Nikon Corporation

Junji Hazama

Masamitsu Yanagihara

Hideki Koitabashi

Kazuaki Suzuki

Tohru Kiuchi

Masaichi Murakami

Hideji Goto

Makoto Tsuchiya

Tsunesaburo Uemura

A method and apparatus for the manufacture of circuits for a large display device using stitch exposure. In the peripheral region of a circuit pattern on a mask, the method of stitch exposing provides for a joining of pairs of stitch regions in order to join in an interfitting state such that a smaller mask can be combined to form a larger display device. By causing the corresponding positional relationship of mask and plate to change in a direction in which a pair of stitch regions face each other, the arrangement of respectively formed pattern counterparts, after being placed in a mutually complementary interfitting relationship, are transferred so as to be joined to the respective stitch region of a circuit pattern region periphery already transferred onto the plate.

Method and apparatus for the manufacture of circuits for a large display device using stitch exposure

A laser interferometer for detecting the position of a moving object in a Y-direction when the object moves in an X-direction has a separating optical system that moves in the X-direction at a speed different from that of the moving object. A laser beam is separated by the separating optical system into a reference beam and a measurement beam, which are individually directed toward a reference mirror and a moving mirror on the moving object. The light of the measurement beam reflected from the moving mirror, and the light of the reference beam reflected from the reference mirror are received by a photodetector via the separating optical system, and the photoelectric conversion signal of the interference light is output as information concerning the position of the moving object in the Y-direction. A fixed mirror that is shorter than the moving object can be used because the separating optical system also moves in the X-direction.

Photolithographic position measuring laser interferometer with relitively moving measuring intereometer

An image in which a feature corresponding to a reference mark formed at a predetermined position in an exposure apparatus is formed at a predetermined position in an arbitrary area is stored as a reference image, and a reference image including an image corresponding to the reference mark is detected from an image to be processed obtained by picking up an image near the reference mark to detect the position of the reference mark in the image to be processed, thus enabling detection of the positional relationship between a reference in the exposure apparatus and substrate alignment means.

Position detection method

A position detecting method detects each position of a photosensitive substrate when executing shots of circuit patterns so that the circuit patterns are further superposed on the photosensitive substrate already formed with the circuit patterns. The method comprises the steps of performing a shot of a circuit pattern of a reticle in superposition on liquid crystal pixel segments already formed on a glass plate, registering, in a memory, a circuit pattern as a reference image in the liquid crystal pixel segment and performing pattern matching with other fields of the liquid crystal pixel segments by use of this reference image. An alignment is conducted based on a position of circuit pattern extracted thereby.

Method of detecting positions

An exposure apparatus adapted for use in manufacture of semiconductor devices or substrates for liquid crystal display panels, comprises an illumination systems for irradiating a first object with a light beam from a light source; a projection optical system for projecting the image of a pattern on the first object, illuminated by the light beam, onto a second object; and a light attenuation device provided in the illumination system and adapted to gradually decrease the amount of light in the peripheral portion of the image of the pattern, projected onto the second object, as the distance from the center of the image increases.

Exposure apparatus

An exposure control apparatus for controlling exposure quantity of pulse energy to a resist, when pattern of a rectile is transcribed to the resist on a wafer, using pulse energy accompanied by energy variation within a predetermined range per each emission, i.e., coherent or non-coherent light energy, or pulse energy other than light, such as X-ray. The exposure control apparatus comprises arithmetic means for calculating the pulse number necessary for the exposure based on range of energy variation between emission pulse energies of each time and the allowable control accuracy predetermined for the aimed proper exposure quantity, and for estimating the object value corresponding to the object integrated energy quantity to be supplied to the resist every time each pulse energy of the necessary pulse number is illuminated based on the predetermined value in response to the pulse number and the proper exposure quantity; an energy quantity measuring apparatus for detecting the measured value corresponding to the actual integrated energy quantity obtained by the pulse energy previously illuminated; and an energy quantity adjusting apparatus for adjusting the energy quantity of next pulse energy corresponding to the difference between the object value to be attained in response to the illumination of next pulse energy and the measured value until then.

Growing community of inventors

Yokohama, Japan

Junji Hazama