US 11,953,839 B2
Highly efficient automatic particle cleaner method for EUV systems
Shih-Yu Tu, Zhubei (TW); Shao-Hua Wang, Taoyuan (TW); Yen-Hao Liu, Hsinchu (TW); Chueh-Chi Kuo, Kaohsiung (TW); Li-Jui Chen, Hsinchu (TW); and Heng-Hsin Liu, New Taipei (TW)
Assigned to TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD., Hsinchu (TW)
Filed by TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD., Hsinchu (TW)
Filed on Dec. 5, 2022, as Appl. No. 18/075,181.
Application 18/075,181 is a continuation of application No. 17/461,456, filed on Aug. 30, 2021, granted, now 11,520,246, issued on Dec. 6, 2022.
Prior Publication US 2023/0099309 A1, Mar. 30, 2023
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. G03F 7/00 (2006.01)
CPC G03F 7/70925 (2013.01) 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method, comprising:
directing one or more first jets of air, entering into a chamber of a wafer table, to impinge onto walls and one or more components in the chamber to extract one or more particles from surfaces of the walls and the one or more components;
directing the entered air and the extracted one or more particles as a first stream of air to an air filter system outside the chamber of the wafer table to clean the first stream of air;
recycling the cleaned first stream of air into the chamber of the wafer table when a number of particles in the first stream of air is below a first threshold and an amount of organic material in the first stream of air is below a second threshold; and
ending the first stream of air when the number of particles in the first stream of air continuously stays below the first threshold for a predetermined amount of time and the amount of organic material in the first stream of air continuously stays below the second threshold for the predetermined amount of time.