JP3468398B2 - Substrate processing apparatus and device manufacturing method - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an exposure apparatus used for manufacturing a semiconductor device, and more particularly to a substrate processing apparatus such as an exposure apparatus provided with a pre-alignment of a substrate such as a wafer to be exposed and a substrate supply apparatus. The present invention relates to a device manufacturing method capable of manufacturing the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional reduction projection type exposure apparatus, as described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-74084, a means for holding a substrate and a precise alignment of the substrate by driving the substrate holding means. A substrate processing means for performing predetermined processing on the substrate held by the substrate holding means and subjected to precise alignment, a substrate driving means for holding and moving the substrate, and a substrate driving means for holding the substrate. And a sensor for detecting the end of the substrate in a non-contact manner, and the rough positioning of the substrate by controlling the operation of the substrate driving means so that the output value of the sensor is within a predetermined tolerance range with respect to a predetermined target value. The pre-alignment means including the control means for performing the rough positioning, the transport means for holding the substrate on which the rough positioning has been performed and transporting the substrate onto the substrate holding means, and the rough positioning are performed. Mark detecting means for detecting two or more marks on the substrate while holding the separated substrate, and X, Y and Z directions with respect to the reference position for performing precise pre-alignment based on the detection result. A means for obtaining the amount of deviation in the θ direction about the axis is provided.

[0003]

However, in the conventional configuration, although the deviation amount is calculated with the position of the mark detection system as a reference, the means for accurately recognizing the position of the mark detection system or the mark detection system is used. Since there is no means for correcting the position of the system, when this position changes with time, an error occurs in the detected deviation amount, and as a result, the deviation amount in the θ direction about the X, Y and Z axes with respect to the reference position. Becomes inaccurate.

This problem will be further described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. Here, in order to directly show the conventional problems, among the above-mentioned conventional examples, the substrate holding means side is corrected and driven, the substrate transfer means side is driven by a fixed amount, the center of the substrate holding means, and the substrate The case where the centers of are accurately aligned will be described.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram when the mark detection system is in an ideal position. In this figure, 51 is an expected position of the substrate on the substrate conveying means (on the carrying-in hand), 52 is the expected center of the substrate 51, 54 is the center of the mark detection system,
Reference numeral 55 is a mark detection system capture range, 56 is a detected mark on the substrate, B is the detected shift amount of the substrate, 53 is the true position of the substrate found by B, and 57 is a substrate holding means before the shift amount is corrected. The position of a certain chuck, 58 is the center of the chuck before the displacement amount is corrected, C is the loading amount of the loading hand for transferring from the mark detection system to the chuck, 60 is the chuck center corrected by the displacement amount B, and 61 is the displacement amount B. This is the chuck outline.

In the conventional example, when the loading hand holding the substrate is driven by the fixed drive amount C and the substrate is placed on the chuck, if the chuck is driven by the detected shift amount B, the center of the chuck and the center of the substrate It is said that it is possible to accurately match.

However, when the position of the mark detection system changes to 62 as shown in FIG. 9, the center of the mark detection system becomes 5
Since the position shifts to 4 ', the displacement amount of the substrate changes like B'. As a result, in order to accurately align the center of the chuck with the center of the substrate, it is necessary to move the chuck to the position 61, but the chuck position becomes 63. In other words, even if the measurement for the precise pre-alignment is performed, it is necessary to perform the pre-alignment measurement again on the substrate holding means because the substrate is transported with a large deviation on the substrate holding means. In some cases, the desired improvement in throughput cannot be achieved.

It is an object of the present invention to eliminate such drawbacks of the prior art and to improve the throughput in a substrate processing apparatus and a device manufacturing method which can use the same easily and stably at low cost. It is in.

[0009]

To achieve this object, in a first aspect of the present invention, a substrate holding means for holding the substrate and a substrate holding means for holding the substrate when performing a predetermined process on the substrate. a substrate conveying means for conveying onto the unit, in the middle of the transport path of the substrate transfer means, provided at a position and the substrate reference mark provided on the substrate transfer means
Detecting the position of the mark, it perpendicular to the transport path
A mark detecting means which is movable in direction, based on the position detection result of the reference mark by the mark detecting means, due to variations of the position of said mark detecting means, said mark detection
The position detection result of the mark provided on the substrate by the output means.
A substrate processing apparatus, comprising: a means for obtaining a deviation of a fruit .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a substrate holding means for holding the substrate when performing a predetermined process on the substrate, a substrate carrying means for carrying the substrate onto the substrate holding means, and in the middle of the transport path of the substrate conveying means, for detecting the position of a mark provided on the position and the substrate reference mark provided on the substrate transfer means, the transfer
Provided on the substrate by the mark detecting means based on the mark detecting means movable in a direction orthogonal to the path and the position detection result of the reference mark by the mark detecting means.
And a correction unit that corrects the position detection result of the formed mark.

Further, another preferable embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention.
In this aspect, the driving means for driving the substrate holding means is
Yes, and the drive means, before said group <br/> plate is conveyed onto the substrate holding means by the substrate transfer means, on the basis of the said corrected hand that by the <br/> stage correction result Drive the substrate holding means
Let Still another preferred embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention
Then, it has a drive means for driving the substrate holding means,
The driving means is configured to move the substrate forward by the substrate carrying means.
After being transferred onto the substrate holding means, the correction means
The substrate holding means is driven based on the correction result.
The mark detecting means has two or more points provided on the substrate.
The position of the mark is detected. The mark detecting means is
Position of two or more reference marks provided on the substrate transfer means
Position is detected. The substrate transfer means is configured to move the edge of the substrate.
Rough pre-alignment based on non-contact detection results
The separated substrate is conveyed onto the substrate holding means .

Further, in the first aspect of the device manufacturing method of the present invention, a step of performing a predetermined process on the substrate while holding the substrate by the substrate holding means, and a step of carrying the substrate on the substrate holding means by the substrate carrying means. the method comprising: conveying, in the middle of the transport path of the substrate transfer means, the transport path and straight
Detecting the position of the reference mark provided on the substrate conveying means and the position of the mark provided on the substrate by the mark detecting means movable in the intersecting direction, and detecting the position of the reference mark by the mark detecting means. Correcting the position detection result of the mark provided on the substrate by the mark detecting means based on the result.

As described above, by also considering the detection result of the reference mark by the mark detecting means, it is possible to perform the processing in which the position of the substrate is accurately recognized regardless of the change in the position of the mark detecting means.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a substrate driving means for holding and moving a substrate, a sensor for detecting an end portion of the substrate held by the substrate driving means in a non-contact manner, and Prealignment means having a control means for controlling the operation of the substrate driving means to perform rough positioning of the substrate so that the output value of the sensor is within a predetermined tolerance range with respect to a predetermined target value is provided. Then, the substrate carrying means holds the substrate on which the rough positioning has been carried and carries it onto the substrate holding means, and the mark detecting means holds the substrate on which the rough positioning has been carried out on the substrate. Of two or more marks of
The substrate processing unit includes, as the predetermined process, a process of driving the substrate holding unit to precisely align the substrate, and based on the detection result of the two or more marks, the precise pre-alignment is performed. The amount of deviation in the θ direction about the X, Y and Z axes with respect to the reference position is obtained, and this amount of deviation is corrected based on the detection result of the reference mark position. Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described more specifically through examples.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a main part of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG.
A substrate supply device F0 for automatically supplying and collecting substrates is arranged on the side of 0, and is sequentially taken out by a robot (not shown) from the supply cassette 109 containing the substrates and the supply cassette 109. A rough pre-alignment apparatus 110 for pre-aligning a substrate, and
It has a carry-in hand 201 for carrying in a wafer that has undergone rough pre-alignment to the substrate processing apparatus main body S0. 16
Is a mark detection system, has a function of detecting the position of a mark on the substrate held by the carry-in hand 201, and can move in a direction X orthogonal to the traveling direction of the carry-in hand 201. The carry-in hand 201 has a linear guide 204.
And a vertical drive unit 205, a suction unit 2 that holds a substrate by suction
03 and reference mark 206. The position of the reference mark 206 can be detected by the above-described board mark detection system 16. The substrate is carried into the stage system constituted by the X, Y table 4 and the chuck 5 by the carry-in hand 201, processed, and collected by the collecting hand 112 after the process is completed.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the carry-in hand 201 is driven below the mark detection system 16 and one of the reference marks 206 is detected in order to obtain the position correction data of the mark detection system 16. It is a figure. In FIG. 3, in order to obtain the displacement amount of the substrate W, the carry-in hand 201 holding the substrate W is driven below the mark detection system 16, and the cross mark 4 provided on the substrate.
It is a schematic diagram showing the method of detecting 1.

The operation of the above structure will be described step by step. First, the position correction data of the mark detection system 16 is
It is calculated by the following operation. First, the mark detection system 16 is moved so that the mark on the substrate can be expected to fall within this capture range. In this state, the carry-in hand 201
Is moved along the linear guide 204 until the reference mark 206 is below the mark detection system 16, and then by the vertical drive unit 205 until the upper surface of the reference mark 206 is positioned on the focus surface of the mark detection system 16. Carry-in hand 201
Raise. Instead of this, a focus system may be provided in advance in the mark detection system 16 and the mark detection system 16 may be operated to focus. At this position (state of FIG. 2), the reference mark 206 provided on the carry-in hand 201 is detected, and the position error A from the ideal position of the mark detection system 16 is detected.
To calculate.

Next, the substrate is carried in for the substrate processing. That is, the substrate taken out from the supply cassette 109 and carried into the rough pre-alignment apparatus 110 by a robot (not shown) is used as the rough pre-alignment apparatus 1
It is aligned at a predetermined position by 10 and then sucked and held by the suction unit 203 of the carry-in hand 201. afterwards,
As shown in FIG. 3, the carry-in hand 201 is moved along the linear guide 204 until the cross mark 41 on the substrate is below the mark detection system 16 (position (1) in FIG. 3), and then the substrate surface is moved. The carry-in hand 201 is raised by the vertical drive unit 205 until it is located on the focus surface of the mark detection system 16. Instead of this, a focus system may be provided in advance in the mark detection system 16 and the mark detection system 16 may be operated to focus.

A cross mark 41 provided on the substrate at this position
Is detected and the amount of deviation B from the reference position is measured. From the shift amount B of the cross mark 41, an error of the wafer position with respect to the reference position in the X, Y and θ directions is calculated, and this error is corrected by the position error A of the mark detection system 16 described above.

Then, the corrected position error is corrected by the X, Y stage 4 to the substrate transfer position (chuck position in FIG. 1).
(3) Used as an offset value for the amount of movement, after that, the hand unit 201 is moved to the substrate supply position (position (2) in FIG. 3) and the vertical drive unit 205 is driven downward to receive the substrate on the chuck 5. hand over. As a result, the substrate is placed on the chuck 5 in a state where the center of the substrate and the center of the chuck are exactly aligned.

After that, since the position of the substrate transferred to the chuck 5 is accurately grasped, it is not necessary to perform the measurement for pre-alignment on the chuck 5, and the substrate is directly transferred to the final precision alignment position (not shown). It can move and enter the process of substrate processing. The processed substrate is moved to the recovery position by the stage 4 and recovered by the recovery hand 112.

The method of correcting the above deviation amount is further described in FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 shows a state in which the position D of the reference mark 206 provided on the carry-in hand 201 is detected before the position of the mark detection system 16 is displaced. FIG. 5 shows a state in which the position D ′ of the reference mark 206 provided on the carry-in hand 201 is detected after the center position of the mark detection system 16 is displaced to the position 54 ′. Here, the position error A from the ideal position of the mark detection system is A =
If the displacement B ′ of the substrate from the reference position is corrected by the calculated amount A as shown in FIG. 7 and the chuck 5 is driven by the amount A + B ′, as shown in FIG. The corrected chuck center is 65 and the chuck outer shape is 64, which is equal to the chuck position 61 (FIG. 8) when the mark detection system described in the conventional example is in the ideal position. Therefore, the substrate is transferred to the chuck in a state where the center of the substrate and the center of the chuck are exactly aligned.

In this embodiment, the case where the substrate holding means side is corrected and driven, the substrate carrying means side is driven by a fixed amount, and the center of the substrate holding means and the center of the substrate are accurately aligned and carried in are described. Alternatively, it may be corrected as an offset of the driving amount that moves to a position where the substrate processing is performed after the substrate is loaded.

Next, when an exposure apparatus is used as this substrate processing apparatus, a device manufacturing example that can utilize it will be described. FIG. 10 shows a flow of manufacturing minute devices (semiconductor chips such as IC and LSI, liquid crystal panels, CCDs, thin film magnetic heads, micromachines, etc.). In step 31 (circuit design), the circuit of the semiconductor device is designed. In step 32 (mask manufacturing), a mask having the designed circuit pattern is manufactured. On the other hand, step 3
In 3 (wafer manufacturing), a wafer is manufactured using a material such as silicon. Step 34 (wafer process) is called a pre-process, and an actual circuit is formed on the wafer by lithography using the mask and the wafer prepared above. The next step 35 (assembly) is called the post process,
This is a process for forming a semiconductor chip using the wafer manufactured in step 34, and includes a process such as an assembly process (dicing, bonding), a packaging process (chip encapsulation) and the like. In step 36 (inspection), the semiconductor device manufactured in step 35 undergoes inspections such as an operation confirmation test and a durability test. Through these processes, semiconductor devices are completed and shipped (step 3
7) Do.

FIG. 11 shows a detailed flow of the wafer process. In step 41 (oxidation), the surface of the wafer is oxidized. In step 42 (CVD), an insulating film is formed on the wafer surface. In step 43 (electrode formation), electrodes are formed on the wafer by vapor deposition. In step 44 (ion implantation), ions are implanted in the wafer. Step 4
In 5 (resist processing), a photosensitive agent is applied to the wafer. In step 46 (exposure), the circuit pattern of the mask is printed and exposed on the wafer by the above-described exposure apparatus. In step 47 (development), the exposed wafer is developed. In step 48 (etching), parts other than the developed resist image are removed. In step 49 (resist stripping),
The unnecessary resist after etching is removed.
By repeating these steps, multiple circuit patterns are formed on the wafer.

By using the manufacturing method of this embodiment, a highly integrated semiconductor device, which has been difficult to manufacture in the past, can be manufactured at low cost.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention,
A reference mark is provided on the substrate transfer means, this position is detected by the mark detection means for detecting the mark on the substrate, and the detection result is taken into consideration to correct the error caused by the change in the position of the mark detection system. As a result, it is possible to perform the processing in which the substrate position is always accurately recognized. Therefore, it is possible to stably improve the throughput with a simple and low-cost configuration that does not require pre-alignment or the like again.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a main part of a substrate processing apparatus that is an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a state in which the carry-in hand 201 is driven below the mark detection system 16 and one of the reference marks 206 is detected in order to obtain position correction data of the mark detection system in the apparatus of FIG. It is a schematic diagram showing.

In the apparatus of FIG. 1, in order to obtain the amount of displacement of the substrate W, a carry-in hand 201 holding the substrate W is driven below the mark detection system 16 and a cross mark 41 provided on the substrate.
It is a schematic diagram showing the method of detecting.

4 is a vector diagram showing a state in which the position D of a reference mark 206 provided on the carry-in hand 201 is detected before the position of the mark detection system 16 is displaced in the apparatus of FIG.

5 is a vector diagram showing a state in which the position D ′ of the reference mark 206 provided on the carry-in hand 201 is detected after the position of the mark detection system 16 is displaced to the position of 62 in the apparatus of FIG. is there.

6 is a vector diagram for calculating a position error A from an ideal position of a mark detection system in the apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a vector diagram when the displacement amount of the substrate is corrected by the position error A in the apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a vector diagram when the mark detection system of the conventional example is located at an ideal position.

FIG. 9 is a vector diagram when the position of a mark detection system of a conventional example changes.

FIG. 10 shows a case where an exposure apparatus is used as the apparatus of FIG.
It is a flow chart which shows a flow of manufacture of a minute device which can be manufactured by this.

11 is a flowchart showing a detailed flow of the wafer process in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

S0: Substrate processing device, F0: Substrate supply device, A: Position error from the ideal position of the mark detection system, B: Detected substrate deviation amount, B ': Detected by the mark detection system after the position change Amount of displacement of the substrate, C: A fixed driving amount of the carry-in hand for transferring from the mark detection system to the chuck, D: Reference mark 206 measured by the mark detection system at the ideal position
Position, D ': position of the reference mark 206 measured by the mark detection system whose position has changed, W: substrate, 4: X, Y table, 5: chuck, 16: mark detection system, 41: provided on the substrate Cross mark, 51: Expected position of substrate on substrate carrying means (carrying-in hand), 52: Expected center of substrate 51, 53: True position of substrate found by B, 54: Center of mark detection system, 54 ': Center of mark detection system after position change, 55: mark detection system capture range, 56: mark on substrate detected, 57: position of chuck as substrate holding means before displacement amount correction, 58: Center of chuck before displacement amount correction, 60: chuck center corrected by displacement amount B, 61: chuck outline corrected by displacement amount B, 62: mark detection system capture range after position change,
63: chuck outer shape corrected by the shift amount B ′, 10
9: cassette for supply, 110: rough pre-alignment device, 112: collection hand, 201: carry-in hand, 20
3: Adsorption part, 204: Linear guide, 205: Vertical drive part, 206: Reference mark.

Claims (8)

(57) [Claims] 1. When performing a predetermined process on a substrate, a substrate holding means for holding the substrate, a substrate carrying means for carrying the substrate onto the substrate holding means, and a midway of a carrying path by the substrate carrying means. , The position of the reference mark provided on the substrate transfer means and the substrate
Directly detects the position of the mark provided and directly
Provided on the substrate by the mark detecting means, which is caused by a change in the position of the mark detecting means based on the position detection result of the reference mark by the mark detecting means movable in the intersecting direction and the mark detecting means. Was
A substrate processing apparatus, comprising: means for obtaining a deviation of a mark position detection result . 2. When performing a predetermined process on a substrate, a substrate holding means for holding the substrate, a substrate carrying means for carrying the substrate onto the substrate holding means, and a midway of a carrying path by the substrate carrying means. detects the position of the mark provided at the position and the substrate reference mark provided on the substrate transfer means, the transport path and straight
The mark detection means movable in the intersecting direction and the mark detection means provided on the substrate based on the position detection result of the reference mark by the mark detection means.
A substrate processing apparatus, comprising: a correction unit that corrects a position detection result of a marked mark. 3. A driving means for driving the substrate holding means, wherein the driving means determines a correction result by the correcting means before the substrate is carried onto the substrate holding means by the substrate carrying means. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the substrate holding means is driven based on the above. 4. A driving means for driving the substrate holding means, wherein the driving means is based on a correction result by the correcting means after the substrate is carried onto the substrate holding means by the substrate carrying means. 3. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the substrate holding means is driven by a means. 5. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the mark detection unit detects the positions of two or more marks provided on the substrate. 6. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the mark detecting means detects the positions of two or more reference marks provided on the substrate carrying means. 7. The substrate carrying means carries the rough pre-aligned substrate onto the substrate holding means based on a result of non-contact detection of an end portion of the substrate. 7. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of 6 to 6. 8. A step of performing a predetermined process on the substrate while holding the substrate by the substrate holding means, a step of transporting the substrate onto the substrate holding means by the substrate transporting means, and a transport path by the substrate transporting means. Along the way, the carrying through of
Detecting the position of the reference mark provided on the substrate conveying means and the position of the mark provided on the substrate by the mark detecting means movable in the direction orthogonal to the path, and the step of detecting the reference mark by the mark detecting means. Based on the position detection result, the mark detection means sets the substrate.
And a step of correcting the position detection result of the scribed mark.