JP3938224B2 - Pellicle storage structure - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a pellicle storage structure used for preventing foreign matter from adhering to a photomask or a reticle used in a lithography process when manufacturing an LSI or the like.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the manufacture of semiconductor circuit patterns and the like, it has been practiced to prevent foreign matter from adhering to a photomask or reticle using a dust-proof means generally called a pellicle (for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 54-28718). ). The pellicle is a transparent polymer film (hereinafter referred to as a pellicle) such as nitrocellulose or cellulose derivative having a thickness of about 10 μm or less on the upper edge surface of a frame of about several millimeters thick having a shape matched to the shape of a photomask or reticle. The adhesive film is spread and adhered, and an adhesive material is applied to the lower edge surface of the frame body, and a protective film is adhered to the adhesive material with a predetermined adhesive force.
[0003]
The pressure-sensitive adhesive is for fixing the pellicle to a photomask or reticle, and the protective film is used to maintain the adhesive strength of the pressure-sensitive adhesive until the pressure-sensitive adhesive is used for that purpose. It protects the adhesive surface. When transporting this pellicle from the manufacturer to the user, in order to prevent foreign matter from adhering to the pellicle film or the like, or to prevent the pellicle from being damaged, the pellicle is stored in a case consisting of a tray and a lid, Further, it is generally stored in a dust-proof bag or the like and transported.
[0004]
Conventionally, the case of the pellicle having the above-described structure has been stored as shown in FIGS. That is, in the figure, the pellicle film 52 is bonded to one upper edge surface of the frame body 51 in a stretched (pinched) state, and the other surface (lower edge surface) of the frame body 51 has an appropriate thickness. The adhesive material 53 is provided, and a protective film 54 is attached to the lower surface of the adhesive material 53 to form a pellicle. The pellicle is placed so that the protective film 54 is in contact with the installation surface 55 a which is a flat surface of the tray 55.
[0005]
The pellicle placed on the installation surface 55 a of the tray 55 is restrained from moving left and right by a protruding post 55 b provided on the tray 55, and covers the lid 56 from above. It was stored in the case by fixing four corners with 55. As a result, the pellicle was restrained by being surrounded by the inclined surface 56a of the lid 56, the post 55b, and the installation surface 55a, and stored in the case.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, as described above, the pellicle is transported in a storage state constrained by the inclined surface 56a of the case lid 56, the post 55b, and the installation surface 55a. However, it cannot be avoided that the pellicle is subjected to some vibration or impact during transportation. . If there is a large gap between the pellicle and the inclined surface 56a of the case lid 56 in the constrained state in the case of the conventional pellicle, the pellicle collides with the case lid 56 due to vibration and impact during transportation, and this part is Due to strong rubbing, it sometimes wears and generates dust. In such a case, there has been a problem of losing the most important function of delivering the pellicle to the user without foreign matter.
[0007]
On the other hand, when the gap between the pellicle and the case is eliminated, that is, when the inclined surface 56a is in contact with the frame 51 (or the end of the pellicle film 52) in advance, mutual contact is also achieved. It is known from experience that the inner surface of the inclined surface 56a or the end of the pellicle film 52 is worn by the pressure to generate foreign matter.
[0008]
Therefore, the most preferable method in such a pellicle storage structure is to take a very small gap between the pellicle and the inclined surface 56a of the lid 56 of the case. Specifically, when the pellicle is placed on the tray 55, the lid 56 is covered, and the lid 56 and the tray 55 are fixed to each other with the clip 57, 0.1 to between the slope 56 a and the upper end of the frame body 1. In this structure, a gap of about 0.3 mm is provided.
[0009]
Inventor's experiments have confirmed that such a clearance can withstand a certain amount of vibration and impact. However, in this case as well, there was a problem of generating dust when subjected to a large impact. Furthermore, it is necessary to provide a means for reducing the impact applied to the case or pellicle by a packing method (for example, using a large amount of a soft foam material having a high impact effect), or a transportation means with less vibration and impact is required. In order to secure an appropriate gap between the lid 56 and the pellicle, it is necessary to form the tray 55 and the lid 56 with high accuracy. However, many of these means have a problem that it is extremely difficult to guarantee that no dust is generated in principle.
[0010]
In order to fundamentally improve the above-described conventional problems, the present inventor temporarily attached the protective film of the pellicle to the tray directly with a predetermined adhesive force or magnet attracting force, thereby being accommodated in the case. A completely new technology has already been developed and applied for a patent, in which the pellicle is restrained in the case so that it can sufficiently withstand vibration and shock during transportation. (Japanese Patent Application No. 9-182459, Japanese Patent Application No. 9-195534).
[0011]
The technique of temporarily attaching the pellicle directly to the tray with a predetermined adhesive force is a configuration in which the pellicle is restrained to the tray by using an adhesive material or an adhesive material. The technique of temporarily attaching the pellicle to the tray with a predetermined attracting force is a configuration in which a magnet or a ferromagnetic material is placed on the tray and the pellicle so that the attracting force by the magnet acts to restrain the pellicle to the tray. The present invention provides a completely new pellicle storage structure technique in which the pellicle is restrained by a tray and a lid without using such adhesive force or adsorption force.
[0012]
In particular, the present invention provides a pellicle in which a pressing body is interposed between a tray and a lid of a case capable of storing the pellicle, and the pellicle protective film is pressed by the pressing body to fix the pellicle to the case. This relates to the storage structure.
[0013]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The pellicle storage structure according to the present invention is a technique developed in view of the above-described conventional problems. The gist of the invention is a frame and a pellicle bonded to the upper edge surface of the frame. A pellicle composed of a film, an adhesive applied to the lower edge of the frame, and a protective film adhered to the lower edge of the frame to protect the adhesive In the storage structure, a leaf spring-like pressing body protruding in the horizontal direction from the inner surface of the lid is interposed between the tray and the lid, and the protective film of the pellicle is pressed with the pressing body, and the pellicle is The pellicle storage structure is fixed to the case.
[0014]
In the above-described invention, the pressing member is interposed between the tray and the lid, and the pressing member presses the protective film of the pellicle to fix the pellicle to the case. The pellicle can be securely fixed to the case in a stable state by the body pressing force. In addition, since the pressing body is interposed between the tray and the lid, when the clip is fixed to the lid and the tray, a pressing force is automatically applied to the pressing body that comes into contact with the protective film. I can do it.
[0015]
In practicing the present invention, the pressing body may be formed in a frame shape, and the pressing body may be fixed to the inner surface of the lid via an adhesive material or an adhesive material.
[0016]
In the above case, since the pressing body is formed in a frame shape, the pressing body can be configured as a single product and is in wide contact with the lid of the case, and the protective film of the pellicle The outer peripheral portion can be pressed all over. Further, when the pressing body is fixed to the inner surface of the lid using an adhesive or an adhesive, the pressing body can be removed together with the lid when the lid of the case is opened.
[0017]
In other implementations of the present invention, the pressing body may be made of a flexible material, an elastic material, a non-slip material, or a material that does not generate dust when rubbed.
[0018]
As described above, when the pressing body is made of a flexible material, an elastic material, a material that does not easily slide, or a material that does not generate dust even when rubbed, the pressing body is subjected to excessive pressure. It is possible to prevent an excessive gap from being formed between the pressing body and the protective sheet due to the pressing of the protective sheet of the pellicle or the variation in dimensions when forming the tray and the lid.
[0019]
In addition, even if the horizontal relative position between the lid and the tray is shifted due to vibration or the like, the pressing body is made to follow, so that the pressing body and the protective film are less likely to be rubbed, or the pressing body and the protective film. Even when rubbing occurs between the two, dust generation due to this rubbing can be prevented.
[0020]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
An embodiment of the pellicle housing structure according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the pellicle housing structure of the first embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of the pellicle of the second embodiment. FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional explanatory view showing the main part of the pellicle storage structure of the third embodiment.
[0021]
A first embodiment of the pellicle storage structure according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. That is, as already described in detail, the pellicle A has a frame 1, a pellicle film 2 bonded to the upper edge of the frame 1, and an adhesive 3 applied to the lower edge of the frame 1, In order to protect the adhesive material 3, it is composed of a protective film 4 adhered to the adhesive material 3. In the above-described embodiment, the adhesive material 3 is applied to the lower edge surface of the frame body 1. However, when the adhesive material 3 previously formed in a layer shape is used, it is simply below the frame body 1. It is only necessary to laminate and adhere to the edge surface (however, in this specification, including such a case, it is simply referred to as “apply”).
[0022]
Next, the pellicle A configured as described above is accommodated in a case B including a tray 5 and a lid 6. Further, clips 7 are attached to the corner portions of the tray 5 and the lid 6, and are fixed so that the lid 6 is not detached from the tray 5 by these clips 7. Reference numeral 8 denotes eight posts that stand upright on the upper surface of the tray 5, and are arranged in the vicinity of the outer periphery of the pellicle A placed on the tray 5.
[0023]
Reference numeral 9 denotes a pressing body that is integrally suspended from the inner and lower surfaces of the lid 6, and has an overall shape corresponding to the protective film 4 of the pellicle A. The pressing body 9 is made of an elastic material such as rubber. Therefore, the pressing body 9 has flexibility in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction, and has a property that it is difficult to slip when contacting the protective film 4. Yes.
[0024]
The pressing body 9 has a predetermined height. When the lid 6 is covered with the tray 5 after the pellicle A is stored in the tray 5, the pressing body 9 surrounds the pellicle A, and The pressing body 9 is configured to come into contact with the outer peripheral portion of the protective film 4. Therefore, the protective film 4 is sandwiched between the pressing body 9 and the base portion 5 a of the tray 5, whereby the pellicle A is stably fixed to the tray 5. In particular, when the tray 5 and the lid 6 are fixed with the clip 7, the pressing body 9 can press the protective film 4 with a predetermined pressing force.
[0025]
In the above embodiment, the pressing body 9 having a frame shape is integrally attached to the lid 6. However, the pillar-shaped pressing bodies 9 are attached to the lid 6 at a plurality of locations. It is also possible to configure so that several portions of the protective film 4 of the pellicle A are pressed by the pressing body 9.
[0026]
The pressing body 9 is not separately attached to the lid 6 in advance as in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, but the pressing body 9 is prepared separately from the lid 6 as in the second embodiment shown in FIG. It is also possible to fix the independent pressing body 9 to the inner and lower surfaces of the lid 6 via an adhesive material 10 or an adhesive material 10 (hereinafter simply referred to as an adhesive material). In this case, for example, the adhesive 10 is applied to the upper surface of the pressing body 9 or the inner and lower surfaces corresponding to the pressing body 9 of the lid 6, the pellicle A is placed on the tray 5, and then the frame-shaped pressing body. 9 is set so as to surround the pellicle A, the lid 6 is covered with the tray 5, and the lid 6 and the tray 5 are fixed with clips, so that the pressing body 9 can be automatically fixed to the lid 6. I can do it.
[0027]
In the above embodiment, the protective film 4 is pressed by the lower surface of the pressing body 9 that is suspended from the lid 6 in the vertical direction. However, as shown in FIG. The protective film 4 can be configured to protrude in the horizontal direction from the inner surface of the plate and press and fix the protective film 4 by the leaf spring-like pressing body 9a. The leaf spring-like pressing body 9 a can be attached to the lid 6 with an adhesive 10.
[0028]
The pressing bodies 9 and 9a are preferably made of a material having flexibility or elasticity such as rubber and leaf spring. That is, an excessive pressing force is avoided due to vertical flexibility, and an excessive gap is not formed between the pressing bodies 9, 9a and the protective film 4 due to dimensional variation during molding. You can.
[0029]
Further, due to the flexibility in the lateral direction, when the lateral relative position between the lid 6 and the tray 5 is displaced due to vibration or the like when transporting the pellicle A, the pressing bodies 9 and 9a follow the displacement. Since it can do, it can make it difficult to produce the rubbing between the press bodies 9 and 9a and the protective film 4, and can suppress generation | occurrence | production of dust generation by this.
[0030]
Further, in order to avoid rubbing between the pressing bodies 9 and 9a and the protective film 4, it is also effective to form the pressing bodies 9 and 9a from a material that is difficult to slip, such as rubber. Alternatively, even if the pressing bodies 9 and 9a and the protective film 4 are rubbed, it is also possible to configure the material with a high molecular weight polyethylene resin or the like as a material that hardly generates dust.
[0031]
As described above, the pressing bodies 9 and 9a basically hold the protective film 4 with an appropriate pressing force (for example, about 150 g), but there is a slight clearance between the pressing bodies 9 and 9a and the protective film 4. The effect of the present invention can be obtained even in a certain state. That is, even if there is a slight clearance between the pressing bodies 9 and 9a and the protective film 4, the protective film 4 can be prevented from being lifted and moved greatly by the pressing bodies 9 and 9a. There is an effect that can be regulated.
[0032]
As described above, when the pressing bodies 9 and 9a are integrally attached to the lid 6 or are bonded and fixed to the lid 6 via the adhesive 10, the lid 6 is removed when the pellicle A is taken out from the case B. Simultaneously with the opening, the pressing bodies 9 and 9a can be removed, whereby the restraining force of the pellicle A can be automatically released. Therefore, the pellicle A can be easily taken out from the tray 5 with a weak force.
[0033]
【The invention's effect】
Since the pellicle storage structure according to the present invention has the above-described configuration and operation, it has the following great effects.
[0034]
In the present invention, when the pellicle is housed in the case composed of the tray and the lid, the pellicle is fixed to the tray by using the pressing force of the pressing body. Can be prevented from moving and coming into strong contact with the case.
[0035]
Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the pellicle from being strongly rubbed against the case to cause rubbing to damage the pellicle itself, or to generate small dust due to strong rubbing with the pellicle, and this dust can be prevented from adhering to the pellicle.
[0036]
In the present invention, since the pressing body is interposed between the tray and the lid, when the lid is fixed to the tray via a clip or the like, the protective film for the pellicle is held by the pressing body interposed between the two. Can be restrained to the tray by pressing with a predetermined pressure.
[0037]
When the pressing body is attached to the lid integrally or fixed to the lid via an adhesive, the pressing body can be taken out together with the lid when the lid is opened to take out the pellicle. The restraint of the pellicle by the body can be automatically released.
[0038]
When the pressing body has a frame shape corresponding to the protective sheet of the pellicle, the entire periphery of the protective sheet can be pressed with the pressing body, so that the fixation of the pellicle can be made more stable and reliable. Further, when the pressing body has a frame shape, the pressing body can be formed as a single body and can be easily fixed to the lid. Furthermore, the entire periphery of the protective film can be pressed with a pressing body.
[0039]
When the pressing body is made of flexible material, elastic material, non-slip material, or material that does not generate dust when rubbed, the protective sheet can be pressed with an appropriate pressing force. In addition, the protective sheet can be pressed and fixed in a stable state even when large vibrations occur, and the dust can be prevented from being generated between the pressing body and the protective sheet. Yes.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional explanatory view showing a pellicle storage structure of a first embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional explanatory view showing a main part of a pellicle storage structure of a second embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional explanatory view showing a main part of a pellicle storage structure of a third embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating an example of storing a pellicle according to a conventional example.
5 is an enlarged explanatory view of a longitudinal section in a state in which a main part of FIG. 4 is enlarged.
6 is an explanatory plan view of the main part showing the pellicle storage state of FIG. 4; FIG.
[Explanation of symbols]
A Pellicle B Case 1 Frame 2 Pellicle film 3 Adhesive 4 Protective film 5 Tray 5a Base 6 Lid 7 Clip 8 Post 9,9a Press
10 Adhesive
51 Frame 52 Pellicle membrane
53 Adhesive 54 Protective film
55 Tray 56 Lid
57 clips

Claims (1)

A frame, a pellicle film bonded to the upper edge of the frame, an adhesive applied to the lower edge of the frame, and an adhesive to the lower edge of the frame to protect the adhesive In a structure for storing a pellicle made of a protective film in a case made of a tray and a lid,
A leaf spring-like pressing body projecting horizontally from the inner surface of the lid is interposed between the tray and the lid, and the protective film of the pellicle is pressed by the pressing body to fix the pellicle to the case. A pellicle storage structure characterized by this.

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