Gigaphoton Inc., a major lithography light source manufacturer, announced today that it has successfully achieved 92 W EUV light source output at 4.2 percent conversion efficiency (CE) on its prototype laser-produced plasma (LPP) light sources for EUV lithography scanners.

The 92 W output was achieved by irradiating an Sn target (tin droplet) with a solid-state pre-pulse laser and a CO2 laser after combining and optimizing these lasers. Gigaphoton remains committed to continuing its R&D efforts, targeting 150 W output by the end of 2014 and ultimately up to 250 W output for high-volume manufacturing.

The prototype LPP light source that has achieved 92 W output with Gigaphoton’s unique technologies allows emission of EUV by radiating ultra-small tin (Sn) droplets of less than 20 μm in diameter with the solid-state pre-pulse laser and main pulse CO2 laser. In addition, a combination of a high-output superconducting magnet and Sn etching allows suppression of Sn debris caused by radiation. To maximize the life of the collector mirror, a high-output superconducting magnet generates a powerful magnetic field to guide unwanted debris caused by thermal expansion of the tin droplets towards the tin catcher.

“The achievement of 92 W output with our EUV light source is a fruit of the steady-yet-unique R&D efforts that we have made to achieve development of higher output, stable, and lower CoO LPP light sources,” said Hitoshi Tomaru, President and CEO of Gigaphoton, “I believe that Gigaphoton’s expertise and efforts to develop the LPP light source that accelerates development of EUV scanners for HVM will further encourage the industry to introduce EUV scanners as the next-generation lithography tools.”