DR. DANIEL J. BROWN, M.D.
Osteopathic Medicine at Kenyon St, San Diego, CA

2004017, Sep 9, 2004

Mar 18, 2004

10/804281

David Knowles - San Diego CA, US
Daniel Brown - San Diego CA, US
Richard Sandstrom - Encinitas CA, US
German Rylov - Murrieta CA, US
Eckehard Onkels - San Diego CA, US
Herve Besaucele - San Diego CA, US
David Myers - Poway CA, US
Alexander Ershov - San Diego CA, US
William Partlo - Poway CA, US
Igor Fomenkov - San Diego CA, US
Richard Ujazdowski - San Diego CA, US
Richard Ness - San Diego CA, US
Scott Smith - San Diego CA, US
William Hulburd - San Diego CA, US

H01S003/097, H01S003/223, H01S003/22

372/055000

An injection seeded modular gas discharge laser system capable of producing high quality pulsed laser beams at pulse rates of about 4,000 Hz or greater and at pulse energies of about 5 mJ or greater. Two separate discharge chambers are provided, one of which is a part of a master oscillator producing a very narrow band seed beam which is amplified in the second discharge chamber. The chambers can be controlled separately permitting separate optimization of wavelength parameters in the master oscillator and optimization of pulse energy parameters in the amplifying chamber. A preferred embodiment in a Flaser system configured as a MOPA and specifically designed for use as a light source for integrated circuit lithography. In the preferred MOPA embodiment, each chamber comprises a single tangential fan providing sufficient gas flow to permit operation at pulse rates of 4000 Hz or greater by clearing debris from the discharge region in less time than the approximately 0.25 milliseconds between pulses. The master oscillator is equipped with a line selection package for selecting the strongest Fspectral line.

2002010, Aug 1, 2002

Oct 31, 2001

10/003513

Richard Sandstrom - Encinitas CA, US
Alexander Ershov - San Diego CA, US
William Partlo - Poway CA, US
Igor Fomenkov - San Diego CA, US
Daniel Brown - San Diego CA, US

G01J003/18

356/334000

A high resolution etalon-grating spectrometer. A preferred embodiment presents an extremely narrow slit function in the ultraviolet range and is very useful for measuring bandwidth of narrow band excimer lasers used for integrated circuit lithography. Light from the laser is focused into a diffuser and the diffused light exiting the diffuser illuminates an etalon. A portion of its light exiting the etalon is collected and directed into a slit positioned at a fringe pattern of the etalon. Light passing through the slit is collimated and the collimated light illuminates a grating positioned in an approximately Littrow configuration which disburses the light according to wavelength. A portion of the dispursed light representing the wavelength corresponding to the selected etalon fringe is passed through a second slit and monitored by a light detector. When the etalon and the grating are tuned to the same precise wavelength a slit function is defined which is extremely narrow such as about 0.034 pm (FWHM) and about 0.091 pm (95 percent integral). The etalon and the grating are placed in a leak-fight enclosure filled with a gas, such as nitrogen or helium. The wavelength scanning of the spectrometer is done by changing the gas pressure in the enclosure during the scan.

2006012, Jun 15, 2006

Feb 1, 2006

11/346519

David Knowles - San Diego CA, US
Daniel Brown - San Diego CA, US
Herve Besaucele - San Diego CA, US
David Myers - Poway CA, US
Alexander Ershov - San Diego CA, US
William Partlo - Poway CA, US
Richard Sandstrom - Encinitas CA, US
Palash Das - Vista CA, US
Stuart Anderson - San Diego CA, US
Igor Fomenkov - San Diego CA, US
Richard Ujazdowski - Poway CA, US
Eckehard Onkels - San Diego CA, US
Richard Ness - San Diego CA, US
Scott Smith - Winter Springs FL, US
William Hulburd - San Diego CA, US
Jeffrey Oicles - San Diego CA, US

Cymer, Inc. - San Diego CA

H01S 3/22

372055000

An oscillator-amplifier gas discharge laser system and method is disclosed which may comprise a first laser unit which may comprise a first discharge region which may contain an excimer or molecular fluorine lasing gas medium; a first pair of electrodes defining the first discharge region containing the lasing gas medium, a line narrowing unit for narrowing a spectral bandwidth of output laser light pulse beam pulses produced in said first discharge region; a second laser unit which may comprise a second discharge chamber which may contain an excimer or molecular fluorine lasing gas medium; a second pair of electrodes defining the second discharge region containing the lasing gas medium; a pulse power system providing electrical pulses to the first pair of electrodes and to the second pair of electrodes producing gas discharges in the lasing gas medium between the respective first and second pair of electrodes, and laser parameter control mechanism modifying a selected parameter of a selected laser output light pulse beam pulse produced by said gas discharge laser system by controlling the timing of the occurrence of the gas discharge between the first pair of electrodes and the occurrence of the gas discharge between the second pair of electrodes.

2005020, Sep 22, 2005

Nov 1, 2004

10/979919

William Partlo - Poway CA, US
Daniel Brown - San Diego CA, US
Igor Fomenkov - San Diego CA, US
Norbert Bowering - San Diego CA, US
Curtis Rettig - Vista CA, US
Joseph MacFarlane - Madison WI, US
Alexander Ershov - San Diego CA, US
Bjorn Hansson - La Jolla CA, US

G01J001/00

25050400R

An apparatus and method is described for effectively and efficiently providing plasma irradiation laser light pulses in an LPP EUV light source which may comprise a laser initial target irradiation pulse generating mechanism irradiating a plasma initiation target with an initial target irradiation pulse to form an EUV generating plasma having an emission region emitting in-band EUV light; a laser plasma irradiation pulse generating mechanism irradiating the plasma with a plasma irradiation pulse after the initial target irradiation pulse so as to compress emission material in the plasma toward the emission region of the plasma. The plasma irradiation pulse may comprise a laser pulse having a wavelength that is sufficiently longer than a wavelength of the initial target irradiation pulse to have an associated lower critical density resulting in absorption occurring within the plasma in a region of the plasma defined by the wavelength of the plasma irradiation pulse sufficiently separated from an initial target irradiation site to achieve compression of the emission material, and the may compress the emission region. The laser plasma irradiation pulse may produce an aerial mass density in the ablating cloud of the plasma sufficient to confine the favorably emitting plasma for increased conversion efficiency. The deposition region for the plasma irradiation pulse may be is removed enough from the initial target surface so as to insure compression of the favorably emitting plasma. A high conversion efficiency laser produced plasma extreme ultraviolet (“EUV”) light source may comprise a laser initial target irradiation pulse generating mechanism irradiating a plasma initiation target with a target irradiation pulse to form an EUV generating plasma emitting in-band EUV light; a plasma tamper substantially surrounding the plasma to constrain the expansion of the plasma.

2009006, Mar 12, 2009

Oct 30, 2007

11/980172

Daniel J.W. Brown - San Diego CA, US
William N. Partlo - Poway CA, US
Richard L. Sandstrom - Encinitas CA, US

Cymer, Inc. - San Diego CA

H01S 3/22

372 55

A method/apparatus may comprise a laser light source which may comprise a solid state seed laser system producing a seed laser output having a nominal center wavelength at a pulse repetition rate; a first and a second gas discharge laser amplifier gain medium each operating at a pulse repetition rate less than that of the seed laser system; a beam divider providing each of the respective first and second amplifier gain mediums with seed laser output pulses; a frequency converter modifying the nominal center wavelength of the output of the seed laser to essentially the nominal center wavelength of the amplifier gain medium; a beam combiner combining the outputs of the respective amplifier gain mediums to provide a light source output having the pulse repetition rate of the seed laser; a coherence buster operating on either or both of the output of the seed laser or amplifier gain mediums.

2012000, Jan 5, 2012

Sep 13, 2011

13/231882

Alexander I. Ershov - San Diego CA, US
William N. Partlo - Poway CA, US
Daniel J.W. Brown - San Diego CA, US
Igor V. Fomenkov - San Diego CA, US

CYMER, INC. - San Diego CA

H01S 3/10

372 20

A method and apparatus may comprise a line narrowed pulsed excimer or molecular fluorine gas discharge laser system which may comprise a seed laser oscillator producing an output comprising a laser output light beam of pulses which may comprise a first gas discharge excimer or molecular fluorine laser chamber; a line narrowing module within a first oscillator cavity; a laser amplification stage containing an amplifying gain medium in a second gas discharge excimer or molecular fluorine laser chamber receiving the output of the seed laser oscillator and amplifying the output of the seed laser oscillator to form a laser system output comprising a laser output light beam of pulses, which may comprise a ring power amplification stage.