JP2011151122A - Charged particle beam device and method of teaching transfer robot - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device that teaches a transfer robot to move without causing the transfer robot to collide against a chamber etc. <P>SOLUTION: The charged particle beam device is equipped with: the transfer robot 142 which has a robot hand 143 and disposes a substrate to be irradiated with a charged particle beam at the robot hand to transfer the substrate; a drawing chamber 103 into which the substrate is transferred by the transfer robot; a verification section 14 which inputs presumptive position coordinates of a presumptive position of the robot hand when a movement position of the transfer robot is taught, and verifies whether the robot hand interferes with the chamber when moved to the presumptive position coordinates; a robot controller 114 which moves the robot hand to the presumptive position coordinates when it is verified that there is no interference; and a registration section 16 which registers the presumptive position coordinates where no interference is verified as teaching coordinates. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a charged particle beam apparatus and a teaching method for a transfer robot, for example, a drawing apparatus that draws a pattern on a substrate using an electron beam, and a teaching method for a transfer robot used in such an apparatus.

  Lithography technology, which is responsible for the progress of miniaturization of semiconductor devices, is an extremely important process for generating a pattern among semiconductor manufacturing processes. In recent years, with the high integration of LSI, circuit line widths required for semiconductor devices have been reduced year by year. In order to form a desired circuit pattern on these semiconductor devices, a highly accurate original pattern (also referred to as a reticle or a mask) is required. Here, the electron beam (electron beam) drawing technique has an essentially excellent resolution, and is used for producing a high-precision original pattern.

  FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the operation of the variable shaped electron beam drawing apparatus. The variable shaped electron beam (EB) drawing apparatus operates as follows. In the first aperture 410, a rectangular opening for forming the electron beam 330, for example, a rectangular opening 411 is formed. Further, the second aperture 420 is formed with a variable shaping opening 421 for shaping the electron beam 330 having passed through the opening 411 of the first aperture 410 into a desired rectangular shape. The electron beam 330 irradiated from the charged particle source 430 and passed through the opening 411 of the first aperture 410 is deflected by the deflector, passes through a part of the variable shaping opening 421 of the second aperture 420, and passes through a predetermined range. The sample 340 mounted on a stage that continuously moves in one direction (for example, the X direction) is irradiated. That is, the drawing area of the sample 340 mounted on the stage in which the rectangular shape that can pass through both the opening 411 of the first aperture 410 and the variable shaping opening 421 of the second aperture 420 is continuously moved in the X direction. Drawn on. A method of creating an arbitrary shape by passing both the opening 411 of the first aperture 410 and the variable shaping opening 421 of the second aperture 420 is referred to as a variable shaping method.

  Here, in the drawing apparatus, a transfer robot is mounted to transfer a substrate to a chamber such as a drawing room (see, for example, Patent Document 1). When starting up the apparatus, it is necessary to perform teaching work for registering (teaching) each operation position of the robot after the robot is installed in the apparatus. Such teaching work is usually performed using a portable remote control device called a teaching pendant prepared by a robot manufacturer. In such work, a remote control device is connected to a robot or a robot controller or the like, and the transfer robot is moved independently of the drawing apparatus control system to determine a position (teaching coordinate) to be set.

  However, the conveying robot may collide with the chamber due to an erroneous input to the teaching pendant during teaching work. When a collision occurs, the position of the encoder for driving the robot may be shifted, or the position of the robot itself may be shifted. As a result, there has been a problem that the teaching operation may have to be repeated from the beginning.

JP 2009-010076 A

  As described above, there has been a problem that the transfer robot may collide with the chamber due to an erroneous input to the teaching pendant during the teaching operation of the transfer robot. Such a teaching operation of the transfer robot is not limited to the drawing apparatus, and the same problem occurs in an apparatus equipped with, for example, a multi-axis transfer robot.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to overcome such problems and provide an apparatus and method capable of teaching without causing the transfer robot to collide with a chamber or the like.

A charged particle beam device according to one embodiment of the present invention includes:
A robot having a robot hand, and a substrate on which a charged particle beam is irradiated is arranged in the robot hand and transported;
A chamber in which a substrate is transferred by a transfer robot;
A verification unit that inputs a planned position coordinate indicating a planned position of the robot hand when teaching the movement position of the transfer robot, and verifies whether or not the chamber interferes when the robot hand is moved to the planned position coordinate;
As a result of the verification, if there is no interference, a robot control unit that moves the robot hand to the planned position coordinates;
A registration unit that registers the planned position coordinates that do not interfere as a result of the verification as teaching coordinates;
It is provided with.

  With this configuration, it is possible to check in advance the interference of the planned position of the robot hand when teaching that cannot be performed with the teaching pendant prepared by the robot manufacturer.

  Further, it is preferable that the planned position coordinates when teaching the moving position of the transfer robot are directly input to the charged particle beam apparatus side.

  In addition, it is preferable to further include a storage device that stores the coordinate values of the planned position coordinates that do not interfere as a result of verification as teaching coordinates.

  The robot control unit preferably reads teaching coordinates from the storage device and moves the robot hand to the position of the read teaching coordinates when the substrate is transported.

A teaching method for a transfer robot according to an aspect of the present invention includes:
Inputting a planned position coordinate indicating a planned position of the robot hand when teaching the moving position of the transfer robot that transfers the substrate irradiated with the charged particle beam to the robot hand; and
Verifying whether or not the substrate is transported by the transport robot when the robot hand is moved to the planned position coordinates;
As a result of the verification, if there is no interference, the process of moving the robot hand to the planned position coordinates,
Registering the planned position coordinates that do not interfere as a result of verification as teaching coordinates;
It is provided with.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the transfer robot from colliding with the chamber or the like due to an erroneous input or the like during teaching work. Thereby, it is possible to prevent redoing again and to prevent a delay in teaching work.

1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a configuration of a drawing apparatus according to Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a substrate transport path in the first embodiment. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation range of the transfer robot according to Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing main steps of the drawing method according to Embodiment 1. 6 is a conceptual diagram for explaining provisional coordinates and a margin in Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a conceptual diagram for demonstrating operation | movement of the conventional variable shaping type | mold electron beam drawing apparatus.

  Hereinafter, in the embodiment, a configuration using an electron beam will be described as an example of a charged particle beam. However, the charged particle beam is not limited to an electron beam, and a beam using charged particles such as an ion beam may be used. A charged particle beam drawing apparatus will be described as an example of the charged particle beam apparatus. However, the charged particle beam apparatus is not limited to the drawing apparatus, and may be an inspection apparatus that inspects a pattern or the like of the substrate.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a configuration of a drawing apparatus according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 1, a drawing apparatus 100 is an example of a charged particle beam drawing apparatus. Here, in particular, an example of a variable shaping type electron beam drawing apparatus is shown. The drawing apparatus 100 includes a drawing unit 150, a control computer unit 110, a touch panel 112, a robot controller 114, a control circuit 116, a loading / unloading port (I / F) 120, a load lock (L / L) chamber 130, and a robot (R) chamber 140. , An alignment (ALN) chamber 146 and a vacuum pump 170. Then, the drawing apparatus 100 draws a desired pattern on the substrate 20 using the electron beam 200. Examples of the substrate 20 to be drawn include an exposure mask substrate and a silicon wafer for manufacturing a semiconductor device.

  The drawing unit 150 includes an electron column 102 and a drawing chamber 103 (an example of a chamber). In the electron column 102, an electron gun 201, an illumination lens 202, a first aperture 203, a projection lens 204, a deflector 205, a second aperture 206, an objective lens 207, and a deflector 208 are arranged. In the drawing chamber 103, an XY stage 105 is arranged so as to be movable. When drawing a pattern, a plurality of support pins 106 (an example of a holding unit) are arranged on the XY stage 105 so as to be movable up and down, and the substrate 20 is placed on the support pins 106. In addition, a transfer robot 122 for transferring the substrate 20 is disposed in the carry-in / out opening 120. A transfer robot 142 for transferring the substrate 20 is disposed in the robot chamber 140.

  The control computer unit 110 includes a setting unit 10, a memory 11 as an example of a storage device, a planned coordinate input unit 12, a verification unit 14, a registration unit 16, and a drawing control unit 18. Each function of the setting unit 10, the planned coordinate input unit 12, the verification unit 14, the registration unit 16, and the drawing control unit 18 may be configured by software such as a program that executes a computer. Or you may comprise by hardware, such as an electric equipment or an electronic device. Alternatively, a combination of software and hardware may be used. Alternatively, a combination of firmware and hardware may be used.

  The control computer unit 110, the touch panel 112, the robot controller 114, and the control circuit 116 are connected to each other by a bus (not shown). Here, the touch panel 112 is shown as an example of input means to the control computer unit 110, but the present invention is not limited to this. A keyboard, mouse, etc. may be used. Alternatively, an external interface or the like may be connected to an external device and data may be input from the outside.

  The vacuum pump 170 exhausts the gas in the robot chamber 140 and the alignment chamber 146 via the valve 172. Thereby, the robot chamber 140 and the alignment chamber 146 are maintained in a vacuum atmosphere. The vacuum pump 170 exhausts the gas in the electron column 102 and the drawing chamber 103 via the valve 174. As a result, the inside of the electron column 102 and the drawing chamber 103 are maintained in a vacuum atmosphere. Further, the vacuum pump 170 exhausts the gas in the load lock chamber 130 via the valve 176. Thereby, the inside of the load lock chamber 130 is controlled to a vacuum atmosphere as necessary. In addition, gate valves 132, 134, and 136 are disposed at boundaries between the loading / unloading port 120, the load lock chamber 130, the robot chamber 140, and the drawing chamber 103.

  The robot controller 114 controls and drives the transfer robots 122 and 142. A teaching pendant 300 prepared by a robot manufacturer can be connected to the robot controller 114. The control circuit 116 is controlled by the drawing control unit 18, and the control circuit 116 controls and drives each device in the drawing unit 150, the loading / unloading port 120, the L / L chamber 130, the robot chamber 140, and the alignment chamber 146. . During the drawing operation, the robot controller 114 is also controlled by the drawing control unit 18.

  Here, FIG. 1 shows components necessary for explaining the first embodiment. The drawing apparatus 100 may normally include other necessary configurations. The transfer robots 122 and 142 are, for example, multi-axis robots. The transport robots 122 and 142 may be any mechanical mechanism such as an elevator mechanism or a rotation mechanism. Further, for example, a robot hand 143 for placing the substrate 20 is attached to the driving arm of the transfer robot 142.

  FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing a substrate transport path in the first embodiment. The substrate 20 is disposed at the carry-in / out port 120. After the gate valve 132 is opened, the substrate 20 disposed at the carry-in / out port 120 is carried onto a support member in the L / L chamber 130 by the carrying robot 122. After the gate valve 132 is closed, the inside of the L / L chamber 130 is evacuated by the vacuum pump 170. Next, the substrate 20 disposed on the support member in the L / L chamber 130 opens the gate valve 134 and is then transferred by the transfer robot 142 to the stage in the alignment chamber 146 via the robot chamber 140. Then, the substrate 20 is aligned. Next, after the gate valve 136 is opened, the substrate 20 placed on the stage in the alignment chamber 146 is carried into the drawing chamber 103 via the robot chamber 140 by the transfer robot 142. In this way, the substrate 20 is carried into the drawing chamber 103. Then, a pattern is drawn on the substrate 20 in the drawing chamber 103. After the drawing is completed, the substrate 20 is transferred to a support member in the L / L chamber 130 by the transfer robot 142 via the robot chamber 140 after opening the gate valves 134 and 136. After the gate valve 134 is closed, the inside of the L / L chamber 130 is returned to an atmospheric pressure atmosphere. Then, after the gate valve 132 is opened, the substrate 20 is placed at the carry-in / out port 120 by the transfer robot 122.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation range of the transfer robot according to the first embodiment. For example, the transfer robot 142 moves the robot hand 143 into the L / L chamber 130, the alignment chamber 146, and the drawing chamber 103 in addition to the rotation operation and the elevation operation in the robot chamber 140. The substrate 20 is transferred into each chamber by the transfer robot 142 in a state of being placed in the robot hand. FIG. 3 shows an example of the operation range 30 of the transfer robot 142. In particular, when the robot hand 143 is moved, the operation position of the transfer robot 142 needs to be registered so that the robot hand 143 does not collide with the inner wall of the L / L chamber 130, the alignment chamber 146, or the drawing chamber 103.

  Therefore, at the time of starting up the apparatus, first, the operating position of the transfer robot 142 is taught. Conventionally, in such teaching work, the transfer robot 142 is moved independently of the control system of the drawing apparatus 100 using the teaching pendant 300 prepared by the robot manufacturer, and the position (teaching coordinate) to be set is determined. For this reason, there is a case where the robot hand 143 of the transfer robot 142 collides with one of the chambers due to an erroneous input to the teaching pendant 300 during the teaching operation. Therefore, in the first embodiment, such a collision is avoided by performing the following verification operation before moving the robot.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing main steps of the drawing method according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 4, in the drawing method according to the first embodiment, first, after performing each step of the teaching method of the transfer robot, the drawing process step (S114) is performed. The transfer robot teaching method includes a setting step (S102), a planned coordinate input step (S104), a verification step (S106), a robot operation step (S108), a position confirmation step (S110), and a registration step (S112). ) Is performed. Hereinafter, an operation when teaching one of the plurality of operation positions of the transfer robot will be described.

  As the setting step (S102), the setting unit 10 inputs and sets temporary coordinates and a margin that are temporary movement positions of the transfer robot.

  FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram for explaining provisional coordinates and margins in the first embodiment. Temporary coordinates that serve as temporary movement positions of the transfer robot 142 are determined in advance from results obtained when a plurality of past drawing apparatuses are started up. The temporary coordinates are set at a position where they do not collide with the chamber inner wall and the chamber inner parts (substrate mounting pins or the like). Then, the margin width b is determined in advance from the clearance a in the design dimension between the tip of the robot hand 143 in temporary coordinates, the chamber inner wall, and the chamber components (substrate mounting pins or the like). For example, a half distance of the gap a may be set as the margin width b.

  Next, as a planned coordinate input step (S104), the planned coordinate input unit 12 inputs planned position coordinates indicating the planned position of the robot hand 143 when teaching the moving position of the transfer robot 142 via the touch panel 112. . Here, instead of inputting the planned position coordinates to the teaching pendant 300, the coordinates of the planned position coordinates themselves are directly input from the touch panel 112 on the control system side of the drawing apparatus 100. Conventionally, the planned position coordinates are input to the teaching pendant 300, and when the position is registered, an identifier (for example, “A”) for identifying the position is set in the control system of the drawing apparatus 100, and the coordinate value itself (x, y, z) were not set. Therefore, when changing the position, it is necessary to prepare an identifier (for example, “B”) for identifying the changed position again. As a result, it is necessary to change the sequence of the program for controlling the drawing operation, which is a complicated operation. In the first embodiment, if the coordinates themselves (x, y, z) are directly input and registered in the registration step (S112) described later, the registered coordinates correspond to an identifier (for example, “A”) in the apparatus. Good. Thereby, when the position is changed, it is only necessary to correct the coordinates (x, y, z) itself to the coordinates (x ′, y ′, z ′). In other words, there is no need to modify the identifier (eg, “A”) that identifies the registered position. Therefore, it is possible to easily change the operation position.

  Next, as a verification step (S106), the verification unit 14 inputs the planned position coordinates, and verifies whether or not the robot hand 143 moves to the planned position coordinates and interferes with the chamber. Here, it is verified whether or not the planned position coordinates are located closer to the chamber inner wall and the parts in the chamber (such as the board mounting pins) than the position obtained by adding the margin width b to the set temporary coordinates. As a result of the verification, if the planned position coordinates are located closer to the chamber inner wall and the parts in the chamber (pins for board mounting, etc.) than the position obtained by adding the margin width b to the temporary coordinates, the planned coordinates are input as “NG”. The process returns to step (S104). In the case of NG, for example, an error display is output to the touch panel 112 or the like. Thereby, it can be made to recognize that there exists a possibility that a planned position coordinate may interfere with the user side. If the planned position coordinates are not located closer to the chamber inner wall and the components in the chamber (substrate mounting pins, etc.) than the position obtained by adding the margin width b to the temporary coordinates, that is, if there is no possibility of interference, “OK” is displayed. To go to the next step.

  As a robot operation step (S108), the robot controller 114, which is an example of a robot control unit, moves the robot hand 143 to the planned position coordinates when there is no interference as a result of the verification. Thus, the collision with the chamber can be avoided by operating the transfer robot 142 after performing the interference check.

  In the position confirmation step (S110), it is confirmed whether or not the position is acceptable in a state where the robot hand 143 is moved to the planned position coordinates. What is necessary is just to confirm visually by a user. When the position is changed such as fine adjustment, the process returns to the planned coordinate input process (S104). Then, the planned coordinate input process (S104) to the position confirmation process (S110) may be repeated until the allowable position is reached. In either case, since the transfer robot 142 is operated after performing an interference check in advance, collision with the chamber can be avoided.

  Then, as a registration step (S112), the registration unit 16 stores and registers the planned position coordinates that have not interfered as a result of the verification and are OK in the position confirmation step (S110) in the memory 11 as teaching coordinates. The memory 11 stores the coordinate values of the planned position coordinates themselves as teaching coordinates.

  By performing the above steps for all the robot operation scheduled positions, the transfer robot 142 can be prevented from colliding with the chamber or the like. Re-doing teaching work can be prevented by collision avoidance. In the first embodiment, it is not necessary to input a numerical value to the teaching pendant 300. For example, it is necessary to record the numerical value displayed on the teaching pendant 300 and transfer the value to the drawing apparatus 100 side. Absent. In this sense, erroneous input can be prevented. As a result, teaching work can be performed in a short time.

  After the teaching work is completed as described above, the drawing operation process (S114) is performed.

  In the drawing operation processing (S114), the drawing control unit 18 inputs drawing data from the outside or from a storage device (not shown), and performs multiple stages of data conversion processing to generate shot data in a format unique to the device. Then, along the shot data, the control circuit 116 controls and drives each device in the drawing unit 150, the loading / unloading port 120, the L / L chamber 130, the robot chamber 140, and the alignment chamber 146. As described above, first, the substrate 20 is transferred from the loading / unloading port 120 to the L / L chamber 130 using the transfer robot 122, and the substrate 20 is transferred from the L / L chamber 130 to the robot chamber 140 and the alignment chamber 146 using the transfer robot 142. Through the drawing chamber 103. At that time, the robot controller 114 reads each teaching coordinate from the memory 11 and moves the robot hand 143 to the position of the read teaching coordinate when the substrate 20 is transported. Then, after the substrate 20 is transferred to the drawing chamber 103, the drawing unit 150 operates as follows.

  The drawing unit 150 uses the electron beam 200 to draw a pattern on the substrate 20 placed on the support pins 106 in the drawing chamber 103. Specifically, the following operation is performed. An electron beam 200 emitted from an electron gun 201 which is an example of an irradiation unit illuminates the entire first aperture 203 having a rectangular hole, for example, a rectangular hole, by an illumination lens 202. Here, the electron beam 200 is first formed into a rectangle, for example, a rectangle. Then, the electron beam 200 of the first aperture image that has passed through the first aperture 203 is projected onto the second aperture 206 by the projection lens 204. The position of the first aperture image on the second aperture 206 is deflection-controlled by the deflector 205, and the beam shape and size can be changed. As a result, the electron beam 200 is shaped. Thus, the electron beam 200 is variably shaped. Then, the electron beam 200 of the second aperture image that has passed through the second aperture 206 is focused by the objective lens 207 and deflected by the deflector 208. As a result, for example, a desired position of the substrate 20 on the XY stage 105 that continuously moves is irradiated.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, it is possible to prevent the transfer robot from colliding with the chamber or the like due to an erroneous input or the like during teaching work. Thereby, it is possible to prevent redoing again and to prevent a delay in teaching work.

  The embodiments have been described above with reference to specific examples. However, the present invention is not limited to these specific examples. For example, the teaching of the transfer robot mounted on the drawing apparatus has been described here, but the present invention is not limited to this, and any apparatus that mounts the transfer robot can be similarly applied.

  In addition, although descriptions are omitted for parts and the like that are not directly required for the description of the present invention, such as a device configuration and a control method, a required device configuration and a control method can be appropriately selected and used. For example, although the description of the control unit configuration for controlling the drawing apparatus 100 is omitted, it goes without saying that the required control unit configuration is appropriately selected and used.

  In addition, all charged particle beam apparatuses and transfer robot teaching methods that include elements of the present invention and that can be appropriately modified by those skilled in the art are included in the scope of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Setting part 11 Memory 12 Planned coordinate input part 14 Verification part 16 Registration part 18 Drawing control part 20 Board | substrate 30 Operation | movement range 100 Drawing apparatus 102 Electron barrel 103 Drawing room 105 XY stage 106 Support pin 110 Control computer unit 112 Touch panel 114 Robot controller 116 Control circuit 120 Carrying in / out port 122, 142 Transfer robot 130 Load lock chamber 132, 134, 136 Gate valve 140 Robot chamber 143 Robot hand 146 Alignment chamber 150 Drawing unit 170 Vacuum pumps 172, 174, 176 Valve 200 Electron beam 201 Electron gun 202 Illumination lenses 203 and 410 First aperture 204 Projection lenses 205 and 208 Deflectors 206 and 420 Second aperture 207 Objective lens 300 Teachin Pendant 330 electron beam 340 sample 411 opening 421 variable-shaped opening 430 a charged particle source

Claims (5)

A transport robot that has a robot hand and places and transports a substrate to be irradiated with a charged particle beam in the robot hand;
A chamber in which the substrate is transferred by the transfer robot;
A planned position coordinate indicating a planned position of the robot hand when teaching the moving position of the transfer robot is input, and whether the robot hand interferes with the chamber when the robot hand is moved to the planned position coordinate is verified. A verification unit;
As a result of the verification, when there is no interference, a robot control unit that moves the robot hand to the planned position coordinates;
A registration unit for registering the planned position coordinates that do not interfere as a result of the verification as teaching coordinates;
A charged particle beam apparatus comprising:   The charged particle beam apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the planned position coordinates when teaching the movement position of the transfer robot are directly input to the charged particle beam apparatus side.   The charged particle beam apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a storage device that stores, as teaching coordinates, coordinate values of the planned position coordinates that do not interfere as a result of the verification.   4. The robot control unit reads the teaching coordinates from the storage device, and moves the robot hand to the position of the read teaching coordinates when the substrate is transported. Charged particle beam device. Inputting a planned position coordinate indicating a planned position of the robot hand when teaching a moving position of a transfer robot that arranges and transports a substrate irradiated with a charged particle beam to the robot hand;
Verifying whether the transfer robot interferes with a chamber in which the substrate is transferred when the robot hand is moved to the planned position coordinates;
As a result of the verification, when there is no interference, the step of moving the robot hand to the planned position coordinates,
Registering the planned position coordinates that do not interfere as a result of the verification as teaching coordinates;
A teaching method for a transfer robot, comprising:

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