JP2002279899A - Pattern defect correcting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a pattern defect correcting device which can be used effectively for a correction object having a large variety of pattern shapes like a photomask used in a manufacturing process of a shadow mask. SOLUTION: The pattern defect correcting device which exposes laser beam at a regulated exposure band to correct defects in a pattern, regulates exposure band in rectangle shape, and is equipped with a rectangle opening means to vary sizes of an X side and Y side and rotating angles of the rectangle, a circular opening means to regulate the exposure band in a circular shape, and a switching means to switch between the rectangle opening means and the circular opening means to apply for the regulation of the exposure band.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention belongs to the technical field of correcting pattern defects by irradiating a laser beam. In particular, the present invention relates to a pattern defect repair apparatus having a high degree of freedom in setting a shape of a region to be irradiated with a laser beam.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A pattern defect correcting apparatus is an apparatus for correcting a pattern defect by irradiating a laser beam. The target pattern is, for example, a pattern of a thin film formed on a glass substrate or the like, and its material is a thin metal film such as emulsion, chrome, aluminum, or the like, or a transparent conductive film such as ITO. The part of the pattern that is exposed to the laser beam is in a high energy state, evaporating, altering,
It disappears by the like. The correction is performed by eliminating defective portions in the pattern.

[0003] In this pattern defect correction apparatus, only the laser beam a predetermined area is performed to set an irradiation region to be irradiated. As the method, a variable-size XY slit is used, and a laser beam is imaged in a rectangular shape having a size corresponding to a defective portion on a pattern surface. used to select an aperture of corresponding dimensions, method of imaging in the same manner, etc. are known.

[0004]

However, the conventional XY
The slitting system, the shape is limited to a rectangle, the direction of the linear shape obtained by modifying also limited, can not be corrected in a diagonal direction. In the conventional aperture selection method,
Only an irradiation area of a fixed size can be obtained. in this way,
In pattern defect repairing apparatus has a large limitation in the shape of the irradiation area of the laser beam that can be set. In particular, like a photomask used in the shadow mask manufacturing process,
For correction targets having various pattern shapes,
The application range is limited and cannot be used effectively.

The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to correct a repair target having a variety of pattern shapes, such as a photomask used in a shadow mask manufacturing process. Another object of the present invention is to provide a pattern defect repairing apparatus that can be effectively used.

[0006]

The above object is achieved by the present invention described below. That is, a pattern defect correcting apparatus according to claim 1 of the present invention is a pattern defect correcting apparatus that irradiates a laser beam by defining an irradiation area in order to correct a defect in a pattern, wherein the irradiation area has a rectangular shape. And a rectangular opening means for changing the dimensions of the X side and the Y side of the rectangle and the rotation angle of the rectangle.

According to the present invention, the irradiation area is defined in a rectangular shape by the rectangular opening means, and the dimensions of the X side and the Y side in the rectangle and the rotation angle of the rectangle are variable. Accordingly, there is provided a pattern defect repairing apparatus that can be effectively used for repairing objects having various pattern shapes, such as a photomask used in a shadow mask manufacturing process.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a pattern defect correcting apparatus for irradiating a laser beam by defining an irradiation area in order to correct a defect in a pattern. Is provided with a circular opening means for defining a circular shape.

According to the present invention, the irradiation area is defined by the circular opening means in a circular shape. However, since the edge of the circular shape includes all directions, there is little restriction on the shape to be corrected. In particular, it is suitable for correcting an enclosed area such as the inside of a circle. Accordingly, there is provided a pattern defect repairing apparatus that can be effectively used for repairing objects having various pattern shapes, such as a photomask used in a shadow mask manufacturing process.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a pattern defect correcting apparatus for irradiating a laser beam by defining an irradiation area in order to correct a defect in a pattern. , A circular opening means, and a switching means, wherein the rectangular opening means defines the irradiation area in a rectangular shape, and changes dimensions of an X side and a Y side in the rectangle and a rotation angle of the rectangle. Wherein the circular opening means defines the irradiation area in a circular shape, and the switching means performs switching to apply any of the rectangular opening means and the circular opening means to the definition of the irradiation area. It was made.

According to the present invention, the irradiation area is defined in a rectangular shape by the rectangular opening means, and the dimensions of the X side and the Y side in the rectangle and the rotation angle of the rectangle are variable. Also,
The irradiation area is defined in a circular shape by the circular opening means,
Since the edge of the circular shape includes all directions, there is little restriction on the shape to be corrected. In particular, it is suitable for correcting an enclosed area such as the inside of a circle. In the present invention, one of the rectangular opening means and the circular opening means is switched by the switching means and applied to the definition of the irradiation area. Accordingly, there is provided a pattern defect repairing apparatus that can be effectively used for repairing objects having various pattern shapes, such as a photomask used in a shadow mask manufacturing process.

[0012]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 show an example of the configuration of the pattern defect correcting apparatus of the present invention. 1 is an overall view of an arrangement applying a rectangular opening, FIG. 2 is an overall view of an arrangement applying a circular opening, and FIG. 3 is a detailed view of a rectangular opening, a circular opening, and a switching unit. 1, 2 and 3, 1 is a laser oscillator, 2a and 2b are mirrors, 3 is a circular opening, 4 is a rectangular opening, 5 is a θ rotating unit, 6 is a slit Y moving unit, 6
a is a motor, 6b and 6c are Y slit plates, 7 is a slit X moving unit, 7a is a motor, 7b and 7c are X slit plates,
8 is a switching unit, 9 is an auto focus unit (AF),
10 is a revolver, 11 is an objective lens, 20 is a stage,
Reference numeral 21 denotes an X coarse moving unit, 22 denotes a Y coarse moving unit, and 23 denotes an XY fine moving unit.

The laser oscillator 1 is a light source for irradiating a laser beam for correcting a defect in a pattern. As the laser oscillator 1, a laser oscillator having relatively power such as a YAG laser is used. The mirrors 2a and 2b
The direction of the laser beam is changed, and the laser beam is guided to a predetermined position. In the configuration shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 as an example, it also plays a role of reducing the outer diameter of the pattern defect repairing device.

The circular opening 3 defines the irradiation area of the laser beam in a circular shape. The circular opening 3 has a circular opening (for example, a pinhole aperture), and has a circular cross section perpendicular to the optical axis of the laser beam passing through the opening.

The rectangular opening 4 defines the irradiation region of the laser beam in a rectangular shape. The rectangular opening 4 has a rectangular opening, and has a rectangular cross section perpendicular to the optical axis of the laser beam passing through the rectangular opening. As shown in FIG. 3, the rectangular openings are formed by Y slit plates 6b and 6c and X slit plates 7b and 7c.
Are formed by the four light shielding plates.

The slit Y moving unit 6, the motor 6a and a driving control unit, Y slit plate 6b, 6c of the linear movement guide mechanism, and a like. The slit Y moving section 6 moves the Y slit plates 6b and 6c so that the dimension of the X side in the rectangular opening 4 becomes an arbitrary dimension.

Similarly, the slit X moving unit 7 includes a motor 7
a, a drive control unit thereof, a linear movement guide mechanism for the X slit plates 7b and 7c, and the like. Slit X moving section 7
Moves the X slit plates 7b and 7c and moves the rectangular opening 4
The dimensions of Y side is made to be of any dimension in.

The θ rotation unit 5 is composed of a rotary table and its rotation control unit. The aforementioned slit Y moving section 6,
The slit X moving unit 7 and the like are supported by the rotary table. rotation unit 5 rotates the rotary table so that the rectangle in the rectangular opening 4 has an arbitrary angle.

The switching section 8 includes a motor and its drive control section, a linear movement guide mechanism, a switching table, and the like.
The circular opening 3 and the rectangular opening 4 are arranged side by side on the switching table. The motor, its drive control unit, the linear movement guide mechanism, and the like linearly move the switching table in the direction of its arrangement. The switching unit 8 moves one of the circular opening 3 and the rectangular opening 4 on the optical axis of the laser beam as an opening applied to the correction of a defect in a pattern in accordance with an instruction input.

The objective lens 11 is an image forming optical system for forming an image of the circular opening 3 or the rectangular opening 4 existing on the optical axis of the laser beam on a surface of a pattern for correcting a defect. The automatic focusing unit 9 is an automatic focusing mechanism in the optical system, and automatically performs focusing for image formation by the objective lens 11. The revolver 10 is a mechanism for switching from a plurality of optical systems (objective lenses) to a specific optical system to be applied.

The stage 20 is a stage for placing a substrate on which a pattern to correct defects formed (glass substrate, etc.).

The X coarse moving section 21 is a mechanism for changing the relative position between the stage 20 and the laser beam irradiation system in the X direction (different from the X direction in the slit described above). The Y coarse movement section 22 is a mechanism that changes the relative position between the stage 20 and the laser beam irradiation system in the Y direction (different from the above-described slit Y direction). The XY fine movement unit 23 is
The relative position of the laser beam irradiation system and a mechanism for minute changes in the X and Y directions. These X coarse moving parts 21
The Y coarse movement unit 22 and the XY fine movement unit 23 match the irradiation position of the laser beam with the position of the defect to be corrected in the pattern. That is, the X coarse movement section 21, the Y coarse movement section 22, and the XY fine movement section 23 make the irradiation position of the laser beam on the XY coordinate system set on the stage 20 an arbitrary position.

Next, the operation of the above-described pattern defect repair apparatus will be described. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the correction operation when the pattern to be corrected is a rectangular pattern and its edge is a straight line. In FIG. 4, the laser beam 41 irradiated for correction has a rectangular irradiation area. That is, the rectangular opening 4 is applied by the switching unit 8 of the pattern defect correcting apparatus. Further, the θ rotation unit 5, the slit Y movement unit 6, and the slit X movement unit are set according to the size and angle of the pattern defect to be corrected.

Further, the X coarse moving section 2 of the pattern defect correcting apparatus
1 and the Y coarse movement unit 22 make the edge of the rectangular irradiation area coincide with the edge of the correction part in the rectangular pattern 40. Next, a laser beam is output from the laser oscillator 1 of the pattern defect correcting apparatus, and reflected by the mirrors 2a and 2b.
The cross section of the rectangular opening 4 is defined as a rectangle. The laser beam passes through the automatic focusing section 9, the revolver 10, and the objective lens 11 in that order, and irradiates the above-described position on the pattern surface to correct the defect.

[0025] In this way, when the pattern to correct with a straight edge as a rectangular pattern 40,
The laser beam 41 to be irradiated for correction is a rectangular irradiation area. Thereby, the defect in the pattern can be corrected, and the original correct edge shape can be recovered.

Next, FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the correcting operation when the pattern to be corrected is a convex circular pattern and its edge is a convex circle. As shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of irradiations of a laser beam are repeated for correction. The laser beams 51a to 51f in FIG. In FIG.
The laser beams 51a to 51f have rectangular irradiation areas. That is, the rectangular opening 4 is applied by the switching unit 8 of the pattern defect correcting apparatus. Further, the θ rotation unit 5, the slit Y movement unit 6, and the slit X movement unit are set according to the size and angle of the pattern defect to be corrected.

[0027] Further, X in the pattern defect correcting apparatus coarse portion 2
1 and the edge of the rectangular irradiation area are brought into contact with the edge of the correction portion in the convex circular pattern 50 by the Y coarse movement section 22. Next, the laser oscillator 1 of the pattern defect correcting apparatus
A laser beam is output from the mirror 2 and is reflected by the mirrors 2a and 2b to define a rectangular cross section at the rectangular opening 4.
The laser beam passes through the automatic focusing section 9, the revolver 10, and the objective lens 11 in that order, and irradiates the above-mentioned position on the pattern surface to correct the defect. These operations are repeated for the laser beams 51a to 51f.

As described above, when the pattern to be corrected has a convex arc edge like the convex circular pattern 50, the laser beams 51a to 51a-5 which are repeatedly irradiated for the correction are used.
1f is a rectangular irradiation area. Thereby, the defect in the pattern can be corrected, and the original correct edge shape can be recovered within the required accuracy.

Next, FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the correcting operation when the pattern to be corrected is a concave circular pattern and its edge is a concave circle. As shown in FIG. 6, the laser beam irradiation is repeated a plurality of times for correction. The laser beams 61a to 61f in FIG. 6 correspond thereto. In FIG.
The laser beams 61a to 61f have circular irradiation areas. That is, the circular opening 3 is applied by the switching unit 8 of the pattern defect correction device.

The X coarse moving section 2 of the pattern defect correcting apparatus
1 and the edge of the rectangular irradiation region are brought into contact with the edge of the correction portion in the concave circular pattern 60 by the Y coarse movement portion 22. Next, the laser oscillator 1 of the pattern defect correcting apparatus
The laser beam is output from the mirror 2 and is reflected by the mirrors 2a and 2b to define a circular section at the circular opening 3.
The laser beam passes through the automatic focusing section 9, the revolver 10, and the objective lens 11 in that order, and irradiates the above-described position on the pattern surface to correct the defect. These operations are repeated for the laser beams 61a to 61f.

As described above, when the pattern to be corrected has a concave arc edge like the concave circular pattern 50, the laser beams 61a to 61f irradiated for the correction are used.
Is a circular irradiation area. Thereby, the defect in the pattern can be corrected, and the original correct edge shape can be recovered within the required accuracy. In this case, if the irradiation area is rectangular, as shown in FIG. 7, the original correct edge shape cannot be recovered.

[0032]

As described above, according to the pattern defect repairing apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention, the irradiation area is defined in a rectangular shape, and the dimensions of the X side and the Y side in the rectangle are determined. The provision of the rectangular opening means for changing the rotation angle of the rectangle makes it possible to effectively use the correction target having a wide variety of pattern shapes, such as a photomask used in a shadow mask manufacturing process. An apparatus for repairing a pattern defect is provided. According to the pattern defect correcting apparatus of the second aspect of the present invention, by providing the circular opening means for defining the irradiation area in a circular shape,
Provided is a pattern defect repairing apparatus that can be effectively used for repairing objects having various pattern shapes, such as a photomask used in a shadow mask manufacturing process. According to the pattern defect repairing apparatus of the third aspect of the present invention, the irradiation area is defined in a rectangular shape, and the dimensions of the X side and the Y side in the rectangle and the rotation angle of the rectangle are variable. By providing an opening means, a circular opening means for defining the irradiation area in a circular shape, and a switching means for switching any of them to apply to the definition of the irradiation area, a photomask used in the manufacturing process of the shadow mask is provided. As described above, there is provided a pattern defect repairing apparatus that can be effectively used even for repairing objects having various pattern shapes.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the pattern defect correction apparatus of the present invention (with the rectangular opening).

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration in a pattern defect repairing apparatus of the present invention (a circular opening is applied).

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a pattern defect repairing apparatus according to the present invention (a detailed view of a rectangular opening, a circular opening, and a switching unit).

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a correcting operation when a pattern to be corrected is a rectangular pattern and its edge is a straight line.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a correcting operation when a pattern to be corrected is a convex circular pattern and its edge is a convex circle.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a correcting operation when a pattern to be corrected is a concave circular pattern and its edge is a concave circle.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram as a comparative example of FIG. 6;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 laser oscillator 2a, 2b mirror 3 circular opening 4 rectangular opening 5 θ rotating part 6 slit Y moving part 6a motor 6b, 6c Y slit plate 7 slit X moving part 7a is motor 7b, 7c X slit plate 8 switching part 9 Auto focus unit (AF) 10 Revolver 11 Objective lens 20 Stage 21 X coarse movement unit 22 Y coarse movement unit 23 XY fine movement unit

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Kensaku Suzuki 1-1-1 Ichigaya-Kaga-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo F-term in Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. (reference) 2H095 BD34 5C012 AA02 5C027 HH05

Claims (3)

[Claims] To correct defects in a pattern,
A pattern defect correcting apparatus that irradiates a laser beam by defining an irradiation area, wherein the irradiation area is defined in a rectangular shape, and the dimensions of an X side and a Y side in the rectangle and a rotation angle of the rectangle are variable. A pattern defect correcting apparatus, comprising: a rectangular opening means. 2. In order to correct a defect in a pattern,
A pattern defect correcting apparatus for irradiating a laser beam by defining an irradiation area, comprising: a circular opening means for defining the irradiation area in a circular shape. 3. To correct defects in a pattern,
A pattern defect correcting device for irradiating a laser beam to define the illuminated area, and the rectangular opening means, a circular opening means,
Switching means, wherein the rectangular opening means defines the irradiation area in a rectangular shape,
The dimensions of the X side and the Y side of the rectangle and the rotation angle of the rectangle are variable, the circular opening means defines the irradiation area in a circular shape, and the switching means includes the rectangular opening means and the circular shape. A pattern defect correcting apparatus, wherein switching is performed to apply any one of the opening means to the definition of the irradiation area.