Patents Examined by Mesfin T Asfaw
  • Methods of determining stress in a substrate, control system for controlling a lithographic process, lithographic apparatus and computer program product
    Patent number: 11300888
    Abstract: A method and control system for determining stress in a substrate. The method includes determining a measured position difference between a measured position of at least one first feature and a measured position of at least one second feature which have been applied on a substrate, and determining local stress in the substrate from the measured position difference.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 7, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2022
    Assignee: ASML Netherlands B.V.
    Inventors: Richard Johannes Franciscus Van Haren, Leon Paul Van Dijk, Ilya Malakhovsky, Ronald Henricus Johannes Otten
  • End facet protection for a radiation source and a method for use in metrology applications
    Patent number: 11287747
    Abstract: A system and method for providing a radiation source is disclosed. In one arrangement, the radiation source includes a gas cell having a window, an optical fiber that is hollow and has an axial direction, an end thereof being enclosed within the gas cell and optically coupled to the window via an optical path, and a surface, disposed around the end of the optical fiber, and extending past the end of the optical fiber in the axial direction towards the window so as to limit one or more selected from: the exchange of gas between the optical path and the remainder of the gas cell, ingress of plasma towards or into the optical fiber, and/or radical flux towards etch-susceptible surfaces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2022
    Assignee: ASML Netherlands B.V.
    Inventors: Andrey Nikipelov, Patrick Sebastian Uebel, Amir Abdolvand, Sebastian Thomas Bauerschmidt, Peter Maximilian Götz, Natallia Eduardauna Uzunbajakava
  • Configuring optical layers in imprint lithography processes
    Patent number: 11281109
    Abstract: An imprint lithography method of configuring an optical layer includes selecting one or more parameters of a nanolayer to be applied to a substrate for changing an effective refractive index of the substrate and imprinting the nanolayer on the substrate to change the effective refractive index of the substrate such that a relative amount of light transmittable through the substrate is changed by a selected amount.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2022
    Assignee: Magic Leap, Inc.
    Inventors: Vikramjit Singh, Michael Nevin Miller, Frank Y. Xu, Shuqiang Yang
  • Excimer laser apparatus and method for manufacturing electronic device
    Patent number: 11271361
    Abstract: An excimer laser apparatus according to the present disclosure includes a chamber configured to accommodate a laser gas and a pair of electrodes and generate pulse-oscillating laser light when the gas pressure of the laser gas is controlled in accordance with voltage applied between the pair of electrodes, a power supply configured to apply the voltage between the pair of electrodes, and a controller to which a target value of the spectral linewidth of the laser light is inputted, the controller configured to correct the voltage used to control the gas pressure, when the target value changes from a first target value to a second target value, based on a first function having the second target value as a parameter and control the gas pressure in accordance with the corrected voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2022
    Assignee: Gigaphoton Inc.
    Inventors: Keisuke Ishida, Satoshi Komuro, Hiroshi Furusato
  • Particle removal from wafer table and photomask
    Patent number: 11269261
    Abstract: A system includes a frame, a projection lens, a wafer table, and a cleaner. The frame has an opening vertically extending through the frame. The projection lens is disposed on the frame. The wafer table is below the frame, in which the wafer table is movable along a horizontal direction. The cleaner is over the frame, in which the cleaner comprises a sticky structure movable along a vertical direction and through the opening of the frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2022
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Min-Cheng Wu, Chi-Hung Liao
  • Method of cleaning extreme ultraviolet lithography collector
    Patent number: 11262659
    Abstract: A method of cleaning an extreme ultraviolet lithography collector includes applying a cleaning composition to a surface of the extreme ultraviolet lithography collector having debris on the surface of the collector in an extreme ultraviolet radiation source chamber. The cleaning composition includes: a major solvent having Hansen solubility parameters of 25>?d>15, 25>?p>10, and 30>?h>6; and an acid having an acid dissociation constant, pKa, of ?15<pKa<4. The debris is removed from the surface of the collector and the cleaning composition is removed from the extreme ultraviolet radiation source chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2022
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: An-Ren Zi, Chin-Hsiang Lin, Ching-Yu Chang
  • System and method for protecting optics from vacuum ultraviolet light
    Patent number: 11262664
    Abstract: A system for mitigating damage to optical elements caused by vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) light exposure is disclosed. The system includes a light source configured to generate VUV and a chamber containing one or more gaseous fluorine-based compounds of a selected partial pressure. The system includes one or more optical elements. The one or more optical elements are located within the chamber and are exposed to the one or more gaseous fluorine-based compounds. The VUV light generated by the light source is of sufficient energy to dissociate the fluorine-based compound within the chamber into a primary product.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2022
    Assignee: KLA Corporation
    Inventors: Matthew Derstine, John Savee, Evgeniia Butaeva, Serguei Likhanski, Gildardo Delgado
  • Monitoring container transfer device on lowering container onto transport platform or lifting away from transport platform
    Patent number: 11262189
    Abstract: A method and optical detection equipment for monitoring a container transfer device on lowering a container onto or lifting away from a transport platform. The container, its pin holes' position and the position of the lock pins of the transport platform are determined by the optical detection equipment, which includes a group of optical detection devices measuring obliquely from up the container and the transport platform during lowering or lifting of the container such that positions of the container and the lock pins are determined based on the measurement of the same optical detection devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2022
    Assignee: Konecranes Global Oy
    Inventors: Ville Mannari, Teemu Paasikivi
  • Image sensor, position sensor device, lithography system, and method for operating an image sensor
    Patent number: 11262660
    Abstract: An image sensor for a position sensor apparatus for ascertaining a position of at least one mirror of a lithography apparatus includes: a plurality of integrated optical waveguides; a plurality of incoupling areas; a multiplexer apparatus; and an image reconstruction apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2022
    Assignee: Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH
    Inventors: Jan Horn, Ulrich Bihr, Andy Zott, Markus Deguenther
  • Device for detecting a defect on a surface using multidirectional lighting
    Patent number: 11262314
    Abstract: A device for detecting a defect on a surface including an optical device (14) suitable for acquiring an image of the surface in a given optical direction, a lighting device (15) comprising a plurality of light sources (16), the light sources (16) being arranged in a hemisphere (20), each light source (16) having an off and an on state, an electronic calculation device (18). The electronic calculation device (18) is able to control the optical device (14) and the lighting device (15) so that the optical device (14) acquires a plurality of images of the surface, different light sources (16) or different combinations of light sources (16) being switched on for each image, the hemisphere (20) having a diameter D smaller than or equal to 50 mm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2022
    Assignee: FRAMATOME
    Inventor: Clément Skopinski
  • Vibration isolation system and lithographic apparatus
    Patent number: 11249403
    Abstract: A vibration isolation system including a support, a forward actuator and a return device. The support is for supporting the body on a base. The support has a body engaging surface and a base engaging surface. The base engaging surface is arranged to couple to the base. The support couples the body engaging surface to the body in a coupled state. The support uncouples the body engaging surface from the body in an uncoupled state. The forward actuator moves the body and the body engaging surface together relatively to the base in a first direction from a first initial position to an end position in the coupled state. The return device is configured to move the body engaging surface relatively to the body opposite to the first direction from the end position to a second initial position in the uncoupled state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: ASML Netherlands B.V.
    Inventors: Franciscus Maria Joannes Linssen, Hubertus Renier Maria Van Lierop
  • System for making accurate grating patterns using multiple writing columns each making multiple scans
    Patent number: 11243480
    Abstract: A lithography system for generating grating structures is provided having a multiple column imaging system located on a bridge capable of moving in a cross-scan direction, a mask having a grating pattern with a fixed spatial frequency located in an object plane of the imaging system, a multiple line alignment mark aligned to the grating pattern and having a fixed spatial frequency, a platen configured to hold and scan a substrate, a scanning system configured to move the platen over a distance greater than a desired length of the grating pattern on the substrate, a longitudinal encoder scale attached to the platen and oriented in a scan direction and at least two encoder scales attached to the platen and arrayed in the cross-scan direction wherein the scales contain periodically spaced alignment marks having a fixed spatial frequency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2022
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: David Markle, Hwan J. Jeong
  • Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
    Patent number: 11237490
    Abstract: An apparatus including an illumination system to condition a radiation beam, a support to support a patterning device, the patterning device capable of imparting the radiation beam with a pattern in its cross-section to form a patterned radiation beam, a substrate table constructed to hold a substrate, a projection system to project the patterned radiation beam onto a target portion of the substrate, and a control system configured to: receive pattern data characterizing a pattern distribution, receive radiation data characterizing the radiation beam, determine a dissipation distribution of the pattern based on the pattern data and the radiation data, determine deformation of the pattern by applying the dissipation distribution in a thermo-mechanical model of the patterning device, and determine a control signal to control a component of the apparatus based on the deformation of the pattern.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2022
    Assignee: ASML Netherlands B.V.
    Inventors: Bearrach Moest, Lowell Lane Baker, James Robert Downes, Wijnand Hoitinga, Hermen Folken Pen
  • In-situ light detection methods and apparatus for ultraviolet semiconductor substrate processing
    Patent number: 11215934
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus for detecting ultraviolet light are provided herein. For example, an ultraviolet (UV) process chamber includes a vacuum window or a transparent showerhead; a UV light source disposed above one of the vacuum window or the transparent showerhead and configured to generate and transmit UV light into a process volume of the UV process chamber; and a first UV sensor configured to measure at least one of emissivity from the UV light source or irradiance of the UV light transmitted into the process volume and to transmit a signal corresponding to a measured at least one of emissivity from the UV light source or irradiance of the UV light to a controller coupled to the UV process chamber during operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 4, 2022
    Assignee: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: Ralph Peter Antonio, Shuran Sheng, Lin Zhang, Joseph C. Werner
  • Magnification compensation and/or beam steering in optical systems
    Patent number: 11209635
    Abstract: Techniques are disclosed for magnification compensation and/or beam steering in optical systems. An optical system may include a lens system to receive first radiation associated with an object and direct second radiation associated with an image of the object toward an image plane. The lens system may include a set of lenses, and an actuator system to selectively adjust the set of lenses to adjust a magnification associated with the image symmetrically along a first and a second direction. The lens system may also include a beam steering lens to direct the first radiation to provide the second radiation. In some examples, the lens system may also include a second set of lenses, where the actuator system may also selectively adjust the second set of lenses to adjust the magnification along the first or the second direction. Related methods are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 16, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2021
    Assignee: SUSS MICROTEC PHOTONIC SYSTEMS INC.
    Inventors: Yanrong Yuan, John Bjorkman, Paul Ferrari, Jeff Hansen
  • High stability collimator assembly, lithographic apparatus, and method
    Patent number: 11204559
    Abstract: A lithography system comprises an illumination system configured to produce abeam of radiation, a support configured to support a patterning device configured to impart a pattern on the beam, a projection system configured to project the patterned beam onto a substrate, and an alignment system comprising an illuminator. The illuminator comprises an optical fiber, an optical fiber protector (714), an optical fiber support (700) comprising a first support arm assembly configured to support the optical fiber protector, an optical system, and an optical system support comprising a second support arm assembly configured to support the optical system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 21, 2021
    Assignee: ASML Holdings N.V.
    Inventors: David Taub, Joseph Ashwin Franklin, Jeffrey John Kowalski
  • Reflective optical element for EUV lithography and method for adapting a geometry of a component
    Patent number: 11199780
    Abstract: A reflective optical element (1) for reflecting light having at least one wavelength in an EUV wavelength range has an optically effective region configured for reflecting the light incident on a surface (2) of the optically effective region. The reflective optical element (1) has an edge (4) forming at least part of a boundary of an edge-free surface (3) of the reflective optical element (1), wherein the edge-free surface (3) includes the surface (2) of the optically effective region. The edge (4) has a chamfer and/or a rounding. Also disclosed is a method for adapting a geometry of at least one surface region of a component of an optical arrangement, for example of a reflective optical element (1).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 3, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 14, 2021
    Assignee: CARL ZEISS SMT GMBH
    Inventor: Udo Dinger
  • Lithographic process and apparatus and inspection process and apparatus
    Patent number: 11199782
    Abstract: A lithographic apparatus and associated method of controlling a lithographic process. The lithographic apparatus has a controller configured to define a control grid associated with positioning of a substrate within the lithographic apparatus. The control grid is based on a device layout, associated with a patterning device, defining a device pattern which is to be, and/or has been, applied to the substrate in a lithographic process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 14, 2021
    Assignee: ASML Netherlands B.V.
    Inventors: Wim Tjibbo Tel, Hans Erik Kattouw, Valerio Altini, Bearrach Moest
  • Exposure method, exposure apparatus, method of manufacturing article, and measurement method
    Patent number: 11194257
    Abstract: The present invention provides an exposure method of exposing a substrate while moving an original and the substrate in a scanning direction, the method including performing a step of specifying a position of a concave-convex portion present in the substrate, and performing a step of driving the substrate, based on the position of the concave-convex portion specified and a measurement value of the position in the height direction of each measurement point obtained by causing a light beam to obliquely enter each of a plurality of measurement points while moving the substrate in the scanning direction, so that the position in the height direction of the substrate will be a target position, when exposing the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2021
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Masaki Tai
  • Optical distortion reduction in projection systems
    Patent number: 11175487
    Abstract: Techniques are disclosed for optical distortion reduction in projection systems for scanning projection and/or lithography. A projection system includes an illumination system configured to generate illumination radiation for generating an image of an object to be projected onto an image plane of the projection system. The illumination system includes a field omitting illumination condenser configured to receive the illumination radiation from a radiation source and provide a patterned illumination radiation beam to generate the image of the object, wherein the patterned illumination radiation beam comprises an omitted illumination portion corresponding to a ridge line of a roof prism disposed within an optical path of the projection system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2021
    Assignee: SUSS MICROTEC PHOTONIC SYSTEMS INC.
    Inventors: Paul Ferrari, Yanrong Yuan, Jeff Hansen, Gerrad Killion