Apparatus and method of cleaning reticles for use in a lithography tool

摘要

A reticle cleaning apparatus that utilizes an ultraviolet light source in an oxygen-containing environment to cleanse organic contaminants from a reticle. The reticle cleaning apparatus of the present invention enables the storage of multiple reticles for use in a lithography tool in an environment which contains organic contaminants. A stored reticle is translated to a reticle cleaning station within the lithography tool in order to cleanse the reticle of organic contaminants. This cleaning can be performed while the projection optics of the tool exposes a wafer using another reticle previously cleaned by the reticle cleaning apparatus. Upon completion of the reticle cleaning process, the reticle is immediately translated to the exposure path of the lithography tool. The reticle cleaning process is performed during normal operation of the lithography tool at room temperature, atmospheric pressure and in an oxygen-containing environment.