Extreme ultraviolet radiation source and cleaning method thereof
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorsChi Yang, Sheng-Ta Lin, Shang-Chieh Chien, Li-Jui Chen, Po-Chung Cheng
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An extreme ultraviolet radiation source is provided, including a vessel and a gas scrubber. The vessel has a gas inlet from which a cleaning gas is supplied into the vessel and a gas outlet from which the cleaning gas exits the vessel. The gas scrubber is disposed within the vessel, arranged such that the cleaning gas leaves the vessel through the gas outlet after flowing through the gas scrubber. The gas scrubber has a number of gas passages to allow the cleaning gas to flow through, and the sizes of the gas passages vary according to the distance between each of the gas passages and the gas outlet.
Claims20
An extreme ultraviolet radiation source, comprising:
- a vessel configured to produce extreme ultraviolet light therein, wherein the vessel has a gas supply from which a cleaning gas is supplied into the vessel and a gas outlet from which the cleaning gas exits the vessel;
- a vacuum pump coupled to the gas outlet;
- and
- a gas scrubber disposed within the vessel, arranged such that the cleaning gas leaves the vessel through the gas outlet after flowing through the gas scrubber;
- wherein the gas scrubber has a plurality of ribs and a plurality of gas passages to allow the cleaning gas to flow through, wherein the ribs form the gas passages therebetween, and sizes of the gas passages vary according to a distance between each of the gas passages and the gas outlet.
An extreme ultraviolet radiation source, comprising:
- a vessel configured to produce extreme ultraviolet light therein, wherein the vessel has a gas supply from which a cleaning gas is supplied into the vessel and a gas outlet from which the cleaning gas exits the vessel;
- a vacuum pump coupled to the gas outlet;
- and
- a gas scrubber disposed within the vessel and on a flow path of the cleaning gas;
- wherein the gas scrubber is a ring structure comprising a plurality of ribs distributed along a circumference of the ring structure and a plurality of gas passages formed between the ribs, wherein the ribs have different pitches in a circumferential direction of the ring structure.
A method of cleaning an extreme ultraviolet radiation source, comprising:
- providing the extreme ultraviolet radiation source, which comprises a vessel having a gas supply for supplying a cleaning gas and a gas outlet for discharging the cleaning gas, and a gas scrubber disposed within the vessel and on a flow path of the cleaning gas;
- providing the cleaning gas into the vessel;
- and
- discharging the cleaning gas out of the vessel after the cleaning gas passes through the gas scrubber using a vacuum pump;
- wherein the gas scrubber has a plurality of ribs and a plurality of gas passages to allow the cleaning gas to flow through, wherein the ribs form the gas passages therebetween, and sizes of the gas passages vary according to a distance between each of the gas passages and the gas outlet.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.