High-brightness short-wavelength radiation source contains a vacuum chamber with a rotating target assembly having an annular groove, an energy beam focused on the target, a useful short-wavelength radiation beam coming out of the interaction zone, wherein the target is a layer of molten metal formed by a centrifugal force on a surface of the annular groove facing a rotation axis. A replaceable membrane made of carbon nanotubes may be installed on a pathway of the short-wavelength radiation beam for debris mitigation. In the embodiments of the invention the energy beam is a pulsed laser beam. The pulsed laser beam may consist of pre-pulse and main-pulse, with parameters such as laser pulse repetition rate chosen in order to suppress debris. In other embodiments the energy beam is the electron beam produced by an electron gun and the rotating target assembly is a rotating anode.