The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 10, 2014
Filed:
Apr. 24, 2008
Keiichi Tanaka, Saitama, JP;
Yukio Kakizaki, Yokohama, JP;
Keiichi Tanaka, Saitama, JP;
Yukio Kakizaki, Yokohama, JP;
Nikon Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
The upper end of a static gas bearing member of a wafer side seal unit is connected to an edge section on the outgoing side of an exposure beam of a chamber in an air tight state via bellows, and the lower end surface is in a state forming a predetermined clearance with a wafer and a wafer holder. By this arrangement, the inside of the chamber is isolated from the outside. Accordingly, it becomes possible to maintain a vacuum environment in the periphery of the optical path of the exposure beam without arranging a vacuum chamber to house a wafer, a wafer holder, and a wafer stage, which allows the size of the entire exposure apparatus to be reduced, and also makes it easy to have access to the vicinity of the wafer stage.