Reflective optical element and optical system for EUV lithography

1. An apparatus comprising:

an illumination system for the extreme ultraviolet or soft X-ray wavelength region arranged upstream from a photomask and a projection system, and comprising a collector mirror and at least one downstream mirror arranged downstream from the collector mirror along a radiation path of the illumination system,

wherein the collector mirror is configured to focus and provide radiation to the at least one downstream mirror; and

wherein the collector mirror comprises:

a substrate;

a reflective surface of the collector mirror with a multilayer system comprised of alternatingly arranged layers of a material with a lower real part of the refractive index in the extreme ultraviolet and soft X-ray wavelength region and of a material with a higher real part of the refractive index in the extreme ultraviolet and soft X-ray wavelength region, the material with the higher real part of the refractive index is silicon and the material with the lower real part of the refractive index is molybdenum; and

a protective layer system of the collector mirror configured to prevent detachment of layers of the reflective surface and comprising an uppermost layer of the collector mirror composed of silicon carbide, and at least two alternatingly arranged layers composed of, on the one hand, ruthenium and of, on the other hand, a material selected from the group of silicon carbide, silicon nitride, boron carbide and carbon,

wherein the reflective surface is arranged on the substrate,

wherein the protective layer system is arranged on the reflective surface;

wherein the layer composed of ruthenium is arranged between the uppermost layer of the collector mirror and the layer composed of the material selected from the group of silicon carbide, silicon nitride, boron carbide and carbon,

wherein the protective layer system has a thickness of between 5 nm and 25 nm, and

wherein the protective layer system does not contain pure silicon.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the protective layer system has a thickness of between 10 nm and 22 nm.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the at least two alternatingly arranged layers are composed respectively of ruthenium and silicon carbide.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the protective layer system has a thickness of between 11 nm and 22 nm.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the illumination system further comprises an extreme ultraviolet or soft X-ray radiation source, and wherein the collector mirror comprises a first mirror arranged downstream from the radiation source along the radiation path.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the radiation source is configured to emit radiation in various directions, and wherein the collector mirror is configured to collect the emitted radiation and reflect the collected radiation in focused fashion to a mirror of the illumination system arranged downstream from the collector mirror along the radiation path.

7. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the radiation source causes tin or tin compounds to be incident on the collector mirror.

8. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the radiation source causes high energy hydrogen to be incident on the collector mirror.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the protective layer system is configured to decelerate the high energy hydrogen.

10. An optical system for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography comprising the apparatus according to claim 1 .

11. An apparatus comprising:

an illumination system for the extreme ultraviolet or soft X-ray wavelength region arranged upstream from a photomask and a projection system, and comprising a collector mirror and at least one downstream mirror arranged downstream from the collector mirror along a radiation path of the illumination system,

wherein the collector mirror is configured to focus and provide radiation to the at least one downstream mirror; and

wherein the collector mirror comprises a reflective surface of the collector mirror with a reflective multilayer system, and a protective layer system of the collector mirror arranged on the reflective multilayer system,

wherein the protective layer system is configured to prevent detachment of layers of the reflective surface and comprises an uppermost layer of the collector mirror comprised of silicon carbide or ruthenium and at least four additional alternating layers of a first alternating layer and a second alternating layer,

wherein the reflective multilayer system comprises alternatingly arranged layers of a material with a lower real part of the refractive index in the extreme ultraviolet and soft X-ray wavelength region and of a material with a higher real part of the refractive index in the extreme ultraviolet and soft X-ray wavelength region, the material with the higher real part of the refractive index is silicon;

wherein the first alternating layer is comprised of ruthenium,

wherein the second alternating layer is comprised of a carbon layer, a carbide layer or a nitride layer, and

wherein the protective layer system does not contain pure silicon.

12. The apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the reflective multilayer system comprises alternating layers of silicon and molybdenum.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the illumination system further comprises an extreme ultraviolet or soft X-ray radiation source, and wherein the collector mirror comprises a first mirror arranged downstream from the radiation source along the radiation path.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the radiation source is configured to emit radiation in various directions, and wherein the collector mirror is configured to collect the emitted radiation and reflect the collected radiation in focused fashion to a mirror of the illumination system arranged downstream from the collector mirror along the radiation path.

15. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the radiation source causes tin or tin compounds to be incident on the collector mirror.

16. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the radiation source causes high energy hydrogen to be incident on the collector mirror.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the protective layer system is configured to decelerate the high energy hydrogen.