| Patent application number | Description | Published |
|---|
| 20080225253 | Damper for a stage assembly - A stage assembly ( | 09-18-2008 |
| 20080225255 | CONFORMING SEATS FOR CLAMPS USED IN MOUNTING AN OPTICAL ELEMENT, AND OPTICAL SYSTEMS COMPRISING SAME - Clamps are disclosed for holding an optical element relative to a support. An exemplary clamp includes first and second arms and a member connecting the arms such that a portion of a mounting feature of the optical element is between the first and second arms. The first arm applies a clamping force toward a respective portion of the mounting feature, and the second arm includes a seat. The seat has at least upper and intermediate portions. The upper portion engages the respective location on the mounting feature. The intermediate portion is situated between the upper portion and the second arm and has a lateral thickness less than the lateral thickness of the upper portion. The intermediate portion exhibits elastic and plastic deformability sufficient for any moment applied by the clamp to the mounting feature to be limited to less than a designated peak moment, while maintaining substantially full engagement of the upper portion with the respective location. | 09-18-2008 |
| 20080285003 | Linear motor driven automatic reticle blind - A reticle blind which is capable of being opened and closed at a relatively high speed and which does not cause mechanical disturbances or reaction forces. The reticle blind includes two reticle blind assemblies designed to cooperate with one another to control the passing of a laser beam of an exposure system onto a work piece, such as a semiconductor wafer or flat panel display. Each reticle blind assembly includes a linear motor having a mover and a blind configured to be positioned between a first position and a second position by the mover. Each reticle blind assembly also includes a counter mass assembly including a portion of a guide mechanism having at least one guide bar and a stator of the linear motor. The stator of the linear motor and the guide bar are integrated to form the counter mass which is configured to absorb reaction forces that are created when the blind is moved. In various embodiments, the blinds can be configured to operate in the vertical or horizontal orientation. | 11-20-2008 |
| 20080285004 | Monolithic, Non-Contact Six Degree-of-Freedom Stage Apparatus - Methods and apparatus for controlling a stage assembly in up to six degrees of freedom using actuators which each allow for forces to be generated in a horizontal direction and a vertical direction are disclosed. According to one aspect of the present invention, a stage apparatus includes a stage assembly and a first stator arrangement. The stage assembly includes a first magnet arrangement of an actuator assembly, and the first stator arrangement is part of the actuator assembly. The first magnet arrangement cooperates with the first stator arrangement to allow the stage assembly to move relative to a first horizontal axis as well as a vertical axis. | 11-20-2008 |
| 20080296983 | CI-CORE ACTUATOR FOR LONG TRAVEL IN A TRANSVERSE DIRECTION - Methods and apparatus for providing relatively long travel in a transverse direction for a magnetic levitation stage apparatus are disclosed. According to one aspect of the present invention, a linear actuator includes a first core, a second core, and at least one coil wrapped around the first core. The first core includes a body portion and a plurality of rails. The body portion has a first axis and a second axis, and the rails have longitudinal axes that are perpendicular to the first axis and parallel to the second axis. The dimensions of the rails along the longitudinal axes are substantially larger than a dimension of the body portion along the second axis. The second core has a third axis that is oriented perpendicularly to the longitudinal axes and to the second axis, and is levitated relative to the first core when a current is provided through the coil. | 12-04-2008 |
| 20080316445 | Fluid Pressure Compensation for Immersion Lithography Lens - An immersion lithography system that compensating for any displacement of the optical caused by the immersion fluid. The system includes an optical assembly ( | 12-25-2008 |
| 20090027639 | EUV Reticle Handling System and Method - An enclosure for protecting at least a pattern side and an opposing side of a reticle is disclosed. The enclosure includes a first and second part that form an enclosure around a reticle to be protected during handling, inspection, storage, and transport. The enclosure in conjunction with a heater and heat sink provides thermophoretic protection of an enclosed reticle. | 01-29-2009 |
| 20090033895 | Lithography apparatus with flexibly supported optical system - A lithography apparatus includes a projection optical system that projects an image of a pattern, a first support member, a second support member that is flexibly coupled to the first support member by a first flexible coupling device such that the second support member is suspended from the first support member, and a second flexible coupling device that flexibly couples the projection optical system to the second support structure. This arrangement is capable of improving the vibration characteristics of the projection optical system. | 02-05-2009 |
| 20090033907 | DEVICES AND METHODS FOR DECREASING RESIDUAL CHUCKING FORCES - Devices and methods are disclosed for holding a reticle or analogous object, particularly a planar object. An exemplary reticle-holding device includes a reticle chuck having a reticle-holding surface on which a reticle is placed to hold the reticle. The device includes at least one ultrasonic transducer (as an exemplary vibration-inducing device) sonically coupled to the reticle to excite, whenever the ultrasonic transducer is being energized, a vibrational mode in the reticle or reticle chuck, or both. The vibration mode is sufficient to reduce an adhesion force holding the reticle to the reticle-holding surface. Sonic coupling can be by direct contact with the transducer or across a gap. | 02-05-2009 |
| 20090051888 | Liquid jet and recovery system for immersion lithography - A liquid immersion lithography apparatus includes a projection system having a last element. The projection system projects an image onto a workpiece to expose the workpiece through a liquid filled in a space between the last element and the workpiece. A liquid supply device includes a supply inlet that supplies the liquid from the supply inlet to the space between the workpiece and the last element during the exposure. The last element includes an optical element and a plate. The plate prevents the degradation of the optical element that may be affected by contact with the liquid. | 02-26-2009 |
| 20090122428 | Reflective optical elements exhibiting multimetallic-like self-correction of distortions caused by heating - Optical elements are disclosed that exhibit “multimetallic”-like self corrections of thermally induced distortions. An exemplary optical element includes first and second portions. The first portion has a first coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), an obverse surface, and a reverse surface. A second portion is bonded to the reverse surface. The second portion has a second CTE different from the first CTE to form an optical element exhibiting a thermally multimetallic-like change in curvature of the obverse surface accompanying a temperature change of the optical element. The second portion has a thermal-response property in a first direction that is different from a thermal-response property in a second direction. Thus, aberrations such as astigma-type aberrations can be readily self-corrected. | 05-14-2009 |
| 20090122429 | Self-correcting optical elements for high-thermal-load optical systems - Mirrors and other optical elements are disclosed that include a body defining an optical surface (typically a reflective surface) and an opposing second surface. The body has a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE). The optical element includes a correcting portion (e.g., a layer) attached to the second surface and having a CTE that, during heating of the optical element, imparts a bending moment to the body that at least partially offsets a change in curvature of the optical surface caused by heating. The body can be internally cooled. The body and correcting portion desirably are made of respective thermally conductive materials that can vary only slightly in CTE. The body desirably has a lower CTE than the correcting portion, and the correcting portion can be tuned according a variable property of the body and/or reflective surface. The body and correcting portion desirably function cooperatively in a thermally bimetallic-like manner. | 05-14-2009 |
| 20090147386 | Temperature-regulating devices for reflective optical elements - Thermal-transfer devices (e.g., cooling devices) are disclosed for optical elements. An exemplary device includes a thermally conductive substrate having a surface. At least one mounting element extends from the surface to a reverse face of the optical element. The mounting element positions the optical element relative to the substrate with a gap between the surface and the reverse face. At least one gas-introduction port is situated relative to the gap. Also included is a gaseous thermal-conduction pathway across the gap between the optical element and the substrate. The thermal-conduction pathway includes flowing gas introduced (e.g., as a thin layer) into the gap by the gas-introduction port. | 06-11-2009 |
| 20090161084 | Cleanup method for optics in immersion lithography - A lithographic apparatus includes a substrate table on which a substrate is held, a projection system including a final optical element, the projection system projecting a patterned beam of radiation through an immersion liquid onto the substrate adjacent the final optical element to expose the substrate during an immersion lithography process, and a liquid supply system including an inlet. The liquid supply system supplies the immersion liquid during the immersion lithography process and supplies a cleaning liquid, which is different from the immersion liquid, during a cleanup process. The cleanup process and the immersion lithography process are performed at different times. | 06-25-2009 |
| 20090174872 | Cleanup method for optics in immersion lithography - An immersion lithography apparatus and cleanup method used for the immersion lithography apparatus in which an immersion liquid is supplied to a gap between an optical element of a projection optics and a workpiece during an immersion lithography process. A surface of an object, which is different from the workpiece, is provided below the optical element, a supply port and a recovery port. During a cleanup process, a cleaning liquid is supplied onto the object such that the cleaning liquid covers only a portion of the surface of the object. | 07-09-2009 |
| 20090195762 | Cleanup method for optics in immersion lithography - An immersion lithography apparatus and a cleanup method used for the immersion lithography apparatus in which an immersion liquid is supplied from a liquid supply member to a gap between an optical element of a projection optics and a workpiece during an immersion lithography process. A surface of an object, which is different from the workpiece, is provided such that the surface of the object and the optical element are opposite to each other. During a cleanup process, a cleaning liquid is supplied from the liquid supply member onto the surface of the object. | 08-06-2009 |
| 20090303454 | EXPOSURE APPARATUS WITH A SCANNING ILLUMINATION BEAM - An exposure apparatus ( | 12-10-2009 |
| 20100053589 | SYSTEM FOR ISOLATING AN EXPOSURE APPARATUS - A precision assembly ( | 03-04-2010 |
| 20100053738 | High NA Catadioptric Imaging Optics For Imaging A reticle to a Pair of Imaging Locations - New and useful concepts for an imaging optical system configured to simultaneously image a reticle to a pair of imaging locations are provided, where the imaging optics comprise a pair of arms, each of which includes catadioptric imaging optics. In addition, the imaging optics are preferably designed to image a reticle simultaneously to the pair of imaging locations, at a numerical aperture of at least 1.3, and without obscuration of light by the imaging optics. | 03-04-2010 |
| 20100097588 | EXPOSURE METHOD, DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD, AND MASK - An exposure method that uses a substrate (M) held by a holding member ( | 04-22-2010 |
| 20100149513 | Fluid pressure compensation for immersion litography lens - An immersion lithography system compensates for displacement of the final optical element of the optical assembly caused by the immersion fluid. The system includes an optical assembly to project an image defined by a reticle onto a wafer. The optical assembly includes a final optical element spaced from the wafer by a gap. An immersion element supplies an immersion fluid into the gap and recovers any immersion fluid that escapes the gap. A fluid compensation system applies a force to the final optical element of the optical assembly to compensate for pressure variations of the immersion fluid. | 06-17-2010 |
| 20100156198 | SHIELD LAYER PLUS REFRIGERATED BACKSIDE COOLING FOR PLANAR MOTORS - According to one aspect of the present invention, a motor arrangement includes at least one coil, a cover plate, and a shield layer. The at least one coil has a first side and a second side. The cover plate is positioned substantially over the first side of the at least one coil at a distance from the at least one coil. The shield layer is positioned between the first side of the at least one coil and the cover plate, and has a top surface. The top surface contacts the cover plate, and includes a liquid and a gas that form a mixture and cause the top surface to have a substantially constant temperature. | 06-24-2010 |
| 20100186942 | RETICLE ERROR REDUCTION BY COOLING - Methods and apparatus for cooling a reticle are disclosed. According to one aspect of the present invention, an apparatus for providing top side cooling to a reticle includes a heat exchanger arrangement and an actuator. The heat exchanger arrangement includes a first surface arranged to facilitate heat transfer between the reticle and the heat exchanger arrangement. The heat transfer provides cooling to at least some portions of the reticle. The actuator positions the first surface of the heat exchanger arrangement at a distance over the reticle. | 07-29-2010 |
| 20100237819 | Control Systems and Methods for Compensating for Effects of a Stage Motor - Embodiments of the invention compensate for one or more effects of a stage motor in a precision stage device. A feedforward module receives an input signal corresponding to the effect of the motor and generates a feedforward control signal that can be used to modify a motor control signal to compensate for the effect of the motor. In some embodiments, a control system is provided to compensate for a back-electromotive force generated by a motor, while in other embodiments, a control system may compensate for an inductive effect of a motor. Embodiments of the invention may be useful in precision stage devices, for example, lithography devices such as steppers and scanners. | 09-23-2010 |
| 20100245795 | INTERMEDIATE VACUUM SEAL ASSEMBLY FOR SEALING A CHAMBER HOUSING TO A WORKPIECE - A chamber assembly ( | 09-30-2010 |
| 20110031416 | Liquid jet and recovery system for immersion lithography - A photolithography tool for use in manufacturing semiconductor devices, includes a wafer stage, a lens, and a liquid dispensing assembly by which liquid is introduced between a surface of a semiconductor wafer disposed on the wafer stage and the lens, along a direction away from the semiconductor wafer at its edge. | 02-10-2011 |
