Induced steepening of femtosecond pulses

The femtosecond pulse conversion to the XUV has been studied theoretically for the first time in a gas-filled waveguide, including the influence of the pump-induced phase modulation on the phase matching conditions, waveguide propagation and signal pulse shape. The conversion of femtosecond pulses from excimer amplifiers to the range of 83 nm to 88 nm is discussed     

深紫外准分子激光实时曝光剂量控制算法研究

提出了一种面向步进扫描投影光刻机的深紫外准分子激光实时曝光剂量控制算法。通过建立扫描曝光过程的抽象模型并分析准分子激光器单脉冲能量波动特性,提出采用闭环反馈控制进行实时调节,着重研究了抑制单脉冲能量超调和随机波动的有效算法。在一台波长为193 nm、重复频率为4 kHz、单脉冲能量为5 mJ的ArF准分子激光器上进行了实验研究。结果表明,当脉冲个数仅为20时算法控制下的剂量精度即可达0.89%,不但满足亚微米光刻越来越严的剂量要求,而且有助于提高光刻机生产效率和激光器使用效率。     

Femtosecond uv excimer laser ablation

Experiments on the ablation of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) with 300 fs uv excimer laser pulses at 248 nm are reported for the first time. With these ultrashort pulses, ablation can be done at fluences up to five times lower than the threshold fluence for 16 ns ablation of PMMA, and the surface morphology is improved, also for several other materials. A model for ablation is proposed, assuming a non-constant absorption coefficient _eff depending on the degree of incubation of the irradiated material and the intensity of the incoming excimer laser pulse. The agreement between our model and our experimental observations is excellent for 16 ns excimer laser pulses, also predicting perfectly the shape of a pulse transmitted through a thin PMMA sample under high fluence irradiation. Qualitative agreement for 300 fs excimer laser pulses is obtained so far.     

Interferometric method for the characterization of the phase and pulse fronts of femtosecond pulses

An interferometric method is presented to characterize the most important parameters of beams from large aperture femtosecond excimer laser systems. With the use of a special interferometer the shape of both the pulse and the phase fronts can simultaneously be studied. With minor changes, conventional autocorrelation measurements can also be performed.     

XeCl准分子激光能量提取研究

在高功率准分子激光系统建设中,希望能获得较短的脉冲宽度和尽量多的激光能量。实验研究了不同注入水平下,脉冲时间间隔对脉冲链放大波形和放大器提取效率的影响;基于四能级速率方程和准分子反应动力学建立了准分子激光放大模型,计算了多种注入方式下种子光的放大过程,对关键参数给出了量化描述,得到与实验相符的计算结果。研究结果显示:脉冲序列间隔为9.3ns时,可获得约95%的连续注入情形下放大能量;对该准分子激光系统来讲,9.3ns是比较合适的脉冲间隔。     

ArF-excimer laser ablation experiments on Cycloolefin Copolymer (COC)

To determine the capability of Cycloolefin Copolymer (COC) for excimer laser microstructuring, ablation experiments have been performed at 193 nm using an ArF excimer laser workstation. A matrix of square holes was structured in COC, the ablated structures were examined qualitatively and quantitatively by optical methods and scanning electron microscopy. It turned out that COC can be structured with high accuracy and is therefore suited for laser rapid prototyping of micro optical and microfluidic devices. The maximum ablation depth of COC (0.17 μm/pulse) is smaller than of PMMA (0.58 μm/pulse), but is sufficient for prototyping and allows fine depth tuning. Flat structures less than 200-μm deep nearly show no amount of redeposited material and yield smooth surfaces.     

Time-resolved ablation-site photography of XeCl-laser irradiated polyimid

The photoablation of polyimid was studied by time-resolved photography during the excimer laser pulse at 308 nm. Photographs showing successive instants of the formation of the etched craters demonstrate the fast-moving air-polymer interface. It is demonstrated experimentally that the polymer ablates layer by layer during the evolution of the UV laser pulse.     

全固态高压脉冲电源在半导体光刻光源中的应用

简要回顾了半导体光刻的发展历程以及准分子激光作为光源在半导体光刻中的需求。简述了高压脉冲电源的基本原理及应用,介绍了全固态高压脉冲电源的结构和特点。着重阐述了全固态高压脉冲电源在光刻用准分子激光器和EUV光源中的应用。大功率半导体开关结合多级磁脉冲压缩开关的全固态脉冲电源有效替代传统基于闸流管的高压脉冲电源,实现了光刻光源高重复频率下的长寿命运行。介绍了中国科学院安徽光学精密机械研究所近十年来,在准分子激光器的全固态高压脉冲电源研究上的相关进展。最后,对未来半导体光刻光源对全固态脉冲电源的需求进行了展望。     

脉冲功率技术在短波长气体激光器中的应用

 介绍了脉冲功率技术在离子准分子、准分子和软X射线激光研究中的应用情况。给出了三种激光产生对泵浦源电学参数的要求，并给出实现这些电学参数的实验装置以及实验装置的性能指标。在软X射线激光研究方面，利用10级Marx发生器和Blumlein传输线，建立了最高电流峰值40 kA，前沿为26.6 ns的毛细管放电装置，并实现了46.9 nm激光输出。建立了输出电压600 kV、输出电流20 kA的电子束装置，并作为泵浦源实现了离子准分子光腔效应。为了泵浦S2准分子，采用横向放电方式和低电感放电回路，实现了电压脉冲宽度为29.2 ns的窄脉冲放电。     

Optimization of a Dielectric Barrier Discharge for Pulsed UV Emission of XeCl at 308 nm

A pulsed dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) has been investigated in a wide range of experimental conditions with the purpose of optimization for XeCl excimer radiation. For that the following operation parameters had been considered: four different lamps of coaxial geometry with gas gaps in the range of 1.3 ‐ 6.5 mm; gas mixtures of xenon and chlorine containing admixtures of 1%, 2% and 4% Cl₂ at total filling pressures between 5 mbar and 600 mbar; voltage rise times of 20 ‐ 50 ns and voltage amplitudes of up to 12 kV. A maximum radiation pulse energy of 1.8 µ J has been detected at 310 ± 10 nm with an estimated radiation decay by three orders of magnitude within about 5 µ s. It was shown that the minimization of the voltage rise time is essential for enhancing the radiation pulse energy. Furthermore a correlation between the discharge geometry and the optimum pressure for maximum radiation output was observed. The decay characteristics of the excimer emission provides evidence of the harpoon reaction being the main channel of XeCl formation under our operation conditions (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Laser induced fractal structure on magnetic dielectric thin film

The Richardson plots method is employed to measure the fractal dimensions D of the surface of magnetic dielectric film fractured by excimer laser irradiation near the ablation threshold. It is shown that the fractured surfaces are fractal character. The value of D decreases while the laser pulse number increases. This relation may reflect how the fractured surface changes from irregular structure to regular structure with laser pulse number.     

Simple generation of high-power,picosecond, tunable excimer laser pulses

A single excimer laser (a modified commercial oscillation-amplifier combination) is used to pump a dye laser generating a single ps pulse at twice the excimer wavelength and to amplify the frequency-doubled pulse to high peak powers. With XeCl at 308 nm an output pulse energy of 10 mJ with <5 ps pulse width was achieved with <5% ASE energy.     

Nine-thousand-fold pulse shortening by an excimer laser-pumped cascade of two distributed feedback dye lasers

Transform-limited single pulses of 2.6 ps and 1.7 ps duration are generated in the red spectral region by an excimer laser-pumped cascade of two distributed feedback dye lasers. Compared with the 15 ns-long excimer pumping pulse, these pulse durations mean pulse shortening of 6000 and 9000 times, respectively.     

Nickel-disilicide-assisted excimer laser crystallization of amorphous silicon

Polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) thin film has been prepared by means of nickel-disilicide (NiSi多晶硅 受激准分子激光器结晶 结晶化 界面晶粒生长polycrystalline silicon, excimer laser crystallization,Ni-disilicide, Ni-metal-induced lateral crystallization, two-interface grain growthProject supported by the National High Technology Development Program of China (Grant No 2002AA303250) and by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No 60576056).9/7/2005 12:00:00 AM3/6/2006 12:00:00 AMPolycrystalline silicon （poly-Si） thin film has been prepared by means of nickel-disilicide （NiSi2） assisted excimer laser crystallization （ELC）. The process to prepare a sample includes two steps. One step consists of the formation of NiSi2 precipitates by heat-treating the dehydrogenated amorphous silicon （a-Si） coated with a thin layer of Ni. And the other step consists of the formation of poly-Si grains by means of ELC. According to the test results of scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, another grain growth model named two-interface grain growth has been proposed to contrast with the conventional Ni-metal-induced lateral crystallization （Ni-MILC） model and the ELC model. That is, an additional grain growth interface other than that in conventional ELC is formed, which consists of NiSi2 precipitates and a-Si. The processes for grain growth according to various excimer laser energy densities delivered to the a-Si film have been discussed. It is discovered that grains with needle shape and most of a uniform orientation are formed which grow up with NiSi2 precipitates as seeds. The reason for the formation of such grains which are different from that of Ni-MILC without migration of Ni atoms is not clear. Our model and analysis point out a method to prepare grains with needle shape and mostly of a uniform orientation. If such grains are utilized to make thin-film transistor, its characteristics may be improved.     

高气压预电离短脉冲XeCl准分子激光产生研究

研究了在高气压、大体积、泵浦功率1.395 9 MW·cm-3抽运下,产生的XeCl*准分子激光光谱,波段307.7～308.5 nm,结果显示有两个谱线峰值307.98和308.19 nm,谱线最强的跃迁是B—X跃迁,脉冲宽度11.13 ns。在气体配比HCl∶Xe∶He=0.1%∶1%∶98.9%下,采用预电离初始电子,产生稳定辉光放电过程,获得了0.5～5 Hz,单脉冲能量450 mJ,束散角3 mrad, 短脉冲的准分子激光。     

Excimer ArF laser with an output energy of 1.3 J at 2.0% efficiency on the He:Ar:F2 mixture

In this paper it is shown that to achieve a maximum efficiency and high output energy of an ArF (193 nm) excimer laser, one should use optimal pump intensity. It has been shown experimentally that the optimal pump intensity for an ArF excimer laser with the mixture of He:Ar:F₂ has a value of 4.5–5.0 MW/cm³. The results of an experimental study of the pump and active medium parameters effect on the efficiency and output energy of the ArF excimer laser on the mixture of He:Ar:F₂ are presented. To provide high pump intensity of an active medium, the excitation scheme of the LC-inverter type has been used where the current return conductor inductance had been increased from 30 to 80 nH. This allows the pump to achieve levels of intensity above 5.0 MW/cm³. By using the pump intensity of 5.0 MW/cm³ in an active medium of He:Ar:F₂–79.7:20:0.3 at total pressure of 2.4 atm, we are the first to obtain the output energy of 1.3 J at the total efficiency of 2.0%. The pulse duration (FWHM) was 15±1 ns and the peak pulse power was 85 MW. PACS 42.55.Lt; 42.60.Lh     

Comparison of characteristics of an x-ray preionized XeCl laser, pumped by water transmission line and low inductance capacitor bank

With a high uniformity of x-ray preionization, a long pulse duration and a high specific energy (9 J l^-1), an XeCl excimer laser output has been obtained by using a compact low inductance capacitor bank as the laser excitation circuit. The superior features of the low inductance capacitor bank (LICB) compared to the water transmission line (WTL) are attractive for repetitively pulsed XeCl excimer lasers.     

Influence of laser fluence and irradiation timing of F2 laser on ablation properties of fused silica in F2-KrF excimer laser multi-wavelength excitation process

A collinear irradiation system of F₂ and KrF excimer lasers for high-quality and high-efficiency ablation of hard materials by the F₂ and KrF excimer lasers’ multi-wavelength excitation process has been developed. This system achieves well-defined micropatterning of fused silica with little thermal influence and little debris deposition. In addition, the dependence of ablation rate on various conditions such as laser fluence, irradiation timing of each laser beam, and pulse number is examined to investigate the role of the F₂ laser in this process. The multi-wavelength excitation effect is strongly affected by the irradiation timing, and an extremely high ablation rate of over 30 nm/pulse is obtained between -10 ns and 10 ns of the delay time of F₂ laser irradiation. The KrF excimer laser ablation threshold decreases and its effective absorption coefficient increases with increasing F₂ laser fluence. Moreover, the ablation rate shows a linear increase with the logarithm of KrF excimer laser fluence when the F₂ laser is simultaneously irradiated, while single KrF excimer laser ablation shows a nonlinear increase. The ablation mechanism is discussed based on these results. Received: 16 July 2001 / Accepted: 27 July 2001 / Published online: 2 October 2001     

利用脉冲负反馈压缩准分子激光脉冲

 分析了准分子激光脉冲在放大过程中的展宽现象。将饱和开关技术应用于放电泵浦激光器放大腔的放大压缩,发展了脉冲负反馈饱和压缩技术。利用该技术在天光一号系统前端LPX-150激光器上成功获得能量100 mJ、脉宽10 ns的脉冲输出,其空间分布均匀性保持在3%以内。这证明该技术可与无阶梯诱导非相干技术联合使用,在保证光束均匀性基础上进行脉冲压缩。