Effects of Discharge-induced Disturbance on Spectral Characteristics of Highly Repetitive Excimer Laser

Abstract

Effects of discharge-induced disturbance on the spectrum characteristics of highly repetitive ArF excimer laser were investigated by using an acoustic wave simulation. We made the acoustic wave simulation for duration of 10 msec in whole region of the laser chamber. The results explained, fairly well, the behavior of fluctuation observed in a prototype ArF excimer laser. Although the results showed a weak accumulation effect of the fluctuation on the spectrum output, the effect was rather limited. Results also indicated that suppression of acoustic waves traveling between the electrodes together with a re-design of the structure around the electrodes is important for stable operation of the highly repetitive, narrow-bandwidth laser.