The research group of the Thin Film Optics Technology Research Office of the Institute of Optoelectronics Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has made new progress in the study of laser pointer pulse width broadening technology in excimer lithography systems: a pulse width broadening structure based on a double beam splitter and multiple mirrors is proposed. Related research results have applied for a patent for the invention of “an excimer laser pulse stretching device based on dual beam splitting elements”.
In the excimer laser exposure optical system, the life of the optical element determines the life of the lithography machine and the manufacturing cost of the microelectronic device. The service life of optical components is directly related to the peak power density of the laser beam in the exposure optical system. The lower the peak power density, the longer the life of the optical component. On the other hand, in order to improve the use efficiency and productivity of the exposure optical system, the laser output power needs to be as high as possible.
Since the yield of the exposure optical system is mainly proportional to the laser output power and has nothing to do with the pulse width of a single pulse, increasing the laser output power while broadening the output pulse width can not only effectively increase the yield of the exposure optical system, but also effectively reduce it The peak power density of the laser beam in the exposure optical system prolongs the service life of optical components and reduces the manufacturing cost of microelectronic devices.
In the research of pulse width broadening technology, the research group proposed a pulse width broadening structure based on double beam splitter and multiple mirrors. The existing pulse width expansion structure usually consists of a single beam splitter and multiple mirrors. The advantage of this new structure is that by optimizing the splitting ratio of the two beam splitters, the green laser pointer output pulse waveform can be significantly improved, and the laser pulse is further reduced. The instantaneous peak power improves the service life of the optical components in the exposure optical system.