Patent ID: 11966165
Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY LTD.
Field: Surface technology, coating (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC G  C | IPC C  G

Claim 11:
12. A method, comprising:
forming a bottom lens for use in an immersion exposure tool and for being mounted to an immersion hood that has an opening between the bottom lens and a substrate such that tapered sidewalls of the bottom lens are aligned with tapered sidewalls of the immersion hood and such that straight sidewalls of the bottom les are aligned with tapered sidewalls of the immersion hood; and
forming a hydrophobic coating on an entire portion of the tapered sidewalls of the bottom lens, to prevent direct contact between a processing fluid and at least a portion of the bottom lens, while refraining from forming the hydrophobic coating on a bottom surface of the bottom lens such that the bottom surface of the bottom lens is free from the hydrophobic coating,
wherein an angle of the tapered sidewalls of the bottom lens is based on at least two of:
an exposure field size range of the immersion exposure tool,
a size of one or more lens components included in upper portion and in a lower portion of the bottom lens, or
a size reduction in a pattern that is to be transferred to the substrate as the pattern is carried by a radiation from a project lens through the bottom lens.