JP2002323753A - Pellicle housing container - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a pellicle housing container which is capable of housing pellicles in a stable state and is more particularly capable of housing plural sheets of the pellicles in a parallel state. SOLUTION: A tray 6 of the pellicle housing container B consisting of the tray 6 made of plastic and a cap 7 capable of covering this tray 6 is provided with four pieces of pellicle holding sections 8a, 8b, 8c and 8d capable of individually housing the pellicles A into the tray 6. These pellicle holding sections 8a, 8b, 8c and 8d are respectively composed of plural positioning projections 9 which can abut on the outer peripheral surface of a pellicle fame 1 erected and projectingly disposed from the inner base surface 6a of the ray 6.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pellicle storage container capable of storing a plurality of pellicles formed by attaching a pellicle film to an upper edge of a pellicle frame via an adhesive, and more particularly to an IC (integrated circuit). ), LSI (Large Scale Integrated Circuit), T
A plurality of pellicles that are used by being fixed to a photomask or a reticle (hereinafter, referred to as a “mask”) used in a lithography process when manufacturing a semiconductor device such as an FTLCD (thin film transistor liquid crystal display) are temporarily stored simultaneously. The present invention relates to a pellicle storage container used when carrying or transporting.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A pellicle is formed by attaching a pellicle film made of a transparent thin film to a pellicle frame having a fixed width using an adhesive or the like. The pellicle film is separated from a mask by a predetermined distance (the height of the pellicle frame). ) Is positioned on the mask to prevent foreign matter such as dust from adhering to the mask.

In the photolithography process, even if foreign matter or the like adheres to the pellicle, the image does not form on the semiconductor wafer coated with the photoresist.
Therefore, by protecting the mask with a pellicle, it is possible to prevent a short circuit or disconnection of a semiconductor integrated circuit due to an image of a foreign substance or the like and a defect of a liquid crystal display (hereinafter, referred to as “LCD”). The production yield is improved.

Further, the number of times of cleaning of the mask is reduced, and the effect of extending the life of the mask is obtained by the pellicle.

[0005] Both the semiconductor pellicle and the LCD pellicle are required to have high transmittance of the light to be exposed in order to improve the throughput in the exposure process. For this purpose, an antireflection layer has been provided on one or both sides of a transparent thin film. The anti-reflection layer may be composed of a single layer or two or more layers.

As the material of the antireflection layer used as the outermost layer, a tetrafluoroethylene-vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene polymer disclosed in JP-A-61-209449 or a JP-A-1-100549 is disclosed. Polyfluoroacrylate or JP-A-3-39
No. 963 proposes Teflon AF (trade name) manufactured by DuPont, which is a fluoropolymer having a cyclic structure in the main chain, or Cytop (trade name) manufactured by Asahi Glass Co., Ltd.

As the material of the outermost antireflection layer, a fluorine-containing polymer or an inorganic fluorine-based material such as calcium fluoride or magnesium fluoride is used. As a material of the transparent thin film layer (center layer), cellulose derivatives such as nitrocellulose, cellulose acetate propionate, and carbonated acetyl cellulose, and mixtures thereof are used.

In LCDs, the realization of large screen, high definition, large capacity, etc. has been achieved by the practical use of TFTs (thin film transistors). However, pellicles used in the manufacture of TFT-LCDs have correspondingly increased in size and size. Pellicle films with uniform high light transmittance are also required for pellicles for semiconductor manufacturing, but uniformity of in-plane light transmittance is required. There is a demand for a pellicle that does not allow the generation of foreign substances.

A pellicle as such a mask protection device is composed of a pellicle frame and a pellicle film adhered to one side of the pellicle frame via an adhesive.

[0010]

However, the above-mentioned conventional pellicle storage container can store only one pellicle in one pellicle storage container. Therefore, when an extremely large number of pellicles are stored, the pellicle storage container corresponds to the pellicle storage container. A number of storage containers had to be provided.

Therefore, a large number of pellicle storage containers are required, so that the cost is high, and the work of individually storing the pellicles in the trays of the storage containers and covering the lid is complicated, and the pellicles are stored. When storing or transporting the stored container, a large space is required, and further, there are many problems such as a decrease in the cleaning efficiency of the pellicle container.

The pellicle storage container according to the present invention is a completely new technology developed in view of the above-mentioned many conventional problems, and in particular, by using the storage container of the present invention, one storage container is provided. It is possible to store two or more pellicles at the same time, thereby greatly reducing the cost, effectively utilizing the product storage space, and significantly improving the cleaning efficiency of the storage container. It offers new technology.

[0013]

Means for Solving the Problems The present inventor has conducted intensive studies in order to achieve the above object, and as a result of observing the process of storing and storing a pellicle in a pellicle storage container,
Since one pellicle is stored in one pellicle storage container, there is a possibility that cost may be deteriorated, a large space for storing pellicle products may be required, and efficiency of cleaning work of the pellicle storage container may be reduced. This has led to the present invention.

The gist of the first invention of the pellicle storage container according to the present invention is to provide a storage container comprising a tray used for storing, storing and transporting a pellicle, and a lid covered by the tray. A pellicle storage container characterized in that the tray and the lid each have a space in which two or more pellicles can be stored in parallel.

In the pellicle container according to the first aspect of the present invention, a space for accommodating two or more pellicles in parallel is provided on a tray capable of accommodating the pellicle and a lid capable of covering the tray. With this configuration, two or more pellicles can be housed side by side in one pellicle storage container, and can be stored or transported.

Accordingly, the number of pellicle storage containers can be significantly reduced as compared with the conventional example, thereby reducing the cost of the storage container or the cost of storing and removing the pellicle in and from the storage container. I can do it. Further, the efficiency of storing and transporting the pellicle can be significantly improved, and the efficiency of cleaning the pellicle container can be improved.

The gist of the pellicle storage container of the second invention according to the present invention is that the pellicle of the first invention is characterized in that a plurality of pellicle holding portions capable of holding the pellicle are arranged in parallel inside the tray. It is a storage container.

In the pellicle container according to the second aspect of the present invention, a plurality of pellicle holding portions capable of holding the pellicle are arranged in parallel inside the tray, so that the pellicles are individually and independently provided in each pellicle holding portion. The pellicle can be stably stored in a state, so that there is no fear of damaging or damaging the pellicle or generating dust while storing or transporting the pellicle.

The gist of the pellicle container of the third invention according to the present invention is that a plurality of positioning projections are provided, wherein the pellicle holding portion stands up from the inner bottom of the tray and can abut a predetermined portion on the outer periphery of the pellicle frame of the pellicle. A pellicle storage container according to a second aspect of the present invention.

In the pellicle storage container according to the third aspect of the present invention, a plurality of positioning projections which can abut on a predetermined portion of the outer periphery of the pellicle frame of the stored pellicle are provided at predetermined positions on the inner bottom of the tray. Since the pellicle holding portions are provided and provided, the pellicles respectively housed in these pellicle holding portions can be firmly held and fixed in an accurate and stable state by the plurality of positioning projections.

[0021]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a pellicle container according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the pellicle container according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view illustrating a state where a pellicle is stored in a part of a container.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which four pellicles are stored in the pellicle storage container of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a plan view and a side view of the pellicle storage container of FIG.

Referring to FIGS. 2 to 4, the pellicle stored in the pellicle storage container B according to the present invention will be described as follows.

Reference numeral A denotes a pellicle. A pellicle film 3 is adhered to the upper edge of the pellicle frame 1 via an adhesive 2. The lower edge (lower surface) of the pellicle frame 1 is coated with an adhesive 4 used when attaching the pellicle A to a photomask or a reticle (hereinafter simply referred to as a mask).
A protective film 5 that can be easily peeled off when the pellicle A is attached is attached to the adhesive 4. An ear 5a is integrally formed at a predetermined position on a side edge of the protective film 5.

The pellicle frame 1 may be made of any material as long as it can support the pellicle film 3.
A support frame such as an aluminum frame whose surface is anodized or a metal frame coated with chrome, etc., and a resin support frame manufactured from engineering plastics and the like are used.
The shape may be various other shapes such as a square and a circle. Usually, a metal frame is used in terms of ease of manufacture, strength, and the like.

As a material of the transparent thin film layer (center layer) of the pellicle film 3, nitrocellulose, cellulose acetate,
Cellulose derivatives such as cellulose acetate butyrate, cellulose acetate propionate, ethyl cellulose and carbonated acetyl cellulose can be used.

Each of these cellulose derivatives may be used alone, or a mixture with two or more cellulose derivatives may be used. The higher the molecular weight of the cellulose derivative to be used, the better the shape retention of the thin film.

That is, the number average molecular weight is 30,000 or more, preferably 50,000 or more. Among such materials, nitrocellulose manufactured by Asahi Kasei Corporation, cellulose acetate, cellulose acetate butyrate, and cellulose acetate propionate manufactured by Eastman Kodak Co., Ltd. are each commercially available and can be easily obtained. I can do it.

As the solvent for the cellulose derivative, 2-butanone, methyl isobutyl ketone, cyclohexanone,
Butyl acetate, isobutyl acetate, ethyl lactate, cellosolve acetate, propylene glycol monomethyl ether acetate, and the like, and a mixture of these solvents are used.

The solution of the cellulose derivative or the like is filtered in advance to remove foreign substances, and then spin-coated. The thickness of the transparent thin film (center layer) can be appropriately changed by changing the solution viscosity or the rotation speed of the substrate. The solvent contained in the thin film formed on the substrate is volatilized on a hot plate, an oven, or the like.

The anti-reflection layer of the pellicle film 3 may be a single layer or 2 layers.
In the case of a single layer (when the antireflection layer is formed on the front and back, the number of pellicle films 3 is three), the refractive index n1 of the antireflection layer is a transparent thin film (center layer). Refractive index n
Antireflection effect when n1 = (nC) ^1/2 relative to C is maximized, the more selective the antireflective layer material close to this value,
The antireflection effect increases. The thickness d of the antireflection layer may be n1 × d = λ / 4, where λ is the wavelength to be antireflection.

When the number of antireflection layers is two (when the antireflection layers are formed on the front and back surfaces in the same manner as described above, the number of layers of the pellicle film 3 is five), the layer in contact with the transparent thin film layer has a high refractive index antireflection. The outermost layer is a low-refractive-index antireflection layer, and the refractive index and the thickness are n1, d1, and n in order from the outermost antireflection layer.
Assuming that 2, d2, the antireflection effect is maximized when n2 / n1 = (nC) ^1/2 , and the antireflection effect increases as the n2 / n1 antireflection layer material closer to this value is selected.

The thicknesses d1 and d2 of the antireflection layer are given by n1.times.d1 = n2.times.d2 = .lamda.
/ 4. For the center layer, a cellulose derivative, polyvinyl butyral, polyvinyl propional, or the like can be used.
Since it is before and after, (nC) ^1/2 is about 1.22. Therefore, as for the refractive index of the antireflection layer material, when the antireflection layer is a single layer, the antireflection effect increases as n2 / n1 approaches 1.22, which is preferable.

The material of the low refractive index antireflection layer used as the outermost layer includes tetrafluoroethylene-vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene polymer, polyfluoroacrylate, and a fluoropolymer having a cyclic structure in the main chain manufactured by DuPont. Fluorine-based materials such as Teflon AF (trade name) and Cytop (trade name) manufactured by Asahi Glass Co., Ltd. can be used.

The Teflon AF is irradiated with radiation such as γ-ray, electron beam and α-ray or light such as far ultraviolet rays, thereby improving the filterability, the antistatic property, and the adhesion between the pellicle film 3 and the pellicle frame 1. I do.

Next, a specific embodiment of the pellicle film 3 will be described. First, cellulose acetate propionate (manufactured by Eastman Kodak, "CAP482-
20 ", hereinafter referred to as" CAP ") in propylene glycol monomethyl ether acetate to prepare a CAP solution.

A solution is prepared by dissolving a fluorine-containing resin as an antireflection layer in a solvent. First, the coating substrate was set on a spin coater, and the prepared CAP solution was filtered with a filter, and an appropriate amount of the filtrate was dropped on the coating substrate. Thereafter, the coating substrate was set at 1000 rpm for 45 seconds. Rotate, then evaporate the solvent on a hot plate, and place a 1-
A transparent thin film layer (center layer) of 2 μm was formed.

Next, the above-prepared fluororesin solution was filtered through a filter, and the filtrate was dropped on the center layer by several cc, rotated at 600 rpm for 30 seconds, air-dried, and further hot-plated. It dried on it and formed the antireflection layer.

Further, the film was peeled off from the coating substrate at 23 ° C. and a relative humidity of 50%.
c was dropped on the exposed surface of the center layer of the two-layer film peeled off from the substrate, rotated at 600 rpm for 30 seconds, and air-dried to form an antireflection layer, thereby obtaining a three-layer film. Next, a pellicle frame 1 made of aluminum metal whose surface is anodized by using an ultraviolet-curing adhesive on the upper surface is placed on a pellicle frame 1.
The pellicle film 3 of the layer was adhered.

Next, a specific example of the pellicle storage container B of the present invention, which can stably store a plurality of pellicles A having the above-described configuration, will be described with reference to FIGS. Will be described.

The pellicle storage container B according to the present invention comprises a tray 6 capable of storing four pellicles A and a lid 7 capable of covering the tray 6. The tray 6 and the lid 7 are generally made of a material such as an acrylic resin, a PET resin, and an ABS resin, respectively.
In forming the lid 7, a molding method such as an injection molding method or a vacuum molding method is used.

The tray 6 and the lid 7 are preferably electrically conductive for the following reasons. That is, if the tray 6 and the lid 7 are conductive, dust due to charging is less likely to adhere, and the work of removing foreign matter from the tray 6 and the lid 7 is reduced. In order to make the tray 6 and the lid 7 conductive as described above, a conductive material, for example, conductive carbon black, metal powder, or the like is used as a sub-material for forming the tray 6 and the lid 7 using a resin as a molding material. What is necessary is just to mix in.

In the tray 6 of the pellicle storage container A according to the present invention, as shown in the figure, the four pellicles A are arranged in parallel, and the four pellicles A stored therein are each connected to the four pellicles A. Four pellicle holding portions 8a, 8b, 8c, 8d that can be individually stored in an independent state are arranged vertically, horizontally, and vertically.

These four pellicle holding portions 8a, 8
Each of b, 8c, and 8d is configured to be surrounded by a plurality of positioning projections 9 protruding from the inner bottom 6a of the tray 6 at predetermined intervals. Therefore, when the pellicles A are stored in the four pellicle holding portions 8a, 8b, 8c, 8d, respectively, the positioning projections 9 are brought into contact with predetermined positions on the outer peripheral surface of the pellicle frame 1 of each pellicle A, and this positioning is performed. The projection 9 is configured so that the position of the pellicle A can be accurately and stably held.

The pellicle container B according to the present invention described above.
Are four pellicle holding portions 8a, 8 inside the tray 6.
Since b, 8c, and 8d are provided in advance, four pellicles A can be stored in parallel in one pellicle storage container B. If necessary, the number of pellicles A to be stored can be freely changed.

Therefore, by using the pellicle storage container B of the present invention, the cost of the pellicle storage container can be greatly reduced, and the operation of storing the pellicle A in the pellicle storage container B and the operation of taking out the pellicle A Alternatively, the operation of cleaning the pellicle container B can be made extremely efficient. Further, the space for storing or transporting the pellicle A can be utilized extremely effectively.

[0047]

According to the pellicle container of the present invention,
Since two or more pellicles can be stored in parallel in the tray that can store the pellicle and the lid that can cover the tray, two or more pellicles can be stored in one pellicle storage container. Pellicles can be stored in a side-by-side state and can be stored or transported.

Accordingly, the number of pellicle storage containers can be remarkably reduced as compared with the conventional example, whereby the cost of the storage container or the cost of storing and removing the pellicle in and from the storage container can be reduced. I can do it. Further, it has a great effect that the efficiency of storing and transporting the pellicle can be greatly improved, and the efficiency of cleaning the pellicle storage container can be improved.

Further, when a plurality of pellicle holding portions capable of holding the pellicle are arranged in parallel inside the tray, the pellicles can be stably accommodated in each pellicle holding portion independently and independently. Thus, there is an effect that there is no fear of damaging or breaking the pellicle or generating dust while storing or transporting the pellicle.

Further, a plurality of positioning projections, which can abut on a predetermined portion of the outer periphery of the pellicle frame of the stored pellicle, are provided at predetermined positions on the inner bottom of the tray to form a pellicle holding portion. Each of the pellicles stored in the pellicle holding portion has an effect that the plurality of positioning protrusions can be firmly held and fixed in an accurate and stable state.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory perspective view of a pellicle storage container according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view illustrating a state where the pellicle is stored in a part of the pellicle storage container of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a state where four pellicles are stored in the pellicle storage container of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a plan view and a side view of the pellicle container of FIG. 3;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Pellicle frame 2 ... Adhesive 3 ... Pellicle film 4 ... Adhesive material 5 ... Protective film 5a ... Ear part 6 ... Tray 7 ... Lid 8a ... Pellicle holding part 8b ... Pellicle holding part 8c ... Pellicle holding part 8d ... Pellicle holding part 9 ... positioning protrusion A ... pellicle B ... pellicle storage container

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A storage container comprising a tray used for storing, storing and transporting a pellicle and a lid covered by the tray, wherein the tray and the lid each include two or more pellicles in parallel. A pellicle storage container characterized by having a space that can be stored. 2. The pellicle container according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of pellicle holding portions capable of holding the pellicle are arranged in parallel inside the tray. 3. The pellicle holding portion is formed of a plurality of positioning projections which are protruded from the inner bottom of the tray and which can abut on a predetermined portion of the outer periphery of the pellicle frame of the pellicle. Pellicle storage container.