Heraeus Quarzglas Gmbh & Co Kg

Shin-etsu Quartz Products Ltd.

Stefan Ochs

Martin Trommer

Klaus Becker

Stephan Thomas

Bruno Uebbing

Akira Fujinoki

Waltraud Werdecker

Thomas Kayser

Bodo Kuehn

Michael Hünermann

Hiroyuki Nishimura

Jan Vydra

Andreas Langner

Helmut Leber

Bodo Kühn

Kay Schuster

Tetsuji Ueda

Sascha Pihan

Juergen Weber

Steffen Zwarg

Mirko Wittrin

Steffen Kaiser

Norbert Traeger

Denis Kassube

Gero Fischer

Ulla Holst

Andreas Kaske

Michael HÜNERMANN

A process for the production of a fluorinated quartz glass including the steps of generating SiOparticles in a synthesis burner; depositing the resulting SiOparticles into a body; and vitrifying the resulting body, wherein a fluorinating agent having a boiling point greater than or equal to −10° C. is supplied to the synthesis burner.

Process for the preparation of fluorinated quartz glass

A process for producing a fluorinated quartz glass is described, including providing an SiOsoot body; reacting the SiOsoot body with a fluorinating agent having a boiling point of greater than or equal to −10° C. to obtain a fluorinated SiOsoot body; and vitrifying the fluorinated SiOsoot body.

Alternative fluorinating agents for the production of fluorinated quartz glass

One aspect relates to a method for producing an optical blank from synthetic quartz glass by vitrifying and shaping a porous, cylindrical SiOsoot body having a longitudinal axis, in a heating zone including a melt mold with bottom plate. The SiOsoot body vitrified in the heating zone at a vitrification temperature so as to form a full cylindrical, completely vitrified, transparent quartz glass body. Subsequently, the vitrified quartz glass body is shaped by softening in the melt mold at a softening temperature so as to form a viscous quartz glass mass which partly fills the volume of the melt mold, and cooling the quartz glass mass and removal from the melt mold so as to form the optical blank. During shaping in the melt mold, the full cylindrical quartz glass body is brought into contact by way of controlled supply with a centering means of the bottom plate.

Method for producing an optical blank from synthetic quartz glass

A method for producing a blank of iron-doped silica glass with high silicic acid content for use as heat protection glass is provided. The method involves: (a) producing an iron-doped SiOsoot body which contains iron in a first oxidation state Feby flame hydrolysis of a silicon-containing and an iron-containing starting substance, (b) drying the soot body to obtain a mean hydroxyl group content of less than 10 ppm by weight, and (c) vitrifying the soot body under a reducing atmosphere that is suitable for at least partially reducing the iron from the first oxidation state Feto a second, lower oxidation state Fe. A blank is obtained having an iron content between 0.1 and 1% by weight which exhibits an internal transmission of at most 40% in the infrared wavelength range and an internal transmission of at least 85% in the visible spectral range.

Method for producing iron-doped silica glass

The Tiions present in Ti-doped silica glass cause a brown staining of the glass, causing inspection of the lens to become more difficult. Known methods for reducing Tiions in favor of Tiions in Ti-doped silica glass include a sufficiently high proportion of OH-groups and carrying out an oxygen treatment prior to vitrification, which both have disadvantages. In order to provide a cost-efficient production method for Ti-doped silica glass, which at a hydroxyl group content of less than 120 ppm shows an internal transmittance (sample thickness 10 mm) of at least 70% in the wavelength range of 400 nm to 1000 nm, the TiO&#x2014;SiOsoot body is subjected to a conditioning treatment with a nitrogen oxide prior to vitrification. The blank produced in this way from Ti-doped silica glass has the ratio Ti/Ti5&#xd7;10.

Method for producing titanium-doped silica glass for use in EUV lithography and blank produced in accordance therewith

A method for producing a silica glass blank co-doped with titanium and fluorine for use in EUV lithography includes (a) producing a TiO&#x2014;SiOsoot body by flame hydrolysis of silicon- and titanium-containing precursor substances, (b) fluorinating the TiO&#x2014;SiOsoot body to form a fluorine-doped TiO&#x2014;SiOsoot body, (c) treating the fluorine-doped TiO&#x2014;SiOsoot body in a water vapor-containing atmosphere to form a conditioned soot body, and (d) vitrifying the conditioned soot body to form the blank. The blank has an internal transmission of at least 60% in the wavelength range of 400 to 700 nm at a sample thickness of 10 mm, a mean OH content in the range of 10 to 100 wt. ppm and a mean fluorine content in the range of 2,500 to 10,000 wt. ppm. Titanium is present in the blank in the oxidation forms Ti3and Ti.

Method for producing a blank of fluorine-doped and titanium-doped glass having a high silicic-acid content and a blank produced according to the method

A blank made of titanium-doped silica glass for a mirror substrate for use in EUV lithography is provided. The blank includes a surface portion to be provided with a reflective film and having an optically used area (CA) over which a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) has a two-dimensional inhomogeneity (dCTE) distribution profile averaged over a thickness of the blank. A maximum inhomogeneity (dCTE) of less than 5 ppb/K is defined as a difference between a CTE maximum value and a CTE minimum value. The dCTEis at least 0.5 ppb/K. The CA forms a non-circular area having a centroid. The dCTE distribution profile is not rotation-symmetrical and is defined over the CA, such that straight profile sections normalized to a unit length and extending through the centroid of the area yield a dCTE family of curves forming a curve band with a bandwidth of less than 0.5&#xd7;dCTE.

Blank made of titanium-doped silica glass and method for the production thereof

A blank of TiO&#x2014;SiOglass for a mirror substrate for use in EUV lithography has a low need for adaptation to optimize the progression of the coefficient of thermal expansion, and consequently also the progression of the zero crossing temperature T. The TiO&#x2014;SiOglass has at a mean value of the fictive temperature Tin the range between 920&#xb0; C. and 970&#xb0; C. a dependence expressed as the differential quotient dT/dTof its zero crossing temperature Ton the fictive temperature Tof less than 0.3.

[object Object]

A known method for producing synthetic quartz glass comprises the method steps: (a) forming a cylindrical SiOsoot body having an inner portion and at least one free cylinder jacket surface surrounding the inner portion; (b) thermally drying the porous soot body; and (c) vitrifying the dried soot body with formation of the cylinder from synthetic quartz glass. Starting therefrom, to indicate a method which permits a particularly flat radial distribution in the inner portion of the cylinder, it is suggested according to the invention that the dried SiOsoot body that is present after method step b) should be subjected to a homogenizing method prior to vitrification, the homogenizing method comprising the following steps: (I) heating the soot body to a consolidation temperature to form a sealing layer in the area of the at least one cylinder jacket, the sealing layer sealing the inner portion to the outside; (II) cooling the soot body from the consolidation temperature; and (III) annealing the soot body in the range of a homogenization temperature during a period of at least 5 hours so that the radial profile of the hydroxyl group concentration flattens in the inner portion.

Method for producing a cylinder from synthetic quartz glass

The invention is concerned with a material which shows low absorption for UV radiation having a wavelength below 250 nm, low birefringence, high chemical resistance and high radiation resistance and which is therefore particularly usable for making optical components for microlithography. According to the invention the material consists of synthetically produced quartz crystallites which form a polycrystalline structure and have a mean grain size in the range between 500 nm and 30 &#x3bc;m. The method according to the invention for making a blank from the material comprises providing granules consisting of synthetically produced quartz crystals having a mean grain size in the range between 500 nm and 30 &#x3bc;m, and sintering the granules to obtain a blank of polycrystalline quartz.

Method for making a blank from material, particularly for an optical component for use in microlithography

Material, particularly for an optical component for use in microlithography, and method for making a blank from the material

The present invention relates to a quartz glass blank for an optical component for transmission of ultraviolet radiation of a wavelength of 250 nm or shorter, and to a use of the quartz glass blank in microlithography in combination with ultraviolet radiation of a wavelength of 250 nm or shorter. Moreover, the invention relates to a procedure for manufacture of the quartz glass blank. A quartz glass blank of the described type should show little induced absorption and be optimized with respect to compaction and decompaction. The quartz glass blank according to the invention is characterized by the following properties:

Quartz glass blank for an optical component, and manufacturing procedure and use thereof

The present invention relates to a quartz glass blank for an optical component for transmission of ultraviolet radiation of a wavelength of 250 nm or shorter, and to a use of the quartz glass blank in microlithography in combination with ultraviolet radiation of a wavelength of 250 nm or shorter. Moreover, the invention relates to a procedure for manufacture of the quartz glass blank. A quartz glass blank of the described type should show little induced absorption and be optimized with respect to compaction and decompaction. The quartz glass blank according to the invention is characterized by the following properties: In the use according to the invention, the quartz glass blank complies with dimensioning rules (2), (3), and (4) in terms of its minimal and maximal hydrogen contents and OH-content, C, C, and C, respectively, with P being the pulse number and &#x3b5; being the energy density (in mJ/cm):[molecules/cm]=1&#xd7;10&#x3b5;,&#x2003;&#x2003;(2)[molecules/cm]=2&#xd7;10&#x3b5;,&#x2003;&#x2003;(3)[wt-ppm]=1,700&#xd7;&#x3b5;[mJ/cm]&#xb1;50.&#x2003;&#x2003;(4)The procedure according to the invention is characterized in that a mixed quartz glass is generated from a first and a second quartz glass by mixing the two quartz glasses in the course of a homogenization treatment.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved blank such that an optical member of a high homogeneity can be obtained therefrom, and to provide a vessel and a heat treatment method for heat-treating a highly uniform synthetic quartz blank. In a first aspect of the invention a special designed blank is provided showing a concave shaped outer surface. In a second aspect of the invention a special designed vessel for heat-treating blanks is provided, whereby the degree of heat emission at the center is set higher than that of the surroundings.

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Gelnhausen, Germany

Stefan Ochs