EXTREME ULTRAVIOLET AND SOFT X-RAY INSTRUMENTATION FOR MICROCHARACTERIZATION OF MATERIALS

A HIGH QUALITY, PICOSECOND EXCIMER LASER IS THE KEY ELEMENT IN SEVERAL HIGHLY PROMISING SCHEMES FOR THE GENERATION OF COHERENT HIGH SPECTRAL BRIGHTNESS RADIATION IN THE EXTREME ULTRAVIOLET AND SOFT X-RAY SPECTRAL REGIONS. THE OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSED PHASE I RESEARCH PROGRAM IS TO QUANTIFY THE KEY FACTORS WHICH DETERMINE PERFORMANCE, COMPLEXITY, AND COST OF SUCH AN EXCIMER LASER SYSTEM. THE PHASE I RESEARCH EFFORT WILL CENTER ON THE CRITICAL ISSUE OF THE GENERATION OF A HIGH QUALITY PICOSECOND SEED BEAM SUITABLE FOR AMPLIFICATION IN EXCIMER LASERS. SUCH SEED RADIATION CAN BE GENERATED EITHER BY FREQUENCY UP-CONVERSION OF A VISIBLE PULSE OR BY A FAST PULSE SLICING TECHNIQUE. IN BOTH SCHEMES, A DISTRIBUTED FEEDBACK DYE LASER (DFDL) IS EXPECTEDTO PLAY A DOMINANT ROLE. THEREFORE, IT IS PROPOSED TO DETERMINE THE TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL PULSE STRUCTURE OF EXCIMER LASER PUMPED DFDL'S WITH A TIME RESOLUTION < 10 PS. FURTHERMORE, THE EFFICIENCY OF DIFFERENT FREQUENCY CONVERSION SCHEMES AND THE CHARACTERISTICS OF VARIOUS PULSE SLICING TECHNIQUES WILL BE STUDIED. FINALLY, A FEASIBILITY COST STUDY FOR A COMMERCIAL PICOSECOND EXCIMER LASER SYSTEM SUITABLE FOR SHORT WAVELENGTH GENERATION WILL BE PERFORMED.