Patent application number | Description | Published |
20100151394 | System for Contactless Cleaning, Lithographic Apparatus and Device Manufacturing Method - Embodiments of the invention relate to a system for contactless cleaning of an object surface, a lithographic apparatus including the system, and a method of manufacturing a device. The system may include a He plasma source contained in a chamber and a control unit constructed to modify plasma parameters in use, such as the electron energy distribution of the plasma for causing an increase in formation of He metastables without modifying operational parameters of the plasma source. The control unit may include an electrical biasing unit constructed to apply a positive bias voltage to the object, for attracting free electrons from the plasma. The system may include a supplementary gas source, which may be either pre-mixed with He or be supplied from a further gas source. The supplementary gas may be selected based on a pre-knowledge on a type of particles to be expected on the surface of the object. | 06-17-2010 |
20100165310 | EUV Mask Inspection - A system for inspecting an extreme ultra violet (EUV) mask. The system includes an array of sensors and an optical system. The array of sensors is configured to produce analog data corresponding to received optical energy. The optical system is configured to direct EUV light from an inspection area of an EUV patterning device onto the array of sensors, whereby the analog data is used to determine defects or to compensate for irregularities found on the EUV mask. | 07-01-2010 |
20110037960 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS, DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD, CLEANING SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CLEANING A PATTERNING DEVICE - A lithographic apparatus includes an illumination system configured to condition a beam of radiation, and a support structure configured to support a patterning device. The patterning device is configured to impart a pattern to the beam of radiation. The apparatus includes a patterning device cleaning system configured to provide an electrostatic force to contaminant particles that are on the patterning device and that are electrically charged by the beam of radiation, in order to remove the contaminant particles from the patterning device. | 02-17-2011 |
20110043795 | Inspection method and apparatus - In an aspect, an inspection method for detecting the presence or absence of a defect on an object, the object comprising a recess having a physical depth, is disclosed. The method includes directing radiation at the object, the radiation having a wavelength that is substantially equal to twice an optical depth of the recess, detecting radiation that is re-directed by the object or a defect on the object, and determining the presence or absence of a defect from the re-directed radiation. | 02-24-2011 |
20110149276 | Method of Detecting a Particle and a Lithographic Apparatus - A detector detects radiation from a mask to form an image, but the focal plane of the image is in front of the mask. Any particles arranged on the mask will be in focus. However, the pattern on the mask will be out of focus. It is therefore possible to detect the existence and location of particles on a mask having an arbitrary pattern. The depth of field of the detector is small and the focal plane is no further from the surface of the patterning device than two times the depth of field. | 06-23-2011 |
20110170083 | Lithographic Apparatus and Device Manufacturing Method - A system and method are used to detect thermal radiation from a mask. Debris particles on the mask heat up, but do not cool down as quickly as the surrounding mask. Due to the temperature difference, the wavelength of radiation emitted by particles and the mask differs. Thus by detecting the thermal radiation, it is possible to detect the presence of particles deposited on the mask. If particles are detected, the mask can be cleaned. | 07-14-2011 |
20110188011 | PARTICLE CLEANING OF OPTICAL ELEMENTS FOR MICROLITHOGRAPHY - An optical assembly is mounted in a projection exposure apparatus ( | 08-04-2011 |
20110222040 | RADIATION SOURCE APPARATUS, LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS, METHOD OF GENERATING AND DELIVERING RADIATION AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING A DEVICE - A contaminant trap is used in an EUV radiation source apparatus. An EUV radiation beam is generated and focused through a low pressure gaseous atmosphere into a virtual source point. The EUV radiation creates a plasma in the low pressure hydrogen atmosphere through which it passes. A contaminant trap including electrodes is located in or around radiation beam as it approaches the virtual source point. A DC biasing source is connected to the electrodes to create an electric field oriented to deflect out of the beam path contaminant particles that have been negatively charged by the plasma. Additional RF electrodes and/or an ionizer enhance the plasma to increase the charging of the particles. The deflecting electrodes can be operated with RF bias for a short time, to ensure dissipation of the enhanced plasma. | 09-15-2011 |
20120086929 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A lithographic projection apparatus includes a laser cleaning device. The laser cleaning device is constructed and arranged to clean a surface. The laser cleaning device includes a laser source constructed and arranged to generate radiation, and an optical element constructed and arranged to focus the radiation in a focal point in order to generate a cleaning plasma in a background gas above the surface. The laser cleaning device is further provided with a gas supply constructed and arranged to generate a jet of protection gas at a location near the plasma. | 04-12-2012 |
20120127467 | Object Inspection Systems and Methods - Methods and systems for inspection of an object include the use of spectroscopic techniques for the detection of unwanted particles on an object's surface, based on the different responses of the unwanted particles as compared with the object to be inspected due to their different materials. Time resolved spectroscopy and/or energy resolved spectroscopy of secondary photon emission from the surface of the object can be used to obtain Raman and photoluminescence spectra. The objects to be inspected can for example be a patterning device as used in a lithographic process, for example a reticle, in which case the presence of metal, metal oxide or organic particles can be detected, for example. The methods and apparatus are highly sensitive, for example, being able to detect small particles (sub 100 nm, particularly sub 50 nm) on the patterned side of an EUV reticle. | 05-24-2012 |
20120182538 | Methods and Apparatus for Inspection Of Articles, EUV Lithography Reticles, Lithography Apparatus and Method of Manufacturing Devices - An article such as an EUV lithography reticle is inspected to detect contaminant particles. The method comprises applying a fluorescent dye material to the article, illuminating the article with radiation at wavelengths suitable for exciting the fluorescent dye, monitoring the article for emission of second radiation by the fluorescent dye at a wavelength different from the first radiation, and generating a signal representing contamination in the event of detecting the second radiation. In one example, measures such as low-affinity coatings may be applied to the reticle to reduce affinity for the dye molecules, while the dye molecules will bind by physical or chemical adsorption to the contaminant particles. Dyes may be selected to have fluorescence behavior enhanced by hydrophobicity or hydrophilicity, and contaminant surfaces treated by buffer coatings accordingly. | 07-19-2012 |
20130070218 | SYSTEM FOR REMOVING CONTAMINANT PARTICLES, LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS, METHOD FOR REMOVING CONTAMINANT PARTICLES AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING A DEVICE - A system for removing contaminant particles from the path of the beam of EUV radiation is provided in which at least a first AC voltage is provided to a pair of electrodes on opposite sides of the path of the beam of EUV radiation as a first stage of a regime of voltages and, as a second stage of the regime of voltages, a DC voltage is provided to the electrodes. | 03-21-2013 |
20140002805 | Electrostatic Clamp Apparatus And Lithographic Apparatus | 01-02-2014 |
20140014138 | GAS-LIQUID PHASE TRANSITION METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CLEANING OF SURFACES IN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING - A method and apparatus for cleaning an article in semiconductor manufacturing are provided. The method includes subjecting a first chamber containing the article to a vapor source while controlling a temperature of the article and a temperature of the vapor source such that vapor from the vapor source condenses on a surface of the article to form a liquid film. The method further includes evaporating the liquid film, whereby the evaporating liquid transports contaminants from the surface of the article. Evaporating includes exposing the first chamber to condensing surfaces having a temperature lower than a temperature of the article, whereby the evaporated liquid condenses on the condensing surfaces. The apparatus includes a first chamber for housing the article, a vapor source connected to the first chamber, a temperature controller, and a second chamber connected with the first chamber to collect the vapor evaporated from the article. | 01-16-2014 |
20140146297 | Methods and Apparatus for Inspection of Articles, EUV Lithography Reticles, Lithography Apparatus and Method of Manufacturing Devices - An EUV lithography reticle is inspected to detect contaminant particles. The inspection apparatus comprises illumination optics with primary radiation. An imaging optical system with plural branches is arranged to form and detect a plurality of images, each branch having an image sensor and forming its image with a different portion of radiation received from the illuminated article. A processor combines information from the detected images to report on the presence and location of contaminant particles. In one or more branches the primary radiation is filtered out, so that the detected image is formed using only secondary radiation emitted by contaminant material in response to the primary radiation. In a dark field imaging branch using the scattered primary radiation, a spatial filter blocks spatial frequency components associated with periodic features of the article under inspection, to allow detection of particles which cannot be detected by secondary radiation. | 05-29-2014 |
20140340663 | Apparatus for Monitoring a Lithographic Patterning Device - A lithographic patterning device deformation monitoring apparatus ( | 11-20-2014 |