JP3244022B2 - Stage equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a high-precision positioning stage. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method for positioning a moving stage at a predetermined position and preventing the stage from shifting due to vibration or the like. The present invention relates to a stage device having means for temporarily fixing a moving stage to a stage base.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Exposure apparatuses are used for producing semiconductors, printed circuit boards, and liquid crystal screens. In the above-described exposure apparatus, alignment is performed before exposure using an alignment mark written on a mask and a work. However, in order to improve exposure accuracy, it is necessary to increase alignment accuracy.
For this reason, a moving stage for holding and positioning a work / mask is required to have a high positioning accuracy of about 0.1 μm. One of the factors that lowers the positioning accuracy of the moving stage is that when the moving stage is positioned and stopped by the driving unit, the position of the moving stage shifts due to vibration applied from the outside and instability in the control system of the driving unit. Can be raised.

[0003] In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, this type of stage device usually includes a moving stage,
Means for fixing the moving stage to a stage base (a base on which the moving stage is mounted) is provided. 7A and 7B are views showing an example of a conventional stage device provided with the fixing means. FIG. 7A is a top view of the stage device, and FIG. 7B is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. (C) is an enlarged view of a portion surrounded by a dotted line in (b). In the figure, reference numeral 100 denotes a moving stage (hereinafter, referred to as a stage), and a stage 100 includes a stage base 101.
It is mounted so as to be movable via a movement guide 103, and is driven in an XYθ direction (X is a direction parallel to the stage surface, Y is a direction parallel to the stage surface and orthogonal to X, and θ is an XY plane by the drive unit 102). (Rotation about orthogonal axes).

A fixing means 104 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (c), the stage 100 includes a suction member 104a attached to the stage base 101 via a leaf spring 104b. The suction member 104a faces the member to be sucked 100a provided on the back surface of the stage 100, Slightly spaced. Further, the suction member 104a is provided with a concave portion 104c, and the concave portion 104c communicates with the evacuation unit via the through hole 104d and the conduit 104e. In the drawing, after the moving stage 100 is positioned by the driving unit 102, the pipeline 104e and the through hole 104d are evacuated by the vacuum exhaust means.
, The suction port 104c of the suction member 104a is set to a negative pressure. Thereby, the attraction member 104a attached by the leaf spring 104b moves upward while deforming the leaf spring 104b, and the attraction member 100 on the back surface of the stage 100 is moved.
Adsorb to a. As a result, the stage 100 is fixed so as not to move.

[0005]

In the above-described conventional positioning stage, since the suction member 104a is fixed to the leaf spring 104b, when a force is applied to the leaf spring 104b by the pipe 104e directly connected to the suction member 104a, The adsorbing member 104a may be inclined, and the adsorbing member 104a may not be adsorbed by the adsorbing member 104a as described below, or the positioning accuracy may be significantly reduced.

(1) If only a force in the vertical direction is applied to the leaf spring 104b, the suction surface of the suction member 104a and the member to be sucked 100a remain in a parallel state, and no problem occurs.
In most cases, an inclined force is applied to the leaf spring 104b depending on how the pipe 104e is supported. As a result, a component force in the surface direction of the leaf spring 104b is generated, and the leaf spring is flexibly bent as shown in FIG. For this reason, the suction surface and the surface to be sucked are not kept parallel, and a large gap is formed between them. The gap between the suction surface and the suction surface is 5 μm to 15 μm
If the gap is larger than this, the space between the suction surface and the suction surface is not sufficiently depressurized, and the suction member 104 is not pressed.
a may not be able to suck the member to be sucked 100a.

(2) Even if the adsorbing member 104a can adsorb the adsorbed member 100a, if the adsorbing surface is inclined, one end of the adsorbing member 104a contacts the adsorbed surface of the adsorbed member 100a. The entire suction surface is attracted to the surface to be attracted, and when the member to be attracted 100a is attracted, the stage 100 is displaced from the positioning position.
The stage may deviate from the positioning position by about 0 μm. (3) Further, depending on how the pipe 104e is supported,
When the air is exhausted from the pipeline 104e for suction, the inside of the exhaust pipe is changed from the atmospheric pressure to a vacuum, so that the exhaust pipe 104e moves in an impact manner, and this force may further tilt the suction member. This further increases the amount of displacement of the stage 100.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and realizes stable and stable suction at all times when the stage is fixed after positioning, and realizes highly accurate positioning. It is an object of the present invention to provide a stage device having a simple structure.

[0009]

According to the present invention, the above-mentioned problems are solved as follows. (1) a stage base, a stage arranged on the stage base and guided to be movable in a plane parallel to the stage base surface, and stage driving means for moving and / or rotating the stage. In a stage apparatus provided with the stage and fixing means for directly fixing the stage base, the fixing means is constituted as follows. A member to be attracted arranged such that the surface to be attracted is parallel to the moving surface of the stage is fixed to the stage or the stage base via a plate spring mounted in a rotationally symmetric manner in a plane parallel to the moving surface. I do. Also, the suction member facing this is
It is fixed to a stage base or a stage so that the suction surface is parallel to the suction surface.

Here, to attach the leaf spring in a rotationally symmetrical manner means that the leaf spring is set to 2π / n with the center of the member to be attracted as the rotation axis.
(N: an integer of 2 or more) even if rotated. Thereby, the tensile force generated in the plate thickness direction due to the deflection of the leaf spring is offset, and when the attracted member is attracted by the attracting member, it moves in parallel only to the direction perpendicular to the plane and does not displace in the plane. . By using the fixing means including the above-described suction member and the suction member, the suction surface and the suction surface can always be kept parallel without being affected by the state of the exhaust pipe. For this reason, stable adsorption is always possible, and
Since the stage does not shift during suction,
Positioning accuracy can be improved.

(2) An annular or disk-shaped leaf spring is used. An annular or disk-shaped leaf spring is more resistant to torsion than two leaf springs, so that even when an uneven force is applied to the attracted member at the time of attraction, the attracted member does not tilt, Stable adsorption is enabled, and the positioning accuracy can be improved. (3) The stage has a multi-stage configuration, and the uppermost stage and the stage base are fixed by the fixing means.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. (1) First Embodiment FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a stage device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1A is a diagram of the stage device of the present embodiment viewed from above, and FIG. FIG. 2B is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1A and 1B, reference numeral 1 denotes a stage, 2
Is a stage base, and a movement guide 4 on the stage base 2
-1, 4-2 and 4-3 are provided, and movement guides 4-1 and 4 are provided.
The stage 1 is movably mounted via −2 and 4-3. The stage 1 includes the driving units 3-1, 3-2, 3-
3 in the XYθ direction (X is the direction parallel to the stage surface, Y
Is driven in a direction parallel to the stage surface and orthogonal to X, and θ is rotated about an axis orthogonal to the XY plane.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a fixing means. The fixing means 5 is provided between the stage 1 and the stage base 2. The fixing means 5 fixes the stage 1 and the stage base 2 so as not to move mutually. Can be. FIG. 2 (a) (b) (c)
(D) is a diagram showing a configuration of the fixing means 5, (a) is an enlarged view of the fixing means 5 shown in FIG. 1 (b),
FIG. 1B shows the back surface of the stage 1 in FIG. 1B viewed from the BB direction, and FIGS. 1C and 1D show other embodiments. The fixing means 5 includes, as shown in FIG. 2A, an adsorption member 5a attached to the stage base 2,
The stage 1 is composed of a member to be sucked 5d symmetrically attached via two leaf springs 5e to the back side of the stage 1, and the member to be sucked 5d and the member to be sucked 5d are slightly separated from each other. The suction surface of the suction member 5a and the suction surface of the suction member 5d are disposed so as to be parallel to the moving surface of the stage 1.

A suction port 5c is formed on the suction surface of the suction member 5a, and the suction port 5c communicates with a vacuum exhaust unit (not shown) via a pipe 5b. The member to be sucked 5d is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2B, the stage 1 is attached to a concave portion 1a provided on the back surface of the stage 1 via two leaf springs 5e. A holding plate 5f is provided on a mounting portion of the plate spring 5e, and the plate spring 5e is fixed to the stage 1 and the member to be sucked 5d together with the holding plate 5f with screws or the like. The two leaf springs 5e have the same shape and the same material, and
Is sucked, the member to be sucked 5d moves parallel to the moving surface of the stage 1 only in the vertical direction, and is mounted rotationally symmetrically so as not to be displaced in the horizontal direction. And the stage base 2 can be fixed.

As the material of the suction member 5a and the member to be sucked 5d, it is desirable to use a material having a large mutual friction coefficient. For example, stainless steel can be used for both the suction member 5a and the member to be sucked 5d. Note that FIG.
(A) and (b), the member to be attracted 5 is held by two leaf springs 5e.
Although the case where d is attached is shown, as shown in FIG. 2C, one leaf spring is used, and both ends of one leaf spring are attached to both sides of the concave portion 1a provided on the back surface of the stage 1. The attracted member 5d may be attached to the center of the leaf spring.
In this case, since there are two portions acting as leaf springs, it is functionally equivalent to two leaf springs.

In the above embodiment, the case where a rectangular member is used as the member to be attracted has been described. However, a circular member to be attracted is used, and an annular or disk-like member to be described later is used as the leaf spring. You may. Further, as will be described later, it may be composed of three leaf springs. In short, when the to-be-adsorbed member 5d is adsorbed, the to-be-adsorbed member 5d is moved to the stage 1.
A leaf spring that moves only in the vertical direction with respect to the moving surface and does not displace in the horizontal direction may be used. Further, as shown in FIG. 2D, the mounting may be performed such that the surface to be sucked of the member to be sucked 5d and the surface of the leaf spring 5e are substantially flush with each other. By adopting such a configuration, even if the to-be-adsorbed member 5d is inclined at the time of the attraction, compared with the case where the to-be-adsorbed surface and the surface of the leaf spring 5e shown in FIG. The amount of displacement can be reduced.

The positioning of the stage device of the present embodiment is performed as follows. (a) The fixing of the stage 1 and the stage base 2 by the fixing means 5 is released. (b) The drive units 3-1, 3-2, and 3-3 are driven to move the stage 1 in the X, Y, and θ directions, thereby positioning the stage 1. (c) After the positioning is completed, the pipe line 5b is set to a negative pressure by a vacuum exhaust unit (not shown), and the suction member 5a sucks the member to be sucked 5d. The leaf springs 5e are respectively mounted rotationally symmetrically, and the two leaf springs 5e have the same shape and the same material. Therefore, when the attracted member 5d is attracted, it moves only in a direction perpendicular to the attracted surface. By adsorbing the to-be-adsorbed member 5d by the adsorbing member 5a as described above, the stage 1 is fixed to the stage base 2, and after positioning, the stage 1 does not move due to vibration or the like.

As described above, in this embodiment, the suction member 5a is fixed to the stage base 2 so that its suction surface is on a plane parallel to the moving direction of the stage 1, and the member 5d to be sucked is rotated. The two surfaces of the symmetrically mounted leaf springs 5e of the same shape and the same material make the surface to be attracted the stage 1
Is mounted on the stage 1 so as to be on a plane parallel to the moving direction of the suction member, the member to be sucked 5d can be moved only in the direction perpendicular to the surface to be sucked, and the suction member 5a and the member to be sucked The adsorption surface of 5d can be kept parallel. In addition, the to-be-adsorbed member 5 attached by the leaf spring 5e.
Since no exhaust pipe is connected to d, no inclined force is applied to the leaf spring 5e by the exhaust pipe. For this reason,
The problem that the member to be sucked 5d cannot be sucked does not occur, and the stage 1 does not shift during the sucking, so that highly accurate positioning can be performed.

(2) Embodiment 2 In a stage for holding a mask used for an exposure apparatus or the like, a window for transmitting exposure light through the mask is provided at the center of the stage. This embodiment shows an embodiment suitable for application to a stage having the above window. 3A and 3B are views showing the configuration of the stage device of the present embodiment, in which FIG. 3A is a view from above, and FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a stage, 2 denotes a stage base, and a window 1w for transmitting exposure light is provided at the center of the stage 1 and the stage base 2.
2 w is provided, and a mask holding means such as a vacuum suction means is provided on the back side of the stage 1. Movement guides 4-1, 4-2 and 4-3 are provided on the stage base 2, and the stage 1 is movably mounted via the movement guides 4-1 and 4-2 and 4-3. And the stage 1 has a driving unit 3-
Driven in the XYθ direction by 1, 3-2, 3-3.

5-1, 5-2 and 5-3 are fixing means. The fixing means 5-1 and 5-2 and 5-3 are provided between the stage 1 and the stage base 2, and are fixed. Means 5-1
By 5-2 and 5-3, the stage 1 and the stage base 2 can be fixed so as not to move with each other. By providing a plurality of fixing means as described above, the stage can be reliably fixed even when a large moment force such as rotating the stage is applied. The fixing means 5-1, 5-2, 5-3 of the present embodiment have the same configuration as the fixing means of the first embodiment, and the fixing means 5-1 and 5 are provided by the evacuation means as described above. By supplying a negative pressure to −2 and 5-3, the stage 1 and the stage base 2 can be fixed by suction.

The positioning operation of the stage device of this embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment described above. After the stage 1 and the stage base 2 are unlocked, the driving units 3-1 to 3-1 are released.
The stage 1 is moved and the stage 1 is positioned according to 3-3. Next, a negative pressure is supplied to the fixing means 5-1, 5-2, 5-3 to fix the stage 1 and the stage base 2. As described above, in the present embodiment, in the stage device having the window through which the exposure light is transmitted, the fixing means 5 composed of the to-be-adsorbed member 5d and the attraction member 5a is attached to the periphery of the windows 1w and 2w of the stage device. And the member to be sucked 5d of the fixing means 5 is rotated by two leaf springs 5e of the same shape and the same material, which are mounted in a rotationally symmetric manner.
Since the suction surface is attached to the stage 1 such that the suction surface is parallel to the suction surface of the suction member 5a on a plane parallel to the moving direction of the stage 1, the suction member 5d is mounted as in the first embodiment. The positioning is performed with high precision because the suction member 5a and the suction-receiving member 5d are always kept parallel to each other without being displaced in the horizontal direction and moving in parallel only in the vertical direction with respect to the plane. Can be.

(3) Embodiment 3 This embodiment shows an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a multistage stage apparatus in which a rotary stage is installed on a stage moving in the X and Y directions. 4 and 5 are views showing the configuration of the stage device of the present embodiment. FIG. 4 (a) is a view seen from above, FIG. 4 (b) is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. (A) is the figure which looked at FIG. 4 (b) from the BB direction.
4 and 5, on the stage base 2, movement guides 4-1, 4-2, and 4-3 are provided.
The intermediate stage 6 is movably mounted via 4-2 and 4-3, and the intermediate stage 6 is driven by driving units 3-1, 3-2 and 3-3 mounted on the stage base 2.
Driven in the Y direction.

A rotation guide 7 is provided on the intermediate stage 6.
-1, 7-2, and 7-3 are provided.
The stage 1 is rotatably supported by 1, 7-2 and 7-3. Further, a driving unit 3-
4 is provided, and the driving end of the driving section 3-4 is engaged with the projection 1p provided on the stage 1.
Is rotationally driven by the drive unit 3-4. Reference numeral 5 denotes a fixing unit. The fixing unit 5 is provided between the stage 1 and the stage base 2, and the stage 1 can be fixed to the stage base 2 by the fixing unit 5. The intermediate stage 6 has an opening 6 so that the intermediate stage 6 can move.
The fixing means 5 is provided on the stage base 3 through the opening 6a, and the inner diameter of the opening 6a is larger than the outer diameter of the fixing means 5. The configuration of the fixing means 5 of this embodiment is basically the same as that of the first embodiment, but in this embodiment, an annular spring is used as the leaf spring.

FIG. 5 is a view showing the manner in which the to-be-adsorbed member 5d of the fixing means 5 is attached. As shown in FIG. 2A, an annular leaf spring 5e 'is attached to a concave portion 1a provided on the back surface side of the stage 1, and the to-be-adsorbed member 5d is an inner peripheral portion of the annular leaf spring 5e'. Attached to.
In addition, a holding plate 5f is provided on the mounting portion of the leaf spring 5e ', and the leaf spring 5e' is fixed to the stage 1 and the member to be sucked 5d together with the holding plate 5f with screws or the like. The leaf spring 5e 'is mounted in a rotationally symmetric manner as in the first embodiment, and when the attracted member 5d is attracted, the attracted member 5
d moves only in the direction perpendicular to the surface to be attracted.

In the above description, the case where an annular plate spring is used has been described. However, as shown in FIG. 5B, a disk-shaped plate spring is used, and the central portion of the disk-shaped plate spring is used. The member to be sucked 5d may be attached to the member. Further, as shown in FIG. 6, a leaf spring in which three leaf springs are arranged at intervals of 120 ° may be used. The positioning operation of the stage device of the present embodiment is the same as that of the above-described first embodiment. After the stage 1 and the stage base 2 are released from the fixed state, the stage 1 is moved by the driving units 3-1 and 3-2. The stage is rotated and the stage 1 is positioned by the driving unit 3-3. Next, a negative pressure is supplied to the fixing means 5 to fix the stage 1 and the stage base 2.

As described above, in the present embodiment, in the stage apparatus having the rotary stage installed on the stage moving in the X and Y directions, the stage 1 and the stage base 2
The fixing means 5 composed of the attracted member 5d and the attracting member 5a is provided between the
Is attached to the stage 1 by an annular or disk-shaped leaf spring 5e 'attached in a rotationally symmetric manner.
First, similarly to the embodiment, the suction member 5a and the member to be sucked 5
The suction surface of d can be kept parallel, and highly accurate positioning can be performed. In particular, in this embodiment, since the to-be-adsorbed member 5d is attached using an annular or disk-shaped leaf spring 5e ', the two leaf springs shown in the first and second embodiments are used. Is more resistant to torsion than in the case of using, the holding force of the leaf spring at the time of suction during suction fixing is strengthened, and the holding force is made uniform in all directions.

In the first to third embodiments, the description has been given of the case where the suctioned member is provided on the stage side via a leaf spring and the suction member is provided on the stage base side. A similar effect can be obtained by providing a suction member on the stage base and providing a suctioned member attached to the stage base via a leaf spring. Further, in the first and third embodiments, a plurality of fixing means may be provided as in the second embodiment. By providing a plurality of fixing means, the stage can be reliably fixed even when an external force for rotating the stage is applied as described above.

[0028]

As described above, in the present invention, the stage base and the stage base are arranged on the stage base.
A stage guided movably in a plane parallel to the stage base surface, a stage driving unit for moving the stage, and a stage device including a fixing unit for directly fixing the stage and the stage base, The fixing means includes a pipe communicating with the evacuation means, an adsorbing member for adsorbing an adjacent member by applying a negative pressure to the pipe, and an adsorbed member disposed close to the adsorbing member. The suction member is directly attached to one of the stage or the stage base, the member to be sucked is attached to the other of the stage or the stage base via a leaf spring, and the suction surfaces of the suction member and the member to be sucked are attached to the stage. arranged on a plane parallel to the moving direction of, as described above the leaf spring, if the plate
The axis of rotation is 2π / n (n: 2
Attracted so that the same state is obtained even if it rotates
Since it is mounted rotationally symmetrically in the above plane with respect to the member ,
The suction surface and the suction surface can always be kept parallel without being affected by the state of the exhaust pipe, and the displacement of the suction member in the suction surface during suction can be almost eliminated. For this reason, stable adsorption is always possible, and
Since the stage does not shift during suction,
Positioning accuracy can be improved. In addition, by making the leaf spring ring-shaped or disc-shaped, the force of the leaf spring at the time of suction is strengthened, and further uniformized in all directions,
Further, stable suction can be performed, and positioning accuracy can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a fixing unit illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a view showing an embodiment in which leaf springs are attached at 120 ° intervals.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional stage device having a fixing unit.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a state of the leaf spring when the suction member is inclined in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Stage 1a Recess 1p Projection 1w, 2w Window 2 Stage base 3-1, 3-2, 3-3 Drive 4-1, 4-2, 4-3 Movement guide 5, 5-1, 5- 2,5-3 Fixing means 5a Suction member 5b Pipe line 5c Suction port 5d Sucked member 5e, 5e 'Leaf spring 5f Suppression plate 6 Intermediate stage 6a Opening 7-1, 7-2, 7-3 Rotation guide

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G05D 3/00-3/20 B23Q 1/00-1/30 H01L 21/68

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A stage base, a stage disposed on the stage base, and movably guided in a plane parallel to a surface of the stage base, stage driving means for moving the stage, A stage device comprising a stage and a fixing means for directly fixing the stage base, wherein the fixing means includes a pipe communicating with the evacuation means, and a member which comes close to the pipe by reducing the pressure of the pipe. An adsorbing member for adsorbing, and an adsorbed member arranged close to the adsorbing member, wherein the adsorbing member of the fixing means is directly attached to one of a stage and a stage base, and the adsorbed member is connected via a leaf spring. And the suction surface of the suction member of the fixing means and the suction surface of the suction member are parallel to the moving direction of the stage. When the attracted member is attracted by the attracting member and both approach, the leaf spring moves only in a direction perpendicular to the plane and is not displaced in the plane. As described above, the leaf spring is used with the center of the attracted member as the rotation axis.
Even if rotated by π / n (n: an integer of 2 or more), the same state is obtained.
The stage device is attached to the member to be attracted so as to be rotationally symmetric within the plane. 2. The stage apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said leaf spring has an annular shape or a disk shape. 3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the stage is configured in multiple stages.
3. The stage apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fixing means fixes the uppermost stage and the stage base.