METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR CLEANING OBJECTS IN A CHAMBER OF AN OPTICAL INSTRUMENT BY GENERATING REACTIVE IONS USING PHOTON RADIATION

• Main Authors: KLEBANOFF, Leonard, E, UMSTADTER, Karl, R, HOLLENSHEAD, Jeromy, T, DELGADO, Gildardo, R, ZHUANG, Guorong, V, STARODUB, Elena
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; French; German
• Published: 07.12.2022
• Subjects: APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED THEREFOR; BASIC ELECTRIC ELEMENTS; CINEMATOGRAPHY; CLEANING; CLEANING IN GENERAL; ELECTRIC SOLID STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; ELECTRICITY; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY; MATERIALS THEREFOR; MEASURING; MEASURING ANGLES; MEASURING AREAS; MEASURING IRREGULARITIES OF SURFACES OR CONTOURS; MEASURING LENGTH, THICKNESS OR SIMILAR LINEARDIMENSIONS; ORIGINALS THEREFOR; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PHOTOGRAPHY; PHOTOMECHANICAL PRODUCTION OF TEXTURED OR PATTERNED SURFACES,e.g. FOR PRINTING, FOR PROCESSING OF SEMICONDUCTORDEVICES; PHYSICS; PREVENTION OF FOULING IN GENERAL; SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; TESTING; TRANSPORTING

An optical instrument, including a chamber, an object exposed to an interior of the chamber, a source of low-pressure gas, the gas comprising at least one of low-pressure molecular hydrogen gas, low-pressure molecular oxygen and a low-pressure noble gas, the source of low pressure gas being fluidly coupled to the chamber, a low voltage source electrically coupled between the object and a remaining portion of the instrument that is exposed to the interior of the chamber so as to maintain the object at a low voltage relative to the remaining portion, and an EUV/VUV light source adapted to direct EUV/VUV light through the low pressure gas in the chamber onto the object. In such a system, when the EUV/VUV light source is activated ions of the low-pressure gas are formed and directed to the object. The ions may be ions of Hydrogen, Oxygen or a noble gas.