Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi Ome Electronic Co., Ltd.

Hitachi Tokyo Electronics Co., Ltd.

Koyo Morita

Hiroshi Nishizuka

Keizo Nomura

Tai Hoshi

Yoichiro Tamiya

Terushige Asakawa

Mikio Hongo

Tateoki Miyauchi

Susumu Komoriya

Shigenobu Maruyama

Katsurou Mizukoshi

Hiroshi Yamaguchi

Kaoru Katayama

Kazuo Mera

Hisashi Maejima

Minoru Suzuki

Haruhisa Sakamoto

Takayoshi Osakaya

A laser machining apparatus includes a laser beam source, such as of excimer laser, which produces a laser beam to be projected on a work piece or a sample, first and second illumination light sources which have wavelengths substantially equal to the wavelength of the laser beam and illuminate the entire image and the laser beam, respectively, a first beam splitter which guides the image produced by the illumination light to an observation unit, a second beam splitter which guides the laser beam from the laser beam source to an objective lens, and a controller which controls the machining condition including the relative positioning between the sample and the laser beam depending on the result of observation. The laser beam guide path structure from the laser beam source to the sample has its interior wall made of laser-transparent material such as glass, and the transparent material is enclosed by a laser blocking material such as a metal or water.

Laser machining apparatus and method of the same

In an interconnection film cutting method and apparatus therefor according to the present invention, a laser beam having a pulse width of 10.sup.-9 second or less is illuminated on a desired portion of the interconnection pattern of a semiconductor device, such as a link used for redundant operation of a defective bit in, for example, a LSI memory, or on a desired portion of the interconnection pattern of a large-scaled interconnection substrate through a transmission type liquid crystal mask in the form of a desired pattern so as to cut the interconnection pattern without damaging a layer disposed below the interconnection pattern.

Method of cutting interconnection pattern with laser and apparatus

A projection aligner wherein light from a light source is passed through a mask so as to focus an image of a pattern of the mask on a wafer, characterized in that at least one sensor for monitoring a luminosity and a distribution thereof is disposed in an optical path between the light source and the mask, whereby a luminosity and a distribution thereof on the wafer can be controlled to proper values. The projection aligner is effective for application to minute processing technologies for the production of semiconductor devices, etc.

Projection aligner method utilizing monitoring of light quantity

Projection aligner with a sensor for monitoring light quantity

Projection aligner

A wafer projection aligner comprises an optical system for projecting a radiation pattern onto a surface of a semiconductor wafer and a wafer position setting apparatus for positioning the wafer at a position within a focal depth of the optical system for allowing printing of a fine pattern on the wafer. The wafer position setting apparatus includes paralleling means provided with three leveling pads defining a reference plane, air micrometers having a plurality of nozzles opened at least in the vicinity of respective ones of the leveling pads for measuring the distance between the wafer surface and the reference plane in a non-contacting manner, wafer leveling mechanism having a semispherical seat member for holding the wafer and adapted to be vertically movable between the reference plane and the focal plane, and control apparatus for controlling the wafer leveling mechanism so that a focal plane of the wafer is set on the basis of the measured convexity or concavity of the wafer surface as measured by air micrometer, when the parallelism of the wafer as measured by the air micrometer lies within a predetermined standard range.

Projection aligner and method of positioning a wafer

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

Growing community of inventors

Higashimurayama, Japan

Koyo Morita