EUV light source and exposure apparatus

Abstract

An extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light source is provided. The EUV light source comprises a spray nozzle array having a plurality of spray nozzles configured to spray a plurality of rows of droplets to an irradiating position. The EUV light source also includes a laser source having a first reflective mirror and a second reflective mirror configured to generate a first laser beam and a second laser beam, and to cause the first laser beam and the second laser beam to sequentially bombard the plurality of droplets arriving at the irritating position to generate EUV light with increased output power. Further, the EUV light source includes a light focusing device a light focusing device comprising a first partial focusing mirror and a second partial focusing mirror configured to perform a rotating scanning to collect EUV light and focus the collected EUV light at a central focusing point.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims the priority of Chinese patent application No. 201410549348.6, filed on Oct. 16, 2014, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention generally relates to the field of semiconductor manufacturing technology and, more particularly, relates to EUV light sources, methods for generating EUV light and exposure apparatus.BACKGROUND[0003]Photolithography is one of the important steps in the semiconductor manufacturing processes, which utilizes an exposure process and a developing process to form patterns in photoresist. With the continuous increase of the integration level of IC chips, the critical dimension of features be formed by a photolithography process has become smaller and smaller.[0004]The resolution (R) of an exposure apparatus determines the minimum critical dimension of the features formed by a photolithography process. The resolution of an exposur...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present patent describes a method and apparatus for generating and collecting extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light. The method involves spraying droplets of a solution onto a surface and using laser beams to sequentially bombard the droplets to generate the light. The light is then collected and focused using a light focusing device. The apparatus includes a base, an EUV light source, a wafer stage, a reticle stage, and a control unit for controlling the exposure process. The technical effects of this patent include the ability to generate high-quality EUV light for use in photolithography processes.

Problems solved by technology

However, because the next generation photolithography technique has strict requirement for the minimum critical dimensional, it often requires the optical system to have a large numerical aperture.

Thus, it may cause the manufacturing and modulating of the optical system to be complex; and further, increasing the numerical aperture may have a significant limitation on the focus depth of the optical system.

However, the power of the EUV light generated by such EUV light source is relative low, and it may be unable to match the manufacturing requirements.

Images