Study of the 6.x nm short wavelength radiation spectra of laser-produced erbium plasmas for BEUV lithography

Beyond extreme ultraviolet(BEUV)radiation with a wavelength of 6.x nm for lithography is responsible for reducing the source wavelength to enable continued miniaturization of semiconductor devices.In this work,the Required BEUV light at 6.x nm wavelength was generated in dense and hot Nd:YAG laser-produced Er plasmas.The spectral contributions from the 4p–4d and 4d–4f transitions of singly,doubly and triply excited states of Er XXIV–Er XXXII in the BEUV band were calculated using Cowan and the Flexible Atomic Code.It was also found that the radiative transitions between multiply excited states dominate the narrow wavelength window around 6.x nm.Under the assumption of collisional radiative equilibrium of the laser-produced Er plasmas,the relative ion abundance in the experiment was inferred.Using the Boltzmann quantum state energy level distribution and Gram–Charlier fitting function of unresolved transition arrays(UTAs),the synthetic spectrum around 6.x nm was finally obtained and compared with the experimental spectrum.The spatio-temporal distributions of electron density and electron temperature were calculated based on radiation hydrodynamic simulation in order to identify the contributions of various ionic states to the UTAs arising from the Er plasmas near 6.x nm.

Analysis of extreme ultraviolet spectral profiles of laser-produced Cr plasmas

Radiation from laser-produced plasmas was examined as a potential wavelength calibration source for spectrographs in the extreme ultraviolet(EUV) region.Specifically, the EUV emission of chromium(Cr) plasmas was acquired via spatiotemporally resolved emission spectroscopy.With the aid of Cowan and flexible atomic code(FAC) structure calculations,and a comparative analysis with the simulated spectra, emission peaks in the 6.5–15.0 nm range were identified as 3 p–4 d, 5 d and 3 p–4 s transition lines from Cr5+–Cr10+ions.A normalized Boltzmann distribution among the excited states and a steady-state collisional-radiative model were assumed for the spectral simulations, and used to estimate the electron temperature and density in the plasma.The results indicate that several relatively isolated emission lines of highly charged ions would be useful for EUV wavelength calibration.

Spectral and ion emission features of laser-produced Sn and SnO2 plasmas

We have made a detailed comparison of the atomic and ionic debris, as well as the emission features of Sn and SnO2 plasmas under identical experimental conditions. Planar slabs of pure metal Sn and ceramic SnO2 are irradiated with 1.06 μm, 8 ns Nd：YAG laser pulses. Fast photography employing an intensified charge coupled device （ICCD）, optical emission spectroscopy （OES）, and optical time of flight emission spectroscopy are used as diagnostic tools. Our results show that the Sn plasma provides a higher extreme ultraviolet （EUV） conversion efficiency （CE） than the SnO2 plasma. However, the kinetic energies of Sn ions are relatively low compared with those of SnO2. OES studies show that the Sn plasma parameters （electron temperature and density） are lower compared to those of the SnO2 plasma. Furthermore, we also give the effects of the vacuum degree and the laser pulse energy on the plasma parameters.

Measurement and analysis of the extreme ultraviolet emission band of laser-produced antimony plasmas

The temporal evolution of extreme ultraviolet(EUV)emission spectra of laser-produced antimony(Sb)plasmas has been measured in the 7-16 nm wavelength region using spatio?temporally resolved lase-produced plasma spectroscopy technique.The spectral profiles involve an intense quasi-continuous band with superimposed intense characteristic radiation and are different with the increase of delay time.The spectral structures were also analyzed according to Hartree-Fock calculations with configuration interaction effects and contributed from 4d^4/;4d-4p,and 4d-5f unresolved transition arrays of Sb7*-Sb131.A steady-state collisionalradiative model was used to estimate the electron temperature and density range of Sb plasmas.This work would enrich the spectral data of highly-charged ions and provided a possible selection for developing EUV light sources.

Analysis of extreme ultraviolet spectra of laser-produced Cd plasmas

In order to provide detailed information about Cd structure and gain more insight regarding ionization degrees and types of transition,as well as the understanding of the temporal evolution behavior of laser produced Cd plasmas,extreme ultraviolet spectra of laser-produced cadmium(Cd)plasmas have been measured in the 8.4-12 nm region using spatiotemporally resolved laser-produced plasma spectroscopy technique.Spectral features were analyzed by the Hartree-Fock(HF)method with relativistic correlations(HFR)using the Cowan code.The results showed that the 4p-5s resonance transition arrays from Cd^9+to Cd^13+merged to form intense lines in this spectral region.A number of new spectral features from Cd^9+and Cd^10+ions are reported in this study.Based on the assumption of a normalized Boltzmann distribution among the excited states associated with a steady-state collisional-radiative model,the plasma parameters were obtained by comparing the experimental and simulated spectra.As a result,we succeeded in reproducing the synthetic spectra for different time delays,which yielded good agreement with the experiments.The temporal evolution behaviors of electron temperature and electron density of plasma were also analyzed.

A laser-produced plasma source based on thin-film Gd targets for next-generation extreme ultraviolet lithography

We have studied laser-produced plasma based on mass-limited thin-film Gd targets for beyond the current extreme ultraviolet(EUV)light source of 13.5 nm wavelength based on tin.The influences of the laser intensity on the emission spectra centered around 6.7 nm from thin-film Gd targets were first investigated.It is found that the conversion efficiency of the produced plasma is saturated when the laser intensity goes beyond 2×10^(11)W cm^(-2).We have systematically compared the emission spectra of the laser-produced plasma with the changes in the thicknesses of the thin-film Gd targets.It is proved that a minimum-mass target with a thickness of 400 nm is sufficient to provide the maximum conversion efficiency,which also implies that this thickness is the ablation depth for the targets.These findings should be helpful in the exploration of next-generation EUV sources,as the thin-film Gd targets will reduce the debris during the plasma generation process compared with the bulk targets.

Extreme ultraviolet spectral characteristic analysis of highly charged ions in laserproduced Cu plasmas

This paper reports the results of spectral measurements and a theoretical analysis of the temporal and spatial evolution of laser-produced Cu plasma in vacuum in the range of 8–14 nm.The time dependence of the extreme ultraviolet band spectrum at different positions near the target surface was obtained and found to be dominated by three broad-band features.The 3p and 3d excitations of Cu5+–Cu9+ions were calculated using the Hartree–Fock theory with configuration interactions.The characteristics of the spectral line distribution for the 3p–nd and 3d–nf transition arrays were analyzed.Based on the steady-state collisional radiation model and the normalized Boltzmann distribution,the complex spectral structure in the band of 13–14 nm is accurately explained through consistency comparisons and benchmarking between the experimental and theoretical simulation spectra,demonstrating that the structure mainly stems from the overlapping contribution of the 3d–4f and 3p–3d transition arrays for the Cu5+–Cu9+ions.These results may help in studying the radiation characteristics of isoelectronic series highly-charged ions involving the 3d excitation process.

A Fokker-Planck Code for Laser-Produced Plasmas

A Fokker-Planck code is developed based upon Epperlein＇s scheme to investigate laser-produced plasmas in relevance to inertial confinement fusion. The equations are integrated implicitly by time-splitting method. Three test problems are simulated to show the versatility of the code. The results are in good agreement with the existing simulations.

Influence of heating effect in Thomson scattering diagnosis of laser-produced plasmas in air

A state diagnosis of laser-produced plasma in air generated by a 1064 nm pulse laser was investigated by the Thomson scattering(TS)method.The evolutions of the electron temperature and electron density were obtained as a function of the time delay which ranged from 300-3200 ns.The heating effect produced by the 532 nm probe beam with different energies on the air plasma at different interaction times was further studied using a time-resolved optical emission spectroscopy technique.The influence of the probe beam on the electron density was found to be negligible,whereas its influence on electron temperature is evident.In addition,the heating effect of the probe beam on the plasma strongly depends on the energy of the probe beam,and gradually weakens with increasing time delay.Our results are helpful for further understanding the TS method and its application in plasma diagnostics.

Effect of dielectronic recombination on charge-state distribution in laser-produced plasma based on steady-state collisional-radiative models

Armed with four different steady-state collisional-radiative(CR) models,we investigated the effect of dielectronic recombination(DR) on the charge-state distribution in laser-produced silicon plasma. To assess this effect,we performed a series of temporally resolved spectra of highly charged Si ions in the extreme ultraviolet region.Ab initio calculations of the DR rate coefficients were done for Si^(6+)–Si^(4+) ions. We also analyzed the evolution of the collisional ionization, radiative recombination, three-body recombination, photo-ionization, and DR rate coefficients as a function of electron temperature. The electron temperature and electron density for different delay times were obtained by comparing the normalized experimental and simulated spectra. The ion fraction and average charge state from the four different CR models were also obtained. The results indicate that the DR process has a greater influence in the stage of plasma evolution that cannot be neglected in plasma diagnoses.

Spectral Efficiency of Extreme Ultraviolet Emission from CO_2 Laser-Produced Tin Plasma Using a Grazing Incidence Flat-Field Spectrograph

A grazing incidence flat-field spectrograph using a concave grating was constructed to measure extreme ultraviolet （EUV） emission from a CO 2 laser-produced tin plasma throughout the wavelength region of 5 nm to 20 nm for lithography. Spectral efficiency of the EUV emission around 13.5 nm from plate, cavity, and thin foil tin targets was studied. By translating the focusing lens along the laser axis, the dependence of EUV spectra on the amount of defocus was investigated. The results showed that the spectral efficiency was higher for the cavity target in comparison to the plate or foil target, while it decreased with an increase in the defocus distance. The source＇s spectra and the EUV emission intensity normalized to the incident pulse energy at 45 from the target normal were characterized for the in-band （2% of bandwidth） region as a function of laser energy spanning from 46 mJ to 600 mJ for the pure tin plate target. The energy normalized EUV emission was found to increase with the increasing incident pulse energy. It reached the optimum value for the laser energy of around 343 mJ, after which it dropped rapidly.

不锈钢表面Al/Cu涂层制备与第一性原理计算

为了研究Al/Cu涂层中金属间化合物的生成顺序和形成机理,在304不锈钢基体表面制备了Al/Cu涂层。对试样进行热处理使得Al/Cu涂层原位反应生成金属间化合物,随后测试了涂层的高温抗氧化性能。采用第一性原理计算Al-Cu金属间化合物的焓、熵、吉布斯自由能和热容等数据。将热力学和扩散动力学相结合,提出有效生成自由能模型来预测化合物在Al/Cu界面的生成顺序。结果表明:Al/Cu涂层中首先形成Al_(2)Cu相,在Al/Cu界面处出现了AlCu相,加热时间增加至20 h后出现了富Cu的Al_(4)Cu_(9)相。由第一性原理计算得出,Al-Cu金属间化合物的形成顺序为Al_(2)Cu→AlCu→Al_(4)Cu_(9),与实验结果一致。此外,氧化实验结果表明,涂层具有良好高温抗氧化性能。

低发射率兼低光泽颜填料Al-Sr10的制备及其消光机理研究

为了探究Al-Sr10具有低光泽属性的本质,对该材料进行X射线衍射、X射线能量色散谱、面扫元素分析、8~14μm红外发射率、光泽度及400~760 nm可见光反射率测试。并采用高能球磨法制备该颜填料,通过扫描电子显微镜等手段探究Al-Sr10颜填料的组分、形态和光学性能随球磨时间的变化。结果表明,Al-Sr10表面易氧化形成灰黑色氧化锶,以及固溶体中的锶元素产生等离激元效应共同作用导致材料消光;Al-Sr10颜填料的物相不会随球磨时间变化,在一定时间内,材料的片状化程度、发射率和光泽度性能随时间的延长得到改善,其中球磨15 h后的颜填料其片状化程度高,发射率低至0.123,光泽度低至3.8。

不同加热环境下钛表面Ni/Al涂层制备与高温氧化性

目的 研究大气与真空加热处理后Ni/Al涂层的金属间化合物析出规律,以及扩散层的生长速度,从而确定涂层的抗氧化性能。方法 分别采用电弧喷涂技术和等离子喷涂技术在纯钛基体表面制备Ni/Al涂层。将样品分别在大气条件和真空条件下进行加热处理,使Ni/Al涂层原位反应生成Ni-Al金属间化合物,并进行涂层抗氧化性试验。结果 Ni/Al涂层在大气环境700℃加热处理后,形成以Al_(2)O_(3)、Ni2Al3和富Al相NiAl3相为主的扩散层;在真空环境700℃加热处理后,形成以Ni2Al3、NiAl3相为主的扩散层。通过扩散反应动力学分析发现,真空热处理比大气热处理后Ni和Al之间的反应扩散系数更高,扩散系数为89.731μm2/h。氧化增重试验表明,真空处理后,Ni/Al涂层由于金属间化合物层较厚,且具有大量的高熔点的Ni2Al3相,并且经过800℃下氧化200h后,涂层未发生失效。结论 真空环境下加热处理原位反应后,Ni/Al复合涂层的扩散速率更高,更容易形成Ni-Al金属间化合物,获得更厚的金属间化合物层。与大气热处理相比,经过真空热处理后的涂层有更良好的抗高温氧化能力。

Atomic structure and transition properties of H-like Al in hot and dense plasmas

The atomic structure and transition properties of H-like Al embedded in hot and dense plasmas are investigated using modified GRASP2 K code. The plasma screening effect on the nucleus is described using the self-consistent field ion sphere model. The effective nuclear potential decreases much more quickly with increasing average free electron density,but increases slightly with increasing electron temperature. The variations of the transition energies, transition probabilities,and oscillator strengths with the free electron density and electron temperature are the same as that of the effective nuclear potential. The results reported in this work agree well with other available theoretical results and are useful for plasma diagnostics.

W增强Al/Gd_(2)O_(3)双屏蔽复合材料的制备与性能研究

为了屏蔽中子与γ射线的危害,在Al/Gd_(2)O_(3)材料中加入W并采用放电等离子体烧结(SPS)制成Al/W/Gd_(2)O_(3)复合材料。利用扫描电镜和XRD分析了复合材料的形貌和物相结构;利用蒙特卡罗统计试验方法和粒子传输软件MCNP5对Al/W/Gd_(2)O_(3)复合材料屏蔽中子和γ射线的性能进行模拟计算。结果表明,与原铝基复合材料相比,Al/W/Gd_(2)O_(3)复合材料的力学性能优异、抗拉强度提高;拉伸断口形貌表明,复合材料断裂模式为穿晶断裂。

Time-resolved spectroscopy for 5s^('4)D_(7/2) state transitions undergoing electron–ion recombination in femtosecond laser-produced copper plasma

In the femtosecond laser-produced Cu-plasma, the transient transition dynamics that the excited state 5s4D7/2 via electron-ion recombination transfers to 4p4F9/20 （465.11 nm, Λ1 line） and 4p4D7/20 （529.25 nm, Λ2 line） states are investigated by using the time-resolved spectroscopy. The occupation number and relevant lifetime of the excited state 5s4D7/2, the temporal evolutions of spectral intensities for Λ1 line and Λ2 line emissions are demonstrated to be in direct proportion to the employed laser intensity, which reveals the transient features of transition dynamics clearly differing from that resulted in the traditional collision excitation. Furthermore, some unique characteristics for Λ1 and Λ2 transitions stemming from electron-ion recombination are examined in detail.

Diagnostics of electron temperature and ions distribution in expanding Al plasmas pumped by a ns-pulsed 1.06μm laser

Resonance lines are extensively used to diagnose electronic temperature Te and ions distribution. However, the analysis of the x-ray spectroscopy emitted from plasmas produced by a ns laser Jsually needs the help of a code or some assumptions. In this paper, a diagnostic idea of using line-pairs emitted from a doubly-excited state is proposed. By using the method presented in this paper, Te and the fractional population ratio of bare nuclei and H-like ions are directly obtained from the emission intensity ratios.

Tribological behavior of different films on Ti-6Al-4V alloy prepared by plasma-based ion implantation

The tribological behaviors of TiN coating and TiN+TiC+Ti(C, N)/diamond like carbon (DLC), TiN/DLC, TiC/DLC multilayers on Ti 6Al 4V alloy prepared by plasma based ion implantation (PBII) were compared. Under the test conditions of counterbody AISI 52100, load 1 N and speed 0.05 m/s, the tribological properties of the alloy are improved by these films in the order of TiN, TiC/DLC, TiN/DLC and TiN+TiC+Ti(C,N)/DLC. Tribological behavior is affected by the conditions of surface modification and triboexperiments. The appearance of “peaks” in the wear dynamic resistance profiles may be due or correspond to the process of formation and breaking apart of transition films. The breakthrough of the DLC coated samples may start from partially wearing out, and end with joining piece dilamination. There are transition films on all counterbodies AISI 52100. When AISI 52100 counterbody is changed to Ti 6Al 4V, the wear of most modified samples is changed from only disc to both disc and ball abrasive dominated.

Parameter optimization for plasma-sprayed Al2O3p/Al composite coatings on AZ31 magnesium alloy

Al2O3p/Al composite coatings were prepared on the surface of AZ31 magnesium alloy by plasma spraying technology with mixed powders of Al and Al2O3. An orthogonal test containing six factors and five levels was carried out to acquire the optimum technical parameters. Mierostruetures and properties of the composite coatings were studied. The results show that the coatings consist of Al2O3 particulates distributed uniformly and Al matrix, and the interface between the particulate and matrix is continuous, compact and clean. With increasing the mass fraction of Al2O3 in the mixed powders, the volume fraction of Al2O3 in the coatings iacreases. The Al2O3p/Al composite coating with 14% Al2O3 volume fraction has more compact microstrueture and more satisfactory properties.