A light-enhanced wafer processing system disclosed herein which includes a rotatable chuck configured to support and selectively rotate at least one wafer, at least one dispenser body configured to selectively flow at least one photolytic material onto a surface of the wafer, and at least one optical radiation source may be configured to provide optical radiation to at least a portion of the wafer having photolytic material applied thereto, wherein the optical radiation is configured to result in the formation of optically-induced radicals having enhanced reactivity with at least one material applied to the wafer.

Methods and systems are described for reducing adhesion and controlling friction between a wafer and a wafer table during semiconductor photolithography wherein the tops of burls on the wafer table have a layer with a nanoscale topography.

A method of unloading an object from a support table, the object clamped to the support table during an exposure process by: applying a first pressure to a central region of the support table under a central portion of the object; and applying a second pressure to a peripheral region of the support table under a peripheral portion of the object, wherein during clamping the first pressure and the second pressure are controlled such that liquid is retained between the object and a seal member that is positioned radially between the central region and the peripheral region at an upper surface of the support table and protrudes towards the object, the method including: increasing the first pressure towards ambient pressure; removing at least some of the liquid retained between the object and the seal member by decreasing the second pressure; and increasing the second pressure towards the ambient pressure.

A mask for use in a semiconductor lithography process includes a substrate, a mask pattern disposed on the substrate, and a light absorbing border surrounding the mask pattern. The light absorbing border is inset from at least two edges of the substrate to define a peripheral region outside of the light absorbing border. In some designs, a first peripheral region extends from an outer perimeter of the light absorbing border to a first edge of the substrate, and a second peripheral region that extends from the outer perimeter of the light absorbing border to a second edge of the substrate, where the first edge of the substrate and the second edge of the substrate are on opposite sides of the mask pattern.

A method for preparing a substrate for an exposure process of a lithographic manufacturing method, the method including imposing different local temperatures across the substrate so as to induce different thermal expansion across the substrate before the exposure process. This method is for compensating for deformation of the substrate induced when the substrate is positioned on a substrate table of a lithographic apparatus. There is also provided a local temperature applicator to implement this technique and to a lithographic apparatus including such a local temperature applicator.

Exemplary lithography mask processing chambers may include a substrate support that includes a plurality of lift pins that are vertically translatable relative to a top surface of the substrate support. The lithography mask processing chambers may include a cover ring positioned atop the substrate support. The cover ring may define a rectilinear substrate seat. A top surface of the rectilinear substrate seat may be elevated above the top surface of the substrate support. An outer periphery of the rectilinear substrate seat may be positioned outward of the plurality of lift pins.

Systems, apparatuses, and methods are provided for manufacturing a wafer clamp having hard burls. The method can include providing a first layer that includes a first surface. The method can further include forming a plurality of burls over the first surface of the first layer. The forming of the plurality of burls can include forming a subset of the plurality of burls to a hardness of greater than about 6.0 gigapascals (GPa).

The present invention is a method for controlling flatness of a wafer including the steps of: providing a holding member having a holding surface including a plurality of segments, where each of the plurality of segments includes a dry adhesive fiber structure; making the holding surface of the holding member adhere to a wafer to make the holding member hold the wafer; obtaining information on flatness of the wafer by measuring flatness of the wafer to; and releasing adhesion of the dry adhesive fiber structures to the wafer in a part of the plurality of segments of the holding surface of the holding member based on the information on flatness. This can provide: a method for controlling flatness by which flatness of a wafer can be controlled sufficiently.

Some devices, systems, and methods obtain one or more images of a substrate, wherein the substrate includes a feature pattern; determine one or more edges of the feature pattern based on the one or more images; determine an offset of the feature pattern relative to the substrate and an angle of the feature pattern relative to the substrate based on the one or more edges of the feature pattern; and generate a transformation for a drop pattern based on the offset of the feature pattern and on the angle of the feature pattern.

A substrate handling system comprising a substrate holder comprising a main body with a main body surface, and a plurality of burls projecting from the main body surface to support the substrate spaced apart from the main body surface, clamping means, the clamping means being configured to clamp and/or unclamp the substrate onto the substrate holder, and conveying means, the conveying means being configured to load and/or unload the substrate onto the substrate holder, wherein the conveying means is further configured to physically contact the substrate during the clamping and/or unclamping to the substrate holder. It is also described methods for clamping and unclamping a substrate, a computer program, a computer-readable medium and a lithography apparatus.