Apparatus and methods for photomask backside cleaning

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9864283-B2
Application number	US-201514945319-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 18, 2015
Priority date	Nov 18, 2015
Publication date	Jan 9, 2018
Grant date	Jan 9, 2018

Abstract

Apparatus for cleaning a photo mask includes a rotor in a head, with the rotor having a seal plate having a central opening, a resilient mask seal in the central opening, and retractors attached to the resilient mask seal and adapted to move the resilient mask seal into open and closed positions. A motor in the head rotates the rotor. A push plate in the head moves to operate the retractors. In the closed position the resilient mask seal seals against the sides of the photo mask. The back side of the photo mask can then be cleaned without affecting the patterned front side of the photo mask.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A rotor for holding a photo mask, comprising:
a seal plate having a central opening;
a shaft plate rigidly attached to the seal plate with the shaft plate rotatable about a rotation axis;
a resilient mask seal in the central opening, with the resilient mask seal having first, second, third and fourth sides; and
first, second, third and fourth retractors each including a retractor frame attached to the resilient mask seal, and with each retractor including a spring which continuously urges the retractor frame in an inward radial direction to move the resilient mask seal into a closed position;
at least one actuator movable in a direction parallel to the rotation axis, and with movement of the at least one actuator driving the retractors to move in an outward radial direction, perpendicular to the rotation axis, to move the resilient mask seal into an open position.

2. The rotor of claim 1 with the first and third sides of the resilient mask seal have equal lengths and are perpendicular to the second and fourth sides of the resilient mask seal.

3. The rotor of claim 2 with the first, second, third and fourth retractor frames each having an inner end and an outer end, and with first, second, third and fourth retractor bars at the inner end of the first, second, third and fourth retractor frames, respectively, and the inner end of each retractor bar attached to the resilient mask seal.

4. The rotor of claim 1 with the resilient mask seal having a upper rim attached to the seal plate and a lower rim attached to the shaft plate, and with first, second, third and fourth retractor bars in between the upper rim and the lower rim of the resilient mask seal.

5. The rotor of claim 4 further including a gas nozzle at a center of the shaft plate.

6. The rotor of claim 1 wherein the seal plate is round.

7. Apparatus for cleaning a photo mask, comprising:
a head;
a rotor in the head, with the rotor having a seal plate having a central opening, a resilient mask seal concentric with the rotor, the resilient mask seal in the central opening, and retractors attached to the resilient mask seal and adapted to move the resilient mask seal into an open position;
a spring associated with each retractor for urging that retractor to move the resilient mask seal into a closed position;
a motor in the head linked to the rotor for spinning the resilient mask seal about a central axis of the seal plate;
at least one actuator in the head adapted to operate the retractors;
wherein with the at least one actuator in a first position, the resilient mask seal is in the closed position for sealing against a photo mask, and wherein with the at least one actuator in a second position, the resilient mask seal is in the open position.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 further including a lift/rotate apparatus attached to the head, with the lift/rotate apparatus operable to vertically lift and lower the head, and to rotate the head into a face-up orientation and into a face-down orientation, for moving the head into a process position wherein the head is in the face-up orientation and is engaged with a chamber sidewall for cleaning a photo mask in the rotor, and with the lift/rotate apparatus operable to move the head into a load/unload position, below the process position, for loading and unloading a photo mask into and out of the rotor, wherein the head is in the face-down orientation while in the load/unload position.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 further including a holder having pins and with the holder supported on a lifter and movable vertically via operation of the lifter into an up position for transferring the photo mask to the rotor while the head is in the load/unload position, and with the holder movable vertically via operation of the lifter into a down position, for receiving the photo mask from, or transferring the photo mask to, a robot.

10. The apparatus of claim 8 with the head including a rotor housing and further including a seal on the rotor housing forming a seal against the chamber sidewall, when the head is in the process position.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 further including a nozzle on a swing arm movable over the rotor when the head is in the process position.

12. The apparatus of claim 8 with the resilient mask seal forming a seal against the sides of the photo mask, and with the resilient mask seal not touching the front or back surfaces of the photo mask, when the resilient mask seal is in the closed position.

13. The apparatus of claim 7 with the resilient mask seal having first, second, third and fourth straight sides, and with movement of the at least one actuator in an axial direction from the first position to the second position causing the first, second, third and fourth sides to simultaneously move outwardly by 0.5 to 5 mm.

14. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the seal plate is round and the resilient mask seal is square and is concentric with the seal plate.

15. Cleaning apparatus comprising:
a head supported on a lift/rotate apparatus operable to vertically lift and lower the head, and to rotate the head into a face-up orientation and into a face-down orientation;
a rotor in the head, the rotor including a seal plate having a resilient mask seal;
first, second, third and fourth retractors attached to the resilient mask seal;
a motor in the head linked to the rotor for spinning the rotor about a rotation axis;
one or more actuators in the head movable in a direction parallel to the rotation axis, and with movement of the actuators causing the first, second, third and fourth retractors to move radially outward, in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis.

16. The cleaning apparatus of claim 15 wherein the resilient mask seal is concentric with the seal plate.

17. The cleaning apparatus of claim 15 further comprising a spring biasing each retractor inwardly towards the rotation axis.

Assignees

• Applied Materials Inc

Inventors

• Rye Jason
• Hanson Kyle Moran

Classifications

• H10P72/7608

  characterised by a plurality of separate clamping members, e.g. clamping fingers · CPC title

• G03F7/707

  Chucks, e.g. chucking or un-chucking operations or structural details · CPC title

• G03F1/82 Primary

  Auxiliary processes, e.g. cleaning or inspecting · CPC title

• G03F7/70925 Primary

  Cleaning, i.e. actively freeing apparatus from pollutants, e.g. using plasma cleaning · CPC title

• B08B11/02

  Devices for holding articles during cleaning {(B08B9/42 takes precedence)} · CPC title