Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd.

Tohoku Techno Arch Co., Ltd.

Super Silicon Crystal Research Institute Corp.

Yoshiyuki Tomita

Hidehiko Mori

Kenichi Makino

Satoshi Kiyono

Yasushi Koyanagawa

Kazutoshi Sakaki

Wei Gao

Hiroshi Morita

Makoto Kaneko

Kohzo Abe

Toru Hirata

Eiichi Hiraoka

Kennichi Makino

Hiroshi Nagata

Masanobu Sugimine

Makoto Tano

Sho Isobe

Kazutoshi Hara

Ryuzo Masaki

Akio Iwase

Yoji Watanabe

Naoki Yasumitsu

Yasuhito Nakamori

Masayuki Yamamoto

According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a sensor device which is capable of detecting a state of a movable stage using an easily manufacturable reference grating and capable of improving the accuracy of detection. The sensor device comprises a reference grating which has a configuration that is varied periodically in a two-dimensional direction. A light source emits light to the reference grating. A spectral unit has a plurality of openings to convert the light emitted by the light source into a plurality of light beams through the plurality of openings. A detector unit has a photodetector to receive collectively reflected light beams reflected by the reference grating. The detector unit is provided to detect a state of a movable body relative to the reference grating based on a change of the reflected light beams received by the photodetector.

Sensor device and stage device

This invention relates to a stage device which is moved with high accuracy in an X-Y direction and a rotating direction using a planar motor. The invention is aimed at reducing the size of the stage device and at performing accurately measurement of a position of the stage to the base. The stage device comprises a scale unit having a scale part on the entire plane of the base, and three two-dimensional angle sensors disposed on a bottom surface of a movable stage part. The scale unit and the two-dimensional angle sensors form a surface encode. A position of the movable stage part is measured by the surface encoder.

Stage device

The present invention provides a vacuum stage device that moves a substrate to be processed in a vacuum environment. In a substrate transfer device in accordance with the present invention, a wafer mounted to a wafer platen is moved in a vacuum processing chamber. This substrate transfer device includes a first driving mechanism for moving the wafer platen in a Ydirection, and a second driving mechanism that is provided in the vacuum processing chamber and linearly reciprocates the wafer platen in Xand Xdirections at a high speed.

Substrate transfer device

A rectangular single coil of a coil unit for a linear motor is fabracated by winding a single conductive wire. A winding former having locks for a conductive wire at positions corresponding to vertices of the rectangular single coil is rotated by 180 degrees about an X-axis, by 180 degrees about a Y-axis, alternately by first and second rotating mechanisms. Thereby, a single conductive wire fed out in the direction of a Z-axis from a conductive wire feeding out machine is wound while locked to the locks of the winding former in succession.

Method for winding a single coil of a coil unit for a linear motor

An airtight processing apparatus comprises a chamber having a side wall and a bottom wall airtightly fixed to the side wall, and a bed supported inside the chamber by the side wall with a gap from the bottom wall.

Airtight processing apparatus, airtight processing method, and electron beam processing apparatus

The speed and precision in positioning a moving table in the X-axis and Y-axis directions is enhanced dramatically. An X-Y stage apparatus is provided, in which a moving table is supported relative to a stationary base, with slight displacements made possible within the XY plane, and in which a component mounted and placed on the moving table can be positioned within the XY plane. The X-Y stage apparatus includes an elastic hinge that is flexible only in one or two direction among the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis directions, and rigid in directions of the other axes. The moving table is supported relative to the stationary base with slight displacements made possible in the XY plane, using an elastic deformation of each of the elastic hinges in the flexible direction. Furthermore, the moving table can be slightly displaced within the XY plane, using an X-axis linear motor, and a Y-axis linear motor.

X-Y stage apparatus

A position control system includes a PID controller for generating a current target value of a linear motor from a difference between a positional detected value and a positional command value, and a disturbance observer. The disturbance observer includes a signal processing unit comprising a filter for filtering a torque command value for a motor drive and an input torque estimating filter carrying out estimation for obtaining an estimated input load torque from the detected positional value. An inverse model of a motor torque constant calculates an estimated disturbance load torque from the difference between the filtered torque command value and the estimated input load torque and generates a correction value for the current target value so as to cancel a disturbance torque on the basis of the estimated disturbance load torque being calculated.

Position control system and velocity control system for stage driving mechanism

Single coil of coil unit for linear motor, method and device for winding and forming the same, and method for forming and fabricating coil unit

A Y stage is capable of translational driving in the Y-axial direction, by independently controllable Y linear motor and Y linear motor. The amount of movement of the Y stage is detected by a Y linear encoder and Y linear encoder, and fed back to a Y control system and &thgr; control system. The Y control system outputs a translational thrust command value, by receiving the average value of each positional detecting value measured by the Y linear encoder and Y linear encoder as the stage translational direction position feedback value. The &thgr; control system receives the difference between each position detecting value as a stage yawing direction position feedback value, and outputs a yawing direction thrust command value. A non-interference block outputs Y linear motor thrust command value and Y linear motor thrust command value, by the use of the translational thrust command value and the thrust command value. Thus, the movement of the Y stage can be divided into translational direction movement and yawing direction movement, and independently controlled and compensated.

Stage position control method and stage position control apparatus capable of improving positioning precision

A discrete Kalman filter and a disturbance estimating unit are added to a feedback loop for feeding back a detected value of position from a position detector The Kalman filter estimates position and velocity of an object to be controlled, thereafter outputting an estimated value of position and an estimated value of velocity. The disturbance estimating unit estimates from a command value of current and the estimated value of velocity the disturbance that is added to a load The estimated value of position is fed back to a position controller and the estimated value of velocity is fed back to a velocity controller Further, a difference between a target value of current outputted from the velocity controller and the estimated value of disturbance is output as the command value of current.

Position controlling apparatus capable of reducing the effect of disturbance

A double side grinding apparatus and a double side polishing apparatus, with a narrow tolerance range, reduces pitching errors, and ensures a sufficient level of rigidity against the force of reaction to machining, while enhancing positioning accuracy. The double side grinding apparatus or a double side polishing apparatus includes a plurality of guideways for supporting and shifting main spindles, and these plural guideways on end define a geometric center matched with the center of gravity of the main spindles. The number of the guideways is preferably three in order not to obstruct the mounting and removal of a workpiece.

Double side grinding apparatus and double side polishing apparatus

In an apparatus for use in carrying out decoupling control of a T-die which has a pair of lip portions with a gap extended between the lip portions and with the lip portions divided into a plurality of zones individually driven by driving devices, respectively, a processing circuit individually controls the driving devices by the use of a predetermined decoupling control algorithm. The predetermined decoupling algorithm is given by a plurality of desired displacement vectors of the gap for the respective zones and a decoupling control matrix defined by inverse numbers of products of a command value/driving pressure converting matrix (Kp) and a driving pressure/displacement converting matrix (K.alpha.). Alternatively, the decoupling control matrix is repeatedly modified with time to decrease a difference between the desired gap displacement (.DELTA.y) and the measured gap displacement (.DELTA.y.sub.m). Each command voltage value vector .DELTA.u of the command value/driving pressure converting matrix is compensated by the use of a figurative inherent error of the lip structure.

Apparatus for carrying out decoupling control of a T-die

A lip drive structure for a T-die including a main body structure member having an elongated nozzle orifice defined by a pair of lip portion facing each other, a nozzle structure portion including one of the lip portions and formed at the lower end of the main body structure member so as to be integrally connected to the same through an elastically deformable portion, a plurality of bellows disposed on a side surface of the main body structure member on the side of the nozzle structure portion, and a drive section structure member fastened to the bellows at its upper portion and fastened to the lip structure portion at its lower portion. Air supply holes are formed in the drive section structure member to enable the bellows to be supplied with compressed air. The drive section structural member is divided into a plurality of elements in the longitudinal direction.

Growing community of inventors

Hiratsuka, Japan

Yoshiyuki Tomita