CN111381448B - Liquid control system and method for immersion lithography apparatus - Google Patents
Liquid control system and method for immersion lithography apparatus Download PDFInfo
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- CN111381448B CN111381448B CN201811627086.5A CN201811627086A CN111381448B CN 111381448 B CN111381448 B CN 111381448B CN 201811627086 A CN201811627086 A CN 201811627086A CN 111381448 B CN111381448 B CN 111381448B
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- G—PHYSICS
- G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
- G03F—PHOTOMECHANICAL PRODUCTION OF TEXTURED OR PATTERNED SURFACES, e.g. FOR PRINTING, FOR PROCESSING OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; MATERIALS THEREFOR; ORIGINALS THEREFOR; APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED THEREFOR
- G03F7/00—Photomechanical, e.g. photolithographic, production of textured or patterned surfaces, e.g. printing surfaces; Materials therefor, e.g. comprising photoresists; Apparatus specially adapted therefor
- G03F7/20—Exposure; Apparatus therefor
- G03F7/2041—Exposure; Apparatus therefor in the presence of a fluid, e.g. immersion; using fluid cooling means
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- G—PHYSICS
- G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
- G03F—PHOTOMECHANICAL PRODUCTION OF TEXTURED OR PATTERNED SURFACES, e.g. FOR PRINTING, FOR PROCESSING OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; MATERIALS THEREFOR; ORIGINALS THEREFOR; APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED THEREFOR
- G03F7/00—Photomechanical, e.g. photolithographic, production of textured or patterned surfaces, e.g. printing surfaces; Materials therefor, e.g. comprising photoresists; Apparatus specially adapted therefor
- G03F7/70—Microphotolithographic exposure; Apparatus therefor
- G03F7/70483—Information management; Active and passive control; Testing; Wafer monitoring, e.g. pattern monitoring
Abstract
The invention provides a liquid control system and a method of immersion lithography equipment, the system comprises a liquid pumping mechanism arranged in a gap between a projection objective and an immersion liquid maintaining system, the liquid pumping mechanism is not connected with the projection objective and/or the immersion liquid maintaining system, the lower surface of the liquid pumping mechanism is higher than or equal to the preset contour line of the free liquid level of an immersion liquid flow field, and the liquid pumping mechanism is connected with a negative pressure pumping source through a pipeline. The method comprises the step that when the free liquid level of the immersion liquid flow field fluctuates in the vertical direction, the immersion liquid higher than the lower surface of the liquid pumping and discharging mechanism is pumped away by a negative pressure pumping source through a pipeline. The invention can solve the defect that the temperature stability of the projection objective is influenced by the free liquid level fluctuation of the immersion liquid flow field and the defect of immersion liquid overflow.
Description
Technical Field
The invention relates to the technical field of photoetching, in particular to a liquid control system and a liquid control method for immersion photoetching equipment.
Background
Modern lithographic apparatus are based on optical lithography, which uses optical systems to project and expose patterns on a reticle precisely onto a photoresist-coated substrate (e.g., a silicon wafer). Immersion lithography refers to filling water or a higher refractive liquid between an exposure lens and a silicon wafer to replace the corresponding air in the conventional dry lithography technique. Since the refractive index of water is larger than that of air, the numerical aperture of the lens group is increased, and further smaller characteristic line width can be obtained. Referring to fig. 1, a conventional immersion lithography machine includes a main substrate 1 supporting an illumination system 2, a projection objective 4 and a stage 8, on which a silicon wafer 7 coated with photosensitive resist is placed, on the stage 8. In the immersion lithography machine, an immersion liquid (water) is filled in a gap between a projection objective 4 and a silicon wafer 7 by an immersion liquid limiting mechanism 6. Wherein the immersion liquid confinement mechanism, also known as an immersion liquid maintenance system, is also known as an immersion head. During operation, the photoelectric measuring device 10 obtains the position of the workpiece table 8 by processing the measuring light 9, the workpiece table 8 drives the silicon wafer 7 to perform high-speed scanning and stepping actions, the immersion liquid maintaining system 6 provides a stable immersion liquid flow field 5 in the immersion liquid maintaining system 6 within the field range of the projection objective 4 according to the motion state of the workpiece table 8, and meanwhile, the immersion liquid flow field 5 is ensured to be sealed with the outside, and liquid is ensured not to leak. The pattern of the integrated circuit on the mask 3 is transferred in an imagewise exposure manner by means of an illumination system 2 and a projection objective 4, an immersion liquid 5 in an immersion liquid flow field 5 to a silicon wafer 7 coated with a photosensitive photoresist, and the exposure is thus completed.
A liquid supply device 11 is provided in a service area of the semiconductor factory building to supply immersion liquid to the immersion liquid maintenance system 6. The liquid supply apparatus 11 is provided with a liquid pressure and flow rate control unit for limiting the pressure and flow rate of the immersion liquid supply within a certain range. A water pollution treatment unit is arranged in the liquid supply equipment 11, so that the pollution in the water is treated to meet the pollution requirement of the immersion liquid; by providing a temperature control unit in the liquid supply apparatus 11, the supply of water is treated to meet the immersion liquid temperature requirements.
An air supply device 13 and a gas-liquid recovery device 12 are arranged in a service area of the semiconductor factory building and are used for supplying ultra-clean wet air and recovering gas and liquid. Ultra-clean wet air pressure and flow control units are arranged in the air supply equipment 13 and the gas-liquid recovery equipment 12, the air supply pressure and the flow are controlled within a certain range, and the gas-liquid recovery pressure and the flow control units are arranged, and the gas-liquid recovery pressure and the flow are controlled within a certain range; arranging an ultra-clean wet air pollution control unit, and treating the pollution in the ultra-clean wet air until the pollution meets the requirement; and arranging an ultra-clean wet air temperature and humidity control unit, and processing the ultra-clean wet air until the ultra-clean wet air meets the temperature and humidity requirements.
Referring to fig. 2, the working principle of the immersion lithography machine is as follows: the liquid supply device 11 supplies immersion liquid to the immersion liquid supply port 602 of the immersion liquid maintenance system 6 through a pipeline, the gas supply device 13 communicates with the gas supply port 605 of the immersion liquid maintenance system 6 through a pipeline, and residual immersion liquid is recovered through the immersion liquid recovery port 603 and the gas liquid recovery port 604 by the gas liquid recovery device 12, so that a stable immersion liquid flow field 5 is formed.
Referring to FIG. 2, a gap is present between the outer contour surface 401 of the projection objective 4 and the inner contour surface 601 of the immersion maintenance system 6; the upper surface of the immersion liquid flow field 5 in this gap is a free liquid surface 501 which is in contact with air.
The free liquid level 501 fluctuates due to the fluctuation of the immersion liquid supply pressure from the immersion liquid supply port 602, the fluctuation of the immersion liquid recovery pressure from the immersion liquid recovery port 603, the fluctuation of the gas-liquid recovery pressure from the gas-liquid recovery port 604, the fluctuation of the gas supply pressure from the gas supply port 605, and the change of the position of the silicon wafer 7, i.e., the free liquid level 501 oscillates and the free liquid level 501 is vertically fluctuated. This will cause at least two serious problems:
(1) the free liquid level 501 is vertically suddenly lowered to cause the area of the outer contour surface 401 of the projection objective 4 wetted by the immersion liquid 5 to be suddenly reduced, evaporation refrigeration can be generated at the wetted position of the outer contour surface 401, the variation of the wetted area is equal to the variation of a refrigeration source, the temperature stability of the projection objective 4 is seriously affected, and then exposure errors are generated.
(2) When the free liquid level 501 fluctuates greatly in the vertical direction, the immersion liquid 5 overflows, that is, the immersion liquid 5 overflows from the upper surface 606 of the immersion liquid maintaining system 6 to the silicon wafer 7, which may cause exposure defects and even cause a liquid leakage safety risk of the whole machine.
For the above problem (2): the prior art provides a solution for flooding the immersion liquid, which has the disadvantage that the overflow pumping arrangement is provided on the structural body of the immersion liquid maintenance system 6. It has the following three technical problems:
A. since the overflow pumping structure is provided on the immersion liquid maintenance system, the difficulty of manufacturing the immersion liquid maintenance system 6 is increased.
B. Since the immersion liquid 5 overflows when the free liquid level 501 fluctuates greatly in the vertical direction, the conventional scheme can only prevent the free liquid level 501 from fluctuating greatly in the vertical direction.
C. In the overflow pumping and discharging process, gas-liquid two-phase flow in a pumping and discharging flow path can generate vibration, the overflow pumping and discharging structure is arranged on the structural body of the immersion liquid maintaining system 6 in the existing scheme, and the vibration in the pumping and discharging process is directly transmitted to the immersion liquid maintaining system 6, so that the stability of the immersion liquid maintaining system 6 in the photoetching process is influenced.
Disclosure of Invention
The invention aims to provide a liquid control system and a liquid control method of an immersion lithography device, which aim to solve the defects that the temperature stability of a projection objective is influenced by the free liquid level fluctuation of an immersion liquid flow field and the immersion liquid overflow.
In order to solve the above technical problem, the present invention provides a liquid control system of an immersion lithography apparatus, comprising a liquid pumping mechanism disposed in a gap between a projection objective and an immersion liquid maintenance system, the liquid pumping mechanism being not connected to the projection objective and/or the immersion liquid maintenance system, a lower surface of the liquid pumping mechanism being higher than or equal to a preset contour of a free liquid surface of an immersion liquid flow field of the immersion liquid maintenance system, the liquid pumping mechanism being connected to a negative pressure pumping source through a pipeline.
Further, the present invention provides a liquid control system of an immersion lithographic apparatus, wherein the liquid pumping mechanism is disposed on a main substrate of the immersion lithographic apparatus.
Further, the present invention provides a liquid control system of an immersion lithography apparatus, wherein the liquid pumping mechanism is disposed on the main substrate through a fixing member.
Further, in the liquid control system of the immersion lithography apparatus according to the present invention, the negative pressure suction source is a gas-liquid recovery apparatus.
Further, the present invention provides a liquid control system of an immersion lithographic apparatus, wherein a height position of the liquid pumping mechanism is adjustable.
Further, in the liquid control system of the immersion lithography apparatus according to the present invention, the liquid pumping mechanism is a suction nozzle.
Further, the invention provides a liquid control system of an immersion lithography apparatus, wherein the suction nozzle is an annular thin plate with a slit inside.
Further, the present invention provides a liquid control system of an immersion lithography apparatus, wherein the suction nozzle is a plurality of annularly distributed arc-shaped thin plates with slits therein, and the distribution of the arc-shaped thin plates avoids positions of an immersion liquid supply port and an immersion liquid recovery port of the immersion lithography apparatus.
Further, the present invention provides a liquid control system of an immersion lithographic apparatus, wherein the liquid pumping mechanism is a capillary tube.
Furthermore, the liquid control system of the immersion lithography apparatus provided by the invention is characterized in that the capillary tube is a plurality of capillary tubes, and the plurality of capillary tubes are annularly distributed to form a capillary tube array.
Further, the present invention provides a liquid control system of an immersion lithography apparatus, wherein the capillary array comprises a plurality of segments of arc arrays, a plurality of capillaries are distributed on each segment of arc array, and the distribution of the plurality of segments of arc arrays avoids positions of an immersion liquid supply port and an immersion liquid recovery port of the immersion liquid maintenance system.
Further, in the liquid control system of the immersion lithography apparatus provided by the present invention, the number of the liquid pumping mechanisms is two, and the heights of the lower surfaces of the two liquid pumping mechanisms are different.
Further, in the liquid control system of the immersion lithography apparatus provided by the present invention, the liquid pumping mechanism at the lower position of the lower surface is connected to a first negative pressure pumping source through a pipeline, and the liquid pumping mechanism at the higher position of the lower surface is connected to a second negative pressure pumping source through a pipeline.
Further, in the liquid control system of the immersion lithography apparatus provided by the present invention, the first negative pressure suction source is a low vacuum gas-liquid recovery apparatus, and the second negative pressure suction source is a high vacuum gas-liquid recovery apparatus.
In order to solve the above technical problem, the present invention also provides a liquid control method of an immersion lithographic apparatus,
arranging a liquid pumping mechanism in a gap between the projection objective and the immersion liquid maintaining system, so that the liquid pumping mechanism is not in contact connection with the projection objective and/or the immersion liquid maintaining system;
setting the lower surface of the liquid pumping and draining mechanism to be higher than or equal to the preset contour line of the free liquid level of an immersion liquid flow field of the immersion liquid maintaining system;
when the free liquid level of the immersion liquid flow field fluctuates in the vertical direction, the immersion liquid higher than the lower surface of the liquid pumping and discharging mechanism is pumped away by a negative pressure pumping source through a pipeline.
Further, the liquid control method of the immersion lithography apparatus provided by the invention arranges the liquid pumping mechanism on a main substrate of the immersion lithography apparatus.
Further, the liquid control method of the immersion lithography apparatus provided by the present invention arranges the liquid pumping mechanism on the main substrate through a fixing member.
Further, in the liquid control method of the immersion lithography apparatus according to the present invention, the negative pressure suction source is a gas-liquid recovery apparatus.
Further, the invention provides a liquid control method of an immersion lithographic apparatus, wherein the liquid pumping mechanism is arranged to be height adjustable.
Further, in the liquid control method of the immersion lithography apparatus according to the present invention, the liquid pumping mechanism is a suction nozzle.
Further, the invention provides a liquid control method of an immersion lithography apparatus, wherein the suction nozzle is an annular thin plate with a slit inside.
Further, the invention provides a liquid control method of an immersion lithography apparatus, wherein the suction nozzle is a plurality of annularly distributed arc-shaped thin plates with slits inside, and the distribution of the arc-shaped thin plates is avoided from the positions of an immersion liquid supply port and an immersion liquid recovery port of the immersion lithography system.
Further, in the liquid control method of the immersion lithography apparatus according to the present invention, the liquid pumping mechanism is a capillary.
Further, in the liquid control method of the immersion lithography apparatus provided by the present invention, the number of the capillaries is plural, and the plural capillaries are annularly distributed to form a capillary array.
Further, the present invention provides a liquid control method for an immersion lithography apparatus, wherein the capillary array comprises a plurality of segments of arc arrays, a plurality of capillaries are distributed on each segment of arc array, and the distribution of the plurality of segments of arc arrays avoids positions of an immersion liquid supply port and an immersion liquid recovery port of the immersion liquid maintenance system.
Further, in the liquid control method of the immersion lithography apparatus provided by the present invention, the two liquid pumping mechanisms are provided, so that the heights of the lower surfaces of the two liquid pumping mechanisms are different.
Further, the liquid control method of the immersion lithography apparatus provided by the present invention connects the liquid pumping mechanism with the lower surface to a first negative pressure pumping source through a pipeline, and connects the liquid pumping mechanism with the higher surface to a second negative pressure pumping source through a pipeline; when the free liquid level of the immersion liquid flow field fluctuates slightly in the vertical direction, the immersion liquid higher than the lower surface of the liquid pumping and discharging mechanism is pumped away by a first negative pressure pumping source through a first pipeline; when the free liquid level of the immersion liquid flow field fluctuates greatly in the vertical direction, the immersion liquid higher than the lower surface of the higher position of the liquid pumping and discharging mechanism is pumped away by a second negative pressure pumping source through a second pipeline.
Further, in the liquid control method of the immersion lithography apparatus provided by the present invention, the first negative pressure suction source is a low vacuum gas-liquid recovery apparatus, and the second negative pressure suction source is a high vacuum gas-liquid recovery apparatus.
According to the liquid control system and method of the immersion lithography equipment, the liquid pumping and draining mechanism is arranged separately and is not physically connected with the projection objective and/or the immersion liquid maintaining system, so that vibration generated in the gas-liquid pumping and draining process of the liquid pumping and draining mechanism is not transmitted to the projection objective or the immersion liquid maintaining system, and the stability of the lithography process is improved. The lower surface of the liquid pumping and discharging mechanism is higher than or equal to the preset contour line of the free liquid level of the immersion liquid flow field of the immersion liquid maintaining system, and when the free liquid level of the immersion liquid flow field fluctuates vertically, immersion liquid higher than the lower surface of the liquid pumping and discharging mechanism is pumped away by the negative pressure pumping source through the pipeline, so that the overflow of the immersion liquid is prevented. The liquid pumping and discharging mechanism, the pipeline and the negative pressure pumping source can inhibit the fluctuation of the free liquid level, and simultaneously can avoid the influence of the phenomenon that the outer contour surface of the projection objective is wetted by immersion liquid to generate evaporation refrigeration on the temperature stability of the projection objective when the free liquid level fluctuates vertically, so as to overcome the exposure error caused by the temperature stability defect, prevent the whole machine from generating liquid leakage safety problem, and further improve the photoetching quality and the photoetching safety.
Drawings
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an immersion lithography machine;
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an immersion liquid control system of an immersion lithography machine;
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an immersion liquid control system of an immersion lithography machine equipped with a liquid pumping mechanism;
FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a first fluid pumping mechanism;
FIG. 5 is a schematic structural view of a second fluid pumping mechanism;
FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a third fluid pumping mechanism;
FIG. 7 is a schematic structural view of a fourth fluid pumping mechanism;
FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of an immersion control system of an immersion lithography machine equipped with two liquid pumping mechanisms;
fig. 9 is a schematic structural view of a fifth fluid pumping mechanism.
Detailed Description
The invention is described in detail below with reference to the attached drawing figures:
referring to fig. 3, an embodiment of the present invention provides a liquid control system of an immersion lithography apparatus, including a liquid pumping mechanism 101 disposed in a gap between a projection objective 4 and an immersion liquid maintaining system 6, wherein the liquid pumping mechanism 101 is not connected to the projection objective 4 and/or an immersion head 6, a lower surface of the liquid pumping mechanism 101 is higher than or equal to a preset contour H of a free liquid surface 501 of an immersion liquid flow field 5, as shown by a position of a dashed line H in fig. 3, and the liquid pumping mechanism 101 is connected to a negative pressure pumping source through a pipeline 103. The negative pressure suction source may be the gas-liquid recovery device 12, or may be an independent negative pressure suction source. The specific location of the liquid pumping mechanism 101 of embodiments of the present invention, including but not limited to being disposed in the gap between the outer contoured surface 401 of the projection objective 4 and the inner contoured surface 601 of the immersion liquid maintenance system 6, can be suitably adjusted for different configurations of immersion liquid maintenance systems 6. According to the configuration of the immersion liquid maintenance system 6 illustrated in fig. 3, the lower surface of the liquid pumping mechanism 101 can be set at a position lower than the upper surface 606 of the immersion liquid maintenance system 6 and higher than or equal to the preset contour H of the free liquid surface 501 of the immersion liquid flow field 5.
An embodiment of the present invention further provides a liquid control method for an immersion lithography apparatus, including:
in step S1, the liquid pumping mechanism 101 is provided in the gap between the projection objective 4 and the immersion liquid maintenance system 6 such that the liquid pumping mechanism 101 is not in contact with the projection objective 4 and/or the immersion liquid maintenance system 6. The liquid pumping mechanism 101 can be arranged in a specific positional relationship in the gap between the outer contour surface 401 of the projection objective 4 and the inner contour surface 601 of the immersion liquid maintenance system 6.
In step S2, the lower surface of the liquid pumping mechanism 101 is set to be higher than or equal to the preset contour H of the free liquid surface 501 of the immersion liquid flow field 5 of the immersion liquid maintenance system. For example, according to the configuration of the immersion liquid maintenance system 6 illustrated in fig. 3, the lower surface of the liquid pumping mechanism 101 can be positioned below the upper surface 606 of the immersion liquid maintenance system 6 and above or equal to the preset contour H of the free liquid surface 501 of the immersion liquid flow field 5.
In step S3, when the free liquid surface 501 of the immersion liquid flow field 5 fluctuates in the vertical direction, the immersion liquid higher than the lower surface of the liquid pumping mechanism 101 is pumped away by the negative pressure pumping source through the pipe 103.
In the liquid control method of the immersion lithography apparatus provided in the embodiment of the present invention, the negative pressure suction source may be the gas-liquid recovery apparatus 12, or may be an independent negative pressure suction source.
Referring to fig. 3, in the liquid control system and method of an immersion lithography apparatus according to the embodiments of the present invention, the liquid pumping mechanism 101 is separately disposed and not physically connected to the projection objective 4 and/or the immersion liquid maintaining system 6, so that the vibration generated during the gas-liquid pumping process of the liquid pumping mechanism 101 is not transmitted to the projection objective 4 or the immersion liquid maintaining system 6, thereby improving the stability of the lithography process. The lower surface of the liquid pumping mechanism 101 is lower than the upper surface 606 of the immersion liquid maintenance system 6, and when the free liquid surface 501 of the immersion liquid flow field 5 fluctuates in the vertical direction, the immersion liquid higher than the lower surface of the liquid pumping mechanism 101 is pumped away by the negative pressure pumping source through the pipeline 103, thereby preventing the immersion liquid from overflowing. The liquid pumping and discharging mechanism 101, the pipeline 103 and the negative pressure pumping source in the embodiment of the invention can inhibit the fluctuation of the free liquid level 501, and simultaneously can avoid the influence of the phenomenon that the outer contour surface 401 of the projection objective 4 is wetted by immersion liquid to generate evaporation refrigeration when the free liquid level 501 fluctuates vertically on the temperature stability of the projection objective 4, so as to overcome the exposure error caused by the temperature stability defect, prevent the whole machine from generating the liquid leakage safety problem, and further improve the photoetching quality and the photoetching safety.
Referring to fig. 3, in the liquid control system and method of an immersion lithography apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, the liquid pumping mechanism 101 is disposed on the main substrate 1 of the immersion lithography apparatus, and this solution is a direct fixing solution and has an advantage of good stability. The fluid pumping mechanism 101 is directly connected to the main substrate 1 by other means such as welding, snap-fit connection, etc. Of course, the liquid pumping and draining mechanism 101 may also be disposed on the main substrate 1 through the fixing member 102, which is an indirect fixing scheme and has the advantage of easy assembly, disassembly and replacement. For example, the fixing member 102 may be a fastener such as a bolt, or may be a binding member such as a rope. The connection of the liquid pumping mechanism 101 to the main substrate 1, without direct physical connection to the immersion liquid maintenance system 6 and/or the projection objective 4, i.e. the separation of the liquid pumping mechanism 101 from the immersion liquid maintenance system 6 or the projection objective, prevents the vibrations generated by the liquid pumping mechanism 101 during the pumping of immersion liquid from affecting the immersion liquid maintenance system 6 and/or the projection objective 4, thereby improving the lithographic quality.
In the liquid control system and method of the immersion lithography apparatus according to the embodiments of the present invention, the height position of the liquid pumping mechanism 101 is adjustable, and the liquid pumping mechanism 101 is set to be height adjustable so as to adjust the height position of the lower surface of the liquid pumping mechanism 101 between the upper surface 606 of the immersion liquid maintaining system 6 and the preset contour H of the free liquid surface 501 of the immersion liquid flow field 5. For example, the liquid pumping mechanism 101 can be adjusted in height by an elevating mechanism to pump out the immersion liquid quickly, accurately, and timely.
In the liquid control system and method of the immersion lithography apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, the liquid pumping mechanism 101 may be a nozzle, and a port of the nozzle may be a plane, so that the port of the nozzle is parallel to a horizontal plane, so that the port of the nozzle is parallel to the free liquid level 501, and when the immersion liquid fluctuates and is pumped away, the uniform pumping in the same plane is maintained, so that the free liquid level 501 is stably pumped away, and the influence of vibration caused by the fact that the free liquid level 501 of the immersion liquid flow field 5 is not in the same plane due to different pumping-away positions is prevented. The embodiment of the invention provides the following two structures of suction nozzles, and each suction nozzle adopts different reference numerals for distinguishing.
Referring to fig. 4, the embodiment of the present invention provides a suction nozzle 101a with a first structure, which is an annular thin plate with a slit inside. Referring to fig. 3, when the fluctuation of the free liquid level 501 is large in the vertical direction, the free liquid level 501 is higher than the port 1011 of the suction nozzle 101 a; immersion fluid above the port 1011 of the suction nozzle 101a is quickly pumped by the suction nozzle 101a through the conduit 103 to the gas-liquid recovery device 12 or other discrete negative pressure suction source. The suction nozzle 101a in fig. 4 is an integrated structure, and has the effects of convenient assembly and disassembly and convenient adjustment.
The second configuration of the suction nozzle 101c is provided in the embodiment of the present invention so as not to affect the supply of the immersion liquid from the immersion liquid supply port 602 of the immersion liquid head 6 and the recovery of the immersion liquid from the immersion liquid recovery port 603. Referring to fig. 6, the suction nozzle 101c of the second structure is a plurality of annularly distributed arc-shaped thin plates with slits therein, and the distribution of the arc-shaped thin plates avoids the positions of the immersion liquid supply port and the immersion liquid recovery port of the immersion liquid maintaining system 6, i.e., the distribution of the arc-shaped thin plates does not overlap or cover the positions of the immersion liquid supply port and the immersion liquid recovery port in the vertical direction or the horizontal direction. Compared with the suction nozzle 101a with the first structure, the suction nozzle 101a with the first structure increases an avoidance gap so as to prevent the suction nozzle 101a with the first structure from interfering with the immersion liquid supply of the immersion liquid supply port 602 of the liquid head 6 and the immersion liquid recovery of the immersion liquid recovery port 603 during the process of pumping and discharging the immersion liquid, and avoid the stability influence of the adverse factors such as vibration and the like generated between the suction nozzle 101a and the immersion liquid recovery port. Fig. 6 shows a split structure of two arc-shaped thin plates with slits, and the suction nozzle 101c includes not only two segments, but also any multiple segments, wherein the upper segment of the suction nozzle 101c includes the port 1013a, and the lower segment of the suction nozzle 101c includes the port 1013b, i.e., the suction nozzle 101c is divided into two upper and lower arc-shaped segments. The upper and lower suction nozzles 101c can be formed by a plurality of arc-shaped thin plates with slits inside, and the plurality of suction nozzles 101c are annularly distributed. The ports 1013a and 1013b are parallel to the horizontal plane and are in the same plane, so as to pump off the higher immersion liquid in the same plane, so that the free liquid level 501 is kept stable, and the vibration effect caused by unstable liquid flow of the immersion liquid flow field 5 when the immersion liquid flow field 5 is pumped off in different planes in the immersion liquid pumping process is reduced.
The liquid pumping mechanism 101 of the embodiment of the present invention may be a capillary tube. The ports of the capillary tubes can be flat surfaces, so that the ports of the capillary tubes are parallel to the horizontal plane, and therefore the ports of the suction nozzle are parallel to the free liquid surface 501, so that uniform pumping on the same plane is maintained when the immersion liquid is pumped out in a fluctuating way, the free liquid surface 501 is stably pumped out, and the vibration influence caused by the fact that the free liquid surface 501 of the immersion liquid flow field 5 is not on the same plane due to different pumping-out positions is prevented. The capillary tube of the embodiment of the invention can be a single capillary tube or a plurality of capillary tubes. The following provides a scheme of a plurality of capillaries in two configurations, and for the sake of convenience of distinction, each scheme of the plurality of capillaries is given a different reference numeral.
Referring to fig. 5, the embodiment of the present invention provides a first structure of the capillary array 101b, which is formed by annularly distributing a plurality of the capillaries. When the free liquid level 501 fluctuates greatly in the vertical direction, the free liquid level 501 is higher than the port 1012 of the capillary array 101 b; immersion fluid above the port 1012 is rapidly pumped by the capillary array 101b through line 103 to the gas-liquid recovery device 12 or other separate source of negative pressure suction. Compared with the suction nozzle 101a, the capillary array 101b in fig. 5 has the effect of strong suction force due to the capillary array 101b, and has the effect of small vibration due to the dispersed pumping of each capillary during the pumping of the immersion liquid, so that the influence of the free liquid level 501 during the pumping process is small, the stability of the immersion liquid flow field 5 is maintained, and the free liquid level 501 is prevented from generating larger vibration during the pumping process.
Referring to fig. 7, in order not to affect the supply of the immersion liquid from the immersion liquid supply port 602 of the immersion liquid head 6 and the recovery of the immersion liquid from the immersion liquid recovery port 603, the capillary array 101d according to the second configuration provided in the embodiment of the present invention is an improvement of the capillary array 101b according to the first configuration, in which the capillaries at the positions of the immersion liquid supply port 602 and the immersion liquid recovery port 603 of the immersion liquid maintenance system 6 are eliminated to avoid affecting the supply of the immersion liquid from the immersion liquid supply port 602 of the immersion liquid head 6 and the recovery of the immersion liquid from the immersion liquid recovery port 603. The capillary array 101d includes, but is not limited to, an upper and lower two-stage arc array, the distribution of which avoids the position of the immersion liquid supply port 602 and the immersion liquid recovery port 603 of the immersion liquid maintenance system. That is, the distribution of the multi-stage arc array does not overlap or cover the positions of the immersion liquid supply port and the immersion liquid recovery port in the vertical direction or the horizontal direction. Each section of arc array comprises a plurality of capillary tubes, the capillary tube array 101d comprises a plurality of ports 1014a on the upper section and a plurality of ports 1014b on the lower section, and the ports 1014a and 1014b are parallel to the horizontal plane and on the same plane, so that the immersion liquid higher than the upper section is pumped and discharged on the same plane, the free liquid level 501 is kept stable, and the vibration influence caused by unstable liquid flow caused by the immersion liquid flow field 5 when the immersion liquid flow field 5 is pumped and discharged on different planes in the immersion liquid pumping and discharging process is reduced.
The suction nozzle 101c and the capillary array 101d with the above structure, the arc-shaped thin plate or the arc-shaped array can be connected into an integral structure by adopting a connecting piece, and can also be designed into a split structure.
Referring to fig. 8 and 9, in a liquid control system and method of an immersion lithography apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, there are two liquid pumping mechanisms, and the heights of the lower surfaces of the two liquid pumping mechanisms are different. In order to distinguish from one fluid pumping mechanism, the two fluid pumping mechanisms respectively describe the fluid pumping mechanism 104 and the fluid pumping mechanism 106, and may share one negative pressure suction source or may use different negative pressure suction sources. For example: the fluid pumping device 106 at the lower surface is connected to a first negative pressure suction source through a first pipe 107, and the fluid pumping device 104 at the upper surface is connected to a second negative pressure suction source through a second pipe 105. When the free liquid level 501 of the immersion liquid flow field 5 fluctuates a little in the vertical direction, the immersion liquid higher than the lower surface of the liquid pumping mechanism 106 at the lower position is pumped out by the first negative pressure pumping source through the first pipeline 107; when the free liquid surface 501 of the immersion liquid flow field 5 fluctuates greatly in the vertical direction, the immersion liquid higher than the lower surface of the liquid pumping mechanism 104 at the higher position is pumped away by the second negative pressure pumping source through the second pipeline 105. Wherein the lower surface liquid pumping mechanism 106 is mainly used to prevent the free liquid level 501 from fluctuating, and the upper surface liquid pumping mechanism 104 is mainly used to prevent overflow. In order to better prevent overflow and reduce the vibration effect of small amount of pumping, the embodiment of the invention can adopt different vacuum suction forces for the two negative pressure suction sources. That is, the first negative pressure suction source may be the low vacuum gas-liquid recovery device 12a or other discrete suction source, and the second negative pressure suction source may be the high vacuum gas-liquid recovery device 12b or other discrete suction source. When the fluctuation of the free liquid surface 501 in the vertical direction is small, the immersion liquid is pumped out by the low vacuum suction force of the low vacuum gas-liquid recovery apparatus 12a to prevent the fluctuation of the free liquid surface 501. When the fluctuation of the free liquid level 501 in the vertical direction is large, the suction is rapidly performed by the large vacuum suction force of the high vacuum gas-liquid recovery apparatus 12b to prevent the overflow.
When the number of the liquid pumping mechanisms is two, the liquid pumping mechanisms 104 and 106 provided by the embodiment of the present invention may adopt a suction nozzle scheme or a capillary tube scheme. Referring to fig. 9, the liquid pumping mechanism 104 according to the embodiment of the present invention is a capillary array 104a, and the liquid pumping mechanism 106 is a capillary array 106 a. The lower surface of capillary array 104a is port 1041 and the lower surface of capillary array 106a is port 1061, wherein port 1061 has a height that is lower than the height of port 1041. When the free liquid level 501 fluctuates greatly in the vertical direction, the overflow risk is generated; immersion liquid above the port 1041 will be quickly pumped through the capillary array 104a and the second conduit 105 by the high vacuum recovery device 12b or other separate source of high vacuum negative pressure, preventing flooding. When the free liquid level 501 fluctuates vertically and slightly, the free liquid level 501 is higher than the port 1061, and the immersion liquid 5 higher than the port 1061 can be rapidly pumped out by the low vacuum recovery device 12a or other separate low vacuum negative pressure source through the capillary array 106a and the first pipeline 107, so as to prevent the free liquid level 501 from fluctuating.
Referring to fig. 9, the capillary array 104a and the capillary array 106a may be designed as an integrated structure, that is, the capillary array 104a and the capillary array 106a use a common channel and use a negative pressure pumping source for pumping, or the capillary array 104a and the capillary array 106a may use a common channel and use two negative pressure pumping sources for pumping.
X, Y in the drawings of the embodiments of the present invention are coordinate axes.
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various changes and modifications made within the scope of the embodiments of the present invention are within the scope of the embodiments of the present invention.
Claims (28)
1. A liquid control system of an immersion lithographic apparatus, comprising a liquid pumping mechanism arranged in a gap between a projection objective and an immersion liquid maintenance system, the liquid pumping mechanism being unconnected to the projection objective and/or the immersion liquid maintenance system, a lower surface of the liquid pumping mechanism being higher than or equal to a predetermined contour of a free liquid surface of an immersion liquid flow field of the immersion liquid maintenance system, the liquid pumping mechanism being connected to a negative pressure pumping source via a conduit.
2. The liquid control system of an immersion lithographic apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the liquid pumping mechanism is provided on a main substrate of the immersion lithographic apparatus.
3. The liquid control system of an immersion lithographic apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the liquid pumping mechanism is disposed on the main substrate by a fixture.
4. The liquid control system of an immersion lithographic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the negative pressure suction source is a gas-liquid recovery apparatus.
5. The liquid control system of an immersion lithographic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a height position of the liquid pumping mechanism is adjustable.
6. The liquid control system of an immersion lithographic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the liquid pumping mechanism is a suction nozzle.
7. The liquid control system of an immersion lithographic apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the suction nozzle is a slit-containing annular sheet.
8. The liquid control system of an immersion lithography apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the suction nozzle is a plurality of annularly distributed segments of a curved sheet containing slits, the distribution of the curved sheet avoiding the positions of the immersion liquid supply port and the immersion liquid recovery port of the immersion liquid maintenance system.
9. The liquid control system of an immersion lithographic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the liquid pumping mechanism is a capillary tube.
10. The liquid control system of an immersion lithographic apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the capillary tube is a plurality of capillary tubes, and the plurality of capillary tubes are arranged in a ring to form a capillary array.
11. The liquid control system of an immersion lithographic apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the capillary array comprises a multi-segment arc array having a plurality of capillaries distributed over each segment, the distribution of the multi-segment arc array avoiding positions of the immersion liquid supply port and the immersion liquid recovery port of the immersion liquid maintenance system.
12. The liquid control system of an immersion lithographic apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the liquid pumping mechanism is two, and the heights of the lower surfaces of the two liquid pumping mechanisms are different.
13. The liquid control system of an immersion lithographic apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the liquid pumping mechanism at a lower surface is connected to a first negative pressure suction source via a pipe, and the liquid pumping mechanism at a higher surface is connected to a second negative pressure suction source via a pipe.
14. The liquid control system of an immersion lithographic apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the first negative pressure suction source is a low vacuum gas-liquid recovery apparatus and the second negative pressure suction source is a high vacuum gas-liquid recovery apparatus.
15. A method of liquid control of an immersion lithographic apparatus,
arranging a liquid pumping mechanism in a gap between the projection objective and the immersion liquid maintaining system, so that the liquid pumping mechanism is not in contact connection with the projection objective and/or the immersion liquid maintaining system;
setting the lower surface of the liquid pumping and draining mechanism to be higher than or equal to the preset contour line of the free liquid level of an immersion liquid flow field of the immersion liquid maintaining system;
when the free liquid level of the immersion liquid flow field fluctuates in the vertical direction, the immersion liquid higher than the lower surface of the liquid pumping and discharging mechanism is pumped away by a negative pressure pumping source through a pipeline.
16. The liquid control method of an immersion lithographic apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the liquid pumping mechanism is provided on a main substrate of the immersion lithographic apparatus.
17. The liquid control method of an immersion lithographic apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the liquid pumping mechanism is disposed on the main substrate by a fixture.
18. The liquid control method of an immersion lithographic apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the negative pressure suction source is a gas-liquid recovery apparatus.
19. The liquid control method of an immersion lithographic apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the liquid pumping mechanism is arranged to be height adjustable.
20. The liquid control method of an immersion lithographic apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the liquid pumping mechanism is a suction nozzle.
21. The liquid control method of an immersion lithographic apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the suction nozzle is an annular thin plate containing a slit.
22. The liquid control method of an immersion lithography apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the suction nozzle is a plurality of annularly distributed segments of an arc-shaped sheet with slits therein, the distribution of the arc-shaped sheet being kept away from the positions of the immersion liquid supply port and the immersion liquid recovery port of the immersion liquid maintenance system.
23. The liquid control method of an immersion lithographic apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the liquid pumping mechanism is a capillary tube.
24. The liquid control method of an immersion lithographic apparatus according to claim 23, wherein the capillary tube is a plurality of capillary tubes, and the plurality of capillary tubes are arranged in a ring to form a capillary array.
25. The liquid control method of an immersion lithographic apparatus according to claim 24, wherein the capillary array comprises a multi-segment arc array having a plurality of capillaries distributed over each segment, the distribution of the multi-segment arc array avoiding positions of the immersion liquid supply port and the immersion liquid recovery port of the immersion liquid maintenance system.
26. The liquid control method of an immersion lithographic apparatus according to any one of claims 15 to 25, wherein the liquid pumping mechanism is provided in two such that the heights of the lower surfaces of the two liquid pumping mechanisms are different.
27. The liquid control method of an immersion lithographic apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the liquid pumping mechanism with a lower surface is connected to a first negative pressure suction source through a pipeline, and the liquid pumping mechanism with a higher lower surface is connected to a second negative pressure suction source through a pipeline;
when the free liquid level of the immersion liquid flow field fluctuates slightly in the vertical direction, the immersion liquid higher than the lower surface of the liquid pumping and discharging mechanism is pumped away by a first negative pressure pumping source through a first pipeline;
when the free liquid level of the immersion liquid flow field fluctuates greatly in the vertical direction, the immersion liquid higher than the lower surface of the higher position of the liquid pumping and discharging mechanism is pumped away by a second negative pressure pumping source through a second pipeline.
28. The liquid control method of an immersion lithographic apparatus according to claim 27, wherein the first negative pressure suction source is a low vacuum gas-liquid recovery apparatus and the second negative pressure suction source is a high vacuum gas-liquid recovery apparatus.
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| US5040020A (en) * | 1988-03-31 | 1991-08-13 | Cornell Research Foundation, Inc. | Self-aligned, high resolution resonant dielectric lithography |
| US9477158B2 (en) * | 2006-04-14 | 2016-10-25 | Asml Netherlands B.V. | Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method |
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| JP2002110512A (en) * | 2000-09-27 | 2002-04-12 | Toshiba Corp | Film formation method and device thereof |
| US7684008B2 (en) * | 2003-06-11 | 2010-03-23 | Asml Netherlands B.V. | Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method |
| US7394521B2 (en) * | 2003-12-23 | 2008-07-01 | Asml Netherlands B.V. | Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method |
| US7446850B2 (en) * | 2004-12-03 | 2008-11-04 | Asml Netherlands B.V. | Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method |
| KR20090002475A (en) * | 2007-06-29 | 2009-01-09 | 주식회사 하이닉스반도체 | Apparatus for exposure device for immersion lithography and the method for removing watermark using thereof |
| JP5001343B2 (en) * | 2008-12-11 | 2012-08-15 | エーエスエムエル ネザーランズ ビー．ブイ． | Fluid extraction system, immersion lithographic apparatus, and method for reducing pressure fluctuations of an immersion liquid used in an immersion lithographic apparatus |
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| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US5040020A (en) * | 1988-03-31 | 1991-08-13 | Cornell Research Foundation, Inc. | Self-aligned, high resolution resonant dielectric lithography |
| US9477158B2 (en) * | 2006-04-14 | 2016-10-25 | Asml Netherlands B.V. | Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method |
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