Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Akiya Nakai

Hiroshi Tanaka

Masaaki Imaizumi

Shigeyuki Uzawa

Yoshio Kaneko

Noburu Takakura

Bunei Hamasaki

Takeshi Baba

Shinji Utamura

Tokuko Kanda

Masahiko Shirai

Shuji Yamoto

Naoki Ayata

Hajime Igarashi

In a mail sending apparatus, an attached file generation unit generates an attached file in which an access method for a designated file is described. A mail tool attaches the attached file to a mail message to form mail data, and transmits it to a designated destination through a mail server. In a mail receiving apparatus, a mail reader extracts the attached file from the mail data received through a mail server. An attached file analysis unit analyzes the access method described in the attached file. A file reception unit accesses a file management/transmission tool in accordance with the access method to receive and display the designated file.

Information processing system capable of file transmission and information processing apparatus in the system

An aligning method suitably usable in a semiconductor device manufacturing exposure apparatus of step-and-repeat type, for sequentially positioning regions on a wafer to an exposure position. In one preferred form, the marks provided on selected regions of the wafer are detected to obtain corresponding mark signals and then respective positional data related to the positions or positional errors of the selected regions are measured, on the basis of the mark signals. Then, the reliability of each measured positional data of a corresponding selected region is detected, on the basis of the state of a corresponding mark signal or the state of that measured positional data and by using fuzzy reasoning, for example. Corrected positional data related to the disposition of all the regions on the wafer is then prepared by using the measured positional data of the selected regions, wherein, for preparation of the corrected positional data, each measured positional data is weighted in accordance with the detected reliability thereof such that measured positional data having higher reliability is more influential to determine of the corrected positional data. For sequential positioning of the regions on the wafer to the exposure position, the wafer movement is controlled on the basis of the prepared corrected positional data, whereby high-precision alignment of each region is assured.

Aligning method

A proxy server is present in the path between the client and server, and intervenes in communication therebetween. Upon receiving a request from the client according to the HTTP protocol, the proxy server specifies a server based on the request, and determines the communication protocol to be used in the communication with the specified server. If the CM protocol is determined, the proxy server generates request data suitable for the CM protocol by adding necessary information, so as to implement the request contents included in the request, and communicates with the server. The proxy server sends back the processing result based on the request to the client according to the HTTP protocol.

Information processing apparatus and method

An aligning method suitably usable in a semiconductor device manufacturing exposure apparatus of step-and-repeat type, for sequentially positioning regions on a wafer to an exposure position. In one preferred form, the marks provided on selected regions of the wafer are detected to obtain corresponding mark signals and then respective positional data related to the positions or positional errors of the selected regions are measured, on the basis of the mark signals. Then, the reliability of each measured positional data of a corresponding selected region is detected, on the basis of the state of a corresponding mark signal or the state of that measured positional data and by using fuzzy reasoning, for example. Corrected positional data related to the disposition of all the regions on the wafer is then prepared by using the measured positional data of the selected regions, wherein, for preparation of the corrected positional data, each measured positional data is weighted in accordance with the detected reliability thereof such that measured positional data having higher reliability is more influential to determine the corrected positional data. For sequential positioning of the regions on the wafer to the exposure position, the wafer movement is controlled on the basis of the prepared corrected positional data, whereby high-precision alignment of each region is assured.

In a step-and-repeat type semiconductor device manufacturing exposure apparatus, a pattern of a reticle can be transferred to a wafer with no chip rotation or no array error. For this sake, the direction of rotation of an X axis or a Y axis of the reticle about a Z axis is detected, and an X-Y-.theta. stage is rotationally moved about the Z axis in accordance with the detected value and by using a measurement output of a laser interferometer. Also, after rotational movement of the X-Y-.theta. stage about the Z axis, the X-Y-.theta. stage is moved while using a measurement output of the laser interferometer, to print the pattern of the reticle onto different zones of the wafer sequentially.

Semiconductor device manufacturing method wherein the substrate is

An aligning method suitably usable in a semiconductor device manufacturing exposure apparatus of step-and-repeat type, for sequentially positioning regions on a wafer to an exposure position. In one preferred form, the marks provided on selected regions of the wafer are detected to obtain corresponding mark signals and then respective positional data related to the positions or positional errors of the selected regions are measured, on the basis of the mark signals. Then, the reliability of each measured positional data of a corresponding selected region is detected, on the basis of the state of a corresponding mark signal or the state of that measured positional data and by using fuzzy reasoning, for example. Corrected positional data related to the disposition of all the regions on the wafer is then prepared by using the measured positional data of the selected regions, wherein, for preparation of the corrected positional data, each measured positional data is weighted in accordance with the detected reliability thereof such that measured positional data having higher reliability is more influential to determine the corrected positional data.

Aligning method utilizing reliability weighting coefficients

A method of aligning a semiconductor wafer, usable in a step-and-repeat type exposure apparatus for projecting, in a reduced scale, images of a pattern formed on a reticle upon different shot areas on the semiconductor wafer in a predetermined sequence. According to this alignment method, the wafer is moved stepwise before the initiation of step-and-repeat exposures of the shot areas on the wafer and in accordance with a predetermined layout grid concerning the sites of the shot areas on the wafer. While moving the wafer stepwise in this manner, any positional deviation of each of some of the shot areas with respect to the layout grid is measured by use of a reduction projection lens system and, from the results of measurement, a corrected grid is prepared according to which grid the amount of stepwise movement of the wafer to be made for the step-and-repeat exposures thereof is determined. By this, for the exposures, the wafer can be moved stepwise exactly in accordance with the actual layout of the shot areas. Sample shot areas which are the subject of measurement can be selected under predetermined conditions. Additionally, of the values obtained as a result of the measurement, any extraordinary one or ones may be determined on the basis of the variance and then are excluded at the time of calculations made to determine the corrected grid. Thus, the stepwise movement of the wafer for the step-and-repeat exposures thereof can be controlled with higher precision.

Alignment method usable in a step-and-repeat type exposure apparatus for

An alignment method usable in an apparatus for transferring images of a pattern of a mask onto different portions of a semiconductor wafer in a step-and-repeat manner, is disclosed. In this alignment method, positional deviation of at least one portion of the wafer with respect to the mask is measured and, on the basis of this measurement, the mask and the wafer are aligned with each other. After this,step-and-repeat exposure is executed. When the measurement of the positional deviation of the at least one portion of the wafer is unattainable, another portion of the wafer is selected and the deviation measurement is executed in respect to the selected portion. In another aspect of the invention, with regard to a rotational component of the deviation of the wafer, measurement and alignment are repeatedly executed until the rotational component becomes less than a predetermined value. Thereafter, the step-and-repeat exposure is initiated.

Alignment method

An improved alignment method usable in a step-and-repeat type alignment and exposure apparatus for photolighographically transferring images of a pattern of a reticle onto different shot areas on a semiconductor wafer, for manufacture of semiconductor devices. According to this method, the alignment is executed with respect to an X direction, a Y direction and a rotational direction parallel to a plane containing the X and Y directions. With regard to the rotational direction, positional deviation of the wafer as a whole with respect to the reticle is measured and corrected prior to the initiation of the step-and-repeat photoprinting. With regard to the X and Y directions, detection and correction of any deviation are executed for each of the shot areas of the wafer. By this, high-accuracy and high-speed alignment is attainable for all the shot areas of the wafer.

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Tokyo, Japan

Akiya Nakai