

EUV and Magnetic Activities Associated with Type-I Solar Radio Bursts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, C. Y.; Chen, Y.; Wang, B.; Ruan, G. P.; Feng, S. W.; Du, G. H.; Kong, X. L.

2017-06-01

Type-I bursts ( i.e. noise storms) are the earliest-known type of solar radio emission at the meter wavelength. They are believed to be excited by non-thermal energetic electrons accelerated in the corona. The underlying dynamic process and exact emission mechanism still remain unresolved. Here, with a combined analysis of extreme ultraviolet (EUV), radio and photospheric magnetic field data of unprecedented quality recorded during a type-I storm on 30 July 2011, we identify a good correlation between the radio bursts and the co-spatial EUV and magnetic activities. The EUV activities manifest themselves as three major brightening stripes above a region adjacent to a compact sunspot, while the magnetic field there presents multiple moving magnetic features (MMFs) with persistent coalescence or cancelation and a morphologically similar three-part distribution. We find that the type-I intensities are correlated with those of the EUV emissions at various wavelengths with a correlation coefficient of 0.7 - 0.8. In addition, in the region between the brightening EUV stripes and the radio sources there appear consistent dynamic motions with a series of bi-directional flows, suggesting ongoing small-scale reconnection there. Mainly based on the induced connection between the magnetic motion at the photosphere and the EUV and radio activities in the corona, we suggest that the observed type-I noise storms and the EUV brightening activities are the consequence of small-scale magnetic reconnection driven by MMFs. This is in support of the original proposal made by Bentley et al. ( Solar Phys. 193, 227, 2000).

EUV efficiency of a 6000-grooves per mm diffraction grating

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hurwitz, Mark; Bowyer, Stuart; Edelstein, Jerry; Harada, Tatsuo; Kita, Toshiaki

1990-01-01

In order to explore whether grooves ruled mechanically at a density of 6000 per mm can perform well at EUV wavelengths, a sample grating is measured with this density in an EUV calibration facility. Measurements are presented of the planar uniform line-space diffraction grating's efficiency and large-angle scattering.

A study of EUV emission from the O4f star Zeta Puppis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Waldron, Wayne L.; Vallerga, John

1995-01-01

Our 20 ks observation did not allow us to carry out our primary objective, i.e., to test the limitations of deeply embedded EUV and X-ray sources. However, it did provide a very useful constraint in our analysis of a newly acquired high S/N ROSAT PSPC X-ray spectrum of Zeta Pup. In addition, modifications to our stellar wind opacity code have been preformed to investigate the sensitivity of the EUV opacity energy range to different photospheric model flux inputs and different wind structures. These analyses provided the justification for a 140 ks follow up EUVE Cycle III observation of this star. We have recently been informed that our requested observation has been accepted as a Type 1 target for Cycle III. The remainder of this report focuses on the following: (1) a brief background on the status of X-ray emission from OB stars; (2) a discussion on the importance of EUV observations; (3) a discussion of our scientific objectives; and (4) a summary of our technical approach for our Cycle III observation (including the predicted EUV counts for various lines.)

The EUVE Proposal Database

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Christian, C. A.; Olson, E. C.

1993-01-01

The proposal database and scheduling system for the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer is described. The proposal database has been implemented to take input for approved observations selected by the EUVE Peer Review Panel and output target information suitable for the scheduling system to digest. The scheduling system is a hybrid of the SPIKE program and EUVE software which checks spacecraft constraints, produces a proposed schedule and selects spacecraft orientations with optimal configurations for acquiring star trackers, etc. This system is used to schedule the In Orbit Calibration activities that took place this summer, following the EUVE launch in early June 1992. The strategy we have implemented has implications for the selection of approved targets, which have impacted the Peer Review process. In addition, we will discuss how the proposal database, founded on Sybase, controls the processing of EUVE Guest Observer data.

LPP-EUV light source for HVM lithography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saito, T.; Ueno, Y.; Yabu, T.; Kurosawa, A.; Nagai, S.; Yanagida, T.; Hori, T.; Kawasuji, Y.; Abe, T.; Kodama, T.; Nakarai, H.; Yamazaki, T.; Mizoguchi, H.

2017-01-01

We have been developing a laser produced plasma extremely ultra violet (LPP-EUV) light source for a high volume manufacturing (HVM) semiconductor lithography. It has several unique technologies such as the high power short pulse carbon dioxide (CO2) laser, the short wavelength solid-state pre-pulse laser and the debris mitigation technology with the magnetic field. This paper presents the key technologies for a high power LPP-EUV light source. We also show the latest performance data which is 188W EUV power at intermediate focus (IF) point with 3.7% conversion efficiency (CE) at 100 kHz.

EUV Irradiance Inputs to Thermospheric Density Models: Open Issues and Path Forward

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vourlidas, A.; Bruinsma, S.

2018-01-01

One of the objectives of the NASA Living With a Star Institute on "Nowcasting of Atmospheric Drag for low Earth orbit (LEO) Spacecraft" was to investigate whether and how to increase the accuracy of atmospheric drag models by improving the quality of the solar forcing inputs, namely, extreme ultraviolet (EUV) irradiance information. In this focused review, we examine the status of and issues with EUV measurements and proxies, discuss recent promising developments, and suggest a number of ways to improve the reliability, availability, and forecast accuracy of EUV measurements in the next solar cycle.

Carbon contamination topography analysis of EUV masks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fan, Y.-J.; Yankulin, L.; Thomas, P.

2010-03-12

The impact of carbon contamination on extreme ultraviolet (EUV) masks is significant due to throughput loss and potential effects on imaging performance. Current carbon contamination research primarily focuses on the lifetime of the multilayer surfaces, determined by reflectivity loss and reduced throughput in EUV exposure tools. However, contamination on patterned EUV masks can cause additional effects on absorbing features and the printed images, as well as impacting the efficiency of cleaning process. In this work, several different techniques were used to determine possible contamination topography. Lithographic simulations were also performed and the results compared with the experimental data.

Gallium Arsenide Monolithic Optoelectronic Circuits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bar-Chaim, N.; Katz, J.; Margalit, S.; Ury, I.; Wilt, D.; Yariv, A.

1981-07-01

The optical properties of GaAs make it a very useful material for the fabrication of optical emitters and detectors. GaAs also possesses electronic properties which allow the fabrication of high speed electronic devices which are superior to conventional silicon devices. Monolithic optoelectronic circuits are formed by the integration of optical and electronic devices on a single GaAs substrate. Integration of many devices is most easily accomplished on a semi-insulating (SI) sub-strate. Several laser structures have been fabricated on SI GaAs substrates. Some of these lasers have been integrated with Gunn diodes and with metal semiconductor field effect transistors (MESFETs). An integrated optical repeater has been demonstrated in which MESFETs are used for optical detection and electronic amplification, and a laser is used to regenerate the optical signal. Monolithic optoelectronic circuits have also been constructed on conducting substrates. A heterojunction bipolar transistor driver has been integrated with a laser on an n-type GaAs substrate.

The patterning center of excellence (CoE): an evolving lithographic enablement model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Montgomery, Warren; Chun, Jun Sung; Liehr, Michael; Tittnich, Michael

2015-03-01

As EUV lithography moves toward high-volume manufacturing (HVM), a key need for the lithography materials makers is access to EUV photons and imaging. The SEMATECH Resist Materials Development Center (RMDC) provided a solution path by enabling the Resist and Materials companies to work together (using SUNY Polytechnic Institute's Colleges of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (SUNY Poly CNSE) -based exposure systems), in a consortium fashion, in order to address the need for EUV photons. Thousands of wafers have been processed by the RMDC (leveraging the SUNY Poly CNSE/SEMATECH MET, SUNY Poly CNSE Alpha Demo Tool (ADT) and the SEMATECH Lawrence Berkeley MET) allowing many of the questions associated with EUV materials development to be answered. In this regard the activities associated with the RMDC are continuing. As the major Integrated Device Manufacturers (IDMs) have continued to purchase EUV scanners, Materials companies must now provide scanner based test data that characterizes the lithography materials they are producing. SUNY Poly CNSE and SEMATECH have partnered to evolve the RMDC into "The Patterning Center of Excellence (CoE)". The new CoE leverages the capability of the SUNY Poly CNSE-based full field ASML 3300 EUV scanner and combines that capability with EUV Microexposure (MET) systems resident in the SEMATECH RMDC to create an integrated lithography model which will allow materials companies to advance materials development in ways not previously possible.

SDO/AIA AND HINODE/EIS OBSERVATIONS OF INTERACTION BETWEEN AN EUV WAVE AND ACTIVE REGION LOOPS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yang, Liheng; Zhang, Jun; Li, Ting

2013-09-20

We present detailed analysis of an extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) wave and its interaction with active region (AR) loops observed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly and the Hinode EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS). This wave was initiated from AR 11261 on 2011 August 4 and propagated at velocities of 430-910 km s{sup –1}. It was observed to traverse another AR and cross over a filament channel on its path. The EUV wave perturbed neighboring AR loops and excited a disturbance that propagated toward the footpoints of these loops. EIS observations of AR loops revealed that at the time of the wavemore » transit, the original redshift increased by about 3 km s{sup –1}, while the original blueshift decreased slightly. After the wave transit, these changes were reversed. When the EUV wave arrived at the boundary of a polar coronal hole, two reflected waves were successively produced and part of them propagated above the solar limb. The first reflected wave above the solar limb encountered a large-scale loop system on its path, and a secondary wave rapidly emerged 144 Mm ahead of it at a higher speed. These findings can be explained in the framework of a fast-mode magnetosonic wave interpretation for EUV waves, in which observed EUV waves are generated by expanding coronal mass ejections.« less

Solar Demon: near real-time Flare, Dimming and EUV wave monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kraaikamp, Emil; Verbeeck, Cis

Dimmings and EUV waves have been observed routinely in EUV images since 1996. They are closely associated with coronal mass ejections (CMEs), and therefore provide useful information for early space weather alerts. On the one hand, automatic detection and characterization of dimmings and EUV waves can be used to gain better understanding of the underlying physical mechanisms. On the other hand, every dimming and EUV wave provides extra information on the associated front side CME, and can improve estimates of the geo-effectiveness and arrival time of the CME. Solar Demon has been designed to detect and characterize dimmings, EUV waves, as well as solar flares in near real-time on Solar Dynamics Observatory/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (SDO/AIA) data. The detection modules are running continuously at the Royal Observatory of Belgium on both quick-look data, as well as synoptic science data. The output of Solar Demon can be accessed in near real-time on the Solar Demon website, and includes images, movies, light curves, and the numerical evolution of several parameters. Solar Demon is the result of collaboration between the FP7 projects AFFECTS and COMESEP. Flare detections of Solar Demon are integrated into the COMESEP alert system. Here we present the Solar Demon detection algorithms and their output. We will show several interesting flare, dimming and EUV wave events, and present general statistics of the detections made so far during solar cycle 24.

A Class for Teachers Featuring a NASA Satellite Mission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Battle, R.; Hawkins, I.

1996-05-01

As part of the NASA IDEA (Initiative to Develop Education through Astronomy) program, the UC Berkeley Center for EUV Astrophysics (CEA) received a grant to develop a self-contained teacher professional development class featuring NASA's Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) satellite mission. This class was offered in collaboration with the Physics/Astronomy Department and the Education Department of San Francisco State University during 1994, and in collaboration with the UCB Graduate School of Education in 1995 as an extension course. The class served as the foundation for the Science Education Program at CEA, providing valuable lessons and experience through a full year of intense collaboration with 50 teachers from the diverse school districts of the San Francisco Bay Area teaching in the 3rd--12th grade range. The underlying theme of the class focused on how scientists carry out research using a NASA satellite mission. Emphasis was given to problem-solving techniques, with specific examples taken from the pre- and post-launch stages of the EUVE mission. The two, semester-long classes were hosted by the CEA, so the teachers spent an average of 4 hours/week during 17 weeks immersed in astrophysics, collaborating with astronomers, and working with colleagues from the Lawrence Hall of Science and the Graduate School of Education. The teachers were taught the computer skills and space astrophysics concepts needed to perform hands-on analysis and interpretation of the EUVE satellite data and the optical identification program. As a final project, groups of teachers developed lesson plans based on NASA and other resources that they posted on the World Wide Web using html. This project's model treats teachers as professionals, and allows them to collaborate with scientists and to hone their curriculum development skills, an important aspect of their professional growth. We will summarize class highlights and showcase teacher-developed lesson plans. A detailed evaluation report will be made available. We acknowledge NASA contracts NAS5-30180 and NAS5-29298 to CEA/UCB and NASA grant ED-90033.01-94A to SSL/UCB.

Multilayer films with sharp, stable interfaces for use in EUV and soft X-ray application

DOEpatents

Barbee, Jr., Troy W.; Bajt, Sasa

2002-01-01

The reflectivity and thermal stability of Mo/Si (molybdenum/silicon) multilayer films, used in soft x-ray and extreme ultraviolet region, is enhanced by deposition of a thin layer of boron carbide (e.g., B.sub.4 C) between alternating layers of Mo and Si. The invention is useful for reflective coatings for soft X-ray and extreme ultraviolet optics, multilayer for masks, coatings for other wavelengths and multilayers for masks that are more thermally stable than pure Mo/Si multilayers

EUV mirror based absolute incident flux detector

DOEpatents

Berger, Kurt W.

2004-03-23

A device for the in-situ monitoring of EUV radiation flux includes an integrated reflective multilayer stack. This device operates on the principle that a finite amount of in-band EUV radiation is transmitted through the entire multilayer stack. This device offers improvements over existing vacuum photo-detector devices since its calibration does not change with surface contamination.

Challenges of anamorphic high-NA lithography and mask making

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hsu, Stephen D.; Liu, Jingjing

2017-06-01

Chip makers are actively working on the adoption of 0.33 numerical aperture (NA) EUV scanners for the 7-nm and 5-nm nodes (B. Turko, S. L. Carson, A. Lio, T. Liang, M. Phillips, et al., in `Proc. SPIE9776, Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Lithography VII', vol. 977602 (2016) doi: 10.1117/12.2225014; A. Lio, in `Proc. SPIE9776, Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Lithography VII', vol. 97760V (2016) doi: 10.1117/12.2225017). In the meantime, leading foundries and integrated device manufacturers are starting to investigate patterning options beyond the 5-nm node (O. Wood, S. Raghunathan, P. Mangat, V. Philipsen, V. Luong, et al., in `Proc. SPIE. 9422, Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Lithography VI', vol. 94220I (2015) doi: 10.1117/12.2085022). To minimize the cost and process complexity of multiple patterning beyond the 5-nm node, EUV high-NA single-exposure patterning is a preferred method over EUV double patterning (O. Wood, S. Raghunathan, P. Mangat, V. Philipsen, V. Luong, et al., in `Proc. SPIE. 9422, Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Lithography VI', vol. 94220I (2015) doi: 10.1117/12.2085022; J. van Schoot, K. van Ingen Schenau, G. Bottiglieri, K. Troost, J. Zimmerman, et al., `Proc. SPIE. 9776, Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Lithography VII', vol. 97761I (2016) doi: 10.1117/12.2220150). The EUV high-NA scanner equipped with a projection lens of 0.55 NA is designed to support resolutions below 10 nm. The high-NA system is beneficial for enhancing resolution, minimizing mask proximity correction bias, improving normalized image log slope (NILS), and controlling CD uniformity (CDU). However, increasing NA from 0.33 to 0.55 reduces the depth of focus (DOF) significantly. Therefore, the source mask optimization (SMO) with sub-resolution assist features (SRAFs) are needed to increase DOF to meet the demanding full chip process control requirements (S. Hsu, R. Howell, J. Jia, H.-Y. Liu, K. Gronlund, et al., EUV `Proc. SPIE9048, Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Lithography VI', (2015) doi: 10.1117/12.2086074). To ensure no assist feature printing, the assist feature sizes need to be scaled with λ/NA. The extremely small SRAF width (below 25 nm on the reticle) is difficult to fabricate across the full reticle. In this paper, we introduce an innovative `attenuated SRAF' to improve SRAF manufacturability and still maintain the process window benefit. A new mask fabrication process is proposed to use existing mask-making capability to manufacture the attenuated SRAFs. The high-NA EUV system utilizes anamorphic reduction; 4× in the horizontal (slit) direction and 8× in the vertical (scanning) direction (J. van Schoot, K. van Ingen Schenau, G. Bottiglieri, K. Troost, J. Zimmerman, et al., `Proc. SPIE. 9776, Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Lithography VII', vol. 97761I (2016) doi: 10.1117/12.2220150; B. Kneer, S. Migura, W. Kaiser, J. T. Neumann, J. van Schoot, in `Proc. SPIE9422, Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Lithography VI', vol. 94221G (2015) doi: 10.1117/12.2175488). For an anamorphic system, the magnification has an angular dependency, and thus, familiar mask specifications such as mask error factor (MEF) need to be redefined. Similarly, mask-manufacturing rule check (MRC) needs to consider feature orientation.

Exploring EUV Spicules Using 304 Angstrom He II Data from SDO AIA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Snyder, Ian R.; Sterling, Alphonse C.; Falconer, David A.; Moore, Ron L.

2014-01-01

We present results from a statistical study of He II 304 Angstrom Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) spicules at the limb of the Sun. We also measured properties of one macrospicule; macrospicules are longer than most spicules, and much broader in width than spicules. We use high-cadence (12 second) and high-resolution (0.6 arcseconds pixels) resolution data from the Atmospheric Imaging Array (AIA) instrument on the Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO). All of the observed events occurred near the solar north pole, where quiet Sun or coronal hole environments ensued. We examined the maximum lengths, maximum rise velocities, and lifetimes of 33 Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) spicules and the macrospicule. For the bulk of the Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) spicules these quantities are, respectively, approximately 10,000-40,000 kilometers, 20-100 kilometers per second, and approximately 100- approximately 1000 seconds. For the macrospicule the corresponding quantities were respectively approximately 60,000 kilometers, approximately 130 kilometers per second, approximately 1800 seconds, which is typical of macrospicules measured by other workers. Therefore macrospicules are taller, longer-lived, and faster than most Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) spicules. The rise profiles of both the spicules and the macrospicules match well a second-order ("parabolic" ) trajectory, although the acceleration was often weaker than that of solar gravity in the profiles fitted to the trajectories. Our macrospicule also had an obvious brightening at its base at birth, while such brightening was not apparent for the Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) spicules. Most of the Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) spicules remained visible during their descent back to the solar surface, although a small percentage of the spicules and the macrospicule faded out before falling back to the surface. Our sample of macrospicules is not yet large enough to determine whether their initiation mechanism is identical to that of Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) spicules.

Free-electron laser emission architecture impact on extreme ultraviolet lithography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hosler, Erik R.; Wood, Obert R.; Barletta, William A.

2017-10-01

Laser-produced plasma (LPP) EUV sources have demonstrated ˜125 W at customer sites, establishing confidence in EUV lithography (EUVL) as a viable manufacturing technology. However, for extension to the 3-nm technology node and beyond, existing scanner/source technology must enable higher-NA imaging systems (requiring increased resist dose and providing half-field exposures) and/or EUV multipatterning (requiring increased wafer throughput proportional to the number of exposure passes). Both development paths will require a substantial increase in EUV source power to maintain the economic viability of the technology, creating an opportunity for free-electron laser (FEL) EUV sources. FEL-based EUV sources offer an economic, high-power/single-source alternative to LPP EUV sources. Should FELs become the preferred next-generation EUV source, the choice of FEL emission architecture will greatly affect its operational stability and overall capability. A near-term industrialized FEL is expected to utilize one of the following three existing emission architectures: (1) self-amplified spontaneous emission, (2) regenerative amplifier, or (3) self-seeding. Model accelerator parameters are put forward to evaluate the impact of emission architecture on FEL output. Then, variations in the parameter space are applied to assess the potential impact to lithography operations, thereby establishing component sensitivity. The operating range of various accelerator components is discussed based on current accelerator performance demonstrated at various scientific user facilities. Finally, comparison of the performance between the model accelerator parameters and the variation in parameter space provides a means to evaluate the potential emission architectures. A scorecard is presented to facilitate this evaluation and provides a framework for future FEL design and enablement for EUVL applications.

EUV spectroscopy of highly charged high Z ions in the Large Helical Device plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suzuki, C.; Koike, F.; Murakami, I.; Tamura, N.; Sudo, S.; Sakaue, H. A.; Nakamura, N.; Morita, S.; Goto, M.; Kato, D.; Nakano, T.; Higashiguchi, T.; Harte, C. S.; OʼSullivan, G.

2014-11-01

We present recent results on the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectroscopy of highly charged high Z ions in plasmas produced in the Large Helical Device (LHD) at the National Institute for Fusion Science. Tungsten, bismuth and lanthanide elements have recently been studied in the LHD in terms of their importance in fusion research and EUV light source development. In relatively low temperature plasmas, quasicontinuum emissions from open 4d or 4f subshell ions are predominant in the EUV region, while the spectra tend to be dominated by discrete lines from open 4s or 4p subshell ions in higher temperature plasmas. Comparative analyses using theoretical calculations and charge-separated spectra observed in an electron beam ion trap have been performed to achieve better agreement with the spectra measured in the LHD. As a result, databases on Z dependence of EUV spectra in plasmas have been widely extended.

The Nature of the Flaring EUVE Companion to HD 43162

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kulkarni, Shrinivas R.

2005-01-01

The purpose of our program was to observe and characterize the companion to HD 43162, EUVE J0614-2354, which (serendipitously) experienced an enormous flare event during our EUVE observation of HD 43162, one of the nearby solar analogs that we observed during our survey of this population. Our observation was carried out and the data have been received and reduced. We are able to identify EUVE J0614-2354 in both the X-ray (EPIC MOS + PN) and the UV (OM) data, which provides a sub-arcsecond position for this source. Our findings are consistent with the analysis of Christian et al. (2003a,b), who identify EUVE J0614-2354 with a coronally-active M-dwarf star at distance d = 15 plus or minus 5pc. The X-ray spectrum from the EPIC data are also consistent with this identification.

Hemispherical Nature of EUV Shocks Revealed by SOHO, STEREO, and SDO Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gopalswamy, Natchimuthuk; Nitta, N.; Akiyama, S.; Makela, P.; Yashiro, S.

2011-01-01

EUV wave transients associated with type II radio bursts are manifestation of CME-driven shocks in the solar corona. We use recent EUV wave observations from SOHO, STEREO, and SDO for a set of CMEs to show that the EUV transients have a spherical shape in the inner corona. We demonstrate this by showing that the radius of the EUV transient on the disk observed by one instrument is approximately equal to the height of the wave above the solar surface in an orthogonal view provided by another instrument. The study also shows that the CME-driven shocks often form very low in the corona at a heliocentric distance of 1.2 Rs, even smaller than the previous estimates from STEREO/CORl data (Gopalswamy et aI., 2009, Solar Phys. 259, 227). These results have important implications for the acceleration of solar energetic particles by CMEs

The extreme ultraviolet explorer archive

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Polomski, E.; Drake, J. J.; Dobson, C.; Christian, C.

1993-09-01

The Extreme Ultrviolet Explorer (EUVE) public archive was created to handle the storage, maintenance, and distribution of EUVE data and ancillary documentation, information, and software. Access to the archive became available to the public on July 17, 1992, only 40 days after the launch of the EUVE satellite. A brief overview of the archive's contents and the various methods of access will be described.

EUV Coronal Waves: Atmospheric and Heliospheric Connections and Energetics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patsourakos, S.

2015-12-01

Since their discovery in late 90's by EIT on SOHO, the study EUV coronal waves has been a fascinating andfrequently strongly debated research area. While it seems as ifan overall consensus has been reached about the nurture and nature of this phenomenon,there are still several important questions regarding EUV waves. By focusing on the most recentobservations, we will hereby present our current understanding about the nurture and nature of EUV waves,discuss their connections with other atmospheric and heliospheric phenomena (e.g.,flares and CMEs, Moreton waves, coronal shocks, coronal oscillations, SEP events) and finallyassess their possible energetic contribution to the overall budget of relatederuptive phenomena.

Molecular organometallic resists for EUV (MORE): Reactivity as a function of metal center (Bi, Sb, Te and Sn)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sitterly, Jacob; Murphy, Michael; Grzeskowiak, Steven; Denbeaux, Greg; Brainard, Robert L.

2018-03-01

This paper describes the photoreactivity of six organometallic complexes of the type PhnMX2 containing bismuth, antimony and tellurium, where n = 3 for bismuth and antimony and n = 2 for tellurium, and where X = acetate (O2CCH3) or pivalate (O2CC(CH3)3). These compounds were exposed to EUV light to monitor photodecomposition via in situ mass spectral analysis of the primary outgassing products of CO2, benzene and phenol. This paper explores the effect of metal center and carboxylate ligand on the EUV reactivity of these EUV photoresists.

Extreme ultra-violet movie camera for imaging microsecond time scale magnetic reconnection

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chai, Kil-Byoung; Bellan, Paul M.

2013-12-15

An ultra-fast extreme ultra-violet (EUV) movie camera has been developed for imaging magnetic reconnection in the Caltech spheromak/astrophysical jet experiment. The camera consists of a broadband Mo:Si multilayer mirror, a fast decaying YAG:Ce scintillator, a visible light block, and a high-speed visible light CCD camera. The camera can capture EUV images as fast as 3.3 × 10{sup 6} frames per second with 0.5 cm spatial resolution. The spectral range is from 20 eV to 60 eV. EUV images reveal strong, transient, highly localized bursts of EUV radiation when magnetic reconnection occurs.

EUV spectroscopy of high-redshift x-ray objects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kowalski, M. P.; Wolff, M. T.; Wood, K. S.; Barbee, T. W., Jr.; Barstow, M. A.

2010-07-01

As astronomical observations are pushed to cosmological distances (z>3) the spectral energy distributions of X-ray objects, AGN for example, will be redshifted into the EUV waveband. Consequently, a wealth of critical spectral diagnostics, provided by, for example, the Fe L-shell complex and the O VII/VIII lines, will be lost to future planned X-ray missions (e.g., IXO, Gen-X) if operated at traditional X-ray energies. This opens up a critical gap in performance located at short EUV wavelengths, where critical X-ray spectral transitions occur in high-z objects. However, normal-incidence multilayer-grating technology, which performs best precisely at such wavelengths, together with advanced nanolaminate replication techniques have been developed and are now mature to the point where advanced EUV instrument designs with performance complementary to IXO and Gen-X are practical. Such EUV instruments could be flown either independently or as secondary instruments on these X-ray missions. We present here a critical examination of the limits placed on extragalactic EUV measurements by ISM absorption, the range where high-z measurements are practical, and the requirements this imposes on next-generation instrument designs. We conclude with a discussion of a breakthrough technology, nanolaminate replication, which enables such instruments.

Registration performance on EUV masks using high-resolution registration metrology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steinert, Steffen; Solowan, Hans-Michael; Park, Jinback; Han, Hakseung; Beyer, Dirk; Scherübl, Thomas

2016-10-01

Next-generation lithography based on EUV continues to move forward to high-volume manufacturing. Given the technical challenges and the throughput concerns a hybrid approach with 193 nm immersion lithography is expected, at least in the initial state. Due to the increasing complexity at smaller nodes a multitude of different masks, both DUV (193 nm) and EUV (13.5 nm) reticles, will then be required in the lithography process-flow. The individual registration of each mask and the resulting overlay error are of crucial importance in order to ensure proper functionality of the chips. While registration and overlay metrology on DUV masks has been the standard for decades, this has yet to be demonstrated on EUV masks. Past generations of mask registration tools were not necessarily limited in their tool stability, but in their resolution capabilities. The scope of this work is an image placement investigation of high-end EUV masks together with a registration and resolution performance qualification. For this we employ a new generation registration metrology system embedded in a production environment for full-spec EUV masks. This paper presents excellent registration performance not only on standard overlay markers but also on more sophisticated e-beam calibration patterns.

EUV tools: hydrogen gas purification and recovery strategies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Landoni, Cristian; Succi, Marco; Applegarth, Chuck; Riddle Vogt, Sarah

2015-03-01

The technological challenges that have been overcome to make extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) a reality have been enormous1. This vacuum driven technology poses significant purity challenges for the gases employed for purging and cleaning the scanner EUV chamber and source. Hydrogen, nitrogen, argon and ultra-high purity compressed dry air (UHPCDA) are the most common gases utilized at the scanner and source level. Purity requirements are tighter than for previous technology node tools. In addition, specifically for hydrogen, EUV tool users are facing not only gas purity challenges but also the need for safe disposal of the hydrogen at the tool outlet. Recovery, reuse or recycling strategies could mitigate the disposal process and reduce the overall tool cost of operation. This paper will review the types of purification technologies that are currently available to generate high purity hydrogen suitable for EUV applications. Advantages and disadvantages of each purification technology will be presented. Guidelines on how to select the most appropriate technology for each application and experimental conditions will be presented. A discussion of the most common approaches utilized at the facility level to operate EUV tools along with possible hydrogen recovery strategies will also be reported.

On the Absence of EUV Emission from Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bryans, Paul; Pesnell, W. Dean

2016-01-01

When the sungrazing comet C2012 S1 (ISON) made its perihelion passage within two solar radii of the Sun's surface, it was expected to be a bright emitter at extreme ultraviolet (EUV) wavelengths. However, despite solar EUV telescopes repointing to track the orbit of the comet, no emission was detected. This null result is interesting in its own right, offering the possibility of placing limits on the size and composition of the nucleus. We explain the lack of detection by considering the properties of the comet and the solar atmosphere that determine the intensity of EUV emission from sungrazing comets. By comparing these properties with those of sungrazing comet C2011 W3 (Lovejoy), which did emit in the EUV, we conclude that the primary factor resulting in non-detectable EUV emission from C2012 S1 (ISON) was an insufficiently large nucleus. We conclude that the radius of C2012 S1 (ISON) was at least a factor of four less than that of C2011 W3 (Lovejoy). This is consistent with white-light observations in the days before perihelion that suggested the comet was dramatically reducing in size on approach.

The EUV Helium Spectrum in the Quiet Sun: A By-Product of Coronal Emission?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Andretta, Vincenzo; DelZanna, Giulio; Jordan, Stuart D.; Oegerle, William (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

In this paper we test one of the mechanisms proposed to explain the intensities and other observed properties of the solar helium spectrum, and in particular of its Extreme-Ultraviolet (EUV) resonance lines. The so-called Photoionisation-Recombination (P-R) mechanism involves photoionisation of helium atoms and ions by EUV coronal radiation, followed by recombination cascades. We present calibrated measurements of EUV flux obtained with the two CDS spectrometers on board SOHO, in quiescent solar regions. We were able to obtain an essentially complete estimate of the total photoionizing flux in the wavelength range below 504 A (the photoionisation threshold for He(I)), as well as simultaneous measurements with the same instruments of the intensities of the strongest EUV helium lines: He(II) lambda304, He(I) lambda584, and He(I) lambda537. We find that there are not enough EUV photons to account for the observed helium line intensities. More specifically, we conclude that He(II) intensities cannot be explained by the P-R mechanism. Our results, however, leave open the possibility that the He(I) spectrum could be formed by the P-R mechanism, with the He(II) lambda304 line as a significant photoionizating source.

Compact and Light-Weight Solar Spaceflight Instrument Designs Utilizing Newly Developed Miniature Free-Standing Zone Plates: EUV Radiometer and Limb-Scanning Monochromator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seely, J. F.; McMullin, D. R.; Bremer, J.; Chang, C.; Sakdinawat, A.; Jones, A. R.; Vest, R.

2014-12-01

Two solar instrument designs are presented that utilize newly developed miniature free-standing zone plates having interconnected Au opaque bars and no support membrane resulting in excellent long-term stability in space. Both instruments are based on a zone plate having 4 mm outer diameter and 1 to 2 degree field of view. The zone plate collects EUV radiation and focuses a narrow bandpass through a pinhole aperture and onto a silicon photodiode detector. As a miniature radiometer, EUV irradiance is accurately determined from the zone plate efficiency and the photodiode responsivity that are calibrated at the NIST SURF synchrotron facility. The EUV radiometer is pointed to the Sun and measures the absolute solar EUV irradiance in high time cadence suitable for solar physics and space weather applications. As a limb-scanning instrument in low earth orbit, a miniature zone-plate monochromator measures the extinction of solar EUV radiation by scattering through the upper atmosphere which is a measure of the variability of the ionosphere. Both instruments are compact and light-weight and are attractive for CubeSats and other missions where resources are extremely limited.

ON THE ABSENCE OF EUV EMISSION FROM COMET C/2012 S1 (ISON)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bryans, Paul; Pesnell, W. Dean

2016-05-10

When the sungrazing comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) made its perihelion passage within two solar radii of the Sun’s surface, it was expected to be a bright emitter at extreme ultraviolet (EUV) wavelengths. However, despite solar EUV telescopes repointing to track the orbit of the comet, no emission was detected. This “null result” is interesting in its own right, offering the possibility of placing limits on the size and composition of the nucleus. We explain the lack of detection by considering the properties of the comet and the solar atmosphere that determine the intensity of EUV emission from sungrazing comets. Bymore » comparing these properties with those of sungrazing comet C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy), which did emit in the EUV, we conclude that the primary factor resulting in non-detectable EUV emission from C/2012 S1 (ISON) was an insufficiently large nucleus. We conclude that the radius of C/2012 S1 (ISON) was at least a factor of four less than that of C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy). This is consistent with white-light observations in the days before perihelion that suggested the comet was dramatically reducing in size on approach.« less

Optical data latch

DOEpatents

Vawter, G Allen [Corrales, NM

2010-08-31

An optical data latch is formed on a substrate from a pair of optical logic gates in a cross-coupled arrangement in which optical waveguides are used to couple an output of each gate to an photodetector input of the other gate. This provides an optical bi-stability which can be used to store a bit of optical information in the latch. Each optical logic gate, which can be an optical NOT gate (i.e. an optical inverter) or an optical NOR gate, includes a waveguide photodetector electrically connected in series with a waveguide electroabsorption modulator. The optical data latch can be formed on a III-V compound semiconductor substrate (e.g. an InP or GaAs substrate) from III-V compound semiconductor layers. A number of optical data latches can be cascaded to form a clocked optical data shift register.

Optical feedback structures and methods of making

DOEpatents

None

2014-11-18

An optical resonator can include an optical feedback structure disposed on a substrate, and a composite including a matrix including a chromophore. The composite disposed on the substrate and in optical communication with the optical feedback structure. The chromophore can be a semiconductor nanocrystal. The resonator can provide laser emission when excited.

High throughput optical scanner

DOEpatents

Basiji, David A.; van den Engh, Gerrit J.

2001-01-01

A scanning apparatus is provided to obtain automated, rapid and sensitive scanning of substrate fluorescence, optical density or phosphorescence. The scanner uses a constant path length optical train, which enables the combination of a moving beam for high speed scanning with phase-sensitive detection for noise reduction, comprising a light source, a scanning mirror to receive light from the light source and sweep it across a steering mirror, a steering mirror to receive light from the scanning mirror and reflect it to the substrate, whereby it is swept across the substrate along a scan arc, and a photodetector to receive emitted or scattered light from the substrate, wherein the optical path length from the light source to the photodetector is substantially constant throughout the sweep across the substrate. The optical train can further include a waveguide or mirror to collect emitted or scattered light from the substrate and direct it to the photodetector. For phase-sensitive detection the light source is intensity modulated and the detector is connected to phase-sensitive detection electronics. A scanner using a substrate translator is also provided. For two dimensional imaging the substrate is translated in one dimension while the scanning mirror scans the beam in a second dimension. For a high throughput scanner, stacks of substrates are loaded onto a conveyor belt from a tray feeder.

Effective EUVL mask cleaning technology solutions for mask manufacturing and in-fab mask maintenance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dietze, Uwe; Dress, Peter; Waehler, Tobias; Singh, Sherjang; Jonckheere, Rik; Baudemprez, Bart

2011-03-01

Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography (EUVL) is considered the leading lithography technology choice for semiconductor devices at 16nm HP node and beyond. However, before EUV Lithography can enter into High Volume Manufacturing (HVM) of advanced semiconductor devices, the ability to guarantee mask integrity at point-of-exposure must be established. Highly efficient, damage free mask cleaning plays a critical role during the mask manufacturing cycle and throughout the life of the mask, where the absence of a pellicle to protect the EUV mask increases the risk of contamination during storage, handling and use. In this paper, we will present effective EUVL mask cleaning technology solutions for mask manufacturing and in-fab mask maintenance, which employs an intelligent, holistic approach to maximize Mean Time Between Cleans (MBTC) and extend the useful life span of the reticle. The data presented will demonstrate the protection of the capping and absorber layers, preservation of pattern integrity as well as optical and mechanical properties to avoid unpredictable CD-linewidth and overlay shifts. Experiments were performed on EUV blanks and pattern masks using various process conditions. Conditions showing high particle removal efficiency (PRE) and minimum surface layer impact were then selected for durability studies. Surface layer impact was evaluated over multiple cleaning cycles by means of UV reflectivity metrology XPS analysis and wafer prints. Experimental results were compared to computational models. Mask life time predictions where made using the same computational models. The paper will provide a generic overview of the cleaning sequence which yielded best results, but will also provide recommendations for an efficient in-fab mask maintenance scheme, addressing handling, storage, cleaning and inspection.

In situ optical diagnostic for monitoring or control of sodium diffusion in photovoltaics manufacturing

DOEpatents

Li, Jian; Levi, Dean; Contreras, Miguel; Glynn, Stephen

2015-09-15

A method of fabricating a photovoltaic device 100, includes the steps of providing a glass substrate 102, depositing a molybdenum layer 104 on a surface of the glass substrate, directing light through the glass substrate to the near-substrate region of the molybdenum layer 206, detecting an optical property of the near-substrate region of the molybdenum layer after interaction with the incident light 208 and determining a density of the near-substrate region of the molybdenum layer from the detected optical property 210. A molybdenum deposition parameter may be controlled based upon the determined density of the near-substrate region of the molybdenum layer 218. A non-contact method measures a density of the near-substrate region of a molybdenum layer and a deposition chamber 300.

Scalable cell alignment on optical media substrates.

PubMed

Anene-Nzelu, Chukwuemeka G; Choudhury, Deepak; Li, Huipeng; Fraiszudeen, Azmall; Peh, Kah-Yim; Toh, Yi-Chin; Ng, Sum Huan; Leo, Hwa Liang; Yu, Hanry

2013-07-01

Cell alignment by underlying topographical cues has been shown to affect important biological processes such as differentiation and functional maturation in vitro. However, the routine use of cell culture substrates with micro- or nano-topographies, such as grooves, is currently hampered by the high cost and specialized facilities required to produce these substrates. Here we present cost-effective commercially available optical media as substrates for aligning cells in culture. These optical media, including CD-R, DVD-R and optical grating, allow different cell types to attach and grow well on them. The physical dimension of the grooves in these optical media allowed cells to be aligned in confluent cell culture with maximal cell-cell interaction and these cell alignment affect the morphology and differentiation of cardiac (H9C2), skeletal muscle (C2C12) and neuronal (PC12) cell lines. The optical media is amenable to various chemical modifications with fibronectin, laminin and gelatin for culturing different cell types. These low-cost commercially available optical media can serve as scalable substrates for research or drug safety screening applications in industry scales. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Multi-Spectral Solar Telescope Array. II - Soft X-ray/EUV reflectivity of the multilayer mirrors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barbee, Troy W., Jr.; Weed, J. W.; Hoover, Richard B.; Allen, Maxwell J.; Lindblom, Joakim F.; O'Neal, Ray H.; Kankelborg, Charles C.; Deforest, Craig E.; Paris, Elizabeth S.; Walker, Arthur B. C., Jr.

1991-01-01

The Multispectral Solar Telescope Array is a rocket-borne observatory which encompasses seven compact soft X-ray/EUV, multilayer-coated, and two compact far-UV, interference film-coated, Cassegrain and Ritchey-Chretien telescopes. Extensive measurements are presented on the efficiency and spectral bandpass of the X-ray/EUV telescopes. Attention is given to systematic errors and measurement errors.

Mars Thermospheric Temperature Sensitivity to Solar EUV Forcing from the MAVEN EUV Monitor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thiemann, Ed; Eparvier, Francis; Andersson, Laila; Pilinski, Marcin; Chamberlin, Phillip; Fowler, Christopher; MAVEN Extreme Ultraviolet Monitor Team, MAVEN Langmuir Probe and Waves Team

2017-10-01

Solar extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation is the primary heat source for the Mars thermosphere, and the primary source of long-term temperature variability. The Mars obliquity, dust cycle, tides and waves also drive thermospheric temperature variability; and it is important to quantify the role of each in order to understand processes in the upper atmosphere today and, ultimately, the evolution of Mars climate over time. Although EUV radiation is the dominant heating mechanism, accurately measuring the thermospheric temperature sensitivity to EUV forcing has remained elusive, in part, because Mars thermospheric temperature varies dramatically with latitude and local time (LT), ranging from 150K on the nightside to 300K on the dayside. It follows that studies of thermospheric variability must control for location.Instruments onboard the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) orbiter have begun to characterize thermospheric temperature sensitivity to EUV forcing. Bougher et al. [2017] used measurements from the Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS) and the Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer (NGIMS) to characterize solar activity trends in the thermosphere with some success. However, aside from restricting measurements to solar zenith angles (SZAs) below 75 degrees, they were unable to control for latitude and LT because repeat-track observations from either instrument were limited or unavailable.The MAVEN EUV Monitor (EUVM) has recently demonstrated the capability to measure thermospheric density from 100 to 200 km with solar occultations of its 17-22 nm channel. These new density measurements are ideal for tracking the long-term thermospheric temperature variability because they are inherently constrained to either 06:00 or 18:00 LT, and the orbit has precessed to include a range of ecliptic latitudes, a number of which have been revisited multiple times over 2.5 years. In this study we present, for the first-time, measurements of thermospheric temperature sensitivity to EUV forcing derived from the EUVM measurements. These results include sensitives measured at the poles and near the equator for both terminators; therefore, we will also discuss the role of latitude on EUV temperature sensitivity.

Time-Resolved Spectroscopy of Active Binary Stars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brown, Alexander

2000-01-01

This NASA grant covered EUVE observing and data analysis programs during EUVE Cycle 5 GO observing. The research involved a single Guest Observer project 97-EUVE-061 "Time-Resolved Spectroscopy of Active Binary Stars". The grant provided funding that covered 1.25 months of the PI's salary. The activities undertaken included observation planning and data analysis (both temporal and spectral). This project was awarded 910 ksec of observing time to study seven active binary stars, all but one of which were actually observed. Lambda-And was observed on 1997 Jul 30 - Aug 3 and Aug 7-14 for a total of 297 ksec; these observations showed two large complex flares that were analyzed by Osten & Brown (1999). AR Psc, observed for 350 ksec on 1997 Aug 27 - Sep 13, showed only relatively small flares that were also discussed by Osten & Brown (1999). EUVE observations of El Eri were obtained on 1994 August 24-28, simultaneous with ASCA X-ray spectra. Four flares were detected by EUVE with one of these also observed simultaneously, by ASCA. The other three EUVE observations were of the stars BY Dra (1997 Sep 22-28), V478 Lyr (1998 May 18-27), and sigma Gem (1998 Dec 10-22). The first two stars showed a few small flares. The sigma Gem data shows a beautiful complete flare with a factor of ten peak brightness compared to quiescence. The flare rise and almost all the decay phase are observed. Unfortunately no observations in other spectral regions were obtained for these stars. Analysis of the lambda-And and AR Psc observations is complete and the results were published in Osten & Brown (1999). Analysis of the BY Dra, V478 Lyr and sigma Gem EUVE data is complete and will be published in Osten (2000, in prep.). The El Eri EUV analysis is also completed and the simultaneous EUV/X-ray study will be published in Osten et al. (2000, in prep.). Both these latter papers will be submitted in summer 2000. All these results will form part of Rachel Osten's PhD thesis.

Exploring dynamic events in the solar corona

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Downs, Cooper James

With the advent of modern computational technology it is now becoming the norm to employ detailed 3D computer models as empirical tools that directly account for the inhomogeneous nature of the Sun-Heliosphere environment. The key advantage of this approach lies in the ability to compare model results directly to observational data and to use a successful comparison (or lack thereof) to glean information on the underlying physical processes. Using extreme ultraviolet waves (EUV waves) as the overarching scientific driver, we apply this observation modeling approach to study the complex dynamics of the magnetic and thermodynamic structures that are observed in the low solar corona. Representing a highly non-trivial effort, this work includes three main scientific thrusts: an initial modeling effort and two EUV wave case-studies. First we document the development of the new Low Corona (LC) model, a 3D time-dependent thermodynamic magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model implemented within the Space Weather Modeling Framework (SWMF). Observation synthesis methods are integrated within the LC model, which provides the ability to compare model results directly to EUV imaging observations taken by spacecraft. The new model is then used to explore the dynamic interplay between magnetic structures and thermodynamic energy balance in the corona that is caused by coronal heating mechanisms. With the model development complete, we investigate the nature of EUV waves in detail through two case-studies. Starting with the 2008 March 25 event, we conduct a series of numerical simulations that independently vary fundamental parameters thought to govern the physical mechanisms behind EUV waves. Through the subsequent analysis of the 3D data and comparison to observations we find evidence for both wave and non-wave mechanisms contributing to the EUV wave signal. We conclude with a comprehensive observation and modeling analysis of the 2010 June 13 EUV wave event, which was observed by the recently launched Solar Dynamics Observatory. We use a high resolution simulation of the transient to unambiguously characterize the globally propagating front of EUV wave as a fast-mode magnetosonic wave, and use the rich set of observations to place the many other facets of the EUV transient within a unified scenario involving wave and non-wave components.

Printability and inspectability of programmed pit defects on teh masks in EUV lithography

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kang, I.-Y.; Seo, H.-S.; Ahn, B.-S.

2010-03-12

Printability and inspectability of phase defects in ELlVL mask originated from substrate pit were investigated. For this purpose, PDMs with programmed pits on substrate were fabricated using different ML sources from several suppliers. Simulations with 32-nm HP L/S show that substrate pits with below {approx}20 nm in depth would not be printed on the wafer if they could be smoothed by ML process down to {approx}1 nm in depth on ML surface. Through the investigation of inspectability for programmed pits, minimum pit sizes detected by KLA6xx, AIT, and M7360 depend on ML smoothing performance. Furthermore, printability results for pit defectsmore » also correlate with smoothed pit sizes. AIT results for pattemed mask with 32-nm HP L/S represents that minimum printable size of pits could be {approx}28.3 nm of SEVD. In addition, printability of pits became more printable as defocus moves to (-) directions. Consequently, printability of phase defects strongly depends on their locations with respect to those of absorber patterns. This indicates that defect compensation by pattern shift could be a key technique to realize zero printable phase defects in EUVL masks.« less

The first Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer source catalog

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bowyer, S.; Lieu, R.; Lampton, M.; Lewis, J.; Wu, X.; Drake, J. J.; Malina, R. F.

1994-01-01

The Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) has conducted an all-sky survey to locate and identify point sources of emission in four extreme ultraviolet wavelength bands centered at approximately 100, 200, 400, and 600 A. A companion deep survey of a strip along half the ecliptic plane was simultaneously conducted. In this catalog we report the sources found in these surveys using rigorously defined criteria uniformly applied to the data set. These are the first surveys to be made in the three longer wavelength bands, and a substantial number of sources were detected in these bands. We present a number of statistical diagnostics of the surveys, including their source counts, their sensitivites, and their positional error distributions. We provide a separate list of those sources reported in the EUVE Bright Source List which did not meet our criteria for inclusion in our primary list. We also provide improved count rate and position estimates for a majority of these sources based on the improved methodology used in this paper. In total, this catalog lists a total of 410 point sources, of which 372 have plausible optical ultraviolet, or X-ray identifications, which are also listed.

Theoretical analysis of optical properties of dielectric coatings dependence on substrate subsurface defects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, Jian; Liu, Shouhua; Shen, Zicai; Shao, Jianda; Fan, Zhengxiu

2006-03-01

A model for refractive index of stratified dielectric substrate was put forward according to theories of inhomogeneous coatings. The substrate was divided into surface layer, subsurface layer and bulk layer along the normal direction of its surface. Both the surface layer (separated into N1 sublayers of uniform thickness) and subsurface layer (separated into N2 sublayers of uniform thickness), whose refractive indices have different statistical distributions, are equivalent to inhomogeneous coatings, respectively. And theoretical deduction was carried out by employing characteristic matrix method of optical coatings. An example of mathematical calculation for optical properties of dielectric coatings had been presented. The computing results indicate that substrate subsurface defects can bring about additional bulk scattering and change propagation characteristic in thin film and substrate. Therefore, reflectance, reflective phase shift and phase difference of an assembly of coatings and substrate deviate from ideal conditions. The model will provide some beneficial theory directions for improving optical properties of dielectric coatings via substrate surface modification.

Nanoimaging using soft X-ray and EUV laser-plasma sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wachulak, Przemyslaw; Torrisi, Alfio; Ayele, Mesfin; Bartnik, Andrzej; Czwartos, Joanna; Węgrzyński, Łukasz; Fok, Tomasz; Fiedorowicz, Henryk

2018-01-01

In this work we present three experimental, compact desk-top imaging systems: SXR and EUV full field microscopes and the SXR contact microscope. The systems are based on laser-plasma EUV and SXR sources based on a double stream gas puff target. The EUV and SXR full field microscopes, operating at 13.8 nm and 2.88 nm wavelengths are capable of imaging nanostructures with a sub-50 nm spatial resolution and short (seconds) exposure times. The SXR contact microscope operates in the "water-window" spectral range and produces an imprint of the internal structure of the imaged sample in a thin layer of SXR sensitive photoresist. Applications of such desk-top EUV and SXR microscopes, mostly for biological samples (CT26 fibroblast cells and Keratinocytes) are also presented. Details about the sources, the microscopes as well as the imaging results for various objects will be presented and discussed. The development of such compact imaging systems may be important to the new research related to biological, material science and nanotechnology applications.

Development of EUV mask handling technology at MIRAI-Selete

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ota, Kazuya; Amemiya, Mitsuaki; Taguchi, Takao; Kamono, Takashi; Kubo, Hiroyoshi; Takikawa, Tadahiko; Usui, Yoichi; Suga, Osamu

2007-03-01

We, MIRAI-Selete, started a new EUV mask program in April, 2006. Development of EUV mask handling technology is one of the key areas of the program. We plan to develop mask handling technology and to evaluate EUV mask carriers using Lasertec M3350, a particle inspection tool with the defect sensitivity less than 50nm PSL, and Mask Protection Engineering Tool (named "MPE Tool"). M3350 is a newly developed tool based on a conventional M1350 for EUV blanks inspection. Since our M3350 has a blank flipping mechanism in it, we can inspect the front and the back surface of the blank automatically. We plan to use the M3350 for evaluating particle adders during mask shipping, storage and handling. MPE Tool is a special tool exclusively developed for demonstration of pellicleless mask handling. It can handle a mask within a protective enclosure, which Canon and Nikon have been jointly proposing1, and also, can be modified to handle other type of carrier as the need arises.

EB and EUV lithography using inedible cellulose-based biomass resist material

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takei, Satoshi; Hanabata, Makoto; Oshima, Akihiro; Kashiwakura, Miki; Kozawa, Takahiro; Tagawa, Seiichi

2016-03-01

The validity of our approach of inedible cellulose-based resist material derived from woody biomass has been confirmed experimentally for the use of pure water in organic solvent-free water spin-coating and tetramethylammonium hydroxide(TMAH)-free water-developable techniques of eco-conscious electron beam (EB) and extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. The water developable, non-chemically amplified, high sensitive, and negative tone resist material in EB and EUV lithography was developed for environmental affair, safety, easiness of handling, and health of the working people. The inedible cellulose-based biomass resist material was developed by replacing the hydroxyl groups in the beta-linked disaccharides with EB and EUV sensitive groups. The 50-100 nm line and space width, and little footing profiles of cellulose-based biomass resist material on hardmask and layer were resolved at the doses of 10-30 μC/cm2. The eco-conscious lithography techniques was referred to as green EB and EUV lithography using inedible cellulose-based biomass resist material.

Direct EUV/X-Ray Modulation of the Ionosphere During the August 2017 Total Solar Eclipse

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mrak, Sebastijan; Semeter, Joshua; Drob, Douglas; Huba, J. D.

2018-05-01

The great American total solar eclipse of 21 August 2017 offered a fortuitous opportunity to study the response of the atmosphere and ionosphere using a myriad of ground instruments. We have used the network of U.S. Global Positioning System receivers to examine perturbations in maps of ionospheric total electron content (TEC). Coherent large-scale variations in TEC have been interpreted by others as gravity wave-induced traveling ionospheric disturbances. However, the solar disk had two active regions at that time, one near the center of the disk and one at the edge, which resulted in an irregular illumination pattern in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV)/X-ray bands. Using detailed EUV occultation maps calculated from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Solar Dynamics Observatory Atmospheric Imaging Assembly images, we show excellent agreement between TEC perturbations and computed gradients in EUV illumination. The results strongly suggest that prominent large-scale TEC disturbances were consequences of direct EUV modulation, rather than gravity wave-induced traveling ionospheric disturbances.

Normal incidence spectrophotometer using high density transmission grating technology and highly efficiency silicon photodiodes for absolute solar EUV irradiance measurements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ogawa, H. S.; Mcmullin, D.; Judge, D. L.; Korde, R.

1992-01-01

New developments in transmission grating and photodiode technology now make it possible to realize spectrometers in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectral region (wavelengths less than 1000 A) which are expected to be virtually constant in their diffraction and detector properties. Time dependent effects associated with reflection gratings are eliminated through the use of free standing transmission gratings. These gratings together with recently developed and highly stable EUV photodiodes have been utilized to construct a highly stable normal incidence spectrophotometer to monitor the variability and absolute intensity of the solar 304 A line. Owing to its low weight and compactness, such a spectrometer will be a valuable tool for providing absolute solar irradiance throughout the EUV. This novel instrument will also be useful for cross-calibrating other EUV flight instruments and will be flown on a series of Hitchhiker Shuttle Flights and on SOHO. A preliminary version of this instrument has been fabricated and characterized, and the results are described.

The extreme ultraviolet explorer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bowyer, Stuart; Malina, Roger F.

1990-01-01

The Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) mission, currently scheduled for launch in September 1991, is described. The primary purpose of the mission is to survey the celestial sphere for astronomical sources of Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) radiation. The survey will be accomplished with the use of three EUV telescopes, each sensitive to a different segment of the EUV band. A fourth telescope will perform a high sensitivity search of a limited sample of the sky in the shortest wavelength bands. The all sky survey will be carried out in the first six months of the mission and will be made in four bands, or colors. The second phase of the mission, conducted entirely by guest observers selected by NASA, will be devoted to spectroscopic observations of EUV sources. The performance of the instrument components is described. An end to end model of the mission, from a stellar source to the resulting scientific data, was constructed. Hypothetical data from astronomical sources processed through this model are shown.

Design considerations of 10 kW-scale extreme ultraviolet SASE FEL for lithography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pagani, C.; Saldin, E. L.; Schneidmiller, E. A.; Yurkov, M. V.

2001-05-01

The semiconductor industry growth is driven to a large extent by steady advancements in microlithography. According to the newly updated industry roadmap, the 70 nm generation is anticipated to be available in the year 2008. However, the path to get there is not obvious. The problem of construction of Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) quantum laser for lithography is still unsolved: progress in this field is rather moderate and we cannot expect a significant break through in the near future. Nevertheless, there is clear path for optical lithography to take us to sub- 100 nm dimensions. Theoretical and experimental work in free electron laser (FEL) and accelerator physics and technology over the last 10 years has pointed to the possibility of generation of high-power optical beams with laser-like characteristics in the EUV spectral range. Recently, there have been important advances in demonstrating a high-gain self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) FEL at 100 nm wavelength (Andruszkov et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 85 (2000), 3825). In the SASE FEL powerful, coherent radiation is produced by the electron beam during single-pass of the undulator, thus there are no apparent limitations which would prevent operation at very short wavelength range and to increase the average output power of this device up to 10 kW level. The use of superconducting energy-recovery linac could produce a major, cost-effective facility with wall plug power to output optical power efficiency of about 1%. A 10-kW-scale transversely coherent radiation source with narrow bandwidth (0.5%) and variable wavelength could be an excellent tool for manufacturing computer chips with the minimum feature size below 100 nm. All components of the proposed SASE FEL equipment (injector, driver accelerator structure, energy-recovery system, undulator, etc.) have been demonstrated in practice. This is guaranteed success in the time schedule requirement.

Enabling inspection solutions for future mask technologies through the development of massively parallel E-Beam inspection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malloy, Matt; Thiel, Brad; Bunday, Benjamin D.; Wurm, Stefan; Jindal, Vibhu; Mukhtar, Maseeh; Quoi, Kathy; Kemen, Thomas; Zeidler, Dirk; Eberle, Anna Lena; Garbowski, Tomasz; Dellemann, Gregor; Peters, Jan Hendrik

2015-09-01

The new device architectures and materials being introduced for sub-10nm manufacturing, combined with the complexity of multiple patterning and the need for improved hotspot detection strategies, have pushed current wafer inspection technologies to their limits. In parallel, gaps in mask inspection capability are growing as new generations of mask technologies are developed to support these sub-10nm wafer manufacturing requirements. In particular, the challenges associated with nanoimprint and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) mask inspection require new strategies that enable fast inspection at high sensitivity. The tradeoffs between sensitivity and throughput for optical and e-beam inspection are well understood. Optical inspection offers the highest throughput and is the current workhorse of the industry for both wafer and mask inspection. E-beam inspection offers the highest sensitivity but has historically lacked the throughput required for widespread adoption in the manufacturing environment. It is unlikely that continued incremental improvements to either technology will meet tomorrow's requirements, and therefore a new inspection technology approach is required; one that combines the high-throughput performance of optical with the high-sensitivity capabilities of e-beam inspection. To support the industry in meeting these challenges SUNY Poly SEMATECH has evaluated disruptive technologies that can meet the requirements for high volume manufacturing (HVM), for both the wafer fab [1] and the mask shop. Highspeed massively parallel e-beam defect inspection has been identified as the leading candidate for addressing the key gaps limiting today's patterned defect inspection techniques. As of late 2014 SUNY Poly SEMATECH completed a review, system analysis, and proof of concept evaluation of multiple e-beam technologies for defect inspection. A champion approach has been identified based on a multibeam technology from Carl Zeiss. This paper includes a discussion on the need for high-speed e-beam inspection and then provides initial imaging results from EUV masks and wafers from 61 and 91 beam demonstration systems. Progress towards high resolution and consistent intentional defect arrays (IDA) is also shown.

Nonlinear optical parameters of nanocrystalline AZO thin film measured at different substrate temperatures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jilani, Asim; Abdel-wahab, M. Sh; Al-ghamdi, Attieh A.; Dahlan, Ammar sadik; Yahia, I. S.

2016-01-01

The 2.2 wt% of aluminum (Al)-doped zinc oxide (AZO) transparent and preferential c-axis oriented thin films were prepared by using radio frequency (DC/RF) magnetron sputtering at different substrate temperature ranging from room temperature to 200 °C. For structural analysis, X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Atomic Force Electron Microscope (AFM) was used for morphological studies. The optical parameters such as, optical energy gap, refractive index, extinction coefficient, dielectric loss, tangent loss, first and third order nonlinear optical properties of transparent films were investigated. High transmittance above 90% and highly homogeneous surface were observed in all samples. The substrate temperature plays an important role to get the best transparent conductive oxide thin films. The substrate temperature at 150 °C showed the growth of highly transparent AZO thin film. Energy gap increased with the increased in substrate temperature of Al doped thin films. Dielectric constant and loss were found to be photon energy dependent with substrate temperature. The change in substrate temperature of Al doped thin films also affect the non-liner optical properties of thin films. The value of χ(3) was found to be changed with the grain size of the thin films that directly affected by the substrate temperature of the pure and Al doped ZnO thin films.

EUVE/XTE orbit decay study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Richon, K.; Hashmall, J.; Lambertson, M.; Phillips, T.

1988-01-01

The Explorer Platform (EP) program currently comprises two missions, the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) and the X-ray Timing Explorer (XTE), each of which consists of a scientific payload mounted to the EP. The EP has no orbit maintenance capability. The EP with the EUVE payload will be launched first. At the end of the EUVE mission, the spacecraft will be serviced by the Space Transportation System (STS), and the EUVE instrument will be exchanged for the XTE. The XTE mission will continue until reentry or reservicing by the STS. Because the missions will be using the EP sequentially, the orbit requirements are unusually constrained by orbit decay rates. The initial altitude must be selected so that, by the end of the EUVE mission (2.5 years), the spacecraft will have decayed to an altitude within the STS capabilities. In addition, the payload exchange must occur at an altitude that ensures meeting the minimum XTE mission lifetime (3 years) because no STS reboost will be available. Studies were performed using the Goddard Mission Analysis System to estimate the effects of mass, cross-sectional area, and solar flux on the fulfillment of mission requirements. In addition to results from these studies, conclusions are presented as to the accuracy of the Marshall Space Flight Center solar flux predictions.

Surface enhanced Raman optical activity of molecules on orientationally averaged substrates: theory of electromagnetic effects.

PubMed

Janesko, Benjamin G; Scuseria, Gustavo E

2006-09-28

We present a model for electromagnetic enhancements in surface enhanced Raman optical activity (SEROA) spectroscopy. The model extends previous treatments of SEROA to substrates, such as metal nanoparticles in solution, that are orientationally averaged with respect to the laboratory frame. Our theoretical treatment combines analytical expressions for unenhanced Raman optical activity with molecular polarizability tensors that are dressed by the substrate's electromagnetic enhancements. We evaluate enhancements from model substrates to determine preliminary scaling laws and selection rules for SEROA. We find that dipolar substrates enhance Raman optical activity (ROA) scattering less than Raman scattering. Evanescent gradient contributions to orientationally averaged ROA scale to first or higher orders in the gradient of the incident plane-wave field. These evanescent gradient contributions may be large for substrates with quadrupolar responses to the plane-wave field gradient. Some substrates may also show a ROA contribution that depends only on the molecular electric dipole-electric dipole polarizability. These conclusions are illustrated via numerical calculations of surface enhanced Raman and ROA spectra from (R)-(-)-bromochlorofluoromethane on various model substrates.

Reconstruction of Solar EUV Flux 1740-2015

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Svalgaard, L.

2015-12-01

Solar Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) radiation creates the conducting E-layer of the ionosphere, mainly by photo ionization of molecular Oxygen. Solar heating of the ionosphere creates thermal winds which by dynamo action induce an electric field driving an electric current having a magnetic effect observable on the ground, as was discovered by G. Graham in 1722. The current rises and sets with the Sun and thus causes a readily observable diurnal variation of the geomagnetic field, allowing us the deduce the conductivity and thus the EUV flux as far back as reliable magnetic data reach. High-quality data go back to the 'Magnetic Crusade' of the 1830s and less reliable, but still usable, data are available for portions of the hundred years before that. J.R. Wolf and, independently, J.-A. Gautier discovered the dependence of the diurnal variation on solar activity, and today we understand and can invert that relationship to construct a reliable record of the EUV flux from the geomagnetic record. We compare that to the F10.7 flux and the sunspot number, and find that the reconstructed EUV flux reproduces the F10.7 flux with great accuracy. On the other hand, it appears that the Relative Sunspot Number as currently defined is beginning to no longer be a faithful representation of solar magnetic activity, at least as measured by the EUV and related indices. The reconstruction suggests that the EUV flux reaches the same low (but non-zero) value at every sunspot minimum (possibly including Grand Minima), representing an invariant 'solar magnetic ground state'.

Modeling of radiative properties of Sn plasmas for extreme-ultraviolet source

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sasaki, Akira; Sunahara, Atsushi; Furukawa, Hiroyuki

Atomic processes in Sn plasmas are investigated for application to extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) light sources used in microlithography. We develop a full collisional radiative (CR) model of Sn plasmas based on calculated atomic data using Hebrew University Lawrence Livermore Atomic Code (HULLAC). Resonance and satellite lines from singly and multiply excited states of Sn ions, which contribute significantly to the EUV emission, are identified and included in the model through a systematic investigation of their effect on the emission spectra. The wavelengths of the 4d-4f+4p-4d transitions of Sn{sup 5+} to Sn{sup 13+} are investigated, because of their importance for determining themore » conversion efficiency of the EUV source, in conjunction with the effect of configuration interaction in the calculation of atomic structure. Calculated emission spectra are compared with those of charge exchange spectroscopy and of laser produced plasma EUV sources. The comparison is also carried out for the opacity of a radiatively heated Sn sample. A reasonable agreement is obtained between calculated and experimental EUV emission spectra observed under the typical condition of EUV sources with the ion density and ionization temperature of the plasma around 10{sup 18} cm{sup -3} and 20 eV, respectively, by applying a wavelength correction to the resonance and satellite lines. Finally, the spectral emissivity and opacity of Sn plasmas are calculated as a function of electron temperature and ion density. The results are useful for radiation hydrodynamics simulations for the optimization of EUV sources.« less

The extreme ultraviolet spectra of low-redshift radio-loud quasars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Punsly, Brian; Reynolds, Cormac; Marziani, Paola; O'Dea, Christopher P.

2016-07-01

This paper reports on the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectrum of three low-redshift (z ˜ 0.6) radio-loud quasars, 3C 95, 3C 57 and PKS 0405-123. The spectra were obtained with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph of the Hubble Space Telescope. The bolometric thermal emission, Lbol, associated with the accretion flow is a large fraction of the Eddington limit for all of these sources. We estimate the long-term time-averaged jet power, overline{Q}, for the three sources. overline{Q}/L_{bol}, is shown to lie along the correlation of overline{Q}/L_{bol}, and αEUV found in previous studies of the EUV continuum of intermediate and high-redshift quasars, where the EUV continuum flux density between 1100 and 700 Å is defined by F_{ν } ˜ ν ^{-α _{EUV}}. The high Eddington ratios of the three quasars extend the analysis into a wider parameter space. Selecting quasars with high Eddington ratios has accentuated the statistical significance of the partial correlation analysis of the data. Namely, the correlation of overline{Q}/L_{bol} and αEUV is fundamental, and the correlation of overline{Q} and αEUV is spurious at a very high statistical significance level (99.8 per cent). This supports the regulating role of ram pressure of the accretion flow in magnetically arrested accretion models of jet production. In the process of this study, we use multifrequency and multiresolution Very Large Array radio observations to determine that one of the bipolar jets in 3C 57 is likely frustrated by galactic gas that keeps the jet from propagating outside the host galaxy.

SEMATECH EUVL mask program status

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yun, Henry; Goodwin, Frank; Huh, Sungmin; Orvek, Kevin; Cha, Brian; Rastegar, Abbas; Kearney, Patrick

2009-04-01

As we approach the 22nm half-pitch (hp) technology node, the industry is rapidly running out of patterning options. Of the several lithography techniques highlighted in the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS), the leading contender for the 22nm hp insertion is extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL). Despite recent advances with EUV resist and improvements in source power, achieving defect free EUV mask blank and enabling the EUV mask infrastructure still remain critical issues. To meet the desired EUV high volume manufacturing (HVM) insertion target date of 2013, these obstacles must be resolved on a timely bases. Many of the EUV mask related challenges remain in the pre-competitive stage and a collaborative industry based consortia, such as SEMATECH can play an important role to enable the EUVL landscape. SEMATECH based in Albany, NY is an international consortium representing several of the largest manufacturers in the semiconductor market. Full members include Intel, Samsung, AMD, IBM, Panasonic, HP, TI, UMC, CNSE (College of Nanoscience and Engineering), and Fuller Road Management. Within the SEMATECH lithography division a major thrust is centered on enabling the EUVL ecosystem from mask development, EUV resist development and addressing EUV manufacturability concerns. An important area of focus for the SEMATECH mask program has been the Mask Blank Development Center (MBDC). At the MBDC key issues in EUV blank development such as defect reduction and inspection capabilities are actively pursued together with research partners, key suppliers and member companies. In addition the mask program continues a successful track record of working with the mask community to manage and fund critical mask tools programs. This paper will highlight recent status of mask projects and longer term strategic direction at the MBDC. It is important that mask technology be ready to support pilot line development HVM by 2013. In several areas progress has been made but a continued collaborative effort will be needed along with timely infrastructure investments to meet these challenging goals.

Investigating the intrinsic cleanliness of automated handling designed for EUV mask pod-in-pod systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brux, O.; van der Walle, P.; van der Donck, J. C. J.; Dress, P.

2011-11-01

Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography (EUVL) is the most promising solution for technology nodes 16nm (hp) and below. However, several unique EUV mask challenges must be resolved for a successful launch of the technology into the market. Uncontrolled introduction of particles and/or contamination into the EUV scanner significantly increases the risk for device yield loss and potentially scanner down-time. With the absence of a pellicle to protect the surface of the EUV mask, a zero particle adder regime between final clean and the point-of-exposure is critical for the active areas of the mask. A Dual Pod concept for handling EUV masks had been proposed by the industry as means to minimize the risk of mask contamination during transport and storage. SuSS-HamaTech introduces MaskTrackPro InSync as a fully automated solution for the handling of EUV masks in and out of this Dual Pod System and therefore constitutes an interface between various tools inside the Fab. The intrinsic cleanliness of each individual handling and storage step of the inner shell (EIP) of this Dual Pod and the EUV mask inside the InSync Tool has been investigated to confirm the capability for minimizing the risk of cross-contamination. An Entegris Dual Pod EUV-1000A-A110 has been used for the qualification. The particle detection for the qualification procedure was executed with the TNO's RapidNano Particle Scanner, qualified for particle sizes down to 50nm (PSL equivalent). It has been shown that the target specification of < 2 particles @ 60nm per 25 cycles has been achieved. In case where added particles were measured, the EIP has been identified as a potential root cause for Ni particle generation. Any direct Ni-Al contact has to be avoided to mitigate the risk of material abrasion.

It's Time For A New EUV Mission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kowalski, Michael Paul; Wood, K. S.; Barstow, M. A.; Cruddace, R. G.

2010-01-01

The J-PEX high-resolution EUV spectrometer has made a breakthrough in capability with an effective area of 7 cm2 (220-245 Å) and resolving power of 4000, which exceed EUVE by factors of 7 and 20 respectively, and cover a range beyond the 170-Å cutoff of the Chandra LETG. The EUV includes critical spectral features containing diagnostic information often not available at other wavelengths (e.g., He II Ly series), and the bulk of radiation from million degree plasmas is emitted in the EUV. Such plasmas are ubiquitous, and examples include the atmospheres of white dwarfs; accretion phenomena in young stars, CVs and AGN; stellar coronae; and the ISM of our own galaxy and of others. However, sensitive EUV spectroscopy of high resolving power is required to resolve source spectral lines and edges unambiguously, to identify features produced by the intervening ISM, and to measure line profiles and Doppler shifts. This allows exploitation of the full range of plasma diagnostic techniques developed in laboratory and solar physics. J-PEX has flown twice on NASA sounding rockets. In 2001 we observed the isolated white dwarf G191-B2B and detected both ISM and photospheric lines. In 2008 we successfully observed the binary white dwarf Feige 24, but observation time is severely limited with sounding rockets. NASA has approved no new EUV mission, but it is time for one. Here we describe the scientific case for high-resolution EUV spectroscopy, summarize the technology that makes such measurements practical, and present a concept for a 3-month orbital mission, in which J-PEX is modified for a low-cost orbital mission to acquire sensitive high-resolution spectra for 30 white dwarfs, making an important contribution to the study of white dwarf evolution and hence the chemical balance of the Galaxy, and to the understanding of structure in the LISM.

The Plasmasphere as "Seen" by the IMAGE Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gallagher, D. L.; Green, J. L.; Fung, S. F.; Benson, R. F.; Sandel, B. R.; Carpenter, D. L.

1999-01-01

The Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) is the first mission designed exclusively to remotely measure the magnetosphere. As such, it will reveal the ring current, plasmasphere, polar cusp, and magnetopause as whole extended, interacting systems. For the first time, our impressions of the global magnetosphere, synthesized through many years of whistler and in situ measurement, will be replaced by images. The overall morphology of each system of plasma and the correspondence of changes between them in response to the sun and solar wind will become available. The Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUV) and the Radio Plasma Imager (RPI) are the two IMAGE instruments which will remotely measure and image the plasmasphere. What we expect to "see" from these instruments and how it may be interpreted is the subject of this presentation. The EUV instrument includes three optical cameras, with an almost 90 degree field of view, transverse to the spin axis. EUV is designed to see He+ ions in resonantly scatter solar light at 30.4rim. The IMAGE spacecraft will spin with a period of about 2 minutes, with its spin axis parallel to the orbit normal. The IMAGE orbit will be highly inclined, with a high latitude apogee at a geocentric distance of 8RE and perigee of about 1.2RE. The normal observing integration time of 10 minutes will easily see to the outer edge of the plasmasphere. The RPI instrument makes use of three orthoganal dipole antennas: two in the spin plane with a tip-to-tip length of 500m and one along the spin axis with a length of 20 meters. Using coded pulse transmissions, the RPI instrument will broadcast from 3kHz to 3MHz. With one minute resolution, plasma densities from about 0.1 cm(exp -3) to 100,000 cm(exp -3), along with line-of-sight bulk velocities and locations, will be obtained from all returned radio wave signals. When transmitting from the high latitude magnetospheric cavity, RPI will measure density profiles for the major plasma structures in the magnetosphere, including the magnetopause, polar cusp, and plasmasphere. RPI should also see isolated density irregularities and possibly the plasma sheet. Observations The EUV instrument will return line-of-sight integrated images through the optically thin helium medium of the plasmasphere and magnetosphere. A variety of techniques have been suggested for the translation of the images into physically useful data, such as plasmapause location and three dimensional density distribution. The RPI instrument will return quantitative density values and line-of-sight velocity as a function of position along reflecting wave propagation paths. How they may be used individually and together to study plasmaspheric dynamics and global structure will be discussed. Attention will also be given to the data products and how access to IMAGE data will be provided by the IMAGE team and the NSSDC.

Do some x-ray stars have white dwarf companions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mccollum, Bruce

1995-01-01

Some Be stars which are intermittent X-ray sources may have white dwarf companions rather than neutron stars. It is not possible to prove or rule out the existence of Be + WD systems using X-ray or optical data. However, the presence of a white dwarf could be established by the detection of its EUV continuum shortward of the Be star's continuum turnover at 100 A. Either the detection or the nondetection of Be + WD systems would have implications for models of Be star variability, models of Be binary system formation and evolution, and models of wind-fed accretion.

Do Some X-ray Stars Have White Dwarf Companions?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McCollum, Bruce

1995-01-01

Some Be stars which are intermittent C-ray sources may have white dwarf companions rather than neutron stars. It is not possible to prove or rule out the existence of Be+WD systems using X-ray or optical data. However, the presence of a white dwarf could be established by the detection of its EUV continuum shortward of the Be star's continuum turnover at 1OOOA. Either the detection or the nondetection of Be+WD systems would have implications for models of Be star variability, models of Be binary system formation and evolution, and models of wind-fed accretion.

EUV and X-ray spectroheliograph study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Knox, E. D.; Pastor, R. A.; Salamon, A. L.; Sterk, A. A.

1975-01-01

The results of a program directed toward the definition of an EUV and X-ray spectroheliograph which has significant performance and operational improvements over the OSO-7 instrument are documented. The program investigated methods of implementing selected changes and incorporated the results of the study into a set of drawings which defines the new instrument. The EUV detector performance degradation observed during the OSO-7 mission was investigated and the most probable cause of the degradation identified.

Principal investigators data package for Project Initiation Conference (PIC): EUVS sounding rocket no. 36.117CL. Target: Venus

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stern, S. Alan

1993-01-01

The region of the UV between 500 and 1200 A is a rich one for the study of planetary and astrophysical targets. EUV atmospheric spectroscopy opens up an important window on ion and neutral nitrogen, oxygen, and noble gas emissions. In this document we describe the specific scientific background and motivations for this Venus EUV rocket observation along with experiment design and mission parameters.

A sensitive EUV Schwarzschild microscope for plasma studies with sub-micrometer resolution

DOE PAGES

Zastrau, U.; Rodel, C.; Nakatsutsumi, M.; ...

2018-02-05

We present an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) microscope using a Schwarzschild objective which is optimized for single-shot sub-micrometer imaging of laser-plasma targets. The microscope has been designed and constructed for imaging the scattering from an EUV-heated solid-density hydrogen jet. Here, imaging of a cryogenic hydrogen target was demonstrated using single pulses of the free-electron laser in Hamburg (FLASH) free-electron laser at a wavelength of 13.5 nm. In a single exposure, we observe a hydrogen jet with ice fragments with a spatial resolution in the sub-micrometer range. In situ EUV imaging is expected to enable novel experimental capabilities for warm dense mattermore » studies of micrometer-sized samples in laser-plasma experiments.« less

A sensitive EUV Schwarzschild microscope for plasma studies with sub-micrometer resolution

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zastrau, U.; Rodel, C.; Nakatsutsumi, M.

We present an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) microscope using a Schwarzschild objective which is optimized for single-shot sub-micrometer imaging of laser-plasma targets. The microscope has been designed and constructed for imaging the scattering from an EUV-heated solid-density hydrogen jet. Here, imaging of a cryogenic hydrogen target was demonstrated using single pulses of the free-electron laser in Hamburg (FLASH) free-electron laser at a wavelength of 13.5 nm. In a single exposure, we observe a hydrogen jet with ice fragments with a spatial resolution in the sub-micrometer range. In situ EUV imaging is expected to enable novel experimental capabilities for warm dense mattermore » studies of micrometer-sized samples in laser-plasma experiments.« less

Mask process correction (MPC) modeling and its application to EUV mask for electron beam mask writer EBM-7000

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamikubo, Takashi; Ohnishi, Takayuki; Hara, Shigehiro; Anze, Hirohito; Hattori, Yoshiaki; Tamamushi, Shuichi; Bai, Shufeng; Wang, Jen-Shiang; Howell, Rafael; Chen, George; Li, Jiangwei; Tao, Jun; Wiley, Jim; Kurosawa, Terunobu; Saito, Yasuko; Takigawa, Tadahiro

2010-09-01

In electron beam writing on EUV mask, it has been reported that CD linearity does not show simple signatures as observed with conventional COG (Cr on Glass) masks because they are caused by scattered electrons form EUV mask itself which comprises stacked heavy metals and thick multi-layers. To resolve this issue, Mask Process Correction (MPC) will be ideally applicable. Every pattern is reshaped in MPC. Therefore, the number of shots would not increase and writing time will be kept within reasonable range. In this paper, MPC is extended to modeling for correction of CD linearity errors on EUV mask. And its effectiveness is verified with simulations and experiments through actual writing test.

Coater/developer based techniques to improve high-resolution EUV patterning defectivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hontake, Koichi; Huli, Lior; Lemley, Corey; Hetzer, Dave; Liu, Eric; Ko, Akiteru; Kawakami, Shinichiro; Shimoaoki, Takeshi; Hashimoto, Yusaku; Tanaka, Koichiro; Petrillo, Karen; Meli, Luciana; De Silva, Anuja; Xu, Yongan; Felix, Nelson; Johnson, Richard; Murray, Cody; Hubbard, Alex

2017-10-01

Extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) technology is one of the leading candidates under consideration for enabling the next generation of devices, for 7nm node and beyond. As the focus shifts to driving down the 'effective' k1 factor and enabling the full scaling entitlement of EUV patterning, new techniques and methods must be developed to reduce the overall defectivity, mitigate pattern collapse, and eliminate film-related defects. In addition, CD uniformity and LWR/LER must be improved in terms of patterning performance. Tokyo Electron Limited (TEL™) and IBM Corporation are continuously developing manufacturing quality processes for EUV. In this paper, we review the ongoing progress in coater/developer based processes (coating, developing, baking) that are required to enable EUV patterning.

Thin film filter lifetesting results in the extreme ultraviolet

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vedder, P. W.; Vallerga, J. V.; Gibson, J. L.; Stock, J.; Siegmund, O. H. W.

1993-01-01

We present the results of the thin film filter lifetesting program conducted as part of the NASA Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) satellite mission. This lifetesting program is designed to monitor changes in the transmission and mechanical properties of the EUVE filters over the lifetime of the mission (fabrication, assembly, launch and operation). Witness test filters were fabricated from thin film foils identical to those used in the flight filters. The witness filters have been examined and calibrated periodically over the past seven years. The filters have been examined for evidence of pinholing, mechanical degradation, and oxidation. Absolute transmissions of the flight and witness filters have been measured in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) over six orders of magnitude at numerous wavelengths using the Berkeley EUV Calibration Facility.

Solar EUV irradiance from the San Marco ASSI - A reference spectrum

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schmidtke, Gerhard; Woods, Thomas N.; Worden, John; Rottman, Gary J.; Doll, Harry; Wita, Claus; Solomon, Stanley C.

1992-01-01

The only satellite measurement of the solar EUV irradiance during solar cycle 22 has been obtained with the Airglow Solar Spectrometer Instrument (ASSI) aboard the San Marco 5 satellite flown in 1988. The ASSI in-flight calibration parameters are established by using the internal capabilities of ASSI and by comparing ASSI results to the results from other space-based experiments on the ASSI calibration rocket and the Solar Mesospheric Explorer (SME). A solar EUV irradiance spectrum derived from ASSI observations on November 10, 1988 is presented as a reference spectrum for moderate solar activity for the aeronomy community. This ASSI spectrum should be considered as a refinement and extension of the solar EUV spectrum published for the same day by Woods and Rottman (1990).

Ultimate patterning limits for EUV at 5nm node and beyond

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ali, Rehab Kotb; Hamed Fatehy, Ahmed; Lafferty, Neal; Word, James

2018-03-01

The 5nm technology node introduces more aggressive geometries than previous nodes. In this paper, we are introducing a comprehensive study to examine the pattering limits of EUV at 0.33NA. The study is divided into two main approaches: (A) Exploring pattering limits of Single Exposure EUV Cut/Block mask in Self-Aligned-Multi-Patterning (SAMP) process, and (B) Exploring the pattering limits of a Single Exposure EUV printing of metal Layers. The printability of the resulted OPC masks is checked through a model based manufacturing flow for the two pattering approaches. The final manufactured patterns are quantified by Edge Placement Error (EPE), Process Variation Band (PVBand), soft/hard bridging and pinching, Image Log Slope (ILS) and Common Depth of Focus (CDOF)

Mask-induced aberration in EUV lithography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakajima, Yumi; Sato, Takashi; Inanami, Ryoichi; Nakasugi, Tetsuro; Higashiki, Tatsuhiko

2009-04-01

We estimated aberrations using Zernike sensitivity analysis. We found the difference of the tolerated aberration with line direction for illumination. The tolerated aberration of perpendicular line for illumination is much smaller than that of parallel line. We consider this difference to be attributable to the mask 3D effect. We call it mask-induced aberration. In the case of the perpendicular line for illumination, there was a difference in CD between right line and left line without aberration. In this report, we discuss the possibility of pattern formation in NA 0.25 generation EUV lithography tool. In perpendicular pattern for EUV light, the dominant part of aberration is mask-induced aberration. In EUV lithography, pattern correction based on the mask topography effect will be more important.

Polished polymide substrate

DOEpatents

Farah, John; Sudarshanam, Venkatapuram S.

2003-05-13

Polymer substrates, in particular polyimide substrates, and polymer laminates for optical applications are described. Polyimide substrates are polished on one or both sides depending on their thickness, and single-layer or multi-layer waveguide structures are deposited on the polished polyimide substrates. Optical waveguide devices are machined by laser ablation using a combination of IR and UV lasers. A waveguide-fiber coupler with a laser-machined groove for retaining the fiber is also disclosed.

Advances in low-defect multilayers for EUVL mask blanks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Folta, James A.; Davidson, J. Courtney; Larson, Cindy C.; Walton, Christopher C.; Kearney, Patrick A.

2002-07-01

Low-defect multilayer coatings are required to fabricate mask blanks for Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography (EUVL). The mask blanks consist of high reflectance EUV multilayers on low thermal expansion substrates. A defect density of 0.0025 printable defects/cm2 for both the mask substrate and the multilayer is required to provide a mask blank yield of 60 percent. Current low defect multilayer coating technology allows repeated coating-added defect levels of 0.05/cm2 for defects greater than 90 nm polystyrene latex sphere (PSL) equivalent size for lots of 20 substrates. Extended clean operation of the coating system at levels below 0.08/cm2 for 3 months of operation has also been achieved. Two substrates with zero added defects in the quality area have been fabricated, providing an existence proof that ultra low defect coatings are possible. Increasing the ion source-to-target distance from 410 to 560 mm to reduce undesired coating of the ion source caused the defect density to increase to 0.2/cm2. Deposition and etching diagnostic witness substrates and deposition pinhole cameras showed a much higher level of ion beam spillover (ions missing the sputter target) than expected. Future work will quantify beam spillover, and test designs to reduce spillover, if it is confirmed to be the cause of the increased defect level. The LDD system will also be upgraded to allow clean coating of standard format mask substrates. The upgrade will confirm that the low defect process developed on Si wafers is compatible with the standard mask format 152 mm square substrates, and will provide a clean supply of EUVL mask blanks needed to support development of EUVL mask patterning processes and clean mask handling technologies.

Plasmon-assisted optical vias for photonic ASICS

DOEpatents

Skogen, Erik J.; Vawter, Gregory A.; Tauke-Pedretti, Anna

2017-03-21

The present invention relates to optical vias to optically connect multilevel optical circuits. In one example, the optical via includes a surface plasmon polariton waveguide, and a first optical waveguide formed on a first substrate is coupled to a second optical waveguide formed on a second substrate by the surface plasmon polariton waveguide. In some embodiments, the first optical waveguide includes a transition region configured to convert light from an optical mode to a surface plasmon polariton mode or from a surface plasmon polariton mode to an optical mode.

Contact Electrification of Individual Dielectric Microparticles Measured by Optical Tweezers in Air.

PubMed

Park, Haesung; LeBrun, Thomas W

2016-12-21

We measure charging of single dielectric microparticles after interaction with a glass substrate using optical tweezers to control the particle, measure its charge with a sensitivity of a few electrons, and precisely contact the particle with the substrate. Polystyrene (PS) microparticles adhered to the substrate can be selected based on size, shape, or optical properties and repeatedly loaded into the optical trap using a piezoelectric (PZT) transducer. Separation from the substrate leads to charge transfer through contact electrification. The charge on the trapped microparticles is measured from the response of the particle motion to a step excitation of a uniform electric field. The particle is then placed onto a target location of the substrate in a controlled manner. Thus, the triboelectric charging profile of the selected PS microparticle can be measured and controlled through repeated cycles of trap loading followed by charge measurement. Reversible optical trap loading and manipulation of the selected particle leads to new capabilities to study and control successive and small changes in surface interactions.

Characterization and control of EUV scanner dose uniformity and stability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robinson, Chris; Corliss, Dan; Meli, Luciana; Johnson, Rick

2018-03-01

The EUV source is an impressive feat of engineering that provides 13.5 nm radiation by vaporizing tin droplets with a high power CO2 laser and focusing the photons produced in the resultant plasma into the scanner illumination system. Great strides have been made in addressing the many potential stability challenges, but there are still residual spatial and temporal dose non-uniformity signatures. Since even small dose errors can impact the yieldable process window for the advanced lithography products that are exposed on EUV scanners it is crucial to monitor and control the dose variability. Using on-board metrology, the EUV scanner outputs valuable metrics that provide real time insight into the dose performance. We have supplemented scanner data collection with a wafer based methodology that provides high throughput, high sensitivity, quantitative characterization of the EUV scanner dose delivery. The technique uses open frame EUV exposures, so it is exclusive of lithographic pattern imaging, exclusive of lithographic mask pattern and not limited by placement of metrology features. Processed wafers are inspected rapidly, providing 20,000 pixels of detail per exposure field in approximately one minute. Exposing the wafer on the scanner with a bit less than the resist E0 (open frame clearing dose) results in good sensitivity to small variations in the EUV dose delivered. The nominal exposure dose can be modulated by field to calibrate the inspection results and provide quantitative assessment of variations with < 1% sensitivity. This technique has been used for dose uniformity assessments. It is also being used for long term dose stability monitoring and has proven valuable for short term dose stability follow up investigations.

THE INFLUENCE OF THE EXTREME ULTRAVIOLET SPECTRAL ENERGY DISTRIBUTION ON THE STRUCTURE AND COMPOSITION OF THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE OF EXOPLANETS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Guo, J. H.; Ben-Jaffel, Lotfi, E-mail: guojh@ynao.ac.cn, E-mail: bjaffel@iap.fr

2016-02-20

By varying the profiles of stellar extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectral energy distributions (SEDs), we tested the influences of stellar EUV SEDs on the physical and chemical properties of an escaping atmosphere. We apply our model to study four exoplanets: HD 189733b, HD 209458b, GJ 436b, and Kepler-11b. We find that the total mass loss rates of an exoplanet, which are determined mainly by the integrated fluxes, are moderately affected by the profiles of the EUV SED, but the composition and species distributions in the atmosphere can be dramatically modified by the different profiles of the EUV SED. For exoplanets withmore » a high hydrodynamic escape parameter (λ), the amount of atomic hydrogen produced by photoionization at different altitudes can vary by one to two orders of magnitude with the variation of stellar EUV SEDs. The effect of photoionization of H is prominent when the EUV SED is dominated by the low-energy spectral region (400–900 Å), which pushes the transition of H/H{sup +} to low altitudes. In contrast, the transition of H/H{sup +} moves to higher altitudes when most photons are concentrated in the high-energy spectral region (50–400 Å). For exoplanets with a low λ, the lower temperatures of the atmosphere make many chemical reactions so important that photoionization alone can no longer determine the composition of the escaping atmosphere. For HD 189733b, it is possible to explain the time variability of Lyα between 2010 and 2011 by a change in the EUV SED of the host K-type star, yet invoking only thermal H i in the atmosphere.« less

CME Expansion as the Driver of Metric Type II Shock Emission as Revealed by Self-consistent Analysis of High-Cadence EUV Images and Radio Spectrograms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kouloumvakos, A.; Patsourakos, S.; Hillaris, A.; Vourlidas, A.; Preka-Papadema, P.; Moussas, X.; Caroubalos, C.; Tsitsipis, P.; Kontogeorgos, A.

2014-06-01

On 13 June 2010, an eruptive event occurred near the solar limb. It included a small filament eruption and the onset of a relatively narrow coronal mass ejection (CME) surrounded by an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) wave front recorded by the Solar Dynamics Observatory's (SDO) Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) at high cadence. The ejection was accompanied by a GOES M1.0 soft X-ray flare and a Type-II radio burst; high-resolution dynamic spectra of the latter were obtained by the Appareil de Routine pour le Traitement et l'Enregistrement Magnetique de l'Information Spectral (ARTEMIS IV) radio spectrograph. The combined observations enabled a study of the evolution of the ejecta and the EUV wave front and its relationship with the coronal shock manifesting itself as metric Type-II burst. By introducing a novel technique, which deduces a proxy of the EUV compression ratio from AIA imaging data and compares it with the compression ratio deduced from the band-split of the Type-II metric radio burst, we are able to infer the potential source locations of the radio emission of the shock on that AIA images. Our results indicate that the expansion of the CME ejecta is the source for both EUV and radio shock emissions. Early in the CME expansion phase, the Type-II burst seems to originate in the sheath region between the EUV bubble and the EUV shock front in both radial and lateral directions. This suggests that both the nose and the flanks of the expanding bubble could have driven the shock.

Optical limiting device and method of preparation thereof

DOEpatents

Wang, Hsing-Lin; Xu, Su; McBranch, Duncan W.

2003-01-01

Optical limiting device and method of preparation thereof. The optical limiting device includes a transparent substrate and at least one homogeneous layer of an RSA material in polyvinylbutyral attached to the substrate. The device may be produced by preparing a solution of an RSA material, preferably a metallophthalocyanine complex, and a solution of polyvinylbutyral, and then mixing the two solutions together to remove air bubbles. The resulting solution is layered onto the substrate and the solvent is evaporated. The method can be used to produce a dual tandem optical limiting device.

Enhancement of EUV emission from a liquid microjet target by use of dual laser pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Higashiguchi, Takeshi; Rajyaguru, Chirag; Koga, Masato; Kawasaki, Keita; Sasaki, Wataru; Kubodera, Shoichi; Kikuchi, Takashi; Yugami, Noboru; Kawata, Shigeo; Andreev, Alexander A.

2005-03-01

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation at the wavelength of around 13nm waws observed from a laser-produced plasma using continuous water-jet. Strong dependence of the conversion efficiency (CE) on the laser focal spot size and jet diameter was observed. The EUV CE at a given laser spot size and jet diameter was further enhanced using double laser pulses, where a pre-pulse was used for initial heating of the plasma.

Extreme ultraviolet spectroscopy of low pressure helium microwave driven discharges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Espinho, Susana; Felizardo, Edgar; Tatarova, Elena; Alves, Luis Lemos

2016-09-01

Surface wave driven discharges are reliable plasma sources that can produce high levels of vacuum and extreme ultraviolet radiation (VUV and EUV). The richness of the emission spectrum makes this type of discharge a possible alternative source in EUV/VUV radiation assisted applications. However, due to challenging experimental requirements, publications concerning EUV radiation emitted by microwave plasmas are scarce and a deeper understanding of the main mechanisms governing the emission of radiation in this spectral range is required. To this end, the EUV radiation emitted by helium microwave driven plasmas operating at 2.45 GHz has been studied for low pressure conditions. Spectral lines from excited helium atoms and ions were detected via emission spectroscopy in the EUV/VUV regions. Novel data concerning the spectral lines observed in the 23 - 33 nm wavelength range and their intensity behaviour with variation of the discharge operational conditions are presented. The intensity of all the spectral emissions strongly increases with the microwave power delivered to the plasma up to 400 W. Furthermore, the intensity of all the ion spectral emissions in the EUV range decreases by nearly one order of magnitude as the pressure was raised from 0.2 to 0.5 mbar. Work funded by FCT - Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia, under Project UID/FIS/50010/2013 and grant SFRH/BD/52412/2013 (PD-F APPLAuSE).

Recent solar extreme ultraviolet irradiance observations and modeling: A review

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tobiska, W. Kent

1993-01-01

For more than 90 years, solar extreme ultraviolet (EUV) irradiance modeling has progressed from empirical blackbody radiation formulations, through fudge factors, to typically measured irradiances and reference spectra was well as time-dependent empirical models representing continua and line emissions. A summary of recent EUV measurements by five rockets and three satellites during the 1980s is presented along with the major modeling efforts. The most significant reference spectra are reviewed and threee independently derived empirical models are described. These include Hinteregger's 1981 SERF1, Nusinov's 1984 two-component, and Tobiska's 1990/1991/SERF2/EUV91 flux models. They each provide daily full-disk broad spectrum flux values from 2 to 105 nm at 1 AU. All the models depend to one degree or another on the long time series of the Atmosphere Explorer E (AE-E) EUV database. Each model uses ground- and/or space-based proxies to create emissions from solar atmospheric regions. Future challenges in EUV modeling are summarized including the basic requirements of models, the task of incorporating new observations and theory into the models, the task of comparing models with solar-terrestrial data sets, and long-term goals and modeling objectives. By the late 1990s, empirical models will potentially be improved through the use of proposed solar EUV irradiance measurements and images at selected wavelengths that will greatly enhance modeling and predictive capabilities.

Distinct EUV minimum of the solar irradiance (16-40 nm) observed by SolACES spectrometers onboard the International Space Station (ISS) in August/September 2009

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nikutowski, B.; Brunner, R.; Erhardt, Ch.; Knecht, St.; Schmidtke, G.

2011-09-01

In the field of terrestrial climatology the continuous monitoring of the solar irradiance with highest possible accuracy is an important goal. SolACES as a part of the ESA mission SOLAR on the ISS is measuring the short-wavelength solar EUV irradiance from 16-150 nm. This data will be made available to the scientific community to investigate the impact of the solar irradiance variability on the Earth's climate as well as the thermospheric/ionospheric interactions that are pursued in the TIGER program. Since the successful launch with the shuttle mission STS-122 on February 7th, 2008, SolACES initially recorded the low EUV irradiance during the extended solar activity minimum. Thereafter it has been observing the EUV irradiance during the increasing solar activity with enhanced intensity and changing spectral composition. SolACES consists of three grazing incidence planar grating spectrometers. In addition there are two three-signal ionisation chambers, each with exchangeable band-pass filters to determine the absolute EUV fluxes repeatedly during the mission. One important problem of space-borne instrumentation recording the solar EUV irradiance is the degradation of the spectrometer sensitivity. The two double ionisation chambers of SolACES, which could be re-filled with three different gases for each recording, allow the recalibration of the efficiencies of the three SolACES spectrometers from time to time.

An investigation of solar erythemal ultraviolet radiation at two sites in tourist attraction areas of Thailand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buntoung, Sumaman; Pattarapanitchai, Somjet; Wattan, Rungrat; Masiri, Itsara; Promsen, Worrapass; Tohsing, Korntip; Janjai, Serm

2013-05-01

Islands on the southern coasts of Thailand are famous attractions for local and foreign tourists. Tourists usually expose their skins to solar radiation for tanning. Thus information on solar ultraviolet radiation (UV) is of importance for tourists to protect themselves from adverse effects of UV. In this work, solar erythemal ultraviolet radiation (EUV) at two touristic sites namely Samui island (9.451°N, 100.033°E) and Phuket island (8.104°N, 98.304°E) was investigated. In investigating EUV, broadband UV radiometers (Kipp & Zonen, model UVS-B-C) were installed at existing meteorological stations in Samui and Phuket islands. A one-year period of EUV data from these two sites was analyzed. The level of UV index at these sites was studied. The values of UV index higher than 12 at noon time of clear days are usually found in the summer at both sites. Seasonal variation of EUV at both sites was investigated. It was found that the tropical monsoons have strong influence on this variation. Finally, global broadband radiation measured at the sites was also used to establish a correlation between EUV and global broadband radiation. Higher correlation was found for the case of clear sky, as compared to the case of cloudy sky. The correlation obtained from this analysis can be used to estimate EUV from global broadband radiation at these two sites.

Spherical EUV and Plasma Spectrometer (seps) -a Monitor to Measure the Plasma and EUV Environment in Space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brunner, Raimund; Schmidtke, Gerhard; Konz, Werner; Pfeffer, Wilfried

A low-cost monitor to measure the EUV and plasma environment in space is presented. The device consists of three (or more) isolated spheres, a metallic sphere, one or more highly trans-parent Inner Grids and Outer Grids. Each one is being connected to a sensitive floating elec-trometer. By setting different potentials to the grids as well as to the sphere and varying one or more of their voltages, measurements of spectral solar EUV irradiance (15-200 nm), of local plasma parameters such as electron and ion densities, electron energies and temperatures as well as ion compositions and debris events can be derived from the current recordings. This detector does not require any (solar) pointing device. The primary goal is to study the impact of solar activity events (e.g. CMEs) as well as subsequent reactions of the ionospheric/thermospheric systems (including space weather occurences). The capability of SEPS for measuring EUV pho-ton fluxes as well as plasma parameters in the energy range from 0 to +/-70 eV is demonstrated by laboratory measurements as performed in the IPM laboratory, at BESSY-PTB electron syn-chrotron in Berlin and at ESA/ESTEC plasma chamber. Based on the laboratory recording of plasma recombination EUV emission the sensor is suitable to detect also auroral and airglow radiations. -The state of the art in the development of this device is reported.

Laser-plasma extreme ultraviolet and soft X-ray sources based on a double stream gas puff target: interaction of the radiation pulses with matter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bartnik, A.

2015-06-01

In this work a review of investigations concerning interaction of intense extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and soft X-ray (SXR) pulses with matter is presented. The investigations were performed using laser-produced plasma (LPP) EUV/SXR sources based on a double stream gas puff target. The sources are equipped with dedicated collectors allowing for efficient focusing of the EUV/SXR radiation pulses. Intense radiation in a wide spectral range, as well as a quasi-monochromatic radiation can be produced. In the paper different kinds of LPP EUV/SXR sources developed in the Institute of Optoelectronics, Military University of Technology are described. Radiation intensities delivered by the sources are sufficient for different kinds of interaction experiments including EUV/SXR induced ablation, surface treatment, EUV fluorescence or photoionized plasma creation. A brief review of the main results concerning this kind of experiments performed by author of the paper are presented. However, since the LPP sources cannot compete with large scale X-ray sources like synchrotrons, free electron lasers or high energy density plasma sources, it was indicated that some investigations not requiring extreme irradiation parameters can be performed using the small scale installations. Some results, especially concerning low temperature photoionized plasmas are very unique and could be hardly obtained using the large facilities.

The Origin of the EUV Emission in Her X-1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Leahy, D. A.; Marshall, H.

1999-01-01

Her X-1 exhibits a strong orbital modulation of its EUV flux with a large decrease around time of eclipse of the neutron star, and a significant dip which appears at different orbital phases at different 35-day phases. We consider observations of Her X-1 in the EUVE by the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE), which includes data from 1995 near the end of the Short High state, and date from 1997 at the start of the Short High state. The observed EUV lightcurve has bright and faint phases. The bright phase can be explained as the low energy tail of the soft x-ray pulse. The faint phase emission has been modeled to understand its origin. We find: the x-ray heated surface of HZ Her is too cool to produce enough emission; the accretion disk does not explain the orbital modulation; however, reflection of x-rays off of HZ Her can produce the observed lightcurve with orbital eclipses. The dip can be explained by shadowing of the companion by the accretion disk. We discuss the constraints on the accretion disk geometry derived from the observed shadowing.

Detection of significant differences between absorption spectra of neutral helium and low temperature photoionized helium plasmas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bartnik, A.; Wachulak, P.; Fiedorowicz, H.

2013-11-15

In this work, spectral investigations of photoionized He plasmas were performed. The photoionized plasmas were created by irradiation of helium stream, with intense pulses from laser-plasma extreme ultraviolet (EUV) source. The EUV source was based on a double-stream Xe/Ne gas-puff target irradiated with 10 ns/10 J Nd:YAG laser pulses. The most intense emission from the source spanned a relatively narrow spectral region below 20 nm, however, spectrally integrated intensity at longer wavelengths was also significant. The EUV radiation was focused onto a gas stream, injected into a vacuum chamber synchronously with the EUV pulse. The long-wavelength part of the EUVmore » radiation was used for backlighting of the photoionized plasmas to obtain absorption spectra. Both emission and absorption spectra in the EUV range were investigated. Significant differences between absorption spectra acquired for neutral helium and low temperature photoionized plasmas were demonstrated for the first time. Strong increase of intensities and spectral widths of absorption lines, together with a red shift of the K-edge, was shown.« less

Relationship between hard X-ray and EUV sources in solar flares

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kane, S. R.; Frost, K. J.; Donnelly, R. F.

1979-01-01

The high time resolution hard X-ray (not less than 15 keV) observations of medium and large impulsive solar flares made with the OSO 5 satellite are compared with the simultaneous ground-based observations of 10-1030 A EUV flux made via sudden frequency deviations (SFD) at Boulder. For most flares the agreement between the times of maxima of the impulsive hard X-ray and EUV emissions is found to be consistent with earlier studies (not less than 1 s). The rise and decay times of the EUV emission are larger than the corresponding times for X-rays not less than 30 keV. When OSO 5 hard X-ray measurements are combined with those made by OGO1, OGO 3, OGO 5, and TD 1A satellites, it is found that there is a nearly linear relationship between the energy fluxes of impulsive EUV emission and X-rays not less than 10 keV over a wide range of flare magnitudes. A model involving only a 'partial precipitation' of energetic electrons and consisting of both thick and thin target hard X-ray sources is examined.

Studies on cryogenic Xe capillary jet target for laser-produced plasma EUV-light source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Inoue, T.; Nica, P. E.; Kaku, K.; Shimoura, A.; Amano, S.; Miyamoto, S.; Mochizuki, T.

2006-03-01

In this paper, characterizations of a cryogenic Xe capillary jet target for a laser-produced plasma extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light source are reported. The capillary jet target is a candidate of fast-supplying targets for mitigating debris generation and target consumption in a vacuum chamber without reducing the EUV conversion efficiency. Xe capillary jets (jet velocity ~ 0.4 m/s) were generated in vacuum by using annular nozzles chilled to ~ 170 K at a Xe backing pressure of ~ 0.7 MPa. Forming mechanisms of the capillary jet targets were studied by using numerical calculations. Furthermore, laser-produced plasma EUV generation was performed by irradiating a Nd:YAG laser (1064 nm, ~ 0.5 J, 10 ns, 120 μmφ, ~ 4×10 11 W/cm2) on a Xe capillary jet target (outer / inner diameter = 100 / 70 μmφ). The angular distribution of EUV generation was approximately uniform around the Xe capillary jet target, and the peak kinetic energy of the fast-ions was evaluated to be ~ 2 keV.

Understanding and reduction of defects on finished EUV masks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liang, Ted; Sanchez, Peter; Zhang, Guojing; Shu, Emily; Nagpal, Rajesh; Stivers, Alan

2005-05-01

To reduce the risk of EUV lithography adaptation for the 32nm technology node in 2009, Intel has operated a EUV mask Pilot Line since early 2004. The Pilot Line integrates all the necessary process modules including common tool sets shared with current photomask production as well as EUV specific tools. This integrated endeavor ensures a comprehensive understanding of any issues, and development of solutions for the eventual fabrication of defect-free EUV masks. Two enabling modules for "defect-free" masks are pattern inspection and repair, which have been integrated into the Pilot Line. This is the first time we are able to look at real defects originated from multilayer blanks and patterning process on finished masks over entire mask area. In this paper, we describe our efforts in the qualification of DUV pattern inspection and electron beam mask repair tools for Pilot Line operation, including inspection tool sensitivity, defect classification and characterization, and defect repair. We will discuss the origins of each of the five classes of defects as seen by DUV pattern inspection tool on finished masks, and present solutions of eliminating and mitigating them.

Overview of Key Results from SDO Extreme ultraviolet Variability Experiment (EVE)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Woods, Tom; Eparvier, Frank; Jones, Andrew; Mason, James; Didkovsky, Leonid; Chamberlin, Phil

2016-10-01

The SDO Extreme ultraviolet Variability Experiment (EVE) includes several channels to observe the solar extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectral irradiance from 1 to 106 nm. These channels include the Multiple EUV Grating Spectrograph (MEGS) A, B, and P channels from the University of Colorado (CU) and the EUV SpectroPhometer (ESP) channels from the University of Southern California (USC). The solar EUV spectrum is rich in many different emission lines from the corona, transition region, and chromosphere. The EVE full-disk irradiance spectra are important for studying the solar impacts in Earth's ionosphere and thermosphere and are useful for space weather operations. In addition, the EVE observations, with its high spectral resolution of 0.1 nm and in collaboration with AIA solar EUV images, have proven valuable for studying active region evolution and explosive energy release during flares and coronal eruptions. These SDO measurements have revealed interesting results such as understanding the flare variability over all wavelengths, discovering and classifying different flare phases, using coronal dimming measurements to predict CME properties of mass and velocity, and exploring the role of nano-flares in continual heating of active regions.

The Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bowyer, S.; Malina, R. F.

1991-01-01

The Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) mission, currently scheduled from launch in September 1991, is described. The primary purpose of the mission is to survey the celestial sphere for astronomical sources of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation with the use of three EUV telescope, each sensitive to a different segment of the EUV band. A fourth telescope is planned to perform a high-sensitivity search of a limited sample of the sky in the shortest wavelength bands. The all-sky survey is planned to be carried out in the first six months of the mission in four bands, or colors, 70-180 A, 170-250 A, 400-600 A, and 500-700 A. The second phase of the mission is devoted to spectroscopic observations of EUV sources. A high-efficiency grazing-incidence spectrometer using variable line-space gratings is planned to provide spectral data with about 1-A resolution. An end-to-end model of the mission, from a stellar source to the resulting scientific data, is presented. Hypothetical data from astronomical sources were processed through this model and are shown.

Systems having optical absorption layer for mid and long wave infrared and methods for making the same

DOEpatents

Kuzmenko, Paul J

2013-10-01

An optical system according to one embodiment includes a substrate; and an optical absorption layer coupled to the substrate, wherein the optical absorption layer comprises a layer of diamond-like carbon, wherein the optical absorption layer absorbs at least 50% of mid wave infrared light (3-5 .mu.m wavelength) and at least 50% of long wave infrared light (8-13 .mu.m wavelength). A method for applying an optical absorption layer to an optical system according to another embodiment includes depositing a layer of diamond-like carbon of an optical absorption layer above a substrate using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, wherein the optical absorption layer absorbs at least 50% of mid wave infrared light (3-5 .mu.m wavelength) and at least 50% of long wave infrared light (8-13 .mu.m wavelength). Additional systems and methods are also presented.

A stand-alone compact EUV microscope based on gas-puff target source.

PubMed

Torrisi, Alfio; Wachulak, Przemyslaw; Węgrzyński, Łukasz; Fok, Tomasz; Bartnik, Andrzej; Parkman, Tomáš; Vondrová, Šárka; Turňová, Jana; Jankiewicz, Bartłomiej J; Bartosewicz, Bartosz; Fiedorowicz, Henryk

2017-02-01

We report on a very compact desk-top transmission extreme ultraviolet (EUV) microscope based on a laser-plasma source with a double stream gas-puff target, capable of acquiring magnified images of objects with a spatial (half-pitch) resolution of sub-50 nm. A multilayer ellipsoidal condenser is used to focus and spectrally narrow the radiation from the plasma, producing a quasi-monochromatic EUV radiation (λ = 13.8 nm) illuminating the object, whereas a Fresnel zone plate objective forms the image. Design details, development, characterization and optimization of the EUV source and the microscope are described and discussed. Test object and other samples were imaged to demonstrate superior resolution compared to visible light microscopy. © 2016 The Authors Journal of Microscopy © 2016 Royal Microscopical Society.

Switchable vanadium oxide films by a sol-gel process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Partlow, D. P.; Gurkovich, S. R.; Radford, K. C.; Denes, L. J.

1991-07-01

Thin polycrystalline films of VO2 and V2O3 were deposited on a variety of substrates using a sol-gel process. The orientation, microstructure, optical constants, and optical and electrical switching behavior are presented. These films exhibited sharp optical switching behavior even on an amorphous substrate such as fused silica. The method yields reproducible results and is amenable to the coating of large substrates and curved surfaces such as mirrors and lenses.

An EUV Study of the Eclipsing M-Dwarf Binary System YY GEM

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Drake, Jeremy

2000-01-01

EUVE, SW, MW and LW spectra have been reduced and line fluxes measured. The Deep Survey data has been analyzed and light curves have been derived. The spectra around the HE II 304 region show some evidence of emission from the bright A companion star, Castor. Preliminary results for the metallicity of the corona of YY Gem were derived from the EUVE spectra and photometry and were presented at the AAS HEAD meeting; results are being finalized for publication in a referred journal.

Slowly varying component of extreme ultraviolet solar radiation and its relation to solar radio radiation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chapman, R. D.; Neupert, W. M.

1974-01-01

A study of the correlations between solar EUV line fluxes and solar radio fluxes has been carried out. A calibration for the Goddard Space Flight Center EUV spectrum is suggested. The results are used to obtain an equation for the absolute EUV flux for several lines in the 150- to 400-A region and the total flux of 81 intense lines in the region, the 2800-MHz radio flux being used as independent variable.

Monitoring of solar far ultraviolet radiation from the OSO-5 satellite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rense, W. A.; Parker, R.

1972-01-01

A spectrophotometer for monitoring the solar EUV in three broad wavelength bands is described. The kind of data obtained, along with sources of error, are presented. The content of the tape library which contains the data is outlined. The scientific results are discussed. These include the following: solar flares in the EUV, solar eclipse observations in the EUV, SFD's and relationship to solar flares, and the application of satellite sunrise and sunset data for the study of model upper atmospheres for the earth.

Extragalactic background light measurements and applications.

PubMed

Cooray, Asantha

2016-03-01

This review covers the measurements related to the extragalactic background light intensity from γ-rays to radio in the electromagnetic spectrum over 20 decades in wavelength. The cosmic microwave background (CMB) remains the best measured spectrum with an accuracy better than 1%. The measurements related to the cosmic optical background (COB), centred at 1 μm, are impacted by the large zodiacal light associated with interplanetary dust in the inner Solar System. The best measurements of COB come from an indirect technique involving γ-ray spectra of bright blazars with an absorption feature resulting from pair-production off of COB photons. The cosmic infrared background (CIB) peaking at around 100 μm established an energetically important background with an intensity comparable to the optical background. This discovery paved the way for large aperture far-infrared and sub-millimetre observations resulting in the discovery of dusty, starbursting galaxies. Their role in galaxy formation and evolution remains an active area of research in modern-day astrophysics. The extreme UV (EUV) background remains mostly unexplored and will be a challenge to measure due to the high Galactic background and absorption of extragalactic photons by the intergalactic medium at these EUV/soft X-ray energies. We also summarize our understanding of the spatial anisotropies and angular power spectra of intensity fluctuations. We motivate a precise direct measurement of the COB between 0.1 and 5 μm using a small aperture telescope observing either from the outer Solar System, at distances of 5 AU or more, or out of the ecliptic plane. Other future applications include improving our understanding of the background at TeV energies and spectral distortions of CMB and CIB.

Extragalactic background light measurements and applications

PubMed Central

Cooray, Asantha

2016-01-01

This review covers the measurements related to the extragalactic background light intensity from γ-rays to radio in the electromagnetic spectrum over 20 decades in wavelength. The cosmic microwave background (CMB) remains the best measured spectrum with an accuracy better than 1%. The measurements related to the cosmic optical background (COB), centred at 1 μm, are impacted by the large zodiacal light associated with interplanetary dust in the inner Solar System. The best measurements of COB come from an indirect technique involving γ-ray spectra of bright blazars with an absorption feature resulting from pair-production off of COB photons. The cosmic infrared background (CIB) peaking at around 100 μm established an energetically important background with an intensity comparable to the optical background. This discovery paved the way for large aperture far-infrared and sub-millimetre observations resulting in the discovery of dusty, starbursting galaxies. Their role in galaxy formation and evolution remains an active area of research in modern-day astrophysics. The extreme UV (EUV) background remains mostly unexplored and will be a challenge to measure due to the high Galactic background and absorption of extragalactic photons by the intergalactic medium at these EUV/soft X-ray energies. We also summarize our understanding of the spatial anisotropies and angular power spectra of intensity fluctuations. We motivate a precise direct measurement of the COB between 0.1 and 5 μm using a small aperture telescope observing either from the outer Solar System, at distances of 5 AU or more, or out of the ecliptic plane. Other future applications include improving our understanding of the background at TeV energies and spectral distortions of CMB and CIB. PMID:27069645

Process for producing a well-adhered durable optical coating on an optical plastic substrate. [abrasion resistant polymethyl methacrylate lenses

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kubacki, R. M. (Inventor)

1978-01-01

A low temperature plasma polymerization process is described for applying an optical plastic substrate, such as a polymethyl methacrylate lens, with a single layer abrasive resistant coating to improve the durability of the plastic.

One-step femtosecond laser welding and internal machining of three glass substrates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tan, Hua; Duan, Ji'an

2017-05-01

In this paper, it demonstrated one-step femtosecond laser welding and internal machining of three fused silica substrates in the optical- and non-optical-contact regimes by focusing 1030-nm laser pulses at the middle of the second substrate. Focusing laser pulses within the second glass in optical-contact and non-optical-contact samples induces permanent internal structural modification, leading to the three glass substrates bonding together simultaneously. The bonding mechanism is based on the internal modification of glass, and this mechanism is different from that of ordinary glass welding at the interface. Welding-spot size is affected by not only the gap distance (ablation effect) and heat transmission, but also by gravity through examining the sizes of the welding spots on the four contact welding surfaces. The maximum bonding strength of the lower interface (56.2 MPa) in the optical-contact regime is more than double that (27.6 MPa) in the non-optical-contact regime.

Well-defined EUV wave associated with a CME-driven shock

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cunha-Silva, R. D.; Selhorst, C. L.; Fernandes, F. C. R.; Oliveira e Silva, A. J.

2018-05-01

Aims: We report on a well-defined EUV wave observed by the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUVI) on board the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) and the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). The event was accompanied by a shock wave driven by a halo CME observed by the Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO-C2/C3) on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), as evidenced by the occurrence of type II bursts in the metric and dekameter-hectometric wavelength ranges. We investigated the kinematics of the EUV wave front and the radio source with the purpose of verifying the association between the EUV wave and the shock wave. Methods: The EUV wave fronts were determined from the SDO/AIA images by means of two appropriate directions (slices). The heights (radial propagation) of the EUV wave observed by STEREO/EUVI and of the radio source associated with the shock wave were compared considering the whole bandwidth of the harmonic lane of the radio emission, whereas the speed of the shock was estimated using the lowest frequencies of the harmonic lane associated with the undisturbed corona, using an appropriate multiple of the Newkirk (1961, ApJ, 133, 983) density model and taking into account the H/F frequency ratio fH/fF = 2. The speed of the radio source associated with the interplanetary shock was determined using the Mann et al. (1999, A&A, 348, 614) density model. Results: The EUV wave fronts determined from the SDO/AIA images revealed the coexistence of two types of EUV waves, a fast one with a speed of 560 km s-1, and a slower one with a speed of 250 km s-1, which corresponds approximately to one-third of the average speed of the radio source ( 680 km s-1). The radio signature of the interplanetary shock revealed an almost constant speed of 930 km s-1, consistent with the linear speed of the halo CME (950 km s-1) and with the values found for the accelerating coronal shock ( 535-823 km s-1), taking into account the gap between the radio emissions.

Optical XOR gate

DOEpatents

Vawter, G. Allen

2013-11-12

An optical XOR gate is formed as a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) from two sets of optical waveguide devices on a substrate, with each set of the optical waveguide devices including an electroabsorption modulator electrically connected in series with a waveguide photodetector. The optical XOR gate utilizes two digital optical inputs to generate an XOR function digital optical output. The optical XOR gate can be formed from III-V compound semiconductor layers which are epitaxially deposited on a III-V compound semiconductor substrate, and operates at a wavelength in the range of 0.8-2.0 .mu.m.

Optical NOR gate

DOEpatents

Skogen, Erik J [Albuquerque, NM; Tauke-Pedretti, Anna [Albuquerque, NM

2011-09-06

An optical NOR gate is formed from two pair of optical waveguide devices on a substrate, with each pair of the optical waveguide devices consisting of an electroabsorption modulator electrically connected in series with a waveguide photodetector. The optical NOR gate utilizes two digital optical inputs and a continuous light input to provide a NOR function digital optical output. The optical NOR gate can be formed from III-V compound semiconductor layers which are epitaxially deposited on a III-V compound semiconductor substrate, and operates at a wavelength in the range of 0.8-2.0 .mu.m.

Fabrication of micro/nano optical fiber by mechano-electrospinning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Qinnan; Wu, Dezhi; Yu, Zhe; Mei, Xuecui; Fang, Ke; Sun, Daoheng

2017-10-01

We study a novel fabrication method of micro/nano optical fiber by mechano-electrospinning (MES) direct-written technology. MES process is able to precisely manipulate the position and diameter of the electro-spun micro/nano fiber by adjusting the mechanical drawing force, which through changing the speed of motion stage (substrate). By adjusting the substrate speed, the nozzle-to-substrate distance and the applied voltage, the poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) micro/nano optical fibers (MNOF) with controlled diameter are obtained and the tapered MNOF are fabricated by continuously changing the substrate speed. The transmission characteristics of PMMA micro/nano fiber is experimentally demonstrated, and a PMMA micro/nano fiber based refractive index sensor is designed. Our works shows the new fabrication method of MNOF by MES has the potential in the field of light mode conversion, optical waveguide coupling, refractive index detection and new micro/nano optical fiber components.

Spectroscopic, orbital, and physical properties of the binary Feige 24 and detection of transient He II absorption in the system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vennes, Stephane; Thorstensen, John R.

1994-01-01

We have obtained new high-dispersion optical spectroscopy at Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) and new International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) spectroscopy of the white dwarf+red dwarf binary system Feige 24. The optical range shows a composite DA+dM spectrum, together with H I Balmer and He I emission. The orbital phase dependence of the emission shows that it results from extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light reprocessing in the red dwarf upper atmosphere. The systems close enough and hot enough to show this reprocessing signature only recently emerged from common-envelope evolution. The ultraviolet spectrum exclusively emanates from the white dwarf and shows numerous heavy element absorption lines. We measured accurate radial velocities of the red dwarf component motion, traced by both optical absorption and emission lines, and new radial velocities of the white dwarf, traced by ultraviolet Fe V lines. Combining these measurements, we refined the orbital parameters presented by Vennes et al. (1991), and we confirmed that the white dwarf gravitational redshift is exceptionally small with 9 +/- 2 km/s. From this we deduced that the interior is either pure helium or carbon with a thick hydrogen layer, and we derived, for the combined interior compositions, a white dwarf mass and radius of M(sub WD) = 0.44-050 solar mass and R(sub WD) = 0.028-0.036 solar radius. We suggest that Feige 24 could be a typical case of close binary evolution leading to the formation of a low-mass helium white dwarf. The mass of the red dwarf and the inclination of the system naturally follow: M(sub dM) = 0.26-0.33 solar mass, i greater than or equal to 75 deg. High-dispersion H-alpha line profiles are asymmetrical, strongly enhanced toward the blue, suggesting a moving atmosphere possibly linked to a mass loss rate of 10(exp -10) solar mass/yr. The IUE spectra taken when the system is near inferior conjunction show strong He II 1640 A absorption. The profile is highly variable in width and intensity. Because it is correlated with the passage of the white dwarf at inferior conjunction, the absorption may occur in some foreground plasma emanated by the red dwarf and accumulating near a Lagrangian point or, alternatively, it may originate in an accretion spot on the white dwarf surface coaligned with the major orbital axis. Either way, the He II detection may imply substantial mass loss from the red dwarf with a corollary reclassification of Feige 24 as a mixed He/H DAO white dwarf resulting from accretion of secondary mass-loss material. Feige 24 is the prototype of a class of young, EUV-emitting, binary systems comprising a late main sequence secondary and a hot H-rich white dwarf; the class is characterized by optical and ultraviolet photospheric He II absorption, circumstellar C IV lambda (1550) absorption, and by the presence of EUV-induced, phase-dependent Balmer fluorescence. These young systems present the best opportunity to constrain theory of common-envelope evolution.

Silicon-integrated thin-film structure for electro-optic applications

DOEpatents

McKee, Rodney A.; Walker, Frederick Joseph

2000-01-01

A crystalline thin-film structure suited for use in any of an number of electro-optic applications, such as a phase modulator or a component of an interferometer, includes a semiconductor substrate of silicon and a ferroelectric, optically-clear thin film of the perovskite BaTiO.sub.3 overlying the surface of the silicon substrate. The BaTiO.sub.3 thin film is characterized in that substantially all of the dipole moments associated with the ferroelectric film are arranged substantially parallel to the surface of the substrate to enhance the electro-optic qualities of the film.

Mode structure of planar optical antennas on dielectric substrates

DOE PAGES

Word, Robert C.; Konenkamp, Rolf

2016-08-08

Here, we report a numerical study, supported by photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM), of sub-micron planar optical antennas on transparent substrate. We find these antennas generate intricate near-field spatial field distributions with odd and even numbers of nodes. We show that the field distributions are primarily superpositions of planar surface plasmon polariton modes confined to the metal/substrate interface. The mode structure provides opportunities for coherent switching and optical control in sub-micron volumes.

The novel top-coat material for RLS trade-off reduction in EUVL

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Onishi, Ryuji; Sakamoto, Rikimaru; Fujitani, Noriaki; Endo, Takafumi; Ho, Bang-ching

2012-03-01

For the next generation lithography (NGL), several technologies have been proposed to achieve the 22nm-node devices and beyond. Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography is one of the candidates for the next generation lithography. In EUV light source development, low power is one of the critical issue because of the low throughput, and another issue is Out of Band (OoB) light existing in EUV light. OoB is concerned to be the cause of deterioration for the lithography performance. In order to avoid this critical issue, we focused on development of the resist top coat material with OoB absorption property as Out of Band Protection Layer (OBPL). We designed this material having high absorbance around 240nm wavelength and high transmittance for EUV light. And this material aimed to improve sensitivity, resolution and LWR performance.

A New Relationship Between Soft X-Rays and EUV Flare Light Curves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thiemann, Edward

2016-05-01

Solar flares are the result of magnetic reconnection in the solar corona which converts magnetic energy into kinetic energy resulting in the rapid heating of solar plasma. As this plasma cools, it emits radiation at different EUV wavelengths when the dropping temperature passes a line’s temperature of formation. This results in a delay in the emissions from cooler EUV lines relative to hotter EUV lines. Therefore, characterizing how this hot plasma cools is important for understanding how the corresponding geo-effective extreme ultraviolet (EUV) irradiance evolves in time. I present a simple new framework in which to study flare cooling by using a Lumped Element Thermal Model (LETM). LETM is frequently used in science and engineering to simplify a complex multi-dimensional thermal system by reducing it to a 0-D thermal circuit. For example, a structure that conducts heat out of a system is simplified with a resistive element and a structure that allows a system to store heat is simplified with a capacitive element. A major advantage of LETM is that the specific geometry of a system can be ignored, allowing for an intuitive analysis of the major thermal processes. I show that LETM is able to accurately reproduce the temporal evolution of cooler flare emission lines based on hotter emission line evolution. In particular, it can be used to predict the evolution of EUV flare light curves using the NOAA X-Ray Sensor (XRS).

Solar Cycle Variation of Microwave Polar Brightening and EUV Coronal Hole Observed by Nobeyama Radioheliograph and SDO/AIA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Sujin; Park, Jong-Yeop; Kim, Yeon-Han

2017-08-01

We investigate the solar cycle variation of microwave and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) intensity in latitude to compare microwave polar brightening (MPB) with the EUV polar coronal hole (CH). For this study, we used the full-sun images observed in 17 GHz of the Nobeyama Radioheliograph from 1992 July to 2016 November and in two EUV channels of the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) 193 Å and 171 Å on the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) from 2011 January to 2016 November. As a result, we found that the polar intensity in EUV is anti-correlated with the polar intensity in microwave. Since the depression of EUV intensity in the pole is mostly owing to the CH appearance and continuation there, the anti-correlation in the intensity implies the intimate association between the polar CH and the MPB. Considering the report of tet{gopal99} that the enhanced microwave brightness in the CH is seen above the enhanced photospheric magnetic field, we suggest that the pole area during the solar minimum has a stronger magnetic field than the quiet sun level and such a strong field in the pole results in the formation of the polar CH. The emission mechanism of the MPB and the physical link with the polar CH are not still fully understood. It is necessary to investigate the MPB using high resolution microwave imaging data, which can be obtained by the high performance large-array radio observatories such as the ALMA project.

Active galaxies observed during the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer all-sky survey

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Marshall, H. L.; Fruscione, A.; Carone, T. E.

1995-01-01

We present observations of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) obtained with the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) during the all-sky survey. A total of 13 sources were detected at a significance of 2.5 sigma or better: seven Seyfert galaxies, five BL Lac objects, and one quasar. The fraction of BL Lac objects is higher in our sample than in hard X-ray surveys but is consistent with the soft X-ray Einstein Slew Survey, indicating that the main reason for the large number of BL Lac objects in the extreme ulktraviolet (EUV) and soft X-ray bands is their steeper X-ray spectra. We show that the number of AGNs observed in both the EUVE and ROSAT Wide Field Camera surveys can readily be explained by modelling the EUV spectra with a simple power law in the case of BL Lac objects and with an additional EUV excess in the case of Seyferts and quasars. Allowing for cold matter absorption in Seyfert galaxy hosts drive up the inferred average continuum slope to 2.0 +/- 0.5 (at 90% confidence), compared to a slope of 1.0 usually found from soft X-ray data. If Seyfert galaxies without EUV excesses form a significant fraction of the population, then the average spectrum of those with bumps should be even steeper. We place a conservative limit on neutral gas in BL Lac objects: N(sub H) less than 10(exp 20)/sq cm.

NbN superconducting nanowire single-photon detector fabricated on MgF2 substrate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, J. J.; You, L. X.; Zhang, L.; Zhang, W. J.; Li, H.; Liu, X. Y.; Zhou, H.; Wang, Z.; Xie, X. M.; Xu, Y. X.; Fang, W.; Tong, L. M.

2016-06-01

The performance of superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) relies on substrate materials. Magnesium fluoride (MgF2) exhibits outstanding optical properties, such as large optical transmission range and low refractive index (n = 1.38), making it an attractive substrate. We present the fabrication and the performance of SNSPDs made of a 4.5 nm thick NbN thin film deposited on MgF2 substrate for the wavelength of 1550 nm. The front-side illuminated SNSPDs without an optical cavity showed a maximal detection efficiency of 12.8% at a system dark count rate (DCR) of 100 Hz, while the backside illuminated SNSPDs with a SiO2/Au optical cavity atop displayed a maximal detection efficiency of 33% at a DCR of 100 Hz.

Post-Flare Giant Arches - Unanswered Questions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

West, M. J.; Seaton, D. B.; Dennis, B. R.; Palmerio, E.; Savage, S. L.

2017-12-01

Recent observations from the SWAP EUV imager on-board PROBA2 and SXI X-ray observations from the GOES satellite have shown that post-flare giant arches and regular post-flare loops are one and the same thing. However, it is still not clear how certain loop systems are able to sustain prolonged growth to heights greater than half a solar-radii. In this presentation we further explore the energy deposition rate above post-flare loop systems through high-energy RHESSI observations. We also explore the difference between the growth of different loop systems through an epoch analysis. The epoch analysis is initially performed over the period when the STEREO satellites were in quadrature with PROBA2 allowing us to assess the difference between their on-disk and on-limb signatures. Giant arches are generally characterised by their height of growth when observed close to the solar limb, but due to the optically thin nature of the EUV solar atmosphere, projection effects and the scarcity of events occurring within 5 degrees of the limb it is not understood how common these events are. Using the analysis during the quadrature period we gain a better understanding of how rare these events are, and by determining characteristic on disk signatures we can combine our data set with magnetogram observations to better understand their magnetic evolution.

Multi-Wavelength Imaging of Solar Plasma - High-Beta Disruption Model of Solar Flares -

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shibasaki, Kiyoto

Solar atmosphere is filled with plasma and magnetic field. Activities in the atmosphere are due to plasma instabilities in the magnetic field. To understand the physical mechanisms of activities / instabilities, it is necessary to know the physical conditions of magnetized plasma, such as temperature, density, magnetic field, and their spatial structures and temporal developments. Multi-wavelength imaging is essential for this purpose. Imaging observations of the Sun at microwave, X-ray, EUV and optical ranges are routinely going on. Due to free exchange of original data among solar physics and related field communities, we can easily combine images covering wide range of spectrum. Even under such circumstances, we still do not understand the cause of activities in the solar atmosphere well. The current standard model of solar activities is based on magnetic reconnection: release of stored magnetic energy by reconnection is the cause of solar activities on the Sun such as solar flares. However, recent X-ray, EUV and microwave observations with high spatial and temporal resolution show that dense plasma is involved in activities from the beginning. Based on these observations, I propose a high-beta model of solar activities, which is very similar to high-beta disruptions in magnetically confined fusion experiments.

In-situ stress measurement of single and multilayer thin-films used in x-ray astronomy optics applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Broadway, David M.; Ramsey, Brian D.; O'Dell, Stephen L.; Gurgew, Danielle

2017-09-01

We present in-situ stress measurement results for single and multilayer thin-films deposited by magnetron sputtering. In particular, we report on the influence of the material interfaces on the ensuing stress in both the transient and steady-state regimes of film growth. This behavior is used to determine the appropriate thicknesses of the constituent layers that will result in a net tensile stress in multilayers composed of various material combinations. These multilayers can then be used to compensate the compressive integrated stress in single and multilayer EUV and x-ray optical coatings. The use of multilayers to compensate the integrated stress might be advantageous because, unlike single layers of chromium, the roughness is not expected to increase with the total thickness of the multilayer. In this paper, we demonstrate the technique for W/Si and Mo/Si multilayers and discuss its application to other material combinations.