Nikon Corporation

Nippon Kogaku K.k.

Masaichi Murakami

Kyoichi Suwa

Hidemi Kawai

Kei Nara

Toshio Matsuura

Manabu Toguchi

Nobutaka Fujimori

Takashi Mori

Masaki Kato

Akikazu Tanimoto

Koichi Matsumoto

Hiroshi Shirasu

Susumu Makinouchi

Tomohide Hamada

Susumu Mori

Masamitsu Yanagihara

Kazuaki Saiki

Seiro Murakami

Junji Hazama

Hideji Goto

Muneyasu Yokota

Noritsugu Hanazaki

Katsuya Machino

Atsuyuki Aoki

Norimi Takemura

Tsutomu Takai

It is an object of the present invention to smoothly join divided patterns adjacent to each other in a synchronous moving direction when a mask and a substrate are moved in synchronization, and the divided patterns are joined and picture-synthesized on the substrate. According to the invention, when the mask and the substrate are moved in synchronization with respect to irradiation with an exposing light, the divided patterns of the mask are projected on the substrate, and a plurality of divided patterns adjacent on the substrate are joined and exposed, the divided patterns adjacent to each other in the synchronous moving direction partially overlap each other.

Scanning exposure method and system

The present invention has an objective to prevent images of particles from being transferred onto a photosensitive substrate, so in order to achieve such an objective, an exposure device of the present invention, which has an illumination optical system for illuminating a reticle having a pattern with a beam from an illumination source so that the pattern is formed on the substrate on exposure to light, is equipped with illuminating area setting means, which are arranged at two locations within the illumination optical system so as to set an illuminating area of the beam illuminating the reticle, and an optical system which places the illuminating area setting means being conjugate to the reticle.

Exposure device, beam shape setting device and illuminating area setting device

A projection exposure apparatus includes off-axis type plate alignment systems which make it possible to reduce alignment time and thereby increase throughput. Exposure of large photosensitive plates is made possible without increasing the length of the plate stage stroke. Multiple fiducial mark members including fiducial mark members in different positions on a plate stage are utilized. Multiple off-axis type plate alignment systems are used to observe the multiple fiducial marks.

Projection exposure apparatus

A projection exposure apparatus includes an illumination optical system for illuminating a plurality of partial areas on a mask. A plurality of projection optical systems each project images of the partial areas thus illuminated onto a photosensitive substrate. A mask table holds the mask. A position detector detects a position of the mask table. A substrate table holds the photosensitive substrate. A plurality of first reference marks are provided on the mask table; each of the plurality of first reference marks are disposed at a position corresponding to each of the plurality of projection optical systems. A plurality of second reference marks are provided on the substrate table; the second reference marks are substantially conjugate with the first reference marks with respect to the projection optical systems and are in a predetermined positional relation with the first reference marks in in-plane directions of the mask and the photosensitive substrate. A positional deviation detector detects positional deviations between the first reference marks and second reference marks when light beams from the illumination optical system are radiated onto the plurality of first reference marks to project the plurality of first reference marks through the projection optical systems onto the plurality of second reference marks. A correcting device corrects imaging characteristics of the projection optical systems, based on the positional deviations. The first reference marks can comprise a single aperture of a plurality of apertures. A reverse-type aperture may be employed. The positional deviation detector may include a single photodetector or a plurality of photodetectors.

Projection exposure apparatus and method having a positional deviation

An exposure method for transferring a pattern on a mask onto a photosensitive substrate. The exposure method has steps of (1) preparing the mask with a first alignment mark and the substrate with a second alignment mark, a length of the first alignment mark in a scan direction being shorter than a length of the second alignment mark in the same direction; (2) scanning the first and second alignment marks; (3) detecting an intensity of the light which has been emitted from the light source optical system and irradiated the mask and the substrate; (4) calculating an amount of dislocation between the first and second alignment marks in the scan direction; (5) correcting the dislocation between the mask and the substrate; (6) effecting an exposure to transfer the pattern on the mask onto the substrate.

Exposure method

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

Prior to exposures, the imaging characteristics of a projection optical system to be used are determined by measuring the positions of plural projection points (evaluation points) within the projection area, on a photosensitive substrate, of the projection optical system. Then the positional aberrations between the evaluation points are determined in the area of image superposition or jointing, and correcting parameters are determined so as to minimize at least the component of the aberrations in a direction, perpendicular to an extending direction patterns of a reticle. The reticle or the photosensitive substrate is rotated or shifted according to thus determined correcting parameters. This exposure method achieves the superposition or jointing of patterns, or the superposition of the jointed parts thereof, in optimum manner, according to the structure (directionality) of the patterns or the imaging characteristics of the projection optical system employed.

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-exposing apparatus comprises a projecting optical system for projecting an image of a reticle having a predetermined pattern onto a wafer, and a stage for causing a relative shifting movement between a position of the wafer and a position of the reticle. A first exposure is effected for projecting and exposing the reticle image pattern from the projection optical system in a first area on the wafer and then the stage is shifted by a predetermined amount to effect second exposure for projecting and exposing the reticle image pattern in a second area positioned adjacent to the first area on the wafer thereby the reticle image being projected and exposed onto different areas on the same wafer. The stage causes the relative shifting movement between the reticle and the wafer in such a manner that the reticle image pattern obtained by the first exposure and the reticle image pattern obtained by the second exposure are overlapped with each other on the wafer by a predetermined amount.

Projection-exposing apparatus

A method of detecting a registration diversion between a mask and a wafer prior to a main exposure. This method detects relative diversions between marks on the wafer and latent images of marks on the mask formed on a photosensitive layer of the wafer. The latent images of the marks on the mask are preliminarily formed on the photosensitive layer of the wafer by an exposure energy beam prior to the main exposure.

Method and apparatus for detecting diversion

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

Machida, Japan

Masaichi Murakami