Nikon Corporation

Nippon Kogaku K.k.

Hidemi Kawai

Kenji Nishi

Naomasa Shiraishi

Andrew J Hazelton

Douglas C Watson

Masaichi Murakami

Kazuaki Suzuki

Kyoichi Suwa

Hideo Mizutani

Akikazu Tanimoto

Susumu Makinouchi

Tetsuo Taniguchi

Makoto Uehara

Shinji Wakamoto

Seiro Murakami

Fuyuhiko Inoue

Thomas W Nowak

A processing system is provided with: a support apparatus that is configured to support a processing target; a processing apparatus that performs an additive processing by irradiating a processed area on the processing target with an energy beam and by supplying materials to an area that is irradiated with the energy beam; and a position change apparatus that changes a positional relationship between the support apparatus and an irradiation area of the energy beam from the processing apparatus, wherein the processing system forms a fiducial build object by performing the additive processing on at least one of a first area that is a part of the support apparatus and a second area that is a part of the processing target, and the processing system controls at least one of the processing apparatus and the position change apparatus by using an information relating to the fiducial build object.

Processing system, processing method, computer program, recording medium, and control apparatus

A first scanning type exposure method provides for changes in a synchronization settling time in accordance with a sensitivity of a photosensitive substrate, a line width of the mask pattern, or both. The throughput provided by the method can be enhanced while still obtaining the necessary resolution by making the synchronization settling time short when using a mask having a pattern with wide line width or a photosensitive substrate with a high sensitivity. A second scanning type exposure method provides for changes in a margin for synchronization error when starting a transfer of the pattern after completing acceleration of the photosensitive substrate and the mask in accordance with the line width of the mask pattern, the sensitivity of the photosensitive substrate, or both. A reduction in the time until the start of the exposure and an enhancement of the throughput while obtaining the necessary resolution are provided by making the margin of the synchronization error wide when using a mask having a pattern with wide line widths or a photosensitive substrate of high sensitivity. A scanning type exposure device utilizes the first or the second scanning type exposure method by setting a timing for the start of transferring the transfer target mask pattern to the exposure target photosensitive substrate. This timing is set by a transfer start condition read from a storage device in accordance with a line width of multiple mask patterns, the sensitivity of the photosensitive substrate, or both.

Scanning type exposure method

An exposure method of illuminating a pattern on a mask by a light beam from an illuminating optical system and exposing the image of the pattern onto a photosensitive substrate through a projection optical system comprises the steps of discriminating the kind of the mask, setting the state of at least one of the field stop of the illuminating optical system, the aperture stop of the illuminating system and the aperture stop of the projection optical system in conformity with the discriminated kind of the mask, and projecting the image of the pattern on the mask onto a predetermined area of the photosensitive substrate.

Projection exposure method and method of manufacturing a projection exposure apparatus

Projection exposure method in which mask patterns are imaged on

An alignment method for use with an exposure apparatus including first and second alignment sensor systems for establishing alignment between a reticle and a wafer. A first one of reticles in a reticle set is loaded on the exposure apparatus and the position of the pattern center of the reticle is determined. At the same time, the position of the detection center of the first alignment sensor system is determined and the baseline amount B.sub.11, which is the distance from the pattern center of the reticle to the detection center of the first alignment sensor system, is determined. Then, the baseline amount B.sub.21 of the second alignment sensor system is determined, and the difference .DELTA.B (=B.sub.21 -B.sub.11) between the baseline amounts is calculated. For any of the second and later ones of the reticles in the reticle set, the baseline amount B.sub.12 of the first alignment sensor system is calculated in the same manner as the above whereas the baseline amount B.sub.22 of the second alignment sensor system is calculated as: B.sub.22 =B.sub.12 +.DELTA.B. Fine alignment procedure is performed by using the second alignment sensor system and based on the baseline B.sub.22 thus calculated, and the pattern of the reticle is printed on each of the shot areas on a substrate by exposure.

Alignment method

A step-and-scan exposure method in which a mask has a plurality of patterns and the number of patterns to be transferred to each shot area of a photosensitive substrate varies. The scanning and stepping movements are controlled in accordance with the number of patterns transferred, and dimensions of a pattern illumination area are varied in accordance with the patterns to be transferred. Transfer of a pattern to a shot area is omitted when an image of the pattern on the shot area would extend beyond the photosensitive substrate. Elimination of exposure scanning movements for patterns that are not to be transferred permits rapid movements of the mask and the substrate to scanning start positions.

Scanning exposure method

The apparatus is of the type which detects alignment marks formed on a mask and aligns the mask. The apparatus includes: a plurality of alignment optical systems to detect the plurality of alignment marks formed on the mask in predetermined detection areas; driving means for moving at least a part of the plurality of alignment optical systems in accordance with an arrangement of the alignment marks; and a projecting optical system to project a pattern on the mask onto a photosensitive substrate. In the apparatus, the relative positional relations among the detection areas of the plurality of alignment optical systems on the projection image plane of the projecting optical system are detected, and the position of the detection area of at least one of the plurality of alignment optical systems is corrected independent of the driving means so that the detected relative positional relations are set to predetermined positional relations.

Apparatus and method for detecting alignment marks having alignment

An exposure apparatus for exposing on a substrate a pattern formed on a mask, comprises a projection optical system for forming the pattern on a predetermined focusing plane and projecting an image of the pattern on the substrate located to be substantially aligned with the focusing plane, driving means for three-dimensionally moving the mask or at least one of a plurality of optical system, or for inclining the mask or said at least one of the plurality of optical members with respect to a plane substantially perpendicular to an optical axis of the projection optical system and correcting means for driving the driving means to anisotropically change optical characteristics of the projection optical system so that the projected image of the pattern is matched with a pattern already formed on the substrate.

Projection exposure apparatus

An apparatus for detecting a position of a reference pattern or mark formed in a substrate to be aligned with a photomask pattern performs the following functions: scanning a reference pattern having at least two edges and generating a time-serial pattern signal corresponding to the scanned pattern; extracting all scanning positions at which a waveform of the pattern signal has a shape corresponding to an edge of the pattern within a predetermined scanning range including the pattern; selecting one pair from all possible pairs of a plurality of extracted scanning positions in accordance with a degree to which a pattern signal between the two scanning positions defined by each pair satisfies predetermined waveform conditions; and determining as a pattern position a predetermined position at which the interval between the two scanning positions of the selected pair is divided into two intervals by a predetermined ratio.

Apparatus for detecting position of reference pattern

A projection exposure apparatus includes illuminating means for applying energy rays to a mask having a predetermined pattern formed thereon, a projection optical system for forming the image of the pattern in a predetermined projected state on a responsive substrate, adjusting means for correcting the fluctuation of the projected state of the image caused by the passage of the energy rays, exposure control means for controlling the energy rays so that the pojected image of the pattern by the projection optical system is transferred onto the responsive substrate under a predetermined exposure condition, means for making information regarding the reflectivity of the responsive substrate, and main control means for controlling the adjusting means on the basis of the predetermined exposure condition of the exposure control means and the information regarding the reflectivity.

The projection optical apparatus includes light-emitting means which are disposed on a stage movable along the image plane in the projection optical apparatus and which define a light-emitting plane having a predetermined shape; photoelectric detection means which is disposed at a position substantially in conjugate relationship with a pupil of said projection optical apparatus and which receives the light emitted from the light-emitting plane of the light-emitting means through the projection optical system and a mask in which a pattern is defined at a predetermined position; and position detection means which controls the stage in such a way that the image projected on the light-emitting plane is shifted in relation to the mask pattern and which detects the superposed position between the image and the pattern in response to the light signal derived from the photoelectric detection means while the projected image is shifted and to the position of the stage.

Projection optical apparatus for mask to substrate alignment

A projection optical apparatus for projecting the pattern of a mask onto a substrate through a projection optical system includes a stage for supporting thereon a substrate having a plurality of marks for detection on the surface thereof, first detecting means for detecting the amount of inclination of the surface of the substrate relative to the surface on which the pattern is projected and imaged, through the projection optical system, second detecting means for detecting the amount of inclination of the surface of the substrate relative to a predetermined reference plane independently of the projection optical system, and calibrating means for calibrating the amount of inclination detected by the second detecting means on the basis of the amount of inclination detected by the first detecting means.

Projection optical apparatus

This specification discloses an alignment method for aligning a photomask with a substrate covered with a photosensitive layer and printing the pattern of the photomask on the substrate. The method comprises the steps of providing a reference mark on the photomask, providing on the substrate a pair of alignment marks correlated to the reference mark, the pair of alignment marks being spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance in a mark area, one of the pair of alignment marks being formed projectedly relative to the surroundings thereof and the other alignment mark being formed as a depression relative to the surroundings thereof, providing the photosensitive layer on the substrate so that the outermost surface of the layer is substantially flat, and imaging the reference mark and the pair of alignment marks superposedly on an imaging plane by a light having a single wavelength. The specification also discloses a photomask and an apparatus for executing such method.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Hidemi Kawai