JP2003173964A - Exposure system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an exposure system of high position measurement precision of an original edition stage and a substrate stage by restraining refractive index fluctuation of a laser light. <P>SOLUTION: The exposure system is equipped with a chamber 1 surrounding a space of a wafer stage 2 and a space of a reticle stage 4, a high purity nitrogen supply line 14 for supplying high purity nitrogen gas to a space surrounded by the chamber 1, supply systems 15, 16 and 17, control valves 23, 24 and 25, a drain port 9 as a circulating means for absorbing gas in the space surrounded by the chamber 1 and again supplying the gas to the space after cleaning, a circulating unit 10, a filter box 11, a filter box 12, a circulating line 13, a control valve 27, an oxygen supply line for supplying oxygen to the space which contains the circulating means and is surrounded by the chamber 1, and a mass flow controller 22. Oxygen concentration of the space surrounded by the chamber 1 is controlled to be in a desired range. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an exposure apparatus used for manufacturing semiconductor devices, image pickup devices, liquid crystal display devices, thin film magnetic heads and other microdevices.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a photolithography process for manufacturing a microdevice such as a semiconductor element, a pattern image of an original plate such as a photomask (including a reticle) is projected onto a photosensitive substrate such as a semiconductor wafer through a projection optical system. An exposure device is used to expose to. In recent years, semiconductor integrated circuits have been developed in the direction of miniaturization, and in the photolithography process, the wavelength of the photolithography light source has been shortened.

However, vacuum ultraviolet rays, especially 250n
Light having a wavelength shorter than m, for example, KrF excimer laser (wavelength 248 nm), ArF excimer laser (wavelength 19
3 nm), or F ₂ laser (wavelength 157 nm) light or harmonic light such as YAG laser is used as the exposure light, the intensity of the light decreases due to the influence of absorption by oxygen, and unnecessary ozone gas is removed. There was a problem such as causing it.

Therefore, conventionally, in an exposure apparatus having a light source such as an ArF excimer laser, only the optical path portion is hermetically sealed, and a gas containing no oxygen, such as nitrogen, is substituted for the internal gas to obtain a light transmittance. I was trying to avoid a decrease in the temperature and the generation of ozone gas. That is, except for the portion of the exposure optical path, air is used as the atmosphere component of the space of the substrate stage such as the wafer stage and the original stage such as the reticle stage, such as the air around the exposure apparatus is circulated through the filter.

[0005]

However, only the exposure optical path portion is sealed by moving the wafer stage, reticle stage, etc. like a so-called step-and-repeat type exposure apparatus in which collective exposure is repeated step by step. It is difficult for an apparatus in which the part exists in the optical path, and it is inevitable that the exposure light is partially exposed to air. When the F ₂ laser is used as the light source, the influence of oxygen becomes more sensitive than in the conventional case, and when the oxygen concentration is in the atmosphere, the exposure light is attenuated by several centimeters.

Therefore, an exposure apparatus capable of performing exposure in a required inert gas atmosphere formed by supplying a high-purity inert gas into the space between the optical member of the exposure optical system and the wafer or reticle. Has already been proposed. For example, the projection exposure apparatus in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-199002 shown in FIG. 8 is one example.

In FIG. 8, floor F2 in a semiconductor manufacturing factory is used.
It shows that a gas circulation device such as helium or nitrogen is installed in the upper machine room, and the projection exposure device is installed in the clean room on the floor F1 above the floor. In the figure, the main components will be described. 807 is an environmental chamber, 826 is an exposure main body, PL is a projection optical system, 806 is an illumination optical system (subchamber), R is a reticle, 820 is a reticle stage, and 821 is A reticle base, W is a wafer, 822 is a wafer holder, and 823 is a wafer stage. Further, 888 is a pipe for supplying nitrogen to the vicinity of the wafer W and the reticle R, 888a and 888b are branch pipes of the pipe 888, V824 and V82.
Reference numeral 5 is an opening / closing valve for each of the pipes 888a and 888b, 895 is a pipe for recovering nitrogen, and V819 is a pipe 895.
The on-off valves provided in the middle of each are shown. In this projection exposure apparatus, as with helium, it is possible to use F2 for nitrogen.
The circulating device installed above circulates into the environmental chamber 807.

The other main components of FIG. 8 will be described. 803 is an F ₂ laser light source, 804 is a beam matching unit, 805 is a pipe, and 801 is a case. Further, 831 is a pipe for supplying helium to the illumination optical system 806 and the projection optical system PL, and 831a and 831a.
Reference numeral 31b denotes a branch pipe of the pipe 831, and V813, V814, and V815 denote open / close valves provided in the branch pipes 831a and 831b, respectively. Further, 893 is a pipe for collecting gas such as helium in the illumination optical system 806,
V817 is an opening / closing valve provided in the pipe 893, 894
Is a pipe for collecting gas such as helium in the projection optical system PL, V818 is an opening / closing valve provided in the pipe 894, and 8
33 is a space 807a near the ceiling of the environmental chamber 807,
Pipes for recovering gas such as helium from the pipe 893 and the pipe 894 are shown respectively. The pipe 833 is configured to supply a gas such as nitrogen or helium from the projection exposure apparatus on the floor F1 to the floor F2.
It is recovered by the pump 834 or the like to the upper circulation device.

However, when such a system is used,
The following inconveniences occur. When the gas around each stage is a general air component, only the gap between the wafer or reticle and the optical member is filled with the high-purity inert gas. As described above, since the gap can be an open space, it is necessary to supply a large amount of high-purity inert gas such as several liters to several tens of liters per minute in order to constantly fill the gap with high purity. From the viewpoint of cost, it is considered that high-purity nitrogen gas is used in many cases, but if such a large amount of nitrogen is continuously supplied to the gap, nitrogen in the air becomes extremely large around the wafer or reticle. Will end up. There is also a problem that the refractive index of light of each gas changes. This causes fluctuations in the measurement values of the laser interferometer that measures the position of each stage.

An object of the present invention is to provide an exposure apparatus that suppresses fluctuations in oxygen components in the atmosphere in a space where the stage is located, suppresses fluctuations in the refractive index of laser light, and has high position measurement accuracy for the original stage and the substrate stage. It is in.

[0011]

In order to solve the above problems, the exposure apparatus of the present invention is an exposure apparatus which transfers and exposes a pattern of an original onto a photosensitive material coated on a substrate. Means for surrounding a single space including an original stage space including a stage for positioning or a substrate stage space including a stage for positioning the substrate, or both; means for sucking gas in the space and discharging the space; Circulation means for supplying gas again to the space through the pipe outside the space, first supply means for supplying high-purity inert gas to the space, and the space And a second supply means for supplying oxygen to control the oxygen concentration in the space within a predetermined range. With this configuration, the components of the atmosphere in the enclosed space can be made substantially constant, and there is an effect of suppressing fluctuations in the refractive index of the laser light. In addition, the gas supplied from the circulation means can be further suppressed from changing the refractive index of the laser light by having a structure in which it is blown out toward the measurement space of the laser interferometer in the enclosed space.

In the present invention, the first supply means is at least one of a gap between the original plate and the illumination optical system, a gap between the original plate and the projection optical system, and a gap between the substrate and the projection optical system. It is preferable that one of the high-purity inert gases is supplied, and that the second supply means supplies oxygen to the space by supplying oxygen to the circulation means. . With this configuration, since the first supply unit supplies high-purity inert gas to all of the gaps, for example, the variation of the refractive index of the laser light is suppressed, and the exposure with high position measurement accuracy of the original stage and the substrate stage is performed. A device can be provided. Also,
Since the second supply means supplies oxygen to the circulation means, it is possible to uniformly mix oxygen with the sufficiently high-purity inert gas before the gas is blown into the space.

Further, in the present invention, a measuring means for measuring at least the oxygen concentration in the atmosphere of the space is further provided, and based on the result of measuring the oxygen concentration in the space by the measuring means, The supply amount of at least one of the high-purity inert gas supplied to the space and the oxygen supplied from the second supply means to the space may be controlled. With this configuration, it is possible to make the components of the atmosphere in the space more constant while suppressing the supply amount of the high-purity inert gas and / or oxygen to a necessary minimum, and to suppress the fluctuation of the refractive index of the laser light. . Further, the oxygen concentration in the space can be controlled within a desired range, the components of the atmosphere in the space can be made more constant, and there is an effect of suppressing the fluctuation of the refractive index of the laser light.

Further, in the present invention, high purity nitrogen gas can be used as the high purity inert gas, and the second supply means can supply dry air to the circulation means. Is. With this configuration, the use of high-purity nitrogen gas has the effect of suppressing the variation in the refractive index of the laser light at low cost, and the use of dry air allows the components of the atmosphere in the space to be kept safer. It is possible to suppress the fluctuation of the refractive index of the laser beam.

Further, in the present invention, the space may be a closed space or a substantially closed space. With this configuration,
Since mixing of air components from the outside is avoided, the components of the atmosphere in the space can be more effectively made constant, and there is an effect of suppressing fluctuations in the refractive index of the laser light.

Further, in the present invention, it is preferable that the atmospheric pressure inside the space is always set higher than the atmospheric pressure outside the space. With this configuration, it is possible to avoid mixing of air components from the outside, so that the components of the atmosphere in the space can be made constant, and there is an effect of suppressing fluctuations in the refractive index of the laser light.

With the above structure, in both the space (1 space) or each space (plural spaces) of the space including at least the original stage for positioning the original such as the mask and the space including at least the substrate stage for positioning the substrate such as the semiconductor wafer. In this case, the component ratio of the atmosphere is controlled to be substantially constant, and the error factor can be reduced in the position measurement of each stage by the measurement system such as the laser interferometer.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. [First Embodiment] FIG. 1 shows the arrangement of an exposure apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 2 is a wafer stage, 3 is a wafer, 4 is a reticle stage, 5 is a reticle, 6 is an illumination optical system for irradiating the reticle 5 with illumination light guided from an F ₂ laser light source (not shown), and 7 is a projection. Optical system, 1
Is a chamber that surrounds the wafer stage 2, the reticle stage 4, the projection optical system 7, and the like. The exposure optical system includes an illumination optical system 6 and a projection optical system 7. Reference numeral 8 is an optical axis from a laser interferometer (not shown), 9 is an exhaust port of the chamber 1, 10 is a fan for circulating the gas in the chamber 1, and a circulation unit for controlling the temperature of the gas, 11
And 12 are filter boxes having a function of supplying clean and uniform gas to the wafer stage 2 and the reticle stage 4 in the chamber 1, and 13 is a circulation line.
The circulation line 13 is provided with a control valve 27 that controls the amount of gas circulated to the circulation unit 10.

Reference numeral 14 is a high-purity nitrogen supply line for filling the space between the reticle 5 and the illumination optical system 6, the space between the reticle 5 and the projection optical system 7, and the space between the wafer 3 and the projection optical system 7 with high-purity nitrogen. To each supply system (supply line) 1
Supply to 5, 16, 17 and supply system (supply line)
At 18, high-purity nitrogen is supplied to the circulation system 13 to create an initial atmosphere and control the purity. Supply system 1
Control valves 23, 24, and 25 for controlling the supply amounts of high-purity nitrogen are provided in the chamber 1, 5, 16 and 17, respectively.
A control valve 26 is provided outside each of them, and the supply system 18 is also provided with a control valve 26 for controlling the supply amount of high-purity nitrogen. Reference numeral 19 is an exhaust system for exhausting the remaining gas, 20 is a control valve for controlling the exhaust amount, 21 is an oxygen supply line, and 22 is a mass flow controller for controlling the supply oxygen amount.

As described for each part, in this embodiment, the wafer stage 2 and the reticle stage 4 are used.
The space including both is surrounded by the chamber 1. The chamber 1 has an exhaust port 9, and the gas exhausted from the exhaust port 9 is partially exhausted to the outside by an exhaust system 19. The remaining gas is subjected to temperature control and the like in the circulation unit 10 via the circulation line 13, and the filter box 1
1 and the filter box 12 are sprayed onto the wafer stage 2 and the reticle stage 4, respectively, at a constant speed and a constant temperature (see arrow). The filter boxes 11 and 12 are composed of chemical filters and dust filters, and always supply clean gas to the spaces surrounding the stages 2 and 4. Exhaust port 9, circulation unit 10, filter box 11, filter box 1
2. The circulation line 13 is generally called a circulation system.

Initially, the space surrounded by the chamber 1 (hereinafter referred to as the exposure stage space) is filled with general air, so that this space is first replaced with a nitrogen atmosphere having a predetermined purity. As a replacement method, a method of once evacuating and introducing a desired nitrogen gas is sure. However, in order to bring the space into a vacuum or a reduced pressure state, the chamber 1 needs to have the functions of airtightness and strength, so that the apparatus becomes large and expensive. In this embodiment, a method of blowing high-purity nitrogen gas for replacement is used. Circulatory system 9
Using the exhaust ports 19 provided in Nos. 13 to 13, high-purity nitrogen gas is introduced from the supply system 18 into the circulation line 13 so that the pressure in the chamber 1 does not decrease while exhausting the air in the chamber 1. By continuing for a while, the oxygen concentration in the space becomes about 1000 ppm, so the introduction and exhaust of the high-purity nitrogen gas is stopped at that point, and the circulation operation is performed until the oxygen concentration in the space becomes substantially uniform. From this state, in this device, the oxygen concentration is 1000 ppm ± 100
Finely adjust the introduction of high-purity nitrogen gas into the space so that it falls within the ppm range. At this stage, the atmosphere of the exposure stage space was ready. At this time, by setting the pressure in the exposure stage space to be slightly higher than the outside air, it is possible to avoid mixing of the outside air, so that there is no factor that changes the purity in the space.

Next, the gap between the wafer 3 and the final stage of the projection optical system 7 is filled with nitrogen, and the oxygen concentration in the gap is set to 10 pp.
High-purity nitrogen gas is supplied by the supply system 17 at a rate of 30 liters per minute in order to keep the temperature below m. In the reticle space, the gap between the reticle 5 and the illumination optical system 6 and the gap between the reticle 5 and the projection optical system 7 (the gap between the reticle stage 4 and the projection optical system 7) are 30 liters per minute on each surface. 60 liters of high-purity nitrogen gas is supplied to the supply system 15, 1
Supply at 6. The supplied high-purity nitrogen gas of 90 liters per minute in total is discharged as it is into the chamber 1 which is a space including the wafer stage 2 and the reticle stage 4. This high-purity nitrogen gas originally contains 10 ppb of oxygen.
Since it contains only about 90 liters per minute, the nitrogen concentration in the stage space gradually increases. If this happens, the oxygen concentration will decrease and the component ratio of the gas in the space will change, so the optical refractive index will gradually change, and an error will occur in the measurement of the position of each stage 2, 4 by a laser interference system (not shown). Like In order to suppress this phenomenon, oxygen is supplied into each stage space from the oxygen supply line 21 at 0.09 liters per minute. This is 1/1000 of the high-purity nitrogen supplied to the gap. As a result, the oxygen concentration in the chamber 1 in which each of the stages 2 and 4 can be maintained around 1000 ppm at all times.
The gas component ratio in the vicinity does not change, and the measurement error in the laser interferometer becomes extremely small.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, nitrogen is sufficiently mixed before being blown into each stage space by a method of supplying oxygen before the circulation unit 10. be able to.

Further, in this embodiment, high-purity nitrogen gas was used as the high-purity inert gas, but helium or the like is used as long as it is an inert gas having no absorption spectrum in the wavelength region of light used for exposure. Even with the same configuration, the same effect can be expected.

[Second Embodiment] FIG. 2 shows the arrangement of an exposure apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, the same symbols as those in FIG. 1 described above indicate the same components as those in FIG. In the figure, 31 is a wafer stage chamber forming a space surrounding the wafer stage 2 (wafer stage space), 32 is a reticle stage chamber forming a space surrounding the reticle stage 4, (reticle stage space),
33 is a circulation unit of the wafer stage chamber 31, 3
4 is a circulation unit of the reticle stage chamber 32, 3
Reference numerals 5 and 36 are oxygen concentration sensors for monitoring the oxygen concentration in the chambers 31, 32, 37 and 38 are controllers for controlling the dry air supply amount based on the information from the oxygen concentration sensors 35, 36, and 39 and 40. Is a control valve for changing the supply amount of dry air according to the commands of the controllers 37 and 38, and 41 is a supply line of dry air.

The wafer stage chamber 31 has an exhaust port 5
0 is provided, and the gas exhausted from the exhaust port 50 is exhausted through the exhaust system 19 via the control valve 20 that controls the exhaust amount.
Part of the gas is exhausted to the outside, and the remaining gas is circulated through the circulation line 53 provided with the control valve 63
It is sprayed at a constant speed and a constant temperature into the wafer stage space through the filter box 11 via 3 (see arrow). Further, high-purity nitrogen gas can be supplied to the circulation system of the wafer stage chamber 31 from a supply system 67 provided with a control valve 64.

Further, the reticle stage chamber 32 is provided with an exhaust port 51, and the gas exhausted from the exhaust port 51 is partially exhausted to the outside by the exhaust system 19 via a control valve 61 for controlling the exhaust amount. The remaining gas is blown at a constant speed and a constant temperature into the reticle stage space through the filter box 12 via the circulation line 52 provided with the control valve 62 and the circulation unit 34 (see arrow). Further, it is possible to supply high-purity nitrogen gas to the circulation system of the reticle stage chamber 32 from a supply system 66 provided with a control valve 65. The gas partially exhausted from the exhaust system 19 may be stored and reused.

In this embodiment, the wafer stage chamber 31, the reticle stage chamber 32, etc.
The purity of the wafer stage space and that of the reticle stage space are individually controlled. By doing so, the space surrounded by the chambers 31 and 32 can be made smaller, and the nitrogen supply amount at the initial startup can be reduced,
Also, the start-up time can be shortened. further,
If necessary, the set purity of the wafer stage space and the set purity of the reticle stage space can be made different.

Similar to the first embodiment described above, the wafer 3
And the final stage of the projection optical system 7 is filled with nitrogen, and high-purity nitrogen gas is supplied by the supply system 17 at 30 liters per minute in order to keep the oxygen concentration in the gap at 10 ppm or less.
Since the oxygen concentration in the wafer stage space is set to 1000 ppm, the flow control valve 39 supplies 0.15 liters of dry air per minute. In this embodiment, since each stage space is made a nitrogen atmosphere, there is no problem even if dry air having higher safety than oxygen gas is used, so dry air will be described as an example, but similar to the first embodiment. Alternatively, oxygen gas may be used. Since the oxygen concentration in the dry air is 20%, the amount of oxygen supplied is 1/1000 of the high-purity nitrogen supplied from the supply system 17 to the wafer stage chamber 31 (wafer stage space). As a result, the oxygen concentration in the wafer stage space can always be kept around 1000 ppm.

In the reticle stage space,
High-purity nitrogen gas of 30 liters per minute, 60 liters per minute in total, is supplied to the gap between the reticle 5 and the illumination optical system 6 and the gap between the reticle 5 and the projection optical system 7, respectively.
And 16 supply. Then, 0.015 liters of dry air per minute is supplied to the reticle stage space by the flow rate control valve 40. At this time, the amount of oxygen supplied is 1/20000 of the high-purity nitrogen supplied from the supply systems 15 and 16 to the reticle stage chamber 32 (reticle stage space). Thereby, the oxygen concentration in the reticle stage space can be set to 50 ppm.

As described above, by supplying oxygen at a ratio with respect to the high-purity nitrogen supply amount, it is possible to maintain a substantially constant nitrogen purity in each stage space, but wafer replacement, reticle replacement, etc. The nitrogen purity in the space may fluctuate due to the factor of. The oxygen concentration sensors 35 and 36 in both spaces constantly monitor the oxygen concentration in each space and send information to the respective controllers 37 and 38.
Each controller 37, 38 detects the change in oxygen concentration change, and when there is a change exceeding the set range, or when such a change is predicted, the respective dry air supply control valves 39, A command is issued to the control unit 40 to increase the supply amount when the oxygen concentration decreases and decrease the supply amount when the oxygen concentration increases.

In this embodiment, an example in which the oxygen supply amount is controlled by dry air has been shown, but the same control can be performed by controlling the high-purity nitrogen supply amount. However, controlling the supply amount of high-purity nitrogen results in a longer response time. Utilizing this feature, a system may be used in which both the high-purity nitrogen supply amount and the oxygen supply amount are controlled depending on the conditions. For example, when the gradient of change in oxygen concentration is small, the supply amount of high-purity nitrogen is controlled, and when a rapid change is observed, the supply amount of dry air is controlled.

[Embodiment of Semiconductor Manufacturing 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 trouble response, periodic maintenance, or software provision of a manufacturing apparatus installed in a semiconductor manufacturing factory using a computer network or the like outside the manufacturing factory.

FIG. 3 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. 4 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, here, as an example, an exposure apparatus 202, a resist processing apparatus 203,
The film forming processing device 204 is introduced. Although only one manufacturing factory 201 is shown in FIG. 4, 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 has a display, a network interface, and a computer for executing the network access software and the apparatus operation 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 a user interface having a screen as shown in FIG. 5 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 6
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. 7 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. Step 1
In 5 (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.

[0040]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to suppress the fluctuation of oxygen components in the atmosphere of the space with the stage,
It is possible to obtain an exposure apparatus that suppresses fluctuations in the refractive index of laser light and has high position measurement accuracy of the original stage and the substrate stage.

As a result of the above effects, according to the present invention, the error factor of the measurement by the laser interferometer is reduced and the measurement can be performed with higher accuracy, so that the positioning accuracy of each stage is improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an exposure apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of an exposure apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual view of a semiconductor device production system including an exposure apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention viewed from an angle.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram of a semiconductor device production system including an exposure apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention as viewed from another angle.

FIG. 5 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. 6 is a diagram illustrating a flow of a device manufacturing process by the exposure apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a wafer process by the exposure apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a configuration of a projection exposure apparatus that performs exposure in a required inert gas atmosphere according to a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: chamber, 2: wafer stage, 3: wafer, 4:
Reticle stage, 5: reticle, 6: illumination optical system,
7: Projection optical system, 8: Optical axis from laser interferometer, 9, 5
0, 51: exhaust port, 10, 33, 34: circulation unit,
11, 12: filter box, 13, 52, 53: circulation line, 14: high purity nitrogen supply line, 15, 16,
17: supply system, 18, 66, 67: supply line, 19:
Exhaust port, 20: Exhaust volume control valve, 21:
Oxygen supply line, 22: mass flow controller, 2
3,24,25,26,27,61,62,63,6
4, 65: control valve, 31: wafer stage chamber, 32: reticle stage chamber, 35, 3
6: oxygen concentration sensor, 37, 38: controller, 3
9, 40: Dry air control valve, 41: Dry air supply line.

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. An exposure apparatus for transferring and exposing a pattern of an original onto a photosensitive material coated on a substrate, wherein an original stage space including a stage for positioning the original or a substrate stage space including a stage for positioning the substrate, or Means surrounding a single space including both, means for sucking gas in the space and discharging the space, and all or part of the discharged gas to the space via the pipe outside the space It has a circulation means for supplying gas again, a first supply means for supplying a high-purity inert gas to the space, and a second supply means for supplying oxygen to the space. An exposure apparatus which is controlled within a predetermined range. 2. The first supply means sets at least one of a gap between the original plate and the illumination optical system, a gap between the original plate and the projection optical system, and a gap between the substrate and the projection optical system. The high-purity inert gas is supplied, and the second supply means supplies oxygen to the space by supplying oxygen to the circulation means. The exposure apparatus described. 3. A measuring means for measuring at least the oxygen concentration in the atmosphere of the space is further provided, and the first means is based on the result of measuring the oxygen concentration of the space by the measuring means.
Controlling the supply amount of at least one of the high-purity inert gas supplied from the supply means to the space and the oxygen supplied from the second supply means to the space. The exposure apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. 4. The high-purity inert gas is high-purity nitrogen gas, and the second supply means supplies dry air to the circulation means. The exposure apparatus according to item 1. 5. The exposure apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the space is a closed space or a substantially closed space. 6. The atmospheric pressure inside the space is always set higher than the atmospheric pressure outside the space.
The exposure apparatus according to any one of items 1 to 5. 7. 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. 8. The network software is connected to an external network of a factory in which the exposure apparatus is installed and provides a user interface on the display for accessing a maintenance database provided by a vendor or a user of the exposure apparatus. The exposure apparatus according to claim 7, which makes it possible to obtain information from the database via the external network. 9. 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. 10. A process 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 9, further comprising: 11. A database provided by a vendor or a user of the exposure apparatus is accessed through the external network to obtain maintenance information of the manufacturing apparatus by data communication, or a semiconductor manufacturing factory different from the semiconductor manufacturing factory. 11. The method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 10, wherein production control is performed by performing data communication with the device via the external network. 12. 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. 13. The method according to claim 1, which is installed in a semiconductor manufacturing factory.
9. The exposure apparatus maintenance method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, 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.