EUV Beam Guide Layout for Separate Lithography Source Buildings
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing manufacturing processes for integrated circuits using EUV radiation are costly and complex due to the need for specialized building features to accommodate radiation generators, which limits space optimization and increases construction complexities.
Innovation Solution
Locating the EUV radiation generator in a separate building and using a vacuum beam guide to supply EUV radiation to lithography machines at an obtuse angle, with a perforated panel floor allowing flexible installation and minimizing interference from vibrations and transportation-related disturbances.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If the radiation generator is located in the factory building, then the supply of EUV radiation can be simplified, but the building design becomes complex and space optimization is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The facility is divided into two separate buildings: one housing the radiation generator and another housing the lithography machines. This segmentation allows each building to be optimized independently for its specific function, simplifying the radiation supply process while reducing overall design complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The radiation generator is extracted from the factory building and placed in a separate building. This extraction eliminates the need for complex specialized features in the factory building while maintaining simple EUV radiation supply through dedicated beam guides and supply lines.
2Length of stationary object
If the beam guide is installed in the factory building, then the radiation supply path is shortened, but the interior space is reduced and installation becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The beam guide is routed through the basement area below the lithography machine rather than through the interior space above it. This dimensional change allows the beam guide to be installed without reducing the usable interior space in the factory building, while maintaining an optimized radiation supply path.
3Ease of manufacture
If the beam guide is located near material access, then installation is easier, but vibrations from transportation vehicles affect the EUV radiation
Solution Approach 1:
The staff entrance is used as an intermediary location for the beam guide installation. This location provides easier access for installation while being sufficiently distant from the material access area where transportation vehicle vibrations occur, thus avoiding vibration interference with the EUV radiation.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution simplifies the supply of EUV radiation, optimizes space usage, reduces construction complexities, and ensures reliable exposure of wafers by decoupling the radiation generator from the factory building's design considerations and minimizing radiation absorption.
Implementation Method 1
The beam guide is a vacuum tube in which the EUV radiation is propagated. The vacuum ensures that the EUV rays are not absorbed or only insignificantly absorbed.
Implementation Method 2
The EUV radiation is released when plasmas are generated by focusing laser beams on tin droplets.
Implementation Method 3
The EUV radiation is released when plasmas are generated by focusing laser beams on tin droplets.
Data Source
AI summary
A processing facility for manufacturing integrated circuits on semiconductor wafers is provided with at least one radiation generator that generates an EUV (extreme ultraviolet) radiation that is supplied to at least one lithography machine, housed in a factory building, for exposure of the semiconductor wafers. The radiation generator is housed in a building or a building section separate from the factory building. At least one beam guide extends from the building or the building section to the factory building, wherein the EUV radiation is supplied from the building or the building section through the at least one beam guide to the factory building. At least one supply line branches off at an obtuse angle from the at least one beam guide inside the factory building, wherein at least a portion of the EUV radiation is supplied through the at least one supply line to the lithography machine.