Lithography Track Cooling for Thermal Stabilization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Lithography systems face throughput reduction due to temperature changes during operation, leading to overlay errors caused by stabilization time requirements, where components heat up, altering the substrate's pitch until a stabilization temperature is reached, necessitating idle process recipes until equilibrium is achieved.
Innovation Solution
A system incorporating a chiller system with temperature detectors and a controller to maintain track temperatures, allowing for compensated pattern data generation and reduced stabilization time by circulating coolant through fluid channels in the tracks, enabling continuous process recipes without overlay errors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If the lithography system operates without temperature control, then the system structure is simpler, but the stabilization time increases and throughput decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The chiller system cools the tracks in advance before lithography operations begin, pre-establishing the optimal temperature environment. This preliminary cooling action eliminates the need for lengthy stabilization periods, allowing the system to maintain constant pitch and high throughput from the start of operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system actively controls and adjusts the temperature parameter of the tracks using the chiller system. By maintaining the tracks at a constant, optimized temperature, the system prevents thermal expansion and pitch changes, thereby eliminating overlay errors and enabling continuous high-speed operations without sacrificing structural simplicity.
2Manufacturing precision
If the system waits for stabilization temperature before processing, then overlay accuracy is maintained, but production throughput decreases due to idle time
Solution Approach 1:
The tracks are cooled to the target temperature before substrate processing begins. This preliminary temperature establishment ensures that when processing starts, the system is already at the optimal stabilization temperature, eliminating the need for idle wait time while maintaining constant pitch and overlay accuracy throughout production.
Solution Approach 2:
The chiller system operates continuously to maintain track temperature at the optimal set point. This continuous temperature control ensures that the system remains in a constant pitch state throughout all processing operations, allowing uninterrupted lithography cycles and maximizing throughput without compromising overlay precision.
3Productivity
If active temperature control is implemented, then stabilization time decreases and throughput increases, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The chiller system is applied specifically to the tracks where thermal expansion causes pitch changes, rather than cooling the entire lithography system. This localized temperature control targets the critical component responsible for dimensional stability, achieving throughput improvement with minimal added complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses a fluid-based chiller system with coolant circulation through the tracks to achieve precise temperature control. This hydraulic approach provides efficient and reliable thermal management, maintaining constant pitch without requiring complex mechanical or electronic control systems.
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
The system decreases stabilization time by up to 70-90%, allowing for uninterrupted lithography processes and improved throughput by maintaining track temperatures and generating compensated exposure patterns to account for pitch changes, thus preventing overlay errors.
Implementation Method 1
The chiller system has at least one fluid channel disposed in each track of the pair of tracks
Implementation Method 2
circulating coolant through fluid channels in the tracks
Implementation Method 3
one or more temperature detectors located at one or more of the slab, an apparatus support, and at least one track of a pair of tracks
Implementation Method 4
temperatures of components of the system increase over the period of time, i.e, the stabilization time, a total pitch of the substrate changes
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments described herein provide a system, a software application, and methods of a lithography process that provide at least one of the ability to decrease the stabilization time and write an exposure pattern into a photoresist on a substrate compensating for the change in the total pitch over a stabilization time. One embodiment of the system includes a slab, a stage disposed over the slab, a pair of supports disposed on the slab, a processing apparatus, and a chiller system. The pair of supports support a pair of tracks and the stage is configured to move along the pair of tracks. The processing apparatus has an apparatus support coupled to the slab and a processing unit supported by the apparatus support. The processing unit has a plurality of image projection systems. The chiller system has at least one fluid channel disposed in each track of the pair of tracks.