Optical component for EUVL and smoothing method thereof

1. A method for smoothing an optical surface of an optical component for EUVL, comprising

irradiating, with an excimer laser having a wavelength of 250 nm or less with a fluence of 0.5 to 2.0 J/cm 2 , an optical surface having a concave defect of an optical component for EUV lithography (EUVL), the optical component being made of a TiO 2 -containing silica glass material comprising SiO 2 as a main component.

2. The smoothing method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the irradiation with the excimer laser is carried out with a fluence of 0.7 to 2.0 J/cm 2 , thereby attaining a concave defect depth repair rate of the optical surface, defined by the following formula, being 50% or more:

Concave defect depth repair rate (%)=((depth of concave defect (PV value) before excimer laser irradiation)−(depth of concave defect (PV value) after excimer laser irradiation))/(depth of concave defect (PV value) before excimer laser irradiation)×100.

3. The smoothing method as claimed in claim 1 ,

wherein the optical surface has a concave defect with a depth of more than 2 nm and 10 nm or less, and

wherein the irradiation with the excimer laser is carried out with a fluence of 0.7 to 2.0 J/cm 2 , thereby obtaining an optical component for EUVL satisfying the following requirements (1) to (3):

(1) the optical surface after the excimer laser irradiation is free from a concave defect with a depth of more than 2 nm,

(2) the optical component after the excimer laser irradiation has a flatness of 50 nm or less, and

(3) the optical surface after the excimer laser irradiation has a surface roughness (RMS) of 0.15 nm or less.

4. The smoothing method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the excimer laser irradiation is carried out over the entire optical surface of the optical component.

5. The smoothing method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the optical component has a TiO 2 concentration of from 3 to 10 mass %.

6. The smoothing method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the excimer laser has a pulse width of 100 nsec or less.

7. The smoothing method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the excimer laser irradiation is carried out such that the number of shots at each irradiation area becomes 10 or more.

8. The smoothing method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the excimer laser for the irradiation is in the form of a line beam, and the excimer laser irradiation is carried out while scanning the optical surface with the line beam either by moving the line beam relative to the optical surface or by moving the optical surface relative to the line beam.

9. The smoothing method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising irradiating a back surface of the optical surface opposite to the optical surface with an excimer laser having a wavelength of 250 nm or less with a fluence of 0.5 to 2.0 J/cm 2 .

10. The smoothing method as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the excimer laser irradiation of the back surface is carried out over the entire back surface.

11. The smoothing method as claimed in claim 9 , satisfying the relationship of the following formula:

0.5 ≦F 1 /F 2 ≦1.5

wherein F 1 represents the fluence in the excimer laser irradiation of the optical surface, and F 2 represents the fluence in the excimer laser irradiation of the back surface.

12. The smoothing method as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the excimer laser for the irradiation of the back surface has a pulse width of 100 nsec or less.

13. The smoothing method as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the excimer laser irradiation of the back surface is carried out such that the number of shots at each irradiation area becomes 10 or more.

14. The smoothing method as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the excimer laser for the irradiation of the back surface is in the form of a line beam, and the excimer laser irradiation of the back surface is carried out while scanning the back surface with the line beam either by moving the line beam relative to the back surface or by moving the back surface relative to the line beam.

15. The smoothing method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the excimer laser irradiation of the optical surface is carried out in the state of the optical component being heated at 100 to 1,050° C.

16. An optical component for EUVL obtained by the method claimed in claim 1 , composed of a surface layer containing the optical surface, a surface layer containing the back surface, and the remaining inside part, wherein the surface layer containing the optical surface has a fictive temperature that is higher by 30° C. or more than fictive temperatures of the surface layer containing the back surface and of the remaining inside part.

17. An optical component for EUVL obtained by the method claimed in claim 9 , composed of a surface layer containing the optical surface, a surface layer containing the back surface, and the remaining inside part, wherein the surface layer containing the optical surface and the surface layer containing the back surface each has a fictive temperature that is higher by 30° C. or more than a fictive temperature of the remaining inside part.