US-12625438-B2 - Interface plate, inspection system and method of installing an inspection system

US12625438B2US 12625438 B2US12625438 B2US 12625438B2US-12625438-B2

Abstract

An interface plate for mounting an apparatus or an assembly of an apparatus to a floor or floor plate is described, the interface plate comprising: an install block having an install surface configured to receive an interface surface of the apparatus or assembly; an adjustment mechanism configured to adjust a position or orientation of the install block relative to the floor or floor plate; and a mounting mechanism configured to rigidly mount the install block to the floor or floor plate.

Inventors

Marcel Koenraad Marie Baggen
Jasper Hendrik GRASMAN
Chin-Fa Tu
Lucas KUINDERSMA

Assignees

ASML NETHERLANDS B.V.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20210324

Claims (20)

1 . An interface plate for mounting an apparatus or an assembly of an apparatus to a floor or floor plate, the interface plate comprising: an install block having an install surface configured to receive an interface surface of the apparatus or assembly; an adjustment mechanism located between the install block and the floor or floor plate in a vertical direction, the adjustment mechanism configured to adjust a position or orientation of the install block relative to the floor or floor plate; and a mounting mechanism configured to rigidly mount the install block to the floor or floor plate.
2 . The interface plate according to claim 1 , wherein the adjustment mechanism comprises a first member configured to engage with the install block, whereby a position of a bottom surface of the first member relative to the install surface is adjustable.
3 . The interface plate according to claim 2 , wherein the adjustment mechanism further comprises a second member, the second member comprising a bottom surface configured to be positioned on the floor or floor plate and a top surface configured to receive the bottom surface of the first member.
4 . The interface plate according to claim 3 , wherein the first member and the second member comprise a through hole extending in the vertical direction.
5 . The interface plate according to claim 4 , wherein the install block comprises a through hole configured to receive a bolt of the mounting mechanism, the through hole of the install block having a clearance to enable the bolt to align with a mounting hole provided in the floor or floor plate.
6 . The interface plate according to claim 2 , wherein the first member is connected to the install block via a threaded connection, the threaded connection enabling a relative displacement of the bottom surface of the first member and the install surface in the vertical direction.
7 . The interface plate according to claim 1 , wherein the install block is provided with a plurality of mounting holes for mounting the interface surface of the apparatus or assembly to the install surface of the install block.
8 . The interface plate according to claim 1 , wherein the interface plate comprises a plurality of adjustment mechanisms.
9 . The interface plate according to claim 1 , wherein the install block comprises a first set of mounting holes for mounting an interface surface of a first assembly of the apparatus and a second set of mounting holes for mounting an interface surface of a second assembly of the apparatus.
10 . The interface plate according to claim 9 , wherein: the first assembly comprises a frame of a stage assembly of an inspection apparatus; and the second assembly comprises a frame of an inspection tool of the inspection apparatus.
11 . The interface plate according to claim 1 , wherein the interface plate comprises three or more adjustment mechanisms.
12 . The interface plate according to claim 11 , wherein the adjustment mechanisms are configured to adjust a position of the install block relative to the floor or floor plate in three translational degrees of freedom and three rotational degrees of freedom.
13 . The interface plate according to claim 1 , wherein the interface plate comprises three or more adjustment mechanisms.
14 . The interface plate according to claim 13 , wherein: the install surface has a substantially triangular shape; and the interface plate comprises three adjustment mechanisms arranged at respective corners of the install surface.
15 . The interface plate according to claim 13 , wherein: the install surface has a substantially rectangular shape; and the interface plate comprises four adjustment mechanisms arranged at respective corners of the install surface.
16 . The interface plate according to claim 15 , wherein the install block comprises four through holes configured to receive respective four bolts of the mounting mechanisms, the through holes of the install block configured to having a clearance to enable the four bolts to align with mounting holes provided in the floor or floor plate.
17 . The interface plate according to claim 13 , wherein the adjustment mechanisms are configured to adjust a position of the install block relative to the floor or floor plate in three translational degrees of freedom and three rotational degrees of freedom.
18 . An inspection system, comprising: an inspection apparatus; and a plurality of interface plates that each comprise: an install block having an install surface configured to receive an interface surface of the inspection apparatus or an assembly of the apparatus; an adjustment mechanism located between the install block and a floor or floor plate in a vertical direction, the adjustment mechanism configured to adjust a position or orientation of the install block relative to the floor or floor plate; and a mounting mechanism configured to rigidly mount the install block to the floor or floor plate; the plurality of interface plates configured to mount the inspection apparatus or the assembly of the apparatus to the floor or floor plate.
19 . The inspection system according to claim 18 , wherein the plurality of interface plates comprises: a first set of interface plates for mounting a first assembly of the inspection apparatus to the floor or floor plate; and a second set of interface plates for mounting a second assembly of the inspection apparatus to the floor or floor plate.
20 . A method of installing an inspection system, the method comprising: providing an inspection system comprising an inspection apparatus and a plurality of interface plates that each comprise: an install block having an install surface configured to receive an interface surface of the inspection apparatus or an assembly of the apparatus; an adjustment mechanism located between the install block and a floor or floor plate in a vertical direction, the adjustment mechanism configured to adjust a position or orientation of the install block relative to the floor or floor plate; and a mounting mechanism configured to rigidly mount the install block to the floor or floor plate; positioning the plurality of interface plates on the floor or floor plate at locations where the mounting mechanism is able to engage with the floor or floor plate; adjusting a position or orientation of the install block relative to the floor or floor plate using the adjustment mechanism to enable alignment of the install surfaces of the install blocks to the interface surface of the inspection apparatus or assembly; mounting the interface plates to the floor or floor plate using the mounting mechanisms; and mounting the inspection apparatus or assembly of the inspection apparatus to the interface plates.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority to International Application No. PCT/EP2021/057640, filed Mar. 24, 2021, and published as WO 2021/191311 A1, which claims priority of U.S. application 63/000,970 which was filed on Mar. 27, 2020. The contents of these applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. BACKGROUND Technical Field The present disclosure relates to mounting arrangements and methods for apparatuses such as inspection apparatuses, lithographic apparatuses and the like. Description of the Related Art A lithographic apparatus is a machine that applies a desired pattern onto a substrate, usually onto a target portion of the substrate. A lithographic apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs). In such a case, a patterning device, which is alternatively referred to as a mask or a reticle, may be used to generate a circuit pattern to be formed on an individual layer of the IC. This pattern can be transferred onto a target portion (e.g. including part of, one, or several dies) on a substrate (e.g. a silicon wafer). Transfer of the pattern is typically via imaging onto a layer of radiation-sensitive material (resist) provided on the substrate. In general, a single substrate will contain a network of adjacent target portions that are successively patterned. Conventional lithographic apparatus include so-called steppers, in which each target portion is irradiated by exposing an entire pattern onto the target portion at once, and so-called scanners, in which each target portion is irradiated by scanning the pattern through a radiation beam in a given direction (the “scanning”-direction) while synchronously scanning the substrate parallel or anti-parallel to this direction. It is also possible to transfer the pattern from the patterning device to the substrate by imprinting the pattern onto the substrate. The radiation beam as typically applied in lithographic apparatuses may e.g. be a DUV radiation beam (e.g. having a wavelength of 248 nm or 193 nm) or an EUV radiation beam (e.g. having a wavelength of 11 nm or 13.5 nm). The manufacturing of an integrated circuit may typically require the stacking of a plurality of layers, whereby the layers need to be accurately aligned. Without such an alignment, a required connection between layers may be flawed, resulting in a malfunctioning of the integrated circuit. Typically, the bottom layer or layers of the integrated circuit will contain the smallest structures, such as transistors or components thereof. The structures of subsequent layers are typically larger and enable connections of the structures in the bottom layers to the outside world. In view of this, an alignment of two layers will be the most challenging in the bottom portion of the integrated circuit. In order to ensure that a circuit or a circuit layer is properly patterned, substrates are often subjected to inspection, using inspection tools such as e-beam inspection tools. Such tools may e.g. be applied to assess whether or not certain process steps, as. e.g. performed by a lithographic apparatus, are executed as expected. At present, the mounting and installation of such high precision apparatuses such as inspection tools or apparatuses or lithographic apparatuses may be cumbersome. SUMMARY It is desirable to improve or facilitate the installation of apparatuses such as inspection apparatuses or lithographic apparatuses in a factory or fab. In order to address these concerns, according to an aspect of the disclosure, there is provided an interface plate for mounting an apparatus or an assembly of an apparatus to a floor or floor plate, the interface plate comprising: an install block having an install surface configured to receive an interface surface of the apparatus or assembly,an adjustment mechanism configured to adjust a position or orientation of the install block relative to the floor or floor plate;a mounting mechanism configured to rigidly mount the install block to the floor or floor plate. According to another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided an inspection system comprising an inspection apparatus and a plurality of interface plates according to the disclosure, the plurality of interface plates being configured to mount the inspection apparatus or an assembly of the apparatus to the floor or floor plate. According to yet another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a method of installing an inspection system, the method comprising the steps of: providing an inspection system comprising a plurality of interface plates according to the disclosure, and an inspection apparatus;positioning the plurality of interface plates on the floor or floor plate at locations where the mounting mechanism is able to engage with the floor or floor plate;adjusting a position or orientation of the install block relative to the floor or floor plate using the adjustment mechanism to enable alignm