Movable-Plate Substrate Holder for Distortion-Aware Clamping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing substrate holders struggle with effectively supporting substrates that become distorted during manufacturing, particularly for structures with significant height, leading to inadequate clamping, increased wear, and excessive in-plane deformation, which affects patterning accuracy and throughput.
Innovation Solution
A substrate holder with a movable plate between supporting pins, allowing controlled adjustment of the distance between the plate and the substrate surface to optimize clamping and reduce in-plane deformation, using actuators and sensors to dynamically adjust based on substrate shape, pressure, and fluid extraction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If substrates are clamped onto a substrate holder with fixed supporting pins, then the substrate is held in place, but excessive in-plane deformation occurs when substrate distortion is too great
Solution Approach 1:
The supporting pins are made movable along the Z-direction, allowing them to dynamically adjust their positions to accommodate substrate distortion. This dynamic adjustment enables the pins to maintain contact with the substrate surface while minimizing in-plane deformation, resolving the contradiction between reliable clamping and manufacturing precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the Z-position parameter of the supporting pins adaptively based on substrate distortion characteristics. By varying the pin positions rather than keeping them fixed, the system can accommodate different substrate shapes while maintaining adequate clamping force and substrate flatness.
2Manufacturing precision
If the distance between supporting pins and substrate surface is increased to reduce in-plane deformation, then substrate flatness improves, but clamping efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The supporting pins can dynamically adjust their Z-positions to optimize the distance between pins and substrate surface. This dynamic adjustment allows the system to achieve adequate clamping efficiency while maintaining substrate flatness by adapting pin positions to the specific substrate distortion in each case.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses sensors to detect substrate shape and provides feedback for adjusting pin positions. This closed-loop control enables the system to automatically optimize the pin-substrate distance to balance clamping efficiency and substrate flatness based on real-time substrate conditions.
3Device complexity
If a fixed plate is used between the substrate holder and substrate, then structural simplicity is maintained, but adaptability to different substrate shapes is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The plate is made movable rather than fixed, allowing it to adjust its position along the Z-direction. This dynamic capability enables the plate to accommodate different substrate shapes and distortion levels while maintaining an otherwise simple structural design, resolving the contradiction between device complexity and adaptability.
4Manufacturing precision
If supporting pins are made movable to accommodate substrate distortion, then substrate flatness improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The supporting pins are designed with simple movable mechanisms that allow Z-direction adjustment. This dynamic capability improves substrate flatness while keeping the added complexity minimal through straightforward mechanical design.
Solution Approach 2:
The movable supporting pins can automatically adjust their positions in response to substrate distortion without requiring complex external control systems. This self-adjusting capability improves substrate flatness while minimizing device complexity by eliminating the need for sophisticated actuation and control mechanisms.
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
Enhances clamping efficiency and reduces overlay errors, maintaining substrate position accuracy while improving throughput by minimizing fluid leakage and in-plane deformation.
Implementation Method 1
The plate is actuatable in a direction along the plurality of supporting pins between the surface of the main body and the support surface
Implementation Method 2
extracting fluid from a space between the plate and the substrate
Data Source
AI summary
A substrate holder for supporting a substrate, a lithographic apparatus having the substrate holder and a method of supporting the substrate. The substrate holder includes a main body, a plurality of supporting pins, and a plate. The plate is positioned between a surface of the main body and a support surface formed by the plurality of supporting pins. The plate is actuatable in a direction along the plurality of supporting pins between the surface of the main body and the support surface. The substrate holder may also include a main body, a flexible member and a fixed member protruding from a surface of the main body. The flexible member defines an enclosed cavity therein and configured to form a seal with the substrate supported on the substrate holder. The substrate holder is configured to reduce pressure in the enclosed cavity of the flexible member.