LASER SOURCES

Excimer Lasers
The powerful light source in the UV and VUV

Excimer lasers are pulsed gas lasers THE AUTHORS

operating with a special mixture of noble
gases and halogens. They emit laser radi-
ation in the UV and VUV spectra, at disc- ANDREAS GÖRTLER CLAUS STROWITZKI
rete wavelengths between 351 nm and Andreas Görtler is senior Claus Strowitzki is senior
157 nm. Continuous improvements over scientist in the R&D scientist in the R&D de-
recent years have resulted in excimer la- department at TuiLaser partment at TuiLaser AG.
sers becoming the tool of choice for many AG. He studied physics He studied physical tech-
applications. in Erlangen, Germany and for his Ph.D. nology at the University of Applied Science
he developed low-pressure gas discharge in Munich, Germany. He has almost 20 years
Starting as “exotic” lasers in the labora- switches for pulsed power applications. He of experience in the development of excimer
tories of universities and research centres, has more than 10 years of experience in the lasers and pulsed power, especially highly re-
they now operate within the industry in development of excimer lasers, especially petitive systems for medical applications.
key technologies such as, for example, highly repetitive systems for industrial ap-
optical lithography for the manufacture of plications. Since 2003 he has been chair of
highly integrated semiconductor devices. the section Short Timescale Physics of the
The main medical application is the use of German Physical Society (DPG).
excimer lasers at 193 nm in ophthalmology
for vision-correction systems. In both appli- ●● ●●
cations a total of about 10,000 lasers are Dr. Andreas Görtler Claus Strowitzki
R & D, Excimer Technology R & D, Excimer Technology
currently operating worldwide. TuiLaser AG TuiLaser AG
The theoretical basis for the laser was estab- Zielstattstr. 32, 81379 Munich, Germany Zielstattstr. 32, 81379 Munich, Germany
lished in 1917, when Einstein postulated the phone: ++49 (0) 89- 89 407-214 phone: ++49 (0) 89- 89 407-232
fax: ++49 (0) 89- 85 45 610 fax: ++49 (0) 89- 85 45 610
theoretical concept of stimulated emission e-mail: andreas.goertler@tuilaser.com e-mail: claus.strowitzki@tuilaser.com
[1]. The first excimer laser was built in 1971 web: www.tuilaser.com web: www.tuilaser.com
by Basow, 54 years later [2]. This was 11
years after the first ruby laser had been built
by Mainman.
The term “excimer” is a shortened form of
“excited dimer”, which describes a molecule
formed from two identical noble gas atoms.
These atoms will only bond with each other in
an excited state. The term “excimer” was later
expanded to include all combinations of rare
gases and halides. Therefore, in laser physics,
all rare-gas halides and similar molecules are
excimers, which are not really dimers.
Nowadays excimer lasers are the dominant
UV source in many applications. Using an
excimer laser is the easiest way to generate
photons in the deep ultraviolet. Although it
is possible to generate radiation below 350
nm with solid-state lasers using non-linear
optical effects, tremendous effort is involved FIGURE 1: Mini excimer laser tube, overall length of the laser tube about 350 mm. The
in this process. A frequency-tripled Nd-YAG optical adjustment unit is mounted on the front side, and on the top the electrical con-
laser, for example, emits at 355 nm, but to nector to the pulsed power module can be seen.

46 LTJ June 2005 No. 2 © 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

generate photons in the deeper UV the pro-
cesses become more and more inefficient.
If output power is needed, solid-state lasers
are definitely no match for excimer lasers.
Due to their complex technology, the first
excimer lasers were very sensitive devices.
However, this has changed dramatically. As a
result of effective improvement over the last
15 years, excimer lasers have now become
fully competitive with other commercially-
used laser systems (Figure 1).
There are two main segments of the world
market for excimer lasers nowadays. One is
in microlithography with about 400–500
systems per year. These lasers are very so-
phisticated devices, designed for 24-hour
operation at repetition rates of up to 4 kHz.
They are used as deep UV light sources in
steppers for microelectronic manufacturing
under clean room conditions. The other big
market is the medical area with a volume
of about 700 systems per year. The main
application for medical excimer lasers is in
refractive corneal correction. This applica-
tion requires relatively low-energy lasers
with moderate repetition rates of from 200
Hz to 500 Hz.
Basics of Excimer lasers
The laser is a source of an intensive coherent
light field. It has a close analogy with an elec-
tric amplifier, which has a positive feedback
loop. It is well known that this arrangement
starts to oscillate if the feedback is positive
and the amplification is higher than the
losses.
Oscillation condition: Amplification > losses
The same thing occurs in a laser. The light is
amplified by a (light) amplifying medium. In
the case of an excimer laser, this medium is a
gas mixture. Normally the lower energy level
in the molecules is more populated than the
upper level. But under certain conditions, this
population state can be inverted, the upper
level is then more populated than the lower
one. This inversion is needed for laser opera-
tion. It requires not only the pumping of the
upper laser level but also depletion of the
lower level. Otherwise due to the operation
itself the lower level will become highly popu-
lated and the inversion will be neutralized so
that only a very short laser pulse is then pos-
sible. This takes place in nitrogen lasers.
The laser medium amplifies light by means
of stimulated emission. The feedback is real-
ized by two mirrors which form a resonator.
One mirror has a 100% reflection (or a value
very close to that) and the other typically has
© 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
9 all commercially used excimer laser are di-
8 D2Π
7 decreases with increasing inter-nuclear
energy [eV]
6
5 B2 Σ
C Π2
4
C→A
3 B→X
2 (around 1 eV). Even thermal vibrations are
1
A2Π
0 Xe+Cl
X2Σ
–1
0.2 0.3 0.4
r [nm]
FIGURE 2: Energy levels of a XeCl* mole-
cule. The potential energy of the lower
level decreases with larger inter-nuclear
distance. This means that the rare gas
atom and the halogen atom repel each
other and the molecule falls apart.
10–90 % transmission. The properties of the
laser beam, for example the bandwidth, are
mainly determined by the optical resonator.
Houtermans in 1960 proposed the use of
molecules that can exist in the upper laser
level but are unstable in the lower level as
a laser medium [4]. One possible laser me-
dium that can be used here is a combination
of a rare gas and a halogen. The first rare
gas halogen excimer laser was the electron-
pumped XeBr-laser from Searles and Hart in
1975 [2]. The first discharge-pumped XeCl-
laser was constructed in 1977 by Ischenko
et al.. A discharge-pumped excimer laser
has many advantages compared with an
THE COMPANY
TuiLaser
Munich, Germany
TuiLaser is the leading manufacturer of
compact excimer lasers. Based in Mu-
nich, the heart of the high-tech south of
Germany, in the vicinity of two internati-
onally famous universities (LMU and TU
Munich) TuiLaser is situated in the perfect
place to perform ambitious R&D. With a
rapidly growing team of currently 95 em-
ployees, TuiLaser is producing UV lasers
for an extensive base of users who rely on
the company for delivering state-of-the-
art laser technology. For more informa-
tion please visit www.tuilaser.com
LASER SOURCES
electron-beam-pumped laser. Therefore,
scharge-pumped.
The potential energy of the lower level
Xe++Cl–
distance. This means that the rare gas atom
and the halogen atom repel each other and
the molecule falls apart. The energy levels
for a XeCl* molecule are shown in Figure 2.
In fact, XeCl in the X-state is loosely bonded
already strong enough to break this weak
bond. Excimer lasers have a high quantum
efficiency. The radiative transition is directly
to the ground level. For the most important
0.5 0.6 0.7
formation channel at least one Xe+ is needed
to create a XeCl* molecule. The formation of
XeCl* is described in the following reaction
equations [3]:
Xe+ + Cl- + Ne => XeCl* + Ne
Xe2+ + Cl- => XeCl* + Xe
Xe* + HClv=1,2 => XeCl* + H
Xe** + HCl => XeCl* + H
The theoretical maximum obtainable quan-
tum efficiency is about 33% (12 eV ionisa-
tion, 4 eV radiation). Commercially available
system normally have an efficiency of from
0.2% (F*2; 157 nm) to 2% (KrF*, 248 nm)
(electrical input / optical output).
Technical realisation
In principle, a pulsed gas laser consists of
three main components:
● the laser tube,
● the pulsed power module and
● the resonator.
In the laser tube a high pressure gas di-
scharge is initiated. This is where the excimer
molecules are generated and the laser radi-
ation is emitted. The pulsed power module
generates the high voltage / high current
pulse to initiate the gas discharge. Finally,
the resonator is necessary for coherent la-
ser radiation. In the following, these three
components will be described in detail. Also
integrated within the laser systems are: a gas
management system with vacuum pump; a
controlling unit with interface to the user;
and an energy stabilisation module with an
internal energy monitor.
Laser tube
The technical realisation of an excimer
laser is quite demanding. The laser gas is
highly corrosive and reacts with most of the
commonly used materials. In recent years
excessive research has been carried out in
www.laser-journal.de LTJ 47
LASER SOURCES
order to optimise the materials in excimer
lasers. Generally speaking, materials change
from organic materials (plastics) to inorganic
materials (metals and ceramics). In modern
excimer lasers even the seals are made of
metals. These improvements brought an ex-
tension to the lifetime of about three orders
of magnitude over the last 15 years. These
new designs are the key to success in the
manufacture of industrial excimer lasers.
In principle, a high-pressure gas discharge
has to be initiated in order to generate the
excimer molecules. The gas pressure is about
0.6 MPa absolute. The main gas component
is Neon as the buffer gas. The halogen – F2
or HCl – and the rare gas – Ar, Kr or Xe – are
added in the order of only some 0.1%. The
high pressure is necessary to generate a suf-
ficient number of excimer molecules.
In Figure 3, a schematic drawing of the laser
tube is shown. The pulsed laser discharge is
initiated between the two elongated shaped
electrodes. To avoid an arc, a pre-ionization is
necessary. In early excimer lasers, electron be-
ams or X-rays were used for this purpose. La-
ter a pre-ionization method using many small
sparks in parallel – similar to ignition plugs in
automotive engines – was used. In modern
excimer lasers the pre-ionization is realized
using a corona discharge. The main advan-
tage of this method is that there is almost no
erosion due to the pre-ionization device and a
better stability of the laser discharge.
The electrical discharge leads to erosion
of the electrodes. The eroded material
generates dust by chemical reactions with
the halogen. Using an electrostatic dust
remover, these particles are separated to
avoid disturbance of the discharge and the
emitted laser light by Mie scattering. The
electrode erosion leads to an enlargement
of the discharge volume and is the limiting
factor for the laser tube lifetime.
Wavelength/parameter 157 nm
Output energy, maximum 1.5 mJ
Output energy, stabilised 1.0 mJ
Pulse-to-pulse fluctuations < 3%
(one sigma)
Repetition rate (maximum) 1 kHz
Laser beam size 3 x 3 mm²
Pulse duration 15 ns
Divergence < 1.5 mrad x 1.5
mrad
Laser tube lifetime > 1 billion pulses
Resonator optics lifetime 250 millions
Pulsed power module Solid-state module
TABLE 1: Summary of the output parameters of commercial mini excimer lasers [4].
48 LTJ June 2005 No. 2
FIGURE 3: Schematic cross section of
an excimer laser tube: (1) high voltage
electrode; (2) corona preionization; (3)
grounded electrode; (4) cross flow blo-
wer; (5) electrostatic dust remover. The
pulsed laser discharge is initiated between
the two elongated shaped electrodes. To
avoid an arc, pre-ionization is necessary.
The reaction products of the gas compon-
ents (excimer molecules) and excited gas
atoms have a lifetime in the range of ns to
ms, even up to seconds. Therefore, the gas
in the discharge area between the two elec-
trodes has to be replaced by fresh gas before
the next laser pulse can be created. For this
reason, a cross-flow blower is installed in
the laser tube, providing the required gas
circulation. The maximum repetition rate
depends on the gas flow generated by this
blower. For high repetition rate excimer la-
sers, great effort is necessary to guarantee an
optimal gas flow in the laser tube.
Due to a low efficiency, of only a few percent,
most of the energy in the electrical discharge
is transformed into heat. To dissipate this heat,
water cooling of the laser tube is required for
repetition rates of more than 200 Hz and it
should be operating continuously. Figure 1
shows a mini excimer laser tube. The optical
adjustment unit is mounted on the front side,
and on the top, the electrical connector to the
pulsed power module can be seen.
193 nm 248 nm 308 nm
12 mJ 18 mJ 12 mJ
8 mJ 12 mJ 8 mJ
3 x 6 mm²
12 ns
< 1.5 mrad x 2 mrad
1 billion pulses
Pulsed power module
Pumping an excimer laser requires a very
high peak power. To generate this pulsed
power, high voltage capacitors are di-
scharged by a fast-closing switch into the
discharge unit. For this purpose normally
thyratrons are used as discharge switches.
The lifetime of these thyratrons is limited due
to the demanding operation conditions in a
gas laser resulting in electrode erosion and
other degradation effects. Therefore, the
service interval for the thyratrons is rather
short, depending on the operation mode
they have to be replaced after a few weeks
or months.
To overcome the limitation of the thyratron,
pulsed power modules were developed
using solid-state switches, such as IGBTs.
These devices show a very long lifetime wi-
thout any degradation and are extensively
used, for example, in traction applications.
The switching capabilities are too small to
pump the excimer laser directly. So after the
switch a pulse forming network is necessary.
These networks consist of non-linear ma-
gnetic cores, which compress the energy
pulse to 1/100 of its original length. A pulse
transformer then provides for the voltage
matching. Due to its complex design, careful
engineering is required in order to achieve
a high level of reliability. Depending on the
repetition rates and the duty cycle, the com-
ponents of the solid-state pulsed power mo-
dule are either air-cooled and air-insulated or
water-cooled and oil-insulated.
Due to the perfect match of the pulsed po-
wer module and the laser tube, the lifetime
of the tube can be doubled with a solid-state
circuit. Also, other parameters are influenced
positively, such as the pulse-to-pulse fluctu-
ation and the running range of the output
energy.
Such solid-state modules do not have the
problems that are typical for thyratrons,
such as missing pulses or self-firing. This is an
additional reason why there is no alternative
to solid-state pulsed power modules.
One drawback should be mentioned,
though, it is that the starting costs are ge-
nerally higher, but calculated over the laser
lifetime, the overall costs are much lower.
For commercial applications, a solid-state
pulsed power module is therefore by far the
best and most cost-effective solution.
Resonator optics
Crystals of very high purity are used as reso-
nator optics. At the same time, these optics
seal off in the laser tube. The optical lifetime
© 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

FIGURE 4: Compact industrial laser sys-
tem. Excimer Lasers with a maximum
repetition rate of 2 kHz were demonstra-
ted. 1 kHz devices are commercially avai-
lable. All wavelengths between 351 nm
and 157 nm can be realised.
is still the weak spot in excimer lasers. Due to
the very high photon flux in the deep UV the
optics developed unwanted colour centres.
Another problem was the degradation of
the multi-layer mirrors. The optical materials
have been improved over the last few years
to a level where colour-centre formation is
practically no longer a problem. Fused silica
and MgF2 have been replaced by mono-
crystalline CaF2.The multi-layer coatings of
the mirrors seem to be the weakest link in the
chain at the moment, and are now the focal
point for development.
In addition to normal plain mirrors, a wide
variety of resonator optics are used to in-
fluence the beam shape or quality. In some
applications a high spatial coherence is
necessary. Unstable optics reduce the mode
spectrum and improve coherence. In other
applications a very low spatial coherence is
necessary to reduce interference, e.g., if the
laser is transmitted in a fibre or for illumina-
tion purposes.
To reduce the normal line width of an exci-
mer laser of, typically, 0.5 nm to approx. 10
1000 V
40
1100 V
35
1200 V
Power in W
30 1300 V
25
1400 V
20 1500 V
15
10
5 0.5
0 0.0
0 500 1000 1500 2000
frequency in Hz
FIGURE 6: Output energy depending on
repetition rate and voltage, 193 nm. The
output energy was measured in depen-
dence on the operating voltage and the
repetition rate. A linear rise is observed
up to 2 kHz.
© 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
FIGURE 5: Beam profile of a fluorine laser,
157 nm, 3 × 3 mm², 150 mm from output
optics. The homogeneity of this square
beam profile is very good. Deviations
over the beam size are less than 5%.
pm or less, disperse elements, such as prisms
or gratings, are included in the resonator.
Compact excimer lasers
Typically compact excimer lasers have an
output energy below 50 mJ for the single la-
ser pulse. For the mini-class the single pulse
energy is below 20 mJ. These are table-top
systems. A maximum repetition rate of 2 kHz
was demonstrated [5], and 1 kHz devices are
commercially available. All wavelengths bet-
ween 351 nm and 157 nm can be realized.
Figure 4 shows a complete industrial laser
system. In Table 1, typical output parameters
are summarized. At 193 nm the beam path
must be purged with an inert gas, normally
nitrogen, to avoid absorption in oxygen and
the generation of ozone. Below 190 nm
all radiation is absorbed by the oxygen in
the atmosphere. Therefore, the radiation
pulse to pulse fluctuation in %
4.0
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
1300 V
1100 V 1400 V
1200 V 1500 V
0 500 1000 1500 2000
repetition rate in Hz
FIGURE 7: Pulse-to-pulse fluctuation
depending on repetition rate and voltage,
193 nm (corresponding to Figure 6). The
fluctuations are under 2% up to 1 kHz,
then a small rise to 3.5% can be observed.
LASER SOURCES
at 157 nm can only be transmitted in a
vacuum or inert gas. For laser operation at
a constant output energy level, an energy
monitor is integrated in the laser system and
connected to the controlling device of the
laser. The laser can be manually operated
with an integrated touch panel or an exter-
nal computer system via optical or electrical
interfaces. In Figure 5 the beam profile for
a fluorine laser (at 157 nm) is shown. The
homogeneity of this square beam profile is
very good. Deviations over the beam size are
less than 5%.
All other excimer wavelengths have a rec-
tangular beam profile. Their homogeneity
is comparable to the results at 157 nm. In
Figure 6,the maximum laser output energy
is shown for a 193 nm experimental laser
system with a new improved laser tube de-
sign. The output energy was measured in
dependence on the operating voltage and
the repetition rate. A linear rise is observed
up to 2 kHz. There is only a small drop of the
output energy with increasing repetition rate.
Figure 7 shows the corresponding pulse-to-
pulse fluctuations. They are under 2% up to
1 kHz, then a small rise to 3.5% can be ob-
served. In Figure 8, the first billion pulses of a
long-term test are shown at a constant laser
pulse energy of 8 mJ at 193 nm using the new
laser tube design. The test was carried out at a
repetition rate of 1 kHz. The resonator optics
lasted for more than1 billion pulses. With new
optics the test could be continued and a tube
lifetime of approximately 2 billion pulses was
demonstrated. These new optimised laser
tubes will be integrated into the products in
the near future. Further improvements in the
performance of mini excimer lasers will be
made in the future.
An example of a new product line are
the compact excimer laser systems with
14 1600
Standard Deviation [%]
12 1400
High Voltage [V]
10 1200
Energy [mJ]
1000
8
800
6
600
4 400
2 200
0 0
0
200M400M600M800M 1G
Number of Pulses
standard deviation voltage energy
FIGURE 8: The first billion pulses of a long
term test; constant laser pulse energy
(black) of 8 mJ at 193 nm @ 1kHz; high
voltage (blue) and standard deviation
(green).
www.laser-journal.de LTJ 49
LASER SOURCES
integrated premix gas supply. These laser
systems do not require any additional gas
installation and can be easily integrated in
experimental set-ups. Figure 9 shows the
interior of this new laser system. Compact
industrial excimer laser systems with a hig-
her output energy are also underway. Their
energy is stabilised in the order of 30 mJ for
193 nm and 248 nm, i.e., it is a factor of three
higher compared with the mini excimer la-
sers. Repetition rates up to 2 kHz have been
demonstrated. The pulse-to-pulse stability is
about 2% as is known from the newest mini
excimer laser generation [7]. These devices
are especially designed for applications like
micro-structuring of matter in an industrial
environment. In Figure 10, a prototype of
this new compact laser system is shown.
Applications
Excimer lasers are used in many medical,
industrial and science applications. In the
following, a short overview will be given and
a few examples for these applications will be
discussed.
The main medical application of the com-
pact excimer lasers is their use in vision
correction systems in ophthalmology. More
than 5,000 lasers are installed worldwide.
In this application the cornea is treated ef-
fectively with the non-thermally damaging
and precisely controllable ArF excimer laser
beam , to correct the aberrations of the hu-
man eye. A new medical application is the
use of 308 nm excimer radiation for psoriasis
treatment, as a replacement for UV lamps.
Other applications in the medical area are
still in the experimental phase.
Three years ago the telecommunications
industry started to implement compact
excimer lasers for the writing of fibre Bragg
gratings (FBG). Micro-structuring and the
marking of glass and special plastics is
another large field of industrial application.
In the semiconductor industry, compact
excimer lasers have already been installed as
light sources in metrology tools.
Compact excimer lasers are also used in
science for a wide variety of applications.
One example is photoionisation which takes
place in mass spectrometers for chemical
analytics and process controlling. The pum-
ping of dye lasers is another application.
The main application of excimer lasers with
higher output energy (typically more than
100 mJ, up to 1 J single pulsed energy) are in
lithography for producing highly-integrated
semiconductor elements and the TFT anne-
aling process in the production of flat panel
50 LTJ June 2005 No. 2
FIGURE 9: Stand-alone mini excimer laser
with integrated gas supply. These laser
systems do not require any additional gas
installation and can be easily integrated in
experimental set-ups.
FIGURE 10: Prototype of the newest type
of compact excimer lasers. These devices
are especially designed for applications
such as micro-structuring of matter in an
industrial environment.
displays. In lithography, more than 2,500
lasers (highly repetitive, narrow band) are
installed worldwide as UV light sources in
steppers and scanners for illumination of
the resists.
The latest generations of microprocessors
and memory chips are fabricated using
excimer lasers at 248 nm and 193 nm. Due
to further miniaturisation of the elements,
these lasers will be become more and more
important in the future.
The TFT annealing process is used in the
production of high-end colour displays in
mobile phones and LCD monitors for com-
puters or television. Without excimer lasers
we would probably have to do without
many of these modern tools and “toys” in
the private field or workplace as there are no
alternative production technologies.
Summary and Outlook
Main topics of future development in the
field of excimer lasers are the enlargement
of the laser tube lifetime and especially of the
resonators optics lifetime. The aim of further
development is to extend the optics lifetime
to laser tube lifetime level. This would elimi-
nate the maintenance of the laser system
during the normal operation of the system
and reduce the costs of ownership again.
Tube lifetimes up to 5 billion pulses should
be possible for compact high-repetitive ex-
cimer laser systems. In principle, repetition
rate up to 4 kHz and more are feasible, but
applications requiring more than 1 kHz are
still under development.. In the semicon-
ductor fabrication excimer laser systems that
are used as illumination sources in the litho-
graphy operate with 4 kHz [6] 24-h per day.
6 kHz and more are under development.
As result of the development during the last
decade is achieved. Additionally, the time
intervals between maintenance are exten-
ded. Thus, long-term operation without any
interruptions can be guaranteed in industrial
applications. The price for „UV-photons“ is
dramatically reduced. Excimer lasers, espe-
cially in the compact class, can be used for
many new applications and introduce these
due to the described advantages into the
industrial fabrication.
Excimer lasers and other gas lasers like the
CO2 laser are not a technology of the last
century, they are one of the key laser techno-
logies for the 21st century. They just started
to go into the industry and there will be a lot
of new products to be manufactured with
the help of excimer lasers in the future.
References
[1] Y. P. Raizer, Gas Discharge Physics, Sprin-
ger-Verlag, Berlin (1991).
[2] M. von Dadelszen and D. E. Rothe, IEEE
Trans. On Plasma Science 19, p.329ff
(1991).
[3] R. Sorkina, F. A. van Goor, W. J. Witteman,
Applied Physics B 55, p.478–484 (1992).
[4] TuiLaser AG, Data sheet of Excistar-S
Industrial Laser (2005).
[5] A. Görtler, C. Strowitzki, Proceedings of
the Second International WLT-Confer-
ence on Lasers in Manufacturing, Mu-
nich, Germany, p.419ff (2003).
[6] H. Mizoguchi et al, International Sympo-
sium on Immersion and 157 nm Lithog-
raphy, Vancouver, Canada (2004).
[7] A. Görtler, C. Strowitzki, XV International
Symposium on Gas Flow and Chemical
Lasers & High Power Laser Conference,
Prague, Czech Republic (2004); to be
published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 5777
(2004).
© 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim