A reticle carrier used in semiconductor manufacture. The carrier includes a bottom cover and a top cover having a transparent window. A protective lid may also be included. The box includes ports to allow nitrogen gas to enter and purge the inside. The transparent window is used for inspection and photochemical clean. However, since no material is available which can suitably handle smaller wavelength radiation, the reticle is removed from the carrier when exposure at these wavelengths is required.
A reticle carrier for an Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) reticle may include nested grids of electret fibers to provide active protection from contamination without a power supply. The reticle carrier may include in-line sensors for in-situ monitoring of contamination. Grids of electret fibers may also be used in an EUV pellicle.
With respect to a substrate conveyor apparatus that, being a substrate conveyor apparatus that carries substrate on which patterns are formed, carries the substrate in a state protected by a protective cover when the substrate is not used, a substrate conveyor apparatus having a cover protection means that covers the inner surface of the protective cover when the substrate is used.
A position measurement device 29 measures the position of a position measurement mark 26 formed on the lower surface of a reticle 1, thereby measuring the position of the reticle 1. A position measurement device 30 measures the position of the position measurement mark 27 formed on the lower surface of a lower lid 2b, thereby measuring the position of the lower lid 2b. The relative displacement of the reticle 1 and lower lid 2b is known when the position of the reticle 1 and the position of the lower lid 2b are known. Therefore, when the lower lid 2b having the reticle 1 loaded thereon is carried with a carrying device and set in an exposure device, the stop position of the lower lid 2b is determined by taking this displacement into account. As a result, the reticle 1 can be correctly set in the exposure device.
A substrate conveyor apparatus carries a substrate such as reticle. A substrate conveyance method and an exposure apparatus reliably adhere a substrate to the lower surface of a chuck. A movable stage can move in the horizontal direction and is equipped with a chuck having an adhesion surface that faces down for adhering a substrate. An up-down means equipped with an up-down table is positionable in a position below the substrate and within the movement range of the movable stage, and a conveyance means equipped with a conveyor arm carries the substrate to the up-down means.
A system and method are used to protect a mask from being contaminated by airborne particles. They include providing a reticle secured in a two-part cover. The two part cover includes a removable protection device used to protect the reticle from contaminants. The cover can be held inside a pod or box that can be used to transport the cover through a lithography system from an atmospheric section to a vacuum section. While in the vacuum section, the removable cover can be moved during an exposure process during which a pattern on the reticle can be formed on a wafer.
