IP Library Granted Patent US 11,044,799
Granted Patent B2
US 11,044,799 · App. 16/898,229 · Granted Jun 22, 2021

Extreme ultraviolet light generation apparatus and electronic device manufacturing method

Inventor: Tsutomu Kashiwazaki (Oyama, JP)
Assignee: Gigaphoton Inc.
H05G2/008G03F7/2043G03F7/70033G03F7/70925H05G2/003
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,044,799
App. No.
16/898,229
Granted
Jun 22, 2021
Kind
B2
Abstract

An extreme ultraviolet light generation apparatus includes a chamber ( 10 ) having an internal space in which extreme ultraviolet light is generated when a target substance supplied to the internal space is irradiated with a laser beam ( 301 ), a gas supply unit ( 63 ) configured to supply etching gas to the internal space, a discharge unit ( 61 ) configured to discharge residual gas from the internal space, a pressure sensor ( 26 ) configured to measure a pressure in the internal space, and a control unit ( 20 ), and the control unit ( 20 ) may predict a time until the pressure in the internal space reaches a predetermined pressure by using a relation between an elapsed time since start of a predetermined duration including a duration in which the extreme ultraviolet light is generated and a pressure measured in the predetermined duration.

Claims (44)

1. An extreme ultraviolet light generation apparatus comprising:

a chamber having an internal space in which extreme ultraviolet light is generated when a target substance supplied to the internal space is irradiated with a laser beam;

a gas supply unit configured to supply etching gas to the internal space;

a discharge unit configured to discharge residual gas from the internal space;

a pressure sensor configured to measure a pressure in the internal space; and

a control unit,

the control unit being configured to predict a time until the pressure in the internal space reaches a predetermined pressure by using a relation between an elapsed time since start of a predetermined duration including a duration in which the extreme ultraviolet light is generated and the pressure measured in the predetermined duration.

2. The extreme ultraviolet light generation apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising an output unit, wherein the control unit outputs information based on the predicted time to the output unit.

3. The extreme ultraviolet light generation apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the control unit outputs specific information to the output unit when the measured pressure is higher than the predetermined pressure.

4. The extreme ultraviolet light generation apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein, when outputting the specific information to the output unit, the control unit outputs information indicating accumulation of substances attributable to the target substance in the discharge unit to the output unit.

5. The extreme ultraviolet light generation apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the control unit outputs specific information to the output unit when a change rate of the pressure for a predetermined time exceeds a predetermined change rate.

6. The extreme ultraviolet light generation apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein, when outputting the specific information to the output unit, the control unit outputs information indicating occurrence of unexpected anomaly to the output unit.

7. The extreme ultraviolet light generation apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit calculates the relation by using a least-square method from the pressure measured a plurality of times and the elapsed time until each pressure is measured.

8. The extreme ultraviolet light generation apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a memory in which a plurality of pieces of information including the relation between the elapsed time and the pressure are recorded, wherein

the control unit predicts the time until the internal space reaches the predetermined pressure by using the information including the relation recorded in the memory to which the relation between the elapsed time since the start of the predetermined duration and the pressure measured in the predetermined duration is closest.

9. An extreme ultraviolet light generation apparatus comprising:

a chamber having an internal space in which extreme ultraviolet light is generated when a target substance supplied to the internal space is irradiated with a laser beam;

a gas supply unit configured to supply etching gas to the internal space;

a discharge unit configured to discharge residual gas from the internal space;

a pressure sensor configured to measure a pressure in the internal space; and

a control unit,

the control unit being configured to predict a number of repetitions of light emission operation of the extreme ultraviolet light until the pressure in the internal space reaches a predetermined pressure by using a relation between the number of repetitions of light emission operation of the extreme ultraviolet light since start of a predetermined duration including a duration in which the extreme ultraviolet light is generated and the pressure measured in the predetermined duration.

10. The extreme ultraviolet light generation apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the control unit sets the number of repetitions of light emission operation to be a number of repetitions of light emission of the extreme ultraviolet light.

11. The extreme ultraviolet light generation apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the control unit sets the number of repetitions of light emission operation to be a number of emission signals input to a light source configured to emit the laser beam.

12. The extreme ultraviolet light generation apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the control unit sets the number of repetitions of light emission operation to be a number of repetitions of light emission of the laser beam.

13. The extreme ultraviolet light generation apparatus according to claim 9 , further comprising an output unit, wherein the control unit outputs information based on the predicted number of repetitions to the output unit.

14. The extreme ultraviolet light generation apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein the control unit outputs specific information to the output unit when the measured pressure is higher than the predetermined pressure.

15. The extreme ultraviolet light generation apparatus according to claim 14 , wherein, when outputting the specific information to the output unit, the control unit outputs information indicating accumulation of substances attributable to the target substance in the discharge unit to the output unit.

16. The extreme ultraviolet light generation apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein the control unit outputs specific information to the output unit when a change rate of the pressure for a predetermined increase value of the number of repetitions of light emission operation exceeds a predetermined change rate.

17. The extreme ultraviolet light generation apparatus according to claim 16 , wherein, when outputting the specific information to the output unit, the control unit outputs information indicating occurrence of unexpected anomaly to the output unit.

18. The extreme ultraviolet light generation apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the control unit calculates the relation by using a least-square method from the pressure measured a plurality of times and the number of repetitions of light emission operation until each pressure is measured.

19. The extreme ultraviolet light generation apparatus according to claim 9 , further comprising a memory in which a plurality of pieces of information including the relation between the number of repetitions of light emission operation and the pressure are recorded, wherein

the control unit predicts the number of repetitions of light emission operation of the extreme ultraviolet light until the internal space reaches the predetermined pressure by using the information including the relation recorded in the memory to which the relation between the number of repetitions of light emission operation of the extreme ultraviolet light since start of the predetermined duration and the pressure measured in the predetermined duration is closest.

20. An electronic device manufacturing method comprising:

generating extreme ultraviolet light by an extreme ultraviolet light generation apparatus;

outputting the extreme ultraviolet light to an exposure apparatus; and

exposing a photosensitive substrate to the extreme ultraviolet light in the exposure apparatus to manufacture an electronic device,

the extreme ultraviolet light generation apparatus including:

a chamber having an internal space in which extreme ultraviolet light is generated when a target substance supplied to the internal space is irradiated with a laser beam;

a gas supply unit configured to supply etching gas to the internal space;

a discharge unit configured to discharge residual gas from the internal space;

a pressure sensor configured to measure a pressure in the internal space; and

a control unit,

the control unit being configured to predict a number of repetitions of light emission operation of the extreme ultraviolet light until the pressure in the internal space reaches a predetermined pressure by using a relation between the number of repetitions of light emission operation of the extreme ultraviolet light since start of a predetermined duration including a duration in which the extreme ultraviolet light is generated and the pressure measured in the predetermined duration.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 10, 2020
From: KASHIWAZAKI, TSUTOMU
To: GIGAPHOTON INC.
Reel/Frame 052900/0621 →
Continuity (2)
Continuation PCTJP2018003011 · Jan 30, 2018
Related Publication 20200305264A1 · Sep 24, 2020