Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. A system configured to provide illumination of a specimen for a process performed on the specimen, comprising:a laser configured to generate excitation light; andfocusing optics configured to focus the excitation light to a plasma in an electrodeless lamp such that the plasma generates light, wherein the system is further configured such that the light illuminates the specimen during the process. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the laser comprises a cw laser. 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the laser comprises a diode laser, a diode laser stack, a fiber laser, a fiber coupled diode laser, a carbon dioxide laser, an acoustically modulated diode, or a diode pumped fiber laser. 4. The system of claim 1, wherein a power of the laser is greater than about 100 W. 5. The system of claim 1, wherein an optical average cw power of the excitation light is about 100 W to about 1000 W. 6. The system of claim 1, further comprising an additional laser configured to generate additional excitation light, wherein the focusing optics are further configured to focus the additional excitation light to the plasma, and wherein a sum of the power of the laser and the additional laser is in a range of about 100 W cw to about 1000 W cw. 7. The system of claim 1, wherein a wavelength of the excitation light is less than about 10 μm. 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the focusing optics are further configured to focus the excitation light to the lamp to initiate the plasma. 9. The system of claim 1, further comprising a pulsed light source, a radio frequency coil, a voltage source external to the lamp, or some combination thereof configured to initiate the plasma. 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the plasma has a geometry shaped to substantially match collection optics of a detection subsystem of a system configured to inspect the specimen. 11. The system of claim 1, wherein an excitation volume of the electrodeless lamp is substantially matched to a field of view of collection optics of a detection subsystem of a system configured to inspect the specimen. 12. The system of claim 1, wherein the plasma has a cylindrical shape substantially matched to image onto the specimen in the system. 13. The system of claim 1, wherein the focusing optics are further configured to focus the excitation light to a cylindrical-shaped region within the electrodeless lamp, and wherein the cylindrical-shaped region has a diameter of about 0.5 mm to about 1 mm and a thickness of about 100 μm to about 200 μm. 14. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least one additional laser configured to generate additional excitation light, wherein the focusing optics are further configured to focus the excitation light and the additional excitation light to the plasma simultaneously such that the excitation light and the additional excitation light overlap within a cylindrical-shaped region within the electrodeless lamp, and wherein the cylindrical-shaped region has a diameter of about 0.5 mm to about 1 mm and a thickness of about 100 μm to about 200 μm. 15. The system of claim 1, wherein the laser comprises a frequency doubled laser, and wherein a wavelength of the excitation light is about 0.4 μm to about 0.7 μm. 16. The system of claim 1, wherein the light generated by the plasma comprises deep ultraviolet light. 17. The system of claim 1, wherein the light generated by the plasma comprises broadband light. 18. The system of claim 1, wherein the light generated by the plasma has a single line spectra. 19. The system of claim 1, wherein the light generated by the plasma comprises light in a spectral region from about 180 nm to about 450 nm. 20. The system of claim 1, wherein the light generated by the plasma comprises light in a spectral region from about 200 nm to about 450 nm. 21. The system of claim 1, wherein the plasma is generated using a rare earth gas and a mercury gas, and wherein the light generated by the plasma comprises light in a spectral region from about 230 nm to about 480 nm. 22. The system of claim 1, wherein the light generated by the plasma comprises excimer radiation, and wherein the electrodeless lamp comprises about 1 atm or more of background rare gas and about 1 atm or less of a halide containing gas. 23. The system of claim 1, wherein the plasma has a diameter of about 0.5 mm to about 1 mm. 24. The system of claim 1, wherein the light generated by the plasma has a diameter of about 100 μm to about 2 mm. 25. The system of claim 1, wherein the electrodeless lamp is at a pressure of above about 1 atm at a working temperature of the electrodeless lamp, and wherein the light generated by the plasma comprises light in a spectral region from about 200 nm to about 400 nm. 26. The system of claim 1, wherein the light generated by the plasma has a brightness of about 10 W/mm2-sr to about 50 W/mm2-sr in a spectral region from about 200 nm to about 400 nm. 27. The system of claim 1, wherein the light generated by the plasma has a brightness of about 2 W/mm2-sr to about 50 W/mm2-sr in an integral region of the electromagnetic spectrum from about 200 nm to about 400 nm. 28. The system of claim 1, wherein the light generated by the plasma has an average power of at least about 3 W within any band in a spectral region from about 200 nm to about 450 nm. 29. The system of claim 1, wherein a temperature of the plasma is about 10,000 K to about 30,000 K. 30. The system of claim 1, , wherein a temperature of the plasma is held substantially constant by the excitation light. 31. The system of claim 1, wherein the electrodeless lamp further comprises a fill gas, and wherein the fill gas comprises argon, krypton, xenon, fluorine, chlorine, chlorine dimers, fluorine dimers, a homogeneous diatomic gas, nitrogen trifluoride, sulfur hexafluoride, nitric oxide, mercury, a halide containing gas, mercury halides, diatomic halides, halides, a rare gas, rare earths, transition metals, lanthanide metals, or some combination thereof. 32. The system of claim 1, wherein the electrodeless lamp further comprises a fill gas at a gas pressure such that an opacity of the plasma does not prohibit a majority of the light generated by the plasma from exiting the lamp. 33. The system of claim 1, wherein the plasma does not produce an average plasma opacity over a plasma axis length of greater than about 1 e-folding from one end of the electrodeless lamp to another end of the electrodeless lamp. 34. The system of claim 1, wherein the electrodeless lamp further comprises a fill gas, and wherein an opacity of the fill gas at a working temperature and pressure of the electrodeless lamp is less than or equal to about 10% reabsorption of light emitted from a center of the lamp within a spectral region from about 200 nm to about 450 nm. 35. The system of claim 1, wherein a fill pressure of gases in the electrodeless lamp is about 4 atm or higher. 36. The system of claim 1, wherein a fill pressure of the electrodeless lamp is about 5 atm to about 20 atm at room temperature. 37. The system of claim 1, wherein a gas pressure within the electrodeless lamp is about 1 atm to about 50 atm. 38. The system of claim 1, wherein the plasma comprises one or more species that fluoresce in a region between about 180 nm and about 350 nm to a ground electronic state. 39. The system of claim 1, wherein the plasma comprises one or more species that fluoresce in a region between about 180 nm and about 350 nm to a ground electronic state, and wherein the one or more species comprise mercury that emits resonance lines at 2537 Å, neutral barium that emits resonance lines at 2409 Å, neutral cobalt that emits resonance lines at 2402 Å, neutral magnesium that emits resonance lines at 2025 Å, neutral nickel that emits resonance lines at 2026 Å, neutral scandium that emits resonance lines at 2000 Å, neutral nickel terminating on a 879 cm−1 electronic metastable state, or some combination thereof. 40. The system of claim 1, wherein the plasma comprises one or more species that fluoresce in a region between about 180 nm and about 350 nm to a ground electronic state, and wherein atoms or molecules that form the one or more species are present in the electrodeless lamp prior to generation of the plasma in a quantity or quantities that limit the vapor pressure of the atoms or molecules in the electrodeless lamp such that substantially all of the atoms or molecules are vaporized before the lamp reaches operating temperature. 41. The system of claim 1, wherein the plasma comprises one or more species that fluoresce in a region between about 180 nm and about 350 nm to a ground electronic state, and wherein the one or more species comprise atoms formed by decomposition of feed molecules in the electrodeless lamp. 42. The system of claim 1, wherein the plasma comprises one or more species that fluoresce in a region between about 180 nm and about 350 nm to electronic metastable states within about 0.5 eV of a ground electronic state. 43. The system of claim 1, wherein the plasma comprises one or more species that fluoresce in a region between about 180 nm and about 350 nm to electronic metastable states within about 0.5 eV of a ground electronic state, and wherein the one or more species comprise mercury that emits resonance lines at 2537 Å, neutral barium that emits resonance lines at 2409 Å, neutral cobalt that emits resonance lines at 2402 Å, neutral magnesium that emits resonance lines at 2025 Å, neutral nickel that emits resonance lines at 2026 Å, neutral scandium that emits resonance lines at 2000 Å, neutral nickel terminating on a 879 cm−1 electronic metastable state, or some combination thereof. 44. The system of claim 1, wherein the plasma comprises one or more species that fluoresce in a region between about 180 nm and about 350 nm to electronic metastable states within about 0.5 eV of a ground electronic state, and wherein atoms or molecules that form the one or more species are present in the electrodeless lamp prior to generation of the plasma in a quantity or quantities that limit the vapor pressure of the atoms or molecules in the electrodeless lamp such that substantially all of the atoms or molecules are vaporized before the lamp reaches operating temperature. 45. The system of claim 1, wherein the plasma comprises one or more species that fluoresce in a region between about 180 nm and about 350 nm to electronic metastable states within about 0.5 eV of a ground electronic state, and wherein the one or more species comprise atoms formed by decomposition of feed molecules in the electrodeless lamp. 46. The system of claim 1, wherein the electrodeless lamp further comprises one or more operating gases that have atomic transitions from electronically excited states to a ground electronic state of one or more corresponding neutral atoms or a state within about 1 eV or about 2 eV of the ground electronic state. 47. The system of claim 1, wherein the electrodeless lamp further comprises feed molecules of which about 1% or greater are dissociated at an operating temperature proximate a center of the plasma. 48. The system of claim 1, wherein the electrodeless lamp further comprises feed molecules of which about 1% or greater are dissociated at an operating temperature of about 600 K to about 25,000 K. 49. The system of claim 1, wherein the electrodeless lamp further comprises feed molecules of which about 1% or greater are dissociated at an operating temperature proximate a center of the plasma, and wherein the feed molecules comprise iodine, chlorine, bromine, sulfur, nitrogen. oxygen, a diatomic gas, one or more homonuclear diatomic feed materials capable of recombining to form only their corresponding molecular species, one or more rare gases, or some combination thereof. 50. The system of claim 1, wherein the electrodeless lamp further comprises diatomic hydrogen, and wherein the light generated by the plasma has a wavelength of about 121 nm. 51. The system of claim 1, wherein the electrodeless lamp further comprises diatomic hydrogen, and wherein the light generated by the plasma has a wavelength of about 121 nm, about 937 nm, about 949 nm, about 972 nm, about 1025 nm, or some combination thereof. 52. The system of claim 1, wherein the electrodeless lamp further comprises a background rare gas and a gas containing a halide, wherein a pressure of the background rare gas is at least about 1 atm, and wherein a pressure of the gas containing the halide is less than or equal to about 1 atm. 53. The system of claim 1, wherein the electrodeless lamp further comprises one of an internal lens and a curved reflector. 54. The system of claim 1, wherein the focusing optics comprise a lens configured to focus the excitation light to a spot size and radiance sufficient to sustain the plasma. 55. The system of claim 1, wherein the focusing optics comprise a lens configured to focus the excitation light to a spot size and radiance sufficient to sustain the plasma, and wherein the lens has a numerical aperture of at least about 0.3. 56. The system of claim 1, wherein the focusing optics comprise a lens configured to focus the excitation light to the plasma such that the plasma has a predetermined shape, and wherein the lens has a numerical aperture of at least about 0.3. 57. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least one heat source located proximate to the electrodeless lamp and configured to maintain atoms in the plasma in a vapor phase. 58. The system of claim 1, further comprising an illumination subsystem configured to illuminate the specimen during the process with the light generated by the plasma, and wherein the illumination subsystem comprises a condenser lens configured to collect the light generated by the plasma. 59. The system of claim 1, further comprising an illumination subsystem configured to illuminate the specimen during the process with the light generated by the plasma, wherein the illumination subsystem comprises an elliptical reflector configured to collect the light generated by the plasma, and wherein the plasma is located at one focal point of the elliptical reflector. 60. The system of claim 1, wherein the specimen comprises a wafer. 61. The system of claim 1, wherein the specimen comprises a patterned wafer. 62. The system of claim 1, wherein the specimen comprises a reticle. 63. The system of claim 1, wherein a numerical aperture of the focusing optics is selected such that a size of the plasma is reduced along a direction to which the excitation light is focused to the plasma by the focusing optics. 64. The system of claim 1, wherein the laser comprises a distributed light source. 65. The system of claim 1, wherein the focusing optics comprise at least one optical element configured to focus the excitation light to the plasma and configured to collect the light generated by the plasma. 66. The system of claim 1, wherein the focusing optics are further configured to focus the excitation light to the plasma in two substantially opposite directions simultaneously. 67. The system of claim 1, wherein the focusing optics comprise at least one reflective optical element and at least one refractive optical element, and wherein the at least one reflective optical element and the at least one refractive optical element are configured to focus the excitation light to the plasma simultaneously. 68. The system of claim 1, wherein the focusing optics are further configured to focus the excitation light to the plasma in two substantially perpendicular directions simultaneously. 69. The system of claim 1, wherein the focusing optics are further configured to focus the excitation light to the plasma at different directions simultaneously to substantially the same focal spot. 70. The system of claim 1, wherein the focusing optics are further configured to focus the excitation light to the plasma at different directions simultaneously to offset focal spots. 71. The system of claim 1, wherein the focusing optics are further configured to collect the excitation light that is not absorbed by the plasma and to focus the collected excitation light to the plasma. 72. The system of claim 1, further comprising a gas flow subsystem configured to direct a gas to the plasma such that the gas directed to the plasma affects a shape of the plasma. 73. The system of claim 1, further comprising a gas flow subsystem configured to direct a gas to the plasma such that the gas directed to the plasma increases isolation of the plasma. 74. The system of claim 1, further comprising a gas flow subsystem configured to direct a gas to the plasma at a direction substantially opposite to a direction at which the focusing optics focus the excitation light to the plasma. 75. The system of claim 1, further comprising a gas flow subsystem configured to direct a gas to the plasma at a direction substantially perpendicular to a direction at which the focusing optics focus the excitation light to the plasma. 76. The system of claim 1, further comprising a gas flow subsystem configured to direct a gas to the plasma such that the gas increases propagation of the generated light through the plasma. 77. The system of claim 1, further comprising a gas flow subsystem configured to direct a gas to the plasma through an aperture in an optical element of the focusing optics. 78. The system of claim 1, further comprising a gas flow subsystem configured to direct a gas to the plasma through a sonic or supersonic nozzle to reduce a volume of the plasma and to reduce absorption of the generated light by the gas. 79. The system of claim 1, further comprising a gas flow subsystem configured to direct a gas to the plasma, wherein the gas flow subsystem comprises a cylindrical-shaped nozzle. 80. The system of claim 1, further comprising a gas flow subsystem configured to direct a gas to the plasma, wherein the gas directed to the plasma increases uniformity of a density profile of the plasma. 81. The system of claim 1, further comprising a gas flow subsystem configured to direct a gas to the plasma, wherein the gas directed to the plasma creates an interaction media having a density suitable for interactions between the excitation light and the plasma. 82. The system of claim 1 further comprising a gas flow subsystem configured to direct a gas jet to the plasma, wherein the focusing optics are further configured to direct the excitation light to one or more edges of the gas jet thereby affecting a shape of the gas jet. 83. The system of claim 1, further comprising a gas flow subsystem configured to direct a gas to the plasma, wherein a pressure of the gas directed to the plasma is selected based on one or more predetermined characteristics of the plasma. 84. The system of claim 1, further comprising a gas flow subsystem configured to direct a gas to the plasma, wherein the gas flow subsystem comprises a nozzle through which the gas is directed to the plasma, and wherein a diameter of the nozzle is selected based on one or more predetermined characteristics of the plasma. 85. The system of claim 1, wherein the system is further configured to apply an external magnetic field to the plasma to alter one or more characteristics of the plasma. 86. The system of claim 1, further comprising a gas flow subsystem configured to direct one or more feed materials to the plasma after generation of the plasma. 87. The system of claim 1, further comprising a cleaning subsystem configured to remove photocontamination from one or more optical elements of the focusing optics, one or more optical elements of the system, or some combination thereof. 88. The system of claim 1, wherein the plasma is generated from one or more feed materials comprising a liquid. 89. The system of claim 1, further comprising an illumination subsystem configured to illuminate the specimen during the process with the light generated by the plasma, wherein the illumination subsystem comprises a reflective optical element configured to collect the light generated by the plasma and to direct the collected light to one or more refractive optical elements of the illumination subsystem. 90. The system of claim 1, wherein the focusing optics comprise a reflective optical element configured to focus the excitation light to the plasma, and wherein the excitation light comprises an expanded laser beam. 91. The system of claim 1, wherein the focusing optics are further configured to focus the excitation light to the plasma at different directions simultaneously. 92. The system of claim 1, further comprising an illumination subsystem configured to illuminate the specimen during the process with the light generated by the plasma, wherein the illumination subsystem comprises one or more refractive optical elements configured to focus the excitation light to the plasma. 93. The system of claim 1, wherein the focusing optics comprise at least one optical element configured to focus the excitation light to the plasma and configured to collect the light generated by the plasma, and wherein the at least one optical element comprises a reflective optical element. 94. The system of claim 1, further comprising an illumination subsystem configured to illuminate the specimen during the process with the light generated by the plasma, wherein the illumination subsystem is further configured to collect the light generated by the plasma across a solid an-le of about 4 π. 95. The system of claim 1, further comprising an illumination subsystem configured to illuminate the specimen during the process with the light generated by the plasma, wherein the illumination subsystem is further configured to direct the light to a pupil plane of the system such that the light has a substantially uniform intensity across the pupil plane. 96. The system of claim 1, further comprising an illumination subsystem configured to illuminate the specimen during the process with the light generated by the plasma, wherein the illumination subsystem comprises a partial elliptical reflector and a half spherical reflector. 97. The system of claim 1, further comprising an illumination subsystem configured to illuminate the specimen during the process with the light generated by the plasma, wherein the illumination subsystem comprises a partial elliptical reflector and a half spherical reflector, wherein the plasma is positioned at one focal point of the partial elliptical reflector, and wherein the half spherical reflector is substantially centered to the plasma. 98. The system of claim 1, further comprising an illumination subsystem configured to illuminate the specimen during the process with the light generated by the plasma, wherein the illumination subsystem comprises a partial elliptical reflector and a half spherical reflector, wherein the partial elliptical reflector and the half spherical reflector are configured to collect the light generated by the plasma, wherein the half spherical reflector is configured to direct the light collected by the half spherical reflector to the partial elliptical reflector, and wherein the partial elliptical reflector is configured to direct the light from the half spherical reflector and the light collected by the partial elliptical reflector to another optical element of the illumination subsystem. 99. A method for providing illumination of a specimen for a process performed on the specimen, comprising:focusing excitation light from a laser to an electrodeless lamp to generate a plasma in the electrodeless lamp such that the plasma generates light; andilluminating the specimen with the generated light during the process. 100. A method for determining one or more characteristics of a specimen, comprising:focusing excitation light from a laser to an electrodeless lamp to generate a plasma in the electrodeless lamp such that the plasma generates light;illuminating the specimen with the generated light;generating output responsive to light from the specimen resulting from said illuminating; anddetermining the one or more characteristics of the specimen using the output. 101. A system configured to determine one or more characteristics of a specimen, comprising:a laser configured to generate excitation light;focusing optics configured to focus the excitation light to a plasma in an electrodeless lamp such that the plasma generates light;an illumination subsystem configured to illuminate the specimen with the light generated by the plasma; anda detection subsystem configured to generate output responsive to light from the specimen due to illumination of the specimen, wherein the output can be used to determine the one or more characteristics of the specimen. 102. The system of claim 101, wherein the system is further configured as a bright field inspection system. 103. The system of claim 101, wherein the system is further configured as a dark field inspection system. 104. The system of claim 101, wherein the system is further configured as a defect review system. 105. The system of claim 101, wherein the system is further configured as a metrology system. 106. The system of claim 101, wherein the one or more characteristics comprise one or more dimensions of one or more patterned features formed on the specimen. 107. The system of claim 101, wherein the one or more characteristics comprise a shape of one or more patterned features formed on the specimen. 108. The system of claim 101, wherein the specimen comprises a wafer. 109. The system of claim 101, wherein the specimen comprises a patterned wafer. 110. The system of claim 101, wherein the specimen comprises a reticle. 111. A system configured to generate an image of a specimen, comprising:a laser configured to generate excitation light;focusing optics configured to focus the excitation light to a plasma in an electrodeless lamp such that the plasma generates light;an illumination subsystem configured to illuminate the specimen with the light generated by the plasma; anda detection subsystem configured to generate output responsive to electrons emitted by the specimen due to illumination of the specimen with the light generated by the plasma, wherein the output comprises the image of the specimen. 112. The system of claim 111, wherein the light generated by the plasma comprises deep ultraviolet light. 113. The system of claim 111, wherein the specimen comprises a surface formed of a semiconductive material. 114. The system of claim 111, wherein the light generated by the plasma comprises broadband light such that the system can image a selectable set of work functions of the specimen. 115. A system configured to perform a lithography process on a specimen, comprising:a laser configured to generate excitation light;focusing optics configured to focus the excitation light to a plasma in an electrodeless lamp such that the plasma generates light; andan illumination subsystem configured to image the light generated by the plasma onto the specimen in a predetermined pattern such that the predetermined pattern can be transferred to the specimen. 116. The system of claim 115, wherein the light generated by the plasma comprises i-line light.