Novel Motor for Next-Generation Semiconductor Photo-Lithography Systems

    Professor Jun Young Yoon in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Yonsei University has worked with MIT researchers to design and develop a new motor for high-precision high-throughput next-generation EUVL (Extreme Ultra-Violet Lithography) systems. While commercially available linear iron-core synchronous motors have the potential for high thrust, they can emit significant vibrations and acoustic noise, thereby impairing accuracy of high-precision manufacturing systems such as in photo-lithography machines, also known as semiconductor chipmakers. Professor Yoon and his co-workers 1) found, for the first time, root causes of such vibro-acoustic noise emitted by linear iron-core permanent magnet motors, 2) proposed and validated a new motor magnetic design, called a fine-tooth motor, to reduce the noise while increasing thrust performance compared with conventional linear motors, and 3) further reduced the noise through a double-sided mechanical configuration of the new fine-tooth motors.

    The work has been published in multiple journals and conferences including IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics (TIE) and IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics (TMECH). For his research accomplishment, Professor Yoon won the ‘Young Engineer Award’ from the Korean Society for Precision Engineering (KSPE) and the ‘Young Scientist Award’ in the 2019 ASML Korea Tech Talk, which is also covered in media (links provided below).

    “We hope our new magnetic and mechanical solutions of high-force low-noise linear motors for the EUVL help the semiconductor industry pushing the limits even further to make our everyday lives faster, easier, and smarter“, says Professor Yoon.

[Associated Publication]

Yoon, J.Y., Lang, J.H. and Trumper, D.L., Fine-tooth iron-core linear synchronous motor for low acoustic noise applications. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, doi: 10.1109/TIE.2018.2835416

Yoon, J.Y., Lang, J.H. and Trumper, D.L., Double-Sided Linear Iron-Core Fine-Tooth Motor for Low Acoustic Noise and High Acceleration. IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, doi: 10.1109/TMECH.2019.2929236

[Media Coverage]

THEELEC: http://www.thelec.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=2751

KIPOST: https://www.kipost.net/news/articleView.html?idxno=201782