Segmented Surface Plates for Lithography Movable Body
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing size of substrates in lithography processes for manufacturing electron devices, such as liquid crystal display elements and semiconductor devices, poses challenges in position control due to weight and size issues, making it difficult to drive substrates with long strokes and maintain high precision in exposure apparatuses.
Innovation Solution
A movable body apparatus with multiple surface plates and support members that allow for high-accuracy movement along a two-dimensional plane, enabling stable and precise positioning of substrates during exposure, using a combination of surface plates and support members to guide the empty-weight cancelling device over multiple surface plates, allowing for precise movement and reduced complexity in machining and transportation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If the surface plate size is increased to accommodate long-stroke substrate movement, then the substrate can be driven with longer stroke, but the machining difficulty and transportation difficulty increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides a single large surface plate into multiple smaller surface plates arranged in the stroke direction. The empty-weight cancelling device moves sequentially across these segmented plates, achieving the equivalent of a long-stroke single plate while keeping each individual plate manageable in size for machining and transportation.
2Length of moving object
If the surface plate size is increased to accommodate long-stroke substrate movement, then the substrate can be driven with longer stroke, but the transportation difficulty increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides a single large surface plate into multiple smaller surface plates arranged in the stroke direction. The empty-weight cancelling device moves sequentially across these segmented plates, achieving the equivalent of a long-stroke single plate while keeping each individual plate manageable in size for machining and transportation.
3Measurement precision
If a single large surface plate is used for high-accuracy guidance, then the guidance accuracy is maintained, but the device complexity and cost increase due to machining and handling difficulties
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides a single large surface plate into multiple smaller surface plates arranged in the stroke direction. The empty-weight cancelling device moves sequentially across these segmented plates, achieving the equivalent of a long-stroke single plate while keeping each individual plate manageable in size for machining and transportation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a transfer mechanism as an intermediary system between the segmented surface plates. This transfer mechanism facilitates the movement of the empty-weight cancelling device between plates, enabling seamless operation across multiple plates while maintaining positioning accuracy and simplifying the overall system architecture.
Data Source
AI summary
An exposure apparatus has a substrate holding member, a first supporting member, a second supporting member, and a driving system. The first supporting member supports the substrate holding member from below. The second supporting member supports the first supporting member from below such that the first supporting member and the second supporting member are capable of moving relative to each other. The driving system moves the substrate holding member, the first supporting member and the second supporting member. The driving system includes a first driving device and a second driving device, the first driving device moving the substrate holding member and the first supporting member in a direction along a predetermined axis, and the second driving device moving the second supporting member in the direction along the predetermined axis.