CN105892231B

CN105892231B - Lithographic apparatus, lithographic method, program, lithographic system, and article manufacturing method

Info

Publication number: CN105892231B
Application number: CN201610086176.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 宫岛义一; 中野一志
Original assignee: Canon Inc
Current assignee: Canon Inc
Priority date: 2015-02-16
Filing date: 2016-02-16
Publication date: 2019-12-10
Anticipated expiration: 2036-02-16
Also published as: CN105892231A; JP6198805B2; JP2016154214A; KR102032017B1; KR20160100842A

Abstract

The invention relates to a lithographic apparatus, a lithographic method, a program, a lithographic system and an article manufacturing method. The lithographic apparatus has a plurality of processing units configured to perform patterning on a plurality of substrates belonging to one lot, respectively, and a controller configured to perform determination of one of the plurality of processing units that processes one of the plurality of substrates based on specific information specifying the one of the plurality of substrates and to control the plurality of processing units so that patterning is performed on the plurality of substrates using the plurality of processing units, respectively, in parallel based on recipe information corresponding to the lot.

Description

lithographic apparatus, lithographic method, program, lithographic system, and article manufacturing method

Technical Field

The invention relates to a lithographic apparatus, a lithographic method, a program, a lithographic system and an article manufacturing method.

background

a lithographic apparatus forms a pattern (e.g., for machining) on a material (substrate) to be machined in a lithographic process included in a manufacturing process of an article such as a semiconductor device or MEMS or the like. As an example of the photolithography apparatus, an imprint apparatus for forming an uncured resin on a substrate by using a mold and forming a resin pattern on the substrate is provided. For example, the imprint apparatus uses a photocuring method as follows: an irradiation (shot) region on the substrate is coated with a photocurable resin in an uncured state and mold release (detachment) is performed after the resin is cured by irradiation light in a state where the resin is formed by the mold. Japanese patent laid-open No.2011-210992 discloses a cluster type lithographic apparatus including a plurality of process units (lithographic units) configured to improve productivity and a transfer unit configured to transfer a substrate or an original plate to the plurality of process units.

Here, the plurality of processing units in the lithographic apparatus disclosed in japanese patent publication No.2011-210992 have different patterning properties or are classified into several groups. Meanwhile, the properties of the patterns that have been formed on a plurality of substrates belonging to one lot are also different or classified into several groups for reasons such as the properties of the patterning device. For this reason, in view of the registration accuracy, it is not preferable to process a plurality of substrates belonging to one lot by any of the plurality of processing units.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides a lithographic apparatus which is advantageous, for example, in registration accuracy.

the present invention relates to providing a lithographic apparatus comprising a plurality of processing units configured to perform patterning on a plurality of substrates belonging to a batch, respectively, the apparatus comprising: a controller configured to perform determination of one of a plurality of processing units that processes one of a plurality of substrates based on specific information that specifies the one of the plurality of substrates and to control the plurality of processing units such that patterning is performed on the plurality of substrates, respectively, using the plurality of processing units in parallel based on recipe information corresponding to the lot.

further features of the invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments (with reference to the attached drawings).

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the configuration of a lithographic apparatus according to a first embodiment of the invention.

fig. 2 is a diagram showing one imprint processing unit.

Fig. 3A is a side view showing the substrate storage unit.

Fig. 3B is a diagram showing specific information for each wafer.

Fig. 4A is a plan view showing a state immediately before receiving a wafer from the substrate storage unit.

Fig. 4B is a side view showing a state immediately before receiving a wafer from the substrate storage unit.

Fig. 5A is a side view showing a state immediately before transferring a wafer from the substrate storage unit.

Fig. 5B is a side view showing a state immediately before unloading a wafer from the substrate storage unit.

Fig. 6 is a plan view showing a state where wafers are sequentially transferred from the substrate storage unit to the processing unit.

Fig. 7 is a plan view showing a state where wafers are sequentially recovered from the processing unit and returned to the substrate storage unit.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing the configuration of a lithographic apparatus according to a second embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the configuration of another processing unit applied to a lithographic apparatus.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(first embodiment)

First, a lithographic apparatus according to a first embodiment of the invention will be described. The lithographic apparatus according to the present embodiment is a so-called cluster type lithographic apparatus including a plurality of lithographic processing units configured to perform patterning processing (patterning) on a plurality of (for example, 25) substrates supplied from a preprocessing device (described later) and belonging to one lot, respectively. Hereinafter, in the present embodiment, a cluster type imprint apparatus using a photolithography processing unit as an imprint processing unit (imprint apparatus) will be exemplarily described.

fig. 1 is a schematic plan view showing the configuration of a cluster type imprint apparatus 200 according to the present embodiment and an imprint system (lithography system) 100 including the cluster type imprint apparatus 200. The imprint system 100 includes a cluster type imprint apparatus 200 and a pretreatment apparatus 300. The cluster type imprint apparatus 200 includes a plurality of (in the embodiment, six, as an example) imprint processing units 210(210A to 210F), a substrate transfer unit 220, and a cluster control unit (controller) 230.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of an imprint processing unit (hereinafter simply referred to as "processing unit") 210. Since the processing unit 210 performs a photolithography process among manufacturing processes of semiconductor devices or the like serving as articles, the uncured resin 15 on the wafer 1 (substrate) serving as the substrate to be processed is formed by the mold 5, and a pattern of the resin 15 is formed on the wafer 1. Further, the processing unit 210 uses the photo-curing method disclosed herein. In addition, in the drawings described below, a Z axis is provided in parallel with an optical axis of the illumination system 6 configured to irradiate ultraviolet rays to the resin 15 on the wafer 1, and an X axis and a Y axis perpendicular to each other are provided in a plane orthogonal to the Z axis. The process unit 210 includes the illumination system 6, the mold holding mechanism 16, the alignment measurement system 11, the wafer stage 3, the coating unit 17, and the process unit control unit 18.

The illumination system 6 adjusts the ultraviolet rays 19 emitted from the light source to light suitable for imprinting in the imprinting process and irradiates the mold 5 with the ultraviolet rays 19. Although a lamp such as a mercury lamp or the like may be used as the light source, the light source is not particularly limited as long as the light source is configured to emit light having a wavelength that passes through the mold 5 and enables the resin (ultraviolet curable resin) 15 to be cured. Further, in the present embodiment, although the lighting system 6 using the photo-curing method is installed, for example, when the thermosetting method is used, a heat source unit configured to cure a thermosetting resin is installed instead of the lighting system 6.

The mold 5 has an outer peripheral shape (preferably rectangular or square) of a polygonal shape, and a surface thereof facing the wafer 1 includes a pattern portion 5a in which a concave-convex pattern to which, for example, a circuit pattern or the like is transferred is three-dimensionally formed. Further, although the pattern size is various depending on an article serving as a manufacturing target, in the case of a fine article, the pattern size also includes a pattern of several tens of nanometers. In addition, the material of the mold 5 is, for example, quartz through which the ultraviolet rays 19 can pass, and preferably has a small thermal expansion coefficient.

Although not shown, the mold holding mechanism 16 has a mold clamp configured to hold the mold 5 and a mold driving mechanism configured to hold the mold clamp and move the mold 5. The mold chuck may hold the mold 5 by pulling the outer peripheral region of the irradiated surface of the ultraviolet ray 19 of the mold 5 using a vacuum adsorption force or an electrostatic force. In addition, the mold chuck and the mold driving mechanism have an opening area formed in the center portion (inside) so that the ultraviolet rays 19 irradiated from the illumination system 6 pass through the mold 5 toward the wafer 1. The mold driving mechanism moves the mold 5 in the axial direction, so that pushing together or pulling apart between the resin 15 on the wafer 1 and the mold 5 is selectively performed. For example, a linear motor or an air cylinder is used as a power source that can be used in the mold driving mechanism. In addition, in order to support accurate positioning of the mold 5, the mechanism may be composed of a plurality of driving systems such as a coarse movement (coarse movement) driving system and a fine movement (fine movement) driving system. Further, a configuration may be provided which has a position adjusting function in the Z-axis direction, the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, or the θ (rotation about the Z-axis) direction, a tilt function for correcting the inclination of the mold 5, or the like. Further, although the pushing-together action and the pulling-away action in the imprint process may be achieved by moving the wafer stage 5 in the Z-axis direction, it may also be achieved by moving the wafer stage 3 in the Z-axis direction or moving both the mold 5 and the wafer stage 3 relative to each other.

The alignment measurement system 11 optically observes the alignment mark formed at the mold 5 in advance and the alignment mark formed at the wafer 1 in advance, and measures the relative positional relationship therebetween.

The wafer 1 is, for example, a single crystal silicon substrate or a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate. A plurality of irradiation regions (patterned regions) are set on the wafer 1, and the processing units 210A to 210F sequentially perform imprint processing on these irradiation regions.

The wafer stage 3 holds the wafer 1, and the wafer stage 3 is movable for positioning between the mold 5 and the wafer 1 (irradiation area) when the resin 15 on the wafer 1 is formed by the mold 5. The wafer stage 3 has a wafer chuck 2 configured to hold the wafer 1 by an adsorption force, and a stage driving mechanism configured to hold the wafer chuck 2 by a mechanical device and movable on the surface plate 4 at least in a direction along the surface of the wafer 1. For example, a linear motor or a planar motor is provided as a power source that can be used in the stage driving mechanism. The stage driving mechanism may also be composed of a plurality of driving systems such as a coarse movement driving system and a fine movement driving system for the X axis and the Y axis. Further, the mechanism may have a configuration having a drive system configured to adjust the position in the Z-axis direction, a position adjustment function in the θ direction of the wafer 1, a tilt function to correct the inclination of the wafer 1, or the like.

The coating unit 17 is installed in the vicinity of the mold holding mechanism 16, and coats the resin (uncured resin) 15 on the irradiation area. The coating unit 17 includes a spraying portion 7, a tank 8 configured to contain a resin 15, a supply line 9 configured to supply the resin from the tank 8 to the spraying portion 7, and a moving portion 10 configured to move the spraying portion 7. The moving portion 10 places the ejecting portion 7 at the ejecting position for regular ejection and moves the ejecting portion 7 to the retracted position (maintenance position) for maintenance (cleaning or replacement). Here, the resin 15 is an ultraviolet curing resin (photocurable resin) having a property of being cured by receiving ultraviolet rays 19, or may be an imprint material, and is appropriately selected according to various conditions such as a device manufacturing process and the like. In addition, the amount of the resin 15 applied (sprayed) from the application unit 17 is also appropriately determined by the desired thickness of the resin 15 formed on the wafer 1, the density of the pattern to be formed, or the like.

The processing unit control unit 18 controls operations or adjustments of the components of the processing unit 210, and the like. Although not shown, the processing unit control unit 18 includes a calculation unit such as a CPU or DSP, and a storage unit such as a memory or a hard disk configured to store recipe (recipe) information and the like. Here, the recipe information includes processing information when processing the wafer 1 or a lot serving as a group of the wafer 1. For example, as the processing information, a layout of irradiation regions, an order of irradiation regions to be imprint-processed, a processing condition of each irradiation region, or the like may be provided. Among these, for example, as the processing conditions, a filling time as a time taken to push the mold 5 onto the wafer 1 to apply the resin 15 or an exposure time as a time taken to irradiate the ultraviolet rays 19 and cure the resin 15 is provided. Further, as the imprint conditions, coating conditions such as the type of the resin 15 or the resin coating amount as the amount of the coating resin 15 applied for each irradiation, or the like are also provided. The group control unit (controller) 130 transmits recipe information to the process unit control unit 18 of the process units 210A to 210F, and the process unit control unit 18 performs imprint processing on the wafer 1 loaded by the substrate transfer unit 220 based on the received recipe information.

Returning to fig. 1, the transfer unit 220 transfers (transports) the wafer 1 from the pretreatment apparatus 300 to the process units 210A to 210F. The transfer unit 220 includes, for example, a transfer path 13 serving as a rail or a travel guide and a transfer robot 24 having an arm portion supporting a hand 25 holding the wafer 1 configured to travel on the transfer path 13. The arm is expandable and contractible, and is also movable in the Z-axis direction and about the Z-axis (θ Z-direction). The transfer robot 24 receives one wafer 1 pretreated in the pretreatment apparatus 300 from the substrate storage unit 14 on which the one pretreated wafer 1 is placed, then moves the wafer 1 to the process unit 210 holding the process, and conveys the wafer 1 into the process unit 210. Further, the number of hand portions 25 to be mounted, the operation of the transfer robot 24, and the like will be described in detail below. Here, the group control unit (controller) 230 (to be described below) may acquire specific information specifying a substrate, for example, based on the order of a plurality of substrates transferred from the pretreatment apparatus 300, the pretreatment apparatus 300 performing pretreatment on a plurality of substrates (wafers) belonging to one lot.

The group control unit (controller) 230 is composed of, for example, an information processing apparatus (computer) and the group control unit (controller) 230 controls the operations of the components of the cluster type imprint apparatus 200. Then, the process (photolithography method) according to the present embodiment can be executed by the information processing apparatus using a program. In addition, the group control unit (controller) 230 transmits various types of information (such as recipe information) between the processing units 210A to 210F via a communication line (not shown) while transmitting a control signal to the transmission unit 220 via the communication line 240.

the pretreatment apparatus 300 is, for example, a coating device for spin-coating an adhesive layer on the wafers 1 of the lot designated by the cluster type imprint apparatus 200, the spin-coating serving as a process before the imprint process is performed at the process units 210A to 210F. The adhesive layer is a layer formed on the entire surface of the wafer 1 to improve the adhesion of the resin 15 to the wafer 1 and to improve the expandability of the uncured resin 15 on the surface of the wafer 1, and is formed of, for example, a monomolecular film related to photoreaction, a material containing a reaction function, or the like. Further, here, although the pretreatment apparatus 300 is a coating device as an example, the pretreatment apparatus 300 is not particularly limited as long as the device performs pretreatment serving as imprint processing at the processing unit 210. For example, the pretreatment apparatus 300 may be a device for performing a heat treatment for curing a film on the wafer 1 after performing a chemical treatment (such as film formation or the like). In addition, although not shown, the pre-processing apparatus 300 may mount (accommodate) a plurality of FOUPs corresponding to the process units 210A to 210F at a front surface thereof (in fig. 1, the opposite side of the cluster type imprinting device 200). "FOUP" is an abbreviation of "front opening unified pod".

Fig. 3(a) and 3(B) are diagrams showing the substrate storage unit 14, the wafers 1 accommodated therein, and the specific information (1a to 1f) about the wafers 1. Wherein, fig. 3(a) is a schematic side view showing the substrate storage unit 14 which is provided in the vicinity of the pretreatment apparatus 300 and is placed on the mounting portion 20 (see fig. 1) of the transport path 13 continuing to the transport unit 220. The adhesive layer formed by the pretreatment apparatus 300 should be formed such that the time when the resin 15 is injected into the process units 210A to 210F is within a defined time after coating. For this reason, the wafers 1 on which the adhesive layers are formed are received in the substrate storage unit 14 on the mounting portion 20 corresponding to the number of wafers of a lot. In the present embodiment, the plurality of wafers 1 stored in the substrate storage unit 14 are classified into a plurality of groups, and are individually identified (specified) by the group control unit (controller) 230. For example, since the cluster type imprint apparatus 200 has six process units 210A to 210F, the plurality of wafers 1 (wafers 1a to 1F) can be classified into six types of groups to be divided among all the process units. Specifically, the group control unit (controller) 230 determines to which group each wafer 1 belongs in advance based on, for example, mold type information, defect position information, recipe information (including coating conditions of the resin 15), or the like. Here, when a pattern (base pattern) has been formed on the wafer 1, the mold type information is information indicating which mold 5(5a to 5f) is used to form the pattern. Similarly to the above, when a pattern has been formed on a wafer, the defect position information is information indicating the position of a specified irradiation region in which a defect occurs in the pattern. The defect position information includes, for example, a case where a foreign object exists on a designated wafer 1 by foreign object inspection inside or outside the cluster imprint apparatus 200. Further, there may be a case where the mold type information or the defect location information is contained in the recipe information instead of being unrelated to the recipe information. In addition, the cluster type imprint apparatus 200 may have a receiving unit configured to receive information related to determination, such as classification information or the like. In this case, the group control unit (controller) 230 may perform the processes of all the process units 210A to 210F corresponding to the wafer 1 by acquiring specific information of the wafer 1 and receiving information related to the determination. In the present embodiment, the group control unit (controller) 230 serving as the acquisition unit acquires information relating to the determination from the preprocessing device 300 or the upper control device 400 via the communication line 250 or 410. Further, the cluster control unit (controller) 230 determines process conditions for patterning in the plurality of process units based on specific information (at least one of mold type information, defect position information, coating conditions, and the like corresponding thereto) and recipe information.

fig. 3(B) is a schematic diagram showing the correspondence between specific information and groups. The specific information (here, corresponding to all the wafers 1a to 1F) is combined with all the process units 210A to 210F corresponding to the six groups. For example, a designated wafer 1 as a wafer 1a is processed by a processing unit 210A as a first group, and a designated wafer 1 as a wafer 1B is processed by a processing unit 210B as a second group.

Further, an integrated control unit (not shown) may be provided which is connected with the cluster control unit (controller) 230 and the preprocessing device 300 or the upper control device 400 via a communication line and is configured to integrate the entire imprint system 100. In this case, the group control unit (controller) 230 may receive specific information via the integrated control unit.

the operation control of the cluster type imprint apparatus 200 will be described below. Fig. 4(a) and 4(B) are schematic views of a state immediately before the transfer robot 24 receives the wafer 1 from the substrate storage unit 14 storing a plurality of wafers 1. Fig. 4(a) is a plan view, and fig. 4(B) is a side view. Since the hand 25 should be able to transfer the wafer 1 serving as the processing object to the six processing units 210A to 210F at a time, the six hands 25a to 25F are installed at one transfer robot 24. Specifically, when the substrate storage unit 14 stores a plurality of wafers 1 in parallel in the Z-axis direction as shown in fig. 4(B), the hands 25a to 25f are attached so as to match the storage positions of the plurality of wafers 1.

Fig. 5 is a schematic side view showing a state in which the transfer robot 24 receives wafers 1 from the substrate storage unit 14 storing a plurality of wafers 1 in time series using fig. 5(a) and 5 (B). First, as shown in fig. 5(a), the hands 25a to 25F enter the substrate storage unit 14 simultaneously in the direction of the arrow, and individually hold the wafers 1a to 1F combined with the processing units 210A to 210F, respectively. Then, as shown in fig. 5(B), the hands 25a to 25f unload the wafers 1a to 1f from the substrate storage unit 14 simultaneously in the direction of the arrow.

fig. 6 is a schematic plan view showing a state in which the transfer robot 24 sequentially transfers the wafers 1a to 1F unloaded from the substrate storage unit 14 to the process units 210A to 210F. Here, the group control unit (controller) 230 loads the wafers 1a to 1F into all the process units 210A to 210F combined in advance through the movement path from the transfer robot 24 as indicated by the arrow. Then, the group control unit (controller) 230 processes the wafers 1a to 1F at the processing units 210A to 210F in parallel.

Fig. 7 is a schematic plan view showing a state in which the transfer robot 24 sequentially retrieves the wafers 1a to 1F that have been subjected to the imprint processing at the processing units 210A to 210F and transfers (returns) the wafers to the substrate storage unit 14. Here, the group control unit (controller) 230 unloads the wafers 1a to 1F from the process units 210A to 210F along the movement path toward the transfer robot 24 as indicated by the arrow and transfers the wafers to the substrate storage unit 14.

In this way, the group control unit (controller) 230 determines the optimum processing unit for processing a single wafer 1 in a lot from the plurality of processing units 210A to 210F based on the specific information. Here, in consideration of the above-described property of patterning, the specific information and the group including all of the plurality of processing units 210A to 210F have a previously corresponding relationship. Therefore, the process wafer 1 is individually imprint-processed in the cluster imprint apparatus 200 with the overlay accuracy maximally increased.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, a lithographic apparatus advantageous for overlay accuracy can be provided.

(second embodiment)

A lithographic apparatus according to a second embodiment of the invention will be described. In the cluster type imprint apparatus 200 of the first embodiment, the group control unit (controller) 230 acquires specific information for specifying the wafers 1a to 1f from the preprocessing device 300 or the upper control device 400. On the other hand, the cluster type imprint apparatus according to the present embodiment is characterized in that the cluster control unit (controller) 230 acquires specific information based on the position of the wafer 1 stored in the substrate storage unit 14.

Fig. 8 is a schematic plan view showing the configuration of a cluster type imprint apparatus and an imprint system (lithography system) including the cluster type imprint apparatus according to the present embodiment. Further, the same components as those of the cluster type imprint apparatus 200 and the imprint system 100 according to the first embodiment of fig. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals. First, the substrate storage unit 14 applied to the present embodiment has the detection unit 28 configured to detect the position of each of the wafers 1 stored therein (see fig. 3(a) and 3 (B)). For this reason, the cluster type imprint apparatus 200 according to the present embodiment has the acquisition device (acquisition unit) 27 configured to acquire the position information detected by the detection unit 28 at the position where the mounting portion 20 according to the first embodiment exists. Here, the acquired positional information corresponds to specific information corresponding to the wafer 1. Then, as in the first embodiment, the group control unit (controller) 230 processes the wafer 1 at the processing units 210A to 210F corresponding thereto based on the specific information. In the present embodiment, the same effects as those of the first embodiment are exhibited. In addition, the group control unit (controller) 230 may acquire specific information from the plurality of substrates belonging to the lot or the substrate storage unit 14 accommodating the plurality of substrates via the detection unit 28. In this case, each substrate or (each receiving position of) the substrate storage unit 14 may include a device or a portion configured to store or record specific information.

(third embodiment)

A lithographic apparatus according to a third embodiment of the invention will be described below with respect to the above-described embodiments. The lithographic apparatus according to the present embodiment is characterized in that the group control unit (controller) 230 may transmit information about a processing unit for patterning out of the plurality of processing units 210A to 210F to the preprocessing device 300. Furthermore, the pre-processing device 300 comprises a control unit associated with the pre-processing device. According to the above-described configuration, the pretreatment apparatus 300 can modify the timing or order of the processing of the wafer 1 according to the processing unit 210 in use. In this lithography apparatus, in all the processing units 210, a case where the pattern forming process (patterning) cannot be started during a maintenance operation or the like, a case where the pre-processed wafer 1 stays in the lithography apparatus for a long time in accordance with a decrease in throughput, or the like is considered. In particular, a long stay in the lithographic apparatus is not preferred in view of contamination. Here, when this occurs, the group control unit (controller) 230 transmits information to the pretreatment apparatus 300 in advance and modifies the timing or order of processing of the wafer 1. Therefore, it is possible to provide a lithographic apparatus which is advantageous in terms of productivity or yield in addition to overlay accuracy.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, although the so-called inline-type configuration in which the preprocessing device 300 and the processing units 210A to 210F are connected has been provided, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, a pretreatment apparatus (a heat treatment device or the like (not shown)) and a processing unit are provided separately from each other, and the apparatus can also be applied to a type in which the wafer 1 is transported therebetween by a FOUP using Overhead Hoist Transport (OHT). In this case, reference numeral 300 in fig. 1 is an Equipment Front End Module (EFEM). Then, although not shown, a plurality of FOUPs corresponding to the process units 210A-210F are mounted (housed) on the front surface of the EFEM 300.

In addition, in the above-described embodiments, although the imprint apparatus has been exemplified as the lithography apparatus, the present invention is not limited thereto. The apparatus may be an apparatus for performing patterning on a substrate, which may be implemented, for example, as an exposure apparatus or a spray apparatus, or the like. The exposure apparatus forms a (latent) image pattern on a substrate (upper resist) using, for example, (extreme) ultraviolet light. In addition, the spray coating device forms a (latent image) pattern on a substrate (upper resist) using, for example, a charged particle beam (electron beam or the like).

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing another configuration example of one processing unit among a plurality of processing units in the lithographic apparatus according to the embodiment. Here, a cluster type spray coating device including a plurality of process units (spray coating process units) 300 configured to perform spray coating using an electron beam is exemplified as the lithographic device. Further, the electron beam may be another charged particle beam such as an ion beam or the like. The processing unit 300 includes a vacuum chamber 301, an electron optical system 302 and a driving device 303 accommodated in the vacuum chamber 301, and a stage (holder) 306 configured to hold a substrate 305, and the processing unit 300 performs spray coating on the substrate 305 using an electron beam in vacuum. The driving device 303 is configured to move the holder 306 to position the substrate 305 with respect to the electron optical system 302.

^TMEmbodiments of the present invention may also be implemented by a computer of a system or apparatus that reads and executes computer-executable instructions (e.g., one or more programs) recorded on a storage medium (which may also be referred to more fully as a "non-transitory computer-readable storage medium") to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiments, and/or includes one or more circuits (e.g., an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC)) to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiments, and a computer of the system or apparatus, for example, by reading and executing computer-executable instructions from the storage medium to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiments, and/or controlling one or more circuits to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiments, implements embodiments of the present invention.

(method of manufacturing article)

The article manufacturing method according to the embodiment of the present invention is suitable for manufacturing an article such as a microdevice (e.g., a semiconductor device) or an element having a microstructure. The present manufacturing method may include a step of forming a pattern (e.g., a latent image pattern) on an object (e.g., a substrate having a photosensitive material on a surface thereof) by using the above-described lithographic apparatus and a step of processing the object on which the pattern is formed (e.g., a step of developing). In addition, the present manufacturing method includes other well-known steps (e.g., oxidation, deposition, vapor deposition, doping, planarization, etching, resist removal, dicing, bonding, and packaging, etc.). The article manufacturing method according to the present embodiment has an advantage over the conventional method in at least one of the performance, quality, productivity, and production cost of the article.

while the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.

This application claims the benefit of Japanese patent application No.2015-027968, filed on 16/2/2015 and Japanese patent application No.2015-239907, filed on 9/12/2015, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

Claims

1. A lithographic apparatus for patterning a resin applied to a plurality of substrates belonging to a batch, the lithographic apparatus comprising:

A first processing unit configured to perform patterning;

A second processing unit different from the first processing unit;

A transfer unit configured to transfer a first substrate of the plurality of substrates to a first processing unit and to transfer a second substrate of the plurality of substrates to a second processing unit, the second substrate being different from the first substrate, based on specific information specifying each substrate of the plurality of substrates of the lot; and

a controller configured to control the first processing unit, the second processing unit, and the transfer unit to process the first substrate and the second substrate, respectively, in parallel.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller has information of a plurality of groups into which the first and second processing units are classified, and the controller is configured to control the first and second processing units and the transfer unit to process the first and second substrates, respectively, in parallel further based on a preset correspondence between one of the plurality of groups and the specific information.

3. the lithographic apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to obtain the specific information based on an order of one of the plurality of substrates transferred by a transfer unit from a pretreatment apparatus that has performed a pretreatment on the plurality of substrates.

4. The lithographic apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to obtain the specific information based on a position of one of the plurality of substrates in a receptacle for the plurality of substrates.

5. The lithographic apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a device configured to obtain the specific information from each of the plurality of substrates or a receptacle for the plurality of substrates.

6. The lithographic apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to control the first and second processing units and the transport unit to process the first and second substrates, respectively, in parallel further based on recipe information corresponding to the lot.

7. The lithographic apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

A receiving device configured to receive information related to one of the first and second processing units determining to process one of the plurality of substrates, an

wherein the controller is configured to control the first and second processing units and the transport unit to process the first and second substrates, respectively, in parallel further based on the received information.

8. the lithographic apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to: information on the first and second processing units is transferred to a pre-processing apparatus that performs pre-processing on the plurality of substrates or a control apparatus that controls the pre-processing apparatus, and the first and second processing units and the transport unit are controlled based on the specific information and the transferred information to process the first and second substrates, respectively, in parallel.

9. The lithographic apparatus of claim 8, wherein the controller is configured to communicate the related information based on a state of each of the first and second processing units.

10. The lithographic apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to determine the processing conditions for patterning with respect to each of the first and second processing units based on the specific information and recipe information corresponding to the lot.

11. The lithographic apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the first and second processing units is configured to perform patterning by imprinting.

12. The lithographic apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the first and second processing units is configured to perform patterning using a charged particle beam.

13. A photolithography method characterized by performing patterning of a resin applied to a plurality of substrates belonging to a lot using a first process unit, a second process unit different from the first process unit, and a transfer unit, the method comprising the steps of:

Controlling a transfer unit to transfer a first substrate of the plurality of substrates to a first processing unit and to transfer a second substrate of the plurality of substrates to a second processing unit, the second substrate being different from the first substrate, based on specific information specifying each substrate of the plurality of substrates of the lot; and

The first processing unit, the second processing unit, and the transfer unit are controlled to process the first substrate and the second substrate, respectively, in parallel.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute a method of patterning a resin applied to a plurality of substrates belonging to a lot by using a first processing unit, a second processing unit different from the first processing unit, and a transfer unit, the method comprising the steps of:

15. A lithography system, comprising:

A lithography apparatus for performing patterning of a resin applied to a plurality of substrates belonging to a lot; and

A pre-treatment device configured to supply a substrate to the lithographic apparatus to perform a predetermined pre-treatment,

Wherein the lithographic apparatus comprises: a first processing unit configured to perform patterning; a second processing unit different from the first processing unit, configured to perform patterning; a transfer unit configured to transfer a first substrate of the plurality of substrates to a first processing unit and to transfer a second substrate of the plurality of substrates to a second processing unit, the second substrate being different from the first substrate, based on specific information specifying each substrate of the plurality of substrates of the lot; and a controller configured to control the first processing unit, the second processing unit, and the transfer unit to process the first substrate and the second substrate, respectively, in parallel.

16. A method of manufacturing an article, the method comprising the steps of:

performing patterning on a substrate using a photolithography apparatus for performing patterning on a resin applied to a plurality of substrates belonging to a lot;

Processing the patterned substrate to produce an article,

17. A method of manufacturing an article, the method comprising the steps of:

Performing patterning on the substrate using a photolithography method; and

Processing the patterned substrate to produce an article,

wherein the photolithography method performs patterning of a resin applied to a plurality of substrates belonging to a lot using a first process unit, a second process unit different from the first process unit, and a transfer unit, the photolithography method comprising the steps of: controlling the transfer unit to transfer a first substrate of the plurality of substrates to a first processing unit and to transfer a second substrate of the plurality of substrates to a second processing unit, the second substrate being different from the first substrate, based on specific information specifying each substrate of the plurality of substrates of the lot; and controlling the first processing unit, the second processing unit, and the transfer unit to process the first substrate and the second substrate, respectively, in parallel.

18. A method of manufacturing an article, the method comprising the steps of:

Performing patterning on a substrate using a lithography system; and

Processing the patterned substrate to produce an article,

Wherein the lithography system comprises: a lithography apparatus that performs patterning of a resin applied to a plurality of substrates belonging to a lot; and a pre-treatment device configured to supply a substrate to the lithographic apparatus to perform a pre-determined pre-treatment,

19. The lithographic apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to send information about the first and second processing units to a pre-processing device, to change a timing or order of performing pre-processing on the plurality of substrates, and to perform pre-processing on the plurality of substrates by using the first and second processing units in parallel before patterning the plurality of substrates.