LLNL selected to lead next-gen extreme ultraviolet lithography research
A new research partnership led by LLNL aims to lay the groundwork for the next evolution of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography
The LLNL-led project will test the BAT laser’s ability to increase EUV source efficiency by about 10 times when compared with carbon dioxide (CO2) lasers, the current industry standard. This could lead to a next generation “beyond EUV” lithography system producing chips that are smaller, more powerful and faster to manufacture while using less electricity.
“We have performed the theoretical plasma simulations and proof of concept laser demonstrations over the past five years that lay the foundations for this project,” said LLNL laser physicist Brendan Reagan. “Our work has already had quite an impact in the EUV lithography community, so now we’re excited to take this next step.”
Reagan and LLNL plasma physicist Jackson Williams are the project’s co-lead principal investigators. The project includes scientists from SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory; ASML San Diego; and the Advanced Research Center for Nanolithography (ARCNL), a public-private research center based in the Netherlands.
EUV lithography involves high-power lasers firing at tens of thousands of droplets of tin per second. The laser heats the droplets, each measuring about 30 millionths of a meter, to half a million degrees centigrade to produce a plasma that generates ultraviolet light with a wavelength of 13.5 nanometers.
Special multi-layer mirrors guide the light through plates called masks, which hold the intricate patterns of the integrated circuits for semiconductor wafers. The light projects the pattern onto a photoresist layer that is etched away to leave the integrated circuits on the chip.
The LLNL-led project will investigate the primary hypothesis that energy efficiency of existing EUV lithography sources for semiconductor production can be improved with technology developed for the novel petawatt-class BAT laser, which uses thulium-doped yttrium lithium fluoride as the gain medium through which the power and intensity of laser beams are increased.
The unique central wavelength of thulium-doped yttrium lithium fluoride, lasing at about 2 microns, differs from all other intense lasers that operate at about or less than 1 micron or at 10 microns. The project will be the first exploration of joule-class laser-target coupling at 2 microns.
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