High stiffness low mass supporting structure for a mirror assembly
AssigneeAnorad Corporation
InventorsGuillermo Garzon, Joseph Caracci, Sharad Mehta
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems and methods of providing support to a mirror assembly including a high-stiffness, low mass structure. An L-shaped support, in conjunction with a shelf member and a plurality of fingers, provides support to a chuck upon which an operation (such as a wafer inspection) can be carried out. Materials such as ALBEMET and INVAR can be used to reduce mass and increase stiffness to avoid resonance in the system. Sensors and actuators can be employed to sense input energy and adjust the structure, respectively, if resonance is deemed likely.
Claims20
A support system for a mirror assembly, comprising:
- a first arm and a second arm arranged to form an L-shaped support;
- a shelf member located in a corner of the L-shaped support;
- a first finger attached to the first arm and a second finger attached to the second arm, the first and second fingers and the shelf member support a chuck;
- and
- an annulus attached to the chuck to provide support to the chuck.
A method to support a chuck, comprising:
- calculating a lowest natural frequency of a structure;
- sensing energy input to the structure;
- determining whether resonance is likely by comparing the energy input to the lowest natural frequency of the structure;
- and
- providing an alarm if resonance is likely.
The method of claim 13, calculating the lowest natural frequency is performed using a simulation of the system.
A system for supporting a mirror assembly, comprising:
- means for supporting a chuck;
- means for detecting input energy to the system;
- means for calculating a natural frequency of the system;
- and
- means for providing an alarm if a frequency of the system approaches the natural frequency of the system.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.