Lithography Seal Ring Layout for Centering and Yielding Volume
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Solution Overview
Problem
EUV lithography apparatuses face challenges in maintaining fluid-tight sealing due to the high absorption of light by most materials, leading to the use of reflective optical units, and existing sealing methods struggle with centering and yielding volume, which can result in leaks during operation and over the lifetime of the apparatus.
Innovation Solution
A sealing device comprising multiple sealing rings connected through connection locations, with a trefoiled inner contour that widens at connection points and narrows between them, providing a yielding volume for pressing and ensuring centering, preventing leaks by being pressed into a yielding volume during mounting and operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a seal is clamped onto the actuation sensor package via prestress to maintain sealing function, then sealing reliability is improved, but the space required for the yielding volume interferes with good centering of the seal
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing device is divided into multiple sealing rings connected at connection locations. Each sealing ring can be independently pressed into its yielding volume while the connection locations maintain the overall structure. This segmentation allows each ring to be centered on its respective actuation sensor package without the entire seal structure interfering with centering, as the connection locations are designed to accommodate the pressed state of individual rings.
2Reliability
If enough space is kept between the inner contour of the seal and the actuation sensor package to create a yielding volume, then sealing reliability is improved, but this space interferes with good centering of the seal
Solution Approach 1:
The inner contour of each sealing ring is designed with locally varying properties: at the connection locations, the inner contour is offset from the actuation sensor package to create yielding volume for pressing, while at other locations, the inner contour is positioned to provide centering. This local differentiation allows the seal to have both yielding capability for reliability and centering capability for precision, without one function interfering with the other.
Data Source
AI summary
A sealing device seals a first component part of a lithography apparatus vis-à-vis a multiplicity of second component parts of the lithography apparatus. The sealing device includes a multiplicity of sealing rings and a multiplicity of connection locations. The sealing rings are connected to one another with the aid of the connection locations.