Expansion of laser discharge in xenon jet improves EUV-light emission

What is it about?

We consider theoretically a laser discharge in a xenon jet. We show that despite absorption of laser radiation appears only within the laser focal spot, the discharge can occupy a much larger volume. This happens because multiply charged ions of plasma generated inside the focal spot emit high-power extreme ultraviolet (EUV)-light that efficiently ionizes surrounding gas generating secondary plasma. This plasma is heated because of conductive thermal flux from the focal spot and starts to emit EUV-light itself causing further discharge expansion. The theoretical model agrees well with available experiments.

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Photo by Anh Nguyen on Unsplash

Photo by Anh Nguyen on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The studied discharge is a promising source of light for EUV lithography, a cutting-edge technology for chip manufacturing. The work lays down the basic principles for optimizing this kind of EUV-light sources.