JP2011123135A - Stage apparatus, exposure apparatus, and device manufacturing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a stage apparatus with a guide, capable of being favorably functioned as an air bearing, even when a plurality of guides are connected. <P>SOLUTION: The stage apparatus includes a stage, a driver that drives the stage, a guide that guides the stage, and an air bearing that supports the stage against the guide in a contactless manner, wherein the guide face of the guide is formed by subjecting a face composed of a plurality of connected guides to ceramic thermal spray. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a stage apparatus used for transferring a mask pattern onto a large substrate such as a glass substrate for liquid crystal.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a ceramic guide for an air bearing of a movable stage in an exposure apparatus, an integrated object or a plurality of plate-shaped ceramics combined with an adhesive as in Patent Document 1 and smoothed is used.

JP 2000-260691 A

  As the substrate becomes larger, the movable stage also needs to be enlarged. As the movable stage increases in size, it is necessary to increase the size of the air bearing ceramic guide for guiding the movable stage. However, since there is a limit to the workpiece size of the processing machine, it is difficult to manufacture with a single unit. In addition, even when a plurality of ceramic guides are connected by an adhesive, gaps and irregularities are formed in the connecting portion, which makes it difficult to function well as an air bearing.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a stage apparatus having a guide that can function well for an air bearing even when a plurality of guides are connected.

  The present invention is a stage apparatus comprising a stage, a driving means for driving the stage, a guide for guiding the stage, and an air bearing for supporting the stage in a non-contact manner with respect to the guide, The guide surface is formed by performing ceramic spraying on a surface formed by combining a plurality of guides.

  Provided is a stage apparatus having a guide that can function well for an air bearing even when a plurality of guides are connected.

Cross section of exposure equipment Schematic cross section of plate stage Schematic diagram of the connecting part Schematic diagram of laser interference bar mirror

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.
A stage apparatus for transferring a mask (original plate) pattern onto a plate (substrate) on a large substrate such as a glass substrate for liquid crystal using a connection guide will be described with reference to FIG.

  A mask stage 20 is disposed above the projection optical system 10 in the vertical direction, and a plate stage (substrate-to-be-exposed stage and air drive stage) 30 is disposed below. The mask stage 20 and the plate stage 30 can be moved by a linear motor or the like, respectively, and their movement positions can be measured and controlled by the laser interference length measuring device 50.

  The plate stage 30 has a Y stage 32 and an X stage 33 arranged on a Y guide 31. The Y guide 31 is supported by the base 200. The base 200 is supported by a mount 201 having a vibration isolation mechanism and the like. Note that the X direction and the Y direction are orthogonal to each other.

  A θZ stage 34 is mounted on the X stage 33, and a plate chuck 35 is disposed thereon, thereby holding the plate 36 to be exposed. Accordingly, the plate 36 can be moved in the X, Y, and Z directions by the plate stage 30 and is also rotatably held in the XY plane. The θZ stage 34 is for making the surface of the plate 36 coincide with the plate-side focal plane of the projection optical system 10 during exposure.

  The mask stage 20 includes a mask stage substrate 21 and an XYθ stage 22 disposed thereon, and a mask 23 having a pattern to be projected thereon is disposed thereon. Accordingly, the mask 23 is movable in the X and Y directions and is held rotatably in the XY plane.

  Above the mask stage 20, an observation optical system 40 capable of observing the images of the mask 23 and the plate 36 via the projection optical system 10 is disposed, and an illumination optical system 41 is disposed further above.

  Both the mask stage 20 and the plate stage 30 are subjected to position measurement control by a laser interference length measuring device 50. The laser interference length measuring device 50 includes a laser head 51, interference mirrors 52 and 53, and a first reflection mirror 54 attached to the θZ stage 34 and a second reflection mirror 55 attached to the mask stage substrate 21. Here, the laser beam position of the laser interference length measuring device 50 is projected substantially on the mask-side focal plane of the projection optical system 10 in the vertical direction (in the optical axis direction of the projection optical system 10) with respect to the mask stage 20, and in the horizontal plane. The optical axis position of the optical system 10 is set. The plate stage 30 is set substantially at the optical axis position of the projection optical system 10 in the horizontal plane, but passes through a position displaced by a distance L downward from the plate-side focal plane of the projection optical system 10 in the vertical direction. Is set.

Details of the configuration of the plate stage 30 will be described with reference to FIG.
Above the Y guide 31, a Y stage 32 and an X stage 33 are configured. The Y stage 32 is connected to the linear motor movable element 202 and is driven in the Y direction by the linear motor movable element 202 and the linear motor stator 203. A plurality of air bearings 61 a are connected to the lower surface of the Y stage 32. Thus, the Y stage 32 is guided and supported in a non-contact manner with respect to the upper surface 68 (guide surface) of the Y guide 31 through a gap of about several microns. A linear motor (not shown) is configured between the X stage 33 and the Y stage 32, and the X stage 33 is driven in the X direction with respect to the Y stage 32. A plurality of air bearings 61 b are connected to the lower surface of the X stage 33. Thus, the X stage 33 is guided and supported in a non-contact manner with respect to the upper surface 64 (guide surface) of the Y stage 32 through a gap of about several microns.

  The Y stage 32 is connected to ceramic members 32a and 32b by a connecting member 66, and further, a ceramic spray 69 is applied to the surface 64 and the connecting portion 63 thereof. By connecting the connecting members 66, the ceramic members 32a and 32b that cannot be welded can be connected to each other. In addition, the air gap is made possible by smoothing the gaps and irregularities of the joint 63 by ceramic spraying and planar processing. Similarly, the Y guide 31 is also connected to the ceramic members 31a and 31b by the connecting member 66, and further, the surface 68 and the connecting portion 63 are subjected to ceramic spraying 69 and planar processing. As a result, the Y guide 31 also enables air bearings.

  3A is a detailed view of the connecting portion 63 of the Y guide 31. FIG. The ceramic members 31 a and 32 b are connected by a connecting member 66. Here, the connecting member 66 is composed of a bolt 96 and a nut 97, and performs bolt fastening. Ceramic spray 69 is applied to the surface 68a of the ceramic member 31a and the surface 68b of the ceramic member 31b. Further, the connecting portion of the ceramic members 31a and 31b is a triangular connecting portion 94. The shape of the connecting portion may be a bowl-shaped connecting portion 101 as shown in FIG.

  In addition, it is preferable that the flatness of the surface which gave the plane process after connection is 0.01 mm or less. Furthermore, the surface roughness is preferably Ra = 0.4 micrometer or less.

  The ceramic member is preferably alumina ceramic, silicon carbide, silicon nitride or zirconia ceramic.

  The cross-sectional shape of the connecting portion in the ceramic member is preferably a triangular shape or a treat-like shape.

  The ceramics can be connected not only to the air bearing guide, but also to a laser interference bar mirror (corresponding to the first reflecting mirror 54 and the second reflecting mirror 55 in FIG. 1) where a smooth surface is desired in a wide area. is there. By applying the present invention to the bar mirror for laser interference, the movable range of the mask stage 20 and the plate stage 30 can be expanded. Therefore, it can greatly contribute to the enlargement of the apparatus.

  FIG. 4A shows a perspective view of an example in which a bar mirror for laser interference is manufactured by connecting ceramics. Bar-shaped ceramics 130 and 131 are connected by the above method. FIG. 4B is a detailed sectional view of the bar mirror connecting portion. The mirror surface 110 of the bar mirror is subjected to mirror polishing by forming a plated layer 111 after the ceramic sprayed layer 112 is formed. As a result, it is possible to relatively easily form a large bar mirror that is difficult to perform by integral molding. In addition, it is preferable that the allowable gap of the connecting portion is 1 mm or less and the allowable step is 150 nanometers or less.

  A device manufacturing method will be described below. Devices such as semiconductor integrated circuit elements and liquid crystal display elements are used to expose a substrate (wafer, glass substrate, etc.) coated with a photosensitive agent using an exposure apparatus having a stage apparatus of the present invention, and develop the substrate. It is manufactured through a process and other well-known processes.

31 Y guide 31a Ceramic member 31b Ceramic member 32 Y stage 32a Ceramic member 32b Ceramic member 33 X stage 61a Air bearing 61b Air bearing 66 Connecting member 202 Linear motor movable element 203 Linear motor stator 203

Claims (6)

A stage device comprising a stage, a driving means for driving the stage, a guide for guiding the stage, and an air bearing for supporting the stage in a non-contact manner with respect to the guide,
The stage apparatus characterized in that the guide surface of the guide is formed by subjecting a surface formed by connecting a plurality of guides to ceramic spraying.   The stage apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the guide surface is planarized after ceramic spraying.   The stage apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of guides are connected by bolt fastening.   The stage apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a cross-sectional shape of a connecting portion of the plurality of guides is a triangular shape or a bowl shape. An exposure apparatus that exposes an original pattern onto a substrate,
A projection optical system that projects the pattern of the original onto a substrate;
The stage apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, which holds the original plate or the substrate;
An exposure apparatus comprising: Exposing the substrate using the exposure apparatus according to claim 5;
Developing the exposed substrate;
A device manufacturing method comprising:

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