Loop-Shaped Gas Bearing for EUV Exposure Vacuum Isolation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current EUV exposure apparatuses face challenges with increased size and complexity due to the need for vacuum chambers, which complicate maintenance and can lead to exposure precision issues due to pressure differences and deformation.
Innovation Solution
The use of a loop-shaped static gas bearing member to create a predetermined clearance between the optical system chamber and the outside environment, allowing for a vacuum environment to be maintained without a full vacuum chamber, reducing the apparatus size and facilitating easier maintenance and reducing pressure-related deformations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a full vacuum chamber is used to maintain vacuum environment for EUV light, then the vacuum environment is maintained, but the apparatus size increases and maintenance becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The vacuum environment is segmented into a localized region only around the optical system, rather than enclosing the entire apparatus. The loop-shaped static gas bearing member creates a sealed chamber that isolates only the critical optical components from atmospheric pressure, while other parts of the apparatus remain accessible from the outside.
Solution Approach 2:
The vacuum chamber is extracted from being a large enclosing structure and reduced to a localized sealed region. By using the loop-shaped static gas bearing member to define the vacuum boundary, the patent removes the need for a comprehensive vacuum enclosure, allowing maintenance personnel to access components outside the sealed region without breaking vacuum.
2Reliability
If a full vacuum chamber is used to house the optical system, then the vacuum environment is maintained, but the apparatus size increases
Solution Approach 1:
The vacuum environment is applied locally only where needed for the optical system, rather than uniformly throughout the entire apparatus. The loop-shaped static gas bearing member creates a localized vacuum zone around the optical components, reducing the overall volume requiring vacuum maintenance while ensuring the critical region remains protected.
3Reliability
If a vacuum chamber is used, then the optical path is protected, but pressure differences cause deformation and reduce exposure precision
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically manages pressure zones by using the loop-shaped static gas bearing member to create a controlled vacuum interface. This allows the optical system to operate in vacuum while minimizing deformation through proper sealing and support design, balancing the need for vacuum protection with structural stability.
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 enables a compact exposure apparatus with improved maintenance access and reduced pressure-related deformations, enhancing exposure precision and accuracy.
Implementation Method 1
a loop shaped static gas bearing member which forms a predetermined clearance between a specific object including at least the object placed in the vicinity of the edge section of the optical system chamber located on the outgoing side of the energy beam from the optical system, and the outside, and isolates an inside of the optical system chamber from the outside
Data Source
AI summary
The upper end of a static gas bearing member of a wafer side seal unit is connected to an edge section on the outgoing side of an exposure beam of a chamber in an air tight state via bellows, and the lower end surface is in a state forming a predetermined clearance with a wafer and a wafer holder. By this arrangement, the inside of the chamber is isolated from the outside. Accordingly, it becomes possible to maintain a vacuum environment in the periphery of the optical path of the exposure beam without arranging a vacuum chamber to house a wafer, a wafer holder, and a wafer stage, which allows the size of the entire exposure apparatus to be reduced, and also makes it easy to have access to the vicinity of the wafer stage.