JP2012103638A - Pellicle handling tool - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a pellicle handling jig capable of safely, reliably and easily handling a rectangular pellicle having at least one side length exceeding 500 mm.
SOLUTION: Two arm portions arranged along the outer surfaces of a pair of sides of a pellicle frame, each of the two arm portions being connected to a connecting portion at one end thereof, An operating unit is provided, and at least two pellicle frame gripping means are mounted on a moving means that can be moved and fixed to an arbitrary position on each of the two arms, and the pellicle frame The tip of the gripping means has a pin shape or a claw shape, and the tip is inserted into a recess or groove provided on the outer surface of the pellicle frame to grip the pellicle.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a pellicle for lithography used as a dust prevention when manufacturing a semiconductor device, a printed circuit board, a liquid crystal display or the like, and in particular, a pellicle handling jig (hereinafter simply referred to as “pellicle handling jig”) suitable for moving and transporting a pellicle. This is referred to as a “handling jig”.

  In the manufacture of semiconductor devices such as LSIs or liquid crystal displays, a pattern is produced by irradiating a semiconductor wafer or glass glass plate with light. A photomask or reticle (hereinafter simply referred to as “photomask”) used at this time is used. If the dust adheres to the above, the dust blocks or refracts the light, so that the transferred pattern is damaged.

  For this reason, these operations are usually performed in a clean room, but it is still difficult to keep the photomask clean. Therefore, a method of sticking a pellicle as a dust guard on the photomask surface is employed. In this case, the foreign matter does not adhere directly to the surface of the photomask but adheres to the pellicle. Therefore, if the focus is set on the pattern of the photomask during lithography, the foreign matter on the pellicle becomes irrelevant to the transfer.

  This pellicle has a transparent pellicle film made of nitrocellulose, cellulose acetate, fluorine resin, etc. that normally transmits light well. They are either air dried and bonded, or bonded with an adhesive such as acrylic resin or epoxy resin. Furthermore, the lower end of the pellicle frame is provided with an adhesive layer made of polybutene resin, polyvinyl acetate resin, acrylic resin or the like for mounting on a photomask, and a release layer (separator) for the purpose of protecting the adhesive layer. .

  In addition, when the pellicle is attached to the photomask, a small hole for adjusting the atmospheric pressure may be formed in a part of the pellicle frame in order to eliminate the pressure difference between the space enclosed inside the pellicle and the outside. is there. Note that a filter is installed in the small hole in order to prevent foreign matter from entering from the air moving through the small hole.

  It is necessary to inspect the foreign matter during the manufacturing process of the pellicle or before use. At that time, handling of the pellicle requires the latest care so as not to attach the foreign matter. If it is directly grabbed by hand, there is a risk of foreign matter adhering, scratching or dropping the pellicle film.

Therefore, a handling jig as shown in FIG. 8 or FIG. 9 is generally used.
The handling jig 88 shown in FIG. 8 has arm portions 81 on the left and right of the front portion of the handle portion 84. When the operator holds the handle portion 84 and operates the operation knob 83, the left and right arm portions 81 are moved. It is a mechanism that opens and closes. The left and right arms 81 are each provided with a pin-shaped gripping portion 82, and the pellicle is gripped by inserting the pin-shaped gripping portions 82 into the four recessed portions 86 provided on the outer surface of the pellicle frame 85. Reference numeral 87 denotes a pellicle film.

The handling jig 98 shown in FIG. 9 has an arm portion 91 on the left and right of the front end of the handle portion 94, and a thin plate-like grip portion 92 is provided inside the arm portion 91, so that the operator holds the handle portion 94 with both hands. In this example, the thin plate-shaped grip portion 92 is inserted and held in the groove 96 provided on the outer surface of the pellicle frame 95. Further, the pellicle frame 95 is supported by a support portion 93 from below.
As a conventional handling jig, for example, in Patent Document 1, a center axis of a grip with respect to a main surface of a photomask substrate is used to facilitate alignment and prevent foreign matter from falling onto a body to be handled. A handling jig provided with a grip so as to be parallel to each other at a predetermined distance H is disclosed.

JP 2006-108154 A

In recent years, the size of a photomask accompanying the increase in size of a liquid crystal display has increased the size of a pellicle significantly. Naturally, the handling jig for handling the pellicle is also large, but in this case, there are the following problems.
In the case of the example shown in FIG. 8, the pin-shaped gripping portion 82 must be accurately aligned with the recess 86 on the outer surface of the pellicle frame, but the recess 86 on the side far from the operator side is not visible to the operator. Because it does not enter, it is very difficult to insert. Therefore, the handling jig of the system as shown in FIG. 8 is often used for a pellicle having a relatively small size.

In the case of the example shown in FIG. 9, since a continuous groove 96 is provided along the outer surface of the pellicle frame 95, if even the tip of the thin plate-shaped grip portion 92 can be inserted into the groove 96, The thin plate-like gripping portion 92 can be inserted while sliding in the groove 96. For this reason, the method shown in FIG. 9 is often used for a large size.
However, even with this method, for example, when used for a large pellicle having a side length exceeding 500 mm, the start end of the groove 96 at the corner of the pellicle frame does not enter the operator's view at the same time. For this reason, it is extremely difficult to insert the thin plate-like gripping portion 92 into the left and right grooves 96 at the same time.

For this reason, the tip of the thin plate-like gripping portion 92 may accidentally come into contact with a portion other than the groove 96, such as the upper surface of the pellicle frame 95 and the pellicle film 97, thereby causing damage. Furthermore, after the tip of the thin plate-like gripping portion 92 is inserted into the groove 96, the thin plate-like gripping portion 92 must be inserted in parallel with the groove 96 without being displaced. When it is large, it is difficult to perform this operation accurately. For this reason, the thin plate-like gripping portion 92 is often inserted while being caught in a zigzag while being rubbed against the groove 96. As a result, unnecessary rubbing occurred between the thin plate-like gripping portion 92 and the groove 96, and much dust was generated.
For these reasons, there has been a demand for a handling jig that can be easily grasped and handled safely even for a large pellicle.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a pellicle handling jig capable of safely, reliably and easily handling a rectangular pellicle having at least one side length exceeding 500 mm.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and the handling jig of the present invention has two arm portions arranged along the outer surfaces of a pair of sides of the pellicle frame, and the two Each of the arms is connected to a connecting portion at one end, and an operating portion is provided on the connecting portion. At least two pellicle frame gripping means (hereinafter simply referred to as “holding means”) are provided on the two arms. Is mounted on a moving means that can be moved and fixed at an arbitrary position.

  It is preferable to grip the pellicle by inserting the tip of the gripping means into a pin shape and inserting the tip into a recess provided on the outer surface of the pellicle frame. The tip of the gripping means may be claw-shaped and inserted into a groove provided on the outer surface of the pellicle frame to grip the pellicle.

  Also, a plurality of legs can be provided on the arm, and a handling jig can be placed on the pellicle storage container in a horizontal state without contacting the pellicle, and the tip of the gripping means is provided on the outer surface of the pellicle frame. It is preferable to set the height of the leg portion so as to be the same height as the recessed portion or groove portion formed.

  As described above, the handling jig of the present invention is arranged such that the gripping means for gripping the pellicle frame is disposed on the moving means that can be operated independently, so that the gripped portion of the pellicle cannot be visually recognized by the operator. Even if it is a large pellicle with a side length exceeding 500 mm, it can be easily gripped, and the tip of the gripping means is inserted and fitted into the recess or groove on the outer side surface of the pellicle frame to grip it. The pellicle can be securely gripped. In addition, since the handling jig can be once held on the pellicle storage container body before gripping the pellicle, the pellicle can be gripped. The

It is a schematic plan view which shows the state which attached the handling jig | tool of this invention to the pellicle. It is a front view of the pellicle shown in FIG. It is a right view of the pellicle shown in FIG. It is a fragmentary longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the outline of the holding means which is one Embodiment of this invention. It is a fragmentary longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the outline of the holding means which is one Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic plan view which shows the state which hold | gripped the pellicle mounted on the storage container using the handling jig | tool of this invention. It is sectional drawing along CC line of FIG. It is a schematic plan view which shows the example of the handling jig | tool by a prior art. It is a schematic plan view which shows the example of the handling jig | tool by a prior art.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to these, and various modes are possible.
FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing a state where a handling jig of the present invention is attached to a rectangular pellicle, FIG. 2 is a front view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a right side view thereof.
In the pellicle 14, a pellicle film 12 is bonded to the upper end surface of the pellicle frame 11 via a pellicle film adhesive, and a mask adhesive 13 and a separator (not shown) for protecting the mask adhesive 13 are provided on the lower end surface. Yes.

  In the handling jig 22, left and right arm portions 15 arranged on the outer side of the short side of the pellicle frame 11 are respectively coupled to end portions of the connecting portion 20, and the connecting portion 20 is gripped and operated by an operator. The handle portion 16 and a support portion 19 that supports the pellicle frame from below are attached. On the left and right arm portions 15, two moving means 17 are attached so as to be linearly movable on the arm portion 15, and a gripping means 18 is attached to the moving means 17. A leg portion 21 is provided on the lower surface side of the arm portion 15 and the connecting portion 20.

Since the arm portion 15 and the operation portion 16 are required to be lightweight and have high rigidity, it is preferable that the arm portion 15 and the operation portion 16 are made of metal, particularly a light alloy such as an aluminum alloy or a magnesium alloy. Moreover, as a light weight countermeasure, the inside may be a hollow structure. The arm portion 15 is designed in accordance with the target pellicle frame. At this time, it is necessary to consider the design so that the parallelism of the left and right arm portions is maintained. As the pellicle becomes larger, even a slight inclination near the base of the arm portion 15 leads to a larger positional shift at the tip, and thus special consideration is necessary.
The length of the arm 15 may be appropriately designed according to the size of the target pellicle, but at least one-third of the frame side to be grasped is required, and the side length exceeds 1000 mm. In particular, for a large pellicle, it is desirable that the length is at least half of the frame side from the viewpoint of preventing deformation and dropping of the frame.

  The moving means 17 may be appropriately selected from a commercially available linear motion stage in consideration of the movable amount, load resistance, and the like. In addition, since it is a movable member, it cannot prevent dust generation completely, However, It is good to select a thing with as little dust generation amount as possible and a thing with little use amount of fats and oils. It is also important that the stage can be fixed at an arbitrary position and that the stage does not move unless the operation unit is operated even if it is not fixed.

4 and 5 are partial longitudinal sectional views schematically showing the gripping means 18 attached to the moving means 17.
In FIG. 4, the tip of the gripping means 18 has a pin shape, and a pin portion 43 is inserted into and fitted into a recess 42 provided on the outer surface of the pellicle frame 41 to grip the pellicle. Usually, since the depth direction of the recess 42 is difficult to achieve processing accuracy, in this example, a step 44 is provided in the pin 43 at the tip of the gripping means 18, and the insertion depth of the pin 43 on the outer surface of the pellicle frame 41. Positioning is performed. In addition, the dent 42 and the pin 43 may be devised such as tapering each other so that they can be easily inserted.

  Since the gripping means 18 is in direct contact with the pellicle, it is desirable to select a material that does not cause scratches or the like on the pellicle frame at the time of contact and generates little dust. As such a material, a resin is suitable, and examples thereof include polyetheretherketone (PEEK), polyacetal (POM), polyamide (PA), polyimide (PI), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), and the like. Polyether ether ketone (PEEK) is particularly preferred. Furthermore, it is still preferable if it is provided with antistatic performance.

The gripping means 18 shown in FIG. 5 is for gripping a groove 52 provided on the outer surface of the pellicle frame 51 by fitting a claw portion 53 provided at the tip of the gripping means 18 into the groove 52. The claw portion 53 has a thickness having an appropriate gap with respect to the groove 52, for example, a clearance of about 0.1 to 0.4 mm, and the corner portion is chamfered from the viewpoint of preventing catching and dust generation at the time of insertion. Or it is especially preferable to perform R chamfering. Further, it is more preferable that the groove 52 also has chamfering for easy insertion.
The material is preferably a resin, similar to the gripping means 18 of FIG. 4, such as polyetheretherketone (PEEK), polyacetal (POM), polyamide (PA), polyimide (PI), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), and the like. Among them, polyether ether ketone (PEEK) is particularly preferable. Furthermore, it is still preferable if it is provided with antistatic performance.

4 and 5, the shape of the gripping means 18 has been described as having the pin part 43 and the claw part 53 at the tip. However, the shape of the gripping means 18 grips any part of the target pellicle. It is necessary to design appropriately depending on whether or not.
The moving means 17 and the gripping means 18 are preferably provided in at least two locations for each arm portion, but may be appropriately added in three locations or four locations depending on the size of the target pellicle.

  In the present invention, these gripping means 18 fixed to the conventional handling jig main body are mounted on the individually provided moving means 17, and the position of the gripping means 18 is individually and arbitrarily set on the arm portion 15. Since the position can be adjusted, the difficulty of simultaneously aligning the plurality of gripping means 18 is eliminated. The handling jig 22 is placed on the pellicle storage container in a state in which the gripping means 18 is retracted to a position where it does not contact the pellicle, and then the moving means 17 is individually operated to operate the groove or recess provided in the pellicle frame 11. What is necessary is just to insert the front-end | tip of the holding means 18 in a part.

  Further, since the support portion 19 has a role of supporting the pellicle from the lower side of the pellicle frame 11, it is preferable to select a material that does not cause damage to the pellicle frame and generates less dust, like the gripping means. Specific examples include polyether ether ketone (PEEK), polyacetal (POM), polyamide (PA), polyimide (PI), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), etc. Among them, polyether ether ketone (PEEK). Is particularly preferred. Furthermore, it is more preferable if it is provided with antistatic performance. In addition, the shape is less dusty, and even if it is scraped off, the contact area is reduced so that no deposits are generated on the pellicle frame. It is good to keep it.

  The handle portion (operating portion) 16 for handling the entire equipment mounted on the arm portion is preferably made of metal or resin while ensuring the necessary rigidity, and in particular has antistatic performance. It is good to make it. The shape should just be a shape which operators, such as a round bar, are easy to operate. If this handle portion is inserted into a stand (not shown) prepared separately, the pellicle gripped by the handling jig in the vertical state can be held, and the pellicle can be easily inspected.

Next, the operation of taking out the pellicle placed on the pellicle storage container using the handling jig of the present invention will be described.
6 is a schematic plan view showing a state where the pellicle placed on the storage container is gripped by using the handling jig of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC in FIG. is there. In this example, the tip of the gripping means 18 inserted into a groove provided on the outer surface of the pellicle frame has a claw shape.

First, the handling jig 22 is placed on the pellicle storage container main body 61 so as not to contact the pellicle 62. At this time, it can be easily placed by operating the moving means 17 in advance and sufficiently retracting the gripping means 18 to the outside of the pellicle. The support portion 19 cannot be retracted because it is directly attached to the connecting portion 20, but is easily inserted into the lower side of the pellicle 62 without being in contact with the pellicle 62 because it is in a position where it can be fully seen by the operator. can do.
As is clear from FIG. 7, the plurality of leg portions 21 provided on the lower surface side of the connecting portion 20 and the arm portion 15 are placed so that the entire handling jig 22 is horizontal and placed. The gripping means 18 is adjusted to be the same height as the groove of the pellicle 62.

  Next, the entire handling jig 22 placed on the pellicle storage container 61 is horizontally slid and inserted, and the support portion 19 is brought into contact with the front side of the pellicle 62. Then, the gripping means 18 is advanced toward the pellicle by operating the moving means 17, and the claw portion 53 (see FIG. 5) of the gripping means 18 is inserted into the groove portion 52 of the pellicle 62. If this is performed for all the claw portions 53 on both the left and right sides, gripping of the pellicle is completed. When the handle portion 16 of the handling jig 22 is grasped and lifted, the removal of the pellicle from the pellicle storage container is completed.

  In the present invention, since the operation of taking out the pellicle is performed in two steps, a process of placing the handling jig on the pellicle storage container and a process of gripping the pellicle, the handling jig contacts the pellicle. The risk of damage is greatly reduced. Further, since the gripping means 18 may be operated individually one by one while the handling jig is placed on the pellicle storage container, the operation is remarkably facilitated, and trial and error is performed on the gripped portion of the pellicle frame. Therefore, it can be reliably inserted almost once, so that unnecessary dust generation due to repeated contact with the pellicle frame can be prevented.

Hereinafter, although an example is given and explained, the present invention is not limited to these and various modes are possible.
The handling jig shown in FIGS. In the figure, the pellicle 14 to be handled has a long side length of 1366 mm and a short side length of 1146 mm, and a groove having a width of 2 mm and a depth of 2 mm is provided on the outer side of the short side.
The arm portion 15 of the handling jig 22 is arranged in parallel with the short side of the pellicle 14, and its length is 800 mm. The material is made of an aluminum alloy, and the surface is black anodized. A total of four moving means 17 (ant stage; trade name, manufactured by Suruga Seiki Co., Ltd.) were attached on the left and right arm portions 15 in two places each. Further, the gripping means 18 is provided on the moving means 17, and the tip thereof is machined with an antistatic PEEK to have a claw shape.

  The detailed shape of the claw portion is as shown in FIG. The handle portion 16 was formed by fastening a round bar made of an aluminum alloy with a diameter of 25 mm to the connecting portion 20 at an interval of 600 mm. Further, PEEK leg portions 21 were attached to a total of eight places on the lower surface side of the arm portion 15 and the connecting portion 20.

Using the handling jig configured as described above, a test for taking out the pellicle 62 from the pellicle storage container 61 was performed as shown in FIG.
First, the four gripping means 18 were all retracted to the maximum, and the handling jig 22 was carefully placed on the pellicle storage container 61. Then, the handling jig was moved horizontally to a position where the support portion 19 was in contact with the pellicle 62. Next, the claw part 53 at the tip of the gripping means 18 was inserted into the groove part 52 of the pellicle frame 51 by operating the moving means 17, and all the four gripping means 18 were inserted and fixed in the groove part 52 by sequentially operating.

  Thereafter, the handle portion 16 was lifted with both hands, the pellicle 62 was raised, and tilted or shaken. The pellicle 62 was stably fixed on the handling jig 22 and was stably held without rattling. Further, the appearance of this pellicle was inspected while irradiating a condensing lamp (light quantity: 400,000 Lx) in a dark room, but it was in a clean state with no scratches or foreign matter in the groove.

Comparative example

A handling jig 98 as shown in FIG. 9 was produced. The arm portion 91 of the handling jig 98 is provided with a thin plate-like grip portion 92 over the entire arm portion 91, and fits into a groove 96 provided on the outer surface of the pellicle frame 95. Here, the inner dimension between the left and right gripping portions 92 has a clearance (clearance) of 0.3 mm on one side with respect to the outer dimension between the bottom portions of both the left and right grooves 96 in consideration of easy insertion into the groove 96. Also, the thickness of the thin plate-like gripping portion 92 was made 0.5 mm thinner than the groove height. The thin plate-like gripping portion 92 is processed integrally with the arm portion 91 and is black chrome plated using stainless steel.
Using this handling jig, the same pellicle as in the above example was tested for removal from the pellicle storage container.

  As a result, it was difficult to insert the thin plate-like gripping portion 92 into the groove 96 of the pellicle frame, and it was extremely difficult. Also, after taking out, when the pellicle was standing vertically and tilted or shaken, there was a clearance between the groove of the pellicle frame and the gripping part, so there was a lot of rattling, but it did not fall off It was dangerous. Furthermore, when the external appearance of the pellicle was confirmed with a condenser lamp (light quantity of 400,000 Lx) in the dark room, dozens of foreign matters exceeding 50 μm were found near the groove of the pellicle frame in which the grip portion 92 was inserted. In addition, scratches were also generated on the outer surface of the pellicle frame near the slot for insertion into the groove.

11, 41, 51, 85, 95 ... pellicle frame 12, 87, 97 ... pellicle film 13 ... mask adhesive layer 14, 62 ... pellicle 15, 81, 91 ... arm 16 , 84, 94... Handle part (operation part)
17 ... moving means 18 ... gripping means 19, 93 ... support part 20 ... connecting part 21 ... leg parts 22, 88, 98 ... handling jigs 42, 86 ... dents Part 43 ... pin part 44 ... step part 52 ... groove part 53 ... claw part 61 ... pellicle storage container 82 ... pin-shaped gripping part 83 ... operation knob 92 ... thin plate Shaped grip part 96 ... groove

Claims (4)

The pellicle frame has two arm portions arranged along the outer sides of a pair of sides, and each of the two arm portions is connected to a connecting portion at one end thereof, and an operating portion is provided in the connecting portion. A pellicle handling jig, wherein at least two pellicle frame gripping means are mounted on a moving means that can be moved and fixed at an arbitrary position on each of the two arms. 2. The pellicle handling jig according to claim 1, wherein a tip of the pellicle frame gripping means has a pin shape, and the tip is inserted into a recessed portion provided on an outer surface of the pellicle frame to grip the pellicle. 2. The pellicle handling jig according to claim 1, wherein a tip of the pellicle frame gripping means has a claw shape, and the tip is inserted into a groove provided on an outer surface of the pellicle frame to grip the pellicle. The arm is provided with a plurality of legs so that the handling jig can be placed on the pellicle storage container in a horizontal state without contacting the pellicle, and the tip of the gripping means is on the outer surface of the pellicle frame. The pellicle handling jig according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the height of the leg portion is set so as to be the same height as the provided dent or groove.

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