Method and system for drying a substrate
AssigneeTokyo Electron Limited
InventorsChung-Peng Ho, Kathleen Nafus, Kaz Yoshioka, Richard Yamaguchi
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and system is described for drying a thin film on a substrate following liquid immersion lithography. Drying the thin film to remove immersion fluid from the thin film is performed prior to baking the thin film, thereby reducing the likely hood for interaction of immersion fluid with the baking process. This interaction has been shown to cause non-uniformity in critical dimension for the pattern formed in the thin film following the developing process.
Claims20
A method of transferring a pattern to a thin film of radiation-sensitive material on a substrate using photolithography comprising:
- exposing said thin film to a radiation source in a liquid immersion lithography system;
- and
- dispensing a drying fluid from a fluid dispensing system onto a surface of said substrate following said exposure in said liquid immersion lithography system to remove an immersion fluid from said substrate, said drying fluid having a vapor pressure higher than a vapor pressure of said immersion fluid.
A method of treating an exposed thin film on a substrate following liquid immersion lithography, comprising:
- dispensing a drying fluid from a fluid dispensing system onto a surface of said substrate to remove immersion liquid from said exposed thin film on said substrate, said drying fluid having a vapor pressure higher than a vapor pressure of said immersion liquid.
A drying system configured to remove immersion fluid from a substrate following exposure of the substrate in a liquid immersion lithography system, the drying system comprising:
- a drying chamber;
- a substrate holder positioned within the drying chamber, and configured to hold the substrate;
- a drying fluid dispensing system configured to dispense a drying fluid onto a surface of the substrate, the drying fluid having a vapor pressure higher than a vapor pressure of the immersion fluid.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.