Development of a wafer positioning system for the Sandia extreme ultraviolet lithography tool
A wafer positioning system was recently developed by Sandia National Laboratories for an Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography (EUVL) tool. The system, which utilizes a magnetically levitated fine stage to provide ultra-precise positioning in all six degrees of freedom, incorporates technological improvements resulting from four years of prototype development. This paper describes the design, implementation, and functional capability of the system. Specifics regarding control system electronics, including software and control algorithm structure, as well as performance design goals and test results are presented. Potential system enhancements, some of which are in process, are also discussed.
Recent advances in the Sandia EUV 10x microstepper
The Sandia EUV 10x microstepper system is the result of an evolutionary development process, starting with a simple 20x system, progressing through an earlier 10x system, to the current system that has full microstepper capabilities. The 10x microstepper prints 400-micrometers -diameter fields at sub- 0.10-micrometers resolution. Upgrades include the replacement of the copper wire target with a pulsed xenon jet target, construction of an improved projection optics system, the addition of a dose monitor a d an aerial image monitor, and the addition of a graphical user interface to the system operation software. This paper provides an up-to-date report on the status of the microstepper.
Cholesterol synthesis from acetate in the diabetic liver.
Brady and Gurin (1) recently compared the ability of liver slices prepaped from both normal and diabetic rats to incorporate added acetate into cholesterol. They drew the conclusion that the conversion of acetate to cholesterol in the diabetic liver is “apparently unimpaired, although this process may be inhibited when diabetes is sufficiently prolonged and severe.” In view of our interest in the relation of cholesterol synthesis to arteriosclerosis, the development of which is generally regarded as being accelerated in diabetes (2), we have reinvestigated cholesterol synthesis from acetate in diabetes. A definite increase in cholesterol formation in the diabetic liver is demonstrated here. It is further shown that, as a result of insulin injections in a diabetic rat, slices subsequently prepared from its liver have a reduced capacity to synthesize cholesterol.