Apparatus and a method of forming a particle shield
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorsChue San YOO, Ching-Yueh CHEN, Wen-Hao CHENG
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Abstract
An apparatus for generating at least one particle shield. The at least one particle shield includes a first component and a second component. The first component and the second component are usable to form a first particle shield of the at least one particle shield for blocking particles from contacting a proximate surface of an object, the first particle shield is substantially parallel to and physically separated from the proximate surface of the object, and the first particle shield includes an energy gradient force or a velocity gradient force.
Claims20
An apparatus for generating at least one particle shield comprising:
- a first component and a second component, wherein the first component and the second component are usable to form a first particle shield of the at least one particle shield for blocking particles from contacting a proximate surface of an object, the first particle shield is substantially parallel to and physically separated from the proximate surface of the object, and the first particle shield includes an energy gradient force or a velocity gradient force.
A photolithography system comprising:
- a photomask;
- a slit;
- at least one optical element;
- a first apparatus generating a first particle shield;
- and
- a second apparatus generating a second particle shield, wherein the slit is between the first particle shield and the second shield.
A method for photolithography in semiconductor manufacturing, comprising:
- positioning a shield generator between a photomask and a slit;
- forming a particle shield by the shield generator to help prevent particles from adhering to a surface of the photomask or a surface of the slit, and remove the particles along an optical path, wherein the shield generator is between the photomask and the slit;
- and
- performing an exposure to transfer one or more patterns in the photomask onto a substrate or a layer on the substrate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.