JP2003109889A - Exposure device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an exposure device for improving throughput of the device and improving productivity even in the case that unevenness or the like of board temperature occurs. SOLUTION: Exposure processing is performed without modification concerning a subsequent exposure processing board in the case that a correction amount in each exposure area of these arbitrary continuous exposure processing boards is within an allowable range as compared with an average of the correction amount (step S101). In the case that the correction amount in each exposure area of the three arbitrary continuous exposure processing boards is out of the allowable range as compared with the average of the correction amount, correction measurement of a fourth exposure processing board is performed. A means for recalculating the average of the correction amount in the second to fourth exposure processing boards measured up to that time including the exposure processing board is provided, and a recalculated average is compared with measured values of each exposure area. In the case that the error is within the allowable range, correction measurement of each exposure area is eliminated on the subsequent exposure processing board to perform exposure processing (step S103).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an exposure apparatus for manufacturing a device such as a semiconductor chip such as IC or LSI, a liquid crystal panel, a CCD, a thin film magnetic head, a micromachine or the like by exposing a substrate with a pattern of an original plate. Is.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, as the production cost of devices such as transmissive panels and semiconductors has been reduced, the productivity of exposure apparatuses has become more and more important. In a conventional exposure apparatus, the relative correction amount measurement for aligning an original plate such as a mask or reticle and a substrate such as a wafer is performed by measuring a relative amount between the original plate and the substrate in each exposure area of the first several substrates. If the target correction amount is within the allowable range with respect to the average correction amount, skip the subsequent correction amount measurement of the substrate and use the average value of the first few correction amount measurement values. Exposure process.

[0003]

However, in the case of the exposure apparatus according to the conventional example, the average value of the correction amounts in the exposure areas of the first several sheets may drift due to variations in the substrate temperature, or in the production process. If there are variations in the measurement process, or if the correction amount measurement mark disappears in the production process, the correction amount measurement will be performed on all the first and subsequent substrates, and those measurements will be performed. It was a factor that reduced productivity by time.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and in the conventional exposure apparatus, even when variations in substrate temperature or variations in the production process occur,
An object of the present invention is to provide an exposure apparatus capable of improving the throughput of the apparatus and improving the productivity.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the exposure apparatus of the present invention comprises a plurality of substrate stages so as to expose a plurality of exposure areas on a substrate through a projection optical system. Mechanism for measuring the relative positional deviation between the original plate and the exposure area on the substrate by sequentially stepping to the exposure position of the exposure area, and the image of the original is transferred to the exposure area of the substrate without error. A mechanism for performing the exposure by correcting the positional deviation in order to move the substrate that has been subjected to the exposure processing from the substrate stage by using a substrate transfer robot, and a substrate to be subjected to the next exposure processing. In an exposure apparatus that moves to and mounts (transfers) to the substrate stage, if the correction amount in each exposure region of any of the plurality of continuous substrates is not within an allowable range compared with the average value of the correction amount To There is provided means for performing a correction measurement of the substrate and recalculating an average value of the correction amounts of all or a part of the substrates including the substrate, the recalculated average value and each of the above values. It is characterized in that the measured values of the exposure areas are compared with each other, and if the error is within an allowable range, the subsequent substrate is not subjected to correction measurement (omission) for each exposure area.

According to the present invention, when the correction amount in each exposure area of a plurality of arbitrary substrates is not within the allowable range compared with the average value of the correction amount, the correction measurement of the next substrate is performed, In the case of having a means for recalculating the average value of the correction amount for any of a plurality of consecutive substrates excluding the first substrate including the substrate, and being within the allowable range compared with the recalculated average value. In addition, it is possible to perform no correction measurement for each exposure area on the subsequent substrates. Further, the correction measurement target in the exposure region of each substrate may be any one or more of the magnification, arrangement, and distortion component of each substrate. Furthermore, it is preferable that the exposure apparatus further includes means for arbitrarily changing the number of the substrates that are continuous with the allowable range.

The exposure apparatus of the present invention can shorten the exposure processing time for all the substrates by determining the average value of the correction amount of each exposure area even after the first few wafers. That is, even if the correction amount of the first several substrates exceeds the permissible range with respect to the average value of the correction amount, the exposure apparatus of the present invention is capable of exposing regions of each of several subsequent substrates. If the correction amount of is within the permissible range with respect to the average value of the correction amounts, then in the subsequent exposure processing of the substrate, the correction amount of each exposure area is not measured and the permissible range is entered. It is possible to complete all the exposure processing time in the shortest time by performing the correction by using the average value of the correction amount at the time and performing the exposure.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. [First Embodiment] FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 best represent the present invention. In the first embodiment, when the average magnification of several consecutive substrates falls within a certain allowable range. To
It is a figure explaining the 1st and 2nd flow which carries out exposure processing, omitting magnification measurement for the subsequent substrates, respectively.

That is, the difference between the first magnification average value of, for example, three substrates and the magnification value of the exposure area of each substrate falls within an allowable range stored in advance in a personal computer (FIG. 3) connected to the exposure apparatus. If it exceeds, the difference between the average magnification value of three consecutive substrates after the second (FIG. 6A) and the magnification value of the exposure area of each substrate is within the allowable range (FIG. 6B). In comparison with the above, if the average value is within the allowable range in FIG. 5 in the exposure processing for the fifth and subsequent sheets, it indicates that the exposure processing is performed without measuring the magnification.

In FIG. 1, in step S101, the first to third sheets are exposed while the magnification measurement and array measurement of the first three sheets are performed, and the fourth and subsequent sheets are the average magnification value and array average value of the first three sheets. To expose. In step S102,
The average value of the magnification and arrangement of the first to third substrates is calculated.
If the difference between the average magnification value of three consecutive substrates after the first and the magnification value of the exposure area of each substrate exceeds the allowable range, the second to fourth substrates are determined in step S103. Magnification measurement and array measurement are performed, and 2 to 4 are performed in step S104.
The average value of the magnification and the sequence is calculated on the first sheet. As a result, the difference between the average magnification value of three consecutive sheets after the third sheet and the magnification value of the exposure area of each substrate is again compared with the allowable range. That is, when the difference between the magnification average value of three consecutive substrates and the magnification value of the exposure area of each substrate is within the allowable range, the subsequent magnification measurement sequence of the substrate is omitted and the magnification average value is The exposure processing is performed according to the above, and the processing time of all the substrates is shortened.

In FIG. 2, in step S201, the first to third substrates are exposed while performing magnification measurement and array measurement of the first three exposure processing substrates, and the fourth and subsequent substrates are average magnification values of the first three substrates. And expose using the sequence mean. If the difference between the average magnification value of three consecutive substrates after the first and the magnification value of the exposure area of each substrate exceeds the allowable range, the first to fourth substrates are determined in step S203. Magnification measurement and array measurement are performed, and the average value of magnification and array is calculated for the first to fourth sheets in step S204. This makes 3
The difference between the average magnification value and the magnification value of the exposure area of each substrate for all the substrates including the first and subsequent substrates is again compared with the allowable range. In other words, if the difference between the average magnification value of all exposed substrates and the magnification value of the exposure area of each substrate is within the allowable range, the subsequent magnification measurement sequence of the substrate is performed. Is omitted and exposure processing is performed according to the average value of magnifications, and the processing time for all substrates is shortened. Further, in the drawing, it is possible to have a means for arbitrarily changing the number of the continuous substrates and the allowable range.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an exposure apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a mask, 2 is a substrate, 21 is an illumination optical system, 22 is an observation optical system, 23 is a mask stage, 24 is a main body structure, 25 is a mirror projection optical system, 26 is an X-direction magnification control system, 28 is a substrate stage, 2
9 is a mask Y-axis control laser interferometer, 30 is a plate Y-axis control laser interferometer, 31 is a mask Y-axis drive motor, 32
Is a plate Y-axis drive motor, 34 is a control circuit, 35 is a personal computer, and 40 is a substrate transfer robot.

The substrate 2 transferred onto the substrate stage 28 by the substrate transfer robot 40 by the observation optical system 22.
Then, in order to detect the relative magnification error of the mask 1 placed on the mask stage 23 and correct the detected magnification error, the X-direction magnification control system 26 displays the image on the mask in the X direction. The exposure is performed by correcting the magnification by enlarging or reducing the size, and at the same time, in the Y direction, the mask stage 23 and the substrate stage 28 generate a relative speed difference to correct the magnification and perform the exposure.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an exposure processing sequence of the substrate according to the present embodiment, which includes a magnification measurement sequence. Further, Table 1 shown below is a table showing an example of a screen of a storage device of a personal computer which stores each measured value in FIG.

[0015]

[Table 1]

In FIG. 4, step S401 from the start
In step S402, the substrate is moved in steps, and the magnification of the exposure area is measured. In step S404, the alignment / magnification is corrected based on the measurement values measured in steps S402 and S403, and the substrate is exposed. Then, in step S405, it is determined whether or not the step has ended. If the step has not ended (No), step S401
If the step is completed (Yes), the process is ended. That is, it measures how much the upper and lower portions of each exposure area of the substrate have with respect to the mask, and the measured magnification value is stored in the storage device of the personal computer.

FIG. 5 shows an exposure processing sequence when the average magnification value according to the embodiment of the present invention is within the allowable range. In step S505, it is determined whether or not the magnification error is within the allowable range. If it is within the range (Yes), correction is set by the magnification average value in step S507. If it is outside the range (No), step S506 is performed. The magnification of the exposed area is measured. In FIG. 5, steps different from those in FIG. 4A will be described. In step S502, it is determined whether the array error is within an allowable range, and if it is within the range (Y
If it is es), the correction is made with the array average value in step S504, and if it is outside the range (in the case of No), it is step S503.
The array measurement of array elements in the exposure area is performed. That is,
Compared to FIG. 4A, the magnification measurement sequence is omitted, which shows that the exposure processing is completed in a shorter time than the sequence shown in FIG.

Table 2 shown below is a table for determining whether or not the magnification measurement value is within the allowable range. (A) is a magnification / array measurement data table, and (b) is a magnification / array average value table. (C) is a calculation table of the difference between the average value and the magnification value of each exposure region, and (d) is a table showing the magnification allowable range and the array allowable range.

[0019]

[Table 2]

That is, Table 2 shows that the average value of the magnification measurement values of the exposure regions (Steps) of each of a plurality of consecutive substrates is calculated and it is determined whether or not they are within the allowable range. There is.

[Second Embodiment] In the above embodiment, as shown in FIGS.
It is explained in FIG. 5 and Tables 1 and 2 that the array is measured and whether or not the error is within the allowable range is determined, and then the magnification is measured and whether or not the error is within the allowable range. In the embodiment, the subsequent array measurement of the substrate is omitted even when the array average value of the exposure regions of any three consecutive substrates falls within the allowable range. Further, the present embodiment can be configured as an exposure apparatus having a unit for arbitrarily changing the allowable range and the number of continuous substrates.

[Third Embodiment] In each of the above embodiments, the magnification and the array measurement are shown. In this embodiment, however, the distortion of the plate (Distortio) is shown.
Similar processing can be performed with other correction amounts such as the n) component.

[Embodiment of Semiconductor Production System] Next, a device such as a semiconductor (I
An example of a production system of a semiconductor chip such as C or LSI, a liquid crystal panel, a CCD, a thin film magnetic head, a micromachine, etc.) will be described. This is to carry out maintenance services such as troubleshooting of a manufacturing apparatus installed in a semiconductor manufacturing factory, periodic maintenance, or software provision using a computer network or the like outside the manufacturing factory.

FIG. 6 shows the whole system cut out from a certain angle. In the figure, 101 is a business office of a vendor (apparatus supplier) that provides a semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus. As an example of a manufacturing apparatus, a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus for various processes used in a semiconductor manufacturing factory, for example,
Pre-process equipment (lithography equipment such as exposure equipment, resist processing equipment, etching equipment, heat treatment equipment, film forming equipment,
Flattening equipment, etc.) and post-process equipment (assembling equipment, inspection equipment, etc.) are assumed. In the business office 101, a host management system 10 that provides a maintenance database for manufacturing equipment is provided.
8, a plurality of operation terminal computers 110, and a local area network (LAN) 109 that connects these to construct an intranet or the like. Host management system 1
08 is provided with a gateway for connecting the LAN 109 to the Internet 105, which is an external network of the office, and a security function for restricting access from the outside.

On the other hand, 102 to 104 are semiconductor manufacturers (semiconductor device manufacturers) as users of manufacturing equipment.
Manufacturing plant. The manufacturing factories 102 to 104 may be factories belonging to different makers or may be factories belonging to the same maker (for example, a pre-process factory, a post-process factory, etc.). In each of the factories 102 to 104, a plurality of manufacturing apparatuses 106, a local area network (LAN) 111 that connects them to construct an intranet, and a host as a monitoring apparatus that monitors the operating status of each manufacturing apparatus 106 are provided. A management system 107 is provided. The host management system 107 provided in each factory 102 to 104 includes a gateway for connecting the LAN 111 in each factory to the Internet 105 which is an external network of the factory. As a result, the host management system 108 on the vendor 101 side can be accessed from the LAN 111 of each factory via the Internet 105, and only the limited user is permitted to access by the security function of the host management system 108. Specifically, via the Internet 105,
The factory side notifies the vendor side of status information indicating the operating status of each manufacturing apparatus 106 (for example, a symptom of the manufacturing apparatus in which a trouble has occurred), and the response information corresponding to the notification (for example, an instruction for a troubleshooting method is given. Information to
It is possible to receive maintenance information such as countermeasure software and data), the latest software, and help information from the vendor side. A communication protocol (TCP / IP) generally used on the Internet is used for data communication between the factories 102 to 104 and the vendor 101 and data communication on the LAN 111 in each factory. In addition,
Instead of using the Internet as an external network outside the factory, it is also possible to use a leased line network (ISDN or the like) having high security without being accessed by a third party. Further, the host management system is not limited to one provided by a vendor, and a user may construct a database and place it on an external network to permit access from a plurality of factories of the user to the database.

Now, FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram showing the entire system of this embodiment cut out from an angle different from that shown in FIG. In the above example, a plurality of user factories each provided with a manufacturing apparatus are connected to a management system of a vendor of the manufacturing apparatus via an external network, and production management of each factory or at least one unit is performed via the external network. Was used for data communication of information on the manufacturing equipment. On the other hand, in this example, a factory equipped with manufacturing equipment of a plurality of vendors and a management system of each vendor of the plurality of manufacturing equipments are connected by an external network outside the factory, and maintenance information of each manufacturing equipment is displayed. It is for data communication. In the figure, reference numeral 201 denotes a manufacturing plant of a manufacturing apparatus user (semiconductor device manufacturing maker), and a manufacturing apparatus for performing various processes is installed on a manufacturing line of the factory.
The film forming processing device 204 is introduced. Although only one manufacturing factory 201 is illustrated in FIG. 7, a plurality of factories are actually networked in the same manner. Each device in the factory is connected by a LAN 206 to form an intranet or the like, and the host management system 205 manages the operation of the manufacturing line. On the other hand, the exposure apparatus manufacturer 210, the resist processing apparatus manufacturer 220, the film deposition apparatus manufacturer 230, etc.
Each business site of the vendor (device supplier) is provided with host management systems 211, 221, 231 for performing remote maintenance of the supplied equipment, respectively, and these are provided with the maintenance database and the gateway of the external network as described above. . The host management system 205 that manages each device in the user's manufacturing factory and the vendor management system 211, 221, 231 of each device are the external network 20.
It is connected by the Internet or a leased line network which is 0. In this system, if a trouble occurs in any of the series of manufacturing equipment on the manufacturing line, the operation of the manufacturing line is suspended, but the vendor of the equipment in trouble receives remote maintenance via the Internet 200. This enables quick response and minimizes production line downtime.

Each manufacturing apparatus installed in the semiconductor manufacturing factory includes a display, a network interface, and a computer for executing the network access software and the apparatus operating software stored in the storage device. The storage device is a built-in memory, a hard disk, a network file server, or the like. The network access software includes a dedicated or general-purpose web browser, and provides, for example, a user interface having a screen as shown in FIG. 8 on the display. The operator who manages the manufacturing equipment at each factory refers to the screen and refers to the model of the manufacturing equipment (4
01), serial number (402), trouble subject (403), occurrence date (404), urgency (405), symptom (406), coping method (407), progress (408), and other information on the screen. Fill in the input fields. The entered information will be sent to the maintenance database via the Internet,
The resulting appropriate maintenance information is returned from the maintenance database and presented on the display. Further, the user interface provided by the web browser further realizes a hyperlink function (410, 411, 412) as shown in the figure, so that the operator can access more detailed information of each item or from a software library provided by the vendor. It is possible to pull out the latest version of software used for the manufacturing apparatus, or pull out an operation guide (help information) to be used as a reference for the factory operator. Here, the maintenance information provided by the maintenance database includes the information about the present invention described above, and the software library also provides the latest software for implementing the present invention.

Next, a semiconductor device manufacturing process using the above-described production system will be described. Figure 9
1 shows an overall manufacturing process flow of a semiconductor device. In step 1 (circuit design), the circuit of the semiconductor device is designed. In step 2 (mask manufacturing), a mask having the designed circuit pattern is manufactured. On the other hand, in step 3 (wafer manufacturing), a wafer is manufactured using a material such as silicon. Step 4 (wafer process) is called a pre-process, and an actual circuit is formed on the wafer by the lithography technique using the mask and the wafer prepared above. The next step 5 (assembly) is called a post-process, which is a process of forming a semiconductor chip using the wafer manufactured in step 4, and an assembly process (dicing,
Assembling process such as bonding) and packaging process (chip encapsulation). In step 6 (inspection), the semiconductor device manufactured in step 5 undergoes inspections such as an operation confirmation test and a durability test. A semiconductor device is completed through these processes and shipped (step 7). The front-end process and the back-end process are performed in separate dedicated factories, and maintenance is performed for each of these factories by the remote maintenance system described above. Also, between the front-end factory and the back-end factory,
Information and the like for production management and equipment maintenance are data-communicated via the Internet or a leased line network.

FIG. 10 shows a detailed flow of the wafer process. In step 11 (oxidation), the surface of the wafer is oxidized. In step 12 (CVD), an insulating film is formed on the wafer surface. In step 13 (electrode formation), electrodes are formed on the wafer by vapor deposition. In step 14 (ion implantation), ions are implanted in the wafer. In step 15 (resist processing), a photosensitive agent is applied to the wafer.
In step 16 (exposure), the circuit pattern of the mask is printed and exposed on the wafer by the exposure apparatus described above. In step 17 (development), the exposed wafer is developed. In step 18 (etching), parts other than the developed resist image are removed. In step 19 (resist stripping), the resist that is no longer needed after etching is removed. By repeating these steps, multiple circuit patterns are formed on the wafer. Since the manufacturing equipment used in each process is maintained by the remote maintenance system described above, troubles can be prevented in advance, and even if troubles occur, quick recovery is possible, and Productivity can be improved.

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since the magnification measurement sequence and the array measurement sequence are often omitted, it is possible to obtain an exposure apparatus that improves the throughput of the apparatus and improves the productivity.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an exposure apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention,
It is a figure explaining the 1st flow which shows an exposure process, without performing magnification measurement for the subsequent substrates, when the magnification average value of arbitrary several continuous substrates enters into a certain permissible range. .

FIG. 2 shows an exposure apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention,
It is a figure explaining the 2nd flow which shows exposure processing, without performing magnification measurement for the subsequent substrates, when the magnification average value of arbitrary several consecutive substrates is within a certain permissible range. .

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an exposure apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an exposure processing sequence for processing each substrate of the exposure apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 shows an exposure processing sequence when a magnification average value according to an embodiment of the present invention is within an allowable range.

FIG. 6 is a conceptual view of a semiconductor device production system including an exposure apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention as viewed from an angle.

FIG. 7 is a conceptual view of a semiconductor device production system including an exposure apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention as viewed from another angle.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a specific example of a user interface in a semiconductor device production system including an exposure apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a flow of a device manufacturing process by the exposure apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a wafer process performed by the exposure apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: mask, 2: substrate, 21: illumination optical system, 22: observation optical system, 23: mask stage, 24: main body structure, 2
5: mirror projection optical system, 26: X-direction magnification control system, 2
8: Substrate stage, 29: Mask Y-axis control laser interferometer, 30: Plate Y-axis control laser interferometer, 31: Mask Y-axis drive motor, 32: Plate Y-axis drive motor, 3
4: control circuit, 35: personal computer, 40: substrate transfer robot.

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. In order to expose a plurality of exposure areas on a substrate via a projection optical system, a substrate stage is sequentially stepwise moved to exposure positions of the plurality of exposure areas to expose the original plate and the exposure areas on the substrate. And a mechanism for performing the exposure by correcting the positional deviation so that the image of the original plate can be transferred to the exposure area of the substrate without error. In the exposure apparatus that moves the substrate on which the exposure processing has been completed using the substrate from the substrate stage and transfers the substrate to be subjected to the next exposure processing to the substrate stage and mounts it, a plurality of arbitrary continuous sheets When the correction amount in each exposure area of the substrate is not within the allowable range compared with the average value of the correction amount, the correction measurement of the next substrate is performed, and the substrate is included.
Having means for recalculating the average value of the correction amount in all or part of the substrate that has been measured up to then, comparing the recalculated average value with the measured value of each of the exposure areas,
An exposure apparatus, wherein if the error is within a permissible range, correction measurement of each exposure region is not performed on the subsequent substrates. 2. The exposure apparatus performs a correction measurement of a next substrate when the correction amount in each exposure region of an arbitrary plurality of continuous substrates is not within an allowable range as compared with the average value of the correction amount. It has a means for recalculating the average value of the correction amount for any of a plurality of consecutive boards excluding the first board including the board, and it is within the allowable range compared with the recalculated average value. The exposure apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, in the case of subsequent exposure, correction measurement of each exposure area is not performed on the subsequent substrates. 3. The exposure according to claim 1, wherein the correction measurement target in the exposure area of each substrate is one or more of a magnification, an array, and a distortion component of each substrate. apparatus. 4. The exposure apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the exposure apparatus further includes means for arbitrarily changing the number of the substrates that are continuous with the allowable range. apparatus. 5. The exposure apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a display, a network interface, and a computer that executes network software, and the exposure apparatus maintenance information is stored in a computer network. An exposure apparatus that enables data communication via the. 6. The network software provides a user interface on the display for connecting to an external network of a factory in which the exposure apparatus is installed and accessing a maintenance database provided by a vendor or a user of the exposure apparatus. The exposure apparatus according to claim 5, wherein information can be obtained from the database via the external network. 7. A step of installing a manufacturing apparatus group for various processes including the exposure apparatus according to claim 1 in a semiconductor manufacturing factory, and a plurality of processes using the manufacturing apparatus group. And a step of manufacturing a semiconductor device. 8. A step of connecting the manufacturing device group with a local area network, and data communication of information about at least one of the manufacturing device group between the local area network and an external network outside the semiconductor manufacturing factory. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 7, further comprising: 9. A semiconductor manufacturing factory, which is different from the semiconductor manufacturing factory, accessing a database provided by a vendor or a user of the exposure apparatus via the external network to obtain maintenance information of the manufacturing apparatus by data communication. 9. The semiconductor device manufacturing method according to claim 8, wherein production management is performed by performing data communication with the external device via the external network. 10. A manufacturing apparatus group for various processes including the exposure apparatus according to claim 1, a local area network connecting the manufacturing apparatus group, and a local area network to outside the factory. A semiconductor manufacturing factory, which has a gateway that enables access to the external network, and enables data communication of information regarding at least one of the manufacturing apparatus groups. 11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the semiconductor manufacturing factory is installed.
7. The exposure apparatus maintenance method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein a vendor or a user of the exposure apparatus provides a maintenance database connected to an external network of the semiconductor manufacturing factory, and the semiconductor manufacturing factory. A step of permitting access to the maintenance database from the inside via the external network; and a step of transmitting the maintenance information accumulated in the maintenance database to the semiconductor manufacturing factory side via the external network. Maintenance method for exposure equipment.