U.S. patent application number 10/684716 was filed with the patent office on 2004-04-29 for cooling of voice coil motors in lithographic projection apparatus.
This patent application is currently assigned to ASML NETHERLANDS B.V.. Invention is credited to Buis, Edwin J., Gilissen, Noud J., Kwan, Yim Bun P., Schapendonk, Paulus H.C.M..
Application Number | 20040079898 10/684716 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 26071813 |
Filed Date | 2004-04-29 |
United States Patent
Application |
20040079898 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Buis, Edwin J. ; et
al. |
April 29, 2004 |
Cooling of voice coil motors in lithographic projection
apparatus
Abstract
A voice coil motor used in a positioning means associated with
either a first object table or a second object table in which the
coil is cooled with a cooling jacket in thermal contact with the
coil, the cooling jacket comprising at least one channel for
circulation of a cooling fluid, the or each channel being arranged
such as to be substantially located in a portion of the cooling
jacket adjacent to the coil, for use in a lithographic projection
apparatus comprising: a radiation system for supplying a projection
beam of radiation; a first object table for holding a mask; a
second object table for holding a substrate; a projection system
for imaging irradiated portions of the mask onto target portions of
the substrate. The cooling jacket may be formed of a ceramic
material and preferably is of a monolithic construction.
Inventors: |
Buis, Edwin J.; (Belfeld,
NL) ; Gilissen, Noud J.; (Eindhoven, NL) ;
Kwan, Yim Bun P.; (Munich, DE) ; Schapendonk, Paulus
H.C.M.; (Heeze, NL) |
Correspondence
Address: |
PILLSBURY WINTHROP, LLP
P.O. BOX 10500
MCLEAN
VA
22102
US
|
Assignee: |
ASML NETHERLANDS B.V.
Veldhoven
NL
|
Family ID: |
26071813 |
Appl. No.: |
10/684716 |
Filed: |
October 15, 2003 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
10684716 |
Oct 15, 2003 |
|
|
|
09777701 |
Feb 7, 2001 |
|
|
|
6657204 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
250/492.2 ;
250/442.11; 250/443.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H02K 41/0356 20130101;
G03F 7/70725 20130101; H02K 9/227 20210101; H02K 3/24 20130101;
G03F 7/70758 20130101; G03F 7/70775 20130101; G03F 7/70875
20130101; G03F 7/70891 20130101; G03F 7/70716 20130101; H02K 9/22
20130101; G03F 7/70858 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
250/492.2 ;
250/442.11; 250/443.1 |
International
Class: |
H01J 037/20 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Feb 10, 2000 |
EP |
00200432.3 |
May 23, 2000 |
EP |
00304336.1 |
Claims
We claim:
1. A lithographic projection apparatus comprising: a radiation
table which provides a projection beam of radiation; projection
beam patterning structure which patterns the projection beam
according to a desired pattern; a substrate table for holding a
substrate; a projection system which images the patterned beam onto
a target portion of the substrate; at least one voice coil motor
operatively associated with at least one of the projection beam
patterning structure and the substrate table to position the same,
said at least one voice coil motor having a coil in thermal contact
with a cooling jacket; a plurality of channels being arranged such
as to be substantially located in a portion of the cooling jacket
adjacent to the coil; and a cooling system connected to the cooling
jacket for flowing a fluid at a predetermined temperature between
the cooling jacket and the channels of the cooling system; wherein
the cooling jacket has a monolithic construction; wherein the
cooling jacket has a substantially planar body with a thermally
conductive surface and a thermally non-conductive surface located
opposite the thermally conductive surface; wherein the thermally
conductive portion of the cooling jacket is attached to a top and a
bottom of the coil; and wherein the cooling jacket is made from an
electrically non-conductive material.
Description
[0001] This is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser.
No. 09/777,701, filed Feb. 7, 2001, which claims priority from
European Patent Application Nos. 00200432.3, filed Feb. 10, 2000
and 00304336.1, filed May 23, 2000, the entire contents of which
are hereby incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to arrangements for cooling
voice coil motors, and in particular to arrangements for cooling
voice coil motors for use in lithographic projection apparatus
comprising:
[0004] a radiation system for supplying a projection beam of
radiation;
[0005] patterning means, for patterning the projection beam
according to a desired pattern;
[0006] a substrate table for holding a substrate; and
[0007] a projection system for imaging the patterned beam onto a
target portion of the substrate.
[0008] 2. Discussion of Related Art
[0009] The terms "patterning means", "mask", or "projection beam
patterning structure" should be broadly interpreted as referring to
means that can be used to endow an incoming radiation beam with a
patterned cross-section, corresponding to a pattern that is to be
created in a target portion of the substrate; the term "light
valve" has; also been used in this context. Generally, the said
pattern will correspond to a particular functional layer in a
device being created in the target portion, such as an integrated
circuit or other device (see below). Examples of such patterning
means include:
[0010] A mask table for holding a mask. The concept of a mask is
well known in lithography, and its includes mask types such as
binary, alternating phase-shift, and attenuated phase-shift; as
well as various hybrid mask types. Placement of such a mask in the
radiation beam causes selective transmission (in the case of a
transmissive mask) or reflection (in the case of a reflective mask)
of the radiation impinging on the mask, according to the pattern on
the mask. The mask table ensures that the mask can be held at a
desired position in the incoming radiation beam, and that it can be
moved relative to the beam if so desired.
[0011] A programmable mirror array. An example of such a device is
a matrix-addressable surface having a viscoelastic control layer
and a reflective surface. The basic principle behind such an
apparatus is that (for example) addressed areas of the reflective
surface reflect incident light as diffracted light, whereas
unaddressed areas reflect incident light as undiffracted light.
Using an appropriate filter, the said undiffracted light can be
filtered out of the reflected beam, leaving only the diffracted
light behind; in this manner, the beam becomes patterned according
to the addressing; pattern of the matrix-adressable surface. The
required matrix addressing care be performed using suitable
electronic means. More information on such mirror arrays can be
gleaned, for example, from U.S. Pat. Nos 5,296,891 and 5,523,193,
which are incorporated herein by reference.
[0012] A programmable LCD array. An example of such a construction
is given in U.S. Pat. No. 5,229,872, which is incorporated herein
by reference.
[0013] For purposes of simplicity, the rest of this text may, at
certain locations, specifically direct itself to examples involving
a mask table and mask; however, the general principles discussed in
such instances should be seen in the broader context of the
patterning means as hereabove set forth.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0014] For the sake of simplicity, the projection system may
hereinafter be referred to as the "lens"; however, this term should
be broadly interpreted as encompassing various types of projection
system, including refractive optics, reflective optics,
catadioptric systems, and charged particle optics, for example. The
radiation system may also include elements operating according to
any of these principles for directing, shaping or controlling the
projection beam of radiation, and such elements may also be
referred to below, collectively or singularly, as a "lens". In
addition, the first and second object tables may be referred to as
the "mask table" and the "substrate table", respectively. Further,
the lithographic apparatus may be of a type having two or more mask
tables and/or two or more substrate tables. In such "multiple
table" devices the additional tables may be used in parallel, or
preparatory steps may be carried out on one or more tables while
one or more other tables are being used for exposures. Twin stage
lithographic apparatus are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No.
5,969,441 and U.S. Ser. No. 09/180,011 filed 27 Feb. 1998
(WO98/40791), incorporated herein by reference.
[0015] Lithographic projection apparatus can be used, for example,
in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs). In such a case,
the mask (reticle) may contain a circuit pattern corresponding to
an individual layer of the IC, and this pattern can be imaged onto
a target portion (comprising one or more dies) on a substrate
(silicon wafer) which has been coated with a layer of
photosensitive material (resist). In general, a single substrate
will contain a whole network of adjacent target portions which are
successively irradiated via the mask, one at a time. In one type of
lithographic projection apparatus, each target portion is
irradiated by exposing the entire mask pattern onto the target
portion at once; such an apparatus is commonly referred to as a
wafer stepper. In an alternative apparatus--which is commonly
referred to as a step-and-scan apparatus--each target portion is
irradiated by progressively scanning the mask pattern under the
projection beam in a given reference direction (the "scanning"
direction) while synchronously scanning the substrate table
parallel or anti-parallel to this direction; since, in general, the
projection system will have a magnification factor M
(generally<1), the speed at which the substrate table is scanned
will be a factor M times that at which the mask table is scanned.
More information with regard to lithographic devices as here
described can be gleaned from U.S. Pat. No. 6,046,792, incorporated
herein by reference.
[0016] In a lithographic apparatus, voice coil motors (typically
Lorentz-force motors) are used, for example, for fine positioning
of the substrate table and the mask table. The motors dissipate
heat in operation which, if not removed in a controlled manner,
would affect the thermal stability of the apparatus. In the case of
the fine positioning of a substrate table, it is important that
heat transfer from the motor to the substrate table is minimized.
The substrate table is designed to be operated at a predetermined
temperature and heat transfer to the substrate table may lead to
expansion or contraction in the substrate table and/or the
substrate causing an inaccuracy in the positioning of the substrate
and thus of the target portion to be irradiated.
[0017] At present the coils of the motors are cooled by a thin
metal cooling plate in thermal contact with the coil. Heat from the
coil is removed by thermal conduction through the cooling plate to
its sides which are connected to a water cooling system. Thus there
is inevitably a temperature variation across the cooling plate, and
heat loss by convection or radiation from the surfaces of the
cooling plate can lead to a heat load on the substrate table which
is too large. For example, in a typical design no more than 0.5W
out of approximately 350W of heat dissipated in each voice coil
motor can be allowed to escape to the surrounding components
without causing a detrimental effect.
[0018] An object of the present invention is to provide an improved
means of cooling the voice coil motors of lithographic apparatus
which will result in a reduction in the heat loss to its
surroundings.
[0019] According to the present invention there is provided a
lithographic projection apparatus comprising:
[0020] a radiation system for providing a projection beam of
radiation;
[0021] patterning means, for patterning the projection beam
according to a desired pattern;
[0022] a substrate table for holding a substrate;
[0023] a projection system for imaging the patterned beam onto a
target portion of the substrate; wherein
[0024] at least one of the patterning means and the substrate table
is associated with positioning means comprising at least one voice
coil motor having a coil in thermal contact with a cooling jacket;
characterized in that:
[0025] the cooling jacket comprises at least one channel for
circulation of a cooling fluid, the or each channel being arranged
such as to be substantially located in a portion of the cooling
jacket adjacent to the coil.
[0026] The present invention is advantageous in that heat is
removed directly from the coil to the cooling medium through a
large area of contact, thus reducing substantially the amount of
heat escaping to the surrounding components and therefore reducing
inaccuracies caused by thermal expansion of the object table and
any object thereon.
[0027] It is preferred that the cooling jacket is made from an
electrically non-conducting material. This is advantageous as it
will prevent undesirable eddy-current damping within the magnetic
field of the stator. The use of a ceramic material, for example
Al.sub.2O.sub.3 or AIN, is particularly desirable as the processing
and properties of ceramic materials are already well known. Ceramic
materials do not absorb water (which is a particular disadvantage
of composite materials); they have high strength (and can therefore
sustain a higher cooling fluid operating pressure for a given
dimension) and they do not outgas (and are hence suitable for use
in a vacuum).
[0028] In a preferred embodiment of the invention at least one part
of a ceramic cooling jacket having at least one channel located
therein, is formed as a single monolithic component. This is
advantageous as this will provide the strongest possible structure
for the cooling jacket. A. monolithic component is less subject to
the risk of delamination than laminated designs.
[0029] In another preferred embodiment of the invention at least
one part of a ceramic cooling jacket, having at least one channel
located therein is formed from two components which are bonded
together to form said one part, at least one of the contacting
surfaces of the components comprising at least one groove which
forms the channel(s) in the bonded state. This is advantageous
because it is then possible to provide a cooling jacket in which
the thermal properties can be optimized for each position within
the structure, rather than having uniform thermal properties across
the cooling jacket which are a compromise.
[0030] In yet another, preferred embodiment at least one part of a
ceramic cooling jacket, having at least one channel located therein
is formed from three components that are bonded together, an
intermediate component being formed with sections of material
removed, said sections forming the channels in the bonded state.
This also advantageously allows the thermal properties of the
separate parts of the structure to be optimized.
[0031] According to a further aspect of the invention there is
provided a device manufacturing method comprising the steps of:
[0032] providing a substrate that is at least partially covered by
a layer of radiation-sensitive material;
[0033] providing a projection beam of radiation using a radiation
system;
[0034] using patterning means to endow the projection beam with a
pattern in its cross-section;
[0035] projecting the patterned beam of radiation onto a target
portion of the layer of radiation-sensitive material, wherein at
least one of said substrate table and said patterning means if
positioned using at least one voice coil motor having a coil in
thermal contact with a cooling jacket; characterized by:
[0036] said step of passing a cooling fluid through the cooling
jacket so as to substantially pass the cooling fluid through a
portion of the cooling jacket adjacent to the coil.
[0037] In a manufacturing process using a lithographic projection
apparatus according to the invention a pattern in a mask is imaged
onto a substrate which is at least partially covered by a layer of
energy-sensitive material (resist). Prior to this imaging step, the
substrate may undergo various procedures, such as priming, resist
coating and a soft bake. After exposure, the substrate may be
subjected to other procedures, such as a post-exposure bake (PEB),
development, a hard bake and measurement/inspection of the imaged
features. This array of procedures is used as a basis to pattern an
individual layer of a device, e.g. an IC. Such a patterned layer
may then undergo various processes such as etching,
ion-implantation (doping), metallisation, oxidation,
chemo-mechanical polishing, etc., all intended to finish off an
individual layer. If several layers are required, then the whole
procedure, or a variant thereof, will have to be repeated for each
new layer. Eventually, an array of devices will be present on the
substrate (wafer). These devices are then separated from one
another by a technique such as dicing or sawing, whence the
individual devices can be mounted on a carrier, connected to pins,
etc. Further information regarding such processes can be obtained,
for example, from the book "Microchip Fabrication: A Practical
Guide to Semiconductor Processing", Third Edition, by Peter van
Zant, McGraw Hill Publishing Co., 1997, ISBN 0-07-067250-4.
[0038] Although specific reference may be made in this text to the
use of the apparatus according to the invention in the manufacture
of ICs, it should be explicitly understood that such an apparatus
has many other possible applications. For example, it may be
employed in the manufacture of integrated optical systems, guidance
and detection patterns for magnetic domain memories, liquid-crystal
display panels, thin-film magnetic heads, etc. The skilled artisan
will appreciate that, in the context of such alternative
applications, any use of the terms "reticle", "wafer" or "die" in
this text should be considered as being replaced by the more
general terms "mask", "substrate" and "target portion",
respectively.
[0039] In the present document, the terms "radiation" and "beam"
are used to encompass all types of electromagnetic radiation or
particle flux, including, but not limited to, ultraviolet (UV)
radiation (e.g. at a wavelength of 365 nm, 248 mn, 193 nm, 157 nm
or 126 nm), extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation, X-rays, electrons
and ions. Also, in the present document reference may be made to X,
Y, and Z axes, or to up, down and other similar spatial references.
It should be understood that these terms are used with reference to
the plane of the substrate and not relative to a general frame of
reference. In the frame of reference used, the substantially planar
substrate lies in a "horizontal" plane, defined by the X and Y
axes. The Z axis denotes the "vertical" position and is
perpendicular to the plane defined by the X and Y axes.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0040] The present invention will be described below with reference
to exemplary embodiments and the accompanying schematic drawings,
in which:
[0041] FIG. 1 depicts a lithographic projection apparatus according
to a first embodiment of the invention;
[0042] FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of a voice coil motor
with a cooling system of the first embodiment of the present
invention;
[0043] FIG. 3 is a cross-section of a cooling jacket according to
the first embodiment of the invention;
[0044] FIG. 4 is a cross-section of a cooling jacket according to a
second embodiment of the invention;
[0045] FIG. 5 is a cross-section of a cooling jacket according to a
third embodiment of the invention;
[0046] FIG. 6 is a cross-section of a cooling jacket according to a
fourth embodiment of the invention;
[0047] FIG. 7 is a schematic of a voice coil motor with a variation
of the cooling system of FIG. 2;
[0048] FIGS. 8a and 8b are cross-sections of channels through a
cooling jacket of the invention;
[0049] FIGS. 9a and 9b are plan views of channels in a cooling
jacket of the invention.
[0050] In the drawings, like reference numerals indicate like
parts.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0051] FIG. 1 schematically depicts a lithographic projection
apparatus according to the invention. The apparatus comprises:
[0052] a radiation system LA, Ex, IN, CO for supplying a projection
beam PB of radiation (e.g. UV or EUV radiation);
[0053] a first object table (mask table) MT for holding a mask MA
(e.g. a reticle), and connected to first positioning means for
accurately positioning the mask with respect to item PL;
[0054] a second object table (substrate table) WT for holding a
substrate W (e.g. a resist-coated silicon wafer), and connected to
second positioning means for accurately positioning the substrate
with respect to item PL;
[0055] a projection system ("lens") PL (e.g. a refractive or
catadioptric system, a mirror group or an array of field
deflectors) for imaging an irradiated portion of the mask MA onto a
target portion C (comprising one or more dies) of the substrate W.
As here depicted, the apparatus is of a transmissive type (i.e. has
a transmissive mask). However, in general, it may also be of a
reflective type, for example.
[0056] The radiation system may comprise a source LA (e.g. a Hg
lamp, excimer laser, an undulator provided around the path of an
electron beam in a storage ring or synchrotron, or an electron or
ion beam source) which produces a beam of radiation. This beam is
caused to traverse various optical components comprised in the
illumination system, e.g. beam shaping optics Ex, an integrator IN
and a condenser CO--so that the resultant beam PB has a desired
uniformity and intensity distribution in its cross-section.
[0057] The beam PB subsequently intercepts the mask MA which is
held on a mask table MT. Having passed through the mask MA, the
beam PB traverses the lens PL, which focuses the bean PB onto a
target portion C of the substrate W. With the aid of the
interferometric displacement measuring means IF and the second
positioning means, the substrate table WT can be moved accurately,
e.g. so as to position different target portions C in the path of
the beam PB. Similarly, the interferometric displacement measuring
means IF and the first positioning means can be used to accurately
position the mask MA with respect to the path of the beam PB, e.g.
after mechanical retrieval of the mask MA from a mask library. In
general, movement of the object tables MT, WT will be realized with
the aid of a long stroke module (course positioning) and a short
stroke module (fine positioning), which are not explicitly depicted
in FIG. 1. The depicted apparatus can be used in two different
modes:
[0058] In step mode, the mask table MT is kept essentially
stationary, and an entire mask image is projected at once (i.e. a
single "flash") onto a target portion C. The substrate table WT is
then shifted in the x and/or y directions so that a different
target portion C can be irradiated by the beam PB;
[0059] In scan mode, essentially the same scenario applies, except
that a given target portion C is not exposed in a single "flash".
Instead, the mask table MT is movable in a given direction (the
so-called "scan direction", e.g. they direction) with a speed v, so
that the projection beam PB is caused to scan over a mask image;
concurrently, the substrate table WT is simultaneously moved in the
same or opposite direction at a speed V=Mv, in which M is the
magnification of the lens PL (typically, M=1/4 or 1/5). In this
manner, a relatively large target portion C can be exposed, without
having to compromise on resolution.
[0060] FIG. 2 shows in cross-section the layout of a voice coil, or
Lorentz-force, motor 100. The voice coil motor is comprised of a
coil 3, two sets of permanent magnets 2a, 2b mounted on a yoke 1,
and cooling jacket 4. The yoke 1 is mounted on the substrate table
or the mask table and the combination of the table, the yoke and
the magnets is moveable with respect to the coil.
[0061] The permanent magnets are mounted on the yoke 1 with the
north-south directions orientated as indicated by the arrows, the
direction of the magnetic field created by the first set of
permanent magnets 2a being orientated substantially opposite to the
direction of the magnetic field created by the second set of
permanent magnets 2b. The coil 3 contains a plurality of windings
and the plane of the windings is perpendicular to the plane of the
drawing and perpendicular to the direction of the magnetic fields.
A first portion of the coil 3a passes through the magnetic field
created by the first set of permanent magnets 2a, and a second
portion of the coil 3b passes through the magnetic field created by
the second set of permanent magnets 2b. The direction of an
electric current in the windings at the first portion 3a and second
portion 3b of the coil 3 will be opposite and perpendicular to the
plane of the drawing. Thus when an electric current is flowing in
the coil, a Lorentz force will be induced between each of the first
set of permanent magnets 2a and the first portion of the coil 3a
and the second set of permanent magnets 2b and the second portion
of the coil 3b. In both cases the Lorentz force will be parallel to
the plane of the drawing (but perpendicular to the direction of the
magnetic fields created by the magnets) and both Lorentz forces
will be in the same direction.
[0062] However, when the electric current is flowing through the
coil 3, it creates heat which needs to be dissipated. In the
present invention the cooling jacket 4 is attached directly onto
the upper and lower surfaces of the coil. The cooling jacket may be
attached to and cool the coil as shown in FIG. 2. Alternatively the
cooling jacket may cover the entire coil including the center
portion where there are no windings. In addition a single cooling
jacket may be attached to and provide cooling for a plurality of
coils.
[0063] The cooling jacket has connecting channels 5 which connect
the cooling jacket to a water cooling system 6. The connecting
channels may be comprised of flexible plastic tubes and/or rigid
stainless steel tubing, however there may be a variety of other
means for connecting the cooling jacket to the water cooling system
and the invention is not intended to be limited to a particular
means. As will be further described below, the cooling jacket 4 has
channels 10, in which water from the cooling system can flow via
the connecting channels 5. The heat created by the electric current
flowing through the coil 3 passes into the cooling water in the
channels 10 which flows back to the cooling system 6 where the heat
is removed and the temperature of the cooling water is regulated to
a pre-determined value.
[0064] It can be appreciated that a variety of fluids could be used
as the cooling medium instead of the cooling water described above.
Furthermore a variety of cooling systems which could be connected
to the cooling jacket 4 are already well known and will not be
further discussed in this document as the choice of cooling system
6 is not critical to the present invention.
[0065] As described above, in a preferred embodiment the cooling
jacket is attached to the top and bottom sides of the coil.
However, the invention is not limited to this arrangement. A
variation of this embodiment is shown in FIG. 7. In this
arrangement the coil-cooling jacket assembly is comprised of
alternating layers of coil and cooling jacket. In the example shown
there are two coil layers 41, 43. The lower coil layer 41 has lower
cooling jacket layer 40 attached to its bottom side and nuddle
cooling jacket layer 42 attached to its upper side. Coil layer 43
has middle cooling jacket layer 42 attached to its bottom side and
upper cooling jacket layer 44 attached to its upper side. Each of
the cooling jacket layers 40, 42, 44 has channels 10 in which
cooling fluid can low. The channels 10 in each cooling jacket layer
are connected to one another by water connection manifolds 45 and
are connected to the water cooling system 6 by connecting channels
5 as before. It will be appreciated that the layout and number of
layers used can be varied within the scope of the invention.
[0066] In voice coil motor 100 the clearance between the permanent
magnets and the coil is limited by practical motor design
considerations. This in turn will limit the maximum thickness that
the cooling jacket can encompass. In practice in a lithographic
apparatus this clearance will be about 2 to 4 mm on each side of
the coil, limiting the maximum thickness of each cooling jacket to
about 1.5 mm.
[0067] FIG. 3 shows a cross-section of a portion of the cooling
jacket 4 of the first embodiment of the invention. The cooling
jacket is comprised of a substantially planar body 9 with channels
10 through it. The channels are substantially parallel to the plane
of the cooling jacket (perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 3) and
the cooling water flows through them. The lower surface 9a is
attached to the surface of the coil with a thermally conductive but
electrically insulating compound, and the upper surface is exposed
to the environment. (It will be appreciated that when a portion of
the cooling jacket is attached to the lower surface of the coil
surface, 9a will become the upper surface of the cooling jacket and
surface 9b will become the lower surface of the cooling jacket.)
Thus the heat from the voice coil will be conducted through the
lower surface 9a and into the cooling water in the channels 10.
Ideally the heat flow passing through the cooling jacket to the
upper surface 9b will be negligible. To facilitate this, an upper
portion of the planar body 9 of the cooling jacket 4, which is
adjacent to the upper surface 9b, may have a relatively low thermal
conductivity and a lower portion of the planar body 9 of the
cooling jacket 4, which is adjacent to the lower surface 9a, may
have a relatively high thermal conductivity. Overall the thermal
conductivity of the entire jacket may be lower than that of the
prior art as the length of the desired heatflow path to the cooling
water is greatly reduced.
[0068] As is apparent from the foregoing description at least a
part of the cooling jacket 4 will be located in the magnetic field
of the voice coil motor 100. It will therefore be advantageous if
the cooling jacket is made from an electrically non-conducting
material so as to prevent undesirable eddy-current damping. Such a
material could be a plastic, a composite material, or preferably a
ceramic. As previously stated, ceramic materials are advantageous
in the present situation because of their relatively good thermal
conductivity, and their fabrication methods and mechanical
properties are well known. In the preferred embodiment of the
invention the cooling jacket 4 will therefore be made from a
ceramic material such as Al.sub.2O.sub.3 or AIN, but the invention
should not be considered as limited to any particular type of
material.
[0069] The embodiment in FIG. 3 shows part of a cooling jacket 4
which has been fabricated as a single ceramic component 11. This is
achieved by casting or cold-pressing the ceramic powder particles
13 onto a former 12 which resembles the shape of the channels 10.
The former can subsequently be removed either by melting at a
temperature which is lower than the sintering temperature of the
ceramic which is being used or by chemically dissolving the former.
The cooling jacket can then be completed by sintering. The
resulting cooling jacket has a monolithic construction. As
described above it may be desirable to use different ceramics for
the top and bottom portions of the cooling jacket. It is possible
to produce the cooling jacket of this embodiment using two
different ceramics. However, it will be more difficult to realize
because of differing sintering temperatures and amounts of
shrinkage.
[0070] Embodiment 2
[0071] A second embodiment of the cooling jacket 4 of the invention
is shown in FIG. 4. In this case the cooling jacket is created by
forming an upper portion, or component, 14 and a lower portion, or
component, 15 of the cooling jacket. The upper portion 14 is
comprised of a planar body with grooves 10b and the lower portion
15 is comprised of a planar body with grooves 10a, grooves 10a, 10b
being formed in the contacting surfaces of portions 14, 15. Each of
these portions are made by conventional ceramic processing methods
and sintered. The two portions are subsequently bonded together
along the bond lines 16 by a technique such as glass bonding. When
the upper and lower portions are bonded together the grooves in
each, 10a and 10b, are lined up such that the combination of the
grooves 10b on the upper portion 14 and the grooves 10a on the
lower portion 15 combine to form the channels 10. As described
above it may be desirable to use different ceramic compositions
which have different thermal conductivities for the upper and lower
portions. Also, four grooves may be provided in any one of the
upper portion 14 and lower portion 15, with the other having a flat
surface.
[0072] Embodiment 3
[0073] FIG. 5 shows the cooling jacket 4 of a third embodiment of
the invention. This is a variation of the second embodiment. In
this case the upper portion 17 and the lower portion 18 are again
formed by conventional ceramic processing methods but are not
immediately sintered. Instead the two unsintered portions (in the
green state) are pressed together such that grooves 10a and 10b
line up to form channels 10 and the two portions are joined at join
line 19. The cooling jacket assembly is then co-fired to form a
single monolithic component. Again different ceramic compositions
can be used for the upper and lower portions.
[0074] Embodiment 4
[0075] A fourth embodiment of the cooling jacket 3 is shown in FIG.
6. In this case the cooling jacket is composed of three layers: a
substantially planar upper layer, or component, 20, a substantially
planar lower layer, or component, 22 and a middle layer, or
component, 21. The upper layer and the lower layer do not have
grooves and can be formed and sintered according to conventional
ceramic processing techniques. The middle layer is formed as a
series of strips 21 of material with gaps 25 in between. The middle
layer may be formed either as a planar layer from which strips of
material are removed, for example by laser machining, to leave just
the required strips of material or can be formed directly, by
conventional ceramic processes. The three layers are then bonded
together at bond lines 23 by a method such as glass bonding. As in
other embodiments each of the layers may be formed from different
ceramic compositions.
[0076] It will be appreciated that the third and fourth embodiments
of the invention may be combined. That is to say, a cooling jacket
may be formed by pressing together the three layers of the fourth
embodiment whilst they are still in the green state and then
co-firing the assembly.
[0077] In the cooling jackets of the present invention the cooling
jacket, and hence the channels 10 within, must generally be thin.
This in turn results in high fluid flow resistance within the
channels and therefore the cooling fluid circuit must be operated
at high pressure P to maintain a sufficient flow rate. The fluid
flow resistance and hence pressure P can be reduced by increasing
the width W of the channels. However, as shown in FIG. 8a,
increasing the effective length of the span 50 results in large
bending stresses in the corner regions 51 of the cooling jacket. An
alternative way to reduce the fluid flow resistance is to provide
parallel channels as shown in FIG. 8b. The channel arrangements
shown in FIGS. 8a and 8b have similar fluid flow resistances (and
hence P and P' are similar) but the maximum bending stress in the
corner 53 of the arrangement shown in FIG. 8b is much lower than
the maximum bending stress in the corner 51 of the arrangement
shown in FIG. 8a.
[0078] FIG. 9a and 9b schematically show the arrangement of
parallel channels 56, 58 in sections 55, 57 of cooling jackets 60,
61 of the present invention. The channels have a common cooling
fluid inlet 54 and a common fluid outlet 59. In all of the
embodiments of the invention the cooling jackets may have straight
channels 56 or serpentine channels 58, as shown in FIGS. 9a and 9b
respectively, but the invention should not be considered as limited
to only these configurations.
[0079] While we have described above specific embodiments of the
invention it will be appreciated that the invention may be
practiced otherwise than described. For example, the cooling jacket
may, be formed of any convenient number of sub-layers (more than
three) which may be of similar or different materials and may be
grooved as desired. The description is not intended to limit the
invention.
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