Characterization of 1- and 2-$μ$m-wavelength laser-produced microdroplet-tin plasma for generating extreme-ultraviolet light

Abstract: Experimental spectroscopic studies are presented, in a 5.5--25.5nm extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) wavelength range, of the light emitted from plasma produced by the irradiation of tin microdroplets by 5-ns-pulsed, 2-$\mu$m-wavelength laser light. Emission spectra are compared to those obtained from plasma driven by 1-$\mu$m-wavelength Nd:YAG laser light over a range of laser intensities spanning approximately $0.3-5 \times 10^{11}$Wcm$^{-2}$, under otherwise identical conditions. Over this range of drive laser intensities, we find that similar spectra and underlying plasma charge state distributions are obtained when keeping the ratio of 1-$\mu$m to 2-$\mu$m laser intensities fixed at a value of 2.1(6), which is in good agreement with RALEF-2D radiation-hydrodynamic simulations. Our experimental findings, supported by the simulations, indicate an approximately inversely proportional scaling $\sim \lambda^{-1}$ of the relevant plasma electron density, and of the aforementioned required drive laser intensities, with drive laser wavelength $\lambda$. This scaling also extends to the optical depth that is captured in the observed changes in spectra over a range of droplet diameters spanning 16-51$\mu$m at a constant laser intensity that maximizes the emission in a 2\% bandwidth around 13.5nm relative to the total spectral energy, the bandwidth relevant for EUV lithography. The significant improvement of the spectral performance of the 2-$\mu$m- vs 1-$\mu$m driven plasma provides strong motivation for the development of high-power, high-energy near-infrared lasers to enable the development of more efficient and powerful sources of EUV light.