Pellicle film application apparatus and pellicle film application method, and pellicle film transfer apparatus and pellicle film transfer method

Abstract

To provide a pellicle film application apparatus and method, as well as a pellicle film transfer apparatus and method, that can prevent the pellicle film from being unevenly applied to the surface of a frame member. [Solution] The pellicle film application device EA includes affinity improvement processing means 10 for applying an affinity improvement treatment to the adhesion surface RF11 of the first frame member RF1 to improve affinity with liquid WT, liquid application means 20 for applying liquid WT to the adhesion surface RF11 that has been subjected to affinity improvement treatment, and application means 30 for applying the pellicle film CS to the adhesion surface RF11 to which the liquid WT has been applied.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a pellicle film attaching device and a pellicle film attaching method, as well as a pellicle film transferring device and a pellicle film transferring method.

Background Art

[0002] A pellicle film attaching device for attaching a pellicle film to an adherent surface of a frame member is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In the device described in Patent Document 1, since water (liquid) may not uniformly adhere to the portion 190A (adherent surface) of the upper frame member 190 (first frame member), there is a possibility that the carbon nanotube free-standing film 125 (pellicle film) may be non-uniformly attached to the adherent surface of the first frame member.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a pellicle film attaching device and a pellicle film attaching method, as well as a pellicle film transferring device and a pellicle film transferring method, which can prevent the pellicle film from being non-uniformly attached to the adherent surface of the frame member.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] A pellicle film attaching device according to an embodiment includes an affinity improving means for performing an affinity improving treatment for improving the affinity with a liquid on an adherent surface of a first frame member, a liquid attaching means for attaching the liquid to the adherent surface subjected to the affinity improving treatment, and an attaching means for attaching a pellicle film to the adherent surface to which the liquid has been attached.

[0007] A pellicle film transfer apparatus according to one embodiment comprises a pellicle film attachment apparatus according to the above embodiment and a transfer means for transferring the pellicle film attached to the second frame member to the first frame member.

[0008] A pellicle film application method according to one embodiment includes an affinity-enhancing treatment step of applying an affinity-enhancing treatment to the adhesion surface of a first frame member to improve its affinity with a liquid; a liquid application step of applying the liquid to the adhesion surface that has been subjected to the affinity-enhancing treatment; and an application step of applying a pellicle film to the adhesion surface to which the liquid has been applied.

[0009] A pellicle film transfer method according to one embodiment includes the steps performed in the pellicle film application method according to the first embodiment, and a transfer step of transferring the pellicle film applied to the second frame member to the first frame member. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to the above apparatus and method, an affinity-enhancing treatment is applied to the adhesion surface of the first frame member, so that the liquid adheres uniformly to the adhesion surface and the pellicle film is not applied unevenly to the adhesion surface of the first frame member. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0011] [Figure 1] This is a front view of a pellicle film transfer apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] Figure 1 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the pellicle membrane transfer apparatus. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0012] One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, the X, Y, and Z axes are orthogonal to each other. The X and Y axes are axes within a predetermined plane, and the Z axis is an axis perpendicular to the predetermined plane. Furthermore, in this embodiment, when directions are indicated based on a view from the front direction of Figure 1, which is parallel to the Y axis, "up" is the direction of the Z-axis arrow and "down" is the opposite direction, "left" is the direction of the X-axis arrow and "right" is the opposite direction, and "front" is the front direction in Figure 1, which is parallel to the Y axis and "back" is the opposite direction.

[0013] The pellicle film application apparatus EA includes an affinity improvement treatment means 10 that performs an affinity improvement treatment step to improve the affinity of the adhesion surface RF11 of the first frame member RF1 to water WT, one or more low molecular weight alcohols, or a combination thereof to water WT as a liquid; a liquid adhesion means 20 that performs a liquid adhesion step to adhere an exemplary water WT to the adhesion surface RF11 that has been subjected to the affinity improvement treatment; and an application means 30 that performs an application step to apply a pellicle film CS to the adhesion surface RF11 to which water WT has been adhered. Furthermore, affinity with a liquid refers to the property that the adherend surface RF11 to which the liquid adheres is easily wetted by the liquid, and that the liquid preferably spreads uniformly across the adherend surface RF11. The affinity-enhancing treatment is preferably a treatment that reduces the contact angle of the liquid with respect to the adherend surface RF11 after the affinity-enhancing treatment compared to before the affinity-enhancing treatment. In this embodiment, the first frame member RF1 and the second frame member RF2 are made up of annular metal members with an opening in the center, and the pellicle film CS is formed to cover the openings of the frame members RF1 and RF2. In this embodiment, the pellicle film CS is a sheet made of carbon nanotubes, and one side of the pellicle film CS (the bottom surface facing downwards) is attached to the second frame member RF2 to form an attachment SA2 for subsequent transfer of the pellicle film CS.

[0014] The pellicle film transfer apparatus EA1 comprises a pellicle film attachment apparatus EA and a transfer means 40 that performs a transfer process to transfer the pellicle film CS attached to the second frame member RF2 to the first frame member RF1.

[0015] The affinity improvement processing means 10 includes a linear motor 11 as a drive device, a linear motor 12 as a drive device supported by a slider 11A of the linear motor 11, and a plasma irradiator 13 as an irradiation means supported by a slider 12A of the linear motor 12. The linear motor 11 moves the plasma irradiator 13 in the left-right direction. The linear motor 12 moves the plasma irradiator 13 in the front-back direction.

[0016] The liquid adhesion means 20 comprises a table 21 and a liquid supply means 22, such as a pressurized pump or turbine, which supplies the above-mentioned liquid or exemplary water WT to the table 21. The table 21 includes a support surface 21A (also referred to as the upward XY plane of the table 21) in which a liquid supply port 21B is formed, to which water WT is supplied to moisten the support surface 21A (or subsequently to moisten the downward surface of the first frame member RF1), and a flow path 21C connected to the liquid supply means 22 via piping 22A and communicating with the liquid supply port 21B.

[0017] The attachment means 30 includes a linear motor 31 as a drive device, a linear motor 32 as a drive device supported by a slider 31A of the linear motor 31, and a chuck cylinder 33 as a gripping means supported by the output shaft 32A of the linear motor 32 and having a plurality of gripping members 33A for gripping the first frame member RF1. The linear motor 31 moves the chuck cylinder 33 in the left-right direction. The linear motor 32 moves the chuck cylinder 33 in the up-down direction.

[0018] The transfer means 40 includes a table 41 that supports the adhesive body SA2, a heating means 42 such as a coil heater or the heating side of a heat pipe as a drying means for drying the pellicle film CS, and a cutting means 43 for cutting the pellicle film CS. The table 41 includes a support surface 41A that can hold the lower surface of the adhesive body SA2 by suction using a depressurization means (holding means) not shown, such as a depressurization pump or a vacuum ejector, and a recess 41B formed in the support surface 41A. The heating means 42 is annular along the side surface of the recess 41B and is supported by the side surface. The cutting means 43 includes a linear motor 43A as a driving device provided on the bottom surface of the recess 41B, a linear motor 43C as a driving device supported by a slider 43B of the linear motor 43A, and a laser cutter 43E supported by a slider 43D of the linear motor 43C. The linear motor 43A moves the laser cutter 43E in the left - right direction. The linear motor 43C moves the laser cutter 43E in the front - back direction.

[0019] The operation of the pellicle film transfer device EA1 provided with the above - mentioned pellicle film attaching device EA will be described. First, for the pellicle film transfer device EA1, a user of the pellicle film transfer device EA1 (hereinafter simply referred to as "user") inputs a signal for starting automatic operation via an operation means (not shown) such as an operation panel or a personal computer, and arranges each member of the pellicle film transfer device EA1 at the initial position shown by the solid line in FIG. 1. Next, when the user or a conveying means (not shown) such as an articulated robot or a belt conveyor places the adherent SA2 at a position on the support surface 41A, the transfer means 40 drives a decompression means (not shown), and as shown in the right - hand figure in FIG. 1, starts adsorbing and holding the lower surface of the adherent SA2 on the support surface 41A.

[0020] In one embodiment, as shown in the left-hand diagram of Figure 1, the user or a transport means (not shown) then positions the first frame member RF1 between a plurality of gripping members 33A. The attachment means 30 then drives the chuck cylinder 33 and grips the first frame member RF1 with the gripping members 33A, as shown by the dashed line on the left side of Figure 1. Next, the affinity improvement processing means 10 drives the linear motors 11 and 12 to rotate the plasma irradiator 13 around the adhesion surface RF11 of the first frame member RF1, irradiating the adhesion surface RF11 with plasma to perform affinity improvement processing. This improves the affinity of the adhesion surface RF11 and cleans the surface. Then, as shown in the center of Figure 1, the liquid adhesion means 20 drives the liquid supply means 22 and supplies water WT to the liquid supply port 21B. Next, the adhesive means 30 drives the linear motor 31 and the linear motor 32 to move the first frame member RF1 to the right and then lower it, so that the water WT supplied to the liquid supply port 21B adheres to the adhesion surface RF11 of the first frame member RF1, as shown by the dashed line in the center of Figure 1. At this time, the water WT is spread (applied) uniformly on the adhesion surface RF11 which has been treated to improve affinity.

[0021] After that, the attaching means 30 drives the linear motor 31 and the linear motion motor 32, raises the first frame member RF1, then moves it to the right, and positions the first frame member RF1 above the pellicle film CS. Next, the attaching means 30 drives the chuck cylinder 33, and as shown by the two-dot chain line on the right side in FIG. 1, the gripping members 33A are brought closer to compress the first frame member RF1 inward. Then, the attaching means 30 drives the linear motion motor 32, and as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 1, the first frame member RF1 is lowered, and the upward-facing surface, which is the other surface of the pellicle film CS, is brought into contact with the water WT adhering to the adherent surface RF11. Thereby, the pellicle film CS is attached to the adherent surface RF11 by the water WT. Next, after the transfer means 40 heats and dries the pellicle film CS with the heating means 42, the attaching means 30 drives the chuck cylinder 33 to move the gripping member 33A outward to release the compression of the first frame member RF1. Thereby, the tension of the pellicle film CS increases. After that, the laser cutter 43E is moved along the outer periphery of the adherent surface RF11 by the linear motors 43A and 43C to cut the pellicle film CS. Thereby, the pellicle film CS is divided into the pellicle film CS1 attached to the first frame member RF1 and the unnecessary sheet US attached to the second frame member RF2.

[0022] Next, the attaching means 30 drives the linear motion motor 32, and as shown in FIG. 2, raises the first frame member RF1 to separate the pellicle film CS1 of a predetermined shape from the second frame member RF2. Thereby, the pellicle film CS is transferred to the first frame member RF1, and an attachment SA1 with the pellicle film CS1 attached to the first frame member RF1 is formed. Then, the user or a conveying means not shown conveys the attachment SA1 to the next process, and conveys the second frame member RF2 with the unnecessary sheet US of the pellicle film CS (that is, the remaining portion of the pellicle film CS attached to the second frame member RF2) attached thereto to a recovery means such as a box or a cassette, and the same operations as above are repeated hereafter.

[0023] According to the embodiments described above, the adhesion surface RF11 of the first frame member RF1 is subjected to an affinity-enhancing treatment, so that water WT adheres uniformly to the adhesion surface RF11. This prevents the pellicle film CS from being unevenly attached to the adhesion surface RF11 of the first frame member RF1, and prevents a part of the pellicle film CS1 from folding, which would change the uniformity of light transmittance across the pellicle film CS1 (i.e., changes in the density and porosity of the pellicle film CS1).

[0024] As described above, the best configurations, methods, etc., for carrying out the present invention are disclosed in the above description, but the present invention is not limited thereto. That is, although the present invention is mainly illustrated and described in relation to specific embodiments, those skilled in the art can make various modifications to the embodiments described above in terms of shape, material, quantity, and other detailed configurations without departing from the scope of the technical idea and objectives of the present invention. Furthermore, the descriptions of shapes, materials, etc. disclosed above are illustrative to facilitate understanding of the present invention and do not limit the present invention, so descriptions of components with some or all of those limitations removed are included in the present invention. Furthermore, the means and processes in the present invention are not limited in any way as long as they can perform the operations, functions, or processes described for those means and processes, and are certainly not limited at all to the components or processes of a single embodiment shown in the above-mentioned embodiments. For example, the transfer means can be anything that transfers the pellicle film attached to the second frame member to the first frame member, and is not limited in any way as long as it is within the scope of the common technical knowledge at the time of filing (the same applies to other means and processes).

[0025] The affinity-enhancing processing means 10 may perform affinity-enhancing processing on the contact surface RF11 of the first frame member RF1 before the first frame member RF1 is gripped by the chuck cylinder 33, or it may be configured to perform affinity-enhancing processing on multiple first frame members RF1 at once, or it may be configured to perform affinity-enhancing processing on the contact surface RF11 with the contact surface RF11 facing upward or sideways, and then face the water WT. In other examples, the affinity-enhancing treatment means 10 may be used to irradiate the adherend surface RF11 with energy beams such as electron beams or microwaves using an irradiation means such as an electron beam irradiator or a microwave irradiator to perform affinity-enhancing treatment, or it may be used to heat or cool the adherend surface RF11 to perform affinity-enhancing treatment, or chemicals may be used to perform affinity-enhancing treatment on the adherend surface RF11. Any configuration can be adopted as long as it applies affinity-enhancing treatment to the adherend surface RF11, taking into consideration the characteristics, features, properties, materials, composition and structure of the first frame member RF1 and the adherend surface RF11.

[0026] The liquid application means 20 may be configured to apply liquid to the surface RF11 of the first frame member RF1 by means of spraying, for example. The liquid configured to adhere to the surface RF11 can be any configuration, taking into consideration the characteristics, properties, materials, composition and structure of the first frame member RF1 and the surface RF11, as well as the characteristics, properties, materials, composition and structure of the pellicle film CS, as long as it can adhere the pellicle film CS to the surface RF11. For example, it may be a polar solvent such as isopropyl alcohol, methanol, ethanol or other low molecular weight alcohols, or a mixed solvent of water WT. Particularly from the viewpoint of not leaving any substances other than the pellicle film CS on the surface RF11, it is preferable that it be composed only of components that can be evaporated or volatilized by heat or natural drying, and is preferably water WT, an organic solvent, or a mixed solvent thereof. This approach avoids the common method of applying adhesive to bond one object to another, particularly for nanotube pellicle films used in EUV lithography. Adhesives, or adhesive residues, can introduce undesirable volatile organic compounds, contaminants, or particles into ultra-clean semiconductor manufacturing environments, especially EUV lithography scanners. Removing the adhesive by any means may damage the pellicle film CS or introduce adhesive-derived molecules that may deposit on the surface of the pellicle film CS.

[0027] The adhesive means 30 may grip the first frame member RF1 with a plurality of chuck cylinders 33, compress the first frame member RF1, or not compress it. The gripping means may be a drive device such as a multi-joint robot, robot arm, mechanical chuck, or actuator that grips the first frame member RF1, or it may be a holding means that holds the first frame member RF1 by suction, adhesive, or the like, either in place of or in combination with the gripping means.

[0028] The transfer means 40 does not have to include a heating means 42, or it may attach the adhesion surface RF11 of the first frame member RF1 to one side of the pellicle film CS, it does not have to include a cutting means 43, and the attachment means 30 does not have to be used for both purposes. If the cutting means 43 is not provided, the pellicle film CS may be separated from the second frame member RF2 without cutting the pellicle film CS, or if the cutting means 43 is not provided or the attachment means 30 is not used for both purposes, the pellicle film CS may be separated from the second frame member RF2 by another device. The drying means may include a spraying means such as a spraying pipe or nozzle. The spraying means sprays a heated gas, including but not limited to air or an inert gas heated by a heating means 42 or the like, onto a portion of the pellicle film CS, preferably the surface of the first frame member RF1.

[0029] The frame members RF1 and RF2 may be made of metals such as stainless steel, aluminum, copper, or brass, resins such as silicon, fluororesin, or acrylic resin, or ceramic materials. Silicon or quartz, which have a low coefficient of thermal expansion, are preferred, and silicon, which is easier to process into the desired shape, is more preferred. They may also be non-annular (the outer circumference is not connected), circular, elliptical, polygonal, or other shapes.

[0030] The material, type, shape, etc., of the pellicle membrane CS and frame members RF1 and RF2 in this invention are not particularly limited. For example, the pellicle membrane CS and frame members RF1 and RF2 may be circular, elliptical, polygonal (such as triangle or square), or other shapes.

[0031] The drive equipment in the above embodiment may be electric motors such as rotary motors, linear motors, single-axis robots, and so-called articulated robots with two or three or more joints, or actuators such as air cylinders, hydraulic cylinders, rodless cylinders, and rotary cylinders, either individually or in combination directly or indirectly. Furthermore, the drive equipment may be capable of or incapable of torque control or speed control of the output section of the electric motors or actuators.

[0032] In the above embodiment, an object (hereinafter referred to as "object A") and an object moving relative to object A (hereinafter referred to as "object B"), that is, object A and object B moving relative to object A, may be moved relative to object A which does not move, object A may be moved relative to object B which does not move, or both object A and object B may move, and either object A or object B may move as long as the result achieved by the movement is the same. If a support (holding) means or support (holding) member or other means for supporting (holding) the supported member (held member) is employed, such as a mechanical chuck or chuck cylinder, A configuration may be adopted in which the member to be supported is supported (held) by gripping means, Coulomb force, adhesive (adhesive sheet, adhesive tape), adhesive agent (adhesive sheet, adhesive tape), magnetic force, Bernoulli adsorption, suction adsorption, drive equipment, etc. Alternatively, if a means or cutting member is used to cut the member to be cut or to form an incision or cutting line in the member to be cut, a cutter blade, laser cutter, ion beam, electrical discharge machining, thermal power, heat, water pressure, electric heating wire, spraying of gas or liquid, etc. may be used instead of or in combination with the examples above, or the member to be cut may be moved by combining appropriate drive equipment to perform the cutting. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0033] EA... Pellicle film application device 10... Affinity-enhancing processing means 20...Liquid adhesion means 30… means of attachment 40…Transfer means CS... Pellicle membrane RF1…First frame member RF11...Adhesive surface RF2...Second frame member WT…Water (liquid)

Claims

1. A means for performing an affinity-enhancing treatment on the surface of the first frame member to be attached to improve its affinity with the liquid, A liquid adhesion means for adhering to the surface to be adhered to which the affinity-enhancing treatment has been applied, A pellicle film application apparatus characterized by comprising an application means for applying a pellicle film to the surface to be adhered to to which the liquid is attached.

2. A pellicle film application device according to claim 1, A pellicle film transfer apparatus characterized by comprising a transfer means for transferring the pellicle film attached to the second frame member to the first frame member.

3. A process to improve affinity by applying an affinity-improving treatment to the adhesion surface of the first frame member to improve its affinity with the liquid, A liquid application step involves applying the liquid to the adherend surface that has been subjected to the affinity-enhancing treatment, A method for applying a pellicle film, characterized by performing an application step of applying a pellicle film to the surface to be adhered to to which the liquid has adhered.

4. Each step performed by the pellicle film application method described in claim 3, A method for transferring a pellicle film, characterized by performing a transfer step of transferring the pellicle film attached to the second frame member to the first frame member.

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