JP2001100394A - Pellicle housing container - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the working efficiency in visual inspection of a pellicle container, to improve the inspection threshold of visible foreign matter and to provide a pellicle housing container which allows the visual inspection of the presence or absence of the pellicle housed in the container in inspection, etc., of delivered articles on a user side. SOLUTION: A cap 2 of the container housing the pellicle 3 is composed of a translucent and chromatic cap of <=8 in Munsell value of its lightness.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a photomask and a reticle used in a lithography process for manufacturing a semiconductor device such as an IC (Integrated Circuit), LSI (Large Scale Integrated Circuit), TFTLCD (Thin Film Transistor Liquid Crystal Display). The present invention relates to a pellicle storage container for storing a pellicle used to prevent foreign matter from adhering to a pellicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the manufacture of semiconductor circuit patterns and the like, dust-proof means called pellicles are arranged on both sides of a photomask or reticle to prevent foreign matter from adhering to the photomask or reticle. ing.

The pellicle is made of a transparent polymer film such as nitrocellulose or a cellulose derivative having a thickness of 10 μm or less on one edge of a frame having a shape corresponding to the shape of a photomask or a reticle and having a thickness of about several millimeters. The pellicle film is stretched and adhered, and is adhered to the surface of a photomask or reticle via an adhesive on the other edge surface of the frame.

When the pellicle is transported from the manufacturer to the user, the pellicle is placed on a tray and a lid in order to prevent the pellicle from being damaged and to prevent foreign matter such as dust from adhering to the pellicle film or the like. And transported in a container made of

If foreign matter adheres to the tray or the lid, the foreign matter may be transferred to a pellicle film or the like which is a product stored in the container during transportation or the like. When the used pellicle is adhered to the surface of a photomask or a reticle and used, foreign matter may transfer from the pellicle to the photomask or the reticle, causing a defect in the semiconductor circuit pattern.

In order to prevent this, the trays and lids are subjected to precision cleaning and dried, and then all of them are visually inspected for foreign substances. In this visual inspection, in a dark room in a clean room, a high-intensity halogen lamp illumination of about tens of thousands of lux is individually radiated to each of the tray and the lid, and foreign substances which appear to glow white by visual inspection using a cleaning means such as an adhesive material. Removed by hand.

On the other hand, it is desirable that the user can visually inspect the presence or absence of the pellicle stored in the container at the time of delivery inspection or the like. Conventionally, the lid of the container is made colorless and transparent to visually inspect the presence or absence of the pellicle. Was generally easier to do.

[0008]

However, the work efficiency in the visual inspection of the pellicle container depends on the color of the container serving as the background of the foreign matter, so that the colorless and transparent pellicle container as in the conventional example described above is used. Visual inspection of the lid takes a great deal of time and effort, and the inspection limit for visible foreign matter is 20 μm in outer diameter when the container that is the background of the foreign matter is colorless and transparent.
Some foreign matter was the limit of visual inspection.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and
The purpose is to improve the work efficiency in the visual inspection of the pellicle container and to improve the inspection limit of the visible foreign matter, and furthermore, the pellicle container is stored in the container at the time of delivery inspection on the user side. It is an object of the present invention to provide a pellicle storage container capable of visually inspecting the presence or absence of a pellicle.

[0010]

A pellicle storage container according to the present invention for achieving the above object is a pellicle storage container for storing a pellicle having a pellicle film adhered to a frame by a tray and a lid. Are colored and have a brightness of 8 or less in Munsell value.

Since the present invention is constructed as described above, the lid of the pellicle storage container, which is the background of the foreign matter, is colored and has a brightness of Munsell value of 8 or less. When the lid is illuminated with a high-luminance halogen lamp illumination of about lux, the foreign matter can be seen visually as a white glow from a colored background with a Munsell value of 8 or less, thereby improving work efficiency in visual inspection. In addition, since a foreign substance having a smaller outer diameter can be visually observed, the inspection limit of the visible foreign substance can be improved.

When the lid is translucent and colored, the presence or absence of the pellicle stored in the container can be visually inspected at the time of a delivery inspection on the user side.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of a pellicle container according to the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a view showing a tray of a pellicle storage container according to the present invention.
FIG. 1A is a plan view of a tray, and FIG.
1A is a cross-sectional view, and FIG. 1C is a BB cross-sectional view of FIG.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a lid of the pellicle container according to the present invention. FIG. 2A is a plan view of the lid, and FIG.
2B is a cross-sectional view taken along line CC of FIG. 2A, and FIG.
FIG. 2A is a sectional view taken along line DD, and FIG. 2D is a side perspective view of a lid of the pellicle container according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is an explanatory sectional view showing a state where the pellicle is stored by the tray and the lid.

The tray 1 shown in FIG. 1 and the lid 2 shown in FIG.
Constitutes a pellicle storage container for holding and storing the pellicle 3 therein. As shown in FIG. 3, the lower surface of the frame 3a with the pellicle film adhered to the upper surface is the tray 1
After being placed on the pedestal 1a provided on the outer peripheral portion of the tray 1, the concave rib 2b provided on the outer peripheral portion of the lid 2 is attached to the concave rib 1b provided on the outer peripheral portion further than the pedestal 1a of the tray 1. By fitting, the pellicle 3 is supported by the oblique wall surface 2b of the lid 2 contacting the upper corner of the frame 3a, and the lid 2 is locked to the tray 1 by locking means (not shown).

An adhesive for bonding the pellicle 3 to the photomask or reticle is provided on the lower surface of the frame 3a. The surface of the adhesive is used until the pellicle 3 is bonded to the photomask or reticle. A protective film for protecting the adhesive is stuck. Therefore, the lower surface of the frame 3a is placed on the pedestal 1a of the tray 1 via the adhesive and the protective film.

As the material of the tray 1 and the lid 2, for example, acrylic resin, polyethylene terephthalate resin,
Based on acrylonitrile butadiene styrene resin or polyester resin, olefin resin such as polyethylene or polypropylene, polystyrene resin such as polystyrene or acrylonitrile styrene resin, etc. It is possible to produce a translucent or opaque colored material having a Munsell value of 8 or less by a known manufacturing method such as molding.

The lid 2 is colored and its brightness is Munsell value 8
It is preferable that the light emitting device has the following structure. More preferably, the lightness is 4 or less. The lid 2 may be opaque and colored, but is preferably translucent in order to visually inspect the presence or absence of the pellicle 3 stored in the container at the time of a delivery inspection on the user side or the like.

Here, the Munsell color system is a color system in which a color is scaled in a three-dimensional space of a cylindrical coordinate system by three attributes of color sensation, hue, lightness, and saturation. The direction of a branch extending from the central axis (achromatic axis) of the system in the circumferential direction around the central axis is expressed as hue, the length of the branch is expressed as saturation, and the direction of the central axis which is the height of the branch is expressed as lightness. It is expressed as

The lightness is determined by placing an achromatic color on the central axis (achromatic axis) of the cylindrical coordinate system, and changing from the Munsell value 0 (black; the closer to 0), which is the origin, to the Munsell value 10 (white; closer to 10). The various grays that gradually increase in brightness up to a bright color) are divided into sensory equal stages. Then, all chromatic colors having the same lightness are arranged on a plane orthogonal to the achromatic axis where the lightness has a predetermined Munsell value on the achromatic axis.

The tray 1 of the present embodiment is made of black, which is the background color in which foreign substances such as dust and dust are most visible, but if necessary, similarly to the lid 2, it is a translucent or opaque colored Munsell. The value may be 8 or less.

According to the above configuration, since the lid 2 of the pellicle container serving as the background of the foreign matter is colored and has a brightness of 8 or less in the Munsell value, a high brightness of about tens of thousands of lux in a dark room in a clean room during a visual inspection. When the halogen lamp is illuminated on the lid 2, the foreign matter can be seen visually shining white from a colored background having a Munsell value of 8 or less, and the work efficiency in the visual inspection can be improved. Since a foreign substance having a diameter can be visually observed, the inspection limit of the visible foreign substance can be improved.

When the lid 2 is translucent and colored, the presence or absence of the pellicle 3 stored in the container can be visually inspected at the time of a delivery inspection on the user side, and the like.
The work efficiency of the delivery inspection and the like on the user side can be improved.

In particular, in the case of a container for storing a large pellicle used for a photomask or a reticle used in a lithography process in manufacturing a semiconductor device such as a large TFT LCD (thin film transistor liquid crystal display), the area of the container is large. Therefore, the work efficiency and reliability in visual inspection are significantly improved.

Hereinafter, as a comparative example of the lid 2 according to the present invention and a conventional colorless and transparent lid, lids each having a length and width of 653 mm × 419 mm in a large pellicle storage container were prepared, and several lids were prepared in a dark room in a clean room. An example is shown in the case where a high-intensity halogen lamp illumination of about 10,000 lux is applied to perform a visual inspection.

[0026]

[Table 1]

In Table 1 above, the conventional lid is colorless and transparent, and the lid 2 according to the present invention is translucent and has a hue of red and a lightness of Munsell value of 4. The time required for visually inspecting foreign substances having an outer diameter of 40 μm or more took about 40 minutes on average with a conventional colorless and transparent lid, but the Munsell value was 4 times.
In the case of the lid 2 according to the present invention having a brightness of 20
The visual inspection was completed in about a minute.

In addition, as a limit of the visual inspection, the outer diameter of the foreign matter which can be visually observed is smaller than that of a conventional colorless and transparent lid.
Although it was possible to visually inspect foreign matter having a diameter of about 10 μm or more, it was possible to visually inspect foreign matter having an outer diameter of about 10 μm or more. there were.

[0029]

Since the present invention has the above-described structure and operation, the lid of the pellicle storage container, which is the background of foreign matter, is colored and has a brightness of 8 or less in the Munsell value. When illuminating the lid with a high-intensity halogen lamp illumination of about tens of thousands of lux in a dark room,
Since the foreign matter looks remarkably glowing white from a colored background having a Munsell value of 8 or less by visual inspection, the work efficiency in the visual inspection can be improved, and the foreign matter having a smaller outer diameter can be visually observed. The inspection limit can be improved.

When the lid is translucent and colored,
At the time of a delivery inspection on the user side, the presence or absence of the pellicle stored in the container can be visually inspected.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is a plan view of a tray, and FIG.
FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view, and FIG. 3C is a BB cross-sectional view of FIG.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrams showing a lid of the pellicle storage container according to the present invention, wherein FIG. 2A is a plan view of the lid, FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view taken along line CC of FIG. FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line DD, and FIG. 4D is a side perspective view of a lid of the pellicle container according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory sectional view showing a state where a pellicle is stored by a tray and a lid.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Tray 1a ... Pedestal 1b ... Concave rib 2 ... Cover 2a ... Concave rib 2b ... Slope wall 3 ... Pellicle 3a ... Frame

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Yoshimasa Kuriyama 5-4960 Nakagawaramachi, Nobeoka-shi, Miyazaki F-term in Asahi Kasei Electronics Co., Ltd. (Reference) 2H095 BB30 BC31 BE12 3E096 AA01 BA08 CA06 DA17 EA02X EA02Y EA04X EA04Y FA03 FA12 GA07

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A pellicle storage container for storing a pellicle having a pellicle film adhered to a frame by a tray and a lid, wherein the lid is colored and has a brightness of 8 or less in Munsell value. container. 2. The pellicle container according to claim 1, wherein the lid is translucent and colored.