Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Comp. Ltd.

Heng-Hsin Liu

Li-Jui Chen

Shang-Chieh Chien

Sheng-Kang Yu

Chin-Hsiang Lin

Chieh Hsieh

Jui-Chun Peng

Ming-Hsun Tsai

Tai-Yu Chen

Yung-Yao Lee

Cheng-Hsuan Wu

Yu-Huan Chen

Wei-Shin Cheng

Cheng-Hao Lai

Yu-Kuang Sun

Yu-Fa Lo

Chiao-Hua Cheng

Hsin-Feng Chen

Chueh-Chi Kuo

Heng-Jen Lee

Cheng Hung Tsai

Shao-Hua Wang

I-Hsiung Huang

Shih-Yu Tu

Cho-Ying Lin

Chun-Hung Lin

Chun-Lin Louis Chang

Zhiqiang Wu

Yu-Chih Huang

Yen-Shuo Su

Che-Chang Hsu

Kai Tak Lam

Ying Ying Wang

Kai-Fa Ho

Ho-Ping Chen

Sagar Deepak Khivsara

Kai-Chieh Chang

Tzu-Jung Pan

Zong-You Yang

Shy-Jay Lin

Han-Lung Chang

Yi-Ping Hsieh

Wei-Hsiang Tseng

Chih-Ping Yen

Tzung-Chi Fu

Chung-Wei Wu

Gwan-Sin Chang

Kuo-An Liu

Cheng-Chieh Chen

Jui-Chung Peng

Chien-Hsun Lin

Ying-Ying Wang

Wei-Chun Yen

Tung-Li Wu

Kuo-Hung Chao

Yao-Wen Guo

Yen-Hao Liu

Hung-Ming Kuo

Kuei-Lin Ho

Cheng-Wei Sun

Wei-Yuan Chen

Ya-An Peng

Jou-Hsuan Lu

Jong-I Mou

Chi-Yuan Shih

Chi Ming Yang

Chun-Hsien Lin

Fei-Gwo Tsai

Yi-Fam Shiu

Hsiang Mei Chen

Shang-Wern Chang

Ai-Jen Hung

Sophia Wang

Jui-Pin Wu

Jacky Chung

Chih-Chun Chiang

Wei-Chung Tu

Chih-Wei Lin

Chi-Ming Yang

Chao-Hsiung Wang

Tsai-Sheng Gau

Chi-Hung Liao

Wen-Chuan Wang

Chih-Ming Ke

Chyi Shyuan Chern

Chien-Chang Lee

Te-Chih Huang

Yen-Di Tsen

Yung-Cheng Chen

Kuan-Hung Chen

Sen-Fu Chen

Huan-Chi Tseng

Yung-yao Lee

Wen-Cheng Chang

Chien-Hung Wang

Wei-Yu Su

Po-Chang Huang

Ren-Jyh Leu

Tzu Jeng Hsu

Hung-Jung Hsu

A coating is included on one or more components of a lithography system. The coating reduces surface roughness of the one or more surfaces, increases flatness of the one or more surfaces, and/or increases uniformity of the one or more surfaces. The coating may be formed on the one or more surfaces using one or more of the techniques described herein. The coating is configured to reduce adhesion of target material particles to the one or more surfaces, is configured to resist buildup of target material particles on the one or more surfaces, is configured to provide resistance against oxidation of the one or more surfaces, is configured to resist thermal damage of the one or more surfaces, and/or is configured to enable the lithography system to operate at higher operating temperatures, among other examples.

Semiconductor processing tool and methods of operation

A plurality of hydrogen outlets are arrayed along a direction normal to a surface (such as a surface of a collector) of an extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) tool to increase a volume of hydrogen gas surrounding the surface. As a result, airborne tin is more likely to be stopped by the hydrogen gas surrounding the surface and less likely to bind to the surface. Fewer tin deposits results in increased lifetime for the surface, which reduces downtime for the EUV tool. Additionally, a control device may receive (e.g., from a camera and/or another type of sensor) an indication of levels of tin contamination on the surface and control flow rates to adjust a thickness of the hydrogen curtain. As a result, tin contamination on the collector is less likely to occur and will be more efficiently cleaned by the hydrogen gas, which results in increased lifetime for the surface and reduced downtime for the EUV tool.

Semiconductor processing tool and method of using the same

In an embodiment, a method includes: heating a byproduct transport ring of an extreme ultraviolet source, the byproduct transport ring disposed beneath vanes of the extreme ultraviolet source; after heating the byproduct transport ring for a first duration, heating the vanes; after heating the vanes, cooling the vanes; and after cooling the vanes for a second duration, cooling the byproduct transport ring.

Lithography apparatus and method

Example implementations described herein include a laser source and associated methods of operation that can balance or reduce uneven beam profile problem and even improve plasma heating efficiency to enhance conversion efficiency and intensity for extreme ultraviolet radiation generation. The laser source described herein generates an auxiliary laser beam to augment a pre-pulse laser beam and/or a main-pulse laser beam, such that uneven beam profiles may be corrected and/or compensated. This may improve an intensity of the laser source and also improve an energy distribution from the laser source to a droplet of a target material, effective to increase an overall operating efficiency of the laser source.

A method includes: depositing a mask layer over a substrate; directing first radiation reflected from a central collector section of a sectional collector of a lithography system toward the mask layer according to a pattern; directing second radiation reflected from a peripheral collector section of the sectional collector toward the mask layer according to the pattern, wherein the peripheral collector section is vertically separated from the central collector section by a gap; forming openings in the mask layer by removing first regions of the mask layer exposed to the first radiation and second regions of the mask layer exposed to the second radiation; and removing material of a layer underlying the mask layer exposed by the openings.

Lithography system and methods

A method for inspecting an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light source includes: removing a collector mirror of the EUV light source from a collector chamber; installing an inspection apparatus within the collector chamber, the apparatus including a selectively extendable and retractable member and a camera at one end of the member; operating a first actuator to extend the member along a path through the interior chamber of the EUV light source, thereby moving the camera to a given position within the interior chamber of the EUV light source; operating a second actuator to pan the camera about an axis of rotation, thereby establishing a given camera orientation within the interior of the EUV light source; and, capturing an image of the interior chamber of the EUV light source with the camera while the camera is at the given position and orientation established by the operation of the first and second actuators.

Inspection system for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light source

A method includes: removing debris on a collector of a lithography equipment by changing physical structure of the debris with a cleaner; forming a cleaned collector by exhausting the removable debris from the collector; and forming openings in a mask layer on a substrate by removing regions of the mask layer exposed to radiation from the cleaned collector.

Methods of cleaning a lithography system

An extreme ultraviolet (EUV) photolithography system includes a scanner that directs the EUV light onto an EUV reticle. The photolithography system includes one or more contamination reduction structures positioned within the scanner and configured to attract and decompose contaminant particles within the scanner. The contamination reduction structure includes a surface material that is highly electronegative.

System and method for detecting debris in a photolithography system

A lithography system includes a table body, a wafer stage, a first sliding member, a second sliding member, a first cable, a first bracket, a rail guide, and a first protective film. The first sliding member is coupled to the wafer stage. The second sliding member is coupled to an edge of the table body, in which the first sliding member is coupled to a track of the second sliding member. The first bracket fixes the first cable, the first bracket being coupled to a roller structure, in which the roller structure includes a body and a wheel coupled to the body. The rail guide confines a movement of the wheel of the roller structure. The first protective film is adhered to a surface of the rail guide, in which the roller structure is moveable along the first protective film on the surface of the rail guide.

Lithography system and method thereof

Methods and apparatuses for a lithography exposure process are described. The method includes irradiating a target droplet with a laser beam to create an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light. The methods utilized and the apparatuses include two or more collectors for collecting the generated EUV light and reflecting the collected EUV light to a focal point of one of the collectors. In some embodiments, one of the two collectors includes a ring-shaped collector.

Radiation collector

An extreme ultraviolet (EUV) source includes a collector associated with the vessel. The extreme ultraviolet (EUV) source includes a plurality of vanes along walls of the vessel. Each vane includes a stacked vane segment, and the stacked vane segments for each vane are stacked in a direction of drainage of tin (Sn) in the vessel. The EUV source includes a thermal control system comprising a plurality of independently controllable heating elements, where a heating element is configured to provide localized control for heating of a vane segment of the stacked vane segments.

Some implementations described herein provide an exposure tool and associated methods of operation in which a scanner control system generates a scanner route for an exposure recipe such that the distance traveled by a substrate stage of the exposure tool along the scanner route is reduced and/or optimized for non-exposure fields on a semiconductor substrate. In this way, the scanner control system increases the productivity of the exposure tool, reduces processing times of the exposure tool, and increases yield in a semiconductor fabrication facility in which the exposure tool is included.

A method includes: positioning a wafer on an electrostatic chuck of an apparatus; and securing the wafer to the electrostatic chuck by: securing a first wafer region of the wafer to a first chuck region of the electrostatic chuck by applying a first voltage at a first time. The method further includes securing a second wafer region of the wafer to a second chuck region of the electrostatic chuck by applying a second voltage at a second time different from the first time; and processing the wafer by the apparatus while the wafer is secured to the electrostatic chuck.

Semiconductor processing method and apparatus

An exposure tool is configured to remove contaminants and/or prevent contamination of mirrors and/or other optical components included in the exposure tool. In some implementations, the exposure tool is configured to flush and/or otherwise remove contaminants from an illuminator, a projection optics box, and/or one or more other subsystems of the exposure tool using a heated gas such as ozone (O) or extra clean dry air (XCDA), among other examples. In some implementations, the exposure tool is configured to provide a gas curtain (or gas wall) that includes hydrogen (H) or another type of gas to reduce the likelihood of contaminants reaching the mirrors included in the exposure tool. In this way, the mirrors and one or more other components of the exposure tool are cleaned and maintained in a clean environment in which radiation absorbing contaminants are controlled to increase the performance of the exposure tool.

Growing community of inventors

Taipei, Taiwan

Heng-Hsin Liu