摘要 |
The invention is directed to a radiation source for generating extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation based on a hot, dense plasma generated by gas discharge. The object of the invention, to find a novel possibility for the realization of an EUV radiation source which achieves a high average radiation output in the EUV region and sufficiently long life and long-term stability, is met according to the invention in that a first electrode housing and a second electrode housing which are electrically separated from one another so as to be resistant to breakdown form parts of a vacuum chamber for a gas discharge for plasma generation, and the second electrode housing has an electrode collar which is enclosed concentrically by the first electrode housing so that the gas discharge is oriented substantially only parallel to the axis of symmetry of the electrode housings, and the electrode collar is stepped radially relative to the concentric insulator layer in such a way that at least one end region of the electrode collar is at a distance from the concentric insulator layer such that a concentric gap is formed. A substantially longer operating duration is achieved by the optimized electrode geometry in conjunction with material selection and effective heat dissipation.
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