Hitachi, Ltd.

Hisashi Maejima

Susumu Komoriya

Hiroshi Nishizuka

Shinya Nakagawa

Etuo Egashira

Kenji Watanabe

Shinji Kuniyoshi

Norikazu Hashimoto

Akihiro Takanashi

Hiroto Nagatomo

Shuji Sugiyama

Tsutomu Okabe

Koyo Morita

Nobuyuki Iriki

Jun Suzuki

Keishin Fujikawa

A semiconductor integrated circuit device fabrication technique improves the accuracy of element qualities by considering the influence of interaction of element quality parameters in the quality control of semiconductor fabrication processes and also by improving the product yield estimation accuracy so that the production efficiency can be improved. An initial value of a membership function is first set and then a plurality of element quality parameters and a combined quality parameter are expressed by membership functions in fuzzy control in a semiconductor fabrication apparatus for automating a fabrication method by connecting a computer with various measuring instruments and various processors by communication devices. Moreover, the combined quality parameters are fuzzy-inferred from the element quality parameters using these membership functions, inference rules are adjusted by data of the actual processes, the membership functions of the obtained element quality parameters are converted into an element quality control standard, and the semiconductor integrated circuit device fabrication processes are controlled in accordance with the standard.

Semiconductor integrated circuit device fabrication method and its

A wafer having chamfered bent portions in the joint regions between the contour of the wafer and the cut-away portion of the wafer such as an orientation flatness. The chipping of the wafer can be prevented, and in coating the wafer with a photoresist, forming an epitaxially grown layer on the wafer, etc., films having desired characteristics can be provided on the surface of the wafer.

Method of producing a wafer having a curved notch

Wafer having chamfered bend portions in the joint regions between the

The invention deals with an exposure apparatus which detects environmental conditions such as atmospheric pressure, temperature and humidity in which the exposure apparatus is placed, and which maintains the projected magnification constant at all times based upon the detected values, so that the pattern can be reproduced precisely. Concretely, the apparatus comprises a detector to detect at least one of the tube temperature of the optical projecting system, humidity or atmospheric pressure near the optical system, and a control unit which controls optical characteristics based upon the signals detected by the detector. Namely, the control unit adjusts the optical characteristics depending upon the environmental conditions thereby to adjust variation in the projecting magnification and/or variation in the focal position. Thus, variation in the optical characteristics is adjusted to transfer the pattern maintaining high precision.

Exposure method and exposure apparatus

Wafer and method of working the same

A manufacturing system in which the automatic control of the system and the automatic control of a process management are organically coupled, thereby to sharply reduce the number of workers to be engaged in the manufacture. In order to establish both the versatility necessary for multiple type of treatment and the high efficiency necessary for large-quantity treatments, the arrangement of respective treatment sections is made the job-shop-type, and the construction of treating devices themselves included in the treatment sections is made the flow-shop-type, to achieve the consecutive automation. In order to also automate the management of the process, a stocker in which unfinished products are put is situated in a specified place of the system such as the central part thereof, while the process is put forward in such a manner that a conveyor machine controlled by a control unit having a computer reciprocates between the stocker and the groups of treatment sections. The manufacturing system is suitable for the fabrication of semiconductor devices which have many kinds of articles where each kind of article needs to be mass-produced.

Manufacturing system

A pattern exposing apparatus comprising means for projecting a semiconductor device mask pattern onto the photoresist layer coated on a semiconductor substrate, and means for projecting an identification mark which is specific to each substrate onto a part of the photoresist layer.

Pattern exposing apparatus

A method of making a mask and a wafer intimately contact each other by means of such a mask aligning apparatus comprising a base having a chamber, a piston apparatus movable up and down in the chamber, a wafer chuck provided at one end of the piston apparatus and adapted to fix the wafer, means for fixing the mask to the upper surface of the wafer in a superposed relationship, drive means adapted to impart a driving force to the piston, so as to move the wafer toward the mask, and means for biasing the piston apparatus in the direction to move the wafer away from the mask. The method comprises the steps of bringing the wafer by the drive means into positive contact with the mask fixed by the fixing means, sealing the wafer in an airtight manner in cooperation with the mask, lowering the pressure of the atmosphere around the wafer below atmospheric pressure, so as to cause a bending of the mask from the fixed position, to thereby cause the wafer to contact pressingly the central area of the mask, and expelling gas from the wafer chuck so as to make the entire region of the wafer intimately contact the mask. By adopting the method and apparatus of the invention, it is possible to smoothly bring the mask and wafer into intimate contact with each other, without adversely affecting the previously obtained mutual alignment of these two members. At the same time, the separation of the mask and the wafer from each other, after the contact and exposure, can be made in a shorter time. As a result, damaging of the mask pattern in the course of the mask alignment is avoided, and the yield of the wafer product is much improved.

Method of and apparatus for aligning photomask

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Higashiyamato, Japan

Hisashi Maejima