JP2022134513A - Apparatus, method, and method for manufacturing article - Google Patents

Abstract

To solve the problem in which: in performing imprint processing, when a mold or a substrate is dechucked from a holding part, it is determined if the dechucked mold or substrate can be restored through automatic restoration processing, and the automatic restoration processing is performed; however, it is concerned that a certain type of trouble occurs during the automatic restoration processing, and the substrate or mold is damaged.SOLUTION: An apparatus has a control unit that determines if a dechucked state occurring in at least one of a mold holding unit and a substrate holding unit can be automatically restored, and when determining that it can be restored, controls to restore the dechucked mold or substrate. When determining that an abnormality occurs during automatic restoration processing, the control unit stops the automatic restoration processing.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to apparatus, methods and methods of manufacturing articles.

As the demand for miniaturization of semiconductor devices and MEMS advances, in addition to conventional photolithography technology, imprint technology, which can form fine patterns (structures) on the order of several nanometers on a substrate, is attracting attention. there is Imprinting technology involves supplying (applying) an uncured imprinting material onto a substrate, bringing the imprinting material into contact with a mold, and imprinting corresponding to a fine concave-convex pattern formed on the mold. It is a microfabrication technology that forms material patterns on a substrate.

In imprint technology, there is a photo-curing method as one of curing methods for imprint materials. In the photo-curing method, the imprint material supplied to the shot region on the substrate and the mold are irradiated with light to cure the imprint material while the mold is in contact, and the imprint material is separated from the cured imprint material. This is a method of forming a pattern of a printing material on a substrate.

A mold used in such an imprint technique is generally held by suction by a mold chuck of a mold holding section, and a substrate is generally held by suction by a substrate chuck of a substrate stage.

In an imprinting apparatus that employs imprinting technology, when the mold is separated (released) from the hardened imprinting material on the substrate, the interface between the mold and the imprinting material (the mold and the imprinting material contact each other) A large stress is momentarily applied to the surface where the Depending on the strength of such stress, the mold cannot be normally separated from the imprint material, and the mold and substrate cannot be held by their respective holders (chucks), resulting in the mold and substrate becoming separated from the holders. There is a possibility of detachment.

When the mold or substrate is detached from the holder, there are (1) a state in which the mold is not properly attached to the mold chuck, and (2) a state in which the substrate is not properly attached to the substrate chuck (these are collectively referred to as called the dechuck state). If this dechuck state occurs, imprint processing cannot continue, so methods have been proposed to detect whether a dechuck state has occurred during imprinting.

Patent Document 1 discloses whether the dechucking state can be restored by automatic recovery processing according to which material (substrate or mold) dechucking occurs when it is detected that the dechucking state has occurred during imprinting. It is disclosed to judge. Specifically, for example, when the dechucked material is a substrate, the substrate stage is moved so that the entire surface of the substrate is within the area of the substrate chuck. Then, after confirming that the substrate has entered the area of the substrate chuck, the imprint head is lowered to a preset contact position to be adsorbed, and the imprint head is gradually lifted so as to release the mold, followed by recovery processing. It is disclosed that

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2019-201078

However, in the method of Patent Document 1, the imprint head is lowered after the entire surface of the substrate is placed within the area of the substrate chuck. . It is also conceivable to omit confirmation that the substrate has entered the area of the substrate chuck for speeding up.

If the imprint head is lowered for recovery in such a state, there is a concern that the substrate will collide with members outside the area of the substrate chuck and be damaged.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to prevent damage to the substrate or the mold during recovery processing due to dechucking during the release operation between the mold and the substrate. The purpose is to provide a device capable of

In order to achieve the above object, the apparatus of the present invention is an apparatus for curing the curable composition on the substrate by bringing the curable composition on the substrate into contact with the mold and then releasing the mold, A mold holding part for holding the mold, a substrate holding part for holding the substrate, and at least one of the mold holding part and the substrate holding part are driven, and the mold held by the mold holding part and the substrate holding part are driven. When a dechucking state occurs in at least one of the driving unit that adjusts the relative distance from the substrate held by the unit, and the mold holding unit and the substrate holding unit, it is determined whether the dechucking state can be recovered. and a control unit configured to perform automatic recovery processing including adjustment of the relative distance by the driving unit so as to recover the dechucked state when it is determined that the recovery is possible. and the control unit stops the automatic restoration process when it determines that an abnormality has occurred during the automatic restoration process.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a configuration that is advantageous in avoiding damage to the substrate or the mold when dechucking occurs during the release operation between the mold and the substrate and recovery processing is performed. can.

1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of an imprint apparatus; FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the overall flow of imprint processing; 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of automatic recovery processing; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a state of automatic recovery during imprint processing on the outer peripheral portion of the substrate; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a state of automatic recovery during imprint processing on the central portion of the substrate; It is a figure which shows a mode that abnormality has generate|occur|produced during automatic restoration processing. It is a figure for demonstrating the manufacturing method of articles|goods.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, in each figure, the same reference numerals are given to the same members, and redundant explanations are omitted.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of an apparatus 1 as one aspect of the present invention. Apparatus 1 is a lithography apparatus that provides a cured product of a curable composition on a substrate by curing the curable composition while a mold is in contact with the curable composition. In the present embodiment, an imprinting material (curable composition) supplied onto a substrate is brought into contact with a mold having a pattern, and energy for curing is applied to the imprinting material, thereby transferring the concave-convex pattern of the mold. An imprint apparatus for forming a pattern of a cured product will be described as an example. In addition, the present embodiment is a planarization apparatus that provides a planarization layer of a cured product of a curable composition on a substrate by curing a member (mold) having no pattern in contact with the curable composition. It is also possible to apply

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

A curable composition is a composition that is cured by irradiation with light or by heating. A 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, if necessary. The non-polymerizable compound is at least one selected from the group consisting of sensitizers, hydrogen donors, internal release agents, surfactants, antioxidants, polymer components and the like.

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

The imprint apparatus 1 includes an imprint head 6 that holds and moves a mold 3, a substrate stage 7 that holds and moves a substrate 5, a curing section 2, a supply section 8, an alignment measurement section 17, a detection A unit 14 and a control unit 9 are provided. In FIG. 1, directions are shown in an XYZ coordinate system in which the XY plane is the direction parallel to the surface of the substrate. Directions parallel to the X, Y, and Z axes in the XYZ coordinate system are defined as the X, Y, and Z directions, respectively, and rotation about the X axis, Y axis, and Z axis are θX and θY, respectively. , θZ.

The mold 3 has a rectangular outer peripheral portion, and has a mesa 4 formed as a convex portion of several tens of μm to several hundreds of μm in the central portion of the surface facing the substrate 5 . The mesa 4 has a pattern portion in which a three-dimensional pattern of protrusions and recesses is formed to be transferred to the imprint material supplied on the substrate. The pattern portion of the mold 3 is transferred to the imprint material applied onto the substrate 5 . As the material of the mold 3, for example, a material such as quartz that transmits ultraviolet rays is used. The mold 3 is held and moved by an imprint head 6 .

The imprint head 6 includes a mold chuck 10 and a mold holding force measurement unit 15 . The imprint head 6 can be driven in the Z direction by, for example, an actuator such as a linear motor or air cylinder. The imprint head 6 may be configured to be driven about a plurality of axes (for example, Z-axis, θX-axis, and θY-axis). Also, the imprint head 6 may include a plurality of drive systems such as a coarse movement drive system and a fine movement drive system in order to achieve highly accurate positioning of the mold 3 . Further, the imprint head 6 may have a function of driving the mold 3 not only in the Z direction but also in the X, Y and θZ directions, and a function of correcting the tilt of the mold 3 . The imprint head 6 can also correct the shape of the pattern portion of the mold 3 according to the shape of the shot area of the substrate 5 using the pressure fingers 11 and the like arranged around the mold 3 . The pressure finger 11 is a contact member that contacts the side surface of the mold 3 . The mold chuck 10 is a mold holder that holds the mold 3 by vacuum attraction force, electrostatic force, or the like. A mold chuck 10 is mounted on the imprint head 6 . The mold holding force measurement unit 15 measures the holding force of the mold 3 by the mold chuck 10 by measuring, for example, the adsorption pressure and current value of the mold chuck 10 . The mold holding force measurement unit 15 can also function as a detection unit that detects the current position of the mold 3 and detects that the mold 3 is dechucked (separated) from the mold chuck 10 .

The substrate 5 can be a member made of glass, ceramics, metal, semiconductor, resin, or the like. If necessary, a layer made of a material different from that of the member may be formed on the surface of the member. The substrate 5 is, for example, a silicon wafer, a compound semiconductor wafer, or a quartz glass plate. The substrate 5 is held and moved by the substrate stage 7 .

The substrate stage 7 includes a substrate chuck 12 and a substrate holding force measuring section 16 . The substrate stage 7 has an air guide 19 and a driving mechanism (not shown). The air guide 19 jets gas against the surface of the base surface plate 18 facing the substrate stage 7 to form a gap between the substrate stage 7 and the base surface plate 18 to support the substrate stage 7 . The drive mechanism is, for example, an actuator such as a linear motor or an air cylinder, and drives the substrate stage 7 in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction. The drive mechanism is configured to rotate the substrate stage 7 with respect to a plurality of axes (for example, three axes of X, Y, and θZ axes, preferably six axes of X, Y, Z, θX, θY, and θZ). may be configured to drive the Also, the substrate stage 7 may include a plurality of drive systems such as a coarse movement drive system and a fine movement drive system. The substrate stage 7 may have a function of driving the substrate 5 in the Z-axis direction or the θ (rotation around the Z-axis) direction and a function of correcting the tilt of the substrate 5 .

The substrate chuck 12 is a substrate holder that holds the substrate 5 by vacuum attraction force, electrostatic force, or the like. The substrate chuck 12 is placed on the substrate stage 7 . A protective plate (coplanar plate 13 ) surrounding the substrate 5 is arranged on the outer periphery of the substrate chuck 12 . The flush plate 13 is arranged on the substrate stage 7 in order to reduce the displacement of the substrate 5 when the substrate 5 is held by the substrate chuck 12 . When the substrate chuck 12 holds the substrate 5, the flush plate 13 and the substrate 5 have the same height. The substrate holding force measuring unit 16 measures the holding force of the substrate 5 by the substrate chuck 12 by measuring the adsorption pressure and power value of the substrate chuck 12, for example. The substrate holding force measurement unit 16 can also function as a detection unit that detects the current position of the substrate 5 and detects that the substrate 5 is de-chucked (separated) from the substrate chuck 12 .

The curing unit 2 supplies the imprint material with energy (for example, light such as ultraviolet light) for curing the imprint material on the substrate 5 . The energy supplied by the curing unit 2 forms a pattern that follows the uneven pattern of the mold 3 on the imprint material on the substrate 5 after the mold 3 is released.

The supply unit 8 supplies (applies) the imprint material onto the substrate. The alignment measurement unit 17 can include, for example, a measurement light source such as a He—Ne laser that emits light of a wavelength that does not cure the imprint material on the substrate, and a detector such as a CCD image sensor. The alignment measurement unit 17 is used for alignment between the mold 3 and the substrate 5 . The alignment measurement unit 17 may be used as a detection unit that detects the current positions of the mold 3 and the substrate 5 and detects the detachment of the mold 3 or the substrate 5 from the mold chuck 10 or the substrate chuck 12 . The detection unit 14 is a detection unit that detects the current positions of the mold 3 and the substrate 5 and detects the detachment of the mold 3 or the substrate 5 from the mold chuck 10 or the substrate chuck 12 . The detector 14 may be, for example, a measuring instrument that measures the holding force of the mold chuck 10 or the substrate chuck 12 or a scope that observes the holding state of the mold chuck 10 or the substrate chuck 12 . Further, the detector 14 may be a sensor such as a laser interferometer that detects the position of the mold 3 or substrate 5 .

The control unit 9 includes a CPU, a memory, and the like, and controls each unit of the imprint apparatus 1 to perform imprint processing. Imprint processing includes supply processing, stamping processing, curing processing, and release processing. The imprinting process is a process of bringing the mold and the imprinting material on the substrate into contact with each other. By bringing the mold and the imprint material on the substrate into contact, that is, by pressing the mold against the imprint material, the imprint material is filled in the pattern regions (recesses of the pattern) of the mold. The curing process is a process of curing the imprint material while the mold and the imprint material on the substrate are in contact with each other. The mold release process is a process of separating the mold from the cured imprint material on the substrate. In the contact step and the release step, at least one of the imprint head 6 and the substrate stage 7 functions as a driving unit, and the driving unit adjusts the relative distance between the mold and the substrate by the control unit 9. controlled as

In addition, the control unit 9 also controls determination of whether or not automatic recovery is possible, automatic recovery processing, recovery control stop processing, etc. when an abnormality occurs in the holding operation of the mold chuck 10 or the substrate chuck 12 .

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of imprint processing according to the present embodiment. Each step in this flowchart is executed by controlling each part by the control part 9 . In the following description, an example in which the imprint material is applied to a plurality of shot regions of the substrate and the imprint processing is performed sequentially will be used. Imprint processing may be performed. Alternatively, imprinting may be performed by providing an imprinting material on the mold.

In step S<b>201 , the substrate 5 is loaded into the imprint apparatus 1 and held on the substrate stage 7 by a substrate transport unit (not shown). At step S202, the control unit 9 moves the substrate stage 7 so that the imprint material is supplied to a predetermined shot. In step S<b>203 , the control unit 9 causes the supply unit 8 to supply the imprint material to the shot regions formed on the substrate 5 . In step S<b>204 , the control unit 9 moves the substrate stage 7 so that the shot area to which the imprint material is supplied is positioned directly below the mold 3 .

In step S205, the controller 9 brings the mold 3 into contact with the imprint material on the substrate (press mold). The pattern portion of the mold 3 is filled with the imprint material by bringing the mold 3 into contact with the imprint material on the substrate, that is, by pressing the mold 3 against the imprint material. In step S<b>206 , the control unit 9 cures the imprint material while the mold 3 and the imprint material on the substrate are brought into contact with the curing unit 2 . In step S207, the controller 9 separates the mold 3 from the hardened imprint material on the substrate (mold release). For the pressing and releasing, either the imprint head 6 or the substrate stage 7 may be driven, or both may be driven. Here, when mold release is started, monitoring (abnormality occurrence monitoring) by the detecting unit for whether an abnormality has occurred in the holding operation of the mold chuck 10 and the substrate chuck 12 is also started. For example, the mold holding force measurement unit 15 and the substrate holding force measurement unit 16 functioning as detection units measure the suction pressure of the mold chuck 10 and the substrate chuck 12 when the mold 3 and the substrate 5 are held by vacuum suction. . This makes it possible to monitor the chucking states of the mold chuck 10 and the substrate chuck 12 . That is, when the substrate chuck 12 dechucks the substrate 5 or the mold 3 dechucks from the mold chuck 10, it is determined that the holding state is abnormal.

When the detection unit detects that the holding state of the mold 3 or the substrate 5 is abnormal, in step S209, the control unit 9 determines whether or not automatic recovery processing is possible.

Whether or not automatic recovery is possible can be determined by considering the position of the substrate 5 in the dechucked state, the position of the mold 3, and the relative position between the mold 3 and the pressure finger 11, and the automatic recovery process can be performed based on this information. When it can be determined that the substrate 5 and the mold 3 are not damaged, it is determined that automatic recovery is possible.

If the abnormality is determined to be automatically recoverable, the process advances to S210 to execute automatic recovery processing, which will be described later. finish. At this time, it is preferable to notify the user to stop the operation of the apparatus and perform maintenance.

After the automatic restoration process is performed in S210, it is determined in S211 whether or not the restoration has been completed normally. If it is determined that the system has been restored, the process proceeds to S212.

In S212, it is determined whether imprint processing has been completed for all of the plurality of shot regions on the substrate, and if processing has not been completed, the process returns to S202 and continues. On the other hand, if it is determined in S212 that imprint processing for all shot areas has been completed, the control section 9 proceeds to S213 and controls the substrate transport unit to unload the substrate 5 from the substrate stage 7 .

FIG. 3 shows a subflow of the automatic restoration process performed in S210. Each step in this flowchart is executed by controlling each part by the control part 9 . Here, the mold chuck 10 and the substrate chuck 12 will be described using an example in which the mold 3 and the substrate 5 are held by vacuum suction. In the following description, the automatic recovery process when the substrate is dechucked will be described as an example, but the determination is made in the same way when the mold is dechucked.

In step S301, the control unit 9 starts to lower the imprint head 6 little by little in the direction of the substrate chuck 12 (-Z direction). That is, as a process for recovering the dechucked state, a movement is started in which the relative distance between the mold held by the mold holding unit and the substrate held by the substrate holding unit becomes closer.

In step S<b>302 , the controller 9 acquires the state of the substrate 5 and the state of the mold 3 . As the state of the substrate, the position (height) of the substrate, the tilt of the substrate, the force applied to the substrate, and the substrate chucking pressure of the substrate chuck are acquired. As the force applied to the substrate, the value of the force sensor or the drive current value when the imprint head 6 is lowered is used. As for the state of the mold 3, the position of the mold, the inclination of the mold, the force applied to the mold, and the mold adsorption pressure of the mold chuck can be obtained.

In step S303, the controller 9 determines whether or not an abnormality has occurred by determining whether or not the tilt of the substrate has deviated from a preset allowable range. If it is determined in S303 that there is a deviation, it is determined that there is a danger of board damage, and in step 307, the automatic recovery process is stopped (interrupted). That is, the descent of the imprint head 6 is stopped. If it is determined in S303 that there is no deviation, the process proceeds to step S304.

In step S304, the control unit 9 determines that there is an abnormality when at least one of cases (1) to (3) applies. (1) when the force applied to the substrate deviates from a preset allowable range, (2) when the force applied to the substrate is detected but the adsorption pressure of the substrate in the substrate chuck is not detected, (3) the substrate chuck. When the adsorption pressure of the substrate at is detected but the force applied to the substrate is not detected.

If it is determined in step S304 that there is an abnormality, it is determined that there is a possibility of damage to the substrate, and in step S307 the automatic recovery process is stopped (interrupted). That is, the descent of the imprint head 6 is stopped. If it is determined that there is no abnormality, the process proceeds to step S305.

At step S305, the control unit 9 determines whether or not there is an abnormality at the contact position. Specifically, after the imprint head 6 starts to descend in S301, the position (height) of the substrate when the force applied to the substrate or the substrate adsorption pressure of the substrate chuck changes for the first time is recognized as the contact position. Then, the position where the substrate is assumed to contact the substrate chuck and the recognized contact position are compared and judged. If the substrate is higher than the position where it is assumed to contact the substrate chuck, it is determined that there is a possibility that the substrate has come into contact with the protective plate (coplanar plate 13) surrounding the substrate chuck 12, and that there is a risk of substrate damage. Then, in step 307, the automatic recovery process is stopped (interrupted). That is, the descent of the imprint head 6 is stopped. If it is determined that there is no abnormality, the process proceeds to step S306.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state of automatic restoration during imprint processing on the outer periphery of the substrate. FIG. 4A shows an example of a state in which the substrate 5 is detached from the substrate chuck. In this case, since the position where the mold is attached to the substrate is close to the outer circumference of the substrate, the mold holds the substrate at the edge of the substrate. As a result, as shown in FIG. 4B, the substrate is likely to be distorted by its own weight. Due to such distortion, when the imprint head 6 is lowered, as shown in FIG. 4C, the contact position described above changes more than expected. Considering this phenomenon and distortion such as warping of the substrate, it is necessary to determine the position (height) where the substrate is assumed to contact the substrate chuck.

Even if the imprint head 6 reaches the estimated contact position and the force applied to the substrate or the adsorption pressure of the substrate in the substrate chuck is not detected, it is determined that there is a risk of substrate breakage, and automatic recovery is performed. A process for stopping the process may be added.

Note that if the imprint head 6 is lowered to a position lower than the position where the substrate is estimated to be in contact with the substrate chuck, the substrate may be damaged. Therefore, the imprint head 6 must also be controlled so as not to be lowered more than necessary from the position where the substrate is estimated to be in contact with the substrate chuck. Also, in the flowchart shown in FIG. 3, an example in which the processes of S303, 304, and 305 are performed in this order has been described, but the order of the processes may be different.

In step S306, the control unit 9 determines whether the automatic restoration process has been completed normally. Specifically, the adsorption pressure of the substrate at the substrate chuck 12 is checked to confirm whether the substrate 5 is correctly adsorbed to the substrate chuck 12 . After confirming that the substrate 5 is correctly sucked to the substrate chuck 12, the imprint head 6 is lowered to a preset contact position. Even if the suction pressure is correct, if the imprint head 6 is driven in the release direction (+Z direction) without being lowered to the contact position (pressing position), the suction pressure will be insufficient again. This is because there is a possibility that an abnormality in the holding operation may occur. Further, after being lowered to the contact position, the imprint head 6 is gradually lifted in the releasing direction (+Z direction). The adsorption pressures of the mold chuck 10 and the substrate chuck 12 are checked. By performing the above processing, it is determined whether or not the automatic recovery processing has been completed normally, and when it is determined that it has been completed normally, the process proceeds to S211. On the other hand, if the automatic recovery process has not been completed normally, the process may return to S302 and perform the recovery process again, or may terminate the process as an error state and proceed to S211.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state of automatic restoration during imprint processing in the central portion of the substrate. FIG. 5A shows an example of a state in which the substrate 5 is detached from the substrate chuck. In this state, when the automatic recovery process is performed according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 3, the state shown in FIG. 5(C) is reached through the state shown in FIG. 5(B), and the automatic recovery is completed.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining how an abnormality occurs during the automatic restoration process, that is, the state where the automatic restoration process is stopped. FIG. 6A shows an example of a state in which the substrate 5 is detached from the substrate chuck. In this state, when the automatic recovery process is performed according to the flow chart shown in FIG. At this time, the state shown in FIG. 6B is obtained. In this case, in step S303 of FIG. 3, an abnormality in the inclination of the substrate is detected, or in step S305 in FIG. 3, an abnormality in the contact position is detected, and in step S307 in FIG. be.

In this case, it is necessary to stop the operation of the device and manually restore it to a normal state. For example, the operator who performs the work opens the panel of the imprint apparatus 1 and visually confirms the states of the mold 3 , substrate 5 , mold chuck 10 or substrate chuck 12 . Further, depending on the confirmed state of the mold 3 or the substrate 5, for example, the imprint apparatus 1 is restored by performing maintenance such as removing the mold 3 or the substrate 5 from the imprint apparatus 1. Note that when the automatic recovery process is stopped, the imprint apparatus 1 preferably notifies the operator that an error state has occurred so that the operator can recognize it.

As described above, by making it possible to stop the automatic recovery process as appropriate according to the state during processing, it is possible to avoid damage to the substrate or the mold while automatically responding to errors that can be automatically recovered. can provide an advantageous configuration for

When determining whether the normal state has been restored (FIG. 2, step S210), if it is determined that the normal state has been restored, the same material may be used again, or the holding operation may become abnormal. It may be possible to select whether to restart only the material that has been replaced after replacement. Furthermore, it may be possible to restart after replacing all the materials at the time when an abnormality occurred in the holding operation.

Further, in this embodiment, the mold holding force measurement unit 15, the substrate holding force measurement unit 16, and the alignment measurement unit 17 are used as part of the detection unit. good. In this embodiment, the detection unit 14 is provided. By using it, it is not necessary to separately provide the detection unit 14 . With such a configuration, the cost can be reduced. Furthermore, when a scope or a laser interferometer is used as the detection unit, these may be configured to be drivable. By adopting such a configuration, it is possible to widen the range that can be detected by one detection unit and reduce the number of detection units to be installed.

(Regarding the manufacture of goods)
The pattern of the cured product formed using the imprint apparatus 1 described above is used permanently on at least part of various articles, or temporarily used when manufacturing various articles.

Articles are electric circuit elements, optical elements, MEMS, recording elements, sensors, molds, or the like. Examples of 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 sensors, and FPGA. Examples of the mold include imprint molds and the like.

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

Next, an article manufacturing method of forming a pattern on a substrate by an imprint apparatus, processing the substrate with the pattern formed thereon, and manufacturing an article from the processed substrate will be described with reference to FIG. First, as shown in FIG. 7A, a substrate 1z such as a silicon wafer having a surface to be processed 2z such as an insulator is prepared. An imprint material 3z is applied. Here, a state is shown in which a plurality of droplet-like imprint materials 3z are applied onto the substrate.

As shown in FIG. 7B, the imprint mold 4z is opposed to the imprint material 3z on the substrate with the side on which the uneven pattern is formed. As shown in FIG. 7C, 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 the gap between the mold 4z and the workpiece 2z. In this state, when light is irradiated through the mold 4z as energy for curing, the imprint material 3z is cured.

As shown in FIG. 7D, after the imprint material 3z is cured, the mold 4z and the substrate 1z are separated to form a pattern of the cured imprint material 3z on the substrate 1z. The pattern of this cured product has a shape in which the concave portions of the mold correspond to the convex portions of the cured product, and the convex portions of the mold correspond to the concave portions of the cured product. It will be done.

As shown in FIG. 7(e), when etching is performed using the pattern of the cured product as an anti-etching mask, the portion of the surface of the workpiece 2z where the cured product is absent or remains thinly is removed, forming the grooves 5z. Become. As shown in FIG. 7(f), by removing the pattern of the cured product, an article having grooves 5z formed on the surface of the workpiece 2z can be obtained. Although the pattern of the cured product is removed here, it may be used as an interlayer insulating film included in a semiconductor element or the like, that is, as a constituent member of an article, without being removed after processing.

A method for manufacturing an article includes a step of forming a pattern on an imprint material supplied (applied) to a substrate using the above-described imprinting apparatus (imprinting method); A process of processing is also included. In addition, such manufacturing methods include other well-known steps (oxidation, deposition, deposition, doping, planarization, etching, resist stripping, dicing, bonding, packaging, etc.). It can be said that the method for manufacturing an article of the present embodiment is advantageous in at least one of performance, quality, productivity, and production cost of the article, compared to conventional methods.

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 are possible within the scope of the gist.

Claims (9)

A device for curing the curable composition on the substrate by contacting the mold with the curable composition on the substrate and then releasing the mold,
a mold holding part that holds the mold;
a substrate holder that holds the substrate;
a drive unit that drives at least one of the mold holding unit and the substrate holding unit to adjust the relative distance between the mold held by the mold holding unit and the substrate held by the substrate holding unit;
When a dechucking state occurs in at least one of the mold holding unit and the substrate holding unit, it is determined whether the dechucking state can be recovered, and when it is determined that the dechucking state can be recovered, the dechucking state is determined. a control unit that controls to perform automatic restoration processing including adjustment of the relative distance by the driving unit so as to restore the
The control unit stops the automatic recovery process when it is determined that an abnormality has occurred during the automatic recovery process.
A device characterized by: The control unit controls the driving unit so as to reduce the relative distance between the mold held by the mold holding unit and the substrate held by the substrate holding unit, as the processing for restoring the dechucked state,
2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when it is determined that an abnormality has occurred during said automatic recovery process, said driving unit stops driving. 2. The control unit determines that an abnormality has occurred and stops the automatic recovery process when a state in which it is determined that the substrate is damaged occurs during the automatic recovery process. Or the device according to 2. The control unit acquires at least one information of a force applied to the substrate, an inclination of the substrate, a holding state of the substrate by the substrate holding unit, and a holding state of the mold by the mold holding unit during the recovery process. 4. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein it is determined that the abnormality has occurred based on the acquired information. The mold is sequentially subjected to a pressing process via a curable composition, a curing process of the curable composition, and a release process between the mold and the substrate, to a plurality of shot regions of the substrate. 5. A device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it cures the curable composition within a period of time. 6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the control unit determines that the dechucking state can be restored when the dechucking state occurs only in the substrate holding unit. The control unit, as the automatic recovery process,
After driving by the drive unit until the mold and the curable composition on the substrate are in contact with each other,
Driven by the drive unit so that the substrate and the mold are separated from each other;
7. Apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 6, characterized in that: A method for curing the curable composition on the substrate by contacting the mold with the curable composition on the substrate and then releasing the mold,
a determining step of determining whether or not the dechucking state can be recovered when a dechucking state occurs in at least one of a mold holding unit that holds the mold and a substrate holding unit that holds the substrate;
When it is determined that the recovery is possible, at least one of the mold holding unit and the substrate holding unit is driven to separate the mold held by the mold holding unit and the substrate held by the substrate holding unit. and an automatic recovery process including adjustment of the relative distance,
A method, wherein, in the automatic recovery processing step, the automatic recovery processing is stopped when it is determined that an abnormality has occurred during the automatic recovery processing. curing the curable composition on the substrate using the apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 7;
processing the substrate provided with the composition cured in the step;
A method for producing an article, comprising producing an article from the processed substrate.

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