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US 12,717,242 B2Granted
Method of operating semiconductor apparatus
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorsShih-Ming Chang, Chiu-Hsiang Chen, Ru-Gun Liu
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of operating a semiconductor apparatus includes generating an air flow that flows from a covering structure; causing a photomask to move over the covering structure such that particles attached to the photomask are blown away from the photomask by the air flow; and irradiating the photomask with light through a light transmission region of the covering structure.
Claims20
A method comprising:
- guiding an air flow flowing through a pipe in a covering structure to a top surface of a photomask, wherein the air flow is guided by a pump, the pipe in the covering structure is perpendicular to the top surface of the photomask, and the covering structure is spaced apart from the photomask;
- irradiating the photomask with a light source through a light transmission region of the covering structure;
- and
- causing the photomask to move relative to the covering structure during irradiating the photomask.
1 more element
A method comprising:
- guiding an air flow flowing through a pipe in a covering structure to a top surface of a photomask, wherein the air flow is guided by a pump, the pipe in the covering structure is perpendicular to the top surface of the photomask, and the covering structure is spaced apart from the photomask;
- irradiating the photomask with a light source through a light transmission region of the covering structure, wherein the light source is a deep ultraviolet (DUV) light source;
- and
- causing the photomask to move relative to the covering structure during irradiating the photomask.
1 more element
A method comprising:
- guiding an air flow flowing through a pipe in a covering structure to a top surface of a photomask, wherein the air flow is guided by a pump, the pipe in the covering structure is perpendicular to the top surface of the photomask, and the covering structure is spaced apart from the photomask, and wherein the covering structure comprises metal;
- irradiating the photomask with a light source through a light transmission region of the covering structure;
- and
- causing the photomask to move relative to the covering structure during irradiating the photomask.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.