Exposure processing method and exposure system for the same

Abstract

In lithographic (exposure) processing for semiconductor device fabrication, the task of extracting exposure parameters is performed by calculating exposure energy and focus offset using a test wafer for each exposure device, because fluctuations due to differences between exposure devices are large. For the fabrication of semiconductor devices in multiple-product small-lot production, the number of times the task of extracting exposure parameters has to be performed increases, so that the operation ratio of the exposure devices decreases, and the TAT of the semiconductor device fabrication increases. Moreover, as the miniaturization of semiconductor devices advances, differences between the exposure devices cause defects due to the exposure processing, and the yield of the semiconductor device fabrication decreases. In an improved method of exposure processing for semiconductor devices, the exposure energy and focus offset according to the illumination parameters for an exposure device and optical projection system, using information regarding the projection lens aberrations of a plurality of exposure devices, the photoresist parameters, and the circuit pattern information, as determined beforehand, are calculated using an optical development simulator, and the exposure processing is carried out using an exposure device, selected from a plurality of exposure devices, in which the process window is within a certain tolerance value.