Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US8149378?ie=ISO-8859-1
Timestamp: 2014-04-20 21:31:12
Document Index: 57835807

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 5', 'art 6', 'art 7', 'art 6', 'art 5', 'art 6', 'art 7', 'art 8']

Patent US8149378 - Cleaning apparatus for exposure apparatus and exposure apparatus - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inAdvanced Patent SearchPatentsA cleaning apparatus for an exposure apparatus that projects a pattern of an exposing mask onto a substrate with first light through an optical element is provided. The cleaning apparatus cleans the optical element with second light having a wavelength different from that of the first light, and includes...http://www.google.com/patents/US8149378?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US8149378 - Cleaning apparatus for exposure apparatus and exposure apparatusAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS8149378 B2Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 12/108,049Publication dateApr 3, 2012Filing dateApr 23, 2008Priority dateApr 27, 2007Also published asUS20080267815Publication number108049, 12108049, US 8149378 B2, US 8149378B2, US-B2-8149378, US8149378 B2, US8149378B2InventorsHideki Morishima, Takahiro Sasaki, Hiromitsu TakaseOriginal AssigneeCanon Kabushiki KaishaExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (35), Non-Patent Citations (1), Classifications (22), Legal Events (1) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetCleaning apparatus for exposure apparatus and exposure apparatusUS 8149378 B2Abstract A cleaning apparatus for an exposure apparatus that projects a pattern of an exposing mask onto a substrate with first light through an optical element is provided. The cleaning apparatus cleans the optical element with second light having a wavelength different from that of the first light, and includes a recording part configured to record information on exposure history of the exposure apparatus, and an information producing part configured to produce information on a cumulative irradiation light amount of the second light at each of regions in a predetermined cleaning area on the optical element, based on the information on the exposure history.
What is claimed is: 1. A cleaning apparatus to clean an optical element included in an exposure apparatus, wherein the exposure apparatus is configured to perform a mask pattern exposure process that utilizes the optical element to at least one of reflect and diffract an exposure light having a pattern of an exposing mask onto a substrate and, as a result of the mask pattern exposure process, contamination is left on the optical element, the cleaning apparatus comprising:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an exposure apparatus configured to expose a substrate such as a single crystal substrate for a semiconductor wafer and a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display (LCD) using ultra violet rays or extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light. More particularly, it relates to a cleaning apparatus configured to clean off, by using cleaning light, contamination such as carbon attached to optical elements installed in a projection optical system of the exposure apparatus.
As for relationships between the amount of the deposited carbon attached to the optical element (mirror) and the amount of the EUV light being irradiated onto the mirror, some research results have been reported. For example, �Modeling carbon contamination of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) optics,� SPIE vol. 5374, pp. 675-685, 2004 Jeromy T. Hollenshead et al, reports a result that the deposited carbon amount is proportional to the square root of an illuminance on a mirror surface. The relationships between the deposited carbon amount and the EUV light amount are changed depending on conditions of irradiation and atmosphere.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention proposes a cleaning apparatus configured to irradiate cleaning light of an appropriate light amount onto the optical element without directly researching the deposition state of the contamination on the optical element, and an exposure apparatus including the same.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an exposure apparatus incorporating a cleaning apparatus that is a first embodiment (Embodiment 1) of the present invention.
FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an exposure apparatus including a cleaning apparatus that is a first embodiment (Embodiment 1) of the present invention. The exposure apparatus 100 includes an exposure illumination system 3, a projection optical system 1, a mask stage (not shown), a wafer stage (not shown), and a cleaning apparatus 150. An exposing mask 2 is fixed on the mask stage, and a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, referred to simply as �wafer�) 4 is fixed on the wafer stage as a substrate. In place of the semiconductor wafer 4, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display (LCD) may be used as the substrate.
The projection optical system 1 includes a plurality of reflective optical elements, which are mirrors M1 to M6. The mirrors M1 to M6 sequentially reflect the illumination light (exposure light) that has been reflected or diffracted by the exposing mask 2 to lead it to the wafer 4. With this processing, a reduced image of a pattern of the exposing mask 2 is projected onto the wafer 4, and thereby a pattern of an integrated circuit and the like corresponding to the pattern of the exposing mask 2 is exposed on the wafer 4. Hereunder, exposing the pattern on the wafer 4 is referred to as �wafer exposure�.
The exposure-history recording part 5 automatically records information on an exposure history (hereinafter, referred to as �exposure history information�) in the exposure mode (step S30 in FIG. 2). The exposure history information records sufficient information for the exposure-light-amount analyzing part 6 and the deposition-distribution analyzing part 7 to calculate a cumulative exposure light amount distribution and a deposition amount distribution of contamination such as carbon attached to each of the mirrors M1 to M6 due to irradiation of the exposure light to the mirrors M1 to M6. Specifically, the exposure history information includes, as information elements, the pattern of the exposing mask 2, irradiation conditions of the exposure light such as the intensity and the amount of the EUV light, and atmosphere of a space including the mirrors M1 to M6 (projection optical system 1).
The exposure-light-amount analyzing part 6 calculates the cumulative light amount distribution of the EUV light (cumulative exposure light amount distribution) on each mirror based on the pattern of the exposing mask 2, the irradiation conditions of the EUV light to be irradiated onto the exposing mask 2, and the like among the elements of the exposure history information (step S31). The cumulative light amount distribution of the EUV light on each mirror corresponds to a time-integral value of the EUV light amount at each region on each mirror. A plurality of �regions� are set in an area where cleaning is to be performed (a predetermined cleaning area) in the cleaning mode of each mirror. A method for setting the �regions� is arbitrary, however, the plurality of the same �regions� are set for the same mirror in the exposure-history recording part 5, the exposure-light-amount analyzing part 6, the deposition-distribution analyzing part 7, and the cleaning-light-amount analyzing part 8.
As described above, the reflectance of each mirror for the EUV light is different from that for the cleaning light formed of the ultra violet rays having a wavelength of 172 nm. A multilayer film optimized for the EUV light has a reflectance of approximately 67 percent for the EUV light. However, for the cleaning light (172 nm), it has a reflectance of approximately � to ⅓ of that for the EUV light.
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having a publication date of Mar. 29, 2006.Classifications U.S. Classification355/30, 355/55, 355/67, 355/77, 355/53International ClassificationG03B27/52, G03B27/54, G03B27/32, G03B27/42, H01L21/027Cooperative ClassificationG03F1/82, G03F1/24, G03F7/70925, G21K1/06, B82Y10/00, B82Y40/00European ClassificationG03F1/24, G03F1/82, B82Y10/00, G21K1/06, G03F7/70P8D, B82Y40/00Legal EventsDateCodeEventDescriptionJun 24, 2008ASAssignmentOwner name: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA, JAPANFree format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:MORISHIMA, HIDEKI;SASAKI, TAKAHIRO;TAKASE, HIROMITSU;REEL/FRAME:021139/0199;SIGNING DATES FROM 20080507 TO 20080528Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:MORISHIMA, HIDEKI;SASAKI, TAKAHIRO;TAKASE, HIROMITSU;SIGNING DATES FROM 20080507 TO 20080528;REEL/FRAME:021139/0199RotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent 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