Patent ID: 8643840
Filing Date: 2014-02-04
Classification: G01J,G01N,H01J

Abstract:
1. A cell for a vacuum ultraviolet plasma light source, the cell comprising: a tube having cylindrical side walls and formed exclusively of sapphire, a first substantially flat end cap and a second substantially flat end cap diffusion bonded to opposing ends of the tube, the first and second end caps formed exclusively of sapphire, the end caps and the tube forming a closed cell, the first end cap disposed substantially perpendicular to the side walls of the tube, and the second end cap disposed oblique to the side walls of the tube, the second end cap coated with an anti-reflective coating so that the laser light directed into the cell through the coated second end cap exhibits a reduced degree of reflectance, and the first end cap not coated with the anti-reflective coating, the first end cap having a first purity grade of sapphire and the second end cap having a second purity grade of sapphire, where the first purity grade of sapphire is relatively greater than the second purity grade of sapphire, the second end cap for receiving a laser light along a second trajectory that is substantially perpendicular to the second end cap, the cell containing at least one noble gas that is ionizable to a plasma for producing an ultraviolet light, and the first end cap for expelling the ultraviolet light along a first trajectory that is substantially perpendicular to the first end cap, and askew to the second trajectory.