Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Comp. Ltd.

Industrial Technology Research Institute

Tsinghua University

Li-Jui Chen

Shang-Chieh Chien

Po-Chung Cheng

Heng-Hsin Liu

Han-Lung Chang

Tzung-Chi Fu

Bo-Tsun Liu

Sheng-Kang Yu

Chieh Hsieh

Chi Ming Yang

Chun-Lin Louis Chang

Ming-Hsun Tsai

Hsin-Feng Chen

Ssu-Yu Chen

Wei-Shin Cheng

Che-Chang Hsu

Chih-Tsung Shih

Shao-Hua Wang

Chueh-Chi Kuo

Cheng-Hsuan Wu

Fu-Jye Liang

Cheng-Hao Lai

Tai-Yu Chen

Yu-Huan Chen

Shih-Yu Tu

Yu-Kuang Sun

Hsiao-Lun Chang

Chun-Kuang Chen

Yen-Shuo Su

Chun-Chia Hsu

Jen-Yang Chung

Yu-Fa Lo

Shang-Ying Wu

Chiao-Hua Cheng

Chin-Hsiang Lin

Chia-Chen Chen

Jen-Hao Yeh

Yen-Hsun Chen

Cheng Hung Tsai

Tsai-Sheng Gau

Shih-Chang Shih

Sheng-Ta Lin

Hung-Wen Cho

Ting-Ya Cheng

Yu-Chih Huang

Kuan-Hung Chen

Wei-Chih Lai

Wei-Chun Yen

Cho-Ying Lin

Jhan-Hong Yeh

Zhiqiang Wu

Chih-Ming Ke

Tsung-Yen Lee

Cheng-Chieh Chen

Kai-Chieh Chang

Kai Tak Lam

Kai-Fa Ho

Sagar Deepak Khivsara

Gwan-Sin Chang

Kuo-An Liu

Anthony Yen

Chung-Wei Wu

Hsin-Liang Chen

Chia-Yu Lee

Hsiang Mei Chen

Chieh-Jen Cheng

Wen-Chih Wang

Jeng-Yann Tsay

Alan Tu

Yu-Chih Chen

Yi-Zhen Chen

Burn-Jeng Lin

Yi-Fam Shiu

Jen-Chieh Shih

Bang-Ching Ho

Ching-Yu Chang

Ru-Gun Liu

Li-Chun Tien

Hsin-Chang Lee

Mei Sheng Zhou

Cheng-Lin Huang

Yung-Sung Yen

Chung-Cheng Wu

Pei-Cheng Hsu

Ta-Cheng Lien

Chi-Cheng Hung

Wei-Liang Lin

Kuei-Shun Chen

Chrong-Jung Lin

Hung-Chang Hsieh

Chung-Long Chang

Ya-Chin King

Jaw-Jung Shin

Chun-Hsien Lin

Yu-Liang Lin

Henry Lo

Ai-Sen Liu

Ching-Juinn Huang

Meng-Wei Chen

Jan-Wen You

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

A method includes irradiating a target droplet in an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light source of an extreme ultraviolet lithography tool with non-ionizing light from a droplet illumination module. The method further includes detecting light reflected and/or scattered by the target droplet, and performing particle image velocimetry, based on the detected light, to determine a velocity of the target droplet. The method also includes adjusting a time delay between a generation of the target droplet and a generation of an excitation laser beam based on the velocity of the target droplet.

Particle image velocimetry of extreme ultraviolet lithography systems

A cleaning device for cleaning particles from a tool includes a nozzle structure having a spray opening to spray a cleaning liquid in a first direction to the tool, a cleaning pad disposed around the nozzle structure, and a support disposed around the cleaning pad. The cleaning pad exposes the spray opening and includes a front surface facing in the first direction to clean the tool. The support includes multiple gas openings to blow a pressurized gas in the first direction to the tool, and multiple vacuum openings to suck residual gas, liquid and particles around the tool. An air wall around the tool is thus generated by a combination of operations performed by the multiple gas openings and the multiple vacuum openings to reduce or prevent contamination that might be caused by the cleaning device in the chamber.

Onsite cleaning system 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 photolithographic apparatus includes a droplet generator, a droplet generator maintenance system, and a controller communicating with the droplet generator maintenance system. The droplet generator maintenance system operatively communicates with the droplet generator, a coolant distribution unit, a gas supply unit, and a supporting member. The gas supply unit includes a heat exchange assembly and an air heating assembly. The coolant distribution unit is configured to control the temperature of the droplet generator within the acceptable droplet generator range.

Methods of servicing photolithographic apparatus

Cleaning equipment for an EUV wafer chuck or clamp, which removes particles that have accumulated between burls on the surface of the wafer chuck. The equipment includes a spinning bi-polar electrode placed in proximity to the surface, which can attract and adsorb the charged particle residue therefrom using its generated symmetric electric field when the wafer chuck is not in use.

Method and apparatus for removing contamination

An extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography system includes a vane bucket module. The vane bucket module includes a temperature adjusting pack and a collecting tank inserted into the temperature adjusting pack. The temperature adjusting pack has a plurality of inlets. The collecting tank has a cover and the cover includes a plurality of through holes. The inlets of the temperature adjusting pack are aligned with the through holes of the cover. Each through hole has a minimum depth at a first position and a maximum depth at a second position. The first position is closer to a center of the cover than the second position.

Extreme ultraviolet lithography system

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

Growing community of inventors

Hsinchu, Taiwan

Li-Jui Chen