Photolithography reticle stage drive system

A system comprising:

• a short-stroke stage defining a channel therethrough;
• a long-stroke stage disposed about the short-stroke stage;
• a beam extending through the channel of the short-stroke stage;
• an ironless drive motor comprising:
• one or more permanent magnets coupled to the beam, the one or more permanent magnets forming a magnetic field;
• at least one electrically conductive coil surrounding at least a portion of the beam and coupled to the short-stroke stage;
• and
• a controller coupled to the at least one electrically conductive coil and adapted to supply a current to the at least one electrically conductive coil to generate an electric field, wherein an interaction between the electric field and the magnetic field drives the short-stroke stage during a reticle turnaround operation.

A system comprising:

• a wafer stage configured to support a wafer during a photolithography operation;
• a reticle actuation system configured to support a reticle, the reticle actuation system including;
• a first stage defining a channel therethrough;
• a second stage disposed about the first stage;
• a beam extending through the channel of the first stage;
• an ironless drive motor comprising:
• one or more permanent magnets coupled to the beam, the one or more permanent magnets forming a magnetic field;
• at least one electrically conductive coil coupled to the first stage without a ferromagnetic core, and disposed adjacent to the one or more permanent magnets;
• and
• a controller coupled to the at least one electrically conductive coil and adapted to supply a current to the at least one electrically conductive coil to generate an electric field, wherein an interaction between the electric field and the magnetic field drives the first stage during a reticle turnaround operation;
• and
• an optical system including an illumination source and at least one optical element configured to optically couple a signal from the illumination source to the reticle actuation system and the wafer stage during the photolithography operation.