JP2013043445A - Mold, imprint device, imprint method, and article production method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technique useful to an imprint method for precisely forming a pattern.SOLUTION: A mold used for imprinting includes a pattern part which has a pattern surface, a base which is coupled to a mold holder, and a coupling part which couples the pattern part and base to each other. The coupling part is constituted in such a way that the mold has larger rigidity in a direction orthogonal to the pattern surface than in a direction parallel with the pattern surface.

Description

  The present invention relates to a mold, an imprint apparatus using the mold, an imprint method, and an article manufacturing method using the imprint method.

  In the imprint apparatus, after applying a resist on a substrate, a stamping operation is performed to press the mold against the substrate. After the resist is filled in the concave portion of the pattern surface of the mold by the stamping operation, the resist is solidified on the substrate by heating or irradiating ultraviolet rays, and the mold is released from the substrate to form a pattern on the substrate. . In the imprint apparatus, when performing the mold release operation, a strong force is applied to the mold due to the adhesive force of the resist. Further, when correcting the shape of the mold, a force that deforms the mold itself is applied to the mold in order to correct the shape error of the pattern formed on the mold. For this reason, there is a problem that a lateral displacement occurs between the mold having a weak binding force and the mold holding body.

  Patent Document 1 discloses that an elastic member made of a synthetic resin, rubber, or a metal material having a small elastic coefficient is included on the side opposite to the pattern surface of the mold. Since the mold described in Patent Document 1 includes an elastic member, even when the plane of the substrate is distorted, the mold follows the substrate, and a pattern with a uniform thickness can be formed. In addition, even when an external force is applied to the mold, there is an effect that a lateral shift is not generated between the mold and the mold holding body due to the action of the elastic member. However, since this elastic member has elasticity also in the direction orthogonal to the pattern surface, it is impossible to obtain a high degree of flatness on the pattern surface of the mold.

  Patent Document 2 discloses that a buffer portion formed of a flexible material such as an organic material is included on the side opposite to the pattern surface of the mold. The mold described in Patent Document 2 is also flexible in the direction in which the buffer portion is orthogonal to the pattern surface, so that it is not possible to obtain an accurate flatness on the pattern surface of the mold. Moreover, when the elastic member of patent document 1 and the buffer part of patent document 2 are manufactured with an organic material, deterioration of the organic material due to ultraviolet rays becomes a problem in optical imprinting.

JP 2007-180315 A JP 2010-030057 A

  Since the molds described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 have elasticity or flexibility in a direction orthogonal to the pattern surface, the flatness with high accuracy cannot be obtained on the pattern surface of the mold. On the other hand, in a prior art mold that does not include an elastic member or a buffer portion, a lateral shift occurs on the contact surface between the mold and the mold holder. As a result, the distortion of the distortion of the pattern portion occurs, and a desired pattern shape may not be obtained.

  An object of this invention is to provide the technique useful for the imprint method which can form a pattern accurately.

  The present invention is a mold used in an imprint for transferring a pattern of a mold held by a mold holder to an imprint material supplied to a substrate, and a pattern portion having a pattern surface on which the pattern is formed; A base coupled to the mold holder, and a coupling portion coupling the pattern portion and the base, wherein the coupling portion has a rigidity of the mold in a direction perpendicular to the pattern surface. It is comprised so that it may become larger than the rigidity of the said type | mold in the direction parallel to this.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the technique useful for the imprint method which can form a pattern accurately can be provided.

It is a figure which shows an imprint apparatus. It is a figure which shows a type | mold. It is a figure which shows the coupling | bond part of a type | mold.

[Imprint method]
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of the imprint apparatus 100. The imprint apparatus 100 includes a mold 1, a mold holder 2 (mold chuck) 2, a substrate 3, a stage 4, a correction mechanism 5 that corrects the shape of the mold 1, and a light source 6. The imprint apparatus 100 forms a pattern on the substrate 3 by bringing the uncured resin (resist, imprint material) supplied to the substrate 3 into contact with the pattern surface of the mold 1 held by the mold holder 2. The imprint material is supplied to the surface of the substrate 3 using a coating mechanism (not shown). The mold 1 used in the imprint apparatus 100 is held by the mold holder 2 and is movable in a direction (Z direction) orthogonal to the pattern surface 8a of the mold 1. The substrate 3 is held on the stage 4 and is movable in a direction (X direction, Y direction) parallel to the pattern surface 8a.

  In the imprint process, a resist is applied to the substrate 3, and the substrate 3 is moved to a predetermined position under the mold 1 by the stage 4. By the stamping operation of pressing the mold 1 against the substrate 3, the resist is filled in the concave portion of the pattern surface 8 a of the mold 1. The shape of the mold 1 is corrected by being pressed by the correction mechanism 5. Light emitted from the light source 6, for example, ultraviolet light, passes through the mold 1 and is applied to the resist on the substrate 3. After the resist irradiated with light is solidified on the substrate 3, a pattern is formed (transferred) on the substrate 3 by performing a mold release operation for separating the mold 1 from the substrate 3.

  FIG. 1B is a partially enlarged view of the imprint apparatus 100. A force is applied to the pattern portion 8 having the pattern surface 8a of the mold 1 due to the adhesive strength of the resist during the mold release operation and the pressure difference between the mold 1 and the resist. Further, when correcting the shape of the mold 1, a force is applied to the pattern portion 8 by the correction mechanism 5. When the mold 1 is distorted by these forces and the distortion is transmitted to the coupling surface between the mold 1 and the mold holder 2, a lateral shift occurs on the coupling surface. If a lateral shift occurs on the coupling surface, the position control and shape correction of the mold 1 will deviate from the target values. Further, when a lateral shift occurs on the coupling surface, the surface of the mold 1 or the mold holder 2 is scraped by friction, and dust is generated. If the generated dust is sandwiched between the joining surfaces of the mold 1 and the mold holder 2, the position control and the shape correction will be out of order. Further, when the generated dust adheres to the substrate 3, it causes a pattern defect.

  In order to cope with such a problem, as shown in FIG. 1B, the mold 1 of this embodiment includes a flexible coupling portion between a base 7 in contact with the mold holder 2 and the pattern portion 8. 9 The coupling portion 9 has rigidity in the Z direction, and has lower rigidity in the X direction and Y direction than in the Z direction. The mold 1 of this embodiment has elasticity or flexibility in the X direction and the Y direction. Therefore, the deformation amount in the X direction and the Y direction can be made larger than the deformation amount in the Z direction of the mold 1. When correcting the pattern shape, the correction mechanism 5 applies a force to the pattern portion 8 of the mold held by the mold holder 2. Thereby, the mold 1 is configured such that the rigidity in the direction orthogonal to the pattern surface 8a (Z direction) is larger than the rigidity in the direction parallel to the pattern surface 8a (X direction, Y direction). As a result, even if a force is applied from the X direction and the Y direction and the pattern portion 8 is displaced in the X direction and the Y direction, the displacement is absorbed by the flexible coupling portion 9, and the mold 1 and the mold holder The occurrence of lateral shift can be reduced at the two coupling surfaces. The coupling portion 9 has a complicated shape in order to give directionality to flexibility. Therefore, it is made of a metal material having good workability and high rigidity. When the coupling portion 9 is made of a low thermal expansion metal such as an invar material, the temperature stability is also increased, and a more stable imprint is possible. The base 7 can also be made of the same metal material as that of the coupling portion 9.

  In the case of optical imprinting, the pattern portion 8 needs to transmit light such as ultraviolet rays. When the light passes, heat is generated in the pattern portion 8. Therefore, the pattern part 8 can be comprised with the transparent inorganic material which does not deteriorate easily with light, and can be comprised with a low thermal expansion material. The pattern unit 8 can be made of, for example, quartz. When the base 7 made of a metal material, the joint portion 9 and the pattern portion 8 made of an inorganic material are to be joined, they can be joined by an adhesive or brazing. For example, when bonding Invar material and quartz by brazing, the Invar material and quartz are bonded by sandwiching a metal-based brazing and a glass-based brazing between them and applying high temperature and high pressure in a high vacuum. .

  FIG. 2 is a view showing the mold 1 of the present embodiment. 2A is a side view of the mold 1, FIG. 2B is a perspective view, and FIG. 2C is an exploded view. In FIG. 2, a plurality of (12) coupling portions 9 are provided. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the details of the connecting portion 9. 3A is a bottom view, and FIG. 3B is a perspective view. FIG. 3C is a diagram showing the elastic part of the coupling part 9. In order to manufacture the coupling portion 9 with high accuracy, it is preferable to process a conductive metal block by wire cutting. By drilling a minute through hole in the metal block with a drill, passing a wire therethrough and passing electricity through the wire, a discharge is generated between the conductive metal block and a through groove is dug in the metal block.

  As shown in FIG. 3, each coupling portion 9 includes a first portion 9a, a second portion 9b, and an elastic portion 9c. The first portion 9a is disposed at the central portion of the coupling portion 9, and is formed so as to protrude from the second portion 9b and the elastic portion 9c toward the pattern portion 8 side. The second portion 9 b is disposed on the periphery of the coupling portion 9. The first portion 9 a can be disposed at the periphery of the coupling portion 9, and the second portion 9 b can be disposed at the central portion of the coupling portion 9. The elastic portion 9c (flexure, leaf spring) is formed by a plurality of through holes and grooves 9d formed at the boundary with the first portion 9a and the boundary with the second portion 9b. The elastic portion 9c is formed between the first portion 9a and the second portion 9b so as to surround the first portion 9a, as indicated by the oblique lines in FIG. The elastic portion 9c can increase the amount of elastic deformation in the X direction and the Y direction by the through hole and the groove 9d.

  By including the above-described elastic portion, the coupling portion 9 has rigidity in the Z direction, and the first portion 9a in the central portion has rigidity in the X direction and the Y direction with respect to the second portion 9b in the peripheral portion. It can be made lower than the rigidity in the Z direction. The surface on the pattern portion side (the lower surface in FIG. 3) of the first portion 9a is coupled to the upper surface of the pattern portion 8 by an adhesive, brazing, or the like. The second portion 9 b is coupled to the mold holding body 2 through the base 7. Since the pattern part 8 including the pattern surface 8a and the mold holder 2 are coupled by the coupling part 9 including the elastic part, even if a force in the Z direction acts on the mold 1 via the mold holder 2, the pattern The flatness and parallelism of the surface 8a are maintained with high accuracy. Since the coupling portion 9 including the elastic portion 9c has a larger amount of deformation in the X and Y directions than the deformation in the Z direction, and a plurality of coupling portions 9 are arranged, the pattern portion 8 of the mold 1 is placed on the pattern surface 8a. Even if it is displaced in the parallel direction, the displacement can be absorbed by the elastic portions 9 c in the plurality of coupling portions 9. Thereby, the displacement of the pattern portion 8 is not transmitted to the coupling surface between the mold 1 and the mold holder 2, and the pattern can be formed with high accuracy.

  Although the groove 9d has been described as penetrating to the back surface of the coupling portion 9, it may not be penetrated. Further, the base 7 side surface of the first portion 9a and the elastic portion 9c may or may not be coupled to the base 7. If it is not coupled to the base 7, the elastic portion 9c can be greatly deformed in the X direction and the Y direction compared to the case where it is coupled.

[Product Manufacturing Method]
A method for manufacturing a device (semiconductor integrated circuit element, liquid crystal display element, etc.) as an article includes a step of transferring (forming) a pattern onto a substrate (wafer, glass plate, film-like substrate) using the above-described imprint apparatus. . Further, the manufacturing method may include a step of etching the substrate to which the pattern is transferred. In the case of manufacturing other articles such as patterned media (recording media) and optical elements, the manufacturing method may include other processing for processing the substrate to which the pattern is transferred instead of etching. As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to these embodiment, A various deformation | transformation and change are possible within the range of the summary.

  As mentioned above, although preferable embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to these embodiment, A various deformation | transformation and change are possible within the range of the summary.

Claims (8)

A mold used in imprinting to transfer a pattern of a mold held by a mold holder to an imprint material supplied to a substrate,
A pattern portion having a pattern surface on which the pattern is formed;
A base coupled to the mold holder;
A coupling unit coupling the pattern unit and the base;
With
The coupling portion is configured such that rigidity of the mold in a direction orthogonal to the pattern surface is larger than rigidity of the mold in a direction parallel to the pattern surface.
A type characterized by that.   The coupling part includes an elastic part having elasticity in a direction parallel to the pattern surface, a first part coupled to the pattern part, and a second part coupled to the base. The mold according to claim 1, wherein the mold is formed between a first part and the second part.   The mold according to claim 1, wherein the joint portion is made of a metal material, and the pattern portion is made of a transparent inorganic material.   The mold according to claim 3, wherein the coupling portion is made of Invar, and the pattern portion is made of quartz.   The mold according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the coupling portion has a groove formed in a direction orthogonal to the pattern surface.   An imprint method for forming the pattern on the substrate by contacting the pattern formed on the mold according to any one of claims 1 to 5 with an imprint material supplied to the substrate. A mold holding body for holding the mold according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
A correction mechanism that corrects the shape of the pattern formed on the mold by applying a force to the mold, and an imprint apparatus comprising:
The imprinting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the correction mechanism applies a force to the pattern portion of the mold held by the mold holding body. Forming a pattern on a substrate using the imprint method according to claim 6;
Processing the substrate on which the pattern is formed in the step;
A method for producing an article comprising:

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