CN116610006A

CN116610006A - Microlens array exposure device and microlens array exposure method

Info

Publication number: CN116610006A
Application number: CN202310459191.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 请求不公布姓名
Original assignee: Shenzhen Zhida Xingkong Technology Group Co ltd; Smart Star Shanghai Engineering Technology Co ltd
Current assignee: Shenzhen Zhida Xingkong Technology Group Co ltd; Smart Star Shanghai Engineering Technology Co ltd
Priority date: 2023-04-26
Filing date: 2023-04-26
Publication date: 2023-08-18

Abstract

The application provides a microlens array exposure device and a microlens array exposure method, which belong to the technical field of exposure machines, wherein the device comprises an illumination system, a mask, an imaging system and a photosensitive substrate, the imaging system is provided with a first imaging lens group and a second imaging lens group, the first imaging lens group and the second imaging lens group are mirror symmetry along an intermediate imaging plane, and the first imaging lens group and the second imaging lens group are regularly arranged microlens lens groups; the illumination system provides exposure light beams, the exposure light beams irradiate the patterns of the mask plate, a middle image surface is formed through the first imaging lens group, and the exposure light beams are exposed to the photosensitive substrate through the second imaging lens group; the object plane of the first imaging lens group corresponds to the mask plate, and the image plane of the first imaging lens group corresponds to the intermediate image plane; the object plane of the second imaging lens group is an intermediate image plane, and the image plane of the second imaging lens group corresponds to the photosensitive substrate. According to the processing scheme provided by the application, the exposure device which is simple in structure and can improve the utilization rate of the field of view of the lens can be obtained.

Description

Microlens array exposure device and microlens array exposure method

Technical Field

The application relates to the technical field of exposure machines, in particular to a microlens array exposure device and a microlens array exposure method.

Background

Photolithography is a technique that can be used to pattern substrates coated with photosensitive media for the fabrication of Integrated Circuits (ICs) and their packages, flat Panel Displays (FPDs), LED illumination, microelectromechanical systems devices (MEMS), optical devices, and other precision devices. The exposure apparatus used in photolithography is a tool that achieves the desired pattern transfer onto a target area of a substrate.

The prior art exposure system of the dual dyson structure is shown in fig. 1, and includes: a light source 1, a reticle 2, an adjusting device 3, a dyson optical system 10, a dyson optical system 11, and a photosensitive substrate 12. The dyson optical system 10 includes a right angle mirror 4, a lens 5, and a concave mirror 6, and the dyson optical system 11 includes a right angle mirror 7, a lens 8, and a concave mirror 9, with the adjusting device 3 placed between the reticle 2 and the right angle mirror 4. The adjusting device 3 is a afocal optical system with two planar ends, and the adjusting device can be placed at a plurality of positions, such as the unnumbered dashed box in fig. 1, which is the position where the adjusting device 3 can be placed. The light source 1 irradiates the pattern image on the illumination 2, and is projected and exposed on the photosensitive substrate 12 through the adjusting device and the dyson optical systems 10 and 11.

However, in the exposure system with the dual-dyson structure, the size of the available lens field does not reach 50% of the actual lens field, and the utilization rate of the lens field is low; in addition, the lens of the system is a traditional optical lens, so that the processing, detecting and assembling cost of the lens is high in order to meet the requirement of high precision. In order to meet the requirement of high precision, the lens is also large in size and cannot be further reduced in size.

Disclosure of Invention

Therefore, in order to overcome the defects of the prior art, the application provides a microlens array exposure device and a microlens array exposure method, which have simple structures and improve the utilization rate of the field of view of a lens.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the present application provides a microlens array exposure device, which comprises an illumination system, a mask, an imaging system and a photosensitive substrate, wherein the imaging system is provided with a first imaging lens group and a second imaging lens group, the first imaging lens group and the second imaging lens group are mirror symmetry along a middle imaging plane, and the first imaging lens group and the second imaging lens group are microlens lens groups which are regularly arranged; the illumination system is used for providing exposure light beams, the exposure light beams irradiate the pattern of the mask plate, an intermediate image plane is formed through the first imaging lens group, and then the exposure light beams are exposed to the photosensitive substrate through the second imaging lens group; the object plane of the first imaging lens group corresponds to the mask plate, and the image plane of the first imaging lens group corresponds to the intermediate image plane; the object plane of the second imaging lens group is the middle image plane, and the image plane of the second imaging lens group corresponds to the photosensitive substrate.

In one embodiment, the apparatus comprises a plurality of independent imaging systems.

In one embodiment, the first imaging lens group and the second imaging lens group each include a plurality of sub-projection objectives, and the plurality of sub-projection objectives in the same imaging lens group are arranged in a matrix.

In one embodiment, the shape of the sub-projection objective is any one of trapezoid, triangle, diamond and parallelogram.

In one embodiment, the plurality of sub-projection objectives in the same group of imaging lenses comprises at least two types of optical lenses.

In one embodiment, a plurality of said sub-projection objectives in the same group of imaging lenses are combined in a symmetrical fashion for transmission.

In one embodiment, the device further comprises a control system and a motion stage, wherein the motion stage is used for adjusting the movement of the photosensitive substrate on a horizontal plane; the control system is used for controlling the motion stage according to the configuration shape of the exposure field.

In one embodiment, the control system causes an exposure beam to illuminate the pattern of the reticle in the exposure field of the sub-projection objective during exposure and projects the pattern of the reticle to a current sub-exposure area via the sub-projection objective to form a current sub-exposure pattern; and adjusting the motion platform to enable the photosensitive substrate to move along a preset scanning exposure direction so as to continuously project the pattern of the mask plate to the next sub-exposure area, so as to finish splicing exposure and obtain an exposure field with a configuration shape.

In one embodiment, the device further comprises an exposure system, a motion stage and a mask stage,

the motion platform is used for adjusting the motion of the photosensitive substrate in a horizontal plane; the mask table is used for adjusting the mask plate to move in a horizontal plane; the exposure system is used for controlling the motion stage and the mask stage respectively according to the configuration shape of the exposure field.

In one embodiment, the device further comprises an adjusting system and at least one adjusting element,

the adjusting element is used for adjusting the light path of the exposure light beam, and the adjusting element is in mirror symmetry along the middle image plane; the adjustment system is used for adjusting the position of the adjustment element in the light path.

In one embodiment, the adjusting element is a wedge element, the wedge element has a slope and an oblique angle, and when the wedge element moves along the direction of the slope, the thickness of the wedge element in the optical path is increased or decreased to change the optical path of the exposure beam actually irradiated to the wedge element.

In one embodiment, the adjusting element is a plate element, and the plate element is controlled to rotate around the X axis relative to the Y axis and the optical axis plane or rotate around the Y axis relative to the X axis and the optical axis plane, so as to adjust the image point to translate in the X axis or the Y axis.

A microlens array exposure method, comprising: providing an exposure light beam by adopting an illumination system, wherein the exposure light beam irradiates the pattern of the mask plate, forms a middle image plane through a first imaging lens group, and is exposed to the photosensitive substrate through a second imaging lens group; the first imaging lens group and the second imaging lens group are in mirror symmetry along the middle image plane; the object plane of the first imaging lens group corresponds to the mask plate, and the image plane of the first imaging lens group corresponds to the intermediate image plane; the object plane of the second imaging lens group is the middle image plane, and the image plane of the second imaging lens group corresponds to the photosensitive substrate.

Compared with the prior art, the application has the advantages that: by adopting mirror symmetry of the micro lens groups, the field utilization rate of the projection objective can be greatly improved, full field exposure can be realized, and the field utilization rate of the lens is high. And the micro-lens has the advantages of relatively simple structure, low manufacturing cost and obviously reduced cost advantage of the imaging system. Therefore, the microlens array exposure device has the advantages of simple structure, high field utilization rate, small volume, low cost and the like.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings that are needed in the embodiments will be briefly described below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application, and that other drawings can be obtained according to these drawings without inventive effort for a person skilled in the art.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an exposure system of the prior art;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a structure of a microlens array exposure apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a sub-projection system of a microlens array exposure apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the construction of a projection objective of a microlens array exposure apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a lens exposure field for hexagons in accordance with an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a trapezoidal lens exposure field configuration in accordance with an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a triangle lens exposure field configuration in accordance with an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a rhombic lens exposure field configuration in accordance with an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of a rectangular lens exposure field configuration in accordance with an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of a square lens exposure field configuration in accordance with an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a lens exposure field configuration in the shape of a parallelogram according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a lens exposure field configuration of an exposure apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing a process of implementing a stitching exposure by a microlens array exposure apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 14 is a schematic view showing a structure of a microlens array exposure apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of a projection objective of a microlens array exposure apparatus in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 16 is a schematic view showing a structure of an exposure apparatus including an adjusting device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 17 is a schematic view of the placement position of the wedge adjustment member in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 18 is a schematic view showing the placement of another wedge-shaped adjustment member according to an embodiment of the present application

FIGS. 19-21 are schematic views of the translational direction of the wedge adjustment element;

FIG. 22 is a schematic view of a placement position of a plate adjustment member according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 23 is a schematic view of the adjustment direction of the plate adjustment element;

FIG. 24 is a schematic view showing a structure of an exposure apparatus including an adjusting element according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 25 is a schematic view of an exposure apparatus with multiple projection objectives according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 26 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of an exposure apparatus with multiple projection objectives;

FIG. 27 is a schematic view of an exposure apparatus with multiple projection objectives for exposing a spliced full or partial silicon wafer area according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 28 is a view field schematic diagram of an exposure apparatus including a plurality of projection objectives for implementing exposure of a spliced full silicon wafer or a partial silicon wafer region in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 29 is a schematic view of an exposure apparatus with multiple projection objectives and adjusting elements according to an embodiment of the application.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Other advantages and effects of the present application will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following disclosure, which describes the embodiments of the present application with reference to specific examples. It will be apparent that the described embodiments are only some, but not all, embodiments of the application. The application may be practiced or carried out in other embodiments that depart from the specific details, and the details of the present description may be modified or varied from the spirit and scope of the present application. It should be noted that the following embodiments and features in the embodiments may be combined with each other without conflict. All other embodiments, which can be made by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the application without making any inventive effort, are intended to be within the scope of the application.

It is noted that various aspects of the embodiments are described below within the scope of the following claims. It should be apparent that the aspects described herein may be embodied in a wide variety of forms and that any specific structure and/or function described herein is merely illustrative. Based on the present disclosure, one skilled in the art will appreciate that one aspect described herein may be implemented independently of any other aspect, and that two or more of these aspects may be combined in various ways. For example, apparatus may be implemented and/or methods practiced using any number and aspects set forth herein. In addition, such apparatus may be implemented and/or such methods practiced using other structure and/or functionality in addition to one or more of the aspects set forth herein.

It should also be noted that the illustrations provided in the following embodiments merely illustrate the basic concept of the present application by way of illustration, and only the components related to the present application are shown in the drawings and are not drawn according to the number, shape and size of the components in actual implementation, and the form, number and proportion of the components in actual implementation may be arbitrarily changed, and the layout of the components may be more complicated.

In addition, in the following description, specific details are provided in order to provide a thorough understanding of the examples. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the aspects may be practiced without these specific details. In the following description, a microlens array exposure device and an exposure device are referred to as the same.

As shown in fig. 2, an embodiment of the present application provides a microlens array exposure apparatus 100A, which includes an illumination system 110, a mask 130, an imaging system 120, and a photosensitive substrate 140.

The imaging system 120 has a first imaging lens group 121 and a second imaging lens group 123, which are mirror symmetric along an intermediate image plane 122, and the first imaging lens group 121 and the second imaging lens group 123 are microlens lens groups arranged regularly. The lens combination of the first imaging lens group 121 and the second imaging lens group 123 uses the middle image plane 122 as mirror symmetry, so that the field utilization rate of the projection objective can be greatly improved.

All of the microlens lenses in the microlens lens set may be completely uniform, or may be of two or more different sizes. However, all the microlens lenses in each imaging lens group may be arranged according to a certain rule.

An illumination system (illumination system) is used to provide an exposure beam. The exposure light source of the illumination system may employ a UV light source or the like.

The intermediate image plane is a unique optical structure, which means that there is an image plane inside the optical system shown in fig. 2, and the intermediate image plane is not a real object. The image plane may divide the imaging system 120 into two parts: the first part includes a first imaging lens 121, an object plane of the first imaging lens group corresponds to the mask 130, and an image plane of the first imaging lens group corresponds to the intermediate image plane 122; the second portion includes a second imaging lens 123, an object plane of the second imaging lens group is an image plane 122 of the first imaging lens 121, and the image plane of the second imaging lens group corresponds to the photosensitive substrate 140. In one embodiment, the magnification of the first imaging lens group 121 may be negative one time and the magnification of the second imaging lens group 123 may be negative one time, which makes the overall magnification of the imaging system 120 positive one time.

The exposure light beam irradiates the pattern of the mask plate, forms an intermediate image plane through the first imaging lens group, and is exposed to the photosensitive substrate through the second imaging lens group.

The reticle pattern of reticle 130 may be configured to be projected entirely by the projection objective exposure field, and the area to be exposed of photosensitive substrate 140 may be correspondingly configured to be an exposure area projected by the projection objective exposure field. The photosensitive substrate may be any one of a silicon wafer, a glass plate, a PCB board, a compound semiconductor substrate, and the like.

In one embodiment, in the exposure apparatus 100B shown in fig. 3, the exposure light source may employ a UV light source, and the light beam of the light source light entering the illumination system 110 is re-homogenized and shaped to form an exposure light beam. The shaped exposure beam irradiates the pattern image on the mask surface (projection objective object surface), and the pattern beam is projected and exposed on the silicon wafer surface (i.e. the photosensitive substrate, i.e. the projection object mirror surface) through the projection objectives 121, 123. The first imaging lens group and the second imaging lens group both comprise a plurality of sub-projection objectives, and the sub-projection objectives in the same imaging lens group are arranged in a matrix. The first imaging lens group may include 3 sets of microlens matrix arrangements 124, 126, and the corresponding second imaging lens group also includes 3 sets of microlens matrix arrangements. In this embodiment, the plurality of sub-projection objectives of the first imaging lens group are arranged in a matrix, and the first imaging lens group and the second imaging lens group are mirror-symmetrical along the intermediate image plane 122, so the plurality of sub-projection objectives of the second imaging lens group are also arranged in a matrix.

As shown in fig. 4, the imaging system 120' includes a first array of imaging lens groups 121 and a second array of imaging lens groups 123 that are symmetrical about the intermediate image plane. The imaging system 120' may replace the imaging system 120 in the exposure apparatus 100A of fig. 2 to achieve the effect of a large field of view projection exposure. In fig. 4, a first array imaging lens group 121 includes: optical array lenses g 1-g 4. The second array imaging lens group 123 includes: optical array lenses g 5-g 8. The optical array lenses g 1-g 4 and the optical array lenses g 5-g 8 are symmetrical with respect to the intermediate image plane 122, namely: the optical array lens g1 and the optical array lens 8 are symmetrically arranged with respect to the intermediate image plane 122, the optical array lens g2 and the optical array lens g7 are symmetrically arranged, the optical array lens g3 and the optical lens g6 are symmetrically arranged … …, the optical array lens g4 and the optical array lens g5 are symmetrically arranged, and the like.

The imaging system 120' shown in fig. 4 combines and transmits the optical array lenses in a symmetrical manner in the lens on the basis of the double-symmetrical array lens, so that the system has symmetrical structure, balanced aberration and high component recycling rate, and the utilization rate of the exposure field can be improved to the greatest extent.

In one embodiment, the shape of the sub-projection objective is any one of trapezoid, triangle, diamond, parallelogram. Fig. 5 shows the configuration of the exposure field of the projection objective of one microlens lens. The circular line is the field of view of the objective lens, and the exposure field of view of the lens is hexagonal. The lens exposure field shapes shown in fig. 6 to 11 are trapezoids, triangles, diamonds, rectangles, squares and parallelograms, respectively. That is, the sub-projection objectives 124, 125, 126 of the projection objectives 121, 123 may be trapezoidal, triangular, diamond, rectangular, square, parallelogram and other patterns considered advantageous for stitching, whereby stitching of the fields of view may be performed in order to increase the exposure efficiency during a subsequent stitching scan exposure. In the splicing exposure process, splicing exposure can be performed through the sub-exposure area of the exposure field corresponding to the exposure field in the scanning exposure direction, so that the configuration shape of the exposure field is obtained. Specifically, the sub-exposure regions of the photosensitive substrate may be spliced to obtain the configuration shape of the exposure field. The plurality of sub-projection objectives in the same imaging lens group may have the same shape of the lens exposure field of view, or may have different shapes of the lens exposure field of view. For example, the configuration of the exposure field may be selected to have a geometry that mates with the triangular features (the position or size of the triangles in the different microlenses may be uniform or non-uniform) to achieve a mate of sub-exposure areas during the mate exposure process. In the splicing exposure process, the areas (namely, non-sub-exposure areas) which are not required to be exposed can be shielded through the chromium side of the mask, and the sub-exposure areas which are required to be exposed are subjected to splicing exposure in a splicing exposure view field mode. As shown in fig. 12, the plurality of sub-projection objectives in the same imaging lens group have lens exposure field shapes of different shapes, so that the configuration shape of the exposure field can be obtained by performing stitching exposure on the exposure field in the scanning exposure direction corresponding to the sub-exposure area of the exposure field.

As shown in fig. 2, in one embodiment, the exposure apparatus 100A further includes a control system 20 and a motion stage 21.

The motion stage 21 is used for adjusting the movement of the photosensitive substrate 140 on the horizontal plane; the control system 20 is used to control the motion stage according to the configuration shape of the exposure field. The control system 20 and the motion stage 21 can be matched to realize effective exposure of the large-size silicon wafer (namely the photosensitive substrate) of the exposure device.

As shown in fig. 13, the exposure apparatus 100A performs a process of splice-exposing sub-exposure regions of the photosensitive substrate in the scanning exposure direction based on the hexagonal lens exposure field. The mask pattern is exposed to a silicon wafer (i.e., a photosensitive substrate) by an exposure apparatus 100A. Wherein the hexagonal exposure field realizes the tiled exposure of the sub-exposure areas by the features of the tiled triangle in its hexagons (i.e., the hypotenuse areas in fig. 11).

Referring to fig. 2, in conjunction with fig. 13, the exposure apparatus 100A may control the motion stage through the control system 20, so that the lens exposure field of view performs a stitching scanning exposure on the sub-exposure area of the photosensitive substrate in a scanning manner similar to an S-type. The control system 20 may be adapted to perform a stitching exposure as follows:

when exposing, the exposure light beam irradiates the pattern of the mask in the exposure view field of the sub-projection objective, and the pattern of the mask is projected to the current sub-exposure area through the sub-projection objective so as to form the current sub-exposure pattern; and adjusting the motion platform to enable the photosensitive substrate to move along a preset scanning exposure direction so as to continuously project the pattern of the mask plate to the next sub-exposure area, so as to finish splicing exposure and obtain an exposure field with a configuration shape.

The exposure apparatus 100B shown in fig. 3 is different from the exposure apparatus 100B shown in fig. 2, and the exposure apparatus 100B is suitable for a large-sized silicon wafer and achieves all exposure of a mask pattern at one time. In the exposure apparatus 100B, the area to be exposed of the photosensitive substrate may be correspondingly set as a sub-exposure area projected by the exposure field of the projection objective, and the current reticle pattern is a large-size reticle, including a plurality of sub-reticle patterns set so as to be entirely projected by the exposure field of the projection objective to the corresponding at least one sub-exposure area.

In order to achieve effective exposure of the large-sized reticle and the large-sized silicon wafer (i.e., the photosensitive substrate), the exposure apparatus 100B of fig. 3 further includes: an exposure system 30, a motion stage 31, and a mask stage 32. The motion stage 31 is used for adjusting the motion of the photosensitive substrate 140 in the horizontal plane; mask stage 32 is used to adjust the movement of reticle 130 in a horizontal plane; the exposure system 30 is configured to control the motion stage 31 and the mask stage 32, respectively, according to the configuration shape of the exposure field.

The exposure beam of the exposure apparatus 100B irradiates only a partial pattern on the mask surface (projection objective object surface) for imaging in one exposure, and the partial pattern beam is subjected to projection exposure on a sub-exposure area corresponding to the silicon wafer surface (i.e., the photosensitive substrate, i.e., the projection object mirror surface) via the imaging system 120.

In one embodiment, as shown in fig. 14, the plurality of sub-projection objectives in the same group of imaging lenses comprise at least two types of optical lenses. The imaging system 120 is composed of a first imaging lens group 121 and a second imaging lens group 123 which are lens-symmetrical with respect to the intermediate image plane 122. The first imaging lens group 121 and the second imaging lens group 123 are composed of multiple lens structures, but the lens combinations of the first imaging lens group 121 and the second imaging lens group 123 are mirror symmetry with the middle image plane 122. The first imaging lens group 121 includes an optical lens (1211 in fig. 5) and a microlens array (1212). The second imaging lens group 123 includes an optical lens (1231 in fig. 5) and a microlens array (1232).

As shown in fig. 15, the imaging system 120″ employs a first array of imaging lenses 121 and a second array of imaging lenses 123 that are symmetrical about the intermediate image plane, which constitutes an effect that can be used by the exposure apparatus 100C shown in fig. 12 to achieve a large field of view projection exposure. The first array imaging lens 121 in fig. 13 includes: an optical lens G1 and optical array lenses G2, G3; the second array imaging lens 123 includes: optical array lenses G4, G5, and an optical lens G6. The optical lenses G1 and G6 are symmetrical about the intermediate image plane 122, and the optical array lenses G2, G3 and G4, G5 are symmetrical about the intermediate image plane 122.

The array imaging system 120″ shown in fig. 15 is based on a double-symmetrical lens and an array lens, and the optical lens and the array lens are combined and transmitted in a symmetrical manner in the lens, so that the system has symmetrical structure, balanced aberration and high element recycling rate, and the utilization rate of the exposure field can be improved to the greatest extent.

As shown in fig. 16, the exposure apparatus 100C further includes an adjustment system and at least one adjustment element.

The adjusting element is used for adjusting the light path of the exposure light beam, and the adjusting element is in mirror symmetry along the middle image plane. The adjustment element may be provided at a position through which the exposure beam passes, such as at the position of all the dashed boxes in fig. 16. Specifically, the adjusting element may be disposed between the imaging system 120 and the reticle 130, in the imaging system 120, and between the imaging system 120 and the photosensitive substrate 140 at a position through which at least one exposure beam passes. Within the imaging system 120, the adjustment element may also be disposed between the first imaging lens 121 and the intermediate imaging plane 122 or between the intermediate imaging plane 122 and the second imaging lens 123. The adjusting system is used for adjusting the position of the adjusting element in the light path, and can adjust the adjusting element according to different configuration principles of the adjusting element so as to realize the light path adjustment of the exposure light beam.

According to different functions of the adjusting elements, the adjusting system can be composed of at least one of a double-multiplying-power decoupling adjusting unit, a first wedge-shaped element control unit, a second wedge-shaped element control unit and a flat plate control unit.

Corresponding to the decoupling adjustment unit for the multiplying power, the adjustment element may include: and a multiplying-power decoupling element. The symmetrical multiplying power decoupling element at least comprises a first symmetrical multiplying power decoupling element and a second symmetrical multiplying power decoupling element, wherein the first symmetrical multiplying power decoupling element is arranged in the first imaging lens, and the second symmetrical multiplying power decoupling element is arranged in the second imaging lens; the first symmetrical multiplying power decoupling element and the second symmetrical multiplying power decoupling element are symmetrically arranged about the intermediate image plane; the symmetrical multiplying power decoupling adjustment unit is suitable for adjusting the translation of the first symmetrical multiplying power decoupling element and the second symmetrical multiplying power decoupling element along the optical axis, and changing the size of the air interval between the lenses in the objective lens so as to correct the multiplying power error of the projection objective. Any optical system can find an element which is decoupled with the multiplying power, and is not limited to a specific optical structure, so that a lens with better multiplying power decoupling performance in the first imaging lens or the second imaging lens can be selected and used as the symmetrical multiplying power decoupling element, and the multiplying power decoupling element is adjusted by the multiplying power decoupling adjusting unit to correct the multiplying power error of the projection objective.

In one embodiment, the adjustment element is a wedge element having a bevel and an oblique angle, and the thickness of the wedge element in the optical path is increased or decreased as the wedge element moves in the direction of the bevel to change the optical path of the exposure beam actually impinging on the wedge element.

Corresponding to the first wedge element control unit, the adjustment element may further comprise: a first wedge member set; the first wedge member set includes: the first wedge-shaped element is provided with a first inclined plane and a first oblique angle, and the second wedge-shaped element is provided with a second inclined plane and a first oblique angle; the first wedge-shaped element group is arranged between the projection objective and the mask plate, between the first imaging lens and the intermediate image plane, between the intermediate image plane and the second imaging lens or between the projection objective and the photosensitive substrate; the first wedge-shaped element control unit is suitable for controlling the relative movement between the first wedge-shaped element and the second wedge-shaped element along the inclined plane so as to adjust the focal plane difference of the corresponding projection objective.

The position of the first wedge-shaped element group may refer to fig. 17 and 18, the wedge-shaped elements in fig. 17 and 18 are shown by dotted lines in the figures, and the exposure apparatus 100C may be provided with the adjusting element at any dotted line element position in fig. 17 and 18, i.e. the first wedge-shaped element group at any position x1 to x4 may be used. That is, the first wedge element group may be provided between the reticle 130 and the imaging system 120, between the imaging system 120 and the photosensitive substrate, between the first lens 121 and the intermediate image plane 122, or between the intermediate image plane 122 and the second lens 123 of the exposure apparatus 100C.

When one of the wedge lenses moves along the direction of the inclined plane, the optical path actually irradiated to the first wedge element group is changed by increasing or decreasing the thickness between the wedge lenses, so that the focal plane can be changed, and the relative beam position of the first wedge element group where the optical path is placed can be changed by the first wedge element control unit, so that the optimal positions of the mask and the photosensitive substrate can be obtained. In the first wedge-shaped element group, the wedge-shaped lens can be used for adjusting the difference of focal planes of different projection objectives, the wedge plate can move along the inclined plane, and the translation schematic diagram of the wedge-shaped lens along the inclined plane can be referred to as fig. 19 and 21: fig. 19 illustrates the translation direction of the wedge lens along the inclined plane, fig. 20 illustrates the translation of the wedge lens along the inclined plane, the optical path is reduced, the focal plane moves wholly upwards, fig. 21 illustrates the translation of the wedge lens along the inclined plane, the optical path is increased, and the focal plane moves wholly downwards.

Corresponding to the second wedge element control unit, the adjustment element may further comprise: a second wedge member set. The second wedge element group may be doubled as the first wedge element group or have the same arrangement structure as the first wedge element group. The second wedge-shaped element control unit is suitable for controlling the inclination of the second wedge-shaped element group so as to adjust the asymmetric magnification error of the corresponding projection objective. The second wedge-shaped element group can be integrally regarded as a flat plate, and the flat plate rotates around the horizontal plane X axis to adjust the translation of the image plane Y direction, and rotates around the Y axis to adjust the translation of the image plane X direction. The second wedge element group (or the first wedge element group) may be rotated by the second wedge element control unit to make a change, thereby obtaining an accurate image point. The second wedge-shaped element group is disposed in a position as shown in fig. 17 and 18.

In one embodiment, the adjustment element is a plate element that is controlled to rotate about the X-axis relative to the Y-axis and the optical axis plane or to rotate about the Y-axis relative to the X-axis and the optical axis plane to adjust the translation of the image point in the X-axis or the Y-axis.

The flat plate element is arranged between the projection objective and the mask plate, between the first imaging lens and the intermediate imaging plane, between the intermediate imaging plane and the second imaging lens or between the projection objective and the photosensitive substrate. The planar control unit is adapted to control the planar element to rotate about the X-axis relative to the Y-axis and the optical axis plane or to rotate about the Y-axis relative to the X-axis and the optical axis plane to adjust the translation of the image point in the X-axis or the Y-axis. The adjustment mode of the flat plate element is similar to that of the second wedge-shaped element group, except that the whole second wedge-shaped element group can be regarded as the flat plate element, and the flat plate element can be adjusted to translate in the Y direction of an image plane by rotating around the X axis and can be adjusted to translate in the X direction by rotating around the Y axis. The schematic view of the position of the flat plate element based on the exposure apparatus 100C may be shown in fig. 22, and may be disposed at any one of the positions y1 to y4, that is, between the mask 130 and the imaging system 120, between the imaging system 120 and the photosensitive substrate, between the first lens 121 and the intermediate image plane 122, or between the intermediate image plane 122 and the second lens 123 of the exposure apparatus 100C.

The schematic diagram of the image point translation for adjusting the plate inclination can refer to fig. 23, the image point translation can be adjusted by using the plate element inclination, and the rotation of the plate around the X axis in the plane of the Y axis and the optical axis causes the X image point translation on the X axis; if the plate is rotated about the Y-axis in the X-axis and optical axis plane, translation of the Y-image point in the Y-axis will result.

In some embodiments, the adjustment element may be manually adjusted, or the corresponding adjustment element may be finely adjusted by the adjustment system according to the system configuration, so as to implement the optical path modulation function of the adjustment element. The above-mentioned various types of adjusting elements, that is, the multiplying power decoupling element, the first wedge element group, the second wedge element group and the flat plate element, may be configured with one element or a plurality of elements on any of the exposure devices 100A to 100C according to the needs. Taking the adjusting apparatus 100C as an example, in connection with fig. 24, the exposure apparatus 100C may include: the projection objective lens which is configured with the multiplying power decoupling element or the multiplying power decoupling element group (not shown in the figure) only carries out manual adjustment on the space distance between lenses of the predetermined optical lens which can be used as the multiplying power decoupling element or the multiplying power decoupling element group in the projection objective lens, thereby realizing multiplying power compensation; a first wedge element group 16 is configured between the mask 130 and the imaging system 120, and the wedge element can be controlled to translate along the inclined plane by a manual or first wedge element control unit 401 to realize focal plane adjustment; a plate element 17 is arranged between the projection objective 11 and the photosensitive substrate, which plate element can be controlled to rotate about the X-axis or the Y-axis by a manual or plate control unit 403 for image point calibration.

In other embodiments, the projection objective structure may also include a wedge plate element that can be tilted to adjust for asymmetric magnification errors, to eliminate different magnification errors of a single lens in the X and Y directions, and so on.

In some embodiments, the apparatus comprises a plurality of independent imaging systems. As shown in fig. 25, the exposure apparatus 100D includes: reticle 130, projection objectives 51 to 53, photosensitive substrate 140, spectroscopic system 55, and illumination units 56 to 58. The light splitting system 55 is adapted to equally divide the light source into light source beams s1 to s3 to enter the illumination units 56 to 58, respectively; the illumination units 56 to 58 are adapted to homogenize and shape the corresponding light source beams to form corresponding split exposure beams b1 to b3, and the split exposure beams b1 to b3 may be irradiated to corresponding patterns of the reticle 130 and incident to the corresponding projection objectives 51 to 53. In other embodiments, the projection objective may be configured with a number of 2, 4 or other pluralities as desired. The structure of the projection objectives 51 to 53 can be referred to the configuration of the imaging system 120 of the exposure apparatus 100A to 100C.

The projection objective lenses with a plurality of numbers are adopted for simultaneous projection, so that the splicing exposure of large-size mask patterns and large-size silicon wafers (namely photosensitive substrates) can be realized, the lens manufacturing cost is greatly reduced, and the industrial cost of exposure production is reduced.

The exposure device projects a plurality of patterns of the mask plate to the corresponding objective lens by the exposure light beam, and the projection objective lens is provided with a plurality of intermediate image planes and can project a plurality of sub-exposure areas at the same time. For example, in the exposure apparatus 100D, three sub-mask patterns of the mask 130 are projected to the projection objectives 51 to 53 to form intermediate image planes z1 to z3, and since the three projection objectives can simultaneously perform exposure projection on sub-exposure areas q1 to q3 of respective exposure fields at the time of exposure, a larger sub-exposure area group (sub-exposure areas q1 to q 3) can be formed on the photosensitive substrate 140 by one exposure.

As shown in fig. 26, in order to achieve effective exposure of the large-sized silicon wafer and the large-sized reticle, the exposure apparatus 100E may further include: an exposure system 60 and a motion stage 61. Wherein the motion stage 61 can adjust the motion of the photosensitive substrate 140 in a horizontal plane. Since the current mask pattern may be set as a sub-mask pattern (three sub-mask pattern patterns are correspondingly configured to form the current mask pattern) which may be entirely projected by the projection objective 51 to 53 exposure fields, respectively, the area to be exposed of the photosensitive substrate may be correspondingly set as a sub-exposure area projected by the projection objective exposure fields 51 to 53, i.e. the projection objective exposure field 51 corresponds to a number of sub-exposure areas, the projection objective exposure field 52 corresponds to a number of sub-exposure areas, and the projection objective exposure field 53 corresponds to a number of sub-exposure areas.

The projection objectives 51 to 53 have the same configuration of exposure fields, and exposure fields of any of the shapes and structural features shown in fig. 5 to 11 can be used, and this embodiment takes a hexagonal exposure field as an example. Referring to fig. 27, based on the exposure apparatus 100D, the projection objectives 51 to 53 expose fields of view and can simultaneously project and expose to form a sub-exposure region group (in fig. 27, a silicon wafer is represented by a circle, a scanning track of the sub-exposure region group is represented by a line segment with an arrow, three hexagonal stitching exposure fields of view are sub-exposure region groups represented by square regions), and the sub-exposure region group is formed by projecting a sub-mask pattern to a sub-exposure region through the exposure fields 51 to 53. The exposure area in fig. 27 is not limited to the sub-exposure area and is not limited to three hexagonal fields of view, and may be a plurality of fields of view, and full-field exposure of the whole silicon wafer is realized after the splicing.

In fig. 27, the exposure system 60 controls the motion stage 61 to move the silicon wafer or the photosensitive substrate relatively, so that the exposure fields of the projection objectives 51 to 53 are combined and the mask pattern is simultaneously exposed to the silicon wafer (i.e., the photosensitive substrate) along the scanning exposure direction, and the exposure scanning is performed according to the direction indicated by the arrow in the figure, so as to complete the stitching exposure process. The exposure system 60 may be adapted to perform a stitching exposure by:

when exposing, the split exposure light beam irradiates the current sub mask pattern of the exposure view field of the corresponding projection objective, and the corresponding sub mask pattern is projected to the current sub exposure area through the corresponding projection objective so as to complete the exposure pattern for the current sub exposure area group;

and adjusting the motion platform to enable the photosensitive substrate to move along a preset scanning exposure direction so as to continuously project the corresponding sub-mask pattern to the next sub-exposure area, and completing exposure patterns for the next sub-exposure area group so as to complete splicing exposure.

As shown in fig. 28, in the exposure apparatus including a plurality of projection objectives, a plurality of patterns of a reticle are projected onto a corresponding objective by an exposure beam, and the projection objective has a plurality of intermediate image planes and is capable of simultaneously projecting a plurality of sub-exposure areas. For example, in the exposure apparatus 100D, three sub-reticle patterns of the reticle 130 are projected to the projection objectives 51 to 53 to form intermediate image planes z1 to z3, since the three projection objectives can simultaneously perform exposure projection on sub-exposure areas q1 to q3 of respective exposure fields at the time of exposure. Referring again to fig. 27, exposure system 60 moves the wafer or the photosensitive substrate relative to one another by controlling motion stage 61, which moves the photosensitive substrate in a predetermined scanning exposure direction to continue projecting the corresponding sub-mask pattern to the next sub-exposure area.

The exposure device 100D or 100E may be used in combination with the adjustment device to realize optical path modulation. Based on the respective types of adjustment elements of the adjustment apparatus, that is, the magnification decoupling element, the first wedge element group, the second wedge element group, and the flat plate element, one element or a plurality of elements may be arranged on any of the exposure apparatuses 100D or 100E as needed. Taking the adjustment apparatus 100D as an example, the exposure apparatus 100F in connection with fig. 29 includes: projection objectives 71 to 73 configured with a magnification decoupling element or a magnification decoupling element group (not shown in the figure), and magnification compensation of each objective is achieved by manually adjusting the inter-lens space distance of the magnification decoupling element or the optical lens of the magnification decoupling element group; first wedge elements j1 to j3 are sequentially arranged between the mask 130 and the projection objective lenses 71 to 72 respectively, and the first wedge elements j1 to j3 can be controlled to translate along inclined planes by a manual or first wedge element control unit 401 so as to realize focal plane adjustment of each objective lens; the flat elements p1 to p3 are arranged between the projection objectives 71 to 73 and the photosensitive substrate in sequence, and the flat elements p1 to p3 can be controlled to rotate around the X axis or the Y axis respectively by a manual or flat control unit 403 so as to realize the image point calibration of each objective.

In other embodiments, the projection objectives 71 to 72 may also include wedge plate elements, respectively, which may be tilted to adjust the asymmetric magnification errors of the objectives, to eliminate the different magnification errors of the individual lenses in the X and Y directions, etc.

The foregoing is merely illustrative of the present application, and the present application is not limited thereto, and any changes or substitutions easily contemplated by those skilled in the art within the scope of the present application should be included in the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the application is subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A microlens array exposure device is characterized by comprising an illumination system, a mask plate, an imaging system and a photosensitive substrate,

the imaging system is provided with a first imaging lens group and a second imaging lens group, the first imaging lens group and the second imaging lens group are in mirror symmetry along the middle imaging plane, and the first imaging lens group and the second imaging lens group are all microlens lens groups which are regularly arranged;

the illumination system is adapted to provide an exposure beam,

the exposure light beam irradiates the pattern of the mask plate, forms an intermediate image plane through the first imaging lens group, and is exposed to the photosensitive substrate through the second imaging lens group;

the object plane of the first imaging lens group corresponds to the mask plate, and the image plane of the first imaging lens group corresponds to the intermediate image plane; the object plane of the second imaging lens group is the middle image plane, and the image plane of the second imaging lens group corresponds to the photosensitive substrate.

2. The microlens array exposure apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus comprises a plurality of imaging systems independent of each other.

3. The microlens array exposure apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first imaging lens group and the second imaging lens group each include a plurality of sub-projection objectives, and the plurality of sub-projection objectives in the same constituent imaging lens group are arranged in a matrix.

4. A microlens array exposure apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the shape of the sub-projection objective is any one of a trapezoid, a triangle, a diamond, and a parallelogram.

5. A microlens array exposure apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a plurality of the sub-projection objectives in the same constituent imaging lens group include at least two types of optical lenses.

6. A microlens array exposure apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a plurality of the sub-projection objectives in the same group of imaging lenses are combined in transmission in a symmetrical manner.

7. The microlens array exposure apparatus of claim 3, further comprising a control system and a motion stage,

the motion platform is used for adjusting the movement of the photosensitive substrate on a horizontal plane; the control system is used for controlling the motion stage according to the configuration shape of the exposure field.

8. The microlens array exposure apparatus of claim 7, wherein the control system causes an exposure beam to illuminate the pattern of the reticle in the sub-projection objective exposure field of view at the time of exposure, and projects the pattern of the reticle to a current sub-exposure area via the sub-projection objective to form a current sub-exposure pattern; and adjusting the motion platform to enable the photosensitive substrate to move along a preset scanning exposure direction so as to continuously project the pattern of the mask plate to the next sub-exposure area, so as to finish splicing exposure and obtain an exposure field with a configuration shape.

9. The microlens array exposure apparatus of claim 1 or 2, further comprising an exposure system, a motion stage and a mask stage,

10. The microlens array exposure apparatus of claim 1 or 2, further comprising an adjustment system and at least one adjustment element,

11. The microlens array exposure apparatus of claim 10, wherein the adjustment member is a wedge member having a slope and an oblique angle,

when the wedge element moves along the direction of the inclined plane, the thickness of the wedge element in the optical path is increased or decreased to change the optical path of the exposure beam actually irradiated to the wedge element.

12. The microlens array exposure apparatus of claim 10, wherein the adjustment member is a flat plate member,

the planar element is controlled to rotate around the X axis relative to the Y axis and the optical axis plane or to rotate around the Y axis relative to the X axis and the optical axis plane so as to adjust the image point to translate in the X axis or the Y axis.

13. A microlens array exposure method, characterized by comprising:

an illumination system is used to provide an exposure beam,

the first imaging lens group and the second imaging lens group are in mirror symmetry along the middle image plane; the object plane of the first imaging lens group corresponds to the mask plate, and the image plane of the first imaging lens group corresponds to the intermediate image plane; the object plane of the second imaging lens group is the middle image plane, and the image plane of the second imaging lens group corresponds to the photosensitive substrate.