JP2001044107A - Sliding device for vacuum and stage mechanism thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To increase and accelerate the moving speed of a stage mechanism system and prolong the service life of the system, and in addition to enable the system to maintain high accuracy over a long period. SOLUTION: A sliding device for vacuum is provided with a sliding shaft 3 passing through a vacuum chamber 2, an X-stage substrate 4 which is coupled with the shaft 3, and an air slide bearing 5 which guides the shaft 3 outside the chamber 2. The sliding device is also provided with partition walls 6 and 9, which prevent a gas from flowing in the chamber 2 and an actuator 7 on the outside of the chamber 2. The bearing 5 has an air bag for floating the sliding shaft 3 and a discharge groove for discharging the gas. The actuator 7 drives the X-stage substrate 4 via a driving rod in a state where bearing 5 floats the sliding shaft 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vacuum slide apparatus for an exposure apparatus for semiconductor lithography, and more particularly to a vacuum slide apparatus for a scanning type exposure apparatus using an electron beam and a VUV / EUV exposure apparatus which operates in a vacuum chamber. The present invention relates to an apparatus and a stage mechanism thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Electron beam lithography systems for directly writing an electron beam on a wafer have been developed in response to the increase in the density of semiconductor devices (for example, "electron beam lithography systems").
SEAJ Journal, 24-32, December 1995). FIG. 6 and FIG.
FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a vacuum slide device of a conventional electron beam writing apparatus. In the figure, a guide portion 102a of a stage 102 in a vacuum chamber 101 is configured by a rolling guide. Since the rolling guide is of a contact type, there are problems such as minute vibration and dust generation accompanying the stage movement. Also. The rolling guide requires a little oil supply, and it is necessary to select oil that does not deteriorate the environment in the vacuum chamber.

[0003] A motor 105 as an actuator is
The wafer mounting surface 1 of the stage is controlled so that the magnetic field generated by driving the motor does not affect the path of the electron beam.
02b, that is, outside the vacuum chamber.

The stage 102 is driven by a ball screw 103 and a ball screw receiver 10 arranged on the lower surface of the stage.
4. A motor 105 disposed outside the vacuum chamber via a rotating shaft 106 connected to the ball screw 103
It is performed by In a portion where the rotating shaft 106 passes through the vacuum chamber, a rotating magnetic seal 107 using a magnetic fluid is used to maintain the degree of vacuum in the vacuum chamber. It is also necessary to pay attention to the generation of a magnetic field by the rotating magnetic seal 107.

FIG. 7 shows a conventional example in which a linear motion lot 108 is connected to a stage and driven without using a ball screw. Note that the stage inside the vacuum chamber 101 is not shown in the drawing. In the figure, the stage is driven by a drive stage 109 and a motor 105 provided outside the vacuum chamber via a direct-acting lot 108. A bellows-like partition 110 is provided in a portion where the direct acting lot 108 penetrates through the vacuum chamber 101 to maintain the degree of vacuum in the vacuum chamber. The partition 110 must expand and contract by the amount of movement of the stage. Since the amount of expansion and contraction per ridge of the bellows is small, a long bellows-like partition wall having a large number of ridges must be used. Therefore, there is an inconvenience that the precision of the stage is deteriorated due to the contraction resistance of the long bellows-like partition 110.

In a conventional electron beam drawing apparatus, a predetermined pattern is drawn on a wafer by scanning an electron beam.
The drawing speed is slow, and the number of wafers processed per hour (throughput) is controlled by a stepper that performs batch transfer using light, or a step and scan in which a reticle and a wafer are synchronously scanned and exposed according to the magnification of a projection optical system. Scan)
There is a drawback that it is low compared to.

In order to compensate for the above-mentioned drawbacks of the electron beam drawing apparatus, a scanning exposure apparatus using an electron beam (Lloyd R. Ha
rriot, "Scattering with angular limitation projecti
on electron beam lithography for suboptical lith
B., J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B15, 2130 (1997)). With this conventional device, the precision of the vacuum slide system due to the miniaturization of the drawing line width is increased and the throughput is increased. However, there is a demand for a high speed and high acceleration of the stage mechanism system, but the conventional stage mechanism system shown in FIGS. It is difficult to achieve high precision, and the short life of the stage mechanism system has become remarkable due to an increase in the amount of wear due to high speed and high acceleration.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described disadvantages, and has been made to increase the speed and acceleration of a stage mechanism system.
An object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum slide device capable of extending the life and maintaining high accuracy for a long period of time, and a stage mechanism used in the vacuum chamber. Further, the present invention provides a so-called clean stage mechanism that can maintain the degree of vacuum and the environment in the vacuum chamber. Further, the present invention is to provide a stage mechanism which satisfies requirements for maintaining drawing accuracy such as non-magnetism, low vibration, low heat generation and low dust generation.

[0009]

According to one aspect of the present invention, a slide shaft penetrating a vacuum chamber and an X stage coupled to the slide shaft in the vacuum chamber are provided. A substrate, an air slide bearing disposed outside the vacuum chamber and adjacent to the through portion of the slide shaft and serving as a guide for the slide shaft, and an air slide bearing end face facing the through portion of the slide shaft and the through portion. A partition wall covering the vacuum chamber and preventing an inflow of gas into the vacuum chamber; and an actuator outside the vacuum chamber, wherein the air slide bearing has an air pad for floating the slide shaft on a sliding surface with respect to the slide shaft. An exhaust groove for exhausting gas, wherein the air slide bearing connects the slide shaft. In a state of being above to provide a vacuum slide apparatus characterized in that the actuator drives the X stage substrate via the slide shaft.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a slide shaft penetrating the vacuum chamber, an X stage substrate connected to the slide shaft in the vacuum chamber, and penetrating the wall of the vacuum chamber connected to the X stage substrate. A drive rod, an actuator connected to the drive rod outside the vacuum chamber, an air slide bearing disposed outside the vacuum chamber, close to a penetrating portion of the slide shaft and serving as a guide for the slide shaft, and the slide shaft. A first partition wall that covers the through portion of the air slide bearing and the end surface of the air slide bearing facing the through portion to prevent gas from flowing into the vacuum chamber; and an end surface of the actuator that faces the through portion of the drive rod and the through portion. And a second partition wall that covers and prevents gas from leaking into the vacuum chamber,
The air slide bearing has an air pad for floating the slide shaft on a sliding surface with respect to the slide shaft, and an exhaust groove for exhausting the gas, and the air slide bearing raises the slide shaft. A vacuum slide device characterized in that the actuator drives the X-stage substrate via the drive rod in the retracted state.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the vacuum slide device according to the first or second aspect, the actuator is an air cylinder or a linear motor.

The invention according to claim 4 is the first or second invention.
Alternatively, in the vacuum slide device described in Item 3, the cross-sectional shape of the slide shaft is quadrangular.

[0013] The invention according to claim 5 is based on claim 1,
5. The vacuum slide device according to 2, 3, or 4, wherein the partition is made of an elastic body or a contractible bellows-shaped metal rigid body.

[0014] The invention according to claim 6 is based on claim 1,
The vacuum slide device according to 2, 3, 4, or 5,
The exhaust groove includes an exhaust groove arranged on the sliding surface so as to surround the air pad, and a suction groove arranged on the sliding surface so as to surround the slide shaft closer to the partition than the air pad. It is characterized by being performed.

[0015] The invention according to claim 7 is based on claim 1,
7. The vacuum slide device according to 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6, wherein the slide shaft, the air slide bearing, and the X stage substrate are made of ceramics.

The invention described in claim 8 is the first invention.
8. The vacuum slide device according to 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7, wherein a Y stage substrate as a mounting table, a rolling guide provided between the Y stage substrate and the X stage substrate, A Y stage including a drive shaft provided on a surface opposite to the mounting surface on the stage substrate, and an ultrasonic motor as an actuator provided on the X stage substrate for transmitting a driving force to the drive shaft. A stage mechanism for a vacuum slide device, comprising:

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the first aspect of the invention.
8. The vacuum slide device according to 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7, wherein the Y air slide bearing is coupled to the X stage substrate in a direction orthogonal to a slide axis of the X stage. A Y slide shaft that guides a bearing, a Y stage substrate as a mounting table coupled to the Y slide shaft, and an end surface of the Y air slide bearing that faces the inner wall surface of the vacuum chamber and a Y slide shaft. A Y air servo cylinder as an actuator provided inside the vacuum chamber covering the protruding portion from the end face; an air pad for floating the Y slide shaft on a sliding surface of the Y air slide bearing with respect to the Y slide shaft; A suction groove arranged to surround the Y slide shaft for exhausting air; With the Y slide bearing floating the Y slide shaft, the compressed air is supplied to and exhausted from the Y air servo cylinder so that the protrusion operates as a piston to drive the Y stage substrate. A stage mechanism for a vacuum slide device is provided.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the stage mechanism of the vacuum slide device according to the ninth aspect, the slide shaft of the X stage is hollow, and compressed air is supplied to the Y air servo cylinder in the hollow portion. A pipe for supplying and exhausting air, a pipe for supplying compressed air to an air pad of the Y air slide bearing, and a pipe for exhausting compressed air from a suction groove of the Y air slide bearing are provided.

The invention according to claim 11 is the invention according to claim 8,
11. The stage mechanism of a vacuum slide device according to 9 or 10, wherein the side walls of the Y stage substrate that are orthogonal to each other have mirror surfaces, and are used as moving mirrors of a laser interferometer.

The invention according to claim 12 provides the invention according to claim 11
In the stage mechanism of the vacuum slide device described above, the Y stage substrate is made of ceramic or glass which is a low thermal expansion material.

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The embodiment of the present invention relates to a stage on which a mask of a scanning exposure apparatus using an electron beam is mounted. FIG. 1 is an external view of a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 2B is a sectional view taken along the line AA ′ of FIG. This embodiment is an XY stage that operates in a vacuum chamber. In particular, the X stage 1 is a stage mechanism using an air slide as a guide, and is characterized in that it operates while maintaining a vacuum environment (for example, 10-7 Torr) in a vacuum chamber.

First, the X stage 1 will be described. X
The stage 1 includes two slide shafts 3 penetrating through the vacuum chamber 2, a stage substrate 4, an air slide bearing 5, a bellows-like partition 6, an air servo cylinder 7 as an actuator, an air servo cylinder, and a stage. And a drive rod 8 for connecting to the substrate. Further, the bearing surface of the air slide bearing 5 has an air pad for floating the slide shaft with a compressed gas, an exhaust groove for discharging the gas, and a suction groove for preventing gas from flowing into the vacuum chamber. And The structure of the bearing of the air slide bearing 5 will be described later in detail.

The two slide shafts 3a and 3b penetrating the vacuum chamber 2 are arranged in parallel, and each slide shaft 3a, 3b
Reference numeral 3b is provided outside the vacuum chamber 2 and is supported by two air slide bearings 5 arranged with the vacuum chamber 2 interposed therebetween.

The through portion 2a and the through portion 2 of the vacuum chamber 2
The opposite surface 5a of each air slide bearing with respect to a
The bellows-shaped partition walls 6 serve to prevent the gas from flowing from the through portion 2a by the action of a suction groove described later, and to maintain the vacuum environment inside the vacuum chamber. By forming the partition wall 6 from an elastic material such as rubber or a contractible bellows-shaped metal rigid body, it is possible to reduce the influence of deformation due to evacuation of the vacuum chamber wall surface. That is, even if the wall surface of the vacuum chamber is deformed, the deformation is absorbed in a bellows shape, the influence on the air slide shaft and the air slide bearing is suppressed, and the precision of the stage can be maintained.

In the vacuum chamber 2, a stage substrate 4 is mounted in a substantially central portion of each of the slide shafts 3a and 3b so as to bridge. An opening 4 a is opened at the center of the stage substrate 4. This is a window for guiding an electron beam to irradiate a mask (omitted in the figure).

On the lower surface of the stage substrate 4, a Y stage 2
0 is arranged (FIG. 1B).

In this embodiment, the Y stage is provided on the lower surface of the stage substrate 4. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the Y stage may be provided on the upper surface of the stage substrate 4.

The drive rod 8 attached to the air servo cylinder 7 penetrates through the vacuum chamber 2 and
Is attached to the side center part 4b. The driving rod 8 has a role of transmitting the driving force of the air servo cylinder 7 to the stage substrate. The penetration portion 2b of the vacuum chamber 2 and the facing surface 7a of the air servo cylinder 7 facing the penetration portion are provided with:
A bellows-like partition 9 is attached. On the sliding surface of the drive rod of the air servo cylinder 7 near the partition 9,
A suction groove (omitted in the drawing) for exhausting air is arranged. By the action of the partition 9 and the suction groove, the penetration portion 2 is formed.
Air leakage from b can be prevented, and the degree of vacuum inside the vacuum chamber can be maintained.

In the present embodiment, one drive rod penetrates one wall of the vacuum chamber. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and drive rods may be provided on both sides of the stage substrate 4. .

Next, the Y stage of the first embodiment will be described. The Y stage 20 is driven by a cross roller 21 as a rolling guide and an ultrasonic motor 22 as an actuator. In the present embodiment, the scanning direction of the stage requiring high speed and high acceleration in the scanning exposure apparatus using the electron beam is set to the X axis, and the step direction of the stage is set to the Y axis. Although nothing is shown on the upper surface of the vacuum chamber 2 in FIG. 1B, a mirror that generates an electron beam, deflects the electron beam, and scans the electron beam is used in a scanning exposure apparatus using an electron beam. It goes without saying that the tubular portion is arranged.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of an embodiment of the air slide bearing 5. In the embodiment, the cross section of the slide shaft 3 and the cross section of the opening of the air slide bearing 5 are rectangular or square. This is because the rigidity of the slide shaft is increased and the manufacturing of the air slide bearing is easy. Of course, the cross section of the slide shaft and the cross section of the opening of the air slide bearing can be circular.

Each air slide bearing 5 is composed of four plates so as to surround the slide shaft. In FIG.
Only a part of the bottom plate 30 and the side plate 31 is shown. In the figure,
The near side is the direction of the through portion 2a of the vacuum chamber 2.

On the sliding surface of each plate with the slide shaft, a group of air pads 32, an exhaust groove 33 arranged so as to surround each air pad 32 and the group of air pads, and a surface facing the air pad group. 5a and two suction grooves 34 and 35 arranged between the suction grooves.

The following is an explanation based on the bottom plate 30. The air pad 32 includes a groove 32a shaped like a “ta” and the “ta”.
And an orifice 32b for supplying air of a predetermined pressure to the groove 32a, and the slide shaft is floated by the air. A total of eight air pads 32 are arranged in a two-row, four-column layout on the bottom plate 30 and the sliding surface of each plate.

Further, an exhaust groove 33 is arranged around each air pad 32 and around the air pad group, and the exhaust groove 33 is opened on a side surface in a direction opposite to a through portion of the vacuum chamber. Reference numeral 33a indicates an opening of the exhaust groove 33. The air discharged from the air pad 32 passes through the exhaust groove 33 and is exhausted from the opening 33a. The function of the exhaust groove 33 is to reduce the pressure between the air pad and the suction groove 34 to almost the atmospheric pressure by exhausting the air discharged from the air pad, thereby increasing the exhaust efficiency of the suction grooves 34 and 35. is there.

The suction grooves 34 and 35 are arranged so as to surround the slide shaft. The suction groove 34 reduces the atmospheric pressure to a predetermined pressure. The suction groove 35 is for reducing the predetermined pressure by the suction groove 34 to almost the degree of vacuum in the vacuum chamber. At the bottom of the suction grooves 34, 35 of the bottom plate 30,
A suction hole is provided and connected to a vacuum pump (not shown). For example, a rotary pump is connected to the suction groove 34, and a turbo-molecular pump or a rotary pump is connected to the suction groove 35.

FIG. 3A is a longitudinal sectional view showing a second embodiment of the present invention. The differences from the first embodiment will be described. In the second embodiment, two slide shafts 3 are connected, and the connection portion 11 is driven by an air servo cylinder 12 as an actuator. That is, FIG.
The actuator is driven by an actuator provided outside the vacuum chamber via the slide shaft 3 without providing the drive rod 8, the through portion 2b, and the suction groove inside the air servo cylinder in FIG.

In the second embodiment, the Y stage 13 is provided on the X stage substrate 4. Y stage 1
The guide 3 is a crossed roller guide 14 as a rolling guide. A drive shaft 16 having a rectangular cross section is arranged at the bottom of the center of the Y-stage substrate 15, and the drive shaft 16 is connected to two ultrasonic motors 17a from both sides. , 17b.

As described above, the drive shaft is provided on the center line of the Y stage substrate 15, and the guide of the Y stage and the ultrasonic motor 17 are arranged symmetrically with respect to the center line to stabilize the Y stage. Can be driven.

The positioning of the XY stage is performed by a laser interferometer (not shown). In the present embodiment, a movable mirror for performing laser interferometry is integrally formed with the Y stage substrate 15.

FIG. 3B is a perspective view of the Y stage substrate 15. The Y stage substrate 15 is made of glass or ceramics (cordrite as an example of ceramics) having a low coefficient of linear thermal expansion. Moving mirror 1 of Y stage substrate
The surface corresponding to 5a is a mirror surface, and a reflective film (for example, Au or Al) for reflecting a laser beam is deposited.
Thus, the movable mirror 15 for performing the laser interferometer length measurement is used.
By integrally forming “a” on the Y stage substrate 15, it is possible to prevent the displacement and distortion of the moving mirror when the XY stage moves at high acceleration and high speed, and to perform highly accurate positioning of the stage. it can.

In this embodiment, two slide shafts 3 are used.
Are connected to drive the connecting portion 11, but the present invention is not limited to this, and an actuator can be individually connected to each slide shaft and driven. At this time, it is necessary to drive each actuator in synchronization.

FIG. 4A is a top view of the third embodiment, and FIG. 4B is a longitudinal sectional view of the third embodiment. FIG.
The step direction in (a) is the X axis. Since the structure of the X stage is the same as that of the first embodiment, the description is omitted. In the components of the X stage according to the third embodiment, the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals. The X stage is driven by an air servo cylinder via a driving rod connected to the stage substrate 4 as in the first embodiment, but the X axis slide shaft is moved as in the second embodiment. It can also be driven by an actuator provided outside the vacuum chamber through the intermediary.

The third embodiment is characterized in that an air servo cylinder 41 is used as a Y stage (scan direction) actuator, and the air servo cylinder 41 is disposed inside the vacuum chamber 40. Thereby, the driving force of the Y stage can be increased, and the moving speed and acceleration of the Y stage can be increased.

A Y-axis air slide bearing 42 is fixed to each of the two slide shafts 3 of the X stage via a stage substrate 4 in a direction orthogonal to the slide shafts 3. Y
The shaft slide shaft 43 is provided with the air slide bearing 42.
Is driven by the air servo cylinder 41 with the guide.

One end of the two coaxial slide shafts 43 is fixed to a mask stage substrate 44 at the center of the vacuum chamber 40. The other end of the slide shaft 43 is connected to the cylinder 4 of the air servo cylinder 41.
Acts as a piston at 1a, 41b. The air servo cylinder 41 is arranged so as to cover the end of the air slide bearing 42. Then, by relatively changing the pressures of the cylinders 41a and 41b disposed at the left and right ends, the slide shaft 43 is controlled and the mask stage substrate 44 is moved. The vacuum chamber 40 is provided with a protruding portion 40a so as to cover the movable range of the air servo cylinder 41 (moves in the step direction in the drawing).

As described above, by joining the projecting portion 40a to the vacuum chamber main body, the volume of the vacuum chamber can be reduced as compared with covering the entire mechanical system with a rectangular parallelepiped chamber, and a predetermined degree of vacuum is achieved. Time to do so can be reduced.

The slide shaft 4 of the air slide bearing 42
The sliding portion 3 is configured in the same manner as in FIG. That is, it has an air pad (not shown) for floating the slide shaft by air, and suction grooves 45 and 46 for exhausting the air and maintaining the degree of vacuum inside the vacuum chamber.
The suction grooves 45, 46 are arranged on the side of the mask stage substrate 44 on the sliding surface, and the pressure is reduced to a predetermined pressure by the wide suction groove 45, and the pressure is reduced to almost the inside of the vacuum chamber by the narrow suction groove 46. .

In the present embodiment, air piping for supplying and exhausting air to and from the cylinder 41a of the air servo cylinder 41, air piping for supplying air to the air pad of the air slide bearing 42, and air exhausting from the suction grooves 45 and 46 are described. Of the X-axis slide shaft 3 through the hollow portion of the slide shaft 3. Therefore, the X axis slide shaft 3
Needs to use a hollow rod material (square tube or cylindrical shape). The state of the piping is shown in the hollow section of the slide shaft 3 of the X axis in FIG. This eliminates complicated piping of the inside of the vacuum chamber and facilitates manufacture and adjustment.

FIG. 5 shows a slide shaft 3, an air slide bearing 42, an air servo cylinder 41, and a stage substrate 4.
3 is a detailed cross-sectional view of the pipe, showing a state of the pipe described above. First, the cylinder 41 of the air servo cylinder 41
The supply and exhaust of air to and from a will be described. Air from an air supply / exhaust device provided outside the vacuum chamber passes through a pipe 47 disposed in the hollow portion of the slide shaft 3 and is provided inside the vacuum chamber near a joint with the air slide bearing 42. Is supplied to the cylinder 41a through the pipe 48.

Next, supply of air to the air pad 49 will be described. Reference numeral 49a denotes a cross section of an orifice having a small hole serving as an air supply port to the air pad, and reference numeral 49b denotes a cross section of a groove forming the air pad. Air is supplied to the air pad 49 from the outside of the vacuum chamber through a pipe 50 disposed in the hollow portion of the slide shaft 3 and a pipe provided inside the vacuum chamber near a joint with the air slide bearing 42. 51
Done through. Further, the suction grooves 45 and 46 described above are used.
Exhaust system piping will be described. The air sucked from the suction groove 46 arranged so as to surround the slide shaft 43 passes through the air slide bearing 42, the stage substrate 4, the exhaust port 52 penetrating through the slide shaft 3, and the hollow portion 3 a of the slide shaft 3. Evacuated by a vacuum pump provided outside the vacuum chamber. That is, the hollow portion 3a itself serves as a pipe.

The air sucked from the suction groove 45 arranged so as to surround the slide shaft 43 is
, And through a pipe 54 provided in a hollow portion of the slide shaft 3, and is evacuated by a vacuum pump provided outside the vacuum chamber.

In the first to third embodiments, the air servo cylinder is used as the actuator of the X stage. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a linear motor can be used. In the first to third embodiments, the slide shaft of the X stage is composed of two parallel shafts. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a single flat plate may be used to penetrate the vacuum chamber. It is also possible.

In this embodiment, the suction grooves provided on the sliding surfaces of the air slide bearings 5 and 42 are each composed of two grooves, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, an apparatus used in a relatively low vacuum such as an exposure apparatus for VUV or EUV can have one groove as described above. In an electron beam exposure apparatus used in an ultra-high vacuum, the degree of vacuum in the vacuum chamber can be maintained by further increasing the number of grooves.

In the first to third embodiments, the main components, namely, the slide shaft 3, the air slide bearing 5, the stage substrate 4, the driving rod 8, the X stage substrate 15, the driving rod 16, the Y stage slide Shaft 41, Y stage air slide bearing 42, mask stage substrate 4
4. The air servo cylinder 41 is made of a high-rigidity, lightweight, non-magnetic ceramic material. In particular,
Alumina (Al ₂ O ₃ ) or silicon carbide (SiC) is used.

[0056]

According to the first or second aspect of the present invention,
Despite the vacuum slide device and the stage mechanism used inside the vacuum chamber, the guide can be made non-contact, vibration during driving is eliminated, straightness,
aw), a roll (Roll) and a pitch (Pitch) can be maintained with high accuracy over a long period of time. According to the invention described in claim 3, 4 or 7,
High acceleration and high speed of the stage can be achieved while maintaining high accuracy of the stage. According to the fifth or sixth aspect of the present invention, a clean vacuum slide device can be provided in which the degree of vacuum in the vacuum chamber can be maintained at a high vacuum despite the use of an air slide for guiding. be able to. According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide a highly rigid, lightweight, non-magnetic vacuum slide device and its stage mechanism.

According to the present invention, a compact XY stage usable in a vacuum chamber can be provided. According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, X, Y
High acceleration and high speed can be achieved for both stages, and the throughput of the exposure apparatus can be improved. According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, since the piping can be easily arranged, the production can be facilitated, and the production cost can be reduced.

According to the eleventh or twelfth aspect of the present invention,
The expansion of the Y stage substrate due to a change in temperature can be suppressed to a small value, and highly accurate positioning by laser interferometry can be achieved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIGS. 1A and 1B are external views showing a configuration of a first embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is a top view and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA ′ in FIG.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the air slide bearing of the present invention.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are external views showing a configuration of a second embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 3A is a longitudinal sectional view, and FIG. 3B is a perspective view of a mask stage substrate in FIG.

4A and 4B are external views showing a configuration of a third embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 4A is a top view, and FIG. 4B is a vertical cross-sectional view along AA ′ in FIG. .

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state of a pipe in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a configuration of a conventional example.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing a configuration of another conventional example.

[Description of Signs] 1 X stage 2 Vacuum chamber 3 Slide shaft 4 Stage substrate 5 Air slide bearing 6, 9 Partition wall 7 Air servo cylinder 8 Drive rod 11 Connecting portion 12 Air servo cylinder 13 Y stage 15 Y stage substrate 30 Bottom plate 31 Side Face plate 32 Air pad 33 Exhaust groove 34, 35 Suction groove

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2F078 CA02 CA08 CB05 CB16 CC11 2H097 CA15 CA16 DA11 DB11 LA10 3J102 AA02 BA05 CA11 EA02 EA23 GA19 5F046 GA11 GA12 GA14 GA18 5F056 CB22 CB23 EA14 EA16

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A slide shaft penetrating a vacuum chamber;
X coupled to the slide shaft in a vacuum chamber
A stage substrate, an air slide bearing disposed outside the vacuum chamber and adjacent to the through portion of the slide shaft and serving as a guide for the slide shaft, and an air slide bearing end face facing the through portion of the slide shaft and the through portion. And a partition for covering the vacuum chamber and preventing an inflow of gas into the vacuum chamber, and an actuator provided outside the vacuum chamber, wherein the air slide bearing has an air pad for floating the slide shaft on a sliding surface with respect to the slide shaft. An exhaust groove for exhausting the gas, wherein the actuator drives the X stage substrate via the slide shaft while the air slide bearing floats the slide shaft. Slide device. 2. A slide shaft penetrating a vacuum chamber,
X coupled to the slide shaft in a vacuum chamber
A stage substrate, a driving rod connected to the X stage substrate and penetrating through the wall of the vacuum chamber, an actuator connected to the driving rod outside the vacuum chamber, and an actuator proximate to the penetrating portion of the slide shaft outside the vacuum chamber. A first partition for covering an air slide bearing arranged and guiding the slide shaft, and a penetrating portion of the slide shaft and an end surface of the air slide bearing opposed to the penetrating portion to prevent gas from flowing into the vacuum chamber. And a second partition wall that covers the penetrating portion of the drive rod and the end face of the actuator facing the penetrating portion to prevent gas from leaking into the vacuum chamber. An air pad for floating the slide shaft on the sliding surface and an exhaust groove for exhausting the gas In a state where the air slide bearing floats the slide shaft, the actuator is driven through the drive rod by X
A vacuum slide device for driving a stage substrate. 3. The vacuum slide device according to claim 1, wherein the actuator is an air cylinder or a linear motor. 4. The vacuum slide device according to claim 1, wherein the slide shaft has a rectangular cross section. 5. The vacuum slide device according to claim 1, wherein the partition wall is made of an elastic body or a contractible bellows-shaped metal rigid body. . 6. The vacuum slide device according to claim 1, wherein the exhaust groove is provided on the sliding surface so as to surround the air pad. And a suction groove disposed so as to surround the slide shaft on the side of the partition from the air pad on the surface. 7. The vacuum slide device according to claim 1, wherein said slide shaft, said air slide bearing, and said X stage substrate are made of ceramics. Slide device. 8. The vacuum slide device according to claim 1, wherein the Y stage substrate as a mounting table and a space between the Y stage substrate and the X stage substrate. A rolling guide provided, a drive shaft provided on a surface of the Y stage substrate opposite to the mounting surface, and an actuator provided on the X stage substrate for transmitting a driving force to the drive shaft. A stage mechanism for a vacuum slide device comprising a Y stage having an ultrasonic motor. 9. The vacuum slide device according to claim 1, wherein Y is coupled to said X stage substrate in a direction orthogonal to a slide axis of said X stage. An air slide bearing, a Y slide shaft that guides the Y air slide bearing, a Y stage substrate as a mounting table coupled to the Y slide shaft, and an inner wall of a vacuum chamber among end faces of the Y air slide bearing. A Y air servo cylinder as an actuator provided inside a vacuum chamber which covers a protruding portion from the end surface of the Y slide shaft facing the end surface and the Y air servo cylinder; An air pad that floats the slide shaft and surrounds the Y slide shaft to exhaust the air. A suction groove arranged so that the Y slide bearing floats the Y slide shaft, and supplies and exhausts compressed air to and from the Y air servo cylinder to operate the protrusion as a piston. A stage mechanism for a vacuum slide device, wherein the stage substrate is driven. 10. The stage mechanism of a vacuum slide device according to claim 9, wherein the slide shaft of the X stage is hollow, and a pipe for supplying and discharging compressed air to and from the Y air servo cylinder is provided in the hollow portion. A stage mechanism for a vacuum slide device, comprising: a pipe for supplying compressed air to an air pad of a Y air slide bearing; and a pipe for exhausting compressed air from a suction groove of the Y air slide bearing. 11. The stage mechanism for a vacuum slide device according to claim 8, 9 or 10, wherein side walls of said Y stage substrate orthogonal to each other are mirror surfaces,
A stage mechanism of a vacuum slide device used as a movable mirror of a laser interferometer. 12. The stage mechanism for a vacuum slide device according to claim 11, wherein said Y stage substrate is made of ceramic or glass which is a low thermal expansion material.