Kla Tencor Corporation

Igor Volkov

Daniel Men

Oshri Amzaleg

End effectors of reticle mechanical interface pods as well as reticle handling methods are provided, which handle the reticle by the end effector by applying a lateral force and/or a downward force on the reticle during the handling to fixate the reticle to at least two supports (e.g., at least four fingers) which are attached to at least two arms of the end effector and are configured to apply an upwards force on the reticle. Hence the reticle is fixated to the end effector and can be handled with higher accelerations and at a higher throughput than current methods. End effectors may have multiple fingers to fixate the reticle, and on more pushers may apply a downwards force to further fixate the reticle to the supports.

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Haifa, Israel

Igor Volkov