Magnetically-positioned X-Y stage having six-degrees of freedom

• US 5,886,432 A
• Filed: 04/28/1997
• Issued: 03/23/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 04/28/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Ultratech Incorporated (Veeco Instruments Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Ultratech Stepper, Inc. (Veeco Instruments Incorporated)
• Inventors: Markle, David A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ramirez, Nestor
• Assistant Examiner(s): MULLINS, BURTON S
• Application Number:
  US08/848,548
• Time in Patent Office: 694 Days
• Field of Search: 310/12, 310/13, 310/14, 310/156, 310/17, 310/15, 414/935, 414/936, 414/347, 198/619
• US Class Current: 310/12.05
• CPC Class Codes: G03F 7/70758 Drive means, e.g. actuators, motors for long- or short-stroke modules or fine or coarse driving
• CPC Class Codes: H02K 2201/18 Machines moving with multiple degrees of freedom
• CPC Class Codes: H02K 41/031 of the permanent magnet type
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 414/135 Associated with semiconductor wafer handling

Abstract

The respective square cross-section permanent magnets of each of a plurality of spaced Halbach magnet arrays, attached to the bottom of movable X-Y stage and aligned with a given one of the X and Y axes, are spaced from one another parallel to the other one of the X and Y axes of by the width of the square cross-section cooperates with both a first set of a plurality of flat stationary electromagnet coils of wire and a second set of a plurality of flat stationary electromagnet coils of wire that substantially lie in proximate horizontal X, Y planes and, respectively, are angularly offset by +45° and -45° with respect to the given one of the X and Y horizontal axes to provide a lateral translational force on the stage with respect to the horizontal X and/or Y axes and/or a levitating translational force on the stage with respect to the vertical Z axis. First, second and third pairs of spaced electromagnets attached to the bottom of movable X-Y stage and situated in spaces between adjacent Halbach magnet arrays cooperate with both the first and second sets electromagnet coils of wire to create couples that can tilt the stage about the X and/or Y axes and/or yaw the stage about the Z axis. This configuration of Halbach magnet arrays and electromagnetic coils provides a compact and energy efficient X-Y stage suitable for use in a wafer-stepper for positioning a large (e.g., 200-300 mm.) silicon wafer employed in the photolithographic manufacture of monolithic integrated circuits.

Claims

1. An apparatus for magnetically positioning a movable X-Y stage with respect to X and Y horizontal axes and a Z vertical axis that comprises:

a first set of a plurality of flat stationary electromagnetic coils of wire that substantially lie in a first horizontal X, Y plane and are angularly offset in said first horizontal X, Y plane by plus an oblique angle with respect to a given one of said X and Y horizontal axes;

a second set of a plurality of flat stationary electromagnetic coils of wire that substantially lie in a second horizontal X, Y plane substantially in vertical alignment with said first horizontal X, Y plane and are angularly offset in said second horizontal X, Y plane by minus said oblique angle with respect to the same one of said X and Y horizontal axes as said first set of coils of wire; and

a Halbach array of magnets attached to said movable X-Y stage, wherein said array substantially lies in a third horizontal X, Y plane, is oriented substantially parallel to the same one of said X and Y horizontal axes with respect to which said oblique angles are measured, and is simultaneously situated in a cooperative relationship with both of said first and second sets of coils of wire;

whereby a lateral force in said X and/or Y horizontal directions and/or a vertical force in said vertical Z direction may be selectively generated in accordance with the phase and magnitude of current energizing a wire of some of each of said plurality of flat stationary electromagnetic coils of said first and second sets.

2. The apparatus defined in claim 1, wherein said magnets of said Halbach array are permanent magnets.

3. The apparatus defined in claim 1, wherein:

said given oblique angle is substantially 45°

.

4. The apparatus defined in claim 1, comprising:

a plurality of Halbach arrays of magnets attached to said movable X-Y stage, wherein all of said arrays substantially lie in a horizontal X, Y plane, are oriented substantially parallel to the same one of said X and Y horizontal axes, and are situated in cooperative relationship with both the first and second sets of coils of wire;

each of said magnets of each of said plurality of Halbach arrays having substantially the same given length in a direction parallel to said same one of said X and Y horizontal axes and substantially a same given width in a direction parallel to the other one of said X and Y horizontal axes, such that a ratio of said given width to said given length is equal to the tangent of said oblique angle; and

respective centers of identically-poled magnets of adjacent ones of said plurality of Halbach arrays being (1) translationally offset in a direction substantially parallel to said same one of said X and Y horizontal axes by a first distance and (2) translationally offset in a direction substantially parallel to the other one of said X and Y horizontal axes by a second distance with a ratio of said second distance to said first distance also being equal to the tangent of said oblique angle.

5. The apparatus defined in claim 4, wherein:

said first distance is substantially equal to twice said given length and said second distance is substantially equal to twice said given width;

whereby adjacent ones of said plurality of Halbach arrays are spaced from one another in a direction substantially parallel to the other one of the X and Y horizontal axes by a distance substantially equal to said given width.

6. The apparatus defined in claim 5, further comprising a pair of spaced electromagnets attached to said movable X-Y stage, each of said spaced electromagnets being situated in a predetermined space between a pair of adjacent Halbach arrays for generating magnetic fields that cooperate with magnetic fields generated by said first and second sets of flat stationary electromagnet coils of wire to create a couple for tilting said movable X-Y stage about said horizontal X axis.

7. The apparatus defined in claim 5, further comprising a pair of spaced electromagnets attached to said movable X-Y stage, each of said spaced electromagnets being situated in a predetermined space between a pair of adjacent Halbach arrays for generating magnetic fields that cooperate with magnetic fields generated by said first and second sets of flat stationary electromagnet coils of wire to create a couple for tilting said movable X-Y stage about said horizontal Y axis.

8. The apparatus defined in claim 5, further comprising a pair of spaced electromagnets attached to said movable X-Y stage, each of said spaced electromagnets being situated in a predetermined space between a pair of adjacent Halbach arrays for generating magnetic fields that cooperate with magnetic fields generated by said first and second sets of flat stationary electromagnet coils of wire to create a couple for yawing said movable X-Y stage about said vertical Z axis.

9. The apparatus defined in claim 5, wherein:

each of said magnets of said plurality of spaced Halbach arrays is a permanent magnet;

each permanent magnet has a square cross-section; and

said given oblique angle is substantially 45°

.

10. The apparatus defined in claim 9, wherein:

said movable X-Y stage is a wafer support X-Y stage in the form of a foreshortened cylinder having said plurality of spaced Halbach arrays of permanent magnets attached to the bottom thereof.

11. The apparatus defined in claim 10, wherein:

said wafer support X-Y stage is in the form of a foreshortened circular cylinder having said plurality of spaced Halbach arrays of permanent magnets attached to the bottom thereof.

12. The apparatus defined in claim 10, wherein:

said foreshortened cylinder of said wafer support X-Y stage has lateral dimensions of at least 200 millimeters.

13. The apparatus defined in claim 10, further comprising:

a ferromagnetic platen; and

a non-magnetic adhesive for attaching said first and second sets of flat stationary electromagnet coils of wire to said platen.

14. The apparatus defined in claim 13, wherein each of said first and second sets of flat stationary electromagnet coils of wire comprises at least four adjacent individually comutatable coiled wires arranged such that each magnet of said plurality of Halbach arrays at any one time is in cooperative relationship with a first subset of at least one of said commutable coil wires of said first set and a second subset of at least one of said comutatable coiled wires of said second set.

15. The apparatus defined in claim 14, wherein said number of said comutatable coiled wires of said first set is six and the number of said comutatable coiled wires of said second set is also six.

16. The apparatus defined in claim 10, wherein:

said foreshortened cylinder of said wafer support X-Y stage has an ordinally-arranged plurality of eight spaced apart Halbach arrays of permanent magnets attached to the bottom thereof which are symmetrically-disposed with respect to both said X and Y axes; and

each of said first and eighth spaced Halbach arrays consists of eight permanent magnets, each of said second and seventh spaced Halbach arrays consists of twelve permanent magnets, each of said third and sixth spaced Halbach arrays consists of fourteen permanent magnets, and each of said fourth and fifth spaced Halbach arrays consists of sixteen permanent magnets.

17. The apparatus defined in claim 16, further comprising:

first, second and third pairs of spaced apart electromagnets attached to said movable X-Y stage;

said spaced apart electromagnets of said first pair being situated (1) with a first given separation between them that is oriented parallel to a first selected one of said X and Y axes and (2) between permanent magnets of said spaced apart Halbach arrays that are poled parallel to said Z vertical axis for generating magnetic fields that cooperate with magnetic fields generated by said first and second sets of flat stationary electromagnet coils of wire to create a couple for tilting said movable X-Y stage about said given one of the X and Y horizontal axes;

said spaced apart electromagnets of said second pair being situated (3) with a second given separation between them that is oriented parallel to a second selected one of said X and Y axes and (4) between permanent magnets of said spaced apart Halbach arrays that are poled parallel to said Z vertical axis for generating magnetic fields that cooperate with magnetic fields generated by said first and second sets of fiat stationary electromagnet coils of wire to create a couple for tilting said movable X-Y stage about said other one of the X and Y horizontal axes; and

said spaced apart electromagnets of said third pair being situated (5) with a third given separation between them that is oriented parallel to a second selected one of said X and Y axes and (6) between permanent magnets of said spaced apart Halbach arrays that are poled parallel to said Z vertical axis for generating magnetic fields that cooperate with magnetic fields generated by said first and second sets of flat stationary electromagnet coils of wire to create a couple for yawing said movable X-Y stage about said vertical Z axis.

18. The apparatus defined in claim 17, wherein:

both of said first pair of spaced apart electromagnets are situated in said space between the fourth and fifth spaced apart Halbach arrays;

a first of said second pair of spaced apart electromagnets is situated in said space between said first and second spaced apart Halbach arrays and a second of said second pair of spaced apart electromagnets is situated in said space between said sixth and seventh spaced apart Halbach arrays; and

both of said third pair of spaced apart electromagnets are situated in said space between the fourth and fifth spaced apart Halbach arrays.

19. The apparatus defined in claim 1, further comprising:

a ferromagnetic platen; and

a non-magnetic adhesive for attaching said first and second sets of flat stationary electromagnet coils of wire to said platen.