Mitigation of energetic ion debris from Gd plasma using dual laser pulses and the combined effect with ambient gas

For the next-generation beyond extreme ultraviolet lithography(EUVL) sources, gadolinium(Gd) plasma with emission wavelength at 6.7 nm seems to be the leading candidate. Similar to the Sn target 13.5 nm light source, ion debris mitigation is one of the most important tasks in the laser-produced Gd plasma EUV source development. In this paper,a dual-laser-pulse scheme, which uses a low energy pulse to produce a pre-plasma and a main pulse after a time delay to shoot the pre-plasma, is employed to mitigate the energetic ion generation from the source. Optimal conditions(such as pre-pulse energy and wavelength, and the time delay between the pre-pulse and the main pulse for mitigating the ion energy) are experimentally obtained, and with the optimal conditions, the peak of the ion energy is found to be reduced to1/18 of that of a single laser pulse case. Moreover, the combined effect by applying ambient gas to the dual-pulse scheme for ion debris mitigation is demonstrated, and the result shows that the yield of Gd ions is further reduced to around 1/9 of the value for the case with dual laser pulses.     

整形飞秒激光脉冲在熔融石英中的成丝控制研究

利用基于液晶空间光调制器的飞秒激光脉冲整形技术,对飞秒激光在熔融石英中形成等离子体丝的过程进行优化控制研究。实验结果表明:通过脉冲整形可以在固体介质中的指定位置产生等离子体丝。实现了整形脉冲在熔融石英中成丝起点的长距离可控移动,最大移动量达到5.4 mm。通过求解(3+1)维非线性薛定谔方程,对整形脉冲在熔融石英中的成丝过程进行理论模拟研究,得到了与实验一致的结果。研究结果表明:等离子体丝起始位置是由整形飞秒脉冲的中心峰值强度和包络分布决定的。     

A comparison of single shot nanosecond and femtosecond polarization-resolved laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy of Al

Aluminum samples have been analyzed by femtosecond polarization-resolved laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (fs-PRLIBS). We compare the obtained spectra with those obtained from nanosecond PRLIBS (ns-PRLIBS). The main specific features of fs-PRLIBS are that a lower plasma temperature leads to a low level of continuum and no species are detected from the ambient gas. Furthermore, signals obtained by fs-PRLIBS show a higher stability than those of ns-PRLIBS. However, more elements are detected in the ns-PRLIBS spectra.     

Generation of third harmonic emission in propagation of femtosecond laser pulses in air

The main characteristics of the third harmonic emission generated by femtosecond laser pulses propagating in air are investigated by numerically solving the coupled nonlinear Schr?dinger equations. Strong third harmonic emission is observed with a maximum conversion efficiency as high as 0.43%. The on-axis phase difference between fundamental beam and third harmonic is investigated. The result is in good agreement with the phase-locking mechanism. Dependence of the conversion of third harmonic emission on focusing conditions is also studied. The results are also compared with those of experiments.