Invited Paper

History and Future Prospects of Excimer Lasers

Dirk BASTING, Klaus PIPPERT and Uwe STAMM

Lambda PhysikAG, Hans-BOckler-SfraJJe 12, D-37079 GOttingen, Germany,

tel: +49-551-6938-0, fax: +49-551-6869], e-mail: UStamm,lambdaphysik com

We give a review about the historical development and various technological achievements in the field
of excimer lasers since their discovery in 1975. The first commercial excimer laser model in the world,
the EMG 500 from Lambda Physik was operating at maximum repetition rates of only 20 Hz, whereas
today multi kHz excimer lasers as the NovaLine lasers are available. In 2000 Lambda Physik
introduced the most powerful commercial excimer laser, the Lambda Steel with 300 W output power
having extremely high stability.
Over the years various technological achievements like the NovaTube and DuraTube laser
chamber technology, the NovaPowerSwitch pulsed power modules and the HaloSafe fluorine and
chlorine generators could be made which make the use of excimer lasers simple and user friendly.
Recently, the development of Lambda Physik's DuraTube technology gave a strong push towards
the development of high power 157 urn laser technology for microlithography and laser based micro-
machining of "difficult" materials as fused silica or teflon.
Current and future technological developments are discussed which will strengthen the position of
excimer lasers as user friendly work horses in all industrial areas.

Keywords: excimer laser, lithography, TFT annealing, ink-jet nozzle drilling, refractive surgery

There are certainly not many types of lasers which have

1. Introduction
The revolutionary progress in semiconductor,
communication, and information industries based on
electronic and photomc technologies demands for the
development and enhancement of various microfabncalion
techniques to support micro- and nano-technologies. The
trend for "smaller size and higher speed" is evident in
integrated microchips for computers, micro-optics, and
micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS). Biotechnology
and medicine require micro- and nano-technological
approaches as well.
For micro- and nano-technologies, laser micromachining is
currently used in a large number of R&D and industrial
applications. The range of applications to which laser
methods are applied is continuously expanding, supported
also by the development of novel processing techniques.
Over the last decades the excimer laser has obtained the key
position among lasers in various sectors of micromachining.
Excimer lasers have developed into powerful manufacturing
tools mainly because of two reasons: (i) The short
wavelengths of the excimer laser offers excellent quality of
machining and a great versatility in features which can be
produced. (ii) The progress in basic excimer laser
technology has made the excimer lasers to reliable machines
suitable for the industrial environment
found such broad markets as the excimer laser (see figure 1,
[1]). Over the last years the main growth results from
increasing industhal use followed by medical applications
while new sales into R&D applications stay nearly constant
Today the largest known industrial applications of excimer
lasers are (i) based on micromaching of different materials
as polymers, ceramics and glasses, applied for example in
the production of ink jet cartridges by drilling the nozzles,
(ii) excimer laser radiation is being used for changing the
structure and properties of materials as oxides, silicon or
glass in bulk or thin films, as applied for the production of
active matrix LCD monitors, fiber Bragg gratings in
telecommunication, and high temperature superconducting
films, (iii) employing the excimer laser as "short wavelength
light bulb" in optical microlithography for the production of
computer chips with critical dimensions below 0.25 jim (the
largest homogeneous market for excimer lasers). The largest
application of excimer lasers for medical use is in refractive
laser surgery. By means of intense excimer pulses at 193 nm
the surface of the human cornea is reshaped to change its
refractive power and thus to correct for short or long
sightedness.
All the widespread applications of excimer lasers in
micromachining and medicine are based on the early use of
excimer lasers leading to the discovery of the ablation of

Second International Symposium on Laser Precision Microfabrication,

Isamu Miyamoto, Yong Feng Lu, Koji Sugioka, Jan J. Dubowski, Editors, 25
Proceedings of SPIE Vol. 4426 (2002) © 2002 SPIE · 0277-786X/02/$15.00

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 materials under intense illumination with ultraviolet laser
pulses by R. Srinivasan [2].
In the present paper we give a review about the development
of excimer lasers and their technology and discuss current
and future trends in excimer laser technology.
discovered basically within the short time frame of one year
after investigation of fluorescence spectra of its active
molecules, the rare gas monohalides. As far as we know the
only rare gas halide excimer of which fluorescence spectra
have been reported much earlier than 1974 is XeF [4].

699 4— Enary
— Industry 1210 8 7 8 5 4 3 eV 2

— Medicine 638 Kr,

::: Research 585

nerO Gas
Ar,

DD
126
146
Xe,
172

157
Halogen
KrCI XeBr fXeF(B->X)
435 222 262 351
ArF KcF XeCI XeF(C->A)
48635nm

—- -
Inert Gas-Halogen 193
ci u ci
248 308

(Xe2Br)

I
440=3Onm
Inert Gas-Halogen Ar2CI) (Ar2F) Kr2F Xe2Ci (Xe3F)
24535nm 285=25nrn 42035nm 49040nm 610=65nm
(3-atom)
I IF

till':
1 1

100 200 300 400 500 nm 800

Wavelength x

Fig. 2 Lasing wavelengths of the different excimers

93 94 95 96 97 98 99 nm Fluorescence spectra of other rare gas halides were almost at

Excimer Laser Sales I 993 - 2000 in Mio. DM
Source: LASER FOCUS Jan. 2000
Fig. 1 The development of total worldwide market of
excimer lasers between 1993 and 2000.
2. The invention of excimer lasers
Excimer lasers are gas lasers that emit pulses of light with a
duration of 10 ns to several 10 ns in the ultraviolet (UV)
spectral range. They are the most powerful lasers in the UV.
While a lot of different excimer laser transitions have been
used to generate light pulses at various wavelengths between
126 nm and about 660 rim (see figure 2), the most
commonly used excimer lasers are krypton fluoride (KrF,
248 mu), argon fluoride (ArF, 193 urn) and xenon chloride
(XeCl, 308 mu). Recenfly also the very short wavelength of
the fluorine laser (F2, 157 nm) experiences increasing
interest and applications [3].
The name excimer comes from excited dimer and is
somehow misleading for the class of excited molecules
which are the active molecules in todays excimer lasers.
Originally excimer lasing has been observed in Xe2 , Kr2,
and Ar2 , thnt means exactly in excited dimers. Lasing of the
"important excimers" of today is lasing of excited
complexes (exciplexes) of rare gas monohalides. These are
molecules formed by Ar, Kr, or Xe with F, Cl, Br, or I. The
name excimer is used by convention also for exciplexes.
Looking back into the mid 70's of the 20th century it is
extremely interesting to note that the excimer laser has been
the same time, i.e. in 1974 under investigation by several
groups at University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK [5], at
Kansas State University, Kansas, USA [6], and at the Avco
Everett Research Laboratory, Everett, Massachusetts, USA
[7].
The first laser action was then reported in 1975, again
almost simultaneously by several research teams at Naval
Research Laboratory, Washington, USA [8], Northrop
Research and Technology Center, Hawthorne, USA [9], at
Avco Everett Research Laboratory, Everett, Massachusetts,
USA [10-12], and at Sandia Laboratories, Albuquerque,
USA [13]. At the end of 1975 excimer lasers with all
important UV wavelengths had been demonstrated
experimentally. In addition to fundamental investigation of
the excimer laser and its properties itself, scientists started to
built up excimer lasers which could be used in potential
research applications.
3. Early commercial excimer lasers
It was not easy at all to develop excimer lasers as
commercial devices manufacturable in a (small) industrial
environment soon after the reported laboratory results.
Nevertheless astonishing fast, Lambda Physik did develop
and manufacture its first commercial excimer laser — the
EMG 500 — which was introduced into the market in 1977,
only 2 years after the invention of excimer lasers. In figure 3
a photograph of the first commercial excimer laser, the
LAMBDA Physik model EMG 500 is shown. The laser
could be operated at various wavelengths like 193 nm, 222
mu, 248 urn, 282 urn, 308 mu, 337 mu (as nitrogen laser),
351 urn, 427 nm (as nitrogen laser), and 713 nm with a

26 Proc. SPIE Vol. 4426

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 repetition rate selectable between 0.05 Hz (i.e. 1 pulse in 20
seconds) and 20 Hz. The laser was made for basic research
applications of the new powerful UV light pulses with until
that time unachievable peak power ofup to 10 MW! Energy
at 248 nm exceeded 220 nil which was almost two orders of
magnitude higher than the energy obtained from the most
powerful predecessor of the excimer laser — the UV nitrogen
laser. The gas lifetime was about 60 000 shots, thyratron and
electrode lifetime about 10 million shots. In 1977 about 5
laser were built and shipped to the first customers of
excimer lasers in the world.
Fig. 3 The first commercial excimer laser EMG 500.
Pulse energy of 220 mJ @ 248 urn, repetition rate
between 0.05 Hz and 20 Hz
In these years the difficulties in developing commercial
excimer lasers were the same worldwide as various basic
technologies needed for excimer lasers were not or not
sufficiently developed. Figure 4 shows an Lambda Physik
excimer laser model EMG 103 MSC without cover — an
advanced excimer laser model introduced in 1983. In the
70's technologies needed in the excimer laser were not
developed at all or in the proper combination. These
technologies are high voltage and pulsed power technology
including thyratron switching, and the discharge and pre-
ionization technology. The vacuum technology, the
fluorine/chlorine resistive materials and their mounting
technology for the excimer laser chamber were not existing.
Technologies for the gas fill circuit, optics in contact with
corrosive gases, cooling of the powerful laser chamber as
well as the preparation of high purity laser gases was
needed.
The reasons why Lambda Physik was so fast in
commercializing the excimer laser are likely several. Pulsed
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transverse excitation gas laser discharge system had been
developed earlier at Lambda Physik for its UV nitrogen
lasers. In 1975 several years of experience and data about
the performance of the discharge system in nitrogen lasers at
customer sites were available at Lambda Physik. During the
development of the first excimer laser the experience from
the nitrogen laser discharge system was considered and the
transverse discharge system was adapted to the requirements
of excimer lasers. Pre-ionization was developed in addition
to ensure uniform large volume discharge. Since both
founders of Lambda Physik, Bemd Steyer and Dirk Basting
were chemists they were used to work also with aggressive
chemicals. This made a major advantage during the
selection of materials for and the design of the excimer laser
tube. Another advantage for Lambda Physik was its location
in Gottingen, Germany and the excellent contacts of the
scientists both to the Max-Planck-Jnstitutes and the Georg-
August-University of Gottingen. As for example fluorine
was not available on the market with the required purity and
in sufficient quantities at that time, close contacts with and
advice and help from Prof. Oskar Glemser from University
Gothngen, one of the worldwide experts in fluorine
chemistry, did accelerate the development of excimer lasers
at Lambda Physik significantly. And as Lambda Physik had
started its business with nitrogen lasers for dye laser
pumping at Prof. Fritz Schafers laboratory at the Max-
Planck Institute for biophysical chemistry, and had earlier
developed commercial dye lasers with complicated optics,
also the knowledge in optics and highly stable mounting
technology was available which could be used for the
excimer laser.
Fig. 4 Excimer laser EMG 103 MSC without cover
showing the main components including high-
voltage circuit, pulsed power modules with
thyratron, laser chamber and cooling circuit
And last but not least — the driving force for the
development of the first commercial excimer laser was the
application — photochemistry and dye laser pumping,
Proc. SPIE Vol. 4426 27
 specialty of the Lambda Physik founders. This all together
made the fast development of the excimer laser at Lambda
Physik possible - the effects of synergy and
multidisciplinary know-how available at Lambda and in the
area of Gottingen.
Soon after the introduction of the first commercial excimer
laser EMG 500 — a total number of about 20 lasers have
been installed worldwide — fast progress in several areas of
excimer laser technology was made. The development of
automatic synchronization of pre-ionization and main gas
discharge leading to higher energy stability, of gas
processors for increased laser gas lifetime, and magnetic
assist and switch control for increased thyratron, discharge
electrode, and gas lifetime allowed Lambda Physik to
introduce improved excimer lasers. The new excimer laser
models were the EMG 100 and 200 series as well as the
EMG 100 and 200 MSC. With the MSC (magnetic switch
control) technique lifetimes of the most expensive excimer
laser components — thyratron switch and laser chamber —
could be increased by one order of magnitude. Under typical
operation conditions in the research environment this meant
operation of the new excimer lasers of several years without
change of thyratron or laser chamber. Available UV laser
power did exceed the 100 W level for the first time. Also
gas lifetime was increased by more than an order of
magnitude with the new excimer lasers — on September 16,
1983 Lambda Physik scientists switched off an EMG 103
MSC after 1 10 million shots of continuous operation with a
single gas fill of XeC1 —a world record of gas lifetime (a gas
lifetime of 100 million shots is comparable to the gas
lifetime requirements for todays lithography lasers in
semiconductor fabs).
The improvement in all areas of excimer laser technology
and perfonnance and the demonstration of the capability of
excimer laser pulses to open new ways of fundamental
investigation of laser-material interaction and its application
[2] led to a rapid increase in the market for excimer lasers.
In 1984 Lambda Physik shipped more than 200 excimer
laser all over the world and employed about 80 scientists
and technicians.
With maturing of the excimer laser technology new
developments came up at Lambda Physik — some of them
found markets and some of them did not. In 1984 an
oscillator-amplifier configuration of excimer lasers with
unstable resonator — the EMG 150 - was commercialized.
The principle of the EMG 150 was adapted from solid-state
lasers which had been operated with amplifiers over many
years. The amplifier was equipped with an unstable
resonator which was injection-seeded by the low divergence
beam from the oscillator. For the excimer radiation this
meant orders of magnitude higher brightness, lowest beam
divergence and extremely good focusability of the laser
pulses at energy levels in the several 100 m.J range. With
bandwidth-narrowing resonator configurations in the
oscillator excimer laser, the EMG 150 delivered high power
28 Proc. SPIE Vol. 4426
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Uv pulses with less than 3 pm spectral bandwidth — later
used to investigate the ozone hole [14].
Two years later another excimer laser was commercialized —
the EMG 105 i —the first 1 kHz repetition rate excimer laser
in the world. Developed on request of a customer having a
specific application in mind, the EMG 105i delivered 20 W
average power at 1 kHz at 248 rim — more than 10 years
before the first 248 nm, 1 kHz lithography laser was
installed. However, the development was to early. The
application was not successful and other markets did not
arise at that time. Lambda Physik built about 20 EMG 105i
lasers and then discontinued the product as no significant
sales could be seen.
Fig 5 Large industrial excimer installation at Siemens
Nixdorf huformationssysteme, Augsburg, Germany,
containing 9 EMG 1003i excimer lasers in 1988
In the mid 80's the progress in excimer laser parameters and
technology as well as extensive results about innovative
applications of excimer lasers from research laboratories all
over the world fueled the first industrial applications of
excimers. In 1985 the company Karl Suss introduced an
industrial lithography mask aligner system with a Lambda
Physik EMG laser. Somewhat later the largest industrial
installation of excimer lasers in the world was built up at
Siemens Nixdorf Informalionssysteme in Augsburg,
Germany (see figure 5). The underlying process had been
developed under leadership of F. Bachmann at Siemens AG
Munich. The installation was including up to 20 excimer
laser in production in 1990. The mid 80's was the time when
the idea of taking the next challenge in excimer laser
development was born at Lambda Physik — making excimer
laser machines for use in an industrial manufacturing
environment Various companies all over the world
supported this idea as for example IBM, Siemens, Canon,
Nikon, ASML, Zeiss and many others. The resulting
products were the industrial excimer lasers LAMBDA 1000
 and LAMBDA 3000 for micromachining applications and
the LAMBDA 248 L — the first industrial lithography laser
ill the world. All these lasers were designed in the first
attempt to meet the maintenance requirements of the
industry and did include the latest excimer laser technology
developed over more than 10 years at Lambda Physik.
4. Excimer laser key technologies
4.1. High voltage ulsed power circuits - MSC and
NovaPowerSwitch
The "heart technology" of any excimer laser is its electrical
discharge circuit including high voltage switch, capacitors
for energy storage and transfer, pre-ionization arrangement
and electrodes. The first excimer lasers did use thyratrons as
fast high voltage switches in rather conventional electrical
circuits. The pulsed power circuit must switch tens of
kilovolts on a nanosecond time scale. The thyratrons used as
the switching element in these power supplies represented a
limiting factor for system lifetime especially if higher duty
cycle of the laser operation was needed. A breakthrough in
excimer technology was accomplished in 1983 when
Lambda Physik's scientists invented the magnetic switch
control (MSC) for transferring the electrical energy
efficiently into the laser chamber. MSC did prevent
current reversal in the pulsed power circuit and allowed
optimum adaptation of the thyratron switch to other high
voltage components. This resulted in an increase in lifetime
of the most expensive components of the laser - thyratron
and laser tube - by more than one order of magnitude.
Thousands of lasers have been installed with MSC
technology with lifetimes of the thyratrons seen up to 4
billion pulses at some of them.
The development of very high repetition rate excimer lasers
in the mid and late 90's however met the limit of the MSC
technology. At 2 kHz repetition rate, for example a thyratron
would survive only 23 days or less. The key to solve the
lifetime issue was solved by completely eliminating the
thyratron and replace it by semiconductor switches as for
example thyristors. In 1997 the development of the
NovaPowerSwitch — a pulsed power circuit with low
voltage semiconductor switch combined with magnetic
isolator (MI) and pulse transformer to achieve the required
discharge voltages could be introduced into the first
industrial excimer lasers [15]. The lifetime of a
NovaPowerSwitch circuit is basically unlimited —
determined only by the aging of the semiconductor
components.
4.2. NovaTube and DuraTube technology
Internal corrosion has long been one of the most serious
problems limiting excimer laser performance and reliability.
Over time, the corrosive gases used in excimer lasers
chemically react with the laser tube and its components.
This process has several negative effects on laser operation.
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The resulting contaminants quench laser action, thereby
reducing laser operating efficiency, which can significantly
limit the lifetime of a gas fill. Reduced efficiency also
negatively impacts laser beam quality and pulse energy
stability. Equally important, corrosion limits overall tube
lifetime and increases the frequency of routine optics
component cleaning and replacement.
Fig. 6 Schematic of the NovaTube excimer laser
chamber
Another milestone in the excimer technology could be
achieved by the development of the NovaTube
technology in 1994, an all metal/ceramic laser chamber
construction that significantly reduces corrosion.
Specifically, all insulators and high voltage feedthroughs in
the laser chamber are made from corrosion resistant high-
density ceramics. The metal parts of the laser tube are of
special carbon- and silicon-free alloys to avoid the
generation of contaminants such as for example SiF4 and
CF4 , which have a detrimental effect onto laser operation,
even at low concentrations at the ppm level. After clean
room assembling of the NovaTube a multi-step
passivation process eliminates all traces of contaminants
including water from the tube components, ensuring that
exposed surfaces will remain inert. NovaTube technology
did enhance the gas lifetime of the excimer laser by more
than 10 times, even at the very short 193 nm wavelength. In
1997 NovaTube was improved by implementing a soft
pre-ionization technique of type of a bather-discharge
corona giving further enhancement ofboth the gas and, even
more important, laser chamber lifetime. However, also with
NovaTube technology the laser chamber lifetime is still
dependent on the rated output power of the laser. As a rule
of thumb is valid the lower the power the longer the
chamber lifetime. In 1998 for the first time a chamber
lifetime above 10 billion pulses could be demonstrated for a
Proc. SPIE Vol. 4426 29
 10 W KrF NovaLine lithography laser operating at 1 kHz
[16]. And also the high power laser LAMBDA 4308 with
200 W output at 308 nm [17] exhibits tube lifetimes in
excess of 2 billion pulses — this is more than 6 months of
operation in a typical production environment
Extending NovaTube , in 1999 another laser tube
technology was developed which matched the experience
from NovaTube' with the requirements of most efficient
operation and longest lifetime at the 157 nm wavelength of
the F2 laser — the DnmTube technology. DnmTube,
which today is used in all Lambda Physik 157 mu laser
employs materials and pre-ionization arrangement
specifically developed for F2 lasers. With DuraTube
technology another world record in gas lifetime at 157 nm
could be achieved in 2000 — a NovaLine F1020 lithography
laser did operate more than 1 billion pulses on a single gas
fill [18].
4.3. Ha1oSafe gas generators
The storage and handling requirements of the halogen gases
used in excimer laser operation is an additional investment
necessary to install excimer lasers. At installations of several
lasers, the cost of the halogen gas installation divided by the
number of lasers operated, seem reasonable. At single
excimer laser installations however, the cost of the gas and
safety installations may contribute to a significant portion of
the total cost of the laser system. In response to this
situation, in 1994 Lambda Physik scientists developed the
HaloSafe system. Ha1oSafe is a sealed module, either
built-in the excimer laser or as stand-alone unit that
generates either HCI or F2 on demand, from solid, inert
materials. The basic principle of HaloSafe consists in the
start of chemical reactions in the HaloSafeTM unit which
produces either highly pure fluorine or chlorine, just before
the excimer laser needs a new gas fill. The amount of the
generated halogens is computer controlled and matched to a
single laser gas fill. Gas produced with HaloSafe is more
expensive than that from the halogen boffle of high purity
gas suppliers. But calculating the total amount of money
needed to operate the excimer laser and taking into account
local safety regulations, HaloSafe technology is
specifically favorable for medical and scientific
installations.
4.4. Bandwidth-narrowing technologies
In the second half of the 80's a large push towards the edge
of technological possibilities of excimer lasers came from
their intended use in semiconductor chip manufacturing and
the moving target specifications for the laser parameters.
While early estimates did forecast the need of 248 am
excimer lasers for microlithography at critical chip
dimensions of 1.0 tim, the actual start of production was at
0.25 jim dimensions in 1998. This shift in time was mainly
caused by the immense improvement in resolution of Hg i-
line microlithography steppers with higher numerical
30 Proc. SPIE Vol. 4426
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aperture lenses and sophisticated mask technology. For the
excimer lasers as light sources the progress in the
established lithography technology resulted in the demand
of narrower spectral laser bandwidth, higher spectral purity,
significantly improved energy stability and higher repetition
rate. The required spectral characteristic of the excimer laser
output is determined by the imaging lens of the deep UV
scanner system which, at higher NA for higher resolution,
tolerates only an ultra-narrow laser spectrum.
Fig. 7 Narrow bandwidth resonator with optical elements
as prisms and grating (left), laser tube with pulsed
power module (center) and outcoupling mirror and
beam diagnostics (right)
To generate narrow-bandwidth radiation from excimer
lasers resonator the principles of the dye lasers invented
independently by Fritz Schafer and Peter Sorokin were
applied by Lambda Physik researchers [19, 20], similar as in
the early EMG 150 narrow-bandwidth oscillator. Early
attempts of bandwidth-narrowed lithography excimer lasers
did actually consider oscillator-amplifier configurations as
that of the EMG 150. But it turned out that the cost of the
laser system would be too high. The reliability needed for
the use in semiconductor fabs seemed unlikely to be
achievable. One of the main challenges for narrow-
bandwidth excimer lasers for lithography was therefore the
development of UV optical components including coatings
with the needed surface quality and efficiency to achieve the
required power levels from a single excimer oscillator. In
the mid 80's Lambda Physik scientists started to work
closely together with specialists in manufacturing of optical
components for the UV range to accomplish this goal. The
result was the first lithography-type excimer laser emitting
at 248 am — the Lambda 248L. It had adopted exactly the
dye laser resonator design principles of Schafer and others
which later have been applied also to the ArF excimers (see
figure 7). The cavities of lithography lasers include highly
efficient line-narrowing elements such as high-resolution
optical gratings and etalons allowing to select bandwidths of
the radiation of below 1 pm in the early 90's [21] and below
0.4 pm in 2000 [22].
With the use of lithography lasers in chip manufacturing the
lifetime of the optical components under the high UV power
 densities occurring in the excimer laser resonators became a
major issue. In addition to continuously improving the UV
radiation resistance of the optics, resonator configurations
were needed which reduce the power load on the optical
elements. As result of a joint R&D effort between Lambth
Physik and Matsushita Research Institute of Technology in
Japan, the lifetime of the optical components in high power
Uv narrow-bandwidth cavities could be significantly
increased employing the polarization coupled resonator
principle PCR [23]. PCR significantly reduces the
power load on the critical resonator elements and increases
their lifetime.
5. Recent trends and progress in excimer laser
technology
5.1. General requirements for excimer lasers
Since 1977 the requirements from the various indusfrial,
medical and scientific applications as well as technical
possibilities in excimer development determine the trends of
excimer laser technology. Different applications have
different requirements. For example, for a R&D application
in first line the parameters of the excimer laser must fit:
energy, bandwidth, wavelength, energy stability or average
power or repetition rate or pulse duration. A new energy
level, higher repetition rate or another bandwidth from the
excimer laser opens new research fields — with results
researchers have in mind, but nobody may predict exactly.
For industrial use the required parameters of the excimer
laser usually have been fixed in a R&D phase (at least on a
years basis). For use in production it is assumed the required
laser parameters are met. Therefore, of higher importance is
throughput, cost of ownership (CoO) and maintenance
intervals since these determine the profitability of the
specific application. Similar with medical application —
installation cost, operating cost, safety requirement cost and
maintenance cost have to be calculated carefully against the
number of treatments expected.

Signa' Tower Power Module-Housing

with Warning Lights

Laser Tube
Emergency OFF
Front
Optics
Rear Module
Optics
Module Gas
Circulation
Fan Motor
Control
Cabinet
Control'er

Main Switch Gas Gas Halogen Water Water Power

Flow Pressure Filter Cooling Pressure Supply
Meters Meter Unit Meter

Fig. 8 Modular designed industrial lithography and micromachining laser NovaLine' with open covers showing the main
laser modules
includes easiest (or better no) maintenance, highest
Taking the requirements of all excimer laser applications component lifetime and long exchange intervals, long gas
together we see the main trends over the years as following: lifetime with a long-term trend to sealed-off operation of the
(i) continuous reduction in cost of ownership (CoO) -which excimer laser (no gas installations are needed anymore, see
NovaTube, DuraTube and HaloSafe5, fully

Proc. SPIE Vol. 4426 31

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 automated and software supported operation of the excimer
laser by the main computer controlling the application result
as well as remote control and diagnostic capability via
intranet, internet or telecommunication, (ii) shorter
wavelength - as needed for high resolution lithography
down to the 70 urn and may be to the 50 urn node as well as
micromachining of difficult materials with highest
resolution [3], (iii) higher repetition rate operation - as
needed for lithography to achieve the required illumination
dose stability and lithography lens lifetime, for fiber Bragg
grating manufacturing, for mask inspection systems for chip
manufacturing, for micromachining with serial instead of
parallel approaches, for medical use in refractive surgery
with the customized ablation, (iiii) higher stability of the
laser parameters as energy, beam profile, divergence, pulse
duration, and peak intensity - for all applications, (v) higher
laser power - to achieve the required throughput and/or the
required size of the area of material which can be machined
simultaneously.
5.2. Cost of ownership considerations and shorter
wavelength requirements
The continuous reduction of the installation, operation as
well as maintenance cost is one of the main requirements for
the use of excimer lasers in industry or medical
environment To accomplish easy maintenance and low
mean time to repair (M1TR) numbers, Lambda Physik had
developed a new series of industrial lasers in 1996 — the
NovaLine series (see figure 8). While engineered in a
fully modular way ensuring shortest exchange intervals of
consumables or failure components, the NovaLine series
takes advantage of using the same modules as electrical
supply components in the control cabinet, high voltage
power supplies, on-board computer, gas handling system,
cooling circuit, energy detection and stabilization hardware
as well as total system software for all the different
NovaLine models for various applications.
NovaLine is currently one of Lainbth Physik's main
industrial laser lines for microlithography and
microfabncation. One of the first Lainbth Physik lasers for
the use on the production floor of chip manufacturers, for
example, was the NovaLine 248-0.8. The extremely narrow
spectral width ofthe laser output ofless than 0.8 pm FWHM
at average power levels of 10 W at 1 kHz was achieved
using the newly invented polarization coupled resonator
(PCR , see above). For ink-jet nozzle drilling the
NovaLine 100 is applied —a 100 W KrF laser.
Cost of ownership calculations and projections are one of
the driving forces in new developments of industrial
excimer lasers at Lambda Physik. As one example
representative for the whole industry, we show in figure 9
the historical and projected development of operating cost
for 157 mn lasers for lithography. Specifically the
projections of cost are influenced to a large extent by the
changing specification requirements of the semiconductor
32 Proc. SPIE Vol. 4426
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industry. For example, the ArF excimer laser scanner
technology which was earlier thought to be needed at 0.18
jim dimensions is currently in competition with the KrF
technology for 0.13 un chip production. Cost of ownership
comparable to the 248 nra lithography wafer scanners is
required. First ArF excimer laser scanners using the
NovaLine A1020 and AlOlO had been installed at
semiconductor manufacturers for process development of
193 inn lithography earlier in 1999.
C
.a
KrF-248nm
ArF-193nm
U)
0 F2-157nm
()
ITTT.
0)
C
0)
0.
0
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Year
Fig. 9 Development of CoO of 248 nra, 193 nra and
157 rim lithography lasers
It is obvious that 157 nm lithography lasers must be
competitive in CoO with 193 nra technology as otherwise
the 157 nra lithography would not be profitable. Based on
20 years of experience with 157 nra lasers in a variety of
applications, Lambda Physik had developed the worldwide
first lithography F2 laser, the NovaLine F630, in 1998.
These lasers together with their successor NovaLine F1020
with DuraTube technology, a 10 W single-line laser
operating at 1 kHz, have been used immediately for material
characterization, optics and resist development as well as
lithography scanner development. Laser discharge chamber,
solid-state pulsed power module and laser resonator optics
have been optimized for laser emission with spectral
bandwidth of about 0.6 pm. Major programs in lifetime
enhancement of the expensive modules of 157 ran lasers did
fin and are running at Lambda Physik to follow or undergo
the projected CoO [24]. Long term and durability tests of the
157 nra lithography laser system have been carried out
comprising multi-ten billion exposure tests of individual
components. Data from these tests as well as data obtained
at several installations reveal lifetimes of the laser chamber
in excess of 3 billion pulses and optics lifetimes above 2
billion pulses. Further programs are ongoing to reduce CoO
until the introduction of 157 nra lithography into chip
production.

5.2. Higher repetition rate requirements
The requirement of higher repetition rate comes from
several areas in industry and medicine. For lithography,
laser repetition rate is at 4 kHz for 193 rim production tools.
Medical application needs currently 200 Hz with 500 Hz
expected and 1 kHz may be needed. Fiber Bragg grating
manufacturing requires for certain processing repetition
frequencies as high as possible. One of the demands fueling
the development of high repetition rate excimer lasers is the
need of higher dose energy stability in illumination and
microfabrication applications. For statistical reasons, it is
beuer to have the total energy needed distributed among
many pulses with low energy instead of having the entire
energy in a single pulse, for example. High repetition rate is
then necessary to achieve the required throughput.
150
.
—___— —
120
-- -- -_—
— —
- __- - -
-.
- 3
-,
90
o 60
30 — —
0 :__ ____ ____ ____ 0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500
Repetithn Rate/Hz
Fig. 10 High repetition rate performance of an 193 nm
lithography type laser with 120 W output power at
4 kHz
Lambda Physik has lasers running at above 4 kHz (see
figure 10) to meet the requirements of the future. Years ago,
when starting the discussion about 193 mu lithography in
1995, it was unbelievable this excimer laser output
performance could be achieved [25]. Today, we assume that
4 kHz 157 nm and 6 kHz or even 8 kHz 193 rim lasers will
be developed in near future. And where the repetition rate
limit really is — we do not know!
5.3. Higher power and stability trends
Applications as polycrystalline-siicon thin film transistor
(TVI') annealing, ink-jet nozzle drilling, printed circuit
board drilling, and lithography have been the main driving
applications for higher average power and better pulse-to-
pulse and long term energy stability for industrial excimer
lasers. For example, in strategic alliance for the thin film
transistor (TFT) LCD manufacturing Japan Steel Works
(annealer), MicroLas (optics manufacturer) and Lambda
Physik (laser manufacturer) have developed the first 308 nm
excimer laser annealing system several years ago. The 308
nm wavelength has been shown to be well matched to the
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annealing process and to give significant advantage with
respect to the optics lifetime in the annealing system. While
the early systems have been used for process development
and small scale manufacturing of active matrix LCDs, today
TFT annealing systems are on the production floor since
1998. The necessary yield for high volume production sets
stringent demands onto the energy stability of the laser.
Increasing sizes of the displays require higher pulse energy
and higher average output power.
In 2000, as successor of the TFT annealing laser LAMBDA
4000 [17], the next generation of industrial lasers for
excimer laser annealing, Lambda Physik's LAMBDA
STEEL was introduced to the market [26] with remarkably
improved energy stability of better than 1 % standard
deviation at the high average power. The LAMBDA STEEL
1000 allows operation at 1 J pulse energy — at a 300 W level
the only conmiercial excimer laser available today.
The making of larger active matrix LCD displays will
5
require more power from the excimer laser in the future —
4 with demonstrated 1 kW excimer power in the research
laboratory [27] Lambda Physik is taking this challenge.
6. Conclusions
U)
In the more than 25 years after their discovery excimer
lasers have been used increasingly in a variety of R&D,
medical and industrial applications. The key of the success
of the excimer laser is its unbeatable UV performance with
power levels not available from any other laser source.
Revolutionary and evolutionary technological achievements
have translated into significant improvements of the
parameters, the performance, the ease of handling and the
reliability of excimer lasers.
Today, there are about 7000 Lambda Physik excimer lasers
installed worldwide. The number of installed excimer lasers
is rapidly increasing as fields of applications in medicine
and industry are widened. For the year 2001 we expect the
number of excimer lasers needed worldwide to be about
2000 — for scientific, medical and industrial use.
The trends in the development of excimer lasers consist in
continuous reduction of their cost of ownership as well as
improvement of their ease of use, better stability of all laser
performance parameters, higher repetition rate and higher
average power. The trend to use shorter wavelengths to
obtain higher resolution and produce smaller features in
microlithography and microfabrication will continue to
accelerate short wavelength excimer development over the
coming years — giving new momentum to achieve laser
technologic quantum leaps at 193 urn and 157 rim. In the
long run it seems the excimer laser will experience healthy
competition in microlithography and micromachining using
wavelengths beyond the shortest known excimer laser
wavelength as recently research in extreme ultraviolet
(EUV) sources makes significant progress [28].
Proc. SPIE Vol. 4426 33
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