JP2542589B2 - Exposure equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an exposure apparatus used for manufacturing, for example, semiconductors and LSIs.

(Prior Art) JP-A-60-1 as a sample table for a conventional X-ray exposure apparatus
What is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 60617 will be described.

The cartridge is divided into parts that are independent of the exposure part, the alignment part, and the loading part, and has a structure in which the cartridge runs along the axial path. After the cartridge is installed in the loading section and the mask is lowered from above the wafer in the alignment section so that the mask has a predetermined gap, the wafer and mask are housed in the cartridge as a pair and exposed in the exposure section. Is performed.

The above method is efficient because the mask and the wafer are transferred through the same transfer system path, but since the mask and the wafer are housed in the cartridge as a pair, the cartridge and the wafer must be replaced at the time of replacement. And the throughput is poor. Therefore, it can only be used for small-scale production of prototypes. In addition, since it has a cartridge or the like, it is unavoidable that the reliability is lowered due to an increase in the number of parts.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, in the conventional exposure method, throughput is poor, mass production cannot be performed, and the number of parts is large, which causes a decrease in reliability.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a high throughput step
An object of the present invention is to provide a highly reliable exposure apparatus which enables and repeat and simplifies the mechanism and has a small number of parts.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving Problems) An exposure apparatus of the present invention is an exposure apparatus that exposes a pattern formed on a mask onto the wafer by exposure light from an exposure light source. A releasable chuck member, a table formed separately from the chuck member and movable integrally with the chuck member in a direction substantially parallel to the traveling direction of the exposure light, the chuck or the wafer Transport between parts
When the mask or the wafer is transferred between the transfer means and the transfer means and the chuck member, the chuck member is moved in the moving direction of the table relative to the table. Chucking member driving means for moving the table in the moving direction of the table integrally with the chucking member to position the wafer.

(Operation) In the exposure apparatus configured as described above, the transfer between the mask or the wafer by the transfer means and the chuck member is performed, and only the chuck member is driven independently of the table by the chuck member drive means. Then you can do it easily. By carrying out such transfer / delivery, the mask or wafer can be easily replaced, the number of parts is smaller than that of the conventional apparatus, and the throughput at the time of manufacturing can be improved.

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sample table showing an embodiment of the exposure apparatus of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a sample holder (chuck member) 1 that moves in the vertical direction (gap direction between a mask and a wafer) in the figure is fixed to, for example, an air cylinder (chuck member driving means) 2 that vertically drives the sample holder 1. ing. The mask 3 has a mask pattern 4 substantially in the center. Since the mask pattern 4 is very important at the time of exposure and is fine, it is necessary to avoid contact with other objects. Therefore, the sample holder 1 is held by the suction portion 6 (for example, a vacuum chuck) of the sample holder 1 having the concave surface 5 so that the sample holder 1 does not come into contact with the mask pattern 4.

Next, referring to FIG. 2, an example of use in the X-ray exposure apparatus will be described. The transfer system 7 which moves to the left and right in the figure mounts the mask 3 and stops at the lower surface of the cylinder 9 of the X-ray light source as shown in FIG. Then, the sample holder 1 housed in the wafer table 10 is raised by the air cylinder 2 with respect to the wafer table 10 to adsorb the mask 3, and then the mask 3 is moved to the X-ray light source as shown in FIG. 2B. After the mask 3 is adsorbed by the adsorbing portion 15 provided on the cylinder 9 by pressing it against the cylinder 9 (mask table), the sample holder moves down and is stored again in the wafer table 10. Next, as shown in FIG. 2C, the transfer system 7 on which the wafer 11 is placed stops on the upper surface of the wafer table 10, and the wafer 11 is adsorbed by the adsorbing section 6 of the sample holder that rises again and transferred. System 7 retreats. Then, the sample holder 1 descends and is fixed to the wafer table 10.

In the X-ray exposure apparatus, since the X-ray in the air is heavily attenuated, the gap g between the mask 3 and the wafer 11 must be made as small as several tens of micrometers. In FIG. 2D, a drive mechanism 12 for driving the wafer table 10 to set the gap g and positioning the wafer table 10,
It is provided separately from the drive mechanism such as the air cylinder 2 for driving the sample holder 1 described above.

Next, the relationship between the transport system 7, the mask 3 and the sample holder 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The leading end of the transport system 7 is shaped like a letter as shown in FIG. A notch is provided in the shape of. The sample holder 1 is smaller than the cutout portion, and can be raised and lowered more freely than the tip of the transport system 7 through the cutout portion. As a result, the mask 3 or the wafer 11 which is adsorbed by the adsorption unit 16 of the transfer system 7 and transferred can be received from the transfer system 7. As described above, the sample holder 1 is provided with the concave surface 5, and the suction portion 6 is provided outside the concave surface 5 without contacting the mask pattern 4. (See FIG. 3 (b)) FIG. 4 is a side view showing another embodiment. When the mask pattern 4 of the mask 3 is large, the sample holder 1
It is necessary to make the concave surface 5 large, and when the wafer 11 is sucked onto the wafer table 10, an area that cannot be sucked occurs in the central portion of the wafer table 10 and the wafer 11 cannot be sucked and held flat. In such a case, as shown in FIG. 4, if a plurality of columns 13 or rings are divided and arranged on the wafer table 10, the mask pattern 4 will not be damaged even when the mask 3 is sucked and the wafer 3 11 can be evenly adsorbed over the entire surface of the wafer table 10.

As described above, according to the present invention, both the mask 3 and the wafer 11 can be transferred and attached by the same transfer system 7 and sample holder 1, so that step-and-repeat can be performed with a small number of parts.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the vertical drive mechanism of the sample holder 1 is the air cylinder 2, but it may be driven by a motor or another method. Further, although a vacuum chuck is used for the suction portion, an electrostatic chuck or another method may be used.

[Effect of the Invention] As described in detail above, according to the present invention, the transfer of the mask or the wafer can be easily performed by driving only the chuck member independently of the table by the chuck member driving means. By carrying out such transfer / delivery, the mask or wafer can be easily replaced, the number of parts is smaller than that of the conventional apparatus, and the throughput at the time of manufacturing can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an example of a sample table used in the exposure apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing an example of use of the sample table used in the exposure apparatus of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a top view of a transport system and a sample holder used in the exposure apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the sample table used in the exposure apparatus of the present invention. 1 ... Sample holder (chuck member) 2 ... Air cylinder (chuck member driving means) 3 ... Mask 4 ... Mask pattern 6 ... Adsorption part 7 ... Transport system (transport means) 10 ... Wafer table ( Table) 11 …… Wafer 12 …… Drive mechanism (table drive means) 16 …… Suction part

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical indication H01L 21/30 503C 503D

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An exposure apparatus for exposing a wafer to a pattern formed on a mask by exposure light from an exposure light source, comprising a chuck member capable of adsorbing and releasing the mask or the wafer, and a chuck member separate from the chuck member. A table that is movable integrally with the chuck member in a direction substantially parallel to the traveling direction of the exposure light; and a transport means for transporting and delivering the mask or the wafer to and from the chuck member. Chuck member driving means for moving the chuck member relative to the table in the moving direction of the table when the mask or the wafer is transferred between the transfer means and the chuck member, Positioning the wafer by moving the table integrally with the chuck member in the moving direction of the table. Exposure apparatus being characterized in that a fit of the table drive means. 2. The exposure apparatus according to claim 1, wherein X-rays are used as the exposure light. 3. The exposure apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the chuck member driving means is an air cylinder.