Lithography Tool Protrusions for Substrate Support Surface Modification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current lithographic apparatuses face challenges in achieving optimal flatness and desired roughness of substrate support elements, leading to overlay errors and increased friction, which affect the accuracy of the irradiation process during substrate patterning.
Innovation Solution
A tool with multiple protrusions is used to modify the substrate support elements, allowing for precise adjustment of their height and roughness to ensure a flat and optimal surface for substrate support, while a material removing device is integrated to correct unevenness and maintain desired surface characteristics.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If support elements are made with uniform height and regular spacing, then the overall support surface flatness is improved, but manufacturing precision deteriorates due to difficulty in achieving optimal flatness and roughness simultaneously
Solution Approach 1:
The support element is segmented into multiple parts: a body portion and a separate cap portion. The cap can be removed and replaced independently to modify the support element height and surface characteristics without replacing the entire support element, thus improving manufacturing precision while ease of manufacture
Solution Approach 2:
The invention allows changing the height parameter of support elements by replacing caps of different heights. This enables adjustment of the support surface flatness and roughness parameters to achieve optimal values for different manufacturing requirements
2Manufacturing precision
If support element height is adjusted to correct unevenness, then overlay precision is improved, but device complexity increases due to need for adjustment mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The caps are pre-manufactured with precise heights to compensate for support element unevenness. By replacing caps rather than adjusting support elements during operation, the invention achieves overlay precision improvement without adding complex adjustment mechanisms to the lithographic apparatus
Solution Approach 2:
The caps are designed as replaceable, relatively simple components that can be manufactured economically and replaced as needed to correct support element unevenness, avoiding the need for expensive and complex permanent adjustment mechanisms
3Object-generated harmful factors
If contact area between substrate and holder is reduced using support elements, then friction is reduced allowing substrate flattening, but manufacturing precision deteriorates due to uneven support surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The cap introduces local quality variations on the support element top surface through different roughness characteristics. This allows the support elements to maintain low contact area for reducing friction while the cap surface provides the necessary uniformity and controlled roughness for precise substrate positioning
Data Source
AI summary
A tool for modifying substrate support elements of a substrate holder, the substrate support elements having support surfaces for supporting a substrate, the tool includes a main body having a main body surface, and multiple protrusions from the main body surface, the multiple protrusions having distal ends configured to contact the support surfaces to modify the substrate support elements. Furthermore, a lithographic apparatus and a method comprising such a tool are provided.