Resonator arrangement for bandwidth control
First Claim
1. An excimer or molecular fluorine laser system, comprising:
- a discharge chamber filled with a gas mixture at least including molecular fluorine and a buffer gas;
a plurality of electrodes within the discharge chamber connected to a discharge circuit for energizing the gas mixture;
a resonator including a pair of resonator reflecting surfaces disposed on either side of the discharge chamber for generating a laser beam, said resonator further including a deformable third reflecting surface disposed between the pair of resonator reflecting surfaces;
a line-narrowing/selection unit within the resonator for narrowing the bandwidth of the laser beam;
a detector for detecting the bandwidth of the laser beam; and
a processor for receiving a signal indicative of said bandwidth from said detector and controlling a surface contour of said deformable third reflecting surface to control said bandwidth in a feedback arrangement.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A line-narrowed excimer or molecular fluorine laser system includes a discharge chamber filled with a gas mixture at least including molecular fluorine and a buffer gas, multiple electrodes within the discharge chamber connected to a discharge circuit for energizing the gas mixture, a resonator including a pair of resonator reflecting surfaces disposed on either side of the discharge chamber for generating a laser beam, and a line-narrowing/selection unit within the resonator for narrowing the bandwidth of the laser beam. The resonator further includes a third reflecting surface which is deformable and disposed between the pair of resonator reflecting surfaces. The line-narrowing/selection unit preferably includes a beam expander and a dispersive element, wherein the deformable third reflecting surface is disposed between the beam expander and the dispersive element.
24 Citations
47 Claims
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1. An excimer or molecular fluorine laser system, comprising:
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a discharge chamber filled with a gas mixture at least including molecular fluorine and a buffer gas;
a plurality of electrodes within the discharge chamber connected to a discharge circuit for energizing the gas mixture;
a resonator including a pair of resonator reflecting surfaces disposed on either side of the discharge chamber for generating a laser beam, said resonator further including a deformable third reflecting surface disposed between the pair of resonator reflecting surfaces;
a line-narrowing/selection unit within the resonator for narrowing the bandwidth of the laser beam;
a detector for detecting the bandwidth of the laser beam; and
a processor for receiving a signal indicative of said bandwidth from said detector and controlling a surface contour of said deformable third reflecting surface to control said bandwidth in a feedback arrangement. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A line-narrowed excimer or molecular fluorine laser system, comprising:
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a discharge chamber filled with a gas mixture at least including molecular fluorine and a buffer gas;
a plurality of electrodes within the discharge chamber connected to a discharge circuit for energizing the gas mixture;
a resonator including a pair of resonator reflecting surfaces disposed on either side of the discharge chamber for generating a laser beam; and
a third reflecting surface disposed between the pair of resonator reflector surfaces, the third reflecting surface being deformable such that a surface contour of the third reflecting surface can be adjusted to control the bandwidth of the laser beam. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A line-narrowed excimer or molecular fluorine laser system, comprising:
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a discharge chamber filled with a gas mixture at least including molecular fluorine and a buffer gas;
a plurality of electrodes within the discharge chamber connected to a discharge circuit for energizing the gas mixture;
a resonator including a pair of resonator reflecting surfaces disposed on either side of the discharge chamber for generating a laser beam, said resonator further including a third reflecting surface disposed between the pair of resonator reflecting surfaces and having a surface contour which is deformable in order to control the bandwidth of the laser beam;
a line-narrowing/selection unit within the resonator for narrowing the bandwidth of the laser beam; and
a spectrometer for measuring the bandwidth of said laser beam. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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17. A line-narrowed excimer or molecular fluorine laser system, comprising:
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a discharge chamber filled with a gas mixture at least including molecular fluorine and a buffer gas;
a plurality of electrodes within the discharge chamber connected to a discharge circuit for energizing the gas mixture;
a resonator including a pair of resonator reflecting surfaces disposed on either side of the discharge chamber for generating a laser beam, said resonator further including a third reflecting surface disposed between the pair of resonator reflecting surfaces and having a surface contour which is deformable;
a line-narrowing/selection unit within the resonator for narrowing the bandwidth of the laser beam; and
a detector for detecting at least one parameter of the laser system including the bandwidth of the laser beam; and
a processor for receiving a signal indicative of said at least one laser system parameter from said detector and controlling a surface contour of said deformable third reflecting surface in a feedback arrangement in order to control at least the bandwidth of the laser beam. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A line-narrowed excimer or molecular fluorine laser system, comprising:
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a discharge chamber filled with a gas mixture at least including molecular fluorine and a buffer gas;
a plurality of electrodes within the discharge chamber connected to a discharge circuit for energizing the gas mixture;
a resonator including a pair of resonator reflecting surfaces disposed on either side of the discharge chamber for generating a laser beam, said resonator further including a third reflecting surface disposed between the pair of resonator reflecting surfaces and having a surface contour that can be modified to control the bandwidth of the laser beam;
a line-narrowing/selection unit within the resonator for narrowing the bandwidth of the laser beam, and wherein said line-narrowing/selection unit includes a dispersive element, and wherein said deformable third reflecting surface is disposed just before said dispersive element. - View Dependent Claims (24)
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25. A method of adjusting the bandwidth of a line-narrowed excimer or molecular fluorine laser including a discharge chamber having a gas mixture and a plurality of electrodes therein within a resonator for generating a laser beam, the resonator including a pair of resonator reflectors disposed on either side of the discharge chamber for generating a laser beam and a deformable third reflecting surface disposed between a pair of resonator reflectors, comprising the operations:
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applying electrical pulses to the plurality of electrodes within said discharge chamber for energizing the gas mixture therein;
measuring a bandwidth of the laser beam; and
adjusting a surface contour of said deformable third reflecting surface for adjusting the bandwidth of the laser beam based on the measured bandwidth. - View Dependent Claims (26)
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27. An excimer or molecular fluorine laser, comprising:
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a discharge chamber filled with a gas mixture;
a plurality of electrodes in the discharge chamber connected to a pulse power circuit for energizing the gas mixture; and
a resonator for generating a laser beam, including one or more line-narrowing/selection optics, a pair of resonator reflectors and a deformable third reflecting surface disposed between the pair of resonator reflectors having an adjustable surface contour for matching the wavefront of the beam to reduce the bandwidth narrowed/selected by the line-narrowing/selection unit. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A resonator for an excimer or molecular fluorine laser system, comprising:
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a discharge chamber for filling with a gas mixture;
a plurality of electrodes within the discharge chamber for connecting to a discharge circuit for energizing the gas mixture;
a pair of resonator reflectors for generating a laser beam; and
a bi-directional bandwidth controlled folding mirror assembly disposed between the pair of resonator reflectors, the mirror assembly including;
a folding mirror;
a coupling plate coupling with the mirror;
an adjustment spindle penetrating through a cavity defined in the coupling plate, and wherein screwing the adjustment spindle in a first direction increases a concavity of a surface contour of the folding mirror, and screwing the adjustment spindle in a second direction opposite to said first direction decreases the concavity of the surface contour of the folding mirror. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. A resonator for an excimer or molecular fluorine laser system, comprising:
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a discharge chamber for filling with a gas mixture;
a plurality of electrodes within the discharge chamber for connecting to a discharge circuit for energizing the gas mixture;
a pair of resonator reflectors for generating a laser beam; and
a bi-directional bandwidth controlled folding mirror assembly disposed between the pair of resonator reflectors, the mirror assembly including;
a folding mirror;
a coupling plate coupling with the mirror;
a piezo transducer coupled with the coupling plate, and wherein operating the piezo transducer in a first direction increases a concavity of the folding mirror, and operating the piezo transducer in a second direction opposite to said first direction decreases a concavity of the folding mirror. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
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Specification