A method for manufacturing a membrane assembly

A membrane assembly for EUV lithography, the membrane assembly comprising:

• a membrane;
• and
• a support holding the membrane, the support formed from a first border region of a supporting substrate and a second border region of an attachment substrate, wherein the membrane is between the first border region of the supporting substrate and the second border region of the attachment substrate;
• wherein the support is formed by selectively removing an inner region of the supporting substrate and a cover region of the attachment substrate such that the first border region of the supporting substrate and the second border region of the attachment substrate remain.

A method for manufacturing a membrane assembly for a lithographic apparatus, the method comprising:

• providing a supporting substrate with a membrane layer;
• bonding an attachment substrate to the supporting substrate provided with the membrane layer to form a stack, wherein the membrane layer is encapsulated between the supporting substrate and the attachment substrate;
• and
• processing the stack, including selectively removing at least a region of the attachment substrate and/or of the supporting substrate, to form a membrane assembly comprising:
• a membrane formed from at least the membrane layer, and
• a support holding the membrane, the support formed at least partially from a border region of the supporting substrate.

A method for manufacturing a membrane assembly for a lithographic apparatus, the method comprising:

• providing a supporting substrate having an average thickness of at least 600 μm with a membrane layer;
• wafer bonding an attachment substrate having an average thickness of less than 500 μm to the supporting substrate provided with the membrane layer to form a stack, wherein the membrane layer is encapsulated between the supporting substrate and the attachment substrate;
• and
• subsequently thinning the supporting substrate bonded to the attachment substrate to an average thickness of the supporting substrate to be less than 500 μm.