Planar electric motor with dual coil and magnet arrays
AssigneeNikon Corporation
InventorAndrew J. Hazelton
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electric motor comprising a first motor portion having a first magnet array and a first coil array positioned adjacent to the first magnet array and operable to interact with magnetic fields of the first magnet array to move a member, and a second motor portion comprising a second magnet array and a second coil array positioned adjacent to the second magnet array and operable to interact with magnetic fields of the second magnet array to move the member. The first motor portion and the second motor portion are generally parallel to one another and configured for receiving the member therebetween. The motor may be used to position a stage in an exposure apparatus. A method of positioning an object with the motor is also disclosed.
Claims46
An electric motor comprising:
- a first portion having a first magnet array and a first coil array having a plurality of coils disposed in a plane in a two dimensional array and positioned adjacent to the first magnet array, the first coil array being operable to interact with magnetic fields of the first magnet array to move a member;
- a second portion having a second magnet array and a second coil array having a plurality of linear coil arrays positioned adjacent to the second magnet array and operable to interact with magnetic fields of the second magnet array to move said member;
- the first motor portion and the second motor portion being generally parallel to one another and configured for receiving said member therebetween.
A positioning device comprising:
- a frame;
- a member movable relative to the frame, the member having a first surface and a second surface generally parallel to the first surface;
- and
- an electric motor comprising a first motor portion having a first magnet array and a first coil array, and a second motor portion having a second magnet array and a second coil array, the first coil array having a plurality of coils disposed in a plane in a two dimensional array and the second coil array having a plurality of linear coil arrays;
- the member being interposed between the first motor portion and the second motor portion with the first coil array being positioned adjacent to the first magnet array to interact with magnetic fields of the first magnet array, and the second coil array being positioned adjacent to the second magnet array to interact with magnetic fields of the second magnet array to move the member relative to the first and second coil arrays.
An exposure apparatus comprising:
- an irradiation system for irradiating an article with radiation to form a pattern on the article, the irradiation system comprising:
- a frame;
- and
- a stage device for positioning the article relative to the irradiation system, the stage device comprising:
- a stage movable relative to the irradiation system and having a lower surface and an upper surface adapted to support the article;
- and
- a first motor portion comprising a first magnet array and a first coil array having a plurality of coils disposed in a plane in a two dimensional array, and a second motor portion comprising a second magnet array and a second coil array having a plurality of linear coil arrays;
- the stage being interposed between the first motor portion and the second motor portion with the first coil array being positioned adjacent to the first magnet array to interact with magnetic fields of the first magnet array and the second coil array being positioned adjacent to the second magnet array to interact with magnetic fields of the second magnet array to move the stage.
A method of positioning an object comprising:
- providing a first motor portion having a first magnet array and a first coil array having a plurality of coils disposed in a plane in a two dimensional array;
- providing a second motor portion having a second magnet array and a second coil array having a plurality of linear coil arrays;
- providing a member;
- attaching one of the second magnet array and the second coil array to the member;
- applying one or more currents to one or more coils of the first coil array to interact with magnetic fields of the first magnet array to generate a force between the first coil array and the first magnet array, and to one or more coils of the second coil array to interact with magnetic fields of the second magnet array to generate a force between the second coil array and the second magnet array to move the object.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.