Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. A laser beam formatting module for use in a lithographic system to fabricate a semiconductor wafer,said laser beam formatting module producing a substantially uniform laser beam intensity across a target and substantially zero laser beam intensity beyond edges of said target during fabrication of said semiconductor wafer,said laser beam formatting module comprising a lens assembly in a light path between an optical element and said target,wherein said laser beam formatting module substantially eliminates a need for an out-of-band filter on a radiation emission from said target. 2. The laser beam formatting module of claim 1 wherein said optical element is a diffractive optical element. 3. The laser beam formatting module of claim 1 wherein said optical element is an aperture plate. 4. The laser beam formatting module of claim 3 wherein said aperture plate comprises a substantially circular aperture. 5. A semiconductor die on said semiconductor wafer fabricated by the laser beam formatting module of claim 1. 6. The semiconductor die of claim 5 wherein said semiconductor die is utilized in a circuit board. 7. The semiconductor die of claim 5 wherein said semiconductor die is enclosed in a package. 8. The semiconductor die of claim 5 wherein said semiconductor die is utilized in a circuit board as a part of an electronic system, and said electronic system being selected from the group consisting of a wired communications device, a wireless communications device, a cell phone, a switching device, a router, a repeater, a codec, a LAN, a WLAN, a Bluetooth enabled device, a digital camera, a digital audio player and/or recorder, a digital video player and/or recorder, a computer, a monitor, a television set, a satellite set top box, a cable modem, a digital automotive control system, a digitally-controlled home appliance, a printer, a copier, a digital audio or video receiver, an RF transceiver, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a digital game playing device, a digital testing and/or measuring device, a digital avionics device, a medical device, and a digitally-controlled medical equipment. 9. The laser beam formatting module of claim 1 wherein said lithographic system performs extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. 10. The laser beam formatting module of claim 1 wherein said target comprises a salt solution doped with tin (Sn). 11. The laser beam formatting module of claim 1 wherein said target has a diameter less than or approximately equal to five hundred microns. 12. The laser beam formatting module of claim 1 wherein said lithographic system utilizes a laser-produced plasma (LPP) light source. 13. The laser beam formatting module of claim 1 wherein said lens assembly causes a laser beam to have a cross-sectional diameter greater than or approximately equal to a diameter of said target. 14. A method for fabricating a semiconductor wafer using a laser beam formatting module in a lithographic system, said method comprising:placing a laser beam formatting module between a laser source and a target, said laser beam formatting module comprising an optical element and a lens assembly;shining a laser beam from said laser source through said laser beam formatting module onto said target;creating a substantially uniform laser beam intensity at said target and substantially zero laser beam intensity beyond edges of said target to produce a high resolution pattern for fabrication of said semiconductor wafer, wherein said laser beam formatting module substantially eliminates a need for an out-of-band filter on a radiation emission from said target. 15. The method of claim 14 wherein said optical element is a diffractive optical element. 16. The method of claim 14 wherein said optical element is an aperture plate. 17. The method of claim 14 further comprising dicing said semiconductor wafer into a plurality of semiconductor dies. 18. The method of claim 17 further comprising utilizing one or more of said plurality of semiconductor dies in a circuit board. 19. The method of claim 14 wherein said lithographic system performs extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. 20. The method of claim 14 wherein said target comprises a salt solution doped with tin (Sn).