JP2019054211A - Imprint apparatus and article manufacturing method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an imprint apparatus which is advantageous in terms of productivity.SOLUTION: An imprint apparatus 100 performs imprint processing of forming an imprint material pattern by curing an imprint material with a mold in contact with the imprint material on a substrate and separating the mold away from the cured imprint material. The imprint apparatus 100 includes a supply unit 32 that supplies a mold release agent onto the imprint material or to a pattern unit of the mold and a control unit 400 that controls the imprint processing based on history information of the mold including the supply history of the mold release agent by the supply unit.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

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

  The imprint device cures the imprint material while the mold is in contact with the imprint material on the substrate such as a silicon wafer or a glass plate, and then imprints on the substrate by pulling the mold away from the cured imprint material. Form a pattern of material.

  In the mold release operation that separates the mold from the cured imprint material, if the force required for mold release (mold release force) is large, there is a risk that the pattern formed on the substrate will be destroyed or the mold or the substrate may be peeled off from the holding part of the device. is there. Therefore, it is necessary to make the release force as small as possible. In order to reduce the mold release force, it has been proposed to apply a mold release agent to the pattern part of the mold, or to perform an operation of bringing the mold into contact with the imprint material containing the mold release agent (familiar operation). (For example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

JP-T 2006-528088 JP 2011-205039 A

  Supplying the mold release agent to the mold in this way helps to reduce the mold release force, but excessive application of the mold release agent and the acclimatization operation leads to an increase in cost and a decrease in productivity. . Therefore, it is important to manage the application state of the release agent to the mold and perform the release agent application process and the acclimatization operation in a timely manner. However, in the past, such management has been left to human resources, and erroneous determinations have been made, and costs and time have been excessive.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an imprint apparatus that is advantageous in terms of productivity, for example.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, the imprint material is cured in a state where the mold is in contact with the imprint material on the substrate, and the mold is separated from the cured imprint material. An imprint apparatus for performing an imprint process for forming a pattern of the above-mentioned, a supply unit that supplies a release agent on the imprint material or to a pattern portion of the mold, and supply of the release agent by the supply unit An imprint apparatus comprising: a control unit that controls the imprint processing based on the history information of the type including the history of the above.

  According to the present invention, for example, an imprint apparatus advantageous in terms of productivity can be provided.

The figure which shows the structure of the imprint apparatus in embodiment. 6 is a flowchart for explaining imprint processing according to the embodiment. The figure which shows the structure provided with two or more imprint apparatuses in embodiment. The figure which shows the example of the log | history information of the type | mold in embodiment. The flowchart which shows the imprint process with respect to the some board | substrate in a lot in embodiment. The figure which illustrates the layout of the shot area | region on a board | substrate. The figure explaining the article | item manufacturing method in embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, the following embodiment is only what shows the specific example of implementation of this invention, and this invention is not limited to the following embodiment. Moreover, not all combinations of features described in the following embodiments are indispensable for solving the problems of the present invention.

  First, an outline of the imprint apparatus according to the embodiment will be described. The imprint apparatus is an apparatus that forms a pattern of a cured product in which a concave / convex pattern of a mold is transferred by bringing an imprint material supplied on a substrate into contact with a mold and applying energy for curing to the imprint material. is there.

  As the imprint material, a curable composition (which may be referred to as an uncured resin) that cures when energy for curing is applied is used. As the energy for curing, electromagnetic waves, heat, or the like can be used. The electromagnetic wave can be, for example, light having a wavelength selected from a range of 10 nm to 1 mm, for example, infrared rays, visible rays, ultraviolet rays, and the like. The curable composition may be a composition that is cured by light irradiation or by heating. Among these, the photocurable composition that is cured by light irradiation contains at least a polymerizable compound and a photopolymerization initiator, and may further 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 can be placed on the substrate in the form of droplets or islands or films formed by connecting a plurality of droplets by an imprint material supply device (not shown). The viscosity of the imprint material (viscosity at 25 ° C.) can be, for example, 1 mPa · s or more and 100 mPa · s or less. As the material of the substrate, for example, glass, ceramics, metal, semiconductor, resin, or the like can be used. If necessary, a member made of a material different from the substrate may be provided on the surface of the substrate. The substrate is, for example, a silicon wafer, a compound semiconductor wafer, or quartz glass.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an imprint processing unit 100 (imprint apparatus) that is a transfer unit in the present embodiment. As a practical embodiment, a plurality of imprint processing units 100 can be accommodated and operated in one chamber, and such a form will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The imprint processing unit 100 cures the imprint material in a state in which the mold is in contact with the imprint material on the substrate, and pulls the mold away from the cured imprint material (mold release). An imprint process for forming a pattern is performed. Here, the imprint processing unit 100 adopts a photocuring method in which the imprint material is cured by irradiation with ultraviolet rays (UV light) as a method for curing the imprint material. However, a thermosetting method in which the imprint material is cured by heat may be employed. In the drawings, the direction parallel to the optical axis of the ultraviolet rays irradiated to the imprint material on the substrate is defined as the Z axis, and the directions perpendicular to each other in a plane perpendicular to the Z axis are defined as the X axis and the Y axis.

  In the imprint processing unit 100, the mold head 16 includes a mold chuck 17 that holds a mold 18 having a pattern portion P. An uneven pattern corresponding to a pattern to be formed on the substrate 1 is formed on the pattern portion P of the mold 18.

  The detection unit 26 is configured by, for example, a CCD camera, and acquires images of the mold 18 and its surroundings. Based on the acquired image, the state of contact of the mold 18 with the imprint material on the substrate 1, the state of filling the mold with the imprint material on the substrate 1, and the state of release of the mold 18 from the imprint material on the substrate 1. Can be observed.

  The mold chuck 17 holds the mold 18 by, for example, vacuum suction. The mold chuck 17 is firmly coupled to the mold head 16. The mold head 16 has a mold drive mechanism that can be driven at least in the three-axis directions of Z, ωX, and ωY with the bridge structure 8 as a reference. The mold head 16 is coupled to the bridge structure 8 via the coupling member 15 and is supported by the bridge structure 8. The alignment measurement unit 12 is also supported by the bridge structure 8.

  The alignment measurement unit 12 performs alignment measurement for alignment (alignment) between the mold 18 and the substrate 1. In the present embodiment, the alignment measurement unit 12 includes an alignment detection system that detects a mark placed on the mold 18 and a mark placed on the substrate stage 7 or the substrate 1 to generate an alignment signal.

  A half mirror 13 is disposed above the connecting member 15. The light from the curing light source 11 is reflected by the half mirror 13, passes through the mold 18, and is applied to the imprint material on the substrate 1. The imprint material on the substrate 1 is cured by irradiation with light from the curing light source 11.

  The bridge structure 8 is supported on the base surface plate 20 via an air spring 19 for insulating vibrations from the floor. The air spring 19 may have a structure that is generally employed in an exposure apparatus or the like as an active vibration isolation function. An imprint material supply unit 23 that supplies the imprint material to the substrate 1 via the holder 22 is attached to the bridge structure 8. In the imprint material supply unit 23, a release agent supply unit 32 that supplies (applies or sprays) a release agent to the substrate 1 via the holder 31 is attached to the bridge structure 8. The mold release agent is a composition for facilitating a mold release operation for separating the mold from the cured imprint material. As described above, the release agent can be contained in the imprint material, but in this embodiment, the release agent is additionally supplied to the substrate 1 separately from the imprint material by the release agent supply unit 32. I can do it. In this embodiment, the release agent supply unit 32 is configured to supply (apply or spray) the release agent onto the substrate 1, but supply (apply) the release agent to the pattern portion P of the mold 1. It is good also as composition to do.

  The substrate stage 7 has a substrate chuck (not shown), and holds the substrate by the substrate chuck. The substrate stage 7 has a substrate drive mechanism that can move in six axial directions of X, Y, Z, ωX, ωY, and ωZ. In the present embodiment, the substrate stage 7 is supported by the bridge structure 8 via the X slider 3 including a moving mechanism in the X direction and the Y slider 5 including a moving mechanism in the Y direction. The X slider 3 is provided with a measuring instrument 4 that measures the relative position of the X slider 3 and the Y slider 5. The Y slider 5 is provided with a measuring instrument 6 that measures the relative position between the Y slider 5 and the bridge structure 8. Therefore, the measuring instrument 4 and the measuring instrument 6 measure the position of the substrate stage 7 with the bridge structure 8 as a reference. Each of the measuring instrument 4 and the measuring instrument 6 can be composed of an encoder (linear encoder).

  The measuring instrument 9 is provided in the bridge structure 8, and is composed of, for example, an interferometer. The measuring instrument 9 irradiates the measurement light 10 toward the substrate stage 7 and detects the measurement light 10 reflected by the interferometer mirror provided on the end surface of the substrate stage 7, thereby determining the position of the substrate stage 7. measure.

  The gas supply unit 21 is provided with a filling gas in the vicinity of the mold 18, specifically, in a space between the mold 18 and the substrate 1 in order to improve the filling property of the imprint material into the pattern portion P of the mold 18. Supply. The fill gas quickly reduces the fill gas between the mold 18 and the imprint material and facilitates the filling of the imprint material into the pattern of the mold 18 with a permeable gas and a condensable gas. Including at least one of them. Here, the permeable gas is a gas that has high permeability to the mold 18 and permeates the mold 18 when the mold 18 is brought into contact with the imprint material on the substrate 1. The condensable gas is a gas that liquefies (that is, condenses) when the mold 18 is brought into contact with the imprint material on the substrate 1. The filling gas supplied between the mold 18 and the substrate 1 is sucked from the upper part of the mold head 16 through the exhaust duct 14 and discharged outside the apparatus. Further, the filling gas supplied between the mold 18 and the substrate 1 may be recovered by a gas recovery mechanism (not shown) instead of being discharged to the outside.

  The off-axis scope 24 detects a reference mark or an alignment mark provided on a reference plate disposed on the substrate stage 7 without using the mold 18. The off-axis scope 24 can also detect alignment marks arranged for each shot area of the substrate.

  The pressure sensor 25 is provided on the substrate stage 7 and detects the pressure acting on the substrate stage 7 by bringing the mold 18 into contact with the imprint material on the substrate 1. The pressure sensor 25 may be provided on the mold head 16.

  The control unit 400 includes a CPU, a memory, and the like, and comprehensively controls the operation of the imprint processing unit 100. The control unit 400 controls imprint processing and related processing.

Next, the flow of imprint processing by the imprint processing unit 100 will be described. The flowchart of FIG. 2 shows the flow of imprint processing for one substrate 1 held on the substrate stage 7. Note that a plurality of shot regions, each of which is a region where a pattern is formed by one imprint process, are formed on the substrate 1.
In step S <b> 101, the control unit 400 moves the substrate stage 7 so that the target shot area that is the target shot area for imprint processing on the substrate 1 is positioned below the imprint material supply unit 23. Thereafter, the control unit 400 controls the gas supply unit 21 to supply the filling gas to the space between the mold 18 and the substrate 1.

  In step S <b> 102, the control unit 400 controls the imprint material supply unit 23 to supply the imprint material to the target shot area of the substrate 1. Thereafter, the control unit 400 moves the substrate stage 7 so that the target shot area is located under the pattern portion P of the mold 18.

  In S <b> 103, the control unit 400 drives the mold head 16 downward to perform a contact operation for bringing the pattern portion P of the mold 18 into contact with the imprint material on the substrate. Thereafter, the control unit 400 aligns the mold 18 and the target shot region of the substrate 1 based on the alignment measurement result by the alignment measurement unit 12 in a state where the pattern portion P of the mold 18 and the imprint material on the substrate are in contact with each other. I do. Since this alignment is performed for each shot region (die) of the substrate 1, it is called “die-by-die alignment”.

  In S104, the control unit 400 causes the light from the curing light source 11 to be applied to the imprint material on the substrate while the pattern portion P of the mold is in contact with the imprint material on the substrate (that is, via the mold 18). Irradiate to cure the imprint material.

  In S <b> 105, the control unit 400 performs a mold release operation in which the mold head 16 is driven to rise and the mold 18 is separated from the imprint material cured on the substrate. Thereby, the pattern of the imprint material corresponding to the pattern portion P of the mold 18 remains in the target shot area of the substrate 1. That is, a pattern corresponding to the pattern portion P of the mold 18 is formed in the target shot region of the substrate 1. In the release operation, the mold head 16 is set so that the shearing force applied to the pattern portion P of the mold 18 is equal to or lower than the breaking stress of the pattern of the imprint material so that the pattern of the imprint material does not break. It is important to control the ascending drive.

  In step S <b> 106, the control unit 400 determines whether pattern formation has been completed on all shot areas of the substrate 1. If pattern formation has not been completed for all shot areas, the process returns to S103 to perform pattern formation for the next target shot area. When the pattern formation on all the shot areas is completed, the imprint process on the substrate 1 is completed.

  In the above description, the contact operation is performed by the lowering drive of the mold head 16, and the mold release operation is performed by the upward driving of the mold head 16. However, in the contact operation and the mold release operation, it is only necessary that at least one of the mold 18 and the substrate 1 is driven so that the relative position between the mold 18 and the substrate 1 is adjusted. Therefore, the contact operation and the release operation may be performed by driving the substrate stage 7 instead of driving the mold head 16. Alternatively, the contact operation and the release operation may be performed by driving both the mold head 16 and the substrate stage 7.

  The present invention is also applicable to a configuration including a plurality of imprint processing units 100. As an example, FIG. 3 shows a configuration example in which two imprint processing units 100 are accommodated in a chamber 200 for maintaining an imprint environment at a constant temperature and humidity and eliminating intrusion of foreign matter. In this case, the control unit 400 can be shared by each imprint processing unit. For example, the control unit 400 controls the supply of the substrates so that the substrates in the same lot are processed by the same one imprint processing unit 100 among the plurality of imprint processing units 100.

  The mold stocker 28 stores a plurality of molds. The mold transport unit 29 uses a hand to take out a new mold from the mold stocker 28, transports it to the mold chuck 17 that is the mold holding position of the imprint processing unit 100, and collects the old mold from the mold chuck 17. Can do. The mold transport unit 29 further has a function of moving the mold in and out of the apparatus via a mold pod (not shown). The mold conveyance unit 29 may have a rotation mechanism, a vertical movement mechanism, a horizontal movement function, a hand extension / contraction function, and the like.

  The control unit 400 can include, for example, a notification unit 401, a type management unit 402, and a board management unit 403. The notification unit 401 can notify warning information and the like to the control computer 500 and the display unit 30 via a network. In response to this, the display unit 30 can display the apparatus state. The type management unit 402 manages type information stored in the type stocker 28. The mold information can include the number of times of use, the number of times of cleaning, and the number of times of application of the release agent. In addition to this, the information on the mold may include information on a drawing error of a pattern drawn on the mold, information on an alignment mark for aligning the mold head 16 and the mold, and the like. The substrate management unit 403 manages information on the substrate stored in a substrate storage unit (not shown).

  In the apparatus of FIG. 3, a plurality of molds on which the same pattern capable of processing the same lot is drawn are stored in the mold stocker 28. The type management unit 402 holds processing history information for each type stored in the type stocker 28. FIG. 4 shows an example of history information held by the type management unit 402. For each type, an ID for identifying the type is set. The history information has items of accumulated processing number and history for each type. The cumulative number of processes may be the cumulative number of imprint processes executed (the number of times of contact and release) or the cumulative number of substrates on which the imprint process has been performed. Here, the cumulative processing number means the cumulative number of substrates on which imprint processing has been performed. In the history column, the time when the specific process is performed and the process type are described. The processing type may include application of a release agent and execution of cleaning. When the release agent is applied by the release agent supply unit 32, the history is updated. The mold is cleaned by removing the mold from the imprint processing unit and carrying it into a cleaning device (not shown). For example, the cleaning device selectively performs wet cleaning for cleaning dust and dirt adhering to the mold using a liquid such as chemical liquid or pure water, and dry cleaning for cleaning using excimer UV or atmospheric pressure plasma. Or they can be combined. When cleaning is completed, the history is updated.

Hereinafter, with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 5, the imprint process with respect to the some board | substrate in the lot in embodiment is demonstrated.
When a job is submitted, the control unit 400 acquires information on a type that can be used in a lot from the control computer 500. In step S201, the control unit 400 controls the mold transport unit 29 to take out the mold 18 from the mold stocker 28 based on the acquired mold information and carry it into the imprint processing unit 100 corresponding to the lot. The loaded mold 18 is held by the mold head 16 by the mold chuck 17. In S202, the control unit 400 controls a substrate sending unit (not shown) to carry in the substrate 1 in the lot. The loaded substrate 1 is held on the substrate stage 7 by a substrate chuck (not shown).

  In step S <b> 203, the control unit 400 acquires history information held in the type management unit 402. At this time, the control unit 400 reads the IC tag arranged on the mold 18. The IC tag includes the ID of the type 18, and the control unit 400 can specify the reference item of the acquired history information based on the ID. The history information may be included in the IC tag instead of being held in the type management unit 402.

Next, the control unit 400 determines whether to change the imprint processing method in a specific shot area of the substrate 1 based on the acquired history information. For example, the control unit 400 determines that the application state of the release agent in the pattern portion P of the mold 18 is defective when any of the following conditions is satisfied.
(1) When there is no history of release agent supply by the release agent supply unit 32 (YES in S204)
(2) When the elapsed time since the release agent was supplied by the release agent supply unit 32 lastly exceeds the predetermined time T1 (YES in S205)
(3) When the elapsed time since the last mold cleaning has not exceeded the predetermined time T2 (YES in S206)

  In the case where there is no history of supply of the release agent by the release agent supply unit 32 in (1), for example, in FIG. 4, a new mold that has not been used in the past, such as a mold whose ID is M003 in FIG. In this case, it is necessary to supply a release agent first. Further, in (2), when the elapsed time since the last supply of the release agent exceeds the predetermined time T1, it is determined that the function of the release agent is lost. Additional supply of release agent is required. In addition, the case (3) where the elapsed time since the last mold cleaning does not exceed the predetermined time T2 is a case where the mold release agent is not supplied immediately after the cleaning, Supply of mold is necessary. As described above, when there are dry cleaning and wet cleaning as the mold cleaning, in (3), only wet cleaning may be targeted. That is, it may be determined that the function of the release agent is not lost only by performing dry cleaning.

If none of the above conditions is satisfied, it is determined that the release agent is applied in the pattern portion P of the mold 18 in a good state, and the control unit 400 performs the process shown in FIG. The imprint process (normal imprint process) shown in FIG. On the other hand, if any of the above conditions is satisfied, it is determined that the application state of the release agent in the pattern portion P of the mold 18 is bad, and the process proceeds to S208. In S208, the control unit 400 controls the release agent supply unit 32 so that a predetermined number of shot regions (first to Nth shot regions) (for example, the first to Nth shot regions) among the plurality of shot regions of the substrate 1 (for example, In each of N = 3), the following temporary imprint processing is performed.
(1) First, the control unit 400 controls the imprint material supply unit 23 to supply the imprint material to the shot area.
(2) Next, the control unit 400 controls the release agent supply unit 32 to supply the release agent to the shot area. At this time, the control unit 400 adds the release agent supply history to the history information held in the mold management unit 402. After supplying the mold release agent, the control unit 400 controls the mold head 16 to repeat the contact operation and the mold release operation of the mold release agent and the imprint material supplied to the shot area and the mold 18 a predetermined number of times. (For example, 5 times). This is a blending operation for blending the release agent into the pattern portion P of the mold 18.
(3) Thereafter, the control unit 400 performs imprint processing including contact operation, imprint material curing, and release operation in the shot region.

  By performing such a temporary imprint process, the application state of the release agent in the pattern portion P of the mold 18 can be improved. Thereafter, in step S209, the control unit 400 performs normal imprint processing on the remaining shot areas.

  In step S210, the control unit 400 controls a substrate transport unit (not shown) to carry out the substrate 1 that has been imprinted in all shot areas. Thereafter, in S211, the control unit 400 determines whether all the substrates in the lot have been processed. If there are remaining substrates, the process returns to S202, and the processing is repeated for the next substrate. If all the substrates in the lot have been processed, the process proceeds to S212.

  In S212, the control unit 400 determines whether or not the mold needs to be cleaned. For example, it is determined that cleaning is necessary when the cumulative number of processes in the history information exceeds a predetermined number. It is also possible to determine whether to apply dry cleaning or wet cleaning according to the cumulative number of processes. If it is determined that there is no need to clean the mold, the process is terminated. If it is determined that the mold needs to be cleaned, in step S213, the control unit 400 controls the mold transport unit 29 to carry the mold 18 out of the imprint processing unit 100 and carry it into the cleaning device. In S214, the mold is cleaned by the cleaning apparatus. At this time, the control unit 400 adds the cleaning history to the history information held in the mold management unit 402.

  According to the above embodiment, the application state of the release agent to the mold can be managed and the release agent can be supplied in a timely manner, thereby providing an imprint apparatus that is advantageous in terms of productivity. be able to.

Second Embodiment
In the first embodiment, the temporary imprint process is performed for each of a predetermined number of shot areas to be imprinted at the beginning of the substrate 1. However, a temporary imprint process that does not include such a familiar operation is also conceivable. For example, in S <b> 208, the control unit 400 controls the release agent supply unit 32 to process a predetermined number of shot regions (first to Nth shot regions) from the beginning among the plurality of shot regions of the substrate 1 ( For example, the following temporary imprint process is performed for each of N = 3).
(1) First, the control unit 400 controls the imprint material supply unit 23 to supply the imprint material to the shot area.
(2) Next, the control unit 400 controls the release agent supply unit 32 to supply the release agent to the shot area. At this time, the control unit 400 adds the release agent supply history to the history information held in the mold management unit 402. Thereafter, the imprint process is performed as usual instead of the familiar operation. However, the release operation at this time is performed at a slower speed than the release operation in the normal imprint process.

  Thus, by making the mold release operation slower than usual, damage to the cured imprint material can be reduced, and pattern collapse and a situation where the mold or the substrate is peeled off from the holding portion can be prevented.

<Third Embodiment>
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a layout of shot areas on the substrate 1. As shown in FIG. 6, a plurality of shot regions are arranged in a matrix on the substrate 1. In this embodiment, in order to maximize the effective area of the substrate 1 (the area of the region where the pattern is formed), not only the shot region 61 inside the substrate 1 but also the peripheral shot region including the outer periphery 1R of the substrate 1 is used. An imprint process is performed. The peripheral shot region is a shot region that partially protrudes from the outer periphery 1R of the substrate 1 and only a part of the pattern portion of the mold is transferred on the outer peripheral portion of the substrate, and is also referred to as a “missing shot region”. Hereinafter, the shot area 61 inside the peripheral shot area 62 is referred to as a “full shot area”.

  In this embodiment, when it is determined that the release agent is applied in the pattern portion P of the mold 18, the normal imprint process is performed on all shot areas of the substrate 1 in S <b> 207. At this time, the order in which the imprint process is performed on the plurality of shot areas follows the order described in the recipe. For example, the movement distance of the substrate stage 7 is the longest regardless of whether the shot area is a full shot area or a peripheral shot area. The order is smaller.

On the other hand, when the condition is satisfied in any one of S204, S205, and S206 and it is determined that the application state of the release agent in the pattern portion P of the mold 18 is bad, the following is performed instead of S208 and S209 described above The imprint process is performed.
(1) First, the imprint process is sequentially performed on the full shot area. At this time, for example, the control unit 400 controls the release agent supply unit 32 to supply the release agent only in the first shot region (first shot region). At this time, the control unit 400 adds the release agent supply history to the history information held in the mold management unit 402.
(2) After completing the imprint process for all the full shot areas, the imprint process is sequentially performed on the peripheral shot area 62.

  In the peripheral shot area 62, the filling speed of the imprint material into the pattern portion P of the mold 18 when the mold 18 is brought into contact with the imprint material is slower than the full shot area, and unfilled defects are likely to occur. There is a high possibility that the pattern portion will be lost during the mold operation. Therefore, in this embodiment, when it is determined that the application state of the release agent is poor, the imprint process is performed with priority given to the full shot area as described above (2). In the imprint process in the full shot area, there is a low possibility of causing a defect. While the imprint process in the full shot area is repeated, the release agent supplied in (1) is applied to the pattern portion P of the mold 18. Because it will become familiar.

  As described above, when it is determined from the history information that the application state of the release agent in the pattern portion P of the mold 18 is defective, the control unit 400 applies the shot area other than the peripheral shot area to the shot area other than the peripheral shot area. Perform imprint processing. Thereby, generation | occurrence | production of a pattern defect can be suppressed.

<Embodiment of article manufacturing method>
The pattern of the cured product formed using the imprint apparatus 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 elements 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 article or temporarily used as a resist mask. After etching or ion implantation or the like is performed in the substrate processing step, the resist mask is removed.

  Next, an article manufacturing method will be described. In step SA of FIG. 7, a substrate 1z such as a silicon substrate on which a workpiece 2z such as an insulator is formed is prepared, and then an imprint material 3z is formed on the surface of the workpiece 2z by an inkjet method or the like. Is granted. Here, a state is shown in which the imprint material 3z in the form of a plurality of droplets is applied on the substrate.

  In step SB of FIG. 7, the imprint mold 4 z is opposed to the imprint material 3 z on the substrate with the side having the concave / convex pattern formed thereon. In Step SC of FIG. 7, the substrate 1z provided with the imprint material 3z and the mold 4z are brought into contact with each other, and pressure is applied. The imprint material 3z is filled in a gap between the mold 4z and the workpiece 2z. In this state, when light is irradiated as energy for curing through the mold 4z, the imprint material 3z is cured.

  In step SD of FIG. 7, after the imprint material 3z is cured, when the mold 4z and the substrate 1z are separated, a pattern of a cured product of the imprint material 3z is formed on the substrate 1z. This cured product pattern has a shape in which the concave portion of the mold corresponds to the convex portion of the cured product, and the concave portion of the mold corresponds to the convex portion of the cured product, that is, the concave / convex pattern of the die 4z is transferred to the imprint material 3z. It will be done.

  In step SE of FIG. 7, when etching is performed using the pattern of the cured product as an etching-resistant mold, a portion of the surface of the workpiece 2z where there is no cured product or remains thin is removed to form a groove 5z. In step SF of FIG. 7, when the pattern of the cured product is removed, an article in which the groove 5z is formed on the surface of the workpiece 2z can be obtained. Although the cured product pattern is removed here, it may be used as, for example, a film for interlayer insulation contained in a semiconductor element or the like, that is, a constituent member of an article without being removed after processing.

(Other embodiments)
The present invention supplies a program that realizes one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or apparatus read and execute the program This process can be realized. It can also be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

100: imprint apparatus, 1: substrate, 7: substrate stage, 16: mold head, 18: mold, 23: imprint material supply unit, 32: release agent supply unit, 400: control unit

Claims (9)

Imprint processing for forming a pattern of the imprint material by curing the imprint material in a state where the mold is in contact with the imprint material on the substrate, and separating the mold from the cured imprint material. An imprint device to perform,
A supply unit for supplying a release agent on the imprint material or the pattern unit of the mold;
A control unit that controls the imprint process based on history information of the mold including a history of supply of the release agent by the supply unit;
An imprint apparatus comprising: A drive mechanism for adjusting a relative position between the mold and the substrate;
When it is determined from the history information that the application state of the release agent in the pattern portion of the mold is defective, the control unit has a predetermined number of processing orders from the beginning among the plurality of shot regions of the substrate. In the shot region, before the imprint process, the release agent is supplied by the supply unit, and after the release agent is supplied, the driving mechanism contacts the imprint material and the mold, and the contact operation The imprint apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a mold release operation for separating the mold from the imprint material is repeated a predetermined number of times. A drive mechanism for adjusting a relative position between the mold and the substrate;
When it is determined from the history information that the application state of the release agent in the pattern portion of the mold is defective, the control unit has a predetermined number of processing orders from the beginning among the plurality of shot regions of the substrate. In the shot region, the imprint process is performed by lowering the speed of the mold release operation for separating the mold from the imprint material by the drive mechanism as compared with the case where the application state is not determined to be defective. The imprint apparatus according to claim 1. The substrate has a peripheral shot region to which only a part of the pattern of the mold is transferred at an outer peripheral portion of the substrate,
When it is determined from the history information that the state of application of the release agent in the pattern portion of the mold is poor, the control unit applies a shot region other than the peripheral shot region prior to the peripheral shot region. The imprint apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the imprint process is performed. The control unit determines that the application state of the release agent in the pattern portion of the mold is defective when the history information does not include a history of supply of the release agent by the supply unit. The imprint apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the apparatus is an imprint apparatus. The history information includes a time at which the release agent is supplied by the supply unit,
When the elapsed time since the last supply of the release agent has exceeded a predetermined time, the control unit has a poor application state of the release agent in the pattern portion of the mold The imprint apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the determination is performed. The history information includes a time when the mold was cleaned,
The control unit determines that the application state of the release agent in the pattern unit of the mold is defective when the elapsed time since the last cleaning of the mold does not exceed a predetermined time The imprint apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the imprint apparatus is a printer. The history information includes a time when dry cleaning of the mold is performed and a time when wet cleaning of the mold is performed,
When the elapsed time since the last wet cleaning of the mold does not exceed the predetermined time, the control unit has a poor application state of the release agent in the pattern portion of the mold The imprint apparatus according to claim 7, wherein An article manufacturing method for manufacturing an article, comprising:
Forming a pattern on a substrate using the imprint apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
Processing the substrate on which the pattern is formed;
And manufacturing the article from the processed substrate.

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