Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Comp. Ltd.

Sheng-Kang Yu

Shang-Chieh Chien

Li-Jui Chen

Heng-Hsin Liu

Tai-Yu Chen

Cheng Hung Tsai

Chieh Hsieh

Chiao-Hua Cheng

Wei-Chun Yen

Po-Chung Cheng

Ming-Hsun Tsai

Chi Ming Yang

Chi-Feng Tung

Hsiang Yin Shen

Fu-Hsien Li

Yu-Huan Chen

Wei-Shin Cheng

Che-Chang Hsu

Cheng-Hsuan Wu

Cheng-Hao Lai

Yu-Kuang Sun

Yu-Fa Lo

Guancyun Li

Kai Tak Lam

Yu-Chih Chen

Sagar Deepak Khivsara

Cho-Ying Lin

Tzu-Jung Pan

Zhiqiang Wu

Hsiang Mei Chen

Chia-Chen Chen

Hsin-Feng Chen

Yu-Fu Lin

Wei-Chung Tu

Chun-Han Lin

Chung-Cheng Wu

Kuan-Hung Chen

Gwan-Sin Chang

Kuo-An Liu

Shih-Yu Tu

Shang-Ying Wu

Tung-Jung Chang

Bharath Kumar Pulicherla

Yung-Teng Yu

Some implementations described herein incorporate a heating system to heat a cover of a bucket. A liquified target material, collected by vanes and/or a transport ring within a vessel of an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation source, flows through a drain port of the transport ring and through a conduit that provides the liquified target material to the bucket through an opening of the cover. By heating the cover, the heating system prevents the liquified target material from solidifying at or near the opening before the liquified target material can flow into the bucket. By preventing the solidifying of the liquid target material, a likelihood of a blockage within the conduit and/or the drain port is reduced.

Semiconductor processing tool and methods of operation

An EUV collector mirror for an extreme ultra violet (EUV) radiation source apparatus includes an EUV collector mirror body on which a reflective layer as a reflective surface is disposed, a heater attached to or embedded in the EUV collector mirror body and a drain structure to drain melted metal from the reflective surface of the EUV collector mirror body to a back side of the EUV collector mirror body.

EUV radiation source apparatus for lithography

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.

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 of extreme ultraviolet lithography includes: generating within a source vessel extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light by striking a stream of droplets of target material shot across the source vessel with pulses from a laser to create a plasma from which EUV light is emitted; directing the generated EUV light out of the source vessel through an intermediate focus cap along a pathway toward a reticle of a scanner; creating a longitudinal mechanical wave extending across the pathway; and exposing a photoresist layer on a semiconductor substrate to pattern a circuit layout by the generated EUV light.

Acoustic particle deflection in lithography tool

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

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.

A system and method for dynamically controlling a temperature of a thermostatic reticle. A thermostatic reticle assembly that includes a reticle, temperature sensors located in proximity to the reticle, and one or more heating elements. A thermostat component that is in communication with the temperature sensors and the heating element monitors the current temperature of the reticle relative to a steady-state temperature. In response to the current temperature of the reticle being lower than the steady-state temperature, the heating elements are activated to preheat the reticle to the steady-state temperature.

System and method for dynamically controlling temperature of thermostatic reticles

A system for monitoring and controlling an EUV light source includes a first temperature sensor, a signal processor, and a process controller. The first temperature sensor includes a portion inserted into a space surrounded by a plurality of vanes through a vane of the plurality of vanes, and obtains an ambient temperature that decreases with time as a function of tin contamination coating on the inserted portion. The signal processor determines an excess tin debris deposition on the vane based on the obtained chamber ambient temperature. The process controller activates a vane cleaning action upon being informed of the excess tin debris deposition by the signal processor, thereby improving availability of the EUV light source tool and reducing risks of tin pollution on other tools such as a reticle.

EUV light source contamination monitoring system

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Hsinchu, Taiwan

Sheng-Kang Yu