High spatial resolution ZnO scintillator for an in situ imaging device in EUV region

• We report on a single shot image of a ZnO excited by EUV laser.
• We evaluate the spatial resolution and estimate the diffusion length of the exciton.
• Our results shows that short lifetime of ZnO improve the spatial resolution.

A single shot image of a ZnO crystal excited by the EUV laser of Kansai Photon Science Institute was captured. The evaluated EUV beam waist radii from the ZnO emission pattern along the horizontal and vertical axes are 5.0 and 4.7 μm, respectively. The expected focal spot size of EUV laser and the spatial resolution of the magnifier (including the Schwarzschild objectives and lenses) are however 1 and 4 μm, respectively. The discrepancy on the spatial resolutions is attributed to exciton diffusion. We estimated the ZnO exciton diffusion length from the effective decay time which is shortened by exciton–exciton collision quenching and which is dependence on excitation energy density. Our results indicate that the short lifetime of ZnO is required to improve the spatial resolution.