PATENT CLAIM ANALYSIS

Application Number: 16226731
Application Type: Utility
Filing Date: 2018-12
Publication Date: 2019-04
Patent Classification: ["355", "030000"]

Abstract:
A new way of drying and/or wetting a surface, such as a top surface of a substrate, is disclosed which is useful in immersion lithography. The surface is placed under a single phase extractor and a priming liquid is delivered between the single phase extractor and the surface. The single phase extractor is only activated after the priming liquid has been provided between the single phase extractor and the surface. Priming liquid is delivered to the single phase extractor during the whole of the drying and/or wetting process.

Claim (Index 19):
An apparatus comprising:\n an outlet connected to an under pressure source, and 1) the outlet is covered by a porous material to allow single phase extraction of liquid from the surface, and further comprising a liquid supply system configured to continually provide liquid to a space between the outlet and the surface to maintain liquid contact between the porous material and the surface and further comprising a gas knife positioned to pass a given point after the outlet passes the given point and wherein an inlet of the liquid supply system is surrounded by the outlet, or 2) the outlet comprises a plurality of outlets arranged in a line and each connected to the under pressure source, and further comprising a liquid supply system configured to continually provide a priming liquid to the surface on a side of the line of outlets, or 3) an inlet configured to create a flow of gas over, and substantially parallel to, the surface, and comprising a further inlet configured to create a flow of gas over, and substantially parallel to, the surface, the further inlet being on an opposite side of the outlet to the inlet, and wherein the gas exiting the inlet is a gas which will not react with an organic fluid, and wherein the gas comprises N 2 , and wherein the gas exiting the inlet is dried gas, and further comprising a heater to heat gas exiting the inlet prior to exiting the inlet.

Metadata:
- Claim Count in Document: 55.0
- Percentile: 98.0
- Lexical Diversity: 2.08889
- Patent Class: 355.0
- Transitional Phrase Type: open
- Component Type: 1
- Foreign Priority: False
- Related Applications: ['11984825', '15495548', '14792143', '12408392', '12901939']

Analysis Scores:
- 35 USC 101 Eligibility (BERT): 0.6728160609991667
- 35 USC 102 Novelty (BERT): 0.5062415712313084
- Combined Prediction Score: 0.6561586120223809
- Mean Citation Score: 259.882384
- Max Citation Score: 319.99905
- Similarity Product: 272.7104483230233

Labels:
- Claim Label 101: 1
- Claim Label 102: 1
- Claim Label 103: 1
- Claim Label 112: 1
- Combined Label: 1
- Label 101 Adjusted: 1

Dataset: test