High brightness laser-driven light source

摘要

An apparatus for producing light includes a chamber and an ignition source that ionizes a gas within the chamber. The apparatus also includes at least one laser that provides energy to the ionized gas within the chamber to produce a high brightness light. The laser can provide a substantially continuous amount of energy to the ionized gas to generate a substantially continuous high brightness light.

主权项

1. A method for illuminating features of a semiconductor wafer, comprising:
ionizing a gas within a sealed pressurized plasma chamber having an operating pressure of at least 10 atmospheres; providing substantially continuous laser energy having a wavelength range of up to about 2000 nm through a region of material of the sealed pressurized chamber that is transparent to the substantially continuous laser energy to the ionized gas to sustain a plasma within the sealed pressurized plasma chamber to produce plasma-generated light having wavelengths greater than 50 nm; and illuminating the wafer with plasma-generated light having wavelengths greater than 50 nm that exits the sealed pressurized chamber.