JP2001264015A - Position-detecting method, position detector, and aligner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a position detecting method and a position detector, capable of stably detecting the position of each of substrates varying in shape, while preventing dust or the like from being produced, and to provide an aligner equipped with the position detector. SOLUTION: This position detector 1 is equipped with a detection system 2 for detecting end positions of a wafer-substrate W and a computing part 3 for determining the shape of the wafer-substrate W, based on the detection result of the system 2 and computing the center position of the water-substrate W by a computing procedure corresponding to the result of the determination. Even if the wafer-substrates W varying in shape exist together, the center position of each wafer-substrate W can be stably found. The system 2 is equipped with an optical sensor 20 made up of light-projecting parts 21 and light-receiving parts 22, and therefore the shape determination of the wafer- substrate W and the center position detection thereof can be performed in a noncontacting manner, thus preventing dust or the like from being produced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a position detecting method and a position detecting apparatus for determining a position of a substrate in the manufacture of a liquid crystal display device or a semiconductor element, and an exposure apparatus using the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in a lithography process for manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel, a plasma display panel, or the like, an exposure apparatus and another substrate processing apparatus, for example, A lithography system in which a coating device (coater) for applying a photosensitive agent such as a resist to a substrate or a developing device (developer) for developing a substrate coated with the photosensitive agent is connected in-line has been widely used. .

A lithography system of this type includes, for example, a coater / developer provided with an exposure apparatus main body, a substrate transfer device, and a delivery port in a storage device (chamber) of the exposure apparatus, and having both a photosensitive agent application function and a development function. In this configuration, a coater / developer main body and a substrate transfer device are provided in the chamber. The substrate, which has been subjected to predetermined processing by the coater / developer, is transported to the transfer port in the exposure apparatus through the openings provided in both chambers by the substrate transport apparatus, and further transported to the exposure apparatus main body to perform the exposure processing. Will be applied. On the other hand, the substrate that has been subjected to the exposure processing is transported again to the coater / developer in the reverse order to be subjected to a predetermined processing, or is carried out of the exposure apparatus and sent to an inspection step or the like.

Some of such substrates have various shapes such as a round shape and a square shape (square shape) in plan view. For example, a square substrate includes a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display and a substrate for a thin-film magnetic head, and a round substrate includes a wafer substrate. Such a substrate is subjected to positioning (pre-alignment) with respect to the exposure stage while being transported to the exposure stage of the exposure apparatus main body.

[0005]

In performing this alignment, conventionally, alignment with respect to a square substrate is performed by four times.
It is performed by pinching opposing sides of the sides with pins or the like, while positioning on the round substrate is performed by sensing the peripheral portion in a non-contact manner using a sensor. . As described above, since the positioning method is different depending on the shape of the substrate, it is advantageous to individually perform the positioning using different positioning mechanisms when processing the square substrate and the round substrate in a mixed manner because the accuracy is stable. However, it requires a large number of sensors and members, which results in an increase in the size of the device and an increase in cost, and a decrease in work efficiency.

Further, in the above-described method of aligning a rectangular substrate, there is a problem that foreign matter may be generated, for example, a substance (resist or the like) attached to the substrate may be scattered due to contact between the substrate and the pins. Was.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and a position detecting method and a position detecting method capable of performing stable position detection on substrates having different shapes while preventing generation of dust and the like. An object of the present invention is to provide a detection device and an exposure device including the position detection device.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention employs the following configuration corresponding to FIGS. 1 to 14 shown in the embodiments. According to the position detection method of the present invention, the end positions (P1 to P1) of the substrate (W) to be processed are provided.
8), the shape of the substrate (W) is determined based on the detection result, and the center position information (O) of the substrate (W) is detected by a calculation procedure according to the determination result. .

According to the present invention, the shape of the substrate (W) is determined, and then the center position (O) of the substrate (W) is determined, whereby substrates (W) having different shapes are mixed. Even in this case, the center position (O) of each substrate (W) can be obtained stably.

In this case, the shape is determined based on the detection results of the end positions (P1 to P8) of the substrate (W). At least eight points of the end positions (P1 to P8) must be detected. Thus, a stable shape can be determined.

In order to detect these eight end positions (P1 to P8), an optical sensor (20) comprising a light projecting unit (21) and a light receiving unit (22) is provided at four locations at predetermined intervals (H1, H2). And the optical sensor (20) and the substrate (W).
Are relatively moved, and the substrate (W) is passed between the light projecting unit (21) and the light receiving unit (22). As described above, since the detection of the end position is performed in a non-contact manner, generation of dust and the like can be prevented.

[0012] Of the eight end positions (P1 to P8), it is determined whether or not any three adjacent points are on a straight line. If there are, the inclination of the straight line with respect to the direction of relative movement is determined. After rotating the substrate (W) to a predetermined angle, the optical sensor (20) and the substrate (W) are relatively moved again to detect the end positions (P1 to P8) of the substrate (W). Thus, the center position (O) of the substrate (W) can be obtained stably. That is, the fact that any three adjacent points are on a straight line means that the substrate (W) is a rectangular substrate, and after rotating the rectangular substrate (W) by a predetermined angle, the optical sensor (20) is again rotated. By relatively moving the substrate (W), eight end positions (P1 to P8) of the rectangular substrate (W) can be detected by the four optical sensors. Center position (O) can be obtained.

The discrimination as to whether the substrate (W) is a square substrate or a round substrate is made by selecting any two adjacent points among the eight end positions (P1 to P8) as one set, and Draw a straight line passing through two points for each pair from any two pairs that match
The angle between the straight lines can be determined, and the determination can be made based on this angle.

When the substrate (W) is determined to be a square substrate from the angle, the length of each of the two straight lines is determined using an arbitrary point, and the angle is determined from the triangle based on the two straight lines and the angle. The midpoint position of the base serving as the apex angle is obtained, and this midpoint position can be used as the center position (O) of the rectangular substrate. At this time, the error can be reduced by calculating a plurality of combinations and averaging the combinations, for example.

On the other hand, if the substrate (W) is determined to be a round substrate from the above angle, the center position of the circle is determined from any three of the eight points, and this center position is determined as the center position of the round substrate. (O).

As a method of detecting the end position of the substrate (W), a sensor (13) is arranged corresponding to the end position of the substrate (W), and a predetermined point (D) in the substrate (W) is detected. While rotating the substrate (W) as the center, the sensor (13)
There is also a method of detecting the position of the end of the substrate (W).

In this case, the end position of the substrate (W) is detected by the sensor (13) while rotating the substrate (W), and is represented in a coordinate system of the amount of rotation of the substrate (W) and the end position. It is determined from the line (T) whether or not there are discontinuous points (d1 to d4). If there is a discontinuous point corresponding to a corner of the rectangular substrate, this substrate (W) is referred to as a rectangular substrate. If there is no such substrate, the substrate (W) is determined to be a round substrate.

When the substrate (W) is determined to be a rectangular substrate, four discontinuous points (d1 to d1) in the substrate coordinate system are determined.
The respective positions of d4) are obtained, and the center position (O) of the rectangular substrate is calculated from any three of the four positions.

At this time, if the shape of the square substrate is a square or a rectangle, the center position of a circle passing through any three positions is calculated, and this is calculated as the center position (O) of the square substrate (W). ).

Further, when the shape of the rectangular substrate is a parallelogram, a triangle is formed by using any three positions, and a triangle corresponding to the side of the parallelogram is selected from the sides of the triangle. The center point (O) of the rectangular substrate (W) can be specified and the center point of the diagonal line can be set.

On the other hand, when the substrate (W) is determined to be a round substrate, at least three arbitrary positions in the line (T) in the substrate coordinate system are obtained, and a circle passing through these three positions is determined. The center position is calculated, and this can be used as the center position (O) of the round substrate.

A position detecting device (1) of the present invention is a detection system (2) for detecting an end position of a substrate (W) to be processed.
And a substrate (W) based on the detection result of the detection system (2).
And a position calculation system (3) for calculating the center position (O) of the substrate (W) by a calculation procedure according to the result of the determination.

According to the present invention, the end position of the substrate (W) is detected by the detection system (2), and the shape of the substrate (W) is determined by the position calculation system (3) based on the detection result. By obtaining the center position (O) after that, even if the substrates (W) having different shapes are mixed, the center position (O) of each substrate (W) can be obtained stably. it can.

The detection system (2) moves relative to the substrate (W) and a plurality of projections (H1, H2) arranged at predetermined intervals (H1, H2) in a direction intersecting the moving direction of the substrate (W). Since the optical sensor (20) including the light part (21) and the light receiving part (22) is provided, it is possible to determine the shape of the substrate (W) and detect the center position (O) without contact. Therefore, generation of dust and the like is prevented.

By providing a rotation device (4) for rotating the substrate (W) at a predetermined angle with respect to the direction of the relative movement, the substrate (W) can be arbitrarily moved with respect to the optical sensor (20). It can be relatively moved at an angle, and stable shape discrimination and detection of the center position (O) can be performed.

A rotating device (11) for rotating the substrate (W) about a predetermined point (D) in the substrate (W) is provided, and the detection system (2) is a substrate rotated by the rotating device (11). With the configuration including the sensor (13) arranged corresponding to the end position of (W), the end position can be detected by the sensor (13) while rotating the substrate (W).

The exposure apparatus (A) of the present invention comprises a mask (M) on a substrate (W) carried to an exposure stage (130).
In the exposure apparatus (A) for transferring and exposing the image of the pattern (1), the exposure stage (130)
A position detection device (1) for detecting the center position (O) of the substrate (W) for positioning with respect to
The position detection device (1) includes a detection system (2) for detecting an end position of the substrate (W), and determines a shape of the substrate (W) based on a detection result of the detection system (2). A position calculation system (3) for calculating the center position (O) of the substrate (W) by a calculation procedure according to the determination result.

According to the present invention, since the center position (O) of the substrate (W) is determined after the shape is determined by the position detecting device (1), the substrates (W) having different shapes are mixed. Even in this case, the center position (O) of each substrate (W) can be obtained stably. Therefore, the substrate (W) can be stably positioned with respect to the exposure stage (130), so that the exposure process is performed with high accuracy.

[0029]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A position detecting method, a position detecting device, and an exposure device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of an exposure apparatus A provided with a position detection device of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing a position detecting device, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a rotating device. FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing an exposure apparatus main body.

In these figures, an exposure apparatus A includes an exposure apparatus main body 100 and a transport apparatus 200 for transporting a substrate W.
A position detection device 1 for detecting the center position of the substrate W for aligning the substrate W with the exposure stage 130 of the exposure apparatus main body 100 during the transportation of the substrate W by the transport device 200; And a control unit 9 for overall control. The exposure apparatus main body 100, the transport device 200, and the position detection device 1 are housed in a chamber 102.

A coater / developer 103 having both a photosensitive agent coating function and a developing function is adjacent to the exposure apparatus A. The coater / developer 103 is housed in a separate chamber from the exposure apparatus main body, and the substrate W is coated with a photosensitive agent such as a resist by a coater before being transferred to the exposure apparatus A. The substrate W is conveyed to a developer for development and developed. The substrate W is provided by the coater / developer 10
The transfer device 3 is provided between the exposure device A and the exposure device A via a transfer port 101 by a transfer device provided on the coater / developer 103 side and a transfer device 200 provided on the exposure device A side.

The exposure apparatus A can process a plurality of types of substrates W having different shapes. In the present embodiment, a substrate W having a round or square (square) shape in plan view is to be processed. . Among such substrates W, examples of the square substrate include a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display, a glass substrate for a plasma display, and a substrate for a thin film magnetic head, and examples of the round substrate include a wafer substrate and a glass substrate.

The transfer device 200 includes a robot arm 201
And a guide 203 for movably supporting the robot arm 201, and a slider 203. The robot arm 201 is provided along the guide 202 so as to be movable in the Y direction in FIG. This robot arm 2
Reference numeral 01 denotes an articulated robot arm, which is provided with a suction holding portion 201a at the tip end for sucking and holding the substrate W, and sucks and holds the substrate W by driving and stopping a connected vacuum pump. It is designed to be released.

The transport device 200 is a coater / developer 1
The substrate W is received from a delivery port 101 provided at a connection portion between the exposure apparatus 03 and the exposure apparatus A, and the exposure apparatus main body 10 is received.
It is carried to the 0 exposure stage 130. At this time, the robot arm 201 is provided rotatably with reference to the base end portion 201b, and is capable of transporting the substrate W held by the suction holding portion 201a to a predetermined position. Then, the robot arm 2 of the transfer device 200
Reference numeral 01 indicates that the substrate W received from the coater / developer 103 can be transferred to a substrate storage unit (carrier) 204 for storing the substrate W during the transfer. Therefore, the carrier 204 contains, for example, a plurality of substrates W to be subjected to the exposure processing after the completion of the coating processing. Note that the chamber 1 located near the carrier 204
02 may be provided with an opening and an opening / closing door, and the substrate W that has been subjected to a predetermined process may be stored in the carrier 204 from this opening by another transfer device or an operator. As described above, the transfer device 200 is provided so as to be able to transfer the substrate W from the transfer port 101 to the exposure apparatus main body 100 and to take out the substrate W from the carrier 204 and transfer it to the exposure apparatus main body 100.

During the transportation to the exposure stage 130, the shape of the substrate W is determined and the exposure stage 10
There is provided a position detecting device 1 for detecting the center position of the substrate W for positioning with respect to the substrate 3. The position detection device 1 is provided independently of the transfer path of the transfer device 200, and the substrate W is supplied to the position detection device 1 by the operation of the robot arm 201. Delivery port 1
The transfer from the exposure stage 130 to the exposure stage 130 always passes through the position detection device 1, and the transfer from the exposure stage 130 to the transfer port 101 does not pass through the position detection device 1.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the position detecting device 1 includes a detection system 2 for detecting an end position of the substrate W, a shape of the substrate W based on a result of the detection, and the determination. A position calculation system (calculation unit) 3 for calculating the center position of the substrate W by a calculation procedure according to the result. The calculation unit 3 is connected to the control unit 9. At this time, the detection system 2 moves relative to the substrate W. The detection system 2
An optical sensor 20 including a plurality of light projecting units 21 and light receiving units 22 arranged at predetermined intervals H in a direction intersecting with the moving direction of the substrate W; a processing unit 23 for processing an output signal of the optical sensor 20; An encoder 24 that generates a pulse in accordance with the amount of expansion and contraction of the robot arm 201 and a counter 25 that counts an encoder pulse output from the encoder 24 are provided. In the present embodiment, the detector 2
Is fixed to the exposure apparatus main body 100, and the robot arm 201 holding the substrate W moves with respect to the detector 2. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the detector 2 is moved with respect to the substrate W whose position is fixed. It may be configured to move.

The optical sensor 20 includes four light emitting sections 21,
The light receiving unit 22 is provided so as to correspond to the light projecting unit 21. Between these four light-emitting parts (light-receiving parts), the distance between the two ends is H1, and the distance between the two is H2 at the center.
Is set to be H2. In the present embodiment, for example, H1 = 30 mm, H2 = 50 mm
Set as Then, as shown in FIG. 2B, the suction holding unit 201a of the robot arm 201 is
The substrate W held by the suction holding unit 201 a is provided so as to be movable between the light emitting unit 21 and the light receiving unit 22. It is possible to pass between. In this case, the light emitted from the light emitting unit 21 is set to be orthogonal to the moving direction of the substrate W. The moving direction of the substrate W at this time is set in the −Y direction in FIG. Note that the moving direction of the substrate W can be set in the + Y direction in FIG.

The optical sensor 20 is connected to a processing unit 23 for processing an output signal of the light receiving unit 22. The processing unit 23 converts information on the end position of the substrate W passing through the optical sensor 20 into a trigger signal.
When the substrate W passes, the light emitted from the light projecting unit 21 is blocked and is not received by the light receiving unit 22, whereas when the substrate W does not exist between the light projecting unit 21 and the light receiving unit 22, The light emitted from the light emitting unit 21 is received by the light receiving unit 22. Therefore, the light receiving section 22 outputs a signal as shown in (g1) in FIG. The processing unit 23 converts the timing of the change between the light blocking and the light receiving in the output signal of the light receiving unit 22 into a trigger signal. Therefore, the signal output from the processing unit 23 has eight trigger signals as shown in (g2). That is, the substrate W passes through the optical sensor 20 to detect eight end positions. Then, the trigger signal is sent to the calculation unit 3 via the latch 26.

The robot arm 201 for passing the substrate W through the optical sensor 20 is provided with an encoder 24 for generating a pulse according to the amount of expansion and contraction of the arm. The encoder 24 is connected to a counter 25 that counts encoder pulses output from the encoder 24. By counting the encoder pulses, the amount of expansion and contraction of the robot arm 201 is recognized as a count value. This count value, that is, information on the position of the substrate W in the movement direction is calculated by the calculation unit 3 via the latch 26.
Sent to

Further, in the transport path of the substrate W from the transfer port 101 or the carrier 204 toward the exposure apparatus main body 100, on the downstream side of the position detecting device 1, a light emitting unit 2 is provided.
A rotation device 4 is provided for rotating the direction of the substrate W passing between the light-receiving unit 1 and the light receiving unit 22 at a predetermined angle with respect to the direction in which the substrate W moves. This rotating device 4
In order to adjust the inclination of the substrate W supplied to the position detecting device 1 with respect to the moving direction, the substrate W is rotated at an arbitrary angle. As shown in FIG.
0, a table 42 rotatably supported via a shaft 41, an encoder 43 connected to a rotation motor 40 and generating an encoder pulse according to the rotation amount of the rotation motor 40, and an output from the encoder 43. And a counter 44 that counts the number of encoder pulses to be processed. Further, a vertical motor 45 for moving the table 42 in the height direction and a tacho generator 46 connected to the vertical motor 45 are provided. These are connected to the control unit 9 via a D / A conversion unit 47, and the control unit 9 gives a rotation instruction to the rotation motor 40 via the D / A conversion unit 47 to rotate the table 42. Further, the rotation amount at this time is obtained by counting encoder pulses from the encoder 43 directly connected to the rotation motor 40.

After passing the substrate W through the optical sensor 20, the robot arm 201 releases the suction and holding, and
After rotating the substrate W in the horizontal direction by a predetermined angle according to the detection result of the optical sensor 20, the rotating device 4 holding the substrate W
By holding the substrate W again on the robot arm 201, the direction of the substrate W passing through the optical sensor 20 with respect to the passing direction can be changed again. The substrate W
The rotation in the movement direction of the
A rotation mechanism is provided in the substrate holding unit of No. 01, and the rotation can be performed by this rotation mechanism.

The slider 203 is a robot arm 201
, And is provided to the exposure apparatus main body 100 so as to be movable along the guide portion 203a, and has been subjected to position detection and alignment (pre-alignment) in the position detection device 1. To the exposure stage 130 of the exposure apparatus main body 100. Further, the slider 203 is mounted on the exposure apparatus main body 1.
It is also possible to receive the substrate W that has been subjected to the exposure processing at 00 from the exposure apparatus main body 100 and pass it to the transport device 200. The substrate W after the exposure processing is transferred again to the coater / developer 103 by the transfer device 200,
It is carried out from the exposure apparatus A and sent to an inspection process or the like.

The exposure apparatus main body 100 has an exposure stage 130 for holding a substrate W carried by the slider 203. The main body 100 of the exposure apparatus
As shown in the figure, the light beam from the light source 153 is
Illumination optical system 150 for illuminating mask M held by 11
A blind portion 140 that adjusts the area of the opening S that is arranged in the illumination optical system 150 and that passes the illumination light for exposure (exposure light) EL to define the illumination range of the mask M by the exposure light EL; A projection optical system 120 for projecting an image of the pattern of the mask M illuminated by the light EL onto the substrate W; a substrate holder 132 for holding the substrate W;
And an exposure stage 130 that supports the exposure stage 32.

The illumination optical system 150 includes, for example, a light source 153 such as a mercury lamp, an elliptical mirror 154 for condensing the exposure light emitted from the light source 153, and converts the collected exposure light into a substantially parallel light flux. Input lens 155, a light beam output from the input lens 155, a fly-eye lens 156 for forming a large number of two-dimensional light sources on the rear (mask M side) focal plane upon incidence, and emitted from these two-dimensional light sources. And a condenser lens system for condensing the exposure light and illuminating the mask M with uniform illuminance.

The blind portion 140 includes, for example, a pair of blades 145A and 145B which are bent in a plane L shape and are combined in a plane orthogonal to the optical axis AX of the exposure light EL to form a rectangular opening S. These blades 1
45A and 145B are controlled by the optical axis
Light-shielding unit displacement device 143A for displacing in a plane orthogonal to
143B. This movable blade 145A,
A fixed blind 146 having a fixed opening shape is arranged near 145B. Fixed blind 146
Is a field stop that surrounds a rectangular opening with, for example, four knife edges, and the width of the rectangular opening in the vertical direction is defined by the blades 145A and 145B. At this time, the size of the opening S is
The aperture S changes with the displacement of A and 145B, and the aperture S sends only the passed exposure light EL out of the exposure light EL incident from the fly-eye lens 156 to the main condenser lens 152 via the reflection mirror 151. The exposure light EL defined by the opening S illuminates a specific area (pattern area) PA of the mask M held by the mask holder 111 via the main condenser lens 152 with substantially uniform illuminance.
These optical members and the blind portion 140 are arranged in a predetermined positional relationship, and the blind portion 140 is arranged on a surface conjugate to the pattern surface of the mask M.

The mask holder 111 has vacuum suction portions 112 at four corners on its upper surface, and the mask M is held on the mask holder 111 via the vacuum suction portions 112. The mask holder 111 has an opening (not shown) corresponding to a pattern area PA where a pattern on the mask M is formed, and is driven by a driving mechanism (not shown) in the X, Y, and θ directions (Z axis). (Rotational direction of rotation) so that the pattern area PA
Is the optical axis A of the projection optical system 120 (mask center).
The mask M can be positioned so as to pass through X.

The substrate stage 130 includes a substrate holder 132
And a substrate table 131 on which the
X for supporting the X.31 movably in the two-dimensional direction of the XY plane
A Y stage device 133 is provided. In this case, the optical axis AX of the projection optical system 120 coincides with the Z direction orthogonal to the XY plane. That is, the XY plane is orthogonal to the optical axis AX of the projection optical system 120. Substrate stage 1
The substrate W conveyed to the substrate holder 132 on 30 is vacuum-sucked by the substrate holder 132.

The position of the substrate stage 130 in the X and Y directions is adjusted by a laser interferometer system. More specifically, an X movable mirror 136X, which is a plane mirror, extends in the Y direction at the -X side end of the substrate stage 130 (substrate table 131). The measuring beam from the X-axis laser interferometer 137X is projected almost perpendicularly to the X movable mirror 136X, and the reflected light is received by the detector inside the X-axis laser interferometer 137X, and the reference beam inside the X-axis laser interferometer 137X is referred to. The position of the X movable mirror 136X, that is, the X position of the substrate W is detected based on the position of the mirror. Similarly, although not shown, a Y moving mirror formed of a plane mirror extends in the Y direction at the + Y side end of the substrate stage 130. Then, the position of the Y moving mirror, ie, the position of the Y
The position is detected. The detected values (measured values) of the laser interferometers on the X axis and the Y axis, that is, the position information of the substrate W in the XY directions are sent to the control unit 9.

On the other hand, the position of the substrate W arranged in the projection area of the projection optical system 120 in the Z direction is a multipoint focus position detection system (not shown) which is one of the oblique incidence type focus detection systems.
Is detected by This detection value, that is, Z of the substrate W
The position information of the direction is sent to the control unit 9.

The control unit 9 monitors the position information of the substrate W in the XY and Z directions obtained by the laser interference system and the multipoint focus position detection system, and via the substrate stage driving device 121 as a driving system. The XY stage device 133 and the substrate table 131 are driven so that the mask M
The XY direction, the Z direction, and the tilt direction of the substrate W such that the pattern surface of the substrate W and the surface of the substrate W are conjugate with respect to the projection optical system 120, and the imaging plane of the projection optical system 120 coincides with the substrate W. Is performed. When the pattern area PA of the mask M is illuminated by the exposure light EL emitted from the illumination optical system 150 with substantially uniform illuminance in the state where the positioning is performed in this way, the image of the pattern of the mask M is projected onto the projection optical system 120. Is imaged on a substrate W having a surface coated with a photoresist.

The substrate holder 132 is provided so as to hold substrates W having different shapes. in this case,
It is provided so as to be able to hold a square substrate or a round substrate. Alternatively, the substrate holder 132 is
A plurality of substrate stages are provided on the substrate W, and a plurality of substrate stages are provided.
It may be configured to be installed corresponding to the above. That is, a plurality of substrate holders 132 for the square substrate and the round substrate may be provided on the substrate stage 131. in this case,
Based on the detection result of the position detecting device 1, the slider 203
The XY stage device 133 is driven so that the substrate W is transferred to the corresponding substrate holder 132 by the substrate loader system and the substrate W is arranged in the projection area of the projection optical system 120.

A method for transferring and exposing the image of the pattern of the mask M onto the substrate W conveyed to the exposure stage by the exposure apparatus A having the position detecting device 1 having such a configuration will be described.

The transfer device 200 transfers the substrate W from the coater / developer 103 to the exposure apparatus main body 100. The substrate W held by the robot arm 201 of the transfer device 200 is supplied to the position detection device 1 for determining the shape of the substrate W while being transferred to the exposure stage 130. The substrate W is the robot arm 2
01 may be transported from the carrier 204 to the exposure apparatus main body 100, and during the transport from the carrier 204 to the exposure apparatus main body 100, the position detecting device 1
Supplied to At this time, the shape of the transferred substrate W is
It is round or square (quadrilateral) in plan view.

The substrate W is provided with a light projecting unit 21 and a light receiving unit provided at four intervals H1 and H2, respectively, of the optical sensors 20 provided in the position detecting device 1 by expansion and contraction of the robot arm 201. 22 and between. The substrate W passing therethrough by one light projecting unit 21 and one light receiving unit 22
Are detected, and four light projecting parts 21 and four light receiving parts 22 detect eight end positions of the substrate W.

At this time, the amount of expansion and contraction of the robot arm 201 can be detected as a count value by counting the encoder pulse output from the encoder 23 corresponding to the amount of expansion and contraction by the counter 24.
That is, the amount of expansion and contraction of the robot arm 201 can be detected from the count value, and the movement distance of the substrate W is detected from this. Then, based on the movement distance of the substrate W obtained from the counter value and a trigger signal output from the optical sensor 20 and the processing unit 23 in accordance with the timing of light shielding and light reception, the calculation unit 3 calculates Find information about end position. On the other hand, information on the end position in the direction intersecting with the moving direction of the substrate W is obtained from the arrangement of the respective light projecting units 21 and light receiving units 22.

Thus, the eight end positions P1 to P1 of the substrate W
P8 can be represented in an XY coordinate system as shown in FIG. In this case, the moving direction of the substrate W is the Y axis, and the arrangement direction of the four light projecting units 21 and the light receiving units 22 (the direction intersecting the moving direction of the substrate W) is the X axis. FIG. 5A,
As shown in (b), the transferred substrate W is either a round substrate or a square substrate. At this time, the square substrate is set to be a parallelogram (including a square, a rectangle, and a rhombus). As described above, the position detecting device 1 includes the optical sensor 20.
Is detected on the end positions P1 to P8 of the eight points of the substrate W passing through.

Next, referring to FIG. 6, the shape of the substrate W is determined from the coordinates of the eight detected end positions P1 to P8, and the center position of the substrate W is calculated by a calculation procedure according to the determination result. The procedure for calculating is described. First, as described above, the calculating unit 3 obtains the coordinates of the eight end positions of the substrate W based on the output signal from the optical sensor 20 (step S1).

The calculating unit 3 determines whether any three adjacent points among the eight end positions P1 to P8 are on a straight line in the XY coordinate system (step S2).

In step S2, if it is determined that any three adjacent points among the end positions P1 to P8 of the substrate W are not on a straight line, among the eight end positions P1 to P8,
An arbitrary two adjacent points are taken as one set, and a straight line passing through two points is drawn from each of the arbitrary two adjacent sets for each set to obtain an angle formed by the two straight lines. It is determined whether the substrate is a substrate or a round substrate (step S3). That is, the shape of the substrate W to be conveyed is either a round shape or a square shape, and information on this shape, that is, information on the angle between the two straight lines and the size of the substrate W is input to the calculation unit 3 in advance. ing. The calculation unit 3 calculates 2
It is determined whether the substrate W is round or square based on the information about the angle and the shape of the straight line.

Next, a procedure for obtaining the center position of the substrate W determined to be round or square will be described. Step S3
In the case where it is determined that the substrate W is a square substrate,
The length of each of the two straight lines is determined by using an arbitrary point, the midpoint position of the base having this angle as the apex angle is determined from the triangle based on the two straight lines and the angle, and this midpoint position is determined as the square substrate. The center position is set to O (step S4). That is, as shown in FIG. 7, for example, the coordinates of the intersection C3 of the straight line L3 passing through the end positions P5 and P6 and the straight line L4 passing through the end positions P7 and P8 can be calculated, and the respective straight lines L3 And L4 in the XY coordinate system can be calculated. Therefore, the angle of the apex angle K formed by the intersection of these straight lines L3 and L4 can be calculated. Similarly, the coordinates of the intersection C4 between the straight line L1 and the straight line L4 drawn by the end positions P1 and P2 can be calculated, and the coordinates of the intersection C2 between the straight line L2 and the straight line L3 drawn by the end positions P3 and P4 are It can be calculated. Therefore, the straight line L3
And the length of the straight line L4. Therefore, the triangle formed by the intersections C2, C3, C4 can be specified based on the angle of the apex angle K formed by the straight lines L3 and L4 and the lengths of the straight lines L3 and L4. . At this time, the transferred substrate W
Is set to a parallelogram (including a square, a rectangle, and a rhombus) square substrate, so that the straight line connecting the intersections C2 and C4, that is, the midpoint position of the base of the triangle having the intersection C3 as a vertex is It is the center position O of the substrate W having a square (parallelogram) shape. Furthermore, by changing the combination of points used for calculation, obtaining a plurality of center positions and averaging them,
Processing for reducing errors is also performed.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S3 that the substrate W is a round substrate, the center of the circle is determined from any three of the detected eight end positions P1 to P8.
This center position is defined as a center position O of the round substrate W.
At this time, since finding the center of the circle from the combination of the three adjacent points increases the error, the circle is specified using an arbitrary combination of three points separated from each other (step S).
5).

Further, among the eight end positions P1 to P8, there are a plurality of arbitrary combinations of three points. Therefore, the center coordinates of the circle are obtained from each combination, and the average value is calculated (step S6). That is, eight end positions P
Except for the combination of three adjacent points among 1 to P8, there are 48 different combinations of three points, so that the center coordinates of 48 different circles can be obtained. Then, by calculating the average value of the center coordinates of the 48 kinds of circles, the center coordinates of the circle with higher accuracy can be calculated. By calculating the average value, for example, in a round substrate such as a semiconductor device wafer, a singular point such as a notch portion (notch) or an orientation flat (orientation flat) for alignment is determined. Even when such a portion is formed, the influence of the portion serving as a singular point can be reduced.

If there is a singular point such as a notch or an orientation flat, or if a threshold value is set and a value exceeding the threshold value is calculated, the value is canceled and another point is set. May be used to calculate the average value of the center coordinates of the circle obtained. Alternatively, the center of the circle is obtained with the notch and orientation flat included, and if the abnormal value is significantly different from the value obtained by calculating the center of the circle using a combination of other points, the value is canceled and the value of the circle is canceled. The average value of the center coordinates may be obtained.

On the other hand, if any three adjacent points are on a straight line in step S2, first, the inclination of the straight line formed by the three points in the coordinate system is calculated. That is, it is calculated how much the inclination of the straight line is inclined with respect to the moving direction of the substrate W (or the arrangement direction of the optical sensors 20) (step S7).

At this time, the fact that any three adjacent points are on a straight line means that, for example, as shown in FIG. 8, the end positions P1, P2, P3 (or P4, P5, P6) are on a straight line. In this state, the straight line is substantially orthogonal to the moving direction of the substrate W. In this case, the substrate W can be specified as a square substrate. In such a situation,
It is difficult to specify a triangle for obtaining the center position O as shown in step S4. Therefore, in order to rotate the substrate W so that the inclination of a straight line formed by these three points is at a predetermined angle with respect to the transport direction of the substrate W (that is, the Y-axis direction), the substrate W is It is transported (step S8).

The substrate W transferred to the rotating device 4 is rotated so as to have a predetermined angle (45 ° in this case) with respect to the transport direction (Y-axis direction) in the position detecting device 1 (step S9).

The substrate W rotated by a predetermined angle by the rotation device 4 is transferred to the robot arm 201 (Step S10).

The substrate W passes between the light projecting unit 21 and the light receiving unit 22 of the position detecting device 1 due to the expansion and contraction of the robot arm 201. The position detection device 1 is configured to
The coordinates of the end positions P1 to P8 of the point are detected again (step S11). In step S11, the end positions P1 to P
The center position O of the substrate W for which the coordinates 8 have been detected is obtained in step S4.

In this manner, the center position O of the substrate W is calculated by a preset calculation procedure according to whether the shape of the substrate W is round or square (step S1).
2). The calculation result of the calculation unit 3 is sent to the control unit 9. Then, the alignment (pre-alignment) of the exposure apparatus main body 100 with respect to the exposure stage 130 is performed based on the center position O, and the pre-aligned substrate W
The exposure stage 130 of the exposure apparatus main body 100 is controlled by a transfer device 200 and a substrate loader system such as a slider 203.
It is supplied to the substrate holder 132 provided above. Then, the exposure apparatus main body 1 performs an exposure process according to the shape of the substrate W.

As described above, even when the shape of the substrate W is a mixture of a round shape and a square shape, the center position O of the substrate W is obtained after the shape of the substrate W is determined.
The determination of the shape and the calculation of the center position O are performed stably.
Therefore, the alignment with respect to the exposure stage 130 can be performed stably and accurately with a small number of sensors.
The exposure process for the substrate W transferred to the exposure stage 130 is performed stably.

Further, the discrimination of the shape of the substrate W and the center position O
Is detected using the optical sensor 20 including the light projecting unit 21 and the light receiving unit 22. That is, since the shape determination and the position detection are performed in a non-contact manner, it is possible to prevent the generation of dust in the position detection step. Therefore,
The exposure process on the substrate W is performed stably.

Next, a second embodiment of the position detecting device of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 9, 10, 11, and 12. A position detection device 10 according to the second embodiment includes a rotation device 11 that rotates a substrate W, and a detection system 12 that includes a sensor 13 that is disposed corresponding to an end position of the substrate W rotated by the rotation device 11. And a calculation unit (position calculation system) 30.

The rotation device 11 is used to rotate the center of the
The substrate W is rotatably supported around a predetermined point D. As shown in FIG.
A table 142 rotatably supported by a rotation motor 140 via a shaft 141; an encoder 143 connected to the rotation motor 140 to generate an encoder pulse in accordance with the rotation amount of the rotation motor 140; And a counter 144 for counting encoder pulses output from the 143. Further, the vertical movement motor 1 for moving the table 142 in the height direction.
45 and a tachogenerator 146 connected to the up-and-down motor 145. These are connected to the control unit 9 and the calculation unit 30 via the D / A conversion unit 147, and the control unit 9 causes the rotation motor 140 to rotate the table 142 via the D / A conversion unit 147. To instruct. The encoder pulse from the encoder 143 is counted as a count value via the counter 144 by the calculation unit 3.
0. The rotation amount (for example, 360 °) of the table 142 is obtained by counting encoder pulses from the encoder 143 directly connected to the rotation motor 140.

The sensor 13 detects an end position of the substrate W rotated by the rotating device 11 and includes a light projecting unit 131 and a light receiving unit 132. This light emitting section 13
1 and the light receiving unit 132 are installed such that the end position of the substrate W is arranged.
The light receiving unit 132 is rotatably provided. The light emitted from the light projecting unit 131 is blocked or received by the light receiving unit 132 as the substrate W rotates. Further, the light receiving section 132 is constituted by a CCD sensor, and the output signal of the light receiving section 132 is output to the A / D conversion section 13.
3 to the calculation unit 30. Note that it is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the sensor 13 is a reflection-type sensor and detects the reflected light of the light projected on the substrate W.

A method of determining the shape of the substrate W and detecting the center position using the position detecting device 10 having such a configuration will be described.

The robot arm 201 of the transfer device 200
Is the coater / developer 103 or the chamber 20
The substrate W is transported from Step 4 to the position detecting device 10 and is placed on the table 142 provided in the position detecting device 10 (Step SS1).

The table 142 holding the substrate W is rotated at an arbitrary rotation speed by the rotation motor 140.
Then, from the light receiving portion 132 of the sensor 13, the substrate W
A detection signal corresponding to the shape of is output. At this time, the table 142 holding the substrate W is almost 360 ° or 3 °.
It is set so as to rotate by 60 ° or more.
2 is output to the monitor, for example, as shown in FIG.
(B), a detection signal as shown in FIG. 11B is output (step SS2). FIG. 10B and FIG. 11B
Is a diagram showing the relationship between the rotation angle (encoder angle) of the substrate W and the output signal of the light receiving unit 132, where the horizontal axis indicates the rotation angle and the vertical axis indicates the output signal of the light receiving unit 132. . Then, the table 142 that has rotated the substrate W by approximately 360 ° is stopped from rotating (step SS3).

Next, whether the shape of the substrate W is round or square is determined based on the output signal of the light receiving section 132. More specifically, the end position of the substrate W is detected by the sensor 13 while rotating the substrate W by approximately 360 °, and four points from a line T expressed in the coordinate system of the rotation amount of the substrate W and the end position. It is determined whether or not there is a discontinuous point (step SS4). When there are four discontinuous points, it is determined that the substrate W is a rectangular substrate, and when there are no discontinuous points, it is determined that the substrate W is a round substrate.

If it is determined that the substrate W is a rectangular substrate, the positions of the four discontinuous points in the substrate coordinate system are determined (step SS5). That is, as shown in FIG. 10, when the substrate W is square, the corner d of the substrate W
In the portions corresponding to 1 to d4, the light projected from the light projecting unit 131 is blocked by the substrate W and does not reach the light receiving unit 132, and the output value of the monitor decreases as shown in FIG. It appears as a discontinuity.

As shown in FIG. 10, the rotation angle of the rectangular substrate W can be detected by the encoder 143.
A predetermined point D which is the center of rotation of the substrate W and each corner d1
The distances R1 to R4 with respect to .about.d4 are shown in FIG.
As shown in (1), it can be detected from a discontinuous point of the output signal of the sensor 13. Therefore, the positions of the corners d1 to d4 can be detected from the rotation angle and the respective discontinuous points of the output signal. In this case, the predetermined point D, which is the center of rotation of the substrate W, can be set at an arbitrary position on the substrate W. That is, the predetermined point D is
Can be set at points other than the centroid. Further, the light projecting unit 131 and the light receiving unit 132 of the sensor 13 do not need to be arranged at the corners d1 to d4 of the rotating substrate W, and the corners and the sides of the rotating substrate W can pass through, What is necessary is just to arrange in the position where light shielding and light reception are repeated. That is, for example, if the predetermined point D is other than the centroid, the interval between each discontinuous point changes.

Next, the center position of the rectangular substrate W is determined from any three of the obtained four discontinuous points. At this time, when the shape of the square substrate W is a square or a rectangle, the center position of a circle passing through the detected three points is calculated, and this is set as the center position O of the square substrate W. That is, a circle in which a square or a rectangle is inscribed is considered, and the center coordinates of the circle are determined (step SS6).

At this time, an arbitrary 3
There are four combinations of extracting points, and the center of a circle at three points of each combination is calculated. Then, the average value of the center coordinates of the circle obtained in each combination is set as the center of the circle, that is, the center position O of the substrate W (step SS7).

In determining the center coordinates of the rectangular substrate W, a triangle is formed by using the positions of the above-mentioned arbitrary three points, and the sides of the triangle corresponding to the diagonal lines of the rectangular substrate W And the midpoint of the diagonal can be used as the center position of the rectangular substrate W. That is, when obtaining the center coordinates of the rectangular substrate W composed of a parallelogram, a triangle is formed by using the positions of any three points, and the middle point of the longest side of the sides of the triangle is defined as the rectangular substrate W. May be the center position. In this case, the shape of the square substrate W is not limited to a square or a rectangle, and if it is a parallelogram including a diamond,
This method can be applied.

On the other hand, when it is determined that the substrate W is a round substrate, the respective positions are obtained at arbitrary plural places in the substrate coordinate system. In this case, as shown in FIG. 11, when the substrate W is round, the light emitted from the light projecting unit 13 is not blocked by the substrate W, and therefore, the monitor value of the signal output from the light receiving unit 132 is A continuous line T is shown as shown in FIG. From this continuous line T, the data of arbitrary plural points is converted into the substrate coordinate system. In the present embodiment, data of arbitrary eight points is converted into a substrate coordinate system (step SS8). At this time, it is desirable that the eight data points be detected at equally spaced positions along the shape of the circle.

Then, any three points are extracted from the data of the eight points, the center coordinates of a circle passing through the positions of the three points are calculated, and this is set as the center position O of the round substrate W (step S).
S9).

At this time, although there are a plurality of combinations of arbitrary three points among the data of eight points, it is desirable to exclude the combination of arbitrary three points adjacent to each other because there is a possibility that a calculation error becomes large. Therefore, there are 48 combinations of arbitrary three points out of the eight data points. Then, at any three points excluding a combination of adjacent points, 48 kinds of center coordinates of the circle are obtained, and an average value of the 48 kinds of center coordinates is set as the center position O of the round substrate W (step S).
S10).

Thus, it is determined whether the substrate W is round or square, and the calculation of the center position O of the substrate W is completed by a calculation procedure according to the determination result (step SS1).
1).

As described above, the sensor 13 is arranged corresponding to the end position of the substrate W, and the substrate 13 is rotated by the sensor 13 while rotating the substrate W about a predetermined point D in the substrate W. The position of the part can also be detected.

The substrate W according to the present invention may be not only a glass plate for a liquid crystal display device but also a ceramic wafer for a thin-film magnetic head or a semiconductor wafer for a semiconductor device. Further, a mask or a reticle provided with a pattern may be used.

The exposure apparatus is not limited to a step-and-repeat type exposure apparatus (stepper) that exposes the pattern of the mask M while the mask M and the substrate W are stationary and sequentially moves the substrate W step by step. The present invention can also be applied to a step-and-scan type scanning exposure apparatus (scanning stepper) for exposing the pattern of the mask M onto the substrate W by synchronously moving the mask M and the substrate W.

The types of the exposure apparatus include not only the above-described exposure apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device, but also an exposure apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor wafer, an exposure apparatus for manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head, an image pickup device (CCD) or a mask M. It can be widely applied to an exposure apparatus for manufacturing and the like.

As the light source 153 of the illumination optical system 150, a bright line (g line (436 nm), h line (404.7 nm), i line (365 nm)) generated from a mercury lamp, a KrF excimer laser (248 nm), or an X-ray And a charged particle beam such as an electron beam. For example, when an electron beam is used, thermionic emission type lanthanum hexaborite (LaB6) or tantalum (Ta) can be used as the electron gun. Alternatively, a high frequency such as a YAG laser or a semiconductor laser may be used.

The magnification of the projection optical system 120 may be not only a reduction system but also an equal magnification system or an enlargement system.

Further, as the projection optical system 120, when far ultraviolet rays such as an excimer laser are used, a material that transmits the far ultraviolet rays such as quartz or fluorite is used as the glass material. System or a refraction type optical system (use a reflective type mask M),
When an electron gun is used, an electron optical system including an electron lens and a deflector may be used as the optical system. In addition,
It goes without saying that the optical path through which the electron beam passes is in a vacuum state.

Note that the optical path of the beam for position detection is
The container may be covered with light transmitting windows at both ends, and the temperature, pressure, and the like of the gas inside the container may be controlled.
Alternatively, the inside of the container may be evacuated. As a result, it is possible to reduce a length measurement error caused by air fluctuation on the external optical path. Such details are disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-105241.

When a linear motor is used for the exposure stage or the mask stage, either an air levitation type using an air bearing or a magnetic levitation type using Lorentz force or reactance force may be used. Further, the substrate stage and the mask stage may be of a type that moves along a guide, or may be of a guideless type without a guide.

When a plane motor is used as the stage driving device, one of the magnet unit (permanent magnet) and the armature unit is connected to the stage, and the other of the magnet unit and the armature unit is connected to the stage moving surface side. (Base).

It is to be noted that the reference mirror (fixed mirror) for the laser interferometer is fixed to the projection optical system, and the positions of the X-moving mirror and the Y-moving mirror are relatively frequently measured with reference to this. In this case, an optical element ahead of the polarizing beam splitter (prism) for separating the reference beam and the measurement beam may be housed inside the substrate chamber, and a laser light source, a detector, and the like may be arranged outside the substrate chamber.

The reaction force generated by the movement of the exposure stage may be mechanically released to the floor (ground) by using a frame member as described in JP-A-8-166475. The present invention is also applicable to an exposure apparatus having such a structure.

The reaction force generated by the movement of the mask stage may be mechanically released to the floor (ground) by using a frame member as described in JP-A-8-330224. The present invention is also applicable to an exposure apparatus having such a structure.

As described above, the exposure apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention can be used to convert various subsystems including the components described in the claims of the present application into predetermined mechanical accuracy, electrical accuracy,
It is manufactured by assembling to maintain optical accuracy. Before and after this assembly, adjustments to achieve optical accuracy for various optical systems, adjustments to achieve mechanical accuracy for various mechanical systems, and various electric systems to ensure these various accuracy Are adjusted to achieve electrical accuracy. The process of assembling the exposure apparatus from various subsystems includes mechanical connections, wiring connections of electric circuits, and piping connections of pneumatic circuits among the various subsystems. It goes without saying that there is an assembling process for each subsystem before the assembling process from these various subsystems to the exposure apparatus. When the process of assembling the various subsystems into the exposure apparatus is completed, comprehensive adjustment is performed, and various precisions of the entire exposure apparatus are secured. It is desirable that the manufacture of the exposure apparatus be performed in a clean room in which the temperature, cleanliness, and the like are controlled.

The semiconductor device is, as shown in FIG.
Step 501 for designing the function and performance of the device, and step 50 for manufacturing a mask based on this design step
2. Step 503 of manufacturing a substrate (glass plate, wafer) serving as a base material of a device; substrate processing step 504 of exposing a mask pattern to the substrate by the exposure apparatus of the above-described embodiment; device assembling step (dicing step, bonding) (Including a process and a package process) 505, an inspection step 506, and the like.

[0103]

The position detecting method, position detecting apparatus and exposure apparatus of the present invention have the following effects. (1) Even when the shape of the substrate is a mixture of round and square shapes, the shape of the substrate is determined and then the center position of the substrate is determined, so that the shape determination and the calculation of the center position are stable. It is done. Therefore, the alignment with respect to the exposure stage is also performed stably and accurately with a small number of sensors, so that the exposure process on the substrate conveyed to the exposure stage is performed stably. (2) The determination of the shape of the substrate and the detection of the center position are performed using an optical sensor including a light projecting unit and a light receiving unit. That is, since shape determination and position detection are performed in a non-contact manner, generation of dust and the like in the position detection step can be prevented. Therefore, the exposure processing for the substrate is performed stably.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating an embodiment of an exposure apparatus including a position detection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing a first embodiment of the position detection device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram for explaining a rotating device.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram for explaining an exposure apparatus main body.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining how to detect end positions of respective substrates having different shapes.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining a first embodiment of the position detection method of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a method of calculating a center position of a substrate.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a state in which end positions of a substrate are aligned on a straight line.

FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram showing a second embodiment of the position detection device of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a method of detecting the center position of a rectangular substrate according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a method of detecting the center position of a round substrate in the second embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart for explaining a second embodiment of the position detection method of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a manufacturing process of a semiconductor device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 position detection device 2 detection system 3 position calculation system (calculation unit) 4 rotating device 10 position detection device 11 detection system 13 sensor 21 light projecting unit 22 light receiving unit 20 optical sensor 100 exposure device main body 130 exposure stage A exposure device D predetermined point H (H1, H2) interval M Mask O Center position P1 to P8 End position T line W Substrate d1 to d4 Discontinuous point

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H01L 21/68 H01L 21/30 525W F-term (Reference) 2F065 AA17 AA51 BB01 BB03 CC19 CC21 FF02 GG12 HH04 JJ01 JJ05 MM04 2H097 BA10 GB00 KA03 KA28 LA10 LA12 5F031 CA02 CA05 DA01 FA01 FA02 FA07 FA11 FA12 GA02 GA08 GA36 GA45 GA47 GA48 HA12 HA13 HA53 HA58 HA59 JA01 JA04 JA05 JA06 JA14 JA17 JA21 JA28 JA29 JA30 JA32 JA36 JA51 KA04 KA07 LA045 FC06

Claims (18)

[Claims] 1. An edge position of a substrate to be processed is detected, and a shape of the substrate is determined based on a result of the detection.
A position detecting method comprising detecting center position information of the substrate by a calculation procedure according to a result of the determination. 2. The position detecting method according to claim 1, wherein at least eight end positions of the substrate are detected. 3. The position detecting method according to claim 2, wherein an optical sensor comprising a light projecting part and a light receiving part is arranged at four locations at a predetermined interval, and the optical sensor and the substrate are relatively moved. A position detecting method, wherein eight end positions are detected by passing the substrate between a light emitting unit and the light receiving unit. 4. The position detection method according to claim 3, wherein, among the eight end positions, it is determined whether or not any three adjacent points are on a straight line. After rotating the substrate so that the inclination of the substrate becomes a predetermined angle with respect to the direction of the relative movement, the optical sensor and the substrate are relatively moved again to detect an end position of the substrate. Position detection method. 5. The position detecting method according to claim 3, wherein, of the eight end positions, any two adjacent points are regarded as one set, and two points are selected from any two adjacent pairs. A straight line passing through the line and determining an angle between the two straight lines, and determining whether the substrate is a square substrate or a round substrate based on the angle. 6. The position detection method according to claim 5, wherein when the substrate is determined to be a rectangular substrate from the angle, the length of each of the two straight lines is obtained using an arbitrary point. A position detecting method, wherein a midpoint position of a base having this angle as a top angle is obtained from a triangle based on a straight line and an angle, and the midpoint position is set as a center position of the rectangular substrate. 7. The position detection method according to claim 5, wherein when the substrate is determined to be a round substrate from the angle, a center position of a circle is obtained from any three of the eight points. A position detecting method, wherein the center position is the center position of a round substrate. 8. The position detecting method according to claim 1, wherein a sensor is arranged corresponding to an end position of the substrate, and the sensor is rotated by rotating the substrate around a predetermined point in the substrate. A position detecting method comprising detecting an end position of the substrate. 9. The position detection method according to claim 8, wherein an end position of the substrate is detected by the sensor while rotating the substrate, and a coordinate system of the amount of rotation of the substrate and the end position is used. It is determined whether or not there is a discontinuous point from the represented line.If there is a discontinuous point corresponding to a corner of the rectangular substrate, the substrate is a rectangular substrate. A position detecting method characterized in that the position is detected as a mold substrate. 10. The position detecting method according to claim 9, wherein when the substrate is determined to be a rectangular substrate, the positions of four discontinuous points in a substrate coordinate system are determined, and among these four positions, A position detecting method comprising calculating a center position of the rectangular substrate from three arbitrary positions. 11. The position detection method according to claim 10, wherein the square substrate has a square shape or a rectangular shape.
Calculating the center position of the circle passing through the three arbitrary positions,
A position detecting method, wherein this is set as a center position of the rectangular substrate. 12. The position detection method according to claim 10, wherein when the rectangular substrate has a parallelogram shape, a triangle is formed using the arbitrary three positions, and a side of the triangle is formed. A position detection method comprising identifying a diagonal line in the parallelogram and setting a midpoint of the side as a center position of the rectangular substrate. 13. The position detecting method according to claim 9, wherein when the substrate is determined to be a round substrate, at least three arbitrary positions in the line are determined in a substrate coordinate system. A position detecting method comprising: calculating a center position of a circle passing through a position of a place; and calculating the center position of the circle as the center position of the round substrate. 14. A detection system for detecting an end position of a substrate to be processed, a shape of the substrate is determined based on a detection result of the detection system, and a calculation procedure according to the determination result is used to calculate the shape of the substrate. A position calculating system for calculating a center position. 15. The position detection device according to claim 14, wherein the detection system moves relative to the substrate and a plurality of the detection systems are arranged at predetermined intervals in a direction intersecting a moving direction of the substrate. A position detecting device comprising an optical sensor including a light projecting unit and a light receiving unit. 16. The position detecting device according to claim 15, further comprising: a rotating device that rotates the substrate so as to be at a predetermined angle with respect to the direction of the relative movement. 17. The position detecting device according to claim 14, further comprising: a rotating device that rotates the substrate around a predetermined point in the substrate, wherein the detection system includes an end of the substrate rotated by the rotating device. A position detecting device comprising a sensor arranged corresponding to a position of a part. 18. An exposure apparatus for transferring and exposing an image of a mask pattern onto a substrate conveyed to an exposure stage, the center of the substrate being positioned with respect to the exposure stage during the conveyance of the substrate. A position detecting device for detecting a position is installed, the position detecting device detects a position of an end of the substrate, a shape of the substrate based on a detection result of the detection system, and a result of the determination. And a position calculation system for calculating a center position of the substrate by a calculation procedure according to the following.