The primary requirement for the development of tools for extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) has been the identification and optimization of suitable sources. These sources must be capable of producing hundreds of watts of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation within a wavelength bandwidth of 2% centred on 13.5 nm, based on the availability of Mo/Si multilayer mirrors (MLMs) with a reflectivity of ∼70% at this wavelength. Since, with the exception of large scale facilities, such as free electron lasers, such radiation is only emitted from plasmas containing moderately to highly charged ions, the source development prompted a large volume of studies of laser produced and discharge plasmas in order to identify which ions were the strongest emitters at this wavelength and the plasma conditions under which their emission was optimized. It quickly emerged that transitions of the type 4p64dn − 4p54dn+1 + 4dn−14f in the spectra of Sn IX to SnXIV were the best candidates and work is still ongoing to establish the plasma conditions under which their emission at 13.5 nm is maximized. In addition, development of other sources at 6.X nm, where X ∼ 0.7, has been identified as the wavelength of choice for so-called Beyond EUVL (BEUVL), based on the availability of La/B based MLMs, with theoretical reflectance approaching 80% at this wavelength. Laser produced plasmas of Gd and Tb have been identified as potential source elements, as n = 4 − n = 4 transitions in their ions emit strongly near this wavelength. However to date, the highest conversion efficiency (CE) obtained, for laser to BEUV energy emitted within the 0.6% wavelength bandwidth of the available mirrors is only 0.8%, compared with values of 5% for the 2% bandwidth relevant for the Mo/Si mirrors at 13.5 nm. This suggests a need to identify other potential sources or the selection of other wavelengths for BEUVL. This review deals with the atomic physics of the highly-charged ions relevant to EUV emission at these wavelengths. It considers the developments that have contributed to the realization of the 5% CE at 13.5 nm which underpins the production of high-volume lithography tools, and those that will be required to realize BEUV lithography.

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Ab initio calculations of dielectronic recombination rate coefficients of Rh-like gadolinium and tungsten have been performed. Energy levels, radiative transition probabilities, and autoionization rates of Pd-like gadolinium and tungsten for [Zn]4p 6 4d 8 4fnl, [Zn]4p 6 4d 8 5l nl, [Zn]4p 6 4d 8 6l nl and [Zn]4p 5 4d 10 nl, [Zn]4p 5 4d 9 4fnl, [Zn]4p 5 4d 9 5l nl, [Zn]4p 5 4d 9 6l nl (n 18) complexes were calculated using the flexible atomic code. The contributions from resonant and nonresonant radiative stabilizing transitions to the total rate coefficients are discussed. Results show that the contributions from nonresonant radiative stabilizing transitions are significantly enchanced for W when compared with Gd as a result of lowering of energy levels relative to the ionization limit. In addition, the widely used Burgess-Merts semiempirical formula may underestimate the dielectronic recombination rate coefficients in the temperature regions of interest. The present calculated rate coefficients are fitted to a semiemperical formula. The data obtained are expected to be useful for modelling plasmas both for extreme ultraviolet lithography source development and for fusion applications.

We characterize extreme ultraviolet (EUV) emission from mid-infrared (mid-IR) laser-produced plasmas (LPPs) of the rare-earth element Gd. The energy conversion efficiency (CE) and the spectral purity in the mid-IR LPPs at λL = 10.6 μm were higher than for solid-state LPPs at λL = 1.06 μm, because the plasma produced is optically thin due to the lower critical density, resulting in a CE of 0.7%. The peak wavelength remained fixed at 6.76 nm for all laser intensities studied. Plasma parameters at a mid-IR laser intensity of 1.3×10(11) W/cm(2) was also evaluated by use of the hydrodynamic simulation code to produce the EUV emission at 6.76 nm.