Photomask cleaning table
By designing a fixed support component for the photomask cleaning station, the problem of secondary contamination and wear caused by unstable hand fixation during the photomask cleaning process was solved, achieving efficient cleaning and extended lifespan of the photomask.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202520175686.1
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Utility models(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2025-01-27
- Publication Date
- 2026-02-13
- Estimated Expiration
- 2035-01-27
AI Technical Summary
Existing photomasks are prone to secondary contamination or scratches during cleaning due to unstable hand grip, which affects their service life.
A photomask cleaning station was designed, which uses fixed support components and adjustable support components. The photomask is fixed by a combination of corner supports, side supports and adjustable supports, ensuring that the surface of the photomask is evenly stressed and avoiding secondary pollution and wear during cleaning.
It achieves efficient and convenient cleaning of the photomask surface, reduces the cleaning frequency of the photomask, extends its service life, and avoids damage to the photomask pattern.
Smart Images
Figure CN223902588U_ABST
Abstract
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of semiconductor lithography, in particular to a lithographic plate cleaning table. BACKGROUND
[0002] The lithographic plate is the master plate of the lithography process, and its cleanliness directly affects the product pattern quality. During use, the lithographic plate may be contaminated by particles and the like. Surface particles are usually removed by nitrogen blowing, but some sticky particles and contaminants that cannot be blown away need to be cleaned manually. The manual cleaning method is usually as follows: the lithographic plate is fixed by hand, and then a dust-free cloth dipped in methanol is used to wipe off the contamination. During the wiping process, the fixed hand may contact the pattern area of the lithographic plate due to unstable force, causing secondary contamination or scratching of the lithographic plate, and even falling risk, thereby reducing the service life of the lithographic plate. CONTENT OF THE UTILITY MODEL
[0003] Therefore, the present application provides a novel lithographic plate cleaning table to fix each edge of the lithographic plate and facilitate manual cleaning of the surface of the lithographic plate.
[0004] The cleaning table comprises a lithographic plate loading table, and the upper surface of the lithographic plate loading table is provided with a fixed support assembly and an adjustable support assembly. The fixed support assembly comprises a pair of corner support members and a pair of side support members. The pair of corner support members are respectively arranged at the opposite corners of one side edge of the lithographic plate loading table, fixed to the upper surface of the lithographic plate loading table and protrude upward. The pair of side support members are respectively arranged at the two adjacent side edges of the one side edge of the lithographic plate loading table, fixed to the upper surface of the lithographic plate loading table and protrude upward. The adjustable support assembly is arranged at the middle part of the other side edge of the lithographic plate loading table opposite to the one side edge, and comprises a slider vertically movable relative to the upper surface of the lithographic plate loading table and an adjustable support member protruding from the slider. The top ends of the pair of corner support members, the pair of side support members and the adjustable support member are provided with step portions, and the distances between the step faces of the step portions and the upper surface of the lithographic plate loading table are equal.
[0005] Optionally, the upper surface of the lithographic plate loading table is provided with a sliding groove extending inward from the middle part of the other side edge in a direction perpendicular to the other side edge.
[0006] The slider is slidably fitted in the sliding groove, and the top end surface of the slider is flush with the upper surface of the lithographic plate loading table.
[0007] Optionally, the end of the sliding block is further provided with an adjusting mechanism for adjusting the position of the sliding block in the sliding groove, the adjusting mechanism comprising an adjusting bolt, one end of the adjusting bolt extending into the sliding groove and the other end extending out of the end face where the other side edge of the photolithography plate platform is located.
[0008] Optionally, the width of the adjustable support is greater than the width of the sliding block in the direction parallel to the other side edge.
[0009] Optionally, the thickness of the top step of each of the pair of corner supports, the pair of side supports and the adjustable support is less than the thickness of the photolithography plate.
[0010] Optionally, the pair of side supports are aligned with each other in the direction parallel to the one side edge.
[0011] Optionally, a counterweight is arranged below the photolithography plate platform.
[0012] Optionally, an anti-skid foot pad is arranged below the counterweight.
[0013] By the cleaning platform described above, more efficient and convenient cleaning of the surface of the photolithography plate can be achieved, secondary contamination and damage during cleaning of the pattern of the photolithography plate can be avoided, the cleaning frequency of the photolithography plate can be reduced, and the service life of the photolithography plate can be prolonged. In addition, when the photolithography plate is placed on the platform, the surface of the photolithography plate is higher than the highest plane of the support, which makes it more convenient and thorough to clean with a dust-free cloth, and avoids the accumulation of dirt in the gap between the jig and the photolithography plate.
[0014] And by the horizontal movement of the sliding platform, the wear of the photolithography plate during placement is avoided, and the sliding platform can be fixed by tightening the adjusting bolt, thereby fixing the photolithography plate. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0015] Figure 1 is a structural schematic diagram of a photolithography plate cleaning platform according to an embodiment of the present application.
[0016] Figure 2 is a structural schematic diagram of a photolithography plate cleaning platform provided with a photolithography plate according to an embodiment of the present application.
[0017] Figure 3 is a side view of a photolithography plate cleaning platform provided with a photolithography plate according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0018] Next, the structure of the photolithography plate cleaning platform proposed in the present application will be described in detail in conjunction with Figures 1-3
[0019] Figure 1 Figure 1 is a schematic view of a structure of a photomask cleaning station, the main part of the cleaning station is a photomask carrier 100, and a fixed support assembly 1 and an adjustable support assembly 2 are arranged on the upper surface of the photomask carrier 100.
[0020] The fixed support assembly 1 includes a pair of corner supports 11 and a pair of side supports 12. The pair of corner supports 11 are fixedly arranged on the upper surface of the photomask carrier 100 and protrude upward, and include two corner supports arranged at opposite corners of the edge A of the photomask carrier respectively. The pair of side supports 12 are also fixedly arranged on the upper surface of the photomask carrier 100 and protrude upward, and include two side supports arranged at two side edges adjacent to the edge A respectively.
[0021] The adjustable support assembly 2 is also arranged on the upper surface of the photomask carrier 100 and located at the middle of the other side edge B opposite to the edge A. It can be understood that the arrangement at the middle is only an optimal example, and the adjustable support assembly arranged at other positions of the edge B can also play a supporting role. The adjustable support assembly 2 includes a sliding block 21 and an adjustable support 22, wherein the sliding block 21 can move relative to the upper surface of the photomask carrier 100 in a direction perpendicular to the edge B, and the adjustable support 22 is arranged protruding above the sliding block 21 and will be displaced when the sliding block 21 is displaced. Since the adjustable support 22 is used for limiting and fixing the photomask parallel to the edge B, the sliding block 21 is only used for adjusting the position in the direction perpendicular to the edge B. Therefore, in the direction parallel to the edge B, the width dimension of the adjustable support 22 is generally greater than the width dimension of the sliding block 21.
[0022] In order to limit and fix the photomask placed on the photomask carrier 100, it is also necessary to arrange a step portion 3 at the top end of the pair of corner supports 11, the pair of side supports 12 and the adjustable support 22, and the distance of each step portion 3 from the upper surface of the photomask carrier 100 is equal. When the heights of each support are the same, it can also be considered that the thicknesses of each step portion 3 are the same. As shown in Figure 2, thus, the photomask 200 can be limited in the step portion 3, and the vertical heights of each position of the photomask 200 are the same, so that the photomask 200 remains horizontal. In addition, in order to avoid the edge of the photomask from being trapped in the step portion and causing a cleaning dead angle, it is necessary to make the surface of the photomask higher than the surfaces of the pair of corner supports 11, the pair of side supports 12 and the adjustable support 22, that is, the thicknesses of the top end step portions of the pair of corner supports 11, the pair of side supports 12 and the adjustable support 22 are all less than the thickness of the photomask, so that the edges of the photomask are all exposed outside, which is convenient for cleaning. As shown in Figure 3, the thickness h of the step portion is less than the thickness H of the photomask. Figure 2 Figure 3
[0023] In order to avoid abrasion caused by the contact between the photoetching plate and the step part, the corner inside the step part can be rounded.
[0024] In addition, a sliding groove (not shown) for accommodating the sliding block 21 can be arranged on the upper surface of the photoetching plate carrier 100. The sliding groove extends inward from the middle of the edge B along a direction perpendicular to the edge B, so that the sliding block 21 can be fitted in the sliding groove. In this way, by arranging the sliding block 21 in the sliding groove, only the adjustable support 22 can protrude on the upper surface of the photoetching plate carrier 100, consistent with the corner support 11 and the side support 12.
[0025] The sliding of the sliding block can be realized in various ways, such as push-pull, guide rail, etc. Preferably, an adjusting screw 211 as an adjusting mechanism can be arranged on the outer end of the sliding block, to adjust the position of the sliding block in the sliding groove. One end of the adjusting screw 211 extends inward into the sliding groove, and the other end extends outward to the outside of the edge B of the photoetching plate carrier 100. In this way, by rotating the adjusting screw 211, the sliding block 21 can be driven to move inward or outward in the sliding groove, thereby driving the adjustable support 22 to move, to limit and fix the photoetching plate.
[0026] Preferably, in order to make the force on each part of the photoetching plate uniform, a pair of side supports 12 need to be arranged in alignment with each other, for example, along the direction of the arrow W parallel to the edge A. Figure 2 When viewed along the direction of the arrow W parallel to the edge A, the pair of side supports 12 are in alignment with each other.
[0027] Preferably, in order to make the photoetching plate carrier 100 stable, a counterweight 300 can also be arranged below the photoetching plate carrier 100. Further, an anti-skid foot pad 400 can be arranged below the counterweight 300 to improve the stability of the photoetching plate carrier 100.
[0028] Through the above cleaning table structure, the four edges of the photoetching plate can be limited and fixed, and the photoetching plate has high stability during cleaning. In addition, most of the photoetching plate is exposed except the part in contact with the support frame, which is convenient for cleaning the photoetching plate in all directions.
[0029] The above describes the embodiments of the present application by specific examples, and those skilled in the art can easily understand other advantages and effects of the present application from the disclosure. Although the description of the present application is introduced in combination with the preferred embodiments, it does not mean that the features of the present application are limited to the embodiments. In addition, in order to avoid confusion or obscure the focus of the present application, some specific details will be omitted in the description. It should be noted that the embodiments in the present application and the features in the embodiments can be combined with each other without conflict.
[0030] In addition, various operations will be described as multiple discrete operations, in a manner that is most helpful in understanding the illustrative embodiments; however, the order of description should not be construed as to imply that these operations are necessarily order dependent. In particular, these operations need not be performed in the order of presentation.
[0031] The terms "comprise", "have" and "include" are synonymous, unless the context dictates otherwise. The phrase "A / B" means "A or B". The phrase "A and / or B" means "(A and B) or (A or B)".
[0032] In the drawings, some structural or methodological features are shown in particular arrangements and / or orders. It should be understood, however, that such particular arrangements and / or orders can not be required. In some embodiments, the features can be arranged in a different manner and / or order than shown in the illustrative drawings. Additionally, inclusion of a structural or methodological feature in a particular figure is not meant to imply that such feature is required in all embodiments, and in some embodiments, the features can not be included or can be combined with other features.
[0033] It should be understood that although the terms "first", "second", etc. can be used herein to describe various elements or data, these elements or data should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element or data from another element or data. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element without departing from the scope of the example embodiments.
[0034] It should be noted that in the specification, like numbers and letters indicate like items throughout the figures, and thus, once an item is defined in one figure, it should not require further
[0035] While the present application has been illustrated and described in relation to certain exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the application.
Claims
1. A lithographic plate cleaning station characterized by, The photomask stage comprises: a photomask stage, an upper surface of which is provided with a fixed support assembly and an adjustable support assembly; wherein the fixed support assembly comprises a pair of corner supports and a pair of side supports, wherein the pair of corner supports are respectively arranged at opposite corners of one side edge of the photomask stage, fixed to the upper surface of the photomask stage and protrude upward, and the pair of side supports are respectively arranged at two side edges adjacent to the one side edge of the photomask stage, fixed to the upper surface of the photomask stage and protrude upward; the adjustable support assembly is arranged at the middle of another side edge of the photomask stage opposite to the one side edge, and comprises a slider movable perpendicularly to the another side edge relative to the upper surface of the photomask stage and an adjustable support provided on the slider; and the top ends of the pair of corner supports, the pair of side supports and the adjustable support are respectively provided with a stepped portion, and the distance between the stepped surface of each stepped portion and the upper surface of the photomask stage is equal.
2. The photoetching plate cleaning station according to claim 1, wherein, The upper surface of the photomask stage is provided with a sliding groove extending inward from the middle of the another side edge in a direction perpendicular to the another side edge; and the slider is slidably fitted in the sliding groove, and the top end surface of the slider is flush with the upper surface of the photomask stage.
3. A photolithography plate cleaning station according to claim 2, characterized in that The end of the slider is further provided with an adjusting mechanism for adjusting the position of the slider in the sliding groove, the adjusting mechanism comprising an adjusting bolt, one end of which extends into the sliding groove and the other end of which extends out of the end surface of the another side edge of the photomask stage.
4. A photolithography plate cleaning station according to claim 3, characterized in that In a direction parallel to the another side edge, the width dimension of the adjustable support is greater than the width dimension of the slider.
5. The photolithography plate cleaning station according to claim 1, wherein, The thickness of the top end stepped portion of each of the pair of corner supports, the pair of side supports and the adjustable support is less than the thickness of the photomask.
6. The photolithography plate cleaning station according to claim 1, wherein, When viewed in a direction parallel to the one side edge, the pair of side supports are arranged in alignment with each other.
7. The photolithography plate cleaning station according to claim 1, wherein, A counterweight is arranged below the photomask stage.
8. A photolithography plate cleaning station according to claim 7, characterized in that An anti-skid foot pad is arranged below the counterweight.