Patent · US Active

High throughput wafer stage design for optical lithography exposure apparatus

US7659965B2 · kind B2 · utility

1Cited by
2References
18Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateOct 6, 2006
Grant dateFeb 9, 2010
Priority date—
Expiry dateNov 19, 2027

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG03F9/7084
  • WIPO fieldOptics
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

An optical lithography exposure apparatus which may be a stepper or a scanner, provides a wafer chuck that retains a wafer and at least one opaque exposure shield that extends over a discrete peripheral edge portion of the wafer thereby preventing illumination from exposing the portion of the wafer beneath the exposure shield. In a positive photoresist system, the portions of the wafer blocked from exposure by the shields, include alignment marks and the unexposed photoresist remains over the alignment marks thereby protecting the alignment marks from destruction or damage during subsequent patterning operations used to form patterns in the film being patterned.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.