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.

Extreme ultraviolet lithography requires a light source at 13.5nm to match the proposed multilayer optics reflectivity. The impact of wavelength and power density on the ion distribution and electron temperature in a laser-produced plasma is calculated for Nd:YAG and CO2 lasers. A steady-state figure of merit, calculated to optimize emission as a function of laser wavelength, shows an increase with a CO2 laser. The influence of reduced electron density in the CO2 laser-produced plasma is considered in a one-dimensional radiation transport model, where a more than twofold increase in conversion efficiency over that attainable with the Nd:YAG is predicted.

Extreme ultraviolet spectra from a tin laser produced plasma have been recorded over a range of angles between 20° and 90° from the target normal. Absolute intensity measurements are presented of both the 2% band centered on 13.5nm and the total radiation emitted by the plasma between 10 and 18nm. The in-band intensity is seen to be relatively constant out to an angle of 60° from the target normal, beyond which it drops off quite steeply. The spectra at wavelengths greater than 13.5nm are strongly influenced by self-absorption by ions ranging from 6+ to 10+.

The 4d photoabsorption spectrum of Cd I-like Sn III has been recorded in the 25-50 eV region using the dual-laser plasma (DLP) technique. Transitions from the 4d105s2 ground state dominate the Sn III spectrum with some contribution from the metastable 3P2 and 3P0 levels of the excited 4d105s5p configuration also observed. Transitions were identified with the aid of multiconfiguration Hartree-Fock calculations.

Out-of-band radiation emitted from an extreme ultraviolet laser-produced plasma, formed on a solid tin target, was measured over several angles between 25° and 85° with respect to the target normal for six energy bands between 200 and 1000nm. The optical and target system was rotated with respect to the detector and the intensity of the radiation was measured using an absolutely calibrated filter/photodiode combination. The emission was dominated by radiation in the 214nm band. A cosine function fitted to the angular distribution of the total radiation yielded an exponent of 0.23±0.02.