An extreme ultraviolet light generation apparatus includes: A. a chamber in which extreme ultraviolet light is generated by a target substance being irradiated with a laser beam to generate plasma from the target substance; B. a vessel as a tubular member forming the chamber; C. a reference member supporting the vessel; D. a collector mirror configured to condense the extreme ultraviolet light in the chamber, the collector mirror being attached to the reference member in a replaceable manner and covered by the vessel to be housed in the chamber; and E. a vessel movement mechanism provided to the reference member and configured to move the vessel between a first position at which the vessel covers the collector mirror and a second position at which the vessel is retracted from the first position to expose the collector mirror.

A reticle holding tool is provided. The reticle holding tool includes a housing including a top housing member and a lateral housing member. The lateral housing member extends from the top housing member and terminates at a lower edge. The reticle holding tool further includes a reticle chuck. The reticle chuck is positioned in the housing and configured to secure a reticle. The reticle holding tool also includes a gas delivery assembly. The gas delivery assembly is positioned within the housing and configured to supply gas into the housing.

An objective lens protection device, objective lens system and lithographic device. The objective lens protection device includes a main structure provided with, oppositely disposed, an air supply unit and extraction unit. The air supply unit is used to output air. The extraction unit extracts air output by the air supply unit to form at least one layer of air curtain between the air supply unit and extraction unit. The objective lens protection device can effectively control the flow rate of wind discharge, controlling wind in a laminar flow state and ensuring uniform flow field of the air curtain, and can effectively block organic matters volatilized from the bottom up, eliminate opportunity for a direct contact of the organic matters with the lens, and prevent objective lens from contamination by the volatilization of the organic matters of photoresist, thus ensuring the imaging quality of the objective lens.

A reticle stage is provided, including an electrostatic chuck and an acoustic wave transducer. The electrostatic chuck includes multiple chucking electrodes embedded in a dielectric body and configured to secure a reticle to a chuck surface of the dielectric body by electrostatic attraction. The acoustic wave transducer is disposed on the chuck surface and configured to impart a surface acoustic wave to the chuck surface to vibrate the chuck surface, thereby removing the reticle from the reticle stage.

An optical apparatus and its vibration removing method capable of stabilizing a place where light is applied are provided. An optical apparatus according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes a light source chamber, an EUV light source, an optical system chamber, an optical system configured to guide light entering the optical system chamber to an object through a bellows, an optical sensor configured to detect EUV light L2 emitted from the EUV light source, a position sensor disposed to detect a relative position of the optical system chamber with respect to the light source chamber, and a second vibration removal unit configured to remove vibrations from the light source chamber based on detection results of the optical sensor and the position sensor.

A method for creating a vacuum in a load lock chamber is provided. The method includes building an air-tight environment in the load lock chamber. The method further includes reducing the pressure in a gas tank to a predetermined vacuum pressure. The method also includes enabling an exchange of gas between the load lock chamber and the gas tank when the pressure in the gas tank is at the predetermined vacuum pressure so as to reduce the pressure in the load lock chamber to an adjusted vacuum pressure.

A vacuum system, in particular an EUV lithography system, includes: a vacuum housing (2), in which a vacuum environment (16) is formed. A surface (2a) of the vacuum housing is subjected to contaminating particles (17) in the vacuum environment. A surface structure (18) at the surface reduces adhesion of the contaminating particles and has pore-shaped depressions (24) separated from one another by webs (25).

An extreme ultraviolet light generation apparatus includes: A. a chamber in which extreme ultraviolet light is generated by a target substance being irradiated with a laser beam to generate plasma from the target substance; B. a vessel as a tubular member forming the chamber; C. a reference member supporting the vessel; D. a collector mirror configured to condense the extreme ultraviolet light in the chamber, the collector mirror being attached to the reference member in a replaceable manner and covered by the vessel to be housed in the chamber; and E. a vessel movement mechanism provided to the reference member and configured to move the vessel between a first position at which the vessel covers the collector mirror and a second position at which the vessel is retracted from the first position to expose the collector mirror.

A reticle stage is provided, including an electrostatic chuck and an acoustic wave transducer. The electrostatic chuck includes multiple chucking electrodes embedded in a dielectric body and configured to secure a reticle to a chuck surface of the dielectric body by electrostatic attraction. The acoustic wave transducer is disposed on the chuck surface and configured to impart a surface acoustic wave to the chuck surface to vibrate the chuck surface, thereby removing the reticle from the reticle stage.

An improved particle beam inspection apparatus, and more particularly, a particle beam inspection apparatus including an improved load lock unit is disclosed. An improved load lock system may comprise a plurality of supporting structures configured to support a wafer and a conditioning plate including a heat transfer element configured to adjust a temperature of the wafer. The load lock system may further comprise a gas vent configured to provide a gas between the conditioning plate and the wafer and a controller configured to assist with the control of the heat transfer element.