An extreme ultraviolet (EUV) photolithography system generates EUV light by irradiating droplets with a laser. The system includes a droplet generator with a nozzle and a piezoelectric structure coupled to the nozzle. The generator outputs groups of droplets. A control system applies a voltage waveform to the piezoelectric structure while the nozzle outputs the group of droplets. The waveform causes the droplets of the group to have a spread of velocities that results in the droplets coalescing into a single droplet prior to being irradiated by the laser.

Supersonic gas jets are provided near the immediate focus of a lithography apparatus in order to deflect tin debris generated by the lithography process away from a scanner side and towards a debris collection device. The gas jets can be positioned in a variety of useful orientations, with adjustable gas flow velocity and gas density in order to prevent up to nearly 100% of the tin debris from migrating to the reticle on the scanner side.

A metal reuse system for an extreme ultra violet (EUV) radiation source apparatus includes a first metal collector for collecting metal from vanes of the EUV radiation source apparatus, a first metal storage coupled to the first metal collector via a first conduit, a metal droplet generator coupled to the first metal storage via a second conduit, and a first metal filtration device disposed on either one of the first conduit and the second conduit.

An initial pulse of radiation is generated; a section of the initial pulse of radiation is extracted to form a modified pulse of radiation, the modified pulse of radiation including a first portion and a second portion, the first portion being temporally connected to the second portion, and the first portion having a maximum energy that is less than a maximum energy of the second portion; the first portion of the modified pulse of radiation is interacted with a target material to form a modified target; and the second portion of the modified pulse of radiation is interacted with the modified target to generate plasma that emits extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light.

The invention relates to a droplet dispensing device (4) comprising a reservoir (9) for containing a liquid medium (10), an outlet (11) for dispensing droplets of said liquid medium (10) from said reservoir (9), an actuation means (12) for generating and transmitting a mechanical oscillation at an excitation frequency, and a resonant structure comprising a piston (15) coupled to said actuation means (12) for transmitting said mechanical oscillation to the liquid medium (10) contained in said reservoir (9) such that droplets are formed from said liquid medium (10), wherein a resonance frequency of said resonant structure is sufficiently close to said excitation frequency, such that resonance occurs.

The invention further relates to a UV or X-ray light source, comprising a droplet dispensing device (4) according to the invention, and a method for providing a stream, in particular a monodisperse stream, of droplets by means of the droplet dispensing device (4).

A droplet generator nozzle (800, 820/830) includes a metal body (802, 822), a metal fitting (812, 823/833) arranged adjacent to the metal body, and a capillary (804, 824/834) comprising a first end and a second end. The first end of the capillary is disposed within the metal fitting, and the capillary is configured to eject initial droplets of a material from the second end of the capillary. The droplet generator nozzle further includes an electromechanical element (808 828/838) disposed within the metal body and coupled to the first end of the capillary and a fastener element (810) configured to clamp around a portion of the metal body and around the metal fitting. The electromechanical element is configured to apply a change that affects droplet generation from the capillary. The second end of the capillary protrudes out from an opening in the fastener element of the droplet generator nozzle. Droplet generator nozzle 830 of FIG. 8C represents the embodiment shown in FIG. 8B, in a cross section orthogonal to the cross section shown in FIG. 8B.

A target supply device according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes a nozzle through which a liquid target substance is output, and a vibration unit configured to vibrate the target substance supplied to the nozzle, and the vibration unit includes a vibration element configured to vibrate in accordance with applied drive voltage from outside, a vibration transfer unit contacting the nozzle and configured to transfer vibration of the vibration element to the nozzle, a load application member configured to apply a pressing load for pressing the vibration transfer unit against the nozzle, and a load adjustment device configured to adjust the pressing load in accordance with a signal from outside.

An extreme ultraviolet light generation apparatus may include a chamber, a target supply device configured to successively supply targets into the chamber, and an extreme ultraviolet light collector mirror including a reflective surface having a through-hole at the center thereof. The reflective surface may reflect and collect extreme ultraviolet light generated at a predetermined emission cycle because of irradiation of the successively supplied targets with a laser beam. A gas ejection device may be disposed in the through-hole to jut out from the reflective surface and have a gas ejection opening to eject etching gas for debris onto the reflective surface. The gas ejection device may be configured so that the etching gas takes a longer time than the predetermined emission cycle to reach the through-hole-side end of effective reflective area of the reflective surface after being ejected from the gas ejection opening.

A target delivery system for an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light source is disclosed. The system includes: a conduit including an orifice configured to fluidly couple to a reservoir; an actuator configured to mechanically couple to the conduit such that motion of the actuator is transferred to the conduit; and a control system coupled to the actuator, the control system being configured to: determine an indication of pressure applied to target material in the reservoir, and control the motion of the actuator based on the determined indication of applied pressure. Moreover, techniques for operating a supply system are disclosed. For example, one or more characteristics of the supply system are determined, and an actuator that is mechanically coupled to the supply system is controlled based on the one or more determined characteristics such that an orifice of the supply system remains substantially free of material damage during operational use.

An EUV light generation device generates EUV light stably. The EUV light generation device may include a chamber in which extreme ultraviolet light is generated when a target is irradiated with laser light in a predetermined region inside the chamber, a target supply device configured to output the target to the predetermined region in the chamber to thereby supply the target to the predetermined region, and a target recovery apparatus configured to recover the target output from the target supply device and not irradiated with the laser light. The target recovery apparatus may include a receiver disposed to be inclined with respect to a trajectory of the target output from the target supply device, the receiver being configured to receive the target by allowing the target not irradiated with the laser light to collide with the receiver, and an excitation device configured to vibrate the receiver.