Patent ID: 7974321

Claim:
A method for stabilizing the average emitted radiation output of a pulsed radiation source, the method comprising the following steps: measuring the individual pulse energy (E i ) of a current radiation pulse; determining the deviation ΔE=E i −E 0 of the current radiation pulse energy (E i ) from a previously determined target value (E 0 ) of an individual pulse energy; and controlling an individual pulse spacing within a sequence of pulses, where the pulse period (Δt i+1 ) preceding the triggering of a next radiation pulse, which follows the current radiation pulse, depends on the magnitude of the deviation of the current individual pulse energy (E i ) from the target value (E 0 ) of the pulse energy; wherein the individual pulse spacing (Δt i+1 ) is determined from the average repetition frequency (f 0 ) of the individual pulses, the required target value of the pulse energy (E 0 ), and the measured individual pulse energy (E i ) of the current pulse using the calculation rule Δt i+1 =E i /(f 0 ·E 0 ).