A method for manufacturing a membrane assembly for EUV lithography, the method including: providing a stack having a planar substrate and at least one membrane layer, wherein the planar substrate includes an inner region and a border region around the inner region; and selectively removing the inner region of the planar substrate. The membrane assembly includes: a membrane formed from the at least one membrane layer; and a border holding the membrane, the border formed from the border region of the planar substrate. The stack is provided with a mechanical protection material configured to mechanically protect the border region during the selectively removing the inner region of the planar substrate.

A method includes: depositing a mask layer over a substrate; directing first radiation reflected from a central collector section of a sectional collector of a lithography system toward the mask layer according to a pattern; directing second radiation reflected from a peripheral collector section of the sectional collector toward the mask layer according to the pattern, wherein the peripheral collector section is vertically separated from the central collector section by a gap; forming openings in the mask layer by removing first regions of the mask layer exposed to the first radiation and second regions of the mask layer exposed to the second radiation; and removing material of a layer underlying the mask layer exposed by the openings.

Systems for cleaning optical surfaces of overlay inspection systems are disclosed. In particular, systems for optical-path coupling of light for in-situ photochemical cleaning in projection imaging systems are disclosed. A system for cleaning optical surfaces of overlay inspection systems includes a first illumination source, a detector, a set of illumination optics, and a set of imaging optics. In some embodiments, the system may include at least one of a second illumination source and a third illumination source, each of which may be configured to cause or aid the removal of contaminants from one or more optical surfaces of the system.

A method for preventing photomask contamination includes securing a photomask on a bottom surface of an electrostatic chuck; generating a first voltage at a peripheral area of the bottom surface of the electrostatic chuck to attract a particle onto the peripheral area of the bottom surface of the electrostatic chuck, wherein the peripheral area of the bottom surface of the electrostatic chuck is not directly above the photomask; after generating the first voltage, generating a second voltage at the peripheral area of the bottom surface of the electrostatic chuck to repulse the particle, wherein the first voltage and the second voltage have opposite electrical properties; and generating a third voltage, by using a collecting plate, near a sidewall of the photomask to attract the repulsed particle.

A system (400) includes an illumination system (402), a detector (404), and a comparator (406). The illumination system includes a radiation source (408) and a spatial light modulator (410). The radiation source generates a beam of radiation (442). The spatial light modulator directs the beam toward a surface (436) of an object (428) and adjusts a spatial intensity distribution of the beam at the surface. The detector receives radiation (444) scattered at the surface and by a structure (434) near the surface. The detector generates a detection signal based on the received radiation. The comparator receives the detection signal, generates a first image based on the detection signal, and distinguishes between a spurious signal and a signal corresponding to a presence of a foreign particle on the surface based on the first image and the adjusted spatial intensity distribution.

A hydrophobic membrane structure includes: a color-changing layer, and a hydrophobic layer covering the surface of the color-changing layer. The color of an area of the color-changing layer in contact with the liquid changes to form a color-changing area, when the color-changing layer comes into contact with liquid.

An inspection system (1600), a lithography apparatus, and an inspection method are provided. The inspection system (1600) includes an illumination system (1602), a detection system (1606), and processing circuitry (1622). The illumination system generates a first illumination beam (1610) at a first wavelength and a second illumination beam (1618) at a second wavelength. The first wavelength is different from the second wavelength. The illumination system irradiates an object (1612) simultaneously with the first illumination beam and the second illumination beam. The detection system receives radiation (1620) scattered by a particle (1624) present at a surface (1626) of the object at the first wavelength. The detection system generates a detection signal. The processing circuitry determines a characteristic of the particle based on the detection signal.

An apparatus for treating a substrate includes a processing container having an inner space; a support unit having a support plate configured to support and rotate the substrate in the inner space; a liquid supply unit configured to supply treating liquid to the substrate supported by the support unit; and an exhaust unit configured to exhaust an air flow in the inner space, wherein the exhaust unit includes an air flow guide duct guiding a flow direction of an air flow flowing on the substrate to an outer side of the substrate due to a rotation of the substrate supported by the support unit, and the air flow guide duct having an inlet into which an air flow is introduced, the inlet provided at a substantially same level with the substrate supported by the support unit.

A reticle carrier described herein is configured to quickly discharge the residual charge on a reticle so as to reduce, minimize, and/or prevent particles in the reticle carrier from being attracted to and/or transferred to the reticle. In particular, the reticle carrier may be configured to provide reduced capacitance between an inner baseplate of the reticle carrier and the reticle. The reduction in capacitance may reduce the resistance-capacitance (RC) time constant for discharging the residual charge on the reticle, which may increase the discharge speed for discharging the residual charge through support pins of the reticle carrier. The increase in discharge speed may reduce the likelihood that an electrostatic force in the reticle carrier may attract particles in the reticle carrier to the reticle. This may reduce pattern defects transferred to substrates that are patterned using the reticle, may increase semiconductor device manufacturing quality and yield, and may reduce scrap and rework of semiconductor devices and/or wafers.

An apparatus for generating at least one particle shield. The at least one particle shield includes a first component and a second component. The first component and the second component are usable to form a first particle shield of the at least one particle shield for blocking particles from contacting a proximate surface of an object, the first particle shield is substantially parallel to and physically separated from the proximate surface of the object, and the first particle shield includes an energy gradient force or a velocity gradient force.