Journal of Cleaner Production 430 (2023) 139664

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Journal of Cleaner Production

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Pollutant inhibition in an extreme ultraviolet lithography machine by

dynamic gas lock
Shuai Teng a, Ming Hao a, Jiaxing Liu b, Xin Bian c, Yuanhua Xie a, Kun Liu a, *
a
School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Northeastern University, Shenyang, China
b
Tobacco Machinery Co., Ltd., Qinhuangdao, China
c
Institute of Fluid Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Handling Editor: Jin-Kuk Kim Dynamic gas lock (DGL) is an effective method to inhibit carbon deposition on optical surface in extreme ul­
traviolet (EUV) lithography machines. However, due to the complexity of the internal flow in DGL, relevant
Keywords: theoretical analyses remain incomplete. In this work, a direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method based on
EUV lithography OpenFOAM platform is employed to study the transport process of rarefied gas in DGL and a project optics box
Dynamic gas lock
(POB). The dsmcFoam + solver is extended and its applicability to DGL problems is verified. The results show
Pollutant inhibition
that the number density of hydrocarbon in the POB decreases exponentially with the increase of the flow rate of
Sustainable development
clean gas, whereas the DGL inhibition rate is insensitive to the change of the pressure in the wafer chamber.
Reducing the cone angle of the DGL, lowering the inlet position of the clean gas and using the clean gas with
higher molar mass are all helpful to improve the inhibition effect of the DGL on the hydrocarbon diffusion.
Additionally, the height of the DGL is relevant: with increase of the height, the inhibition rate rises at the same
distance from the wafer surface; the number density of hydrocarbons is larger at higher heights. This study is
expected to provide guidance for design of DGL technology under different EUV lithography conditions.

1. Introduction
Optical lithography plays a significant role in integrated circuits (IC)
industry. An advanced technique named as extreme ultraviolet (EUV)
lithography reduces the exposure wavelength by a factor of 15
compared to the classical deep ultraviolet lithography. This innovative
technology has been believed as a potential solution for sustaining
Moore’s law (van Pirati et al., 2017). The wavelength of the EUV light
source is 13 nm and almost any medium exhibits strong absorption
characteristics for the radiation around this wavelength. Consequently,
an EUV lithography machine must operate within a vacuum environ­
ment, relying solely on mirrors to transmit the photons. The special
mirrors, known as multilayer mirrors, possess a remarkable capability of
reflecting the vertical incidence above 70% (Feigl et al., 2006).
Multilayer mirrors are highly susceptible to various pollutants,
including residual water vapor in the vacuum, hydrocarbons generated
by photoresists or cable outgassing. When exposed to EUV radiation,
water vapor undergoes cracking, leading to the formation of oxygen and
subsequent oxidation of the optical surface. In addition, hydrocarbons
fragment into smaller free particles, resulting in carbon deposition on
the optical surface (Shin et al., 2009). The specific failure mechanism of
the optical surface is contingent upon the partial pressure of water vapor
and hydrocarbons in the project optics box (POB). In normal EUV
lithography environments, the partial pressure of hydrocarbons ranges
from 10− 9 to 10− 10 Torr (Garg et al., 2008). If the partial pressure of
hydrocarbons exceeds 10− 10 Torr, carbon deposition becomes the pri­
mary cause for the reduction in reflectance of multilayer mirrors (Daniel
et al., 2001). Consequently, carbon deposition is typically responsible
for optical surface failures in EUV lithography. Previous research in­
dicates that the relative reflectance of the optical surface decreases by
approximately 2% for every 15 Å increase in the thickness of the carbon
deposit layer. During an industrial production, a reduction of relative
reflectance by around 1.6% demands a surface cleaning (Hollenshead
and Klebanoff, 2006). However, a surface cleaning causes downtime and
adversely impacts the throughput of EUV lithography machines.
Therefore, to prolong the period of surface cleanliness, it is crucial to
inhibit the diffusion of hydrocarbons into the POB during lithography.
To this end, the dynamic gas lock (DGL) proposed by ASML company is
currently considered as the most promising method.
The effectiveness of DGL in inhibiting the diffusion of hydrocarbons

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: kliu@mail.neu.edu.cn (K. Liu).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.139664
Received 29 June 2023; Received in revised form 21 September 2023; Accepted 6 November 2023
Available online 11 November 2023
0959-6526/© 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
S. Teng et al.
into the POB has been extensively demonstrated in previous studies
(Yildirim et al., 2017). ASML has also introduced and recommended this
technology in various seminars (Lebert et al., 2018). Baselmans et al.
(2006) utilized a DGL in an improved photolithography apparatus and
discussed the influence of different types of cleaning gases on the
diffusion of hydrocarbon compounds. Roux et al. (Roux, 2006) proposed
a DGL structure with a narrow inlet and wide ends, and designed a gas
separation device based on the different condensation points of gases to
achieve the recovery and utilization of clean gas. A novel structure,
driven by the pressure difference between the projection chamber and
the silicon wafer chamber, was proposed by Nienhuys et al. (Nienhuys
et al., 2014) to inhibit the diffusion of hydrocarbon compounds. In terms
of clean gas selection, the computational findings by Mertens et al.
(2000) indicate that to achieve a suppression effect of over five orders of
magnitude, the clean flow rate must be greater than or equal to 15
mbar/s, with an EUV absorption rate of approximately 5%. Harned et al.
(2008) have demonstrated that ionization of helium gas leads to sput­
tering on the surface of the reflective mirrors, thus necessitating the
employment of hydrogen gas with a higher flow rate as a substitute for
helium. Sun et al. (2022) conducted a theoretical study on the sup­
pression ratio of DGL. Currently, a significant number of patents related
to the DGL process have also been filed by semiconductor equipment
manufacturers (Chang et al., 2022; Lyons et al., 2021).
However, the current research on DGL primarily focuses on struc­
tural innovations, and there is a limited number of studies that have
analyzed the characteristics of the internal flow field. As EUV lithog­
raphy is conducted in a near-vacuum environment, the continuous
assumption breaks down, which calls for the Boltzmann equation
instead of the Navier-Stokes equations (Cercignani, 1988). Due to the
complexity of the collision term in the Boltzmann equation, most
existing studies have employed the direct simulation Monte Carlo
(DSMC) method to simulate the gas flow in the structure (Zhu et al.,
2023; Goshayeshi et al., 2015; Baier et al., 2017). Studies have
demonstrated that the DSMC results converge to the Boltzmann equa­
tion (Aristov et al., 2019; Li et al., 2013). The DSMC method was initially
developed for simulating external hypersonic flows (Jin et al., 2022;
Chen et al., 2019). As rarefied gas conditions became more prevalent in
industrial applications (Akhlaghi et al., 2023), it has been extensively
utilized for internal flow field studies (Varade et al., 2015; Ebrahimi and
Roohi, 2017). Researchers have continuously advanced the flexibility of
the DSMC method by developing new approaches to address diverse
working conditions. For instance, IP-DSMC (Fan and Shen, 2001; Yao
et al., 2011) and LV-DSMC (Homolle and Hadjiconstantinou, 2007)
methods have been applied to subsonic flows, which are the operating
conditions in an EUV lithography chamber.
In the study of DGL, there are several challenges associated with
application of the DSMC method to simulate the internal flow. Firstly,
imposing subsonic boundary conditions, such as mass flow boundaries,
are rather difficult. Secondly, the DSMC method is a statistical particle-
based approach, which requires a significant amount of computational
resources to achieve convergence when applied in three dimensions.
Lastly, the hydrocarbon and clean gas partial pressures in the EUV
lithography chamber are separated by approximately 4-7 orders of
magnitude. This multiscale phenomenon renders numerical conver­
gence for both the hydrocarbon partial pressure and number density
formidable.
This study investigates the applicability of the DSMC method in DGL
problems. The accuracy of various boundaries is verified, simulation-
based research on the inhibitory mechanism of DGL is conducted. The
rarefied gas flow field within the DGL is simulated under varying geo­
metric parameters and conditions, such as the cone angle and height of
the DGL, chamber pressures, clean gas flow rates, and clean gas types. In
Sec. 2, the mathematical model and boundary conditions is introduced,
in Sec. 3, the inhibitory effects of the DGL on pollutants are extensively
discussed under different geometric and process parameters.
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Journal of Cleaner Production 430 (2023) 139664
2. Mathematical model and boundary conditions
2.1. Computational domain establishment and flow analysis
An EUV lithography machine consists of several components,
including a POB, a wafer chamber (WCH), a DGL, a wafer transmission
chamber, and a LoadLock. For the purpose of this work, only the POB,
WCH and DGL are considered. A schematic diagram of the computa­
tional domain is depicted in Fig. 1.
Within OpenFOAM, a three-dimensional model is constructed with a
resolution of 1/72 (5◦ ) in the circumferential direction. This model was
then discretized using a fixed structured mesh, to accurately capture
particle collisions, it is typically necessary for the mesh size to be smaller
than one-third of the mean free path of the gas molecules (Alexander
et al., 1998). The average free path of gas molecules within the DGL
generally ranges from 0.0014 to 0.58m. Consequently, the maximum
mesh size used in this study is approximately 0.4 mm.
Table 1 shows the ranges of pressure and Knudsen number for
computational domain when the clean gas flow rate is 1–100 Pa L/s.
Considering the large span of Knudsen numbers in the computational
domain, the DSMC method has been employed.
2.2. OpenFOAM settings
This paper utilizes the dsmcFoam + solver (White et al., 2018) from
the open-source C++ class library OpenFOAM for secondary develop­
ment. During the initialization stage, simulated particles are randomly
distributed within the computational domain based on specified values
of temperature, velocity, density, and other macroscopic quantities. The
initial velocities of the simulated particles follow the Maxwell distri­
bution function (Qing, 2003). The trajectory of the simulated particles
during the particle motion phase is tracked using the method proposed
by Macpherson et al. (2009). For the collision stage, the variable hard
sphere (VHS) collision model and no time counter (NTC) model are
employed. Furthermore, when clean gas enters the DGL through the
inlet, there is a pressure drop of approximately one order of magnitude,
which leads to an increased number of simulated particles far from the
axis of symmetry, making simulation convergence difficult. To over­
come these issues, a radial weight factor (RWF) is introduced in this
paper to ensure equal distribution of particles in different radial di­
rections within the grid (Liechty, 2008).
Hollenshead et al. (Hollenshead and Klebanoff, 2006) demonstrated
that C9H20 effectively represents the hydrocarbon release from photo­
resist, with an outgassing rate of 4.5 ×1015 /(m2 ⋅s) (Dean et al., 2007). In
this paper, the Lennard-Jones-Gaussian (LGE) formula is utilized to es­
timate the viscosity of C9H20. Its dynamic viscosity (u) can be expressed
as:
( ( )
ρ )k3
μ = k1 ⋅exp k2 ⋅ × 10− 7 (1)
1000
Where ρ represents gas density, and k1, k2, and k3 are coefficients related
to the gas molecular weight and temperature (Weimin, 2013). The vis­
cosity index ω, estimated using the above relation, is approximately
1.265. At the reference temperature of 273.15K, the reference viscosity
(μref) is 4.35 × 10− 6 N⋅s/m2 . Based on the viscosity index and the refer­
ence viscosity, the reference diameter (dref) in Equation (2) can be
calculated as follows:
[ ( )1/2 ]1/2
5(α+1)(α+2) mkTref /π
(2)
dref =
4α(5 − 2ω)(7 − 2ω)μref
In the case where the index α is set to 1, the reference diameter of the
C9H20 molecule is 1.58 nm. As the temperature in the POB and WCH is
not high enough to excite the vibrational energy of polyatomic mole­
cules during EUV lithography, only the translational and rotational
S. Teng et al. Journal of Cleaner Production 430 (2023) 139664

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the computational domain of the cross section.

Table 1 Table 3
The range of pressure and Knudsen number in computational domain. Boundary conditions representation.
Location Pressure Mean free Characteristic Knudsen Position Type Variety
(Pa) path (m) dimension (m) number
B. 1~B. 4 Freestream inflow Vacuum environment
Clean gas 0.13 − 13 6.06 × 0.003 0.2 − 20.7 B. 5 Mass flow rate inlet Clean single gas: Ar/N2/Ne/He/H2
inlet 10− 4 − 0.062 B. 6 Outgassing wall Polluting single gas: C9H20
DGL 0.014 − 1.4 × 10− 3 − 0.01 0.14 − 58
5.8 0.58
POB 0.0008 − 0.1 − 10.1 1 0.1 − 10.1 than 1.1 × 10− 6 s when the mass flow rate of clean gas is below
0.08 100Pa⋅L/s. In this study, a time step of 1.0 × 10− 6 s is selected to ensure
WCH 0.0028 − 0.029 − 2.88 1 0.029 −
accurate simulations.
0.28 2.88

2.3. Boundary conditions

energies of the C9H20 molecules are considered. In dsmcFoam+, the
quantum Larsen-Borgnakke model is used to exchange energy between
2.3.1. Freestream-inflow boundary
the vibrational and electronic modes to the translational mode, to cap­
In the lithography process, the pumping speed of the vacuum pump
ture a realistic rate of rotational relaxation, this model only treats a
is typically predetermined. Consequently, the pressure inside the POB
certain fraction of collisions as inelastic (White et al., 2018). The
and WCH can be determined based on the pumping speed and the flow
properties of the clean gas molecules are presented in Table 2 (Bird,
rate of the clean gas. The influence of the vacuum environment can be
1994), and the boundary conditions depicted in Fig. 1 are additionally
described using the Freestream-inflow boundary condition. Let Q
enumerated in Table 3.
represent the flow of clean gas and S denote the pumping speed. The
To ensure the decoupling of the collision and movement processes in
pressure in the chamber can be calculated as p = Q/S, the number
the simulation, the time step (Δt) should generally be smaller than the
density as n = p/(kT), and the number of simulated particles entering
average collision time of the molecules. Additionally, the distance
the computational domain through a single boundary grid per time step
traveled by particles within a single time step (Δx) should not exceed the
can be represented as N (Bird, 1994):
mesh size. This ensures accurate and reliable simulations of the system
( ( ) ( ))
dynamics. nvm ΔtAface − U2 U
N = √̅̅̅ exp +1+erf (4)
{ /√̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅ /√̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅ } 2 πFN RWF v2m vm
Δt < min λ 8kT/(πm) , Δx 2kT/m (3)
Where vm is the optimal velocity of gas molecules, calculated as vm =
Based on Equation (3), it is recommended to use a time step smaller √̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
2RT/Ms , where R is the ideal gas constant with a value of 8.314J/
mol/K, Ms is the molar mass of gas molecules, Aface is the area of the
Table 2 boundary grid, U is the macroscopic velocity of the incoming gas, erf(α)
Molecular properties (101325Pa and 273.15K). is the complementary error function, and FN represents the number of
real gas molecules represented by each simulated particle, the velocity
Gas DOFs Molecular Coefficient of Index of VHS
viscosity (μ × viscosity ω reference
distribution of incoming particles follows the Maxwell distribution.
ζ mass (m ×
1027 kg) 105 N ⋅s /m2 ) diameter (d × When a particle within the computational domain impacts the boundary
1010 m) of the Freestream-inflow, it is removed from the simulation.
Ar 3 66.3 2.117 0.81 4.17
N2 5 46.5 1.656 0.74 4.17 2.3.2. Material outgassing boundary
Ne 3 33.5 2.975 0.66 2.77 The hydrocarbons released by the photoresist can contaminate the
He 3 6.65 1.865 0.66 2.33 optical surface, assuming that the photoresist desorbs nout gas molecules
5 3.34 0.845 0.67 2.92
per second per unit area, the number of simulated particles introduced
H2

3
S. Teng et al.
into the computational domain through outgassing at each time step can
be calculated as:
nout ΔtAface
N=
FN RWF
The velocity distribution of simulated particles entering the
computational domain through the material outgassing boundary fol­
lows the Maxwell distribution. When a particle within the computa­
tional domain impacts the material outgassing boundary, which
corresponds to the wafer surface, diffuse reflection takes place.
2.3.3. Mass flow rate inlet boundary
In the subsonic flow near the clean gas inlet, the back field has an
impact on the front flow region. This implies that the number of particles
entering through the clean gas inlet per unit time depends on the
macroscopic velocity within the flow field (Gatsonis et al., 2013). Here
we employ the approach proposed by Farbar et al. (Farbar and Boyd,
2014) to handle the mass flow rate inlet boundary and construct the
number density distribution, denoted as Ninlet , based on the macro ve­
locity at the boundary:
N=
ṁNA
UAface Ms
Where ṁ represents the flow rate of clean gas and NA is Avogadro’s
Fig. 2. Comparison of velocity profiles and pressure distribution in this paper and in the literature (Akhlaghi et al., 2012).
Journal of Cleaner Production 430 (2023) 139664
constant. Substituting Equation (6) into Equation (4) allows us to
determine the number of simulated particles incident through the
boundary. The macroscopic velocity U can be obtained by sampling the
(5) velocities of all particles within a sampling period in the grid:
Np
U=
1 ∑
up (7)
Np p=1
Where Np represents the number of simulated particles participating in
the sampling, and up is the individual velocity of the simulated particles.
2.4. DSMC program verification
2.4.1. Accuracy verification of material outgassing boundary
To ensure the accuracy of the material outgassing boundary, a
verification case was conducted. The validation case employed a micro/
nanochannel with identical geometry and boundary conditions as those
presented by Akhlaghi et al. (2012). Fig. 2 illustrates a comparison be­
tween the numerical results obtained using the solver employed in this
study and the findings reported in the literature. It is evident that the
(6) velocity profiles and pressure distribution exhibit excellent agreement
with the reported data. The solver employed in this paper generally
yields favorable agreement with the reported values, effectively
capturing the outgassing phenomenon of the photoresist.
4
S. Teng et al.
2.4.2. Applicability verification of mass flow rate inlet boundary
To validate the accuracy of the mass flow rate inlet boundary, nu­
merical simulations were conducted on a T-shaped microchannel, and
the results were compared with the findings reported by White et al.
White et al. (2013). The geometric dimensions of the microchannel are
depicted in Fig. 3. Argon gas was employed, with both the inlet and wall
temperatures set to 300 K, while the outlet pressure was maintained at
8930Pa (Liou and Fang, 2000). Specifically, when the height of the
microchannel was 10 μm, the mass flow rate through the inlet section
was determined to be 1.6 × 10− 11 kg/s. Fig. 4 illustrates the normalized
density and Mach number distribution of the gas in the microchannel. It
is evident that there is excellent agreement between the simulation re­
sults and the reported findings, further validating the accuracy and
robustness of the algorithm and program employed in this study.
Furthermore, we applied the mass flow rate inlet boundary to the
DGL structure in literature (Mertens et al., 2000). The parameters and
boundary conditions are depicted in Fig. 5. The mass flow rate of clean
gas through face 1 and face 2 is monitored as time progresses. As shown
in Fig. 6, after t> 0.2 s, it tends to be stable. After sampling and average
processing of the mass flow rate after 0.2s, it is obtained that the mass
flow rate through face 1 and face 2 is 1.24 × 10− 6 kg/s and 2.45 ×
10− 7 kg/s, respectively. And the total mass flow rate into the vacuum
system is 1.50 × 10− 6 kg/s, which is in good agreement with the set
boundary conditions 1.57 × 10− 6 kg/s. The result slightly lower than the
set value may be caused by the large fluctuation of the macro velocity at
the entrance. Similar phenomena also appeared in previous studies
(Akhlaghi et al., 2012).
Fig. 7 illustrates the gas pressure distribution along the axis. To
validate the accuracy of the pressure distribution, the theoretical solu­
tion for rarefied gas through a cone driven by a pressure difference is
compared. The analytical solution for the mass flow rate is expressed as
(Sharipov and Bertoldo, 2005; Sharipov and Seleznev, 1998):
[ density field.
( )2 ]
3πa4I P2I m(aII /aI )3 PII
Ṁ = / 1−
PI (8)
16μkTL[(aII /aI )2 + aII aI +1]
Where aI and aII represent the inlet radius and outlet radius of the taper,
respectively. PI and PII correspond to the inlet pressure and outlet
pressure of the taper, and L denotes the length of the taper. In the case of
the DGL, it is treated as a pressure-driven flow with two sections having
opposite flows. The mass flow rate of clean gas through the DGL is the
sum of the two sections of the cone. The theoretical calculation yields a
mass flow rate of 1.16 × 10− 6 kg/s with a relative error of 22%. The main
factors contributing to this discrepancy are as follows: the gas flow
within the DGL cannot be entirely regarded as the superposition of the
two sections of pressure-driven flow, and the analytical model contains
inherent errors. Conversely, the simulation considers the nozzle effect of
the taper and accounts for the volume work resulting from the expansion
Fig. 3. Geometric diagram of T-shaped microchannel.
5
Journal of Cleaner Production 430 (2023) 139664
of clean gas toward the vacuum end, thereby achieving higher accuracy
compared to the analytical results.
2.4.3. Convergence verification
The influence of the calculation domain size was investigated. Fig. 8
(a) depicts the pressure distribution of clean gas along the axis of the
DGL at different heights of the POB. With the height increases, the
pressure distribution of clean gas exhibits minimal changes. This is
attributed to the fact that the pressure within the POB is lower than that
in the DGL. As a result, clean gas molecules diffuse rapidly out of the
DGL driven by the pressure difference, and the influence of the back field
on the front field is limited. Thus, reserving a height of 50 mm in the
calculation domain of the POB better captures the flow characteristics of
the DGL and POB.
The utilization of an axisymmetric model may introduce errors due
to the introduction of the RWF. Fig. 8(b) illustrates the pressure distri­
bution at the axis of the DGL for different RWF values. It is evident that
the pressure distribution remains largely unchanged as the RWF de­
creases. Previous studies have demonstrated that the axisymmetric
model yields greater accuracy compared to the two-dimensional analog
model (Lo et al., 2021). Therefore, in subsequent research, an RWF of
100 is employed for the calculations.
During lithography, the outgassing of hydrocarbons accounts for
approximately 1/1000th to 1/100th of the clean gas flow rate. This
significant disparity makes it challenging to achieve convergence in
DSMC simulations for hydrocarbon density and partial pressure fields.
Chen’s study demonstrated that the inhibition rate of the DGL remains
unaffected by the amount of hydrocarbon outgassing (Chen et al., 2017).
Hence, by increasing the hydrocarbon outgassing, the convergence ef­
ficiency of the simulation can be improved. Subsequently, the true
number density of hydrocarbons can be obtained by proportionally
dividing the outgassing amplification when calculating the number
Fig. 9 illustrates the number density of C9H20 along the axis of the
DGL for varying outgassing amounts (molar mass). With increasing
outgassing, after normalizing the data, the actual number density dis­
tribution of C9H20 exhibits minimal changes, while significantly
reducing the statistical error in the simulation. Therefore, to enhance
convergence efficiency and ensure no interference with the flow of clean
gas, the outgassing rate of C9H20 was set to 20% of the clean gas flow
rate in subsequent studies.
The convergence of calculated results is crucial since the C9H20
number density and other macroscopic physical quantities are deter­
mined through statistical analysis of particle information over time. In
this study, a sampling strategy is employed where the calculation results
are outputted every 0.2s and the flow field is resampled within each new
calculation period.
Fig. 10 presents the variation of the C9H20 number density over time
at three monitoring points located in the WCH, DGL, and POB (as shown
in Fig. 1). It is evident that the flow field reaches convergence after 0.6s.
To minimize statistical errors in the simulation, a simulation time of 1s is
used for each subsequent example, and the average values of the flow
field results at three time nodes (0.6s, 0.8s, and 1s) are considered as the
final calculation result. The computational time required for each
example group ranges from approximately 60 to 120 h.
To verify the independence from time step and grid and number of
particles for the geometry, Fig. 11 illustrates the distribution of the
number density of C9H20 along the axis of the DGL with deferent pa­
rameters. As depicted in the figure, variations in these three types of
parameters have minimal impact on the results, and the overall trend
remains consistent.
S. Teng et al. Journal of Cleaner Production 430 (2023) 139664

Fig. 4. Flow field characteristics in T-shaped microchannel.

Fig. 5. Verification model parameters on mass flow rate boundary.

Fig. 7. Gas pressure distribution along the DGL axis.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Establishment of evaluation indicators

This study introduces three performance metrics to assess the DGL:

the zero flow pressure ratio (Rp), the DGL inhibition rate (Rs), and the
decompression ratio (k). The zero flow pressure ratio represents the ratio
of hydrocarbon number density at both ends of the DGL when no clean
gas is injected. It serves as an indicator of diffusion phenomenon and is
influenced by the DGL’s geometric dimensions and hydrocarbon diffu­
sion coefficient. By incorporating these factors, the zero flow pressure
ratio effectively captures the impact of diffusion on the DGL’s
performance.

n′W
RP = (9)
n′P
Fig. 6. Change of clean gas mass flow rate with time.
In the absence of clean gas injection, the number density of hydrocar­
bons at the exit of the WCH is denoted as n′W , and the number density at

6
S. Teng et al.
Fig. 8. Sensitivity verification of computational domain and RWF.
Fig. 9. Magnification independence verification of outgassing of C9 H20 .
Fig. 10. The number density of C9 H20 with time.
the entrance of the POB is denoted as n′P . To quantify the impact of the
macroscopic flow field generated by clean gas on hydrocarbon trans­
port, the DGL inhibition rate (Rs) is introduced. When clean gas is
injected into the DGL, the hydrocarbon number density at the entrance
of the POB is represented as nP . In contrast, the hydrocarbon number
density at the entrance of the POB without clean gas injection is n′P . The
7
Journal of Cleaner Production 430 (2023) 139664
DGL inhibition rate (Rs) can be calculated as follows:
n′P
RS = (10)
nP
To comprehensively assess the impact of the aforementioned factors,
the decompression ratio (k) was introduced, it represents the ratio of the
hydrocarbon number density at the exit of the WCH without clean gas to
the hydrocarbon number density at the entrance of the POB in the
presence of clean gas. This parameter provides a comprehensive char­
acterization of the combined influence of clean gas flow and the DGL
geometry on the convection-diffusion phenomenon of hydrocarbons.
n′W
k = RP × RS = (11)
nP
3.2. Influence of process parameters on DGL performance
3.2.1. Influence of clean gas airflow
From Fig. 12, it is evident that the C9H20 number density in the POB
decreases sharply with increasing airflow of clean gas. When the airflow
of argon is 50 Pa⋅L/s, the C9H20 number density at the entrance of the
POB is approximately 316 times lower compared to when the airflow is 1
Pa⋅L/s. Table 4 shows that as the airflow of clean gas increases, the
inhibition rate of DGL exhibits a significant rise, while the decompres­
sion ratio also increases. This implies that for DGL, with the same
structure, fewer hydrocarbons enter the POB from the WCH when higher
airflow of clean gas is utilized.
This paper conducted a further analysis of the relationship between
Rs and the airflow of clean gas. Fig. 13 illustrates that there exists an
approximate exponential relationship between the two factors. The
fitting curve can be expressed as RS = 1.442 × 1.115Q , where Q repre­
sents the airflow of clean gas. With an increase of 20Pa⋅L/s of argon, Rs
experiences a growth of approximately one order of magnitude. When
the airflow remains constant at 50Pa⋅L/s, the DGL inhibition rate Rs can
reach around 330. In comparison to the DGL entrance, the partial
pressure and C9H20 number density in the POB decrease by roughly
4357 times.
3.2.2. Influence of clean gas type
Fig. 14 presents the distribution of C9H20 number density along the
DGL axis with the injection of different types of clean gases. It can be
observed that as the molecular mass of the clean gas increases, the
transfer of momentum to C9H20 molecules becomes more pronounced,
resulting in a greater inhibition of C9H20 diffusion.
Table 5 reveals that the DGL inhibition rate and decompression ratio
increase with an increase of the molecular mass fraction. Consequently,
fewer hydrocarbons enter the POB from the WCH, even with the same
clean gas flow rate. Argon exhibits a DGL inhibition rate approximately
2.2 times higher than that of hydrogen, indicating its superior capability
to suppress hydrocarbon diffusion in both the DGL and POB. However, it
S. Teng et al. Journal of Cleaner Production 430 (2023) 139664

Fig. 11. Independence from time step, grid and number of particles.

Fig. 12. Distribution of C9 H20 number density along the axis under different Fig. 13. Airflow of argon with DGL inhibition rate.
clean gas airflow.

should be noted that a higher mass fraction of clean gas leads to a lower
Table 4 transmittance of EUV light.
DGL inhibition rate and decompression ratio under different clean gas airflow.
3.2.3. Influence of vacuum chamber pressure
Clean gas C9 H20 number density of DGL Decompression
airflow POB entrance during clean inhibition ratio k As depicted in Fig. 15, there is minimal difference in the distribution
(Pa⋅L/ s) gas injected nP (/m3 ) rate RS of the C9H20 number density within the DGL under different working
conditions. This can be attributed to the fact that the pressure difference
1 1.72 × 1013 1.01 13.3
10 6.56 × 1012 2.64 34.8 in the DGL, caused by the expansion of clean gas, surpasses the pressure
20 1.98 × 1012 8.74 115.4 difference between the POB and WCH. With the pumping process in the
30 3.88 × 1011 44.6 588.7 POB, the partial pressure of the clean gas gradually increases. The
40 1.60 × 1011 108.1 1427 pressure difference between the DGL and the POB decreases, resulting in
50 5.24 × 1010 330.1 4357 a decrease in flow velocity. Consequently, the entrainment effect on
C9H20 also weakens. Therefore, there is a slight increase in the number
density of C9H20 in the POB.
From the findings presented in Table 6, it is observed that the DGL
inhibition rate RS and decompression ratio k exhibit minimal variations

8
S. Teng et al. Journal of Cleaner Production 430 (2023) 139664

Table 6
DGL inhibition rate and decompression ratio under different pressure
differences.
Differential C9 H20 number density DGL Decompression
pressure (POB/ of POB entrance during inhibition ratio k
WCH) (Pa) clean gas injected nP rate RS
(/m3 )

0.004/0.008 6.08 × 1012 2.85 37.6

0.008/0.008 6.50 × 1012 2.66 35.1
0.018/0.008 6.69 × 1012 2.59 34.2
0.028/0.008 6.56 × 1012 2.64 34.8
0.038/0.008 6.95 × 1012 2.50 33.0

3.3. Influence of geometric parameters on DGL performance

3.3.1. Influence of DGL’s cone angle

The influence of DGL geometry on the inhibition effect of hydro­
carbons is notable. As depicted in Fig. 16, a significant decrease in the
C9H20 number density in the POB can be observed with decreasing an­
gles. This behavior can be attributed to the proportionality between the
Fig. 14. Distribution of C9 H20 number density along the axis under different airflow into the POB and WCH and the flow conductance. As the DGL’s
types of clean gases. cone angle decreases, the flow conductance of clean air into the POB
decreases, leading to a higher flow of clean gas towards the WCH and the
formation of a larger macroscopic speed. Consequently, the diffusion of
Table 5 C9H20 is more effectively inhibited. Notably, when the DGL’s cone angle
DGL inhibition rate and decompression ratio under different types of clean gases. is 0◦ , the large fluctuation in the C9H20 number density curve in the POB
Types of C9 H20 number density of POB DGL inhibition Decompression is attributed to significant fluctuations at low number density values.
clean gas entrance during clean gas rate RS ratio k According to the findings presented in Table 7, a decrease in the
injected nP (/m3 )
DGL’s cone angle leads to a slight reduction in Rp but a significant in­
H2 m 1.46 × 1013 1.18 15.6 crease in RS. This change in cone angle primarily affects convection. By
He 1.38 × 1013 1.25 16.5 reducing the cone angle under the same clean gas flow rate, the inhi­
Ne 9.58 × 1012 1.80 23.8
bition effect of the DGL on hydrocarbons can be significantly enhanced.
8.01 × 1012 2.16 28.5
However, it is crucial to consider that a smaller cone angle corresponds
N2
Ar 6.56 × 1012 2.64 34.8
to a smaller numerical aperture of the projection system. It is only with a
larger numerical aperture that lithography quality can be ensured.
Hence, when developing EUV technology, the DGL’s angle should be
reduced as much as possible while still meeting the requirement of ul­
traviolet transmission.

3.3.2. Influence of clean gas inlet location

Fig. 17 presents the number density distribution of C9H20 along the
DGL axis at different positions of the clean gas inlet. It can be observed

Fig. 15. Distribution of C9 H20 number density along the axis under several
differential pressures.

with changes in the pressure difference. However, when the clean gas
pressure in the POB is low, a slightly higher RS of the DGL can be
observed, leading to an increased transmission rate of EUV light. Hence,
in the development of the DGL process, it is advisable to consider uti­
lizing vacuum pumps with higher pumping speeds in the POB.
Fig. 16. Distribution of C9 H20 number density along the axis under different
cone angles.

9
S. Teng et al. Journal of Cleaner Production 430 (2023) 139664

Table 7
DGL performance under different cone angles.
Cone C9 H20 number density of outlet C9 H20 number density of POB C9 H20 number density of POB Zero flow rate DGL Decompression
angle (◦ ) of WCH during clean gas not entrance during clean gas not entrance during clean gas ratio of pressure inhibition rate ratio k
injected n′W (/m3 ) injected n′P (/m3 ) injected nP (/m3 ) Rp RS

0 3.02 × 1014 2.65 × 1013 4.45 × 1011 11.4 59.6 679.4

5.7 2.64 × 1014 2.29 × 1013 2.72 × 1012 11.5 8.42 96.8
11.3 2.28 × 1014 1.73 × 1013 6.56 × 1012 13.2 2.64 34.8
16.7 2.19 × 1014 1.48 × 1013 8.08 × 1012 14.8 1.83 27.1
21.8 1.94 × 1014 1.04 × 1013 9.06 × 1012 18.7 1.15 21.5

Fig. 17. Distribution of C9 H20 number density along the axis under different Fig. 18. Distribution of C9 H20 number density along the axis under
clean gas inlet location. different height.

that the closer the clean gas inlet is to the WCH, the lower the C9H20
number density in the POB. The conductance of a conical pipe can be
calculated using the formula Uf ∝1 /(L/2d1 + C /d21 ), where Uf represents
the flow conductance from the clean gas inlet to the WCH, L denotes the
length of the flow conductance, d1 is the cross-section diameter of the
clean gas inlet, and C is a constant associated with the cross-section
diameter of the DGL outlet. As the clean gas inlet moves downward,
the distance traveled by the clean gas flowing into the POB increases.
Consequently, the flow conductance of the corresponding channel from
the clean gas inlet to the WCH also increases, resulting in a higher flow
of clean gas to the WCH. This leads to a decrease in the number density
of hydrocarbons in the POB accordingly.
Table 8 reveals that as the clean gas inlet position decreases, the RP of
the DGL remains relatively unchanged. The minor numerical differences
can be attributed to statistical fluctuations. However, the inhibition rate
RS and decompression ratio k exhibit significant increases. Hence, when
developing the DGL process, it is advisable to position the clean gas inlet
as close as possible to the WCH in order to enhance the inhibition rate
and improve the overall performance of the DGL.
3.3.3. Influence of DGL’s height
From the observations in Fig. 18, it can be noted that the C9H20
number density slightly decreases at the entrance of the POB as the
DGL’s height increases. However, when comparing the same distance
from the wafer, a smaller DGL height results in a lower C9H20 number
density. This behavior is attributed to the fact that as the DGL’s height
increases, the reduction rate of flow conductance from the clean gas
inlet to the corresponding channel of the POB becomes less than that of
the corresponding channel of the WCH. Consequently, more clean gas
flows into the POB, thereby weakening the inhibition effect on the
diffusion of C9H20.
Table 9 illustrates that all three evaluation indicators significantly
increase with an increase in the DGL’s height. However, at the same
distance from the wafer’s surface, the number density of hydrocarbons
also increases. Therefore, in order to minimize the concentration of
hydrocarbons near the optical surface and achieve a more compact
lithographic chamber structure, it is essential to carefully select the
height of the DGL during the formulation of the DGL process.

Table 8
DGL performance at different clean gas inlet locations.
Clean gas entry C9 H20 number density of outlet C9 H20 number density of POB C9 H20 number density of POB Zero flow rate DGL Decompression
position (mm) of WCH during clean gas not entrance during clean gas not entrance during clean gas ratio of pressure inhibition rate ratio k
injected n′W (/m3 ) injected n′P (/m3 ) injected nP (/m3 ) RP RS

x= − 15 (up) 2.35 × 1014 1.70 × 1013 1.17 × 1013 13.8 1.45 20.0
x= − 10 2.28 × 1014 1.73 × 1013 6.56 × 1012 13.2 2.64 34.8
(middle)
x= − 5 (down) 2.29 × 1014 1.64 × 1013 4.88 × 1012 14.0 3.36 47.0

10
S. Teng et al.
Table 9
DGL performance under different height.
The height C9 H20 number density of outlet C9 H20 number density of POB
of DGL of WCH during clean gas not entrance during clean gas not
(mm) injected n′W (/m3 ) injected n′P (/m3 )
10 2.03 × 1014 2.41 × 1013
20 2.28 × 1014 1.73 × 1013
30 2.69 × 1014 1.29 × 1013
4. Conclusion
In this paper, the DSMC method was employed to simulate the flow
of the DGL and the vacuum chamber. The convergence of the DGL
simulation was verified to ensure the accuracy of the obtained results.
Three key indices, namely the zero flow pressure ratio RP, DGL inhibi­
tion rate RS, and decompression ratio k, were introduced to investigate
the influence of process parameters and geometric parameters on the
performance of the DGL. The findings are summarized as follows:
1. Increasing the airflow of the clean gas leads to a decrease in the
hydrocarbon concentration index in the POB. For every increment of
20Pa⋅L/s in the clean gas airflow, the inhibition rate RS of the DGL
increases by approximately one order of magnitude.
2. The usage of clean gas with a higher molar mass, reducing the cone
angle of the DGL, and positioning the clean gas inlet closer to the
WCH can enhance the inhibition effect on hydrocarbon diffusion.
3. The inhibition rate of the DGL exhibits insensitivity to changes in the
pressure within the POB and WCH.
4. The inhibition rate of the DGL increases with an increase in the DGL’s
height. However, at the same distance from the wafer surface, the
number density of hydrocarbons is higher when the DGL’s height is
greater.
These results may provide valuable insights into optimizing the
performance of the DGL and can guide the formulation of effective DGL
processes. The effective role of the DGL in the photolithography process
is worthy of further in-depth study, and there exist numerous optimi­
zation approaches that can be implemented, such as the exploring on
structural optimization to obtain more efficient clean gas inhibition rate.
Additionally, employing more advanced calculation methods can yield
more precise theoretical data and reduce testing costs. For instance,
SPARTA (Feng et al., 2023; Yang and Zhang, 2023) offers innovative
comparative techniques to obtain data that aligns with specific process
requirements. Furthermore, it is worth exploring suppression efficiency
of mixed gases compared to individual gas types by initially examining
the composition of clean gases. Undertaking these in-depth studies can
significantly enhance the application performance of the gas lock and
establish a robust foundation for both theory and experimentation.
Funding
This work was supported by the Joint Funds for National Natural
Science Foundation of China [grant number U22A20179]; the Natural
Science Foundation of Shenyang City [grant number 22-315-6-01]; and
X. Bian received the starting grant from 100 talents program of Zhejiang
University.
CRediT author statement
Shuai Teng: Methodology, Data curation, Writing- Original draft
preparation.
Ming Hao: Visualization, Writing- Reviewing and Editing.
Jiaxing Liu: Conceptualization, Investigation, Writing- Original
draft preparation.
Xin Bian: Resources, Supervision.
Journal of Cleaner Production 430 (2023) 139664
C9 H20 number density of POB Zero flow rate DGL Decompression
entrance during clean gas ratio of pressure inhibition rate ratio k
injected nP (/m3 ) RP RS
1.23 × 1013 8.42 1.96 16.5
6.56 × 1012 13.2 2.64 34.8
3.67 × 1012 20.9 3.51 73.4
Yuanhua Xie: Validation, Writing- Reviewing and Editing.
Kun Liu: Formal analysis, Writing- Reviewing and Editing,
Supervision.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Data availability
The data that has been used is confidential.
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