Patent ID: 7372057

Claim:
An arrangement for providing a reproducible target flow for the energy beam-induced generation of a plasma emitting short-wavelength radiation, particularly for the generation of EUV radiation, comprising: a target nozzle being provided for introducing target material under pressure into an interaction chamber in form of a liquid target beam/jet; an energy beam being directed to the target beam/jet at an interaction point in the interaction chamber; a nozzle protection device being provided in the interaction chamber between the target nozzle and the interaction point for the generation of plasma; and said nozzle protection device containing a gas pressure chamber which has an aperture along the target beam/jet path for unobstructed passage of the entire diameter of the liquid target beam/jet and which is filled with a buffer gas that is maintained under a pressure at which a sputter particle from the plasma undergoes at least one thousand collisions with particles of the buffer gas when traversing the gas pressure chamber.