Adjustable Guide Member Alignment for Projection Exposure Apparatuses
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Solution Overview
Problem
In projection exposure apparatuses for semiconductor lithography, existing alignment systems face challenges due to alignment errors caused by mounting tolerances and deviations in the guide member's position, leading to parasitic forces and increased energy consumption, which can impair image resolution and introduce heat.
Innovation Solution
A device with a guide member that allows for adjustable alignment by varying the angle between the movement axis and the guide member's course, using an adjusting facility to orthogonally displace the fixing point of the actuating element, ensuring optimal force vector alignment and minimizing parasitic forces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the guide member is fixed at predetermined positions, then the structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but alignment errors occur due to mounting tolerances and deviations
Solution Approach 1:
The fixing point of the actuating element is made adjustable rather than fixed, allowing the angle between the movement axis and guide member course to be varied. This dynamic adjustment capability enables compensation for mounting tolerances and deviations, improving alignment precision while maintaining a relatively simple structural design.
Solution Approach 2:
The angle parameter between the movement axis and the guide member's course is made variable through the adjusting facility. By changing this angular parameter, the system can optimize alignment and compensate for manufacturing tolerances, thereby improving alignment precision without significantly complicating the manufacturing process.
2Device complexity
If the angle between movement axis and guide member course is fixed, then the device complexity is low, but parasitic forces increase due to misalignment
Solution Approach 1:
The angular relationship between the movement axis and guide member is made dynamically adjustable through the adjusting facility. This allows the system to optimize the angle for minimizing parasitic forces while maintaining relatively simple device architecture, thus reducing harmful forces without significantly increasing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The adjusting facility enables preliminary optimization of the angle between the movement axis and guide member course before operation. By pre-adjusting this angle to the optimal value, the system minimizes parasitic forces from the outset, avoiding the need for complex real-time compensation mechanisms.
3Reliability
If plunger coil actuators are continuously energized for weight compensation, then the optical elements are properly supported, but heat evolution increases impairing image resolution
Solution Approach 1:
The weight compensation is achieved through a mechanical structure (guide member and adjusting facility) that provides support without requiring continuous electromagnetic energization. The periodic or intermittent actuation needed for alignment adjustments generates minimal heat compared to continuous plunger coil operation, thus maintaining support reliability while reducing heat evolution that would impair image resolution.
Data Source
AI summary
The disclosure provides a device for aligning a component via a guide member. A head region of the guide member is secured at a fixing point of the component, and a foot region of the guide member is secured at a fixing point of an actuating element of an actuating facility. The actuating facility is configured to hold the guide member moveably in a movement axis for the purpose of transmitting a force to the component. An adjusting facility is provided to adjust the fixing point of the actuating element so that an angle between the movement axis and the course of the guide member between the fixing points is variable.