Beam stability investigation for a free electron lithographic laser based on an energy-recovery linac

According to leading producers of microelectronic devices, lithography based on free electron lasers (FEL) could become the main technology for the mass production of elements with a scale up to 5 nm in the near future. One of the main hindrances in this path is the absence of working FEL with the required parameters. A feasibility study devoted to the production of such an FEL based on a superconducting energyrecovery linac (ERL) has been carried out at the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics (BINP). The ERL average current is limited by longitudinal and transverse instabilities, caused by the interaction of an electron beam with the fields induced by it in the superconducting cavities. The estimations of the threshold currents and parameters of the ERL required for the operation of FEL are obtained.