DE102022202402A1 - METHOD FOR INSPECTION AND CLEANING OF SURFACES OF OPTICAL ELEMENTS AND DEVICE THEREOF - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and a device for the automated cleaning and inspection of surfaces of components of lithography systems, in particular optical elements, the device having at least one cleaning head (4) with a nozzle device (26) for applying a cleaning agent to the surface to be cleaned (33) and at least one inspection head (24) for inspecting the surface (33) to be cleaned and/or cleaned, and at least one manipulator (2) with at least one movement component (8,10,12,13) with which a rotary or translational movement can be carried out, at least one receptacle (13) being arranged on the manipulator (2), on which the cleaning head (4) and/or the inspection head (24) can be arranged, so that the cleaning head ( 4) and / or inspection head (24) by the movement component (8,10,12,13) can be moved, wherein the Device further comprises at least one control and evaluation unit (3) for controlling the manipulator (2), the cleaning head (4) and the inspection head (24). In the method, the manipulator (2) is arranged relative to a component (5) to be cleaned and inspected in such a way that the component (5) lies in the working area of the manipulator (2), with the receptacle (13) of the manipulator (2 ) a cleaning head (4) and/or an inspection head (24) are arranged and spaced apart from the surface (33) to be cleaned and/or inspected and are moved over them, so that the surface (33) is cleaned and/or inspected.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method and a device for the automated cleaning and inspection of surfaces of components of lithography systems, in particular surfaces of optical elements, and a nozzle device for a cleaning head of a corresponding device.

STATE OF THE ART

Components that are used in vacuum systems must meet certain cleanliness requirements, since contaminated components that are used in these vacuum systems lead to the vacuum system being contaminated by particles and impurities that are detached from the component and the vacuum created therein and the properties of the plant can be affected. This also applies in particular to systems that are used in connection with micro- or nano-lithography, such as projection exposure systems. Especially in systems that are operated with extreme ultraviolet light (EUV - light), components that do not meet the high cleanliness requirements can introduce contamination into the corresponding systems, so that not only the required vacuum or the correspondingly adjusted gas atmosphere is impaired, but other components of the system can also be contaminated and impaired. In particular, impurities such as particles can lead to transmission losses due to scattered light or cause corresponding imaging errors with faulty production.

It is therefore essential that parts and components that are used in corresponding EUV lithography systems are subjected to an inspection with regard to the degree of cleanliness in order to meet the defined specifications for particle contamination.

So-called surface probes can be used for this purpose, with the help of which the degree of cleanliness of a component surface to be examined can be characterized. Such measuring probes have a probe or measuring housing, which has a measuring opening that is placed on the component surface to be examined. The measuring opening is surrounded by a seal so that the probe housing can be placed airtight on the component surface to be examined. A compressed air nozzle or a gas inlet pipe is arranged in the measuring space defined in this way, with which compressed air is applied to the component surface to be examined in order to loosen contamination, in particular in the form of particles. These are led via an extraction system to a particle counter, which records the particles located in the measuring room or originating from the measuring room. An example of this is in the DE 10 2015 203 161 A1 described.

However, in the case of surfaces where contamination has been determined, it is also necessary to clean these surfaces before the corresponding components can be used.

For this purpose, so-called dry cleaning methods are used, as is also the case, for example, in the US patent application US 2021/0048757 A1 described with a carbon dioxide snow jet method. In these methods, liquid carbon dioxide or other cleaning gases, such as nitrogen or dried and cleaned air, are blasted onto the surface to be cleaned in order to thereby remove contamination from the surface.

Such cleaning is particularly complex if the component to be cleaned is already assembled with other components in an almost completely assembled state or is even installed in a corresponding lithography system. The problem here is that the particles and contaminations detached from the surface to be cleaned by a gas jet or snow jet can be transported to other areas of the corresponding system. Correspondingly, in the US patent application US 2021/0048757 A1 described to provide an electrically charged collection surface to which the dissolved contaminants adhere and can thereby be collected.

However, there is still a need for a device and a method with which highly sensitive surfaces, in particular of optical elements of projection exposure systems, can be cleaned and inspected as easily and reliably as possible in order to be able to set a desired degree of surface cleanliness.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a device and a method for cleaning and inspecting surfaces and in particular surfaces of components of lithography systems or projection exposure systems, which enable high To ensure the degree of cleanliness of the surfaces through appropriate cleaning and inspection, especially for components that are already installed in the corresponding systems or components. At the same time, the device and the method should have a simple structure and be able to be operated efficiently.

TECHNICAL SOLUTION

This object is achieved with a device having the features of claim 6 and a nozzle device for such a device having the features of claim 1 and a method having the features of claim 12. Advantageous configurations are the subject matter of the dependent claims.

A device for the automated cleaning and inspection of surfaces of components of lithography systems, in particular of surfaces of optical elements, is proposed, which has at least one cleaning head with a nozzle device for applying a cleaning agent to the surface to be cleaned in order to, by irradiating the surface to be cleaned Remove surface contamination with a cleaning agent such as liquid carbon dioxide or gas such as purified and dry compressed air or nitrogen.

In order to solve the problem of a possible, unwanted distribution of the dissolved contamination, a nozzle device for a cleaning head for applying a cleaning agent to a surface to be cleaned is also proposed according to one aspect of the invention, for which separate and independent protection is sought, the nozzle device a first array of nozzles for dispensing cleaning agent and adapted to be moved spaced apart from the surface to be cleaned, and a second array of nozzles for sucking out cleaning agent and contaminants so that the contaminants can be safely removed.

In the nozzle device, the first and second nozzle arrangement can be arranged coaxially with one another, with the second nozzle arrangement in particular being able to surround the first nozzle arrangement, so that the suction which annularly surrounds the jet of cleaning agent can reliably prevent an undesired further distribution of the contamination.

The first nozzle arrangement of the nozzle device can comprise at least two nozzles for dispensing a plurality of cleaning agents and/or aids, which can in particular be arranged coaxially with one another, with the second nozzle surrounding the first nozzle in the form of a ring. With such a nozzle device, the cleaning agent can be guided by an auxiliary device in the direction of the surface to be cleaned in order to ensure targeted use of the cleaning agent.

The nozzle device can have at least one distance sensor at its opening end, i.e. at the end at which the cleaning agent leaves the nozzle device, with which the distance between the nozzle device and the surface to be cleaned can be measured in order to be able to set an optimal distance for cleaning and in particular to prevent the nozzle means from getting too close to the surface to be cleaned to avoid damage.

The first and/or the second nozzle arrangement of the nozzle device can have funnel shapes, bell shapes, a cone shape, spherical segment shapes, ellipsoid shapes and mixed forms thereof in order to achieve the most efficient flow conditions possible both for blasting the surface with cleaning and/or aids and for sucking off the contamination set.

The device for the automated cleaning and inspection of surfaces of components of lithography systems, in particular surfaces of optical elements, has at least one inspection head for inspecting the surface to be cleaned and/or cleaned surface, so that inspection is also possible in addition to cleaning.

Furthermore, the device comprises at least one manipulator with at least one movement component, with which a rotary or translatory movement can be carried out, and with at least one receptacle on the manipulator, on which the cleaning head and/or the inspection head can be arranged, so that the one arranged on the receptacle Cleaning head and/or inspection head can be moved by at least one movement component of the manipulator over the surface to be cleaned and/or inspected.

Furthermore, the device has at least one control and evaluation unit for controlling the manipulator, the cleaning head and the inspection head.

Accordingly, according to a further aspect of the invention, for which protection is sought independently and autonomously, a method for automated cleaning and inspection of surfaces of components of lithography systems, in particular of surfaces of optical elements, in which in particular a device as described above can be used. In the method, at least one manipulator is arranged relative to a component to be cleaned and inspected in such a way that the component to be cleaned and inspected is at least partially in the working area of the at least one manipulator, with a cleaning head and/or a Inspection head arranged and spaced from the surface to be cleaned and / or to be inspected are moved over this, so that the surface is cleaned and / or inspected. In this case, the cleaning head and the inspection head can be spaced apart from one another locally or moved over the surface one after the other in time. If the cleaning head and inspection head are simultaneously moved over the surface to be cleaned and inspected at a spatial distance from one another, they can be arranged on two separate manipulators or on a single manipulator. If the cleaning head and inspection head are moved over the surface one after the other, the cleaning head and inspection head can be arranged interchangeably on the same manipulator.

Correspondingly, the device for a manipulator can each comprise a cleaning head and an inspection head, which can be arranged simultaneously or sequentially on the same manipulator, or the device can have a manipulator for each cleaning head and for each inspection head. Combinations of these are also possible.

The at least one manipulator can include several movement components in the form of rotary and/or translational units that enable a rotary or translatory movement, so that a receptacle arranged on the manipulator can be moved according to several degrees of freedom of movement, in particular all independent degrees of freedom of movement.

The device can also have a vacuum chamber in which the cleaning and/or inspection takes place in order to prevent contamination by foreign substances.

The device can have at least one cleaning agent source for providing at least one cleaning agent for the cleaning head and/or at least one auxiliary source for providing an auxiliary agent for the cleaning head.

In addition, the device can have a suction device for sucking off contamination, which is arranged on the cleaning head and/or is connected to the nozzle device of the cleaning head. The suction device can be formed by a pump device, in particular a vacuum pump.

The inspection head can have at least one camera and preferably an illumination unit, wherein the camera can in particular be a camera for hyperspectral imaging. The lighting unit can include at least one light source in the form of LEDs or NIR (near infrared), SWIR (short-wave infrared) or VNIR (visible and near infrared) lamps.

In the control and evaluation unit, the images obtained from the inspection head can be evaluated by automatic image analysis and particle coverage of the surface can be determined.

The cleaning of the surface to be cleaned can be controlled by the control and evaluation unit depending on the contamination or particle coverage of the surface. In particular, the cleaning can be terminated when a sufficient surface cleanliness is determined. If contamination is detected, cleaning can be controlled according to the location and/or the extent of the contamination.

Solid and liquid carbon dioxide, nitrogen, compressed air, dried and/or cleaned air and XCDA (extreme clean dry air) gas can be used as cleaning agents. Inert gases, such as nitrogen, can be used as auxiliaries.

character list

• 1 eine Darstellung einer Ausführungsform einer erfindungsgemäßen Vorrichtung mit einem an einen Manipulator angeschlossenen Reinigungskopf,
• 2 eine Darstellung der Ausführungsform der 2 mit einem am Manipulator anstelle des Reinigungskopfs angeschlossenen Inspektionskopf,
• 3 eine Darstellung einer ersten Ausführungsform einer erfindungsgemäßen Düseneinrichtung,
• 4 eine Darstellung einer ersten Ausführungsform einer erfindungsgemäßen Düseneinrichtung und in
• 5 einen Meridionalschnitt einer Projektionsbelichtungsanlage für die EUV - Proj ektionslithografie.

The accompanying drawings show, purely diagrammatically,

• 1 a representation of an embodiment of a device according to the invention with a cleaning head connected to a manipulator,
• 2 an illustration of the embodiment of FIG 2 with an inspection head connected to the manipulator instead of the cleaning head,
• 3 a representation of a first embodiment of a nozzle device according to the invention,
• 4 a representation of a first embodiment of a nozzle device according to the invention and in
• 5 a meridional section of a projection exposure system for EUV - projection lithography.

EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Further advantages, characteristics and features of the present invention become apparent in the following detailed description of the exemplary embodiments. However, the invention is not limited to these exemplary embodiments.

the 1 shows an embodiment of a device according to the invention for the automated cleaning and inspection of surfaces. The device 1 includes a manipulator 2, as is known, for example, as an industrial robot. The manipulator 2 comprises a base 6 on which a turntable 8 is arranged, which can rotate about a first axis of rotation 7 . A robot arm 10 is articulated on the turntable 8 and can rotate about a second axis of rotation 9 which is arranged perpendicularly to the first axis of rotation 7 . At the end of the robot arm 10 opposite the second axis of rotation 9 , a telescopic arm 12 is articulated via a third axis of rotation 11 , which in turn is arranged perpendicular to the first and second axis of rotation 7 , 9 . A receptacle 13 is arranged at the end of the telescopic arm 12 opposite the third axis of rotation 11 , which in turn is arranged to be rotatable via a fourth axis of rotation 14 . The telescopic arm 12 enables a translational linear movement of the receptacle 13 relative to the third axis of rotation 11.

At the recording 13 is in the embodiment 1 a cleaning head 4 is arranged with a nozzle device 26, which serves to clean a surface 33 to be cleaned of a component 5 to be cleaned. The cleaning head 4 can be moved in the working space of the manipulator 2 by means of the various axes of rotation 7, 9, 11, 14 and the correspondingly rotatably connected manipulator components, such as the turntable 8, robot arm 10, telescopic arm 12 and receptacle 13, as well as the translational movement of the telescopic arm 12 and guided accordingly over the surface 33 to be cleaned of the component 5 to be cleaned and positioned at any point in order to clean the surface 33 . The representation of the manipulator 2 is purely exemplary and the representation of the various components of the manipulator 2 with the various axes of rotation 7, 9, 11, 14 and the telescopic arm 12 is only intended to clarify that a corresponding manipulator 2 can have a cleaning head 4 in a variety of ways via any three-dimensionally shaped surface 33 can move. Here, the manipulator 2 can be designed such that the movement and alignment of the cleaning head 4 with the nozzle device 26 is possible according to the most varied degrees of freedom of movement and in particular a movement and alignment can be realized in all six independent degrees of freedom of movement.

The cleaning head 4 is connected via supply lines 17 and 18 to a cleaning agent source 15 and an auxiliary source 16, with the supply lines 17 and 18 being connected, for example, to the nozzles 35, 36 of a first nozzle arrangement 27 (see Fig 3 and 4 ) are connected in order to release the cleaning agent and the auxiliary agent via the nozzle device 26 onto the surface 33 to be cleaned. For example, the cleaning agent can be liquid carbon dioxide, which turns into a solid form when it exits the nozzle device 26 and thereby effects snow jet cleaning. The snow jet can be directed through the tool 16 provided by the tool source, which tool is emitted, for example, coaxially with the cleaning agent from a first nozzle arrangement of the nozzle device 26 . The auxiliary can be, for example, an inert gas such as nitrogen. Solid carbon dioxide (dry ice blasting), nitrogen, compressed air, dried and/or cleaned air and in particular XCDA (extreme clean dry air) gas can also be used as further cleaning agents.

In addition, the cleaning head 4 is connected via a suction line 20 to a suction device 19, such as a pump device, so that a second nozzle arrangement 28 (see 3 and 4 ) of the nozzle device 26, which will also be described in more detail below, from the surface to be cleaned 33 dissolved contamination 31 and excess cleaning agent or aid can be sucked off.

The cleaning head 4 and/or the cleaning agent source 15 and/or the auxiliary source 16 and/or the suction device 19 are connected via at least one control line 22 to a control and evaluation unit 3, which is also connected to the manipulator 2 via a control line 21, so that The movement of the cleaning head 4 over the surface 33 to be cleaned of the component 5 to be cleaned and the operation of the cleaning agent source and the auxiliary source and the suction device 19 can be controlled via the control and evaluation unit 3 . In particular, the control and evaluation unit 3 can scan the cleaning head 4 over the surface 33 to be cleaned and by controlling the operation of the suction devices 19, the cleaning agent source 15 and the auxiliary source 16 control the cleaning of the surface 33 to be cleaned.

In the 1 an inspection head 24 is also shown, which has an illumination unit 25 and a camera 32 in order to take pictures of the surface 33 to be inspected and to generate static and/or moving images. The camera 32 can be a conventional digital camera or a so-called HSI (hyperspectral imaging) camera, with which spectral imaging over the electromagnetic spectrum is possible. The illumination unit 25 may include light emitting diodes (LEDs) or NIR (near infrared), SWIR (short-wave infrared) or VNIR (visible and near infrared) lamps to illuminate the surface 33 to be inspected.

The inspection head 24 can in the embodiment of 1 be arranged instead of the cleaning head 4 in the receptacle 13 of the manipulator 2, as in the 2 is shown. In this case, the inspection head 24 can be connected to the control and evaluation unit 3 with a control and data line 23 so that the control and evaluation unit 3 can also control the operation of the inspection head 24 . In addition, the images from the camera 32 are transmitted to the control and evaluation unit 3 via the control and data line 23, so that the control and evaluation unit 3 can evaluate the recorded images by means of a corresponding image analysis, which identifies contamination on the surface to be cleaned 33 enables can perform.

In the same way as the cleaning head 4, the inspection head 24 can be guided via the manipulator 2 to any point on the surface 33 to be cleaned or inspected in order to be able to carry out a corresponding characterization of the surface and identification of contamination 31 located on the surface 33.

The cleaning and inspection of the surface 33 to be cleaned can be carried out in such a way that a surface 33 to be cleaned is inspected before a first cleaning step in order to determine whether and in what form and to what extent contamination 31 is present. Thereafter, the inspection head 24 can be removed from the receptacle 13 of the manipulator 2 and the cleaning head 4 can be connected to the receptacle 13 of the manipulator in order to subsequently clean the surface 33 to be cleaned for inspection by dispensing appropriate cleaning agents and/or aids and suction to cause contamination. Depending on the previously carried out inspection of the surface to be cleaned, a particularly strong and intensive cleaning can be carried out in the areas in which a strong contamination has been found.

After the cleaning has been carried out, a new inspection can be carried out with the inspection head 24 , with only the cleaning head 4 having to be replaced with the inspection head 24 again. A new inspection step can then follow and this can be repeated until a desired degree of cleanliness of the surface 33 is reached. In addition, it is also possible to omit the first inspection step and start cleaning directly, in order to inspect the surface 33 only after the first cleaning step. As already described, in an alternative embodiment, the device can also be designed such that the cleaning head and inspection head can be arranged on two separate manipulators or on a single manipulator, so that they can be moved over the surface to be cleaned and inspected at a spatial distance from one another.

As in the schematic representations of 1 and 2 is shown, the entire cleaning and inspection of the surface 33 to be cleaned of a component 5 to be cleaned can be carried out under vacuum conditions in a vacuum chamber 34, so that the component 5 to be cleaned and/or inspected is not exposed to further contamination due to undesirable environmental influences.

In the embodiment shown 1 and 2 In addition to a cleaning agent source 15, an auxiliary source 16 is also provided, the auxiliary agent serving to guide the cleaning agent in the direction of the surface 33 to be cleaned. However, it is also possible to provide a cleaning head 4 which only jets the cleaning agent onto the surface to be cleaned without any aids.

For such an embodiment is in the 3 a nozzle device 26 is shown which has a first nozzle arrangement 27 with a single nozzle for dispensing the cleaning agent onto the surface 33 to be cleaned. A second nozzle arrangement 28 is arranged coaxially to the first nozzle arrangement 27 with a single nozzle and surrounds the first nozzle arrangement 27 in a ring shape. The second nozzle arrangement 28 forms an annular suction channel 28 surrounding the first nozzle arrangement 27, which is connected to the suction device 19 in order to suck off the contamination or particles 31 detached from the surface 33 to be cleaned.

The the 3 The nozzle device 26 shown also has at the opening - or discharge end of the nozzle device 26 at which the cleaning agent is discharged, on the second nozzle arrangement 28 has one or more distance sensors 30, which determine the distance from the surface 33 to be cleaned, so that the nozzle device 26 or the cleaning head 4 can be guided at a suitable distance from the surface 33 to be cleaned of the component 5 by means of the control and evaluation unit 3.

Another embodiment of a nozzle device 26, as for example in the cleaning head 4 of the embodiment of FIG 1 and 2 can be used is in 4 shown. In this embodiment, the first nozzle device 27 comprises two nozzles 35 and 36, which are arranged coaxially with one another, the cleaning agent being dispensed via the first nozzle 35, while the aid, such as an appropriate gas such as nitrogen or the like is discharged. In this way, for example, the liquid carbon dioxide, which is jetted as a cleaning agent through the first nozzle 35 onto the surface 33 to be cleaned, is guided accordingly onto the surface 33 to be cleaned by the surrounding nitrogen gas.

The second nozzle assembly 28 surrounds similar to the embodiment of FIG 3 the first nozzle arrangement 27 and forms a ring-shaped suction channel 29 which is connected to the suction device 19 in order to suck off the loosened particles or contamination 31 and the excess cleaning and auxiliary agents.

With the help of the present invention, it is thus possible to automatically clean and inspect highly sensitive components 5 of lithography systems, such as mirrors of a projection lens of a projection exposure system that is operated with extreme ultraviolet light (EUV light), so that the corresponding surfaces have a desired degree of cleanliness , which is necessary for error-free operation of lithography systems or projection exposure systems, can be ensured. A corresponding device can also be implemented in such a way that components that are already installed in other components in the final stage of assembly can be inspected and cleaned accordingly, in particular also directly in the corresponding lithography systems or projection exposure systems.

The following are with reference to the 5 the essential components of a projection exposure system 101 for microlithography are described by way of example, it being possible for the above-described devices and the method for cleaning and inspection to be used for the components of the projection exposure system 101. The description of the basic structure of the projection exposure system 101 and its components should not be understood as limiting here.

In addition to a radiation source 103, an illumination system 102 of the projection exposure system 101 has illumination optics 104 for illuminating an object field 105 in an object plane 106. A reticle 107 arranged in the object field 105 is exposed. The reticle holder 108 can be displaced in particular in a scanning direction via a reticle displacement drive 109 .

In the 5 a Cartesian xyz coordinate system is drawn in for explanation. The x-direction runs perpendicular to the plane of the drawing. The y-direction is horizontal and the z-direction is vertical. The scanning direction is in the 5 along the y-direction. The z-direction runs perpendicular to the object plane 106.

The projection exposure system 101 comprises projection optics or a projection lens 110. The projection optics 110 are used to image the object field 105 in an image field 111 in an image plane 112.

A structure on the reticle 107 is imaged onto a light-sensitive layer of a wafer 113 arranged in the region of the image field 111 in the image plane 112. The wafer 113 is held by a wafer holder 114. The wafer holder 114 can be displaced via a wafer displacement drive 115, in particular along the y-direction. The displacement of the reticle 107 via the reticle displacement drive 109 on the one hand and the wafer 113 on the other hand via the wafer displacement drive 115 can be synchronized with one another.

The radiation source 103 is an EUV radiation source. The radiation source 103 emits in particular EUV radiation 116, which is also referred to below as useful radiation or working light. In particular, the working light has a wavelength in the range between 5 nm and 30 nm.

The working light 116 emanating from the radiation source 103 is bundled by a collector 117 . After the collector 117, the working light 116 propagates through an intermediate focus in an intermediate focal plane 118. The intermediate focal plane 118 can represent a separation between a radiation source module, comprising the radiation source 103 and the collector 117, and the illumination optics 104.

The illumination optics 104 comprises a deflection mirror 119 and a first facet mirror 120 arranged downstream of this in the beam path. The first facet mirror 120 comprises a multiplicity of individual first facets 121 1 only a few shown as examples.

A second facet mirror 122 is arranged downstream of the first facet mirror 120 in the beam path of the illumination optics 104 . The second facet mirror 122 comprises a plurality of second facets 123.

The illumination optics 104 has the version in which 5 shown, exactly three mirrors after the collector 117, namely the deflection mirror 119, the first facet mirror 120 and the second facet mirror 122.

The projection optics 110 includes a plurality of mirrors Mi, which are numbered consecutively according to their arrangement in the beam path of the projection exposure system 101 .

At the in the 5 illustrated example, the projection optics 110 includes six mirrors M1 to M6. Alternatives with four, eight, ten, twelve or another number of mirrors Mi are also possible. The penultimate mirror M5 and the last mirror M6 each have a passage opening for the working light 116. Although the present invention has been described in detail using the exemplary embodiments, it is self-evident for the person skilled in the art that the invention is not limited to these exemplary embodiments, but rather that modifications are possible in such a way that individual features can be omitted or other types of combinations of features can be implemented without departing from the scope of protection of the appended claims. In particular, the present disclosure includes all combinations of the individual features shown in the various exemplary embodiments, so that individual features that are only described in connection with one exemplary embodiment can also be used in other exemplary embodiments or combinations of individual features that are not explicitly shown.

Reference List

1

Device for the automated cleaning and inspection of surfaces

2

manipulator

3

Control and evaluation unit

4

cleaning head

5

component to be cleaned

6

Base

7

first axis of rotation

8th

turntable

9

second axis of rotation

10

robotic arm

11

third axis of rotation

12

telescopic arm

13

Recording

14

fourth axis of rotation

15

detergent source

16

resource source

17

supply line

18

supply line

19

suction device

20

suction line

21

control line

22

control line

23

Control and data line

24

inspection head

25

lighting unit

26

nozzle device

27

first nozzle arrangement

28

second nozzle arrangement

29

suction channel

30

distance sensor

31

Particles or contamination

32

camera

33

surface

34

vacuum chamber

35

first nozzle

36

second nozzle

101

projection exposure system

102

lighting system

103

Radiation source or EUV - radiation source

104

lighting optics

105

object field

106

object level

107

reticle

108

reticle holder

109

reticle displacement drive

110

Projection optics or projection lens

111

image field

112

picture plane

113

wafers

114

wafer holder

115

Wafer displacement drive

116

EUV - Radiation

117

collector

118

intermediate focal plane

119

deflection mirror

120

first facet mirror

121

field facets

122

second facet mirror

123

pupil facets

QUOTES INCLUDED IN DESCRIPTION

This list of the documents cited by the applicant was generated automatically and is included solely for the better information of the reader. The list is not part of the German patent or utility model application. The DPMA assumes no liability for any errors or omissions.

Patent Literature Cited

• DE 102015203161 A1 [0004]
• US 2021/0048757 A1 [0006, 0007]

Claims (15)

Nozzle device for a cleaning head for applying a cleaning agent to a surface (33) to be cleaned, in particular a surface of a component (5) of lithography systems or of surfaces of optical elements, the nozzle device (26) having a first nozzle arrangement (27) for dispensing the cleaning agent and is designed to be moved over it at a distance from the surface (33) to be cleaned, characterized in that the nozzle device (26) has a second nozzle arrangement (28) for sucking off cleaning agent and contamination. nozzle device claim 1 , characterized in that the first and second nozzle arrangement (27,28) are arranged coaxially to one another, with the second nozzle arrangement (28) in particular surrounding the first nozzle arrangement (27). nozzle device claim 1 or 2 , characterized in that the first nozzle arrangement (27) comprises at least two nozzles (35, 36) for dispensing a plurality of cleaning agents and/or aids, which are in particular arranged coaxially to one another, the second nozzle (36) the first nozzle (35) surrounded in a ring. Nozzle device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the nozzle device (26) comprises at least one distance sensor (30) at its opening end. Nozzle device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first and/or the second nozzle arrangement (27, 28) has at least one shape from the group comprising funnel shapes, bell shapes, cone shapes, spherical segment shapes, ellipsoid shapes and mixed shapes thereof. Device for the automated cleaning and inspection of surfaces of components of lithography systems, in particular surfaces of optical elements, with at least one cleaning head (4) with a nozzle device (26) for applying a cleaning agent to the surface (33) to be cleaned, in particular according to one of Claims 1 until 5 , and with at least one inspection head (24) for inspecting the surface to be cleaned and/or cleaned (33), and with at least one manipulator (2) with at least one movement component (8,10,12,13) with which a rotary or translational movement can be carried out, and with at least one receptacle (13) on the manipulator (2) on which the cleaning head (4) and/or the inspection head (24) can be arranged, so that the cleaning head ( 4) and/or inspection head (24) by which at least one movement component (8,9,12,13) can be moved, and with at least one control and evaluation unit (3) for controlling the manipulator (2), the cleaning head (4) and the inspection head (24). device after claim 6 , characterized in that the device comprises a cleaning head (4) and an inspection head (24) for each manipulator (2) or that the device has a manipulator (2) for each cleaning head (4) and for each inspection head (24). . device after claim 6 or 7 , characterized in that the at least one manipulator (2) comprises a plurality of rotation and/or translation units (8,10,12), so that a receptacle (13) arranged on the manipulator (2) can be moved according to a plurality of degrees of freedom of movement, in particular all independent degrees of freedom of movement . Device according to one of Claims 6 until 8th , characterized in that the device has a vacuum chamber (34) in which the cleaning takes place. Device according to one of Claims 6 until 9 , characterized in that the device has at least one cleaning agent source (15) for providing at least one cleaning agent for the cleaning head (4) and/or at least one auxiliary source (16) for providing an auxiliary agent for the cleaning head (4) and/or that the device has a suction device (19) for sucking off contamination, which is arranged on the cleaning head (4) and/or is connected to the nozzle device (26) of the cleaning head (4). Device according to one of Claims 6 until 10 , characterized in that the inspection head (4) has at least one camera (32) and preferably a lighting unit (25), the camera (32) being in particular a camera for hyperspectral imaging and/or the lighting unit comprising at least one light source from the group , which includes LEDs, NIR, SWIR and VNIR lamps. Method for the automated cleaning and inspection of surfaces of components of lithography systems, in particular of surfaces of optical elements, in which in particular a device according to one of Claims 6 until 11 is used, wherein in the method at least one manipulator (2) so relatively is arranged in relation to a component (5) to be cleaned and inspected in such a way that the component (5) to be cleaned and inspected lies at least partially in the working area of the at least one manipulator (2), with at least one receptacle (13) of the manipulator (2 ) a cleaning head (4) and/or an inspection head (24) are arranged and spaced apart from the surface (33) to be cleaned and/or inspected and are moved over them, so that the surface (33) is cleaned and/or inspected, with the cleaning head (4) and inspection head (24) are simultaneously spaced apart from one another or moved over the surface in chronological order. procedure after claim 12 , characterized in that a control and evaluation unit (3) is used, which evaluates images obtained from the inspection head (24) by automatic image analysis and detects a particle occupancy of the surface (33). procedure after Claim 13 , characterized in that the control and evaluation unit (3) ends the cleaning or controls the cleaning depending on the particle coverage of the surface. Procedure according to one of Claims 12 until 14 , characterized in that the cleaning agent is selected from the group comprising solid and liquid carbon dioxide, nitrogen, compressed air, dried and/or cleaned air and XCDA gas.

Images