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:
Dec. 02, 2014
Filed:
Mar. 26, 2012
I-hsiung Huang, Hsinchu County, TW;
Heng-hsin Liu, New Taipei, TW;
Heng-jen Lee, Hsinchu County, TW;
Chin-hsiang Lin, Hsinchu, TW;
I-Hsiung Huang, Hsinchu County, TW;
Heng-Hsin Liu, New Taipei, TW;
Heng-Jen Lee, Hsinchu County, TW;
Chin-Hsiang Lin, Hsinchu, TW;
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Hsin-Chu, TW;
Abstract
The present disclosure relates to a lithographic tool arrangement for semiconductor workpiece processing. The lithographic tool arrangement groups lithographic tools into clusters, and selectively transfers a semiconductor workpiece between a plurality of lithographic tools of a first type in a first cluster to a plurality of lithographic tools of a second type in a second cluster. The selective transfer is achieved though a transfer assembly, which is coupled to a defect scan tool that identifies defects generated in the lithographic tool of the first type. The disclosed lithographic tool arrangement also utilizes shared structural elements such as a housing assembly, and shared functional elements such as gases and chemicals. The lithographic tool arrangement may consist of baking, coating, exposure, and development units configured to provide a modularization of these various components in order to optimize throughput and efficiency for a given lithographic fabrication process.