The effect of excitation wavelength on dynamics of laser-produced tin plasma

We investigated the effect of the excitation wavelength on the density evolution of laser-produced tin plasmas, both experimentally and numerically. For producing plasmas, Sn targets were excited with either 10.6 mu m CO(2) laser or 1.06 mu m Nd: yttrium aluminum garnet laser; both are considered to be potential excitation lasers for extreme ultraviolet lithography laser-produced plasma light sources. The electron density of the plasma during the isothermal expansion regime was estimated using an interferometric technique. The Stark broadening of isolated singly-ionized emission was employed for deducing the density during the plasma adiabatic expansion regime. Our results indicate that the excitation source wavelength determines the initial density of the plasma, as well the plume expansion dynamics. Numerical simulation using HEIGHTS simulation package agrees well with the experimentally measured density profile. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3562143]