CO2 Laser Enhancement for EUV lithography

CO2 drive lasers are a vital component of current EUV lithography tools. Up to 60-80% of the CO2 dissociates into CO and O during operation of ICP. Oxygen creates parasitic species (Ox, NOX) which lower laser efficiency. Auxiliary plasmas are being studied to dissociate parasitic species and preferentially recombine CO and O into CO2. We installed Au o Cu catalyst to see the effect on CO2 recombination after ICP discharge.