Observation of plasma inflows in laser-produced Sn plasma and their contribution to extreme-ultraviolet light output enhancement

Abstract

Abstract Plasma dynamics are governed by electron density (n e), electron temperature (T e), and radiative energy transfer as well as by macroscopic flows. However, plasma flow-velocity fields (v flow) inside laser-produced plasmas (LPPs) have rarely been measured, owing to their small sizes ( 3 × 1024 m−3) and for a relatively long time (> 10 ns), resulting increment of total EUV light emission. These results indicate that controlling the plasma flow can improve EUV light output and that there is potential to increase the EUV output further.