JP2019125745A - Molding device for molding composition on substrate by using mold and method for manufacturing object - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a molding device advantageous in terms of productivity.SOLUTION: A molding device for performing molding processing for molding a composition on a substrate by using a mold includes: a chamber for housing the molding device inside; a blower part for maintaining pressure inside the chamber higher than pressure outside the chamber, and performing operation for supplying gas to the inside of the chamber so as to form air flow for removing particles inside the chamber; and a control part for determining an operation time of the blower part which is required by the time the number of particles inside the chamber becomes a number allowed to normally perform the molding processing after resuming the operation of the blower part on the basis of a stop time when the operation of the blower part stops and information about the number of particles inside the chamber after stopping the operation of the blower part in the case of stopping the operation of the blower part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a molding apparatus for molding a composition on a substrate using a mold, and a method of manufacturing an article.

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

  One of the imprint techniques is, for example, a photo-curing method. In an imprint apparatus adopting a photo-curing method, a photo-curable imprint material supplied on a substrate is molded with a mold, light is irradiated to cure the imprint material, and the mold is formed from the cured imprint material. By pulling apart, a pattern is formed on the substrate.

  In the imprint apparatus, if particles (foreign matter) are sandwiched between the mold and the substrate, the mold may be damaged. Therefore, it is necessary to control the number of particles in the apparatus. In particular, if the air flow in the apparatus is stopped due to maintenance or a failure (repair), the inside of the chamber can not be maintained at a positive pressure, so particles caused by particle infiltration from the outside of the chamber or changes in the air flow Fall is a concern. Also, by opening the panel of the chamber for maintenance or failure, particles suspended in the surrounding environment may enter the interior of the chamber. Therefore, when stopping the air flow in the device due to maintenance or failure and then reactivating the imprinting device, the particles accumulated in the chamber are removed to reduce the number of particles below the specified number in order to suppress damage to the mold due to particles. There is a need to.

  On the other hand, with regard to the projection exposure apparatus, when it is stopped due to maintenance or failure, the time until the temperature of the projection optical system converges within the allowable range is predicted, and the exposure operation is stopped or the exposure operation A technique for correcting or the like has been proposed (see Patent Document 1).

Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2005-197484

  However, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique relating to a projection exposure apparatus, and does not disclose a technique relating to removal of particles in the apparatus. At present, in the imprint apparatus, in order to confirm that the number of particles inside the chamber is less than or equal to the specified number, the number of particles adhering to the substrate carried into the apparatus is inspected by an inspection apparatus outside the apparatus. ing. In addition, when the inspection device outside the device does not perform inspection, even if the imprint device is restarted, a predetermined time is required until the number of particles inside the chamber becomes equal to or less than the specified number without producing a product. I am waiting for you. Therefore, in any case, it takes a lot of time to resume the production of the product, leading to a decrease in productivity.

  The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the prior art, and an exemplary object of the present invention is to provide a molding apparatus that is advantageous in terms of productivity.

  In order to achieve the above object, a molding apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention is a molding apparatus that performs a molding process for molding a composition on a substrate using a mold, and a chamber for containing the molding apparatus. And supplying a gas to the inside of the chamber so as to maintain the pressure inside the chamber higher than the pressure outside the chamber and form an air flow for removing particles inside the chamber. With respect to the air blowing unit that performs the operation and the stopping time when the operation of the air blowing unit is stopped when the operation of the air blowing unit is stopped, and the number of particles inside the chamber after the operation of the air blowing unit is stopped. Based on the information, it is necessary for the number of particles inside the chamber to become an acceptable number for the molding process to be normal after the operation of the blower is restarted. And having a control unit which determines the operating time of the blower unit to be.

  Further objects or other aspects of the present invention will be made clear by the preferred embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  According to the present invention, for example, it is possible to provide a molding apparatus that is advantageous in terms of productivity.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing the configuration of an imprint apparatus as one aspect of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the particle characteristic of the booth space of the imprint apparatus shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the functional block of the control part of the imprint apparatus shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen displayed on the display part of the imprint apparatus shown in FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the manufacturing method of articles | goods.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In each of the drawings, the same members are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing the configuration of an imprint apparatus 1 (forming apparatus) according to one aspect of the present invention. The imprint apparatus 1 is a lithography apparatus which is employed in a lithography process which is a manufacturing process of a semiconductor device or a liquid crystal display element, and which forms a pattern on a substrate. The imprint apparatus 1 forms a pattern of an imprint material on a substrate using a mold (mold, template). In the present embodiment, the imprint apparatus 1 brings the imprint material supplied on the substrate into contact with the mold, and applies the energy for curing to the imprint material, thereby causing the cured product to which the concavo-convex pattern of the mold is transferred. Form a pattern of

  For the imprint material, a curable composition (sometimes referred to as an uncured resin) that is cured by receiving energy for curing is used. As energy for curing, electromagnetic waves, heat, etc. are used. As the electromagnetic wave, for example, light such as infrared light, visible light, ultraviolet light or the like whose wavelength is selected from the range of 10 nm or more and 1 mm or less is used.

  The curable composition is a composition which is cured by irradiation of light or by heating. The photocurable composition which is cured by irradiation of light contains at least a polymerizable compound and a photopolymerization initiator, and may contain a nonpolymerizable compound or a solvent, as required. 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, a polymer component and the like.

  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, or in the form of islands or a film formed by connecting a plurality of droplets by a liquid jet head. The viscosity (the viscosity at 25 ° C.) of the imprint material is, for example, 1 mPa · s or more and 100 mPa · s or less.

  For the substrate, glass, ceramics, metals, semiconductors, resins, etc. are used, and if necessary, a member made of a material different from the substrate may be formed on the surface. Specifically, the substrate includes a silicon wafer, a compound semiconductor wafer, quartz glass and the like.

  The imprint apparatus 1 includes a substrate holding unit 2 for holding a substrate 8, a mold holding unit (mold holding unit) 3 for holding a mold 11, an alignment measurement unit 4, an irradiation unit 5, a supply unit 7, and a gas. A supply unit 25 and a control unit 6 are provided. The imprint apparatus 1 further includes a substrate transfer unit (not shown) for transferring the substrate 8 to the substrate holding unit 2 and a mold transfer unit (not shown) for transferring the mold 11 to the mold holding unit 3. Have. Furthermore, the imprint apparatus 1 has a base surface plate 24 supporting the substrate holding unit 2, a bridge surface plate 14 supporting the mold holding portion 3, and a support 15 supporting the bridge surface plate 14. Note that in FIG. 1, the X axis, the Y axis, and the Z axis are defined in three axis directions orthogonal to each other.

  As described above, the substrate 8 includes various substrates, and the imprint material is supplied (coated) on the surface to be processed. The mold 11 has a rectangular outer shape, and is a mold in which a pattern to be transferred to the imprint material supplied to the substrate 8 is formed in a three-dimensional shape on the surface facing the substrate 8. The mold 11 is made of a material that transmits ultraviolet light, such as quartz, in the present embodiment.

  The irradiation unit 5 irradiates the imprint material on the substrate with ultraviolet light through the mold 11. The irradiation unit 5 includes, for example, a light source 16, an optical system 17 for adjusting ultraviolet light emitted from the light source 16 to a state suitable for imprint processing (forming processing), and ultraviolet light emitted to an imprint material on a substrate. And a scanning unit 18 for scanning. In addition, the irradiation unit 5 may include a light source for alignment correction for correcting (deforming) the shape of (the shot area of) the substrate 8. In the alignment correction, a force may be applied to the mold 11 using a piezoelectric element or the like to deform the mold 11 (the pattern thereof), or the substrate 8 may be irradiated with laser light to thermally deform it.

  The mold holding unit 3 is a unit for holding the mold 11 and imprinting the pattern of the mold 11 onto the imprint material on the substrate, ie, bringing the imprint material on the substrate into contact with the mold 11. The mold holding unit 3 includes a mold chuck 12 and a mold stage 23. The mold chuck 12 holds (fixes) the mold 11 by a mechanical holding mechanism, for example, a vacuum suction pad. The mold chuck 12 is held on the mold stage 23 by a mechanical holding mechanism. 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 holding the mold 11 in the Z-axis direction. The mold stage 23 may include a plurality of drive systems such as a coarse movement drive system and a fine movement drive system in order to realize high-precision positioning of the mold 11. In addition, 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 Z axis) direction and a function of correcting the inclination of the mold 11 It may be

  The substrate holding unit 2 holds the substrate 8 and corrects the 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 holds (fixes) the substrate 8 by a mechanical holding mechanism, for example, a vacuum suction pad. The substrate chuck 9 is held by the substrate stage 10 via a vacuum suction pad (not shown). The substrate stage 10 drives (moves) the substrate chuck 9 holding 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 movement drive system and a fine movement drive system. The substrate stage 10 may have a function of driving the substrate 8 in the Z axis direction or θ direction (rotation around the Z axis), and a function of correcting the tilt of the substrate 8. Further, on the substrate stage 10, a reference mark used when aligning the mold 11 is disposed.

  The supply unit 7 supplies the imprint material onto the substrate. The supply unit 7 includes a discharge nozzle that discharges the imprint material, and drops the imprint material onto the substrate 8 from the discharge nozzle. In the present embodiment, the imprint material has a property of being cured by irradiation of ultraviolet light. The amount of imprint material supplied from the supply unit 7 is determined by the required residual film thickness, the density of the pattern to be transferred, and the like.

  The alignment measurement unit 4 detects alignment marks provided on each of the mold 11 and the substrate 8, and shifts in position in the X-axis direction and Y-axis direction between (the pattern of) the mold 11 and (the base pattern of) the substrate 8. Measure the shape difference.

  The gas supply unit 25 includes a flow rate regulator, a valve, piping, and the like. The gas supply unit 25 introduces a gas supplied from the outside of the apparatus into the apparatus through the pipe 28 and discharges a gas used in the apparatus out of the apparatus through the pipe 29 under the control of the control unit 6. Do. The gas supply unit 25 supplies a gas from the supply nozzle 26 to the space 30 between the mold 11 and the substrate 8 (imprint material on the substrate), and replaces the air in the space 30 with the gas. In addition, the gas supply unit 25 recovers the gas supplied from the supply nozzle 26 to the space 30 from the recovery nozzle 27 and prevents the gas from leaking into the apparatus. As the gas supplied to the space 30, for example, helium having high diffusivity is used.

  The control unit 6 includes a CPU, a memory, and the like, and controls the entire (operation) of the imprint apparatus 1. The control unit 6 controls each part of the imprint apparatus 1, for example, the substrate holding unit 2, the mold holding unit 3, the alignment measurement unit 4, the irradiation unit 5, the supply unit 7, the gas supply unit 25, etc. Do the processing.

  The imprint apparatus 1 is housed inside the chamber 19. The chamber 19 is provided with a blower 20 and an exhaust 21 including a blower (not shown), a chemical filter (not shown), a particle filter (not shown) and the like. The blower 20 maintains the pressure inside the chamber 19 (the booth space 22) higher than the pressure outside the chamber 19 and forms an air flow for removing particles inside the chamber 19. Perform the operation of supplying gas to the inside of Specifically, the blower 20 takes in the atmosphere (outside) of the atmosphere in which the chamber 19 is installed with a blower, removes chemical substances and dust contained in the taken-in atmosphere with a chemical filter and a particle filter, and cleans the atmosphere. (Gas) is supplied to the booth space 22. The exhaust unit 21 exhausts heat, dust, and the like generated by the imprint apparatus 1. The pressure in the booth space 22 is adjusted to be slightly higher than the pressure outside the chamber 19, as described above, to prevent the air that has not passed through the chemical filter or the particle filter from entering the clearance of the chamber 19 doing. The pressure difference between the booth space 22 and the outside of the chamber 19 may be 0.3 Pa or more and 5.0 Pa or less. Further, the chamber 19 is provided with a plurality of openable / closable chamber panels for accessing each part of the imprint apparatus 1 accommodated in the chamber 19 at the time of maintenance or failure (repair).

  In the imprint apparatus 1, the operation (supply of clean air to the booth space 22) of the blower unit 20 is stopped or the chamber panel provided in the chamber 19 is opened at the time of maintenance or failure. In this case, the inside of the chamber 19, that is, the booth space 22 can not be maintained at a positive pressure, and particles enter the booth space 22 from the outside of the chamber 19, so the number of particles in the booth space 22 increases. In addition, since the air flow is not formed in the booth space 22 when the operation of the blower 20 is stopped, the falling of particles suspended in the booth space 22 also increases. When maintenance or repair of a failure is completed, the number of particles in the booth space 22 decreases because the chamber panel is closed and the operation of the blower 20 is resumed. Hereinafter, operation of the blower 20 to restart the operation of the blower 20 to remove particles in the booth space 22 is referred to as a particle removal operation.

  FIG. 2 is a view showing particle characteristics of the booth space 22 when maintenance is performed by opening the first chamber panel and the second chamber panel among the chamber panels provided in the chamber 19 by stopping the operation of the blower 20 and performing maintenance. It is. Here, the particle characteristics are information on the number of particles, and as shown in FIG. 2, are represented by an increase characteristic 100 in which the number of particles increases and a decrease characteristic 101 in which the number of particles decreases. As described above, the particle characteristic is information indicating the relationship between the stop time during which the operation of the blower 20 is stopped and the increase in the number of particles in the booth space 22 after the operation of the blower 20 is stopped, ie, an increase. The characteristic 100 is included. In the increase characteristic 100, the relationship between the opening time of each of the plurality of chamber panels provided in the chamber 19 and the increase number of particles in the booth space 22 after opening each of the plurality of chamber panels is shown. Information to show is also included. The particle characteristic is information indicating the relationship between the time after the operation of the blower 20 is restarted and the number of particles in the booth space 22 after the operation of the blower 20 is resumed, that is, the decrease characteristic 101. Also includes. In FIG. 2, the vertical axis represents the number (p) of particles in the vicinity of the substrate stage 10 (location susceptible to particles), and the horizontal axis represents time (t), and the operation of the blower 20 is stopped. The time is 0.

P1, p2, t1, t2, t3, t4 and t5 shown in FIG. 2 represent the following.
p1: tolerance of the number of particles capable of operating the imprint apparatus 1 (the number of particles acceptable for performing imprint processing normally)
p2: Number of particles when maintenance is ended and operation of the blower 20 is resumed t1: Number of particles after the operation of the blower 20 is less than the allowable value p1 period t2: operation of the blower 20 Period t3: the first chamber panel is open period t4: the second chamber panel is open period t5: the period in which the particle removal operation is performed in this case, three factors: As shown in FIG. 2, A) the air flow is not formed in the booth space 22, (B) the first chamber panel is opened, and (C) the second chamber panel is opened. The number of particles is increasing. Among the periods in which particles increase, period 102 is affected only by the above (A), period 103 is also affected by (B) in addition to above (A), and the substrate t4 is A), (B) and (C) are all affected. In the period t2, since the operation of the blower 20 is stopped, the particles in the booth space 22 increase in accordance with the generation period of each factor. In the present embodiment, the number of particles increasing due to each factor is proportional, the influence of each factor is independent of each other, and each factor occurs in order, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the number of particles increased by each factor may not be proportional. If the influence of each factor is correlated, the influence may be taken into consideration, and if the chamber panel has been opened and closed several times, the time during which the chamber panel is opened may be integrated.

  Note that, as described above, the period t1 is a period in which the number of particles in the booth space 22 is smaller than the allowable value p1. Therefore, if the period when the operation of the blower 20 is stopped is shorter than the period t1, it is possible to restart the imprint process (that is, reactivate the imprint apparatus 1) without performing the particle removal operation. It is.

  When the maintenance or repair of the failure is completed, the first chamber panel and the second chamber panel are closed to restart the operation of the blower 20. The number of particles in the booth space 22 at the time of resumption of the operation of the blower 20 is p2 as shown in FIG. 2 and is a value larger than the allowable value p1. Therefore, when the mold 11 and the substrate 8 are brought into contact with each other through the imprint material at the time of resuming the operation of the blower unit 20, there is a possibility that (the pattern of) the mold 11 may be damaged by sandwiching particles.

  Therefore, in the period t5, the particle removal operation is performed. In the particle removal operation, the blast unit 20 is operated without bringing the mold 11 and the imprint material on the substrate into contact with each other, and the respective portions (substrate stage 10 and the like) of the imprint apparatus 1 are operated to positively Soak up and remove. The operating condition of the blower unit 20 in the particle removal operation may be different from the operating condition of the blower unit 20 in the imprint process. For example, in the particle removal operation, the amount of gas supplied from the blower 20 may be increased or the flow velocity may be increased as compared with the imprint process. As shown in FIG. 2, the particle characteristics show a decrease characteristic 101 in which the number of particles is reduced by such particle removal operation. Then, the imprint processing can be resumed when the number of particles in the booth space 22 becomes smaller than the allowable value p1.

  Here, mathematical expression of the particle characteristic shown in FIG. 2 will be described. By formulating the particle characteristics, it is possible to grasp the number of particles in the booth space 22 according to the elapsed time since the operation of the blower 20 is stopped. Therefore, it is possible to determine the operation time of the blower 20 (the optimal timing to restart the imprint process) which is required until the number of particles in the booth space 22 reaches the allowable value p1.

In FIG. 2, the factors that increase the number of particles in the booth space 22 are the three factors (A), (B) and (C) described above. The number of particles in the booth space 22 increases in proportion to the stop time when the operation of the blower 20 is stopped and the open time when the first chamber panel and the second chamber panel are opened. Of the particle characteristics, the number p of particles in the increase characteristic 100 can be expressed by the following equation (1).
p = A × ta + B × tb + C × tc (1)
In equation (1), A is an increase coefficient of the number of particles due to the stop of the operation of the blower 20, and ta is the stop time during which the operation of the blower 20 is stopped. B is an increase factor of the number of particles by opening the first chamber panel, and tb is an open time when the first chamber panel is opened. C is an increase coefficient of the number of particles by opening the second chamber panel, and tc is an open time when the second chamber panel is opened.

In the present embodiment, since ta = t2, tb = t3 and tc = t4, the number p2 of particles can be expressed by the following equation (2).
p2 = A * t2 + B * t3 + C * t4 (2)
Next, the reduction characteristic 101 of the particle characteristics is formulated. When the operation of the blower 20 is resumed, an air flow is formed in the booth space 22 and the particles are removed. Of the particle characteristics, the number p of particles in the decrease characteristic 101 can be expressed by the following expressions (3) and (4).
p '= p-p1 (3)
p1 = p × exp (−t5 / Tf) (4)
In Equations (3) and (4), p1 is an allowable value of the number of particles capable of operating the imprint apparatus 1, and p ′ is the number of particles to be removed from the booth space 22. Tf is an attenuation characteristic of the number of particles, and t5 is a period during which the particle removal operation is performed (the operation time after restarting the operation of the blower 20).

By modifying Formula (4), the period t5 in which the particle removal operation is performed can be expressed by Formula (5) below.
t5 = −Tf × ln (p1 / p) (5)
Further, by substituting the number p2 of particles obtained by the equation (2) into p in the equation (5), the period t5 in which the particle removal operation is performed can be expressed by the following equation (6).
t5 = −Tf × ln (p1 / p2) (6)
The time t5 determined by the equation (6) is from when the operation of the blower 20 is restarted until the number of particles in the booth space 22 becomes an allowable number (permissible value p1) for performing the imprint process normally. It is also an operation time of the blower 20 required. Therefore, since it can be determined that the number of particles in the booth space 22 has become smaller than the allowable value p1 after the operation time has elapsed, the imprint process may be restarted.

  The particle characteristics quantified in this manner are obtained in advance as information on the number of particles in the booth space 22 and stored in the storage unit of the imprint apparatus 1 (for example, the memory of the control unit 6). Such particle characteristics differ depending on the work content of maintenance, the location of the chamber panel, the installation environment, and the like even if the imprint apparatus is the same. Therefore, the particle characteristics may be obtained in advance for each maintenance work content, the location of the chamber panel, and the installation environment.

  When the operation of the blower 20 is stopped due to maintenance, failure, etc., the control unit 6 uses the particle characteristics to restart the operation of the blower 20, that is, a period during which the particle removal operation should be performed. Decide. Specifically, as described above, the period during which the particle removal operation should be performed is determined based on the stop time of the blower 20 and the particle characteristics. In addition, when at least one chamber panel of the plurality of chamber panels provided in the chamber 19 is opened, the period during which the particle removal operation should be performed is determined based on the time during which the chamber panel is opened. Do.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a functional block of the control unit 6 that determines a period during which the particle removal operation should be performed. Control unit 6 includes, as functional blocks, storage unit 204 that stores particle characteristics, and determination unit 203. The determination unit 203 obtains the tolerance value p1 from the setting unit 200 that sets the number of particles in the booth space 22 that is permitted to perform the imprinting process normally, and sends air from the input unit 201 that inputs information on maintenance and the like. Acquire the stop time of the part 20. Further, the determination unit 203 acquires particle characteristics from the storage unit 204. Then, as described above, the determination unit 203 performs the operation of the blower 20 which is required until the number of particles in the booth space 22 reaches the allowable value p1 based on the stop time of the blower 20 and the particle characteristics. The time, that is, the period in which the particle removal operation should be performed, is determined. The determination unit 203 may acquire, from the correction information unit 202, the installation location of the imprint apparatus 1, the clean degree of the chamber 19, environment information such as temperature and humidity, and apparatus information regarding apparatus operation and apparatus configuration. Since the environment information and the device information are information related to the particle characteristics, the determination unit 203 may correct the particle characteristics acquired from the storage unit 204 with the environment information and the device information.

  Further, the control unit 6 outputs the period for performing the particle removal operation determined by the determination unit 203 to the notification unit 207. The notification unit 207 notifies the user of the period in which the particle removal operation determined by the determination unit 203 (the control unit 6) should be performed. The notification unit 207 includes, for example, a display unit 205 that displays at least one of the operation state of the blower unit 20, the period during which the particle removal operation should be performed determined by the determination unit 203, and the remaining time of the particle removal operation. . In addition, the notification unit 207 may include an audio unit 206 that notifies by voice the period in which the particle removal operation determined by the determination unit 203 should be performed.

  FIGS. 4A to 4C are diagrams showing an example of a screen (user interface) displayed on the display unit 205. FIG. The screens shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B provide the user with information on the particle removal operation. For example, the screens shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B notify the user of the operating state DP1 of the blower unit 20, the period DP2 in which the particle removal operation should be performed, and the remaining time DP3 of the particle removal operation. Further, the screen shown in FIG. 4C provides the user with information on the number of particles permitted to perform the imprint processing normally, that is, the tolerance value p1. For example, in the screen shown in FIG. 4C, the allowable value DP4, the upper limit DP5 of the particle size, whether to determine the period in which the particle removal operation should be performed DP6, and the period DP7 in which the particle removal operation should be performed Notify the user. Note that the user can set the tolerance value DP4, the upper limit DP5 of the particle size, and DP6 whether to determine the period in which the particle removal operation should be performed via the setting unit 200.

  As described above, according to the imprint apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, since the number of particles in the booth space 22 can be grasped using particle characteristics, it is necessary to determine the optimum period for performing the particle removal operation. Can. Therefore, in the imprint apparatus 1, even if the operation is stopped due to maintenance, failure, or the like, the re-operation (production of a product) can be performed without causing a decrease in productivity.

  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 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. The mold may, for example, be a mold for imprinting.

  The pattern of the cured product is used as it is as a component of at least a part of the above-mentioned 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 of manufacturing an article will be described. As shown in FIG. 5A, a substrate 8 such as a silicon wafer on which a workpiece such as an insulator is formed is prepared, and subsequently, an imprint material is formed on the surface of the workpiece by an inkjet method or the like. Grant Here, a state in which a plurality of droplet-shaped imprint materials are applied onto a substrate is shown.

  As shown in FIG. 5B, the mold 11 for imprint is faced with the side on which the concavo-convex pattern is formed facing the imprint material on the substrate. As shown in FIG. 5C, the substrate 8 provided with the imprint material is brought into contact with the mold 11, and 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 cures.

  As shown in FIG. 5D, when the mold 11 and the substrate 8 are separated after curing the imprint material, a pattern of a cured product of the imprint material is formed on the substrate. In the pattern of the cured product, the concave portions of the mold 11 correspond to the convex portions of the cured product, and the convex portions of the mold 11 correspond to the concave portions of the cured product. It will be transferred.

  As shown in FIG. 5 (e), when etching is performed using the pattern of the cured product as an etching resistant mask, the portion of the surface of the work material which has no cured product or remains thin is removed to form a groove. . As shown in FIG. 5 (f), when the pattern of the cured product is removed, an article having a groove formed on the surface of the workpiece can be obtained. Although the pattern of the cured product is removed here, it may be used, for example, as a film for interlayer insulation included in a semiconductor element or the like, that is, a component of an article without removing it even after processing.

  In the present embodiment, a mold for circuit pattern transfer provided with a concavo-convex pattern has been described as the mold 11. However, the mold 11 may be a mold (blank template) having a flat portion having no concavo-convex pattern. A blank template is used for the planarization apparatus (forming apparatus) which performs the planarization process (forming process) which is shape | molded so that the composition on a board | substrate may be planarized by a plane part. The planarizing treatment includes the step of curing the curable composition by light irradiation or heating while the flat portion of the blank template is in contact with the curable composition supplied on the substrate. Thus, the present embodiment can be applied to a molding apparatus that molds a composition on a substrate using a mold.

  Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various modifications and changes can be made within the scope of the present invention.

1: Imprint apparatus 6: Controller 8: Substrate 11: Mold 19: Chamber 20: Air blower

Claims (13)

A forming apparatus for performing a forming process of forming a composition on a substrate using a mold,
A chamber for housing the molding apparatus therein;
The pressure inside the chamber is maintained higher than the pressure outside the chamber, and the gas is supplied to the inside of the chamber so as to form an air flow for removing particles inside the chamber. With the blower section,
When the operation of the blower is stopped, based on the stop time when the operation of the blower is stopped and the information on the number of particles inside the chamber after the operation of the blower is stopped, A control unit that determines the operation time of the blower, which is required after the operation of the blower is restarted until the number of particles in the chamber becomes an acceptable number to perform the forming process normally When,
A molding apparatus comprising: The information is
Information indicating the relationship between the stop time and the number of particles in the chamber after the operation of the blower is stopped;
Information indicating a relationship between a time after resumption of the operation of the blower and a decrease in the number of particles in the chamber after resuming the operation of the blower;
The forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: It further comprises a plurality of openable and closable panels provided in the chamber for opening the inside of the chamber,
The forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit determines the operation time based on a time during which at least one of the plurality of panels is opened.   The information may also include information indicating a relationship between a time during which each of the plurality of panels is opened and an increase in the number of particles inside the chamber after each of the plurality of panels is opened. The molding apparatus according to claim 3.   The forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a notification unit that notifies the operation time determined by the control unit.   The notification unit is a display that displays at least one of the operating state of the blower, the operating time determined by the controller, and the remaining time when the blower is operating at the operating time. The forming apparatus according to claim 5, comprising a part.   The forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the notification unit includes an acoustic unit that notifies the operation time determined by the control unit by voice.   8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a setting unit for setting the number of particles in the chamber inside the chamber which is permitted to perform the forming process normally. The molding apparatus as described in a term.   The said control part operates the said ventilation part for the said operation time, without making the said mold and the composition on the said board | substrate contact, The any one of Claim 1 thru | or 8 characterized by the above-mentioned. Molding equipment. A forming apparatus for performing a forming process of forming a composition on a substrate using a mold,
A chamber for housing the molding apparatus therein;
An openable / closable panel provided in the chamber for opening the inside of the chamber;
The pressure inside the chamber is maintained higher than the pressure outside the chamber, and the gas is supplied to the inside of the chamber so as to form an air flow for removing particles inside the chamber. With the blower section,
When the panel is opened, the panel is closed based on the time during which the panel is open and the information on the number of particles in the chamber after the panel is opened. A control unit that determines an operation time of the blower unit that is required until the number of particles reaches an allowable number for performing the forming process normally;
A molding apparatus comprising:   The forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the forming apparatus forms the pattern of the composition by bringing the pattern of the mold into contact with the composition.   The molding apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the molding apparatus flattens the composition by bringing a flat portion of the mold into contact with the composition. Forming a pattern on a substrate using the forming apparatus according to claim 11;
Processing the substrate on which the pattern is formed in the step;
Manufacturing an article from the processed substrate;
A method for producing an article, comprising:

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