The Effect of Critical Plasma Densities of Laser-Produced Plasma on Production of Extreme Ultraviolet Radiation

Accurate modeling and comprehensive understanding of laser-produced plasma (LPP) for various applications should consider details of spatial and temporal input power deposition from laser sources, absorption/reflection of laser light from the surface of the solid/liquid target, hydrodynamic evolution of the target, absorption/reflection of laser from the evolving target vapor, atomic physics and vapor ionization, absorption/reflection in a heated plasma layer, and photon generation and transport during the different phases of the evolving target. The high energy interaction with general heterogeneous target systems (HEIGHTS) simulation package for LPP incorporates detail models in full 3-D geometry of laser interactions with various target materials for different applications, including fusion, advanced lithography, directed energy lethality, and surface modifications of materials. HEIGHTS illustrates strong dependence of laser absorption/propagation on wavelength and the variation in hydrodynamic evolution of the produced plasma sources.