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US 11,378,894 B2Granted
Lithography system with an embedded cleaning module
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorsShang-Chieh Chien, Jeng-Horng Chen, Jui-Ching Wu, Chia-Chen Chen, Hung-Chang Hsieh, Chi-Lun Lu, Chia-Hao Yu, Shih-Ming Chang, Anthony Yen
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Abstract
The present disclosure provides a lithography system. The lithography system includes an exposing module configured to perform a lithography exposing process using a mask secured on a mask stage; and a cleaning module integrated in the exposing module and designed to clean at least one of the mask and the mask stage using an attraction mechanism.
Claims20
A system, comprising:
- one or more masks;
- a mask library that is configured to store the one or more masks, wherein the mask library is integrated within a chamber;
- a mask stage configured to secure the one or more masks thereon;
- a first cleaning structure that is located within the chamber and configured to remove contaminant particles from a surface of the one or more masks using a sticking material or using an electrostatic force generated by a current-driven electrostatic force generator, wherein a shape and a dimension of the first cleaning structure are configured such that the first cleaning structure is capable of being stored in the mask library within the chamber;
- and
- a second cleaning structure that is different from the first cleaning structure, wherein the second cleaning structure is located outside the chamber and directly attached to an external wall of the chamber via a robotic arm, and wherein the second cleaning structure is configured to remove contaminant particles from a surface of the mask stage using the sticking material or using the electrostatic force.
3 more elements
A chamber of a semiconductor fabrication system, comprising:
- a plurality of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography masks;
- a mask library configured to store the EUV lithography masks;
- a mask handler configured to transfer the EUV lithography masks;
- a mask stage configured to secure at least one of the EUV lithography masks thereon;
- and
- a first cleaning module that resides within the chamber and contains a first attraction mechanism to clean the EUV lithography masks, wherein the first cleaning module is attached to an interior surface of the chamber via a first robotic arm;
- a second cleaning module that resides outside the chamber and contains a second attraction mechanism to clean the mask stage, wherein the second cleaning module is directly attached to an external surface of the chamber via a second robotic arm;
- wherein:
- the first attraction mechanism and the second attraction mechanism each includes a sticking material or a current-driven electrostatic force generator and attracts contaminant particles from surfaces of the EUV masks or the mask stage;
- and
- a surface of the first or second attraction mechanism and a surface of at least one of the EUV masks have substantially identical shapes and dimensions, such that the first cleaning module is configured to be stored in the mask library along with the plurality of EUV masks inside the chamber, transferred by the mask handler within the chamber or into or out of the chamber, and secured by the mask stage.
8 more elements
A method, comprising:
- retrieving, from a mask library in a chamber of a lithography system, a first cleaning structure that includes a first attraction mechanism that includes a sticking material or a current-driven electrostatic force generator, wherein the first cleaning structure has substantially shapes and dimensions as a mask that is configured to be stored in the mask library;
- using the first attraction mechanism of the first cleaning structure to remove contaminant particles from a surface of the mask while the first cleaning structure and the mask are located inside the chamber;
- providing a second cleaning structure that is located outside the chamber and that is different from the first cleaning structure, wherein the second cleaning structure is mechanically and directly coupled to an exterior wall of the chamber through a robotic arm, wherein the second cleaning structure includes a second attraction mechanism that includes the sticking material or the current-driven electrostatic force generator, and wherein the first cleaning structure and the second cleaning structure are provided simultaneously;
- using the second attraction mechanism of the second cleaning structure to remove contaminant particles from a surface of a mask stage while the second cleaning structure and the masks stage are located outside the chamber;
- and
- performing a lithography process using the mask or the mask stage.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.