Origins of debris and mitigation through a secondary RF plasma system for discharge-produced EUV sources

RF plasma based mitigation has been studied as an improved debris mitigation scheme for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) sources. The RF plasma ionizes sputtered neutral debris and, when used in conjunction with a collimator (also known as a foil trap), inhibits that debris from reaching the collector optics. An ionization fraction of 61 ± 3% has been measured. In addition, increased scattering of the ion component of the debris has led to a decrease in erosive flux reaching the diagnostics. Results from in situ high-precision quartz crystal oscillators, ex situ surface characterization (Auger, XPS), and secondary plasma characterization is presented for a series of mitigation schemes, including a foil trap in conjunction with the RF plasma. 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.