JP2003257820A - Gas feed system, aligner, and filter - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a gas feed system which is capable of surely reducing a light absorbing material including water inside a space formed between a light source and an exposure object. <P>SOLUTION: A filter 211 provided to the gas feed system is equipped with an impurity removing unit 211a which removes impurities contained in a prescribed gas, and a moisture adsorbing unit 211b which adsorbs moisture contained in the prescribed gas. Moisture which is hard to be removed by the impurity removing unit 211a is adsorbed by the moisture adsorbing unit 211b. <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 a gas supply system for supplying a predetermined gas to a space formed between a light source and an exposure object through a filter, and more particularly to a semiconductor device,
The present invention relates to a gas supply system and a filter used in an exposure apparatus for manufacturing an electronic device such as a liquid crystal display element, an image pickup element (CCD or the like), a thin film magnetic head or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When manufacturing a device (electronic device) such as a semiconductor element (integrated circuit) or a liquid crystal display panel in a photolithography process, a mask or a reticle (hereinafter referred to as "mask" or "reticle") is exposed by an illumination light for exposure (exposure beam) , Reticle), and transfers a reticle pattern (circuit pattern) onto a substrate (a wafer coated with a photosensitive agent, a glass plate, etc.) via a projection optical system. The circuit of the electronic device is transferred by exposing the circuit pattern on the substrate with the projection exposure apparatus, and is formed by post-processing. An integrated circuit is formed by repeatedly layering the circuit wiring thus formed, for example, for about 20 layers.

In recent years, high-density integration of integrated circuits, that is, miniaturization of circuit patterns has been promoted.
The exposure beam in the exposure apparatus tends to have a shorter wavelength. That is, as the exposure beam, the KrF excimer laser (wavelength: 248 nm) will be used instead of the emission line of the mercury lamp that has been the mainstream until now, and the practical application of the shorter wavelength ArF excimer laser (193 nm) will be the final stage. I am entering. In addition, research on F ₂ lasers (157 nm) and Ar ₂ lasers (126 nm) is underway with the aim of achieving higher density integration.

Light (energy beam) having a wavelength of about 120 nm to 200 nm belongs to the vacuum ultraviolet region, and these lights (hereinafter referred to as vacuum ultraviolet light) do not pass through air. This is because light energy is absorbed by molecules of oxygen, water, carbon dioxide gas, organic substances, halides and the like (hereinafter, referred to as “light absorbing substance”) contained in the air.

[0005]

Therefore, in an optical device that constitutes an exposure apparatus using vacuum ultraviolet light, in order to make the exposure beam reach the substrate with sufficient illuminance and sufficient illuminance uniformity, the exposure beam It is necessary to eliminate as much as possible a gas containing a light-absorbing substance such as oxygen from the space on the optical path. As a method of eliminating the light absorbing substance, there is known a method of filling the space on the optical path with a gas having a low energy absorption of vacuum ultraviolet light (low absorptive gas).

In this case, the low absorptive gas supplied to the space on the optical path is filtered through a filter to remove impurities contained in the gas. However, it is difficult to remove the water contained in the gas with a filter, and the water tends to remain in the gas. In order to reduce the light absorbing substance in the space on the optical path, it is necessary to take measures against the water contained in the gas.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and a gas supply capable of reliably reducing the amount of light-absorbing substances, including water, in the space formed between the light source and the object to be exposed. The purpose is to provide a system.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an exposure apparatus that can perform an exposure process with high accuracy. Another object of the present invention is to provide a filter that can reliably remove impurities including water from a predetermined gas.

[0008]

In the gas supply system (200) of the present invention, a predetermined gas is supplied to a space (250 to 254) formed between a light source and an exposure object through a filter (211). In the gas supply system (200), the filter (211) includes an impurity removing section (211a) for removing impurities contained in the predetermined gas, and a moisture adsorbing section (21) for adsorbing water contained in the predetermined gas.
1b) is included. In this gas supply system, since the filter includes the moisture adsorption unit in addition to the impurity removal unit, water that is difficult to remove in the impurity removal unit is adsorbed by the moisture adsorption unit, and is absorbed in the space between the light source and the exposure target. A predetermined gas containing almost no water is supplied. Therefore, the light absorbing substance in the space including the water is surely reduced.

In the gas supply system (200), the water adsorption section (211b) is preferably arranged upstream of the impurity removal section (211a). By disposing the moisture adsorbing section upstream of the impurity removing section, even if impurities are generated from the moisture adsorbing section, the impurities are removed by the impurity removing section and the invasion into the space is prevented.

The exposure apparatus (10) of the present invention is the exposure apparatus (10) having a plurality of spaces (250 to 254) formed on the optical path of the energy beam (IL). ~ 254) at least 1
In order to supply a predetermined gas to one, the above-mentioned gas supply system is provided. In this exposure apparatus, since the light-absorbing substance in the space on the optical path of the energy beam including water is surely reduced, the energy beam can stably reach the substrate with sufficient illuminance, and the exposure process can be performed accurately. it can.

Further, the filter (211) of the present invention has an impurity removing section (21) for removing impurities contained in a predetermined gas.
1a) and a moisture adsorbing portion (211b) for adsorbing moisture contained in the predetermined gas. Since this filter includes the impurity removing unit and the moisture adsorbing unit, it is possible to reliably remove impurities including water from the predetermined gas.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 shows an overall configuration of a reduction projection exposure apparatus 10 for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to an embodiment, which includes the optical apparatus according to the present invention as a projection optical system. Further, in FIG. 1, an XYZ rectangular coordinate system is adopted. XYZ
In the orthogonal coordinate system, the X axis and the Y axis are set so as to be parallel to the wafer stage WS that holds the wafer W as a substrate (photosensitive substrate), and the Z axis is a direction orthogonal to the wafer stage WS. Is set to. Actually, X in the figure
In the YZ orthogonal coordinate system, the XY plane is set to a plane parallel to the horizontal plane, and the Z axis is set to the vertical direction.

The exposure apparatus according to this embodiment uses an F ₂ laser light source as an exposure light source. Further, one shot area on the wafer W is obtained by synchronously scanning the reticle R and the wafer W in a predetermined direction relative to an illumination area having a predetermined shape on the reticle R as a mask (projection original plate). In addition, a step-and-scan method for sequentially transferring the pattern image of the reticle R is adopted. In such a step-and-scan type exposure apparatus, the pattern of the reticle R can be exposed in an area on the substrate (wafer W) wider than the exposure field of the projection optical system.

In FIG. 1, an exposure apparatus 10 includes a laser light source 20, an illumination optical system 21 for illuminating a reticle R with an exposure beam IL as an energy beam from the laser light source 20, and an exposure beam IL emitted from the reticle R.
A projection optical system PL for projecting the image onto the wafer W, a main controller (not shown) for controlling the entire apparatus, and the like are provided. Further, the exposure apparatus 10 is housed inside a large chamber (not shown) as a whole.

The laser light source 20 has an oscillation wavelength 157, for example.
It has an F ₂ laser which outputs a pulsed ultraviolet light of nm. Further, the laser light source 20 is provided with a light source control device (not shown), and the light source control device has an oscillation center wavelength and a spectrum half width of the pulsed ultraviolet light emitted in response to an instruction from the main control device. Control, pulse oscillation trigger control, gas control in the laser chamber, etc. are performed.

The pulsed laser light (illumination light) from the laser light source 20 is deflected by the deflection mirror 30 and is incident on the variable light attenuator 31 as an optical attenuator. Variable dimmer 3
In No. 1, the extinction ratio can be adjusted stepwise or continuously in order to control the exposure amount for the photoresist on the wafer. The illumination light emitted from the variable light attenuator 31 is deflected by the optical path deflecting mirror 32, and then is passed through the first fly-eye lens 33, the zoom lens 34, the vibrating mirror 35, and the like in order to the second fly-eye lens 36. Reach On the exit side of the second fly-eye lens 36, a switching revolver 37 for the aperture stop of the illumination optical system for setting the size and shape of the effective light source as desired is arranged. In the present embodiment, in order to reduce the light amount loss at the aperture stop of the illumination optical system, the size of the light flux to the second fly-eye lens 36 by the zoom lens 34 is variable.

The luminous flux emitted from the aperture of the illumination optical system aperture stop illuminates an illumination field stop (reticle blind) 41 through a condenser lens group 40. The illumination field stop 41 is disclosed in JP-A-4-196513 and the corresponding US Pat. No. 5,473,410.

The light from the illumination field stop 41 is guided onto the reticle R via an illumination field stop image forming optical system (reticle blind image forming system) including deflection mirrors 42 and 45 and lens groups 43, 44 and 46. On the reticle R, an illumination area which is an image of the opening of the illumination field stop 41 is formed. Light from the illumination area on the reticle R is guided onto the wafer W via the projection optical system PL, and on the wafer W, the reticle R is lit.
A reduced image of the pattern in the illuminated area of is formed. The reticle stage RS holding the reticle R is two-dimensionally movable in the XY plane, and its position coordinates are measured and controlled by the interferometer 50. The wafer stage WS that holds the wafer W is also two-dimensionally movable in the XY plane, and its position coordinates are measured and controlled by the interferometer 51. With these, reticle R
Also, the wafer W can be synchronously scanned with high accuracy. An illumination optical system 21 is configured by the laser light source 20 to the illumination field stop imaging optical system described above.

When the exposure beam is light in the vacuum ultraviolet region such as the F ₂ laser light (wavelength: 157 nm) used in this embodiment, an optical glass material (optical element) having good transmittance is Fluorite (crystal of CaF ₂ ), quartz glass doped with fluorine or hydrogen, magnesium fluoride (Mg)
F ₂ ) and barium fluoride (BaF ₂ ) and the like.
In this case, in the projection optical system PL, it is difficult to obtain a desired image forming characteristic (chromatic aberration characteristic or the like) by using only the refracting optical member. Therefore, the catadioptric system in which the refracting optical member and the reflecting mirror are combined is used. May be adopted.

When light in the vacuum ultraviolet region is used as the exposure beam, oxygen, water (steam), hydrocarbon-based substances (carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, etc.), organic substances, halides, etc. are emitted from the optical path. It is necessary to exclude a substance having a strong absorption characteristic for light in the wavelength band (hereinafter, referred to as “absorption substance” as appropriate). Therefore, in this embodiment, the illumination optical path (the laser light source 20 to the optical path to the reticle R) and the projection optical path (the optical path to the reticle R to the wafer W) are blocked from the external atmosphere, and these optical paths are converted into light in the vacuum ultraviolet region. On the other hand, a gas such as nitrogen, hydrogen, helium, argon, neon, krypton, xenon, radon, or the like as a low-absorbing gas having a property of low absorption, or a mixed gas thereof (hereinafter, referred to as "low-absorbing gas" or " (Purge gas).

Specifically, the optical path from the laser light source 20 to the variable dimmer 31 is blocked from the external atmosphere by the casing 60, and the optical path from the variable dimmer 31 to the illumination field stop 41 is blocked from the external atmosphere by the casing 61. The illumination field stop imaging optical system is shielded from the external atmosphere by the casing 62, and the optical path thereof is filled with the low absorptive gas. The casing 61 and the casing 62 are connected by the casing 63. The lens barrel 69 of the projection optical system PL itself is also a casing, and the internal optical path thereof is filled with the low-absorption gas.

Further, the casing 64 shields the space between the casing 62 housing the illumination field diaphragm imaging optical system and the projection optical system PL from the external atmosphere, and holds the reticle R inside the reticle stage. RS is stored. The casing 64 is provided with a door 70 for loading and unloading the reticle R, and the outside of the door 70 prevents the atmosphere in the casing 64 from being polluted when the reticle R is loaded and unloaded. A gas replacement chamber 65 is provided for this purpose. The gas replacement chamber 65 is also provided with a door 71, and the reticle is transferred to and from the reticle stocker 66 that stores a plurality of types of reticles.

The casing 67 is a projection optical system PL.
The space between the wafer W and the wafer W is shielded from the external atmosphere, and the wafer stage WS for holding the wafer W via the wafer holder 80, the position (focus position) in the Z direction of the surface of the wafer W, and the inclination thereof are provided inside the space. Oblique incidence type autofocus sensor 81 for detecting an angle, off-axis type alignment sensor 82, wafer stage WS
A surface plate 83 and the like on which the is mounted are stored. A door 7 for loading / unloading the wafer W is provided in the casing 67.
2 is provided, and a gas replacement chamber 68 for preventing the atmosphere inside the casing 67 from being contaminated is provided outside the door 72. The gas replacement chamber 68 has a door 7
3 is provided, and the loading of the wafer W into the apparatus and the unloading of the wafer W to the outside of the apparatus are performed via the door 73.

Nitrogen or helium is preferably used as the low absorptive gas (purge gas) filled in the space on each optical path. Nitrogen acts as a light-absorbing substance for light with a wavelength of about 150 nm or less, and helium has a wavelength of 100 n.
It can be used as a low-absorbing gas for light of about m or less. Helium has a thermal conductivity about 6 times that of nitrogen, and the amount of fluctuation in the refractive index with respect to changes in atmospheric pressure is about 1/8 that of nitrogen.
Therefore, it is particularly excellent in high transmittance, stability of image forming characteristics of the optical system, and cooling property. Note that helium may be used as the low-absorbing gas for the barrel of the projection optical system PL, and nitrogen may be used as the low-absorbing gas for other optical paths (for example, the illumination optical path from the laser light source 20 to the reticle R).

Here, the casings 61, 62, 64, 6
7, each of the air supply valves 100, 101, 102, 1
03 are provided, and these air supply valves 100 to 103 are provided.
Is connected to an air supply line in a gas supply system described later. Further, the exhaust valves 110, 111, 112, 113 are provided in the casings 61, 62, 64, 67, respectively.
Are provided, and the exhaust valves 110 to 113 are
Each is connected to an exhaust pipe line in the gas supply system.

Similarly, gas replacement chambers 65 and 68 are also provided with air supply valves 104 and 105 and exhaust valves 114 and 115, respectively.
The lens barrel 69 of the projection optical system PL is also provided with an air supply valve 106 and an exhaust valve 116, which are connected to an air supply pipe line or an exhaust pipe line in the gas supply system.

In the gas replacement chambers 65 and 68,
It is necessary to perform gas replacement at the time of reticle exchange or wafer exchange. For example, when replacing the reticle, the door 71 is opened and the reticle is moved from the reticle stocker 66 to the gas replacement chamber 6
5, the door 71 is closed and the gas replacement chamber 65 is filled with the low absorptive gas, then the door 70 is opened and the reticle is placed on the reticle stage RS. Further, when the wafer is replaced, the door 73 is opened to carry the wafer into the gas replacement chamber 68, and the door 73 is closed to fill the gas replacement chamber 68 with the low absorption gas. Thereafter, the door 72 is opened and the wafer is placed on the wafer holder 80. The reverse procedure is used for reticle carry-out and wafer carry-out. When replacing the gas in the gas replacement chambers 65 and 68, the atmosphere in the gas replacement chamber may be decompressed, and then the low absorption gas may be supplied from the air supply valve.

In the casings 64 and 67,
There is a possibility that the gas that has undergone the gas replacement by the gas replacement chambers 65 and 68 may be mixed, and a considerable amount of light-absorbing substances such as oxygen may be mixed into the gas of the gas replacement chambers 65 and 68. high. Therefore, it is desirable to perform gas replacement at the same timing as gas replacement in the gas replacement chambers 65 and 68. Further, it is preferable that the casing and the gas replacement chamber are filled with a low-absorbent gas having a pressure higher than the pressure of the external atmosphere.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the configuration of a gas supply system 200 for supplying the above-mentioned low-absorptive gas as a purge gas to each space on the optical path of the above-mentioned exposure beam. The gas supply system 200 includes a gas supply source 201 such as a gas cylinder that stores a predetermined low-absorption gas, a gas supply device 202 that supplies the low-absorption gas to each space on the optical path,
An exhaust device 203 for discharging a gas containing a low-absorbent gas from each space on the optical path, a temperature controller 204 for controlling the temperature of the low-absorbent gas, and a concentration of a light-absorbing substance in each space on the optical path are measured. It has densitometers 205a to 205e and a control device 206 for controlling the above devices in a centralized manner.

In FIG. 2, as the supply destination of the low absorption gas,
Of the spaces on the optical path of the exposure beam described above, a plurality of spaces 250 to 254 inside the lens barrel 69 in the projection optical system PL.
(Hereinafter, referred to as a purge space) is representatively shown.
The plurality of purge spaces 250 to 254 are arranged adjacent to each other with the optical members (lens elements) 300 to 303 interposed therebetween. In this example, helium gas is used as the purge gas to be supplied to the space on the optical path from the viewpoint of the stability of the imaging characteristics. However, since the helium gas is expensive, the wavelength of the exposure beam is F
_{When the} wavelength is 150 nm or more like _two lasers, nitrogen gas may be used as a purge gas in order to reduce the operating cost.

The gas supply device 202 is a gas supply source 201.
By pressurizing the helium gas sent from, for example, the helium gas is supplied to each of the purge spaces 250 to 254 via the air supply line 210. In this example, the air supply valve 106 whose flow rate can be adjusted for each of the purge spaces 250 to 254.
a to 106e are provided, and the air supply conduit 210 has a branched structure corresponding to this. Gas supply device 202
Helium gas sent from the air supply valves 106a-10
It is supplied to each purge space 250-254 via 6e, and the flow rate is individually controlled for each purge space 250-254.

Further, the gas supply device 202 and the air supply valve 106
A filter 211 for removing impurities contained in the helium gas is provided on the air supply line 210 between a to 106e.
Are arranged. In addition, instruments such as a pressure gauge for measuring the pressure in the passage and a concentration meter for measuring the concentration of the light-absorbing substance contained in the helium gas may be further provided on the air supply conduit 210. In addition, the gas supply source 201
It is also possible to omit the gas supply device 202 if the gas exhausted from has a sufficient pressure.

As a pipe used for the air supply line 210, washed metal such as stainless steel, or washed tetrafluoroethylene, tetrafluoroethylene-terefluoro (alkyl vinyl ether), or tetrafluoroethylene-hexafluoropropene. Chemically clean materials such as various polymers such as copolymers are used, and pipe joints are made of, for example, oil-free metal such as stainless steel or various polymers.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the structure of the filter 211. The filter 211 includes an impurity removal unit 211a that removes impurities contained in the gas (helium gas in this example) sent from the gas supply device 202, and a moisture adsorption unit 211b that adsorbs moisture contained in the gas. As the impurity removing unit 211a, a unit that can remove impurities by an action such as adsorption, absorption, or filtration is used. Specifically, a chemical filter that removes an absorbing gas such as oxygen, or a filter that mainly removes dust (particles) such as a HEPA filter or a ULPA filter is used. For example, to remove impurities such as ammonia, amine compounds, ionic compounds, siloxane, silicon organic compounds such as silazane, silanol, and plasticizers (phthalsan ester, etc.), flame retardants (phosphoric acid, chlorine substances), etc. An activated carbon filter or a zeolite filter can be used as the filter.

On the other hand, the moisture adsorbing section 211b is constructed so as to include, among the above-mentioned light absorbing substances, a substance having an adsorbing action for water. As a substance having a water adsorbing action,
Besides silica gel, calcium chloride, quick lime, natural zeolite and the like can be applied, but silica gel is preferably used in this example because of its high adsorption ability and high chemical stability. Since the filter 211 includes the moisture adsorption unit 211b in addition to the impurity removal unit 211a, the impurity removal unit 21
Water that is difficult to remove with 1a is adsorbed by the moisture adsorbing portion 211b.

In the filter 211, the moisture adsorbing section 211b is arranged upstream of the above-mentioned impurity removing section 211a. That is, the water adsorption unit 211b is arranged on the gas supply device 202 side, and the impurity removal unit 211a is arranged on the optical path space side of the projection optical system PL. Impurity remover 211
By arranging the water adsorption part 211b upstream of a,
Even if an impurity that becomes a light-absorbing substance is generated from the water adsorption unit 211b, the impurity is appropriately removed by the impurity removal unit 211a, so that the impurity is prevented from entering the optical path space.

If almost no impurities are generated in the water adsorption section 211b, the water adsorption section 211b may be arranged downstream of the impurity removal section 211a. In addition, the moisture adsorbing section and the impurity removing section are not limited to being arranged in series one by one. For example, the moisture adsorbing section or the impurity removing section may be arranged in the order of impurity removing section → water adsorbing section → impurity removing section. Two or more may be arranged. Further, by arranging a plurality of water adsorption parts or impurity removal parts having different characteristics in series and arranging one having a higher purity specification on the downstream side, the filter can be used efficiently. Further, by arranging the filters including the water adsorption portion and the impurity removal portion in parallel, it becomes possible to suppress the flow resistance due to the filters. Alternatively, it is possible to improve the workability of filter replacement by selectively passing gas through the filters arranged in parallel.

Returning to FIG. 2, the exhaust device 203 generates vacuum pressure, for example, and exhausts the gas in the purge spaces 250 to 254 via the exhaust pipe line 212. The gas discharged from each of the purge spaces 250 to 254 is discharged to, for example, a space outside the apparatus. Each purge space 250-
The gas discharged from 254 may be purified and reused as a purge gas. By reusing the gas, the consumption of the purge gas (helium gas in this example) can be reduced.

The temperature control device 204 includes the purge spaces 250-2.
The temperature of the helium gas supplied to 54 is controlled to a predetermined value. The temperature of the gas is controlled to about room temperature (20 to 25 ° C.), for example. By controlling the temperature of the gas to be constant, thermal deformation of the optical member can be suppressed in the purge spaces 250 to 254. The temperature of the gas is not limited to the above. When helium is used as the purge gas as in this example, it is preferable that the temperature control device is arranged near each casing in order to suppress the temperature change of helium.

The densitometers 205a to 205e are, in this example,
It is installed in each of the purge spaces 250 to 254. As the densitometer, for example, an oxygen densitometer, a dew point meter as a water vapor densitometer, a densitometer such as a carbon dioxide sensor, or a composite sensor combining these sensors is adopted. As the densitometer, a device such as a mass spectrometer or a sensor that indirectly measures the concentration of the light-absorbing substance contained in the gas by passing an electric current and measuring the current value may be used.

In the gas supply system 200, high-purity helium gas is supplied to the purge spaces 250 to 254 through the filter 211, and the spaces 250 to 25 are supplied.
Fill 4 with helium gas. Also, the densitometer 205a-
Based on the measurement result of 205e, each purge space 250-
The air supply valve 106a is controlled so that the concentration of the light-absorbing substance in 254 becomes a predetermined allowable concentration (for example, 10 ppm in volume ratio) or less.
Through 106e, the amount of gas supplied to each space 250-254 is controlled.

In this example, since the filter 211 includes the moisture adsorbing portion 211b in addition to the impurity removing portion 211a,
Water that is difficult to remove in the impurity removing unit 211a is adsorbed by the moisture adsorbing unit 211b and removed from the gas. Therefore, helium gas containing almost no water is supplied to the purge spaces 250 to 254 on the optical path, and the space 250 to
The light absorbing material in 254 including the water is surely reduced.

By providing the gas supply system 200 described above, in the exposure apparatus 10 of the present example shown in FIG. 1, the space on the optical path of the exposure beam is filled with the low absorptive gas, and the light absorbing substance includes water. Will be reliably reduced. Therefore, the exposure beam which is the vacuum ultraviolet light stably reaches the wafer with sufficient illuminance, and the exposure process can be performed accurately.

The preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, but it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to this example. It is obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes or modifications can be conceived within the scope of the technical idea described in the claims, and of course, the technical scope of the present invention is also applicable to them. Be understood to belong to.

For example, in the above embodiment, an example in which a projection optical system is applied as an optical device has been described as a representative,
The optical device of the present invention is not limited to the projection optical system, but can be applied to other optical devices such as an illumination optical system.

Further, in supplying the helium gas into the purging space, if the purging space contains a large amount of absorbing gas such as air, before the helium gas is supplied, the helium gas is temporarily supplied to the inside of the purging space. Evacuate the gas. As a result, the inside of the purge space can be replaced with helium gas, which is a low-absorbent gas, in a shorter time.

Although the purge space is airtight, it does not necessarily have to be airtight. For example, the gas in the space may be kept in a desired state by keeping the atmospheric pressure in the space higher than the external atmospheric pressure. The members sandwiched between the plurality of purge spaces include the above-mentioned lens element and parallel flat plates such as mirrors. In particular, for short wavelength light such as vacuum ultraviolet light, a reflection optical system may be adopted, and the present invention is preferably used in such cases as well.

Further, in order to remove the light absorbing substance from the optical path, it is preferable to perform a treatment for reducing the amount of degassing from the surface of the structural material in advance. For example, (1) reduce the surface area of the structural material, (2) mechanically polish the surface of the structural material,
Electrolytic polishing, ball polishing, chemical polishing, or GBB (Glass Be
The surface roughness of the structural material is reduced by polishing with a method such as ads Blasting), and (3) ultrasonic cleaning, spraying fluid such as clean dry air, and vacuum heating degassing (baking). There are methods such as cleaning the surface, and (4) not installing an electric wire coating material containing a hydrocarbon or a halide, a sealing member (O-ring, etc.), an adhesive, etc. in the optical path space as much as possible.

A vacuum pump, a cryopump or the like is used as an exhaust device for generating a vacuum pressure. A cryopump is a type of vacuum pump that cools sorbent such as activated carbon or synthetic fluoride with a refrigerant such as nitrogen, and is a surface cooled to a cryogenic temperature (10-15K) in a vacuum (cryopanel). And place a gas (H ₂ ,
A gas other than He and Ne, such as N ₂ and Ar, is adsorbed to create a high vacuum.

Further, the casing (a cylindrical body or the like) constituting the cover of the wafer operation part from the illumination system chamber and the pipe for supplying the transparent gas are made of a material with a small amount of impurity gas (degas), for example, stainless steel. It is desirable to use various polymers such as steel, tetrafluoroethylene, tetrafluoroethylene-terfluoro (alkyl vinyl ether), or tetrafluoroethylene-hexafluoropropene copolymer.

Further, it is desirable that the cable for supplying electric power to the drive mechanism (reticle blind, stage, etc.) in each housing is also covered with the above-mentioned material with less impurity gas (degassing).

Degas from the photosensitive material (photoresist) applied on the wafer contains a light-absorbing substance, which varies in amount and type depending on the type and temperature of the photosensitive material. Therefore, the amount and type of degassing from the photosensitive material may be investigated in advance, and the supply amount of the low absorptive gas may be adjusted depending on the photosensitive material. As a result, it is possible to surely remove the light-absorbing substance from the working distance portion, while suppressing the consumption amount of the generally expensive low-absorbing gas to the necessary minimum.

Further, it is apparent that the present invention can be applied not only to the scanning exposure type projection exposure apparatus but also to a collective exposure type (stepper type) projection exposure apparatus and the like. The projection optical system provided in these may be not only a catadioptric system but also a refraction system or a reflection system. Further, the magnification of the projection optical system is not limited to the reduction magnification, but may be equal magnification or enlargement.

In the present invention, the energy beam A
When rF excimer laser light (wavelength 193 nm) is used, or when Kr ₂ laser light (wavelength 146 nm), Ar ₂ laser light (wavelength 126 nm), YAG laser harmonics, or semiconductor laser harmonics has a wavelength of 200 nm ~ 100n
It can also be applied to vacuum ultraviolet light of about m.

Further, instead of an excimer laser, an F ₂ laser, etc., a DFB (Distributed feedback) is used.
A single wavelength laser in the infrared or visible range emitted from a semiconductor laser or a fiber laser is amplified by a fiber amplifier doped with, for example, erbium (Er) (or both erbium and ytterbium (Yb)), You may use the harmonic wave which carried out wavelength conversion to the ultraviolet light using the optical crystal.

The application of the exposure apparatus is not limited to the exposure apparatus for semiconductor manufacturing, and for example, an exposure apparatus for a liquid crystal which exposes a liquid crystal display element pattern on a rectangular glass plate or a thin film magnetic head. It is also widely applicable to an exposure apparatus for manufacturing.

When a linear motor is used for the wafer stage or reticle stage, either an air levitation type using an air bearing or a magnetic levitation type using Lorentz force or reactance force may be used. Also, the stage may be a type that moves along a guide,
A guideless type without a guide may be used.

Further, as a stage driving device, a plane mode is used.
When using a magnet, one of the magnet unit (permanent magnet) and the armature unit may be connected to the stage, and the other of the magnet unit and the armature unit may be provided on the moving surface side (base) of the stage.

The reaction force generated by the movement of the wafer stage is mechanically fixed to the floor (ground) by using a frame member, as described in JP-A-8-166475.
You may let me escape. The present invention can also be applied to an exposure apparatus having such a structure.

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

As described above, the exposure apparatus according to the embodiment of the present application uses various subsystems including the respective constituent elements recited in the claims of the present application, with predetermined mechanical accuracy, electrical accuracy, and
It is manufactured by assembling so as to maintain optical accuracy. Before and after this assembly, adjustments to achieve optical precision for various optical systems, adjustments to achieve mechanical precision for various mechanical systems, and various electrical systems to ensure these various types of precision are made. Are adjusted to achieve electrical accuracy. The process of assembling the exposure apparatus from the various subsystems includes mechanical connection, electrical circuit wiring connection, air pressure circuit pipe connection, and the like between the various subsystems. It goes without saying that there is an individual assembly process for each subsystem before the assembly process from these various subsystems to the exposure apparatus. When the process of assembling the various subsystems into the exposure apparatus is completed, comprehensive adjustment is performed to ensure various accuracies of the exposure apparatus as a whole. It is desirable that the exposure apparatus be manufactured in a clean room where the temperature and cleanliness are controlled.

Then, the wafer thus exposed is subjected to a developing process, a pattern forming process, a bonding process, a packaging process and the like to manufacture an electronic device such as a semiconductor element.

[0063]

According to the gas supply system of the present invention, the water which is difficult to be removed by the impurity removing section is adsorbed by the moisture adsorbing section by the filter, so that the water in the space formed between the light source and the object to be exposed is absorbed. It is possible to surely reduce the amount of the light absorbing material including water.

Further, according to the exposure apparatus of the present invention, since the light-absorbing substance in the space on the optical path of the energy beam including water is surely reduced, the energy beam can reach the substrate stably with sufficient illuminance. Therefore, the exposure process can be performed accurately.

Further, according to the filter of the present invention, water, which is difficult to remove in the impurity removing section, is adsorbed in the moisture adsorbing section, so that impurities including water can be surely removed from the predetermined gas.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a reduction projection exposure apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to an embodiment including an optical device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of a gas supply system that supplies a purge gas to each space on an optical path of an exposure beam.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing an example of the configuration of a filter.

[Explanation of symbols]

IL exposure light (energy beam) R reticle (mask) W wafer (substrate) PL projection optical system (optical device) 21 Illumination optical system (optical device) 200 gas supply system 211 Filter 211a Impurity removing unit 211b Moisture adsorption part 250-254 Purge space

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A gas supply system for supplying a predetermined gas to a space formed between a light source and an exposure object through a filter, wherein the filter removes impurities contained in the predetermined gas. And a moisture adsorbing unit that adsorbs moisture contained in the predetermined gas. 2. The gas supply system according to claim 2, wherein the water adsorption unit is arranged upstream of the impurity removal unit. 3. An exposure apparatus having a plurality of spaces formed on an optical path of an energy beam, wherein the predetermined gas is supplied to at least one of the plurality of spaces, according to claim 1 or 2. An exposure apparatus comprising a gas supply system. 4. A filter comprising: an impurity removing section for removing impurities contained in a predetermined gas; and a moisture adsorbing section for adsorbing moisture contained in the predetermined gas.