Microwave discharge plasma production with resonant cavity for EUV mask inspection tool

A microwave-discharge-produced plasma source was developed to generate 13.5 nm extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation for application as a mask inspection tool. The EUV radiation of a system with a high Q-factor (>3900) resonant cavity and a solid-state oscillator was studied. The gas pressure and microwave power dependences on the EUV radiation for transverse-magnetic mode TM010 and transverse-electric mode TE111 were determined. For the solid-state oscillator, the efficiency of the EUV radiation over the input power was 5.8 times higher than that for a magnetron. EUV radiation of 10 mW/(2πsr) was observed under a gas pressure of 5 Pa and microwave power of 400 W. We expect that more EUV power and a smaller plasma is generated when a magnetic field is applied to confirm the plasma and a facility is operated with an improved system to cool an entire cavity.