JP2017208424A - Imprint device and manufacturing method of article - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an imprint device that is advantageous for supplying a gas to a space between a die and a substrate.SOLUTION: An imprint device forms a pattern on a substrate by contacting a die to an imprint member on the substrate, and the device includes: a die holding part; a substrate holding part; a supply part that supplies the imprint member onto the substrate; an air inlet that supplies a gas; an exhaust part that exhausts the gas; and a control part. When a region on the substrate to be supplied the imprint member is moved to a lower direction of the die holding part from the lower direction of the supply part, the control part controls the device so that a first supply amount as an amount of the gas supplied from a first supply port in a side of the supply part related to the die of a plurality of supply ports is larger than a second supply amount as an amount of the gas supplied from the second supply port in the side opposite to the first supply port of the plurality of supply ports, and a first exhaust amount as an amount of the gas exhausted from the first exhaust port in the side of the supply part is larger than a second exhaust amount as an amount of the gas exhausted from the second exhaust port in the side opposite to the first exhaust port.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to an imprint apparatus and an article manufacturing method.

  The demand for miniaturization of semiconductor devices has advanced, and in addition to conventional photolithography technology, the imprint material on the substrate is molded (molded) with a mold and cured to form a pattern (structure) on the substrate. Attention has been focused on microfabrication technology. Such a technique is called an imprint technique, and can form a fine pattern on the order of several nanometers on a substrate.

  As one of the imprint techniques, for example, there is a photocuring method. An imprint apparatus that employs a photocuring method forms a photocurable imprint material supplied on a substrate with a mold, irradiates light to cure the imprint material, and then molds the mold from the cured imprint material. By pulling apart, a pattern is formed on the substrate.

  In the imprint apparatus, it is necessary to replace the space between the mold and the substrate with a high concentration (for example, 90% or more) of at least one of a permeable gas such as helium and a condensable gas such as pentafluoropropane. Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for introducing a replacement gas in the vicinity of a mold pattern by controlling a replacement gas supply port and an exhaust port.

Japanese Patent No. 4658227

  However, since the gap between the mold and the substrate is, for example, a narrow gap of about 500 microns, in the prior art, a replacement gas is not formed in the space (gap or gap) between the mold and the substrate without using a large amount of replacement gas. It is very difficult to introduce. Insufficient gas replacement in the space between the mold and the substrate will cause air pockets and uneven concentration distribution of the replacement gas, resulting in pattern defects caused by unfilled imprint material in the mold. Can occur.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an imprint apparatus that is advantageous for supplying a gas to a gap between a mold and a substrate.

  In order to achieve the above object, an imprint apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention is an imprint apparatus that forms a pattern on the substrate by bringing the mold into contact with an imprint material on the substrate. A mold holding unit that holds the substrate, a substrate holding unit that holds the substrate, a supply unit that supplies the imprint material onto the substrate, and a plurality of air supply ports around the mold held by the mold holding unit. An air supply unit that supplies gas from the plurality of air supply ports; and an exhaust unit that includes a plurality of exhaust ports around the mold held by the mold holding unit and discharges gas from the plurality of exhaust ports. A control unit that controls the air supply unit and the exhaust unit, and the control unit supplies an area on the substrate to which the imprint material is supplied by the supply unit together with the substrate holding unit. When moving from below the mold to below the mold holder, The first supply amount as the amount of gas supplied from the first supply port on the supply unit side with respect to the mold held by the mold holding unit among the plurality of supply ports is the plurality of supply ports. Among the molds held by the mold holding part, so as to be larger than the second supply amount as the amount of gas supplied from the second air supply port on the side opposite to the first air supply port, and Among the plurality of exhaust ports, the first discharge amount as the amount of gas discharged from the first exhaust port on the supply unit side with respect to the mold held by the mold holding unit among the plurality of exhaust ports. With respect to the mold held in the mold holding part, the air supply unit and the air supply unit and the gas discharge unit are arranged so that the second discharge amount as the amount of gas discharged from the second exhaust port on the side opposite to the first exhaust port is increased. The exhaust part is controlled.

  Further objects and other aspects of the present invention will become apparent from the preferred embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  According to the present invention, for example, it is possible to provide an imprint apparatus that is advantageous for supplying a gas to a gap between a mold and a substrate.

It is the schematic which shows the structure of the imprint apparatus as 1 side surface of this invention. It is a figure which shows the vicinity of the mold of the imprint apparatus shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example in case the imprint apparatus shown in FIG. 1 has two supply parts. It is a figure which shows the layout of the shot area | region where the imprint material is supplied by one supply process. It is a figure which shows the specific structure for controlling the gas supply / discharge part of the imprint apparatus shown in FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the manufacturing method of articles | goods.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, in each figure, the same reference number is attached | subjected about the same member and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of an imprint apparatus 1 as one aspect of the present invention. The imprint apparatus 1 is a lithographic apparatus used in a manufacturing process of an article such as a semiconductor device, and forms a pattern by molding an imprint material on a substrate. In the present embodiment, the imprint apparatus 1 makes the imprint material supplied on the substrate come into contact with the mold, and gives a curing energy to the imprint material, thereby transferring a cured product on which the concave / convex pattern of the mold is transferred. The pattern is formed.

  As the imprint material, a curable composition (also referred to as an uncured resin) that cures when given energy for curing is used. As the energy for curing, electromagnetic waves, heat, or the like is used. As the electromagnetic wave, for example, light such as infrared rays, visible rays, and ultraviolet rays, whose wavelength is selected from a range of 10 nm to 1 mm is used.

  A curable composition is a composition which hardens | cures by irradiation of light or by heating. The photocurable composition that is cured by light irradiation contains at least a polymerizable compound and a photopolymerization initiator, and may contain a non-polymerizable compound or a solvent as necessary. The non-polymerizable compound is at least one selected from the group consisting of a sensitizer, a hydrogen donor, an internal release agent, a surfactant, an antioxidant, and a polymer component.

  The imprint material may be applied in a film form on the substrate by a spin coater or a slit coater. Further, the imprint material may be applied onto the substrate in the form of droplets by the liquid ejecting head, or in the form of islands or films formed by connecting a plurality of droplets. The imprint material has a viscosity (viscosity at 25 ° C.) of, for example, 1 mPa · s or more and 100 mPa · s or less.

  The imprint apparatus 1 includes a substrate holding unit 2 that holds a substrate 8, a mold holding unit (mold holding unit) 3 that holds a mold 11, an alignment measurement unit 4, an irradiation unit 5, a supply unit 7, and a gas It has a supply / discharge unit 25 and a control unit 6. Further, the imprint apparatus 1 includes a substrate transport unit (not shown) for transporting the substrate 8 to the substrate holding unit 2 and a mold transport unit (not shown) for transporting the mold 11 to the mold holding unit 3. Have. Further, the imprint apparatus 1 includes a base surface plate 24 that supports the substrate holding unit 2, a bridge surface plate 14 that supports the mold holding unit 3, and a support column 15 that supports the bridge surface plate 14. As shown in FIG. 1, the direction parallel to the direction of irradiating light to the imprint material on the substrate is defined as the Z axis, and the directions orthogonal to the Z axis are defined as the X axis and the Y axis.

  Glass, ceramics, metal, semiconductor, resin, or the like is used for the substrate 8, and a member made of a material different from the substrate 8 may be formed on the surface of the substrate 8 as necessary. Specifically, the substrate 8 is a silicon wafer, a compound semiconductor wafer, quartz glass, or the like. An imprint material is supplied (applied) to the surface to be processed of the substrate 8.

  The mold 11 has a rectangular outer shape, and is a mold in which a pattern to be transferred to an imprint material supplied to the substrate 8 is formed in a three-dimensional shape on a surface facing the substrate 8. The mold 11 is made of a material that transmits ultraviolet rays, such as quartz.

  The irradiation unit 5 irradiates the imprint material on the substrate with ultraviolet rays via the mold 11. For example, the irradiation unit 5 scans the light source 16, the optical system 17 that adjusts the ultraviolet light emitted from the light source 16 to a state suitable for the imprint process, and the ultraviolet light irradiated to the imprint material on the substrate. And a scanning unit 18.

  The mold holding unit 3 is a head for holding the mold 11 and imprinting the pattern of the mold 11 on the imprint material on the substrate, that is, bringing the imprint material and the mold 11 into contact with each other. The mold holding unit 3 includes a mold chuck 12, a shape correction unit 13, and a mold stage 23. The mold chuck 12 sucks (fixes) the mold 11 using, for example, a vacuum suction pad. The mold chuck 12 is held on the mold stage 23. The mold stage 23 is a drive system for changing the distance (interval) between the substrate 8 and the mold 11, and drives (moves) the mold chuck 12, that is, the mold 11 in the Z-axis direction. The mold stage 23 may include a plurality of drive systems such as a coarse motion drive system and a fine motion drive system in order to achieve highly accurate positioning of the mold 11. The mold stage 23 has a function of driving the mold 11 not only in the Z-axis direction but also in the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, and the θ (rotation around the Z-axis) direction and a function of correcting the tilt of the mold 11. It may be. The mold chuck 12 is provided with a shape correction unit 13 for correcting the shape of the mold 11. The shape correction unit 13 corrects the shape of the mold 11 by applying force or displacement to the side surface of the mold 11.

  The substrate holding unit 2 holds the substrate 8 and corrects a translational shift between the mold 11 and the substrate 8, that is, aligns the mold 11 and the substrate 8. The substrate holding unit 2 includes a substrate chuck 9 and a substrate stage 10. The substrate chuck 9 sucks (fixes) the substrate 8 using, for example, a vacuum suction pad. The substrate chuck 9 is held on the substrate stage 10 via a vacuum suction pad (not shown). The substrate stage 10 drives (moves) the substrate chuck 9, that is, the substrate 8 in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction. The substrate stage 10 may include a plurality of drive systems such as a coarse drive system and a fine drive system. The substrate stage 10 may have a function of driving the substrate 8 in the Z-axis direction and θ (rotation around the Z-axis) direction and a function of correcting the tilt of the substrate 8. In addition, a reference mark used when aligning the mold 11 is arranged on the substrate stage 10.

  The supply unit 7 supplies an imprint material on the substrate. The supply unit 7 includes a discharge port (liquid ejecting head) that discharges the imprint material, and drops the imprint material onto the substrate 8 from the discharge port. The amount of the imprint material discharged from the discharge port of the supply unit 7 is determined by the required residual film thickness of the resist and the density of the pattern to be transferred.

  The alignment measuring unit 4 detects alignment marks provided on the mold 11 and the substrate 8 respectively, and the positional deviation between the mold 11 (the pattern) and the substrate 8 (the base pattern) in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction Measure the shape difference.

  The gas supply / discharge section 25 has a function as an air supply section for supplying gas and a function as an exhaust section for discharging gas, and is provided between the mold 11 and the substrate 8 (imprint material on the substrate). This is a mechanism for replacing the atmosphere in the space 30 (gap or gap) with gas. The gas supply / discharge unit 25 includes a plurality of supply ports (air supply nozzles) 26 provided around the mold 11 held by the mold holding unit 3, and supplies gas from the plurality of supply ports (air supply ports) 26. To do. Further, the gas supply / discharge unit 25 includes a plurality of exhaust ports (exhaust nozzles) 27 provided around the mold 11 held by the mold holding unit 3 in detail so as to surround the plurality of supply ports 26. The gas is discharged from the plurality of exhaust ports 27. The gas supply / discharge unit 25 supplies the gas from the supply port 26 to the space 30 and discharges (recovers) the gas from the exhaust port 27 to prevent the gas from leaking into the apparatus. Here, the “supply port 26” is a summation of a plurality of supply ports, and the “exhaust port 27” is a summation of a plurality of exhaust ports.

  The gas supply / discharge unit 25 supplies at least one of a condensable gas and a permeable gas as a gas for replacing the atmosphere in the space 30. Here, the condensable gas is a gas that has the property of being liquefied by an increase in pressure accompanying the contact between the imprint material on the substrate and the mold 11, and the permeable gas is the mold 11, the substrate 8, and the imprint material. It is the gas which has the property which permeate | transmits at least one. These gases are advantageous for improving the filling property of the imprint material into the pattern of the mold 11 and reducing the release force when the mold 11 is separated from the cured imprint material on the substrate. The condensable gas includes, for example, pentafluoropropane, and the permeable gas includes, for example, helium.

  The control unit 6 includes a CPU, a memory, and the like, and controls the entire imprint apparatus 1 (operation). The control unit 6 performs imprint processing by comprehensively controlling each unit of the imprint apparatus 1. Here, the imprint process includes a supply step of supplying an imprint material onto the substrate from the supply unit 7, a stamping step of bringing the imprint material on the substrate into contact with the mold 11, and an imprint material on the pattern of the mold 11. Filling step. Furthermore, the imprint process includes a curing step for curing the imprint material in a state where the imprint material on the substrate and the mold 11 are in contact with each other, and a mold release step for separating the mold 11 from the cured imprint material on the substrate. including. In the present embodiment, the control unit 6 controls the gas supply / exhaust unit 25 so that the gas from the gas supply / exhaust unit 25 is supplied to the space 30 when shifting from the supply process to the stamping process.

  The imprint apparatus 1 is accommodated in the clean chamber 19. The clean chamber 19 is provided with a blower (not shown), a chemical filter (not shown), a particle filter (not shown), a blower port 20 and an exhaust port 21. The blower takes in atmospheric air in which the clean chamber 19 is installed. The chemical filter and the particle filter remove chemical substances and dust contained in the air taken in by the blower. Such clean air is supplied to the booth space 22 from the blower opening 20. Heat, dust and the like generated in the imprint apparatus 1 are discharged from the exhaust port 21. The pressure of the booth space 22 is adjusted to be slightly higher than the pressure of the atmosphere in which the clean chamber 19 is installed, and the atmosphere that has not passed through the chemical filter or the particle filter flows from the gap of the clean chamber 19. It is preventing. The pressure difference between the booth space 22 and the atmosphere in which the clean chamber 19 is installed is preferably 0.3 Pa to 5.0 Pa.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, a forced exhaust gas flow due to the Couette flow 104 by the gas supplied from the supply port 26 and a gas discharged from the exhaust port 27, as shown in FIGS. Due to the synergistic effect with 105, the gas replacement efficiency in the space 30 is improved. 2A and 2B are a sectional view and a plan view showing the vicinity of the mold 11, respectively.

  As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the mold 11 generally includes a mesa region 102 in which a pattern is formed. In the present embodiment, the supply port 26 includes supply ports 26a and 26b provided in the X-axis direction with the mold 11 in between, and supply ports 26c and 26d provided in the Y-axis direction with the mold 11 in between. Including. Similarly, the exhaust port 27 includes exhaust ports 27a and 27b provided in the X-axis direction with the mold 11 interposed therebetween, and exhaust ports 27c and 27d provided in the Y-axis direction with the mold 11 interposed therebetween.

  The replacement of the gas in the space 30 between the mold 11 and the substrate 8 is performed when shifting from the supply process to the stamping process. In other words, when the movement of the substrate stage 10 is started so that the shot area on the substrate is located at the stamping position below the mold 11 (mold holding unit 3) from the supply position below the supply unit 7, the space 30 The gas supply / exhaust section 25 is controlled so that gas is supplied to the tank. Here, it is assumed that the substrate stage 10 moves from the minus side to the plus side along the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 2A, that is, the X-axis direction.

  Specifically, in the supply process, that is, in a state where the shot region is located at the supply position, in order to suppress the consumption of the gas supplied from the gas supply / discharge section 25, the gas from the supply ports 26a to 26d is reduced. Stop the supply (set the supply amount to zero). Further, in order to suppress the entry of particles into the space 30 by setting the space 30 to a negative pressure, the discharge of the gas from the exhaust ports 27a to 27d is stopped (the discharge amount is set to zero).

  However, when the gas supply / exhaust unit 25 supplies another gas for the purpose other than improving the filling property of the imprint material into the pattern of the mold 11, for example, when supplying nitrogen for the purpose of eliminating oxygen or for the purpose of static elimination In some cases, ionized gas is supplied. In such a case, the gas may be supplied from the supply ports 26a to 26d and the gas may be discharged from the air ports 27a to 27d.

  Next, when the movement of the substrate stage 10 from the supply position to the stamping position is started after the supply process is completed, the mold 11 is on the supply section 7 side (between the supply section 7 and the mold 11). ) Gas is supplied from the supply port 26a (first supply port). On the other hand, the supply of gas from the supply port 26b (second supply port) on the side opposite to the supply port 26a with respect to the mold 11 is kept stopped. Further, the discharge of gas from the discharge port 27a (the first discharge port) on the supply unit 7 side (between the supply unit 7 and the mold 11) with respect to the mold 11 is kept stopped. On the other hand, the gas is discharged from a discharge port 27b (second discharge port) on the opposite side of the mold 11 from the discharge port 27a. Thereby, the gas supplied from the gas supply / discharge unit 25 can flow in one direction from the minus side to the plus side along the X-axis direction, similarly to the moving direction of the substrate stage 10.

  Next, in the stamping process, that is, in a state where the shot area is located at the stamping position, gas is always supplied from the supply ports 26b to 26d in addition to the supply port 26a, and imprinting on the pattern of the mold 11 is performed. Promotes material filling. Further, in order to prevent the gas from leaking from the space 30, the gas is always discharged from the exhaust ports 27a, 27c and 27d in addition to the exhaust port 27b. Thereby, the space 30 can be always filled with the gas supplied from the gas supply / exhaust part 25. The unfilling of the imprint material in the mold 11 causes a defect of a pattern formed on the substrate. Therefore, in the stamping process, it is necessary to fill the space 30 with a high-concentration gas from the gas supply / discharge unit 25. There is.

  Next, since it is not necessary to supply gas from the gas supply / exhaust section 25 in the mold releasing step, the supply of gas from the supply ports 26a to 26d is stopped and the gas from the exhaust ports 27a to 27d is stopped as in the supply step. Stop gas emission. However, as described above, when the gas supply / discharge section 25 supplies another gas for the purpose other than the improvement of the filling property of the imprint material into the pattern of the mold 11, the gas is supplied from the supply ports 26a to 26d. However, the gas may be discharged from the exhaust ports 27a to 27d.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the supply port 26 supplies gas (flow rate = 100%) or stops the supply of gas (flow rate = 0%), and the exhaust port 27 discharges gas. Or although it demonstrated as what stops discharge | emission of gas, it is not limited to this. The flow rate can be set to an intermediate value (for example, 90% or 10%) by controlling a mass flow controller or a two-way valve. For example, when starting the movement of the substrate stage 10 from the minus side to the plus side along the X-axis direction, the supply amount (first supply amount) of the gas supplied from the supply port 26a is supplied from the supply port 26b. The gas supply amount (second supply amount) may be increased. Further, the discharge amount (first discharge amount) of the gas discharged from the exhaust port 27b may be made larger than the discharge amount (second discharge amount) of the gas discharged from the exhaust port 27a. Further, in a state where the shot area on the substrate is located at the stamping position, the difference between the first supply amount and the second supply amount is small, and between the first discharge amount and the second discharge amount. So that the difference is small.

  When the substrate stage 10 moves from the supply position to the stamping position in a state where the gas is supplied from the supply port 26a as in the present embodiment, the substrate 8 moves while being in contact with the gas from the supply port 26a. As a result, a Couette flow 104 is generated. Therefore, the gas from the supply port 26a can be introduced into the space 30 where it is difficult to introduce the gas.

  Since the distance of the space 30 in the Z-axis direction (the height direction of the substrate 8) is a narrow cap of about 500 microns, simply supplying gas from the outside of the space 30 replaces the atmosphere in the space 30 with gas. It is difficult to do. As described above, by using the Couette flow 104, the atmosphere in the space 30 can be replaced with the gas from the gas supply / exhaust unit 25. However, in the space 30, it is required to increase the concentration of gas from the gas supply / exhaust unit 25 and to improve the uniformity of the concentration distribution, and therefore the amount of gas required in the space 30 is extremely small. However, a large amount of gas must be supplied.

  For example, considering the case where 15 L / min of gas is supplied from the supply port 26 a upstream in the moving direction of the substrate stage 10, about 3 L / min of gas is used to generate the Couette flow 104. Considering the contribution of the gas replacement effect in the space 30, the contribution of the Couette flow 104 is about 50%, so that 12 L / min of gas is consumed for the replacement effect (50%) of the remaining gas. Will be. Therefore, in order to reduce the consumption of the gas supplied from the gas supply / discharge unit 25, it is important to suppress the consumption of gases other than the gas for generating the Couette flow 104.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the gas is forcibly discharged from the exhaust port 27b while the gas is supplied from the supply port 26a. As a result, an exhaust gas flow 105 having a direction from the minus side to the plus side along the X-axis direction is forcibly formed. Therefore, compared with the prior art, the atmosphere in the space 30 can be replaced with gas while reducing the amount of gas supplied from the supply port 26a, and the effects of stagnation and adhesion of particles can be improved. . In this way, by forming the exhaust gas flow 105 in addition to the Couette flow 104, the gas can be easily (directly) introduced into the space 30 that needs to be replaced with gas. The consumption of gas supplied from can be significantly reduced.

  In order to improve the efficiency of gas replacement in the space 30, it is important to match the direction of the Couette flow 104 and the direction of the exhaust gas flow 105. Therefore, in this embodiment, a plurality of supply ports 26 and a plurality of exhaust ports 27 are provided around the mold 11, and the Couette flow 104 and the exhaust gas flow 105 are in the same direction according to the moving direction of the substrate stage 10. In this way, the gas supply / discharge unit 25 is controlled.

  2A and 2B, since the substrate stage 10 moves from the minus side to the plus side along the X-axis direction, the Couette flow 104 also moves from the minus side to the plus side along the X-axis direction. Occurs in the direction. Therefore, the gas is supplied from the supply port 26a and discharged from the exhaust port 27b so that the exhaust gas flow 105 is also formed in the direction from the minus side to the plus side along the X-axis direction. On the other hand, the supply of gas from the supply ports 26b to 26d and the discharge of gas from the exhaust ports 27a, 27c, and 27d are stopped. Accordingly, since the exhaust gas flow 105 is in the same direction as the Couette flow 104, the gas flow rate of the laminar flow in the space 30 is increased, and a synergistic effect relating to gas replacement can be obtained.

  Further, when the substrate stage 10 moves from the plus side to the minus side along the X-axis direction, the above-described operations relating to the supply of gas from the supply port 26 and the discharge of gas from the exhaust port 27 are reversed. do it. Specifically, gas is supplied from the supply port 26b and gas is discharged from the exhaust port 27a. On the other hand, the supply of gas from the supply ports 26a, 26c and 26d and the discharge of gas from the exhaust ports 27b to 27d are stopped. Thereby, a Couette flow is generated in the direction from the plus side to the minus side along the X-axis direction, and an exhaust gas flow is also formed in the direction from the minus side to the plus side along the X-axis direction.

  In the present embodiment, for convenience, the case where the substrate stage 10 moves along the X-axis direction has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, when the substrate stage 10 moves along the Y-axis direction, the gas supply / exhaust unit 25 may be controlled so that a Couette flow or an exhaust gas flow is formed in the same direction along the Y-axis direction. . Similarly, when the substrate stage 10 moves in an oblique direction, the gas supply / exhaust unit 25 may be controlled so that a Couette flow or an exhaust gas flow is formed in the same direction along the oblique direction.

  Further, when air existing in the space outside the space 30 flows into the space 30, there is a possibility that the gas concentration in the space 30 is lowered and the gas concentration distribution is not uniform. Therefore, in order to increase the inflow resistance of the air in the external space in the space 30, as shown in FIG. 2A, a shielding plate (wall portion) 100 surrounding the supply ports 26a to 26d and the exhaust ports 27a to 27d is provided. It is good to provide. The distance between the shielding plate 100 and the substrate 8 in the Z-axis direction (the height direction of the substrate 8) is shorter than the distance between the mold 11 and the substrate 8 in the Z-axis direction. It is possible to suppress the existing air from flowing into the space 30. Instead of providing the shielding plate 100, the gas supply / exhaust unit 25 may be controlled so that the gas supply amount is larger than the gas discharge amount so that the space 30 does not have a negative pressure.

  A plurality of supply units 7 may be provided across the mold 11. In other words, the supply unit 7 may be provided on both sides of the mold 11. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, two supply parts 7a and 7b may be provided on the left side and the right side of the mold 11 (mold holding part 3). Thus, by providing a plurality of supply positions where the imprint material can be supplied, throughput and maintainability can be improved.

  Even in such a case, the replacement of the gas is performed when the supply process shifts to the stamping process. In other words, gas is supplied to the space 30 when the movement of the substrate stage 10 is started so that the shot area on the substrate is located at the stamping position below the mold 11 from the supply position below the supply unit 7a or 7b. The gas supply / discharge unit 25 is controlled as described above.

  For example, when the movement of the substrate stage 10 is started from the supply position below the supply unit 7a toward the stamp position, as described above, the gas is supplied from the supply port 26a and the gas is discharged from the exhaust port 27b. . On the other hand, the supply of gas from the supply ports 26b to 26d and the discharge of gas from the exhaust ports 27a, 27c, and 27d are stopped. Thereby, the exhaust gas flow 105b is formed from the minus side to the plus side along the X-axis direction (that is, in the same direction as the Couette flow), so that effective gas replacement can be performed in the space 30.

  Further, when the movement of the substrate stage 10 is started from the supply position below the supply unit 7b toward the stamping position, gas is supplied from the supply port 26b and discharged from the exhaust port 27a. On the other hand, the supply of gas from the supply ports 26a, 26c and 26d and the discharge of gas from the exhaust ports 27b to 27d are stopped. Thereby, since the exhaust gas flow 105a is formed from the plus side to the minus side along the X-axis direction (that is, in the same direction as the Couette flow), effective gas replacement can be performed in the space 30.

  Thus, by forming the exhaust gas flow 105 in the same direction as the movement direction of the substrate stage 10 with respect to the stamping position, the amount of gas supplied from the gas supply / discharge unit 25 is reduced by a synergistic effect with the Couette flow. Also, gas replacement in the space 30 can be performed. In addition, each of the supply port 26 and the exhaust port 27 does not necessarily have to be constituted by a plurality.

  In the imprint apparatus 1, the imprint material may be supplied to a plurality of shot areas on the substrate in one supply process. In this case, since the number of times the substrate stage 10 is reciprocated between the stamp position under the mold 11 and the supply position under the supply unit 7 can be reduced, the throughput is improved.

  FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B are diagrams showing the layout of the shot area where the imprint material is supplied in one supply process. The layouts shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B do not mean that the number and arrangement of shot regions are limited, and other layouts may be used. In any layout, as described above, the atmosphere in the space between the mold 11 and the substrate 8 is efficiently replaced with gas by the synergistic effect of the Couette flow and the exhaust gas flow. .

  As shown in FIG. 4A, when the plurality of shot regions 300 to which the imprint material is supplied in one supply step has a layout arranged only in the vertical direction, all of the plurality of shot regions 300 are replaced with gas. Cannot fit in area 303. Therefore, when the imprint process is performed by aligning the shot region 300a at the end of the plurality of shot regions 300 with respect to the mesa region 102 of the mold 11, a shot region 301 located outside the gas replacement area 303 is generated. Resulting in. In such a case, since the imprint material supplied to the shot area 301 located outside the gas replacement area 303 is exposed to air, specifically, oxygen, the imprint material is filled into the mold 11. It will affect the curing by UV irradiation.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4B, when the layout is such that a plurality of shot regions 302 to which the imprint material is supplied in one supply process are arranged vertically and horizontally, unlike FIG. All of the plurality of shot regions 302 can be accommodated in the gas replacement area 303. Therefore, since the imprint material supplied to the plurality of shot regions 302 is always in contact with a replacement gas such as helium, it is possible to suppress the influence caused by the imprint material being exposed to oxygen.

  Thus, when imprint material is supplied to a plurality of shot areas on the substrate in a single supply process, it is necessary to have a layout in which all of the shot areas that supply imprint material are stored in the gas replacement area. There is. 4A and 4B, the mesa region 102 of the mold 11 has the same size as that of one shot region, but includes a plurality of shot regions (that is, a plurality of shot regions). May be a size that can be stamped). Further, the gas replacement area 303 may be widened to increase the degree of freedom in the layout of the shot area.

  Here, with reference to FIG. 5, a specific configuration of the gas supply / exhaust unit 25 for controlling the operations of the plurality of supply ports 26 and the plurality of exhaust ports 27 will be described. The gas valves 400, 401, and 402 are valves for introducing different types of gases into the space 30 individually or mixed. When the mixed gas is introduced into the space 30, a mixer or the like may be provided in a path downstream from the gas valves 400, 401, and 402. The supply valves 410, 412, 414, and 416 are valves for controlling the gas supply amounts of the supply ports 26a, 26b, 26d, and 26c, respectively. The exhaust valves 411, 413, 415 and 417 are valves for controlling the gas discharge amounts of the exhaust ports 27a, 27b, 27d and 27c, respectively.

  Referring to FIG. 5, opening and closing of supply valves 410, 412, 414 and 416 and exhaust valves 411, 413, 415 and 417 when the substrate stage 10 is moved from the minus side to the plus side along the X-axis direction. The control of each opening and closing will be described. It is assumed that a helium gas source is connected to the gas valve 400, a nitrogen gas source is connected to the gas valve 401, and an ionized gas source is connected to the gas valve 402.

  In the supply process, the gas valve 400 is closed, the gas valve 401 is opened, the gas valve 402 is closed, and the supply valves 410, 412, 414 and 416 and the exhaust valves 411, 413, 415 and 417 are opened. Thus, since the space 30 is filled with nitrogen gas, oxygen that causes pattern defects is eliminated, and particles can be prevented from entering by setting the space 30 to a positive pressure.

  When the movement of the substrate stage 10 is started from the supply position to the stamp position after the supply process is completed, the gas valve 400 is opened and the gas valves 401 and 402 are closed. Then, the supply valve 410 is opened, the supply valves 412, 414 and 416 are closed, the exhaust valve 413 is opened, and the exhaust valves 411, 415 and 417 are closed. Thereby, helium gas flows in one direction from the minus side to the plus side along the X-axis direction.

  In the stamping process, the gas valve 400 is opened, the gas valves 401 and 402 are closed, and the supply valves 410, 412, 414 and 416 and the exhaust valves 411, 413, 415 and 417 are opened. Thereby, since the space 30 is filled with helium gas, unfilling of the imprint material in the mold 11 can be suppressed.

  In the mold release process, the gas valves 400 and 401 are closed, the gas valve 402 is opened, and the supply valves 410, 412, 414 and 416 and the exhaust valves 411, 413, 415 and 417 are opened. Thereby, since the space 30 is filled with the ionized gas, it is possible to eliminate the charge of peeling at the time of releasing, and it is possible to suppress the defect of the pattern due to the adhesion of particles and the discharge.

  When the mold release step is completed, in preparation for the next supply step, the gas valve 400 is closed, the gas valve 401 is opened, the gas valve 402 is closed, the supply valves 410, 412, 414 and 416, and the exhaust valves 411, 413, 415 and 417. Open.

  In addition, the timing for controlling (switching) the opening and closing of each valve described above may overlap, and is not necessarily the same as described above. Further, nitrogen gas or ionized gas may not be used, and the type of gas may be determined as necessary, and the number of valves is not limited.

  The mounting locations of the valves in the gas supply / exhaust unit 25 may be distributed near the use point, or may be valves capable of controlling the flow rate, such as a mass flow controller, instead of a simple two-way valve. Further, the pipe connecting each valve and the supply port 26 or the exhaust port 27 may not be branched at the end, and may be configured to supply and exhaust air by switching one pipe with a three-way valve.

  The pattern of the cured product formed using the imprint apparatus 1 is used permanently on at least a part of various articles, or temporarily used when manufacturing various articles. The article is an electric circuit element, an optical element, a MEMS, a recording element, a sensor, or a mold. Examples of the electric circuit element include volatile or nonvolatile semiconductor memories such as DRAM, SRAM, flash memory, and MRAM, and semiconductor elements such as LSI, CCD, image sensor, and FPGA. Examples of the mold include an imprint mold.

  The pattern of the cured product is used as it is as a constituent member of at least a part of the above-described article or temporarily used as a resist mask. After etching or ion implantation is performed in the substrate processing step, the resist mask is removed.

  Next, a specific method for manufacturing an article will be described. As shown in FIG. 6A, a substrate 8 such as a silicon wafer on which a workpiece such as an insulator is formed is prepared, and then an imprint material is applied to the surface of the workpiece by an inkjet method or the like. Is granted. Here, a state is shown in which a plurality of droplet-shaped imprint materials are applied onto the substrate.

  As shown in FIG. 6B, the imprint mold 11 is opposed to the imprint material on the substrate with the side on which the uneven pattern is formed facing. As shown in FIG.6 (c), the board | substrate 8 to which the imprint material was provided, and the mold 11 are made to contact, and a pressure is applied. The imprint material is filled in the gap between the mold 11 and the workpiece. When light is irradiated through the mold 11 as energy for curing in this state, the imprint material is cured.

  As shown in FIG. 6D, after the imprint material is cured, when the mold 11 and the substrate 8 are separated, a pattern of a cured product of the imprint material is formed on the substrate. This cured product pattern has a shape in which the concave portion of the mold 11 corresponds to the convex portion of the cured product, and the convex portion of the mold 11 corresponds to the concave portion of the cured product. It has been transcribed.

  As shown in FIG. 6 (e), when etching is performed using the pattern of the cured product as an anti-etching mask, there is no cured product or a thin remaining portion of the surface of the workpiece is removed, and the groove and Become. As shown in FIG. 6 (f), when the pattern of the cured product is removed, an article having grooves formed on the surface of the workpiece can be obtained. Here, although the pattern of the cured product is removed, it may be used as, for example, an interlayer insulating film included in a semiconductor element, that is, a constituent member of an article without being removed after processing.

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

1: Imprinting device 3: Mold holding unit 6: Control unit 7: Supply unit 8: Substrate 10: Substrate stage 11: Mold 25: Gas supply / exhaust unit 26: Supply port 27: Exhaust port

Claims (10)

An imprint apparatus for forming a pattern on the substrate by bringing a mold into contact with the imprint material on the substrate,
A mold holding unit for holding the mold;
A substrate holder for holding the substrate;
A supply unit for supplying the imprint material onto the substrate;
An air supply unit that includes a plurality of air supply ports around the mold held by the mold holding unit, and supplies gas from the plurality of air supply ports;
An exhaust unit that includes a plurality of exhaust ports around the mold held by the mold holding unit, and exhausts gas from the plurality of exhaust ports;
A control unit for controlling the air supply unit and the exhaust unit,
The control unit is configured to supply the plurality of air supply ports when an area on the substrate to which the imprint material is supplied by the supply unit moves together with the substrate holding unit from below the supply unit to below the mold holding unit. The first supply amount as the amount of gas supplied from the first air supply port on the supply unit side with respect to the mold held by the mold holding unit is the mold holding unit among the plurality of air supply ports The mold held in the mold is larger than the second supply amount as the amount of gas supplied from the second supply port on the side opposite to the first supply port, and the plurality of exhaust ports Of the plurality of exhaust ports, the mold is held by the mold holding unit from the first discharge amount as the amount of gas discharged from the first exhaust port on the supply unit side with respect to the mold held by the mold holding unit. A second exhaust port on the opposite side of the mold from the first exhaust port. As second emissions as the amount of the discharged the gas increases, the imprint apparatus characterized by controlling the air supply unit and the exhaust unit.   When the region is located below the supply unit, the control unit is configured such that the gas supply amount from the plurality of air supply ports and the gas discharge amount from the plurality of exhaust ports become zero. The imprint apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the air supply unit and the exhaust unit are controlled.   In the control unit, when the region is located below the mold holding unit, the difference between the first supply amount and the second supply amount is smaller than in the case, and the first The imprint apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the air supply unit and the exhaust unit are controlled such that a difference between the discharge amount and the second discharge amount is reduced.   4. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein, in the case, the control unit controls the air supply unit and the exhaust unit so that the second supply amount and the first discharge amount become zero. 5. Imprint device. The air supply unit includes a plurality of supply valves for controlling the gas supply amounts of the plurality of air supply ports,
The exhaust unit includes a plurality of exhaust valves for controlling the amount of gas discharged from the plurality of exhaust ports,
The imprint apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the control unit controls the plurality of supply valves and the plurality of exhaust valves.   The imprint apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the supply unit is provided on each side of the mold holding unit. A wall portion surrounding the plurality of air supply ports and the plurality of exhaust ports;
The imprint apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein a distance between the wall portion and the substrate is shorter than a distance between the mold and the substrate.   The air supply unit includes at least one of a condensable gas having a property of being liquefied by a pressure increase caused by the contact and a permeable gas having a property of transmitting at least one of the mold, the substrate, and the imprint material. The imprint apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an imprint apparatus is provided. The condensable gas includes pentafluoropropane,
The imprint apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the permeable gas includes helium. Forming a pattern on a substrate using the imprint apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9,
Processing the substrate on which the pattern is formed in the step;
A method for producing an article comprising:

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