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.
Claims14
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 and supported by 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;
- an annulus attached to the chuck to provide support to the chuck;
- a vibration detection component that detects energy input to the system that causes vibration in the system;
- and
- an alarm component that provides an alarm if the energy input approaches a natural frequency of the system.
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 and supported by 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;
- an annulus attached to the chuck to provide support to the chuck, and
- a plurality of sensors that detect at least one of energy input or natural frequency characteristics of the system;
- a natural frequency component that calculates the natural frequency of the system;
- and
- a control component that receives information regarding energy input and natural frequency and directs at least one actuator to move at least one of the first or second fingers, or the annulus to adjust the natural frequency.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.