JP5357483B2 - Exposure apparatus and exposure method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To form an accurate pattern without reducing a data processing speed even in the case of a high-density drawing pattern having a large data amount. <P>SOLUTION: A fixed form pattern CP repeatedly appearing in a drawing pattern PW is extracted from the drawing pattern PW, and a series of fixed form raster data for exposure is stored in a memory in association with paste numbers. During exposure operation, vector data of a peculiar pattern PB is converted to raster data in accordance with a relative position of an exposure area, and fixed form raster data for exposure corresponding to the relative position of the exposure area is read out from the memory. The read fixed form raster data for exposure and the peculiar raster data are combined to generate comprehensive exposure raster data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an exposure apparatus and an exposure method for forming a pattern such as a circuit pattern on an object to be drawn such as an electronic circuit board. In particular, the present invention relates to data processing of an exposure apparatus including an exposure device in which micromirrors and the like are two-dimensionally arranged.

  In the substrate manufacturing process, a photosensitive material such as a photoresist is applied to or pasted on the substrate, and a pattern forming drawing process is performed. As an exposure device (drawing device), light modulation elements (cells) such as micromirrors such as LCD and DMD (Digital Micro-mirror Device) are arranged in a two-dimensional matrix to perform an exposure operation, and a pattern can be directly formed without a mask An exposure apparatus for forming is known (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  Drawing data such as CAD / CAM data is represented by vector data representing the outline of a pattern. Therefore, in the exposure process, the drawing data is converted into raster data. That is, two-dimensional dot pattern data that sets each light modulation element (cell) to ON / OFF is generated. Scanning is performed by moving the projection area on the drawing surface, and raster data of a drawing pattern to be drawn is sequentially generated at the position of the projection area, and an exposure operation is performed.

  The amount of drawing data is enormous, and it takes time to convert drawing data to raster data. On the other hand, when the substrate is deformed due to heat or the like, it is necessary to reflect the alignment of the substrate in the drawing data. Therefore, the substrate is mounted on the drawing apparatus, alignment adjustment is performed, and drawing data is corrected by conversion processing such as rotation and scale conversion. Therefore, CAD / CAM data cannot be directly converted into exposure raster data, and drawing data conversion processing must be performed in parallel with exposure processing.

In order to reduce the burden of such drawing data conversion processing performed in real time, for example, the drawing data is converted into vector data suitable for the exposure coordinates of the exposure device, and a part of the vector data is extracted to perform the exposure operation. It performs (refer patent document 2). Alternatively, division pattern data corresponding to a predetermined repetitive pattern is generated, and the division pattern data is converted into raster data while adding an offset (see Patent Document 3).
JP 2003-57836 A JP 2003-84198 A JP 2005-300807 A

  The conversion processing time from vector-format drawing data to raster data changes according to the complexity of the pattern, and the data conversion processing takes longer for a higher-density and continuous drawing pattern. For example, in a display substrate such as an LCD, fine patterns are continuously formed in a dense state. Moreover, in the printed wiring board, a very large number of fine arc-shaped patterns such as pads are formed. Since time is spent on conversion processing of pattern data having a large amount of data, it is difficult to improve the throughput of the entire drawing process.

  The exposure apparatus of the present invention is an exposure apparatus capable of performing drawing processing for any drawing pattern without reducing the data processing speed of the drawing pattern, and includes at least one of a plurality of spatial light modulation elements arranged in a matrix. Two exposure units, and scanning means for moving an exposure area, which is a projection area of the exposure unit, relative to a drawing object such as a substrate along the scanning direction.

  An exposure device such as a DMD, LCD, or SLM guides illumination light from a light source to a drawing object according to a pattern, and selectively guides illumination light such as a micromirror or a liquid crystal element to the drawing object or the outside of the drawing object. It is constituted by a light modulation element (cell). As the scanning means, for example, a step-and-repeat method in which the exposure area is relatively moved intermittently or a continuous movement method in which the exposure area is continuously moved can be applied.

  Furthermore, the exposure apparatus of the present invention includes data processing means for generating exposure raster data that matches the arrangement of the plurality of spatial light modulation elements based on the pattern data of the drawing pattern, and the generated exposure raster data and exposure area. Exposure control means for controlling a plurality of light modulation elements based on a relative position with respect to the object to be drawn and performing an exposure operation. The pattern data is, for example, vector format data. The exposure control means preferably performs the exposure operation while overlapping the unit exposure areas of the respective light modulation elements.

  In the present invention, it is possible to separately process data for a regular pattern that repeatedly appears in a drawing pattern and a unique pattern that cannot be represented by the regular pattern. The data processing means of the present invention generates exposure standard raster data based on the pattern data of the standard pattern. In the exposure operation, the raster data of the unique pattern is converted into the unique raster data based on the relative position of the exposure area, and the regular raster data for exposure is combined with the unique raster data according to the relative position of the exposure area.

  Since a fixed pattern that is repeatedly formed in the entire drawing pattern and has an enormous amount of data is prepared in advance as raster data, the relative movement of the exposure area, that is, data that needs to undergo raster conversion processing according to the scanning position, Limited to specific data excluding fixed patterns. This improves the raster conversion processing speed executed in real time in accordance with the scan.

  When creating drawing data in CAD / CAM or the like, a pattern that is repeatedly formed is often prepared and created as a template pattern. Therefore, it is preferable that the template pattern is defined as a regular pattern, and the drawing data and the related layout information used when creating CAD / CAM data are acquired as the regular pattern layout information and used for the exposure process.

  When performing an exposure operation using an exposure device, between the drawing position of the fixed pattern specified during the predetermined exposure operation and the grid along the arrangement of unit exposure areas defined within the exposure area during the exposure operation Thus, a positional shift occurs. However, the unit exposure area indicates a projection area of one light modulation element. The drawing pattern is required to have the same pattern size as the unit exposure area, and the outline of the grid and the drawing pattern does not necessarily match.

  Therefore, in order to form a drawing pattern as accurately as possible, that is, to generate regular raster data for exposure that is as equal as possible to a predetermined drawing position and pattern shape, the data processing means is defined during a predetermined exposure operation. It is preferable to generate regular raster data for exposure in which the drawing position is corrected based on the positional deviation between the drawing position of the fixed pattern and the unit exposure area array defined in the exposure area during the exposure operation. For example, regular raster data for exposure may be generated depending on whether or not the reference point (lower left corner point, center point, etc.) of each unit exposure area belongs to the pattern irradiation / non-irradiation area.

  Raster data may be prepared by correcting the drawing position by determining the degree of misalignment to some extent, but in order to improve the pattern accuracy, the position of the drawing position is changed according to the degree of the deviation while appropriately changing the degree of misalignment. It is preferable to prepare a plurality of fixed raster data for exposure in advance and select the standard raster data for exposure corresponding to the positional deviation detected during exposure from the plurality of standard raster data for exposure.

  Therefore, the data processing means creates a plurality of exposure raster data by defining a plurality of fixed patterns having different degrees of positional deviation, and the positional deviation detected based on the relative position of the exposure area during the exposure operation. It is preferable to select regular raster data for exposure corresponding to 1 from a plurality of raster data for exposure.

  When creating a plurality of raster data for exposure, it is desirable to determine the positional deviation as evenly as possible. For this reason, the data processing means determines the deviation between the reference position of the fixed pattern in one unit exposure area and the reference point of the grid as a positional shift, and determines the reference position of the fixed pattern in two orthogonal directions along the grid. A plurality of regular patterns may be defined by shifting at intervals. However, the grid reference point represents a grid point of the grid corresponding to the reference position of the fixed pattern.

  In the substrate manufacturing method of the present invention, development processing is performed on the substrate patterned by such an exposure apparatus, and the photosensitive material is peeled off after etching or plating.

  The exposure method of the present invention separates a drawing pattern into a regular pattern and a unique pattern that repeatedly appear, and forms an exposure area as a projection area of at least one exposure device in which a plurality of light modulation elements are arranged in a matrix. It moves along the scanning direction relative to the body, generates regular raster data for exposure that matches the array of multiple light modulation elements based on the pattern data of the regular pattern, and performs exposure according to the exposure operation. Converts the pattern data of the unique pattern into unique raster data based on the relative position of the area, generates the exposure raster data by combining the fixed raster data for exposure with the unique raster data according to the relative position of the exposure area, and generates A plurality of light modulation elements based on the exposure raster data and the relative position of the exposure area with respect to the drawing object, and exposure operation Characterized in that it run.

  The drawing data processing apparatus of the present invention includes a drawing position detecting means for specifying drawing positions of a regular pattern and a unique pattern that repeatedly appear in a drawing pattern, and a plurality of lights constituting the exposure device based on the pattern data of the fixed pattern. The fixed pattern processing means for generating the regular raster data for exposure according to the arrangement of the modulation elements and the pattern data of the unique pattern of the exposure device according to the scanning position of the illumination light while scanning the illumination light by the exposure device It is characterized by comprising unique pattern processing means for converting into data, and pattern composition means for generating exposure raster data by combining exposure-specific raster data with unique raster data in accordance with the scanning position of illumination light.

  The drawing data processing method of the present invention specifies a drawing position of a regular pattern and a unique pattern that repeatedly appear in a drawing pattern, and arranges an arrangement of a plurality of light modulation elements constituting the exposure device based on the pattern data of the fixed pattern. While generating fixed raster data for exposure and scanning the illumination light with the exposure device, the pattern data of the unique pattern of the exposure device is converted into the unique raster data according to the scanning position of the illumination light, and the scanning position of the illumination light Accordingly, the exposure raster data is generated by combining the regular raster data for exposure with the inherent raster data.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to form a highly accurate pattern without reducing the data processing speed even for a high-density drawing pattern having a large amount of data.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an external view schematically showing a drawing apparatus (exposure apparatus) according to this embodiment.

  The drawing apparatus 10 that is an exposure apparatus is an apparatus that directly forms a circuit pattern by irradiating light onto a substrate SW on which a photosensitive material such as a photoresist is formed, and includes a gate-like structure 12 and a base 14 Prepare. An XY stage drive mechanism (not shown here) that supports the drawing table 18 is mounted on the base 14, and a substrate SW is installed on the drawing table 18.

The gate-like structure 12 is provided with eight exposure heads for forming a circuit pattern on the surface of the substrate SW, and the two light source units 16A and 16B are arranged on the gate-like structure 12 so as to face each other. Has been. Illumination light emitted from the light source unit 16A and the light source unit 16B is guided to the exposure unit 20 constituted by the _eight exposure heads 20 _{1 to} 20 ₈ . However, in FIG. 1, only two exposure heads 20 ₁ and 20 ₈ are shown.

  The rectangular substrate SW is a substrate for an electronic circuit such as a silicon wafer, a dry film, or a glass substrate, for example, and is mounted on the drawing table 18 in a blank state that has been subjected to processing such as pre-baking and photoresist coating. . An XY coordinate system orthogonal to each other is defined for the drawing table 18, and the drawing table 18 is movable along the X direction.

Exposure head 20 ₁ is provided with a DMD which is two-dimensionally arranged micro rectangular micromirror matrix (Digital Micro-mirror Device) (not shown here). Illumination light emitted from the lamp is converted into a parallel light beam having a uniform light intensity by an optical system (not shown), and then guided to the DMD.

  Each of the micromirrors has a first posture (ON state) that reflects the beam from the light source units 16A and 16B in the direction of the exposure surface of the substrate SW and a second posture (OFF state) that reflects the beam in the direction outside the exposure surface. The posture is switched in accordance with the control signal (drawing signal).

  When all the micromirrors are in the ON state, a projection spot EA having a predetermined size is defined on the substrate SW (hereinafter, this projection area is referred to as an exposure area). Here, the magnification of the imaging optical system is 1, and the size of the exposure area matches the size of the DMD.

  In the DMD, each micromirror is selectively ON / OFF controlled based on a control signal (exposure raster data) stored in a memory cell. The light reflected on the micromirror in the ON state is irradiated onto the substrate SW through an imaging optical system (not shown). Therefore, the light irradiated to the substrate SW is composed of a light beam selectively reflected by the micromirror, and becomes illumination light corresponding to the pattern to be formed on the exposure surface.

  As the exposure method, a multiple exposure method by a step & repeat method is applied, and the drawing table 18 moves intermittently along the Y direction. That is, the exposure operation is executed every time the exposure area EA moves relatively by a predetermined exposure pitch. The exposure pitch is shorter than the size of the exposure area EA and further the size of the projection area of one micromirror, and the exposure operation is repeated while overlapping the exposure areas. As the exposure area EA moves relative to the substrate SW intermittently along the scanning direction, that is, the X direction, a circuit pattern is formed on the substrate SW.

Similarly exposure operation in the exposure head ₂₀ 2-20 ₈ is performed, the exposure head ₂₀ 1 to 20 ₈ in a row along the scanning direction (X direction), the drawing table 18 is moved along the scan direction As a result, the entire substrate SW is exposed. After the drawing processing, development processing, etching or plating, resist stripping processing, and the like are performed, and a patterned substrate is manufactured.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a drawing control unit provided in the drawing apparatus 10.

  The drawing control unit 30 is connected to an external workstation (not shown) and includes an exposure control unit 32. The exposure control unit 32 controls the drawing process and outputs a control signal to each circuit. A program for controlling the drawing process is stored in advance in a ROM (not shown) in the exposure control unit 32.

  The pattern data sent as CAD / CAM data from the workstation is vector format data and is input to the vector data processing unit 31. The pattern data input to the vector data processing unit 31 is composed of unique pattern data (hereinafter referred to as unique pattern data) and fixed pattern data (hereinafter referred to as fixed pattern data). In addition, pattern arrangement information is transmitted from the workstation together with the pattern data.

  The vector data processing unit 31 extracts regular pattern data from the pattern data and sends it to the pasted regular pattern creation unit 33 via the exposure control unit 32. The unique pattern data is sent to the raster conversion unit 36 via the exposure control unit 32.

  The pasted fixed pattern creation unit 33 defines a series of pasted fixed patterns to be described later based on the regular pattern data. Then, the created pasted fixed pattern is raster-converted, and a series of fixed-form raster data for exposure described later is generated. The raster data is two-dimensional dot pattern data represented by binary data of 1 or 0, and determines the position of each micromirror to be in an ON state or an OFF state. The generated raster data is stored in the memory 41.

  The raster converter 36 sequentially converts the unique pattern data into raster data (unique raster data) according to the position of the exposure area, that is, the scanning position. The selection unit 39 reads the raster data of the corresponding regular pattern from the memory 41 based on the relative position of the exposure area detected by the exposure control unit 32.

  Then, the data combining unit 43 combines the fixed raster data and the fixed raster data. The raster data (exposure raster data) generated by the composition is sent to the DMD driving circuit 34 via the buffer memory 43.

  The drawing table control circuit 38 outputs a control signal to the drive circuit 44 to control the movement of the XY stage mechanism. The position detection sensor 48 detects the relative position of the exposure area EA by detecting the position of the drawing table 18. The exposure control unit 32 controls the DMD drive circuit 34, the read address control circuit 37, and the like based on the relative position of the exposure area detected through the drawing table control circuit 42 and the pattern arrangement information.

DMD drive circuit 34 drives the DMD 24 ₁ to 24 ₈ micromirror respectively provided in the exposure head ₂₀ 1 to 20 _8, and outputs it to the DMD raster data as a drawing signal. At this time, a drawing signal is output to each DMD while synchronizing with a clock pulse signal that matches the drawing timing. Thus, the micro-mirrors of DMD 24 ₁ to 24 ₈ are ON / OFF controlled based on the correspondence raster data.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram conceptually showing the data processing process of the present embodiment.

  The drawing pattern PW shown in FIG. 3 is a display substrate pattern such as an LCD, for example, and is composed of a lattice-like regular repeating pattern PB and a pattern PA constituting the frame. The repetitive pattern PB is configured by repeatedly arranging patterns CP prepared as templates, and this pattern CP is defined as a regular pattern. At the time of CAD data generation, a drawing pattern PW is created using the regular pattern CP.

  In the present embodiment, the vector data of the drawing pattern PW is separated into a repetitive pattern PB that regularly and repeatedly represents the regular pattern CP and vector data of other unique patterns PA that cannot be represented by the regular pattern CP. The vector data of the unique pattern PA is sequentially subjected to raster conversion processing based on the relative position of the exposure area, while the vector data of the regular pattern CP is stored in the memory 41 when the exposure operation is started.

  In the exposure operation, the raster data of the fixed pattern CP is combined with the inherent raster data generated in accordance with the relative movement of the exposure area according to the scanning position. A drawing pattern PW is formed on the substrate SW by performing an exposure operation based on the exposure raster data obtained by the synthesis.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing pattern arrangement information. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the positional relationship of the regular pattern with respect to the exposure area EA. 4, with reference to FIG. 5, described positional relationship between the fixed pattern and the exposure area EA for the DMD 24 _1.

  As described above, the unique pattern PA and the fixed pattern CP are extracted from the vector data of the drawing pattern PW, and pattern arrangement information for specifying the drawing location of these patterns is input to the drawing apparatus 10. FIG. 4 shows pattern arrangement information of the regular pattern CP and the unique pattern PA shown in FIG. 3, and the reference position of the unique pattern PA and the reference position of the regular pattern CP are illustrated.

  The location of the unique pattern PA and the fixed pattern CP is represented by a reference position. Here, the lower left corner of the area where the regular pattern CP and the unique pattern PA are drawn is defined as the reference position. For example, for the regular pattern CP drawn in the area T in the repetitive pattern PB, the reference position C0 is acquired as pattern position information (see FIG. 4). The unique pattern PA uses the reference position S0 as pattern position information.

  Since the unique pattern PA and the regular pattern CP are processed separately, the data composition timing and exposure timing of the unique pattern PA and the regular pattern CP are adjusted by obtaining the pattern arrangement information. Based on this pattern arrangement information, the raster data of the regular pattern CP and the raster data of the unique pattern PA are combined in accordance with the position of the exposure area, and the exposure operation is executed.

  FIG. 5 shows the drawing position of the regular pattern CP in the area T shown in FIG. However, the pattern shape of the regular pattern CP is different from that of FIG. 3, and a pattern in which a cross is arranged in a frame (having a lattice shape) is formed. The area T that defines the pattern area of the regular pattern CP corresponds to a pasting area when the regular pattern CP is drawn, and its lower left corner is defined as the reference position C0.

  Here, an irradiation area pattern CPS (hereinafter referred to as a “standard irradiation pattern”) serving as an irradiation portion of the regular pattern CP has a spot area EU (hereinafter referred to as a “unit exposure area”) of one micromirror as a constituent unit. However, the drawing position of the regular pattern CP is determined regardless of the relative position of the exposure area EA during the exposure operation. As described above, the overlap exposure operation is performed with an exposure pitch shorter than the size of the unit exposure area.

  Accordingly, when the exposure operation is performed at a predetermined position in the exposure area EA, the contour line of the fixed irradiation pattern CPS does not necessarily match the arrangement of the unit exposure areas defined by the position of the exposure area with respect to the X and Y directions ( (See FIG. 5). The same applies when the regular pattern CP does not have the unit exposure area EU as a constituent unit. In this way, a positional deviation occurs with respect to the drawing position between the grid N defined according to the arrangement of the unit exposure areas in the exposure area EA and the regular irradiation pattern CPS.

  On the other hand, since the DMD 24 projects illumination light by controlling ON / OFF of each micromirror, the unit exposure area EU corresponds to a minimum area where illumination light is irradiated / non-irradiated. Therefore, in order to eliminate the positional shift that occurs between the grid GN and the fixed irradiation pattern CPS, it is necessary to correct the drawing position of the fixed irradiation pattern CPS according to the grid GN when generating raster data.

  More specifically, in FIG. 5, the reference position C0 of the regular pattern CP coincides with one lattice point (reference point) P0 of the grid GN, and the area of the regular pattern CP includes the regular irradiation pattern CPS. The contour line is not on the grid GN. If this is the case, raster data matching the arrangement of the micromirrors of the DMD 20 cannot be generated.

  Therefore, the fixed irradiation pattern CPS is corrected in accordance with the grid GN with respect to the pattern position and pattern shape. Here, the fixed irradiation pattern CPS is corrected based on the lower left corner end point of each unit exposure area EU. Specifically, it is determined whether the lower left corner end point of each unit exposure area EU in the area T belongs to the irradiation pattern CPS, and ON / OFF of the micromirror is determined. Note that the center point or the like may be used as a determination criterion instead of the lower left corner end point.

  For example, the lower left corner end point GP0 of one unit exposure area EU0 shown in FIG. 5 corresponds to the outside of the fixed irradiation pattern CPS, and is thus determined as the micromirror OFF area. On the other hand, the lower left corner end point GP1 of the adjacent unit exposure area EU1 belongs to the fixed irradiation pattern CPS and is therefore determined as the micromirror ON region.

  As described above, by determining ON / OFF of the micromirror array corresponding to the area T of the fixed pattern CP based on the positional relationship between the fixed irradiation pattern CP and the grid GN, the fixed pattern for exposure configured as raster data. A pattern DP is obtained. The exposure fixed pattern DP is defined by the size of the area KW, and the fixed irradiation pattern DPS, which is the irradiation portion of the fixed pattern DP, has the same pattern shape as the fixed irradiation pattern CP before correction, and differs only in the drawing position.

  During the exposure operation, the regular pattern DP having the size of the area KW is combined with the raster data of the unique pattern PA generated according to the position of the exposure area EA. That is, the exposure fixed pattern DP with the drawing position corrected is attached to the unique pattern PA. The position of the exposure fixed pattern DP is determined with reference to the lattice point P0 of the grid GN corresponding to the reference position C0 of the fixed pattern CP.

  In the case of FIG. 5, the reference position C0 of the fixed pattern CP coincides with the lattice point P0 and the lattice point of the grid GN. However, the positional deviation of the regular pattern CP with respect to the grid GN is not limited to that shown in FIG. 5, and the positional deviation during exposure cannot be determined uniformly. Further, the drawing position of the exposure regular pattern CP also changes depending on the degree of positional deviation between the regular pattern CP and the grid GN.

  Therefore, starting from the grid point P0, which is the reference point of the fixed pattern DP for exposure, the reference position C0 of the fixed pattern CP is sequentially shifted by a predetermined distance along the X and Y directions, and the position of the fixed pattern CP (Position of area T) is sequentially shifted accordingly. Then, exposure standard patterns are generated as many times as the number of times of shifting.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the positional relationship of the regular pattern CP with respect to the grid GN. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the shift order of the regular pattern CP.

  Here, the unit exposure area EU having a square shape of size C × C is equally divided into h along the X direction and the Y direction. Then, starting from the reference point P0 of the exposure fixed pattern DP, the reference position C0 of the fixed pattern CP is sequentially shifted in the X direction and the Y direction by a constant pitch d (= h / C). Thereby, the drawing position of the regular pattern CP is shifted in order.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, when the reference position C0 of the fixed pattern CP is shifted by one line along the X direction, it is shifted by the pitch d (= h / C) along the Y direction. The line is shifted in the X direction. Such a shift of the reference position C0 is performed in order.

  Then, in accordance with the shift of the reference position C0 of the regular pattern CP by h × h times, h × h regular patterns for exposure are defined. As described above, it is determined whether or not the lower left corner end point of the unit exposure area belonging to the area T of the regular pattern CP belongs to the irradiation area, and thereby a series of regular patterns for exposure is determined.

  For example, when the reference position C0 of the fixed pattern CP is located at or near the reference point P0, the exposure fixed pattern CD is defined by the pattern arrangement shown in FIG. On the other hand, when the reference position C0 of the fixed pattern CP is farthest from the reference point P0 as shown in FIG. 7, the fixed irradiation pattern DPS as shown in FIG. A fixed irradiation pattern DPS is formed by shifting the overall pattern arrangement by one.

  In this way, by defining different series (h × h) of regular patterns CP with different reference positions C0, a series (h × h) taking into account the degree of shift of the grid GN with respect to the drawing position of each regular pattern. A regular pattern for exposure is created. The creation of a series of regular patterns for exposure makes it possible to draw a pattern with accuracy.

  That is, since a shift occurs between the grid GN and the regular pattern CP, a regular pattern cannot be formed at the same position as a predetermined rendering position, but a raster-shaped regular pattern at the same rendering position as much as possible. Can be projected. As for the unique pattern PA, raster data of a regular pattern for exposure may be created in accordance with the grid GN.

  When a number N corresponding to the number of shifts from the reference point P0 of the exposure fixed pattern DP is assigned to a series of fixed patterns, the exposure fixed pattern corresponding to the drawing position of the fixed pattern is numbered N (hereinafter referred to as a pasting number). Can be related.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the shift amount in the X direction is a and the shift amount in the Y direction is b, if the number of shifts in the X direction and the number of shifts in one line along the Y direction are Sx and Sy, respectively, the pitch d Since = h / C, the following expression is satisfied.

Sx = a × (C / h) = (a × h) / C
Sy = b × (C / h) = (b × h) / C (1)

Since the total number of shifts for one line along the X direction is h, the sticking number N is determined by the following equation.

N = h × Sy + Sx = h × (b × h) / C + (a × h) / C (2)

There is a one-to-one correspondence between h × h regular patterns and h × h regular patterns for exposure, and if the positional relationship between a reference position C0 and a reference point P0 of a certain regular pattern is clarified, it corresponds by a pasting number N The fixed pattern for exposure to be performed can be specified.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the drawing process executed by the exposure control unit 32. Here, for simplicity of description, a drawing process in one of the exposure head 20 _1.

  When the drawing process is started, the drawing table 18 moves to a predetermined position, and execution of a multiple exposure operation by step and repeat is started at a predetermined exposure pitch. In step S101, the relative position of the exposure area EA on the substrate SW is detected. In step S102, the pattern arrangement information created when the drawing pattern is generated is received together with the drawing pattern data of the CAD / CAM data.

  As described above, the pattern arrangement information is information indicating the drawing positions of the unique pattern PA and the fixed pattern CP, and the drawing position of the fixed pattern CP on the substrate SW is specified by this pattern arrangement information (S103).

  When the vector data of the regular pattern CP and the unique pattern PA is received, the vector data of the regular pattern repeatedly used in the entire drawing pattern is sent to the pasted regular pattern creation unit 33 (S104). Then, in the pasted fixed pattern creating unit 33, as described above, h × h regular patterns for exposure are created as raster data and stored in the memory 41 in association with the pasted number N.

  The vector data of the unique pattern PA is sequentially sent to the raster conversion unit 36 in accordance with the relative position of the exposure area EA (S105). The raster conversion unit 36 sequentially converts the vector data of the unique pattern PA in accordance with the relative position of the exposure area EA.

  On the other hand, based on the relative position of the exposure area EA, the paste number N is specified from the deviation between the drawing position of the regular pattern CP and the grid GN defined in the exposure area EA (S106). Hereinafter, the identification of the sticking number N will be described.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the position of the regular pattern CP during a certain exposure operation. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the position of the regular pattern CP in the exposure area EA.

  A drawing origin E0 is defined for the substrate SW, and drawing data in vector format, which is CAD / CAM data, is expressed as coordinate data (line segment data) of a contour line based on the origin E0. The relative position of the exposure area EA is determined by the reference position W0. FIG. 9 shows the drawing position of the regular pattern CP having the reference position C0 (x, y) and the grid GN defined in the exposure area EA.

The position information necessary for specifying the sticking number N is the position of the reference position C0 (x, y) of the fixed pattern CP with respect to the reference position W0 of the exposure area EA. When the reference position W0 of the exposure area EA is expressed by coordinates (Xe, Ye) and the reference position C of the fixed pattern CP is expressed by coordinates (Xp, Yp), the position of the reference point P0 of the exposure fixed pattern is the size of the unit exposure area. Using C, it can be expressed by the following equation.


m = INT [(Xp−Xe) / C]
n = INT [(Yp−Ye) / C] (3)

Here, m represents the number of unit exposure areas along the X direction from the reference position W0, and n represents the number of unit exposure areas along the X direction from the reference position W0. INT [••] represents an integer value of division.

The reference point P0 of the exposure fixed pattern is specified by m and n. If the distances from the reference point P0 to the reference position C0 of the fixed pattern CP are a and b along the X and Y directions, respectively, a and b are obtained by the following equations (see FIG. 10).

a = (Xp−Xe) −C × m
b = (Yp−Ye) −C × n (4)

Therefore, the sticking number N is obtained by the following formula based on the formulas (2) and (4).

N = (b × h + a) × h / C (5)

However,
a = (Xp−Xe) −C × m
b = (Yp−Ye) −C × n

  When the sticking number N is obtained in this way, in S107 in FIG. 8, the exposure fixed pattern with the calculated sticking number N is selected from a series of exposure fixed patterns stored in the memory 41 in advance. Read from the memory 41.

  When the raster data of the exposure standard pattern is read from the memory 41, the unique raster data generated in accordance with the relative position of the exposure area EA and the raster data of the standard pattern for exposure read from the memory 41 are combined. Therefore, the raster data writing timing in the data composition unit 32 is adjusted. Thereby, exposure raster data for the entire exposure area EA is generated (S108).

Then, the exposure data by being transmitted to the DMD driver 34, the micromirrors of the DMD 24 ₁ is ON / OFF control (S109). If the exposure area EA has not reached the drawing processing end position, the exposure area EA is relatively moved by a predetermined exposure pitch (S110, S111). S101 to S111 are repeatedly executed until the drawing process is completed.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the regular pattern CP that repeatedly appears in the drawing pattern is extracted from the drawing pattern PW, and the shift between the grid GN along the micromirror array defined in the exposure area and the drawing position of the regular pattern. A series of regular patterns CP are defined while shifting at a predetermined interval d. Then, a series of regular raster data for exposure corresponding to the series of regular patterns CP is created and stored in the memory 41 while being associated with the paste number N.

  In the exposure operation, the vector data of the unique pattern PB is converted into raster data according to the relative position of the exposure area, and the paste number N is set based on the drawing position of the fixed pattern CP detected from the relative position of the exposure area. The specified fixed raster data for exposure with the pasting number is read from the memory 41. Then, the entire exposure raster data is generated by synthesizing the read regular raster data for exposure and the unique raster data.

  Since a regular pattern that is repeated in advance is prepared as raster data, the only data that must be raster-converted in parallel with the exposure operation is vector data of a unique pattern. This increases the data processing speed and improves the throughput.

  Further, by creating a series of regular raster data for exposure using the pasting number N, even when the regular pattern CP and the grid GN have various positional shift relationships in the X and Y directions, the vector data is used. A fixed pattern can be formed at the same position and pattern shape as possible at the drawing position. In particular, if the same irradiation area is exposed many times by the overlap exposure operation and an irradiation portion with a certain amount of light or more is considered as a pattern, the pattern can be formed at a substantially desired position.

  Next, the drawing apparatus which is 2nd Embodiment is demonstrated using FIGS. 11-13. In the second embodiment, when an arc-shaped pattern such as a pad is formed, the arc-shaped pattern is separated and extracted as a regular pattern. About another structure, it is substantially the same as 1st Embodiment.

  FIG. 11 shows a drawing pattern separation and synthesis process. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the arc portion of the drawing pattern as a vector. FIG. 13 is an enlarged view of the arc portion of FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 12, in the case of a drawing pattern PW having an arc shape, since the vector data represents the pattern outline by line segments, it is necessary to approximate the arc portion with a straight line. As shown in FIG. 13, the data amount increases by expressing the quadrant part CL by line segment vector data while dividing it into eight parts.

  In the second embodiment, the arc portions at the four corners of the original drawing pattern PW are configured as regular patterns PB in which a circular regular pattern PC is repeated, and the arc portion is represented by a straight line in the unique pattern PA (FIG. 11). When the drawing pattern PV expressed by the vector data is compared with the drawing pattern PD0 (see FIGS. 12 and 13) of the conventional vector data expression, the vector data of one arc portion is compared with the number of conventional vector data (= 8). Less (one), the overall data volume is reduced.

  As described above, in any of the drawing patterns of the first and second embodiments, it is possible to execute a drawing process with an increased data processing speed by extracting a fixed pattern from the drawing pattern.

  As for the scanning method, an exposure operation may be performed in which the movement direction of the exposure area is inclined in the X direction and the unit exposure area is overlapped in both the X and Y directions. Further, the exposure process may be performed while continuously moving the exposure area. Further, a CCD camera may be provided in the exposure apparatus to detect the positions of alignment marks formed at the four corners of the substrate, and the substrate deformation amount may be detected based on the designed alignment mark positions and the detected alignment mark positions. . In this case, in order to reflect the alignment adjustment of the substrate in the vector data, the raster data conversion process may be performed after the rotation coordinate conversion, the scale conversion, the parallel movement conversion, etc. are performed on the vector data.

  The fixed pattern may be other than the patterns shown in the first and second embodiments. In addition, regarding the creation of a series of regular patterns for exposure, the regular pattern is not shifted by a fixed interval d along the X and Y directions, but within a single unit exposure area while taking into account the pattern shape of the regular pattern. The positional relationship between the reference point P0 and the reference position C0 of the fixed pattern CP may be changed.

  If the required pattern accuracy is not precise, the exposure operation may be performed without generating a series of regular raster data for exposure and without shifting the grid between the micromirror array and the regular pattern drawing position.

  In the first and second embodiments, the template pattern used at the time of CAD / CAM data creation is used as the standard pattern, and the pattern arrangement information is transmitted to the drawing apparatus 10. Alternatively, the regular pattern may be extracted and the regular pattern and the unique pattern may be separated. Or you may carry out by operator operation.

  The drawing data may be pattern data other than vector data. Furthermore, the present invention can be applied to an exposure apparatus that forms an arbitrary pattern other than a drawing apparatus that forms a circuit pattern on a substrate.

It is the external view which showed typically the drawing apparatus (exposure apparatus) which is this embodiment. It is a block diagram of the drawing control part provided in the drawing apparatus. It is the figure which showed notionally the data processing process of this embodiment. It is the figure which showed the arrangement | positioning information of a pattern. It is the figure which showed the positional relationship of the fixed pattern with respect to an exposure area. It is the figure which showed the positional relationship with respect to the grid of a fixed pattern. It is the figure which showed the shift order of the fixed pattern. It is a flowchart of the drawing process performed by the exposure control part. It is the figure which showed the position of the fixed pattern at the time of a certain exposure operation | movement. It is the figure which showed the position of the regular pattern in an exposure area. It is the figure which showed the isolation | separation of a drawing pattern, and the synthetic | combination process. It is the figure which showed the circular arc part of the drawing pattern by the vector. It is an enlarged view of the circular arc part of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Drawing apparatus 18 Drawing table 20 Exposure head 24 DMD
31 Vector Data Processing Unit 32 Exposure Control Unit 33 Affixed Fixed Pattern Generation Unit 34 DMD Drive Circuit 36 Raster Conversion Circuit
39 Selection part 41 Memory 43 Data composition part EA Exposure area EU Unit exposure area PW Drawing pattern PA Unique pattern CP Fixed pattern N Pasting number GN Grid

Claims (10)

At least one exposure device in which a plurality of light modulation elements are arranged in a matrix;
Scanning means for moving an exposure area, which is a projection area of the exposure device, along the scanning direction relative to the drawing object;
Data processing means for generating exposure raster data in accordance with the arrangement of the plurality of spatial light modulation elements based on pattern data of a drawing pattern including a repetitive regular pattern and a unique pattern;
Exposure control means for controlling the plurality of light modulation elements based on the generated exposure raster data and a relative position of the exposure area with respect to the object to be drawn, and performing an exposure operation;
The data processing means generates regular raster data for exposure based on the pattern data of the regular pattern, and converts the pattern data of the unique pattern into unique raster data based on the relative position of the exposure area during the exposure operation. The fixed raster data for exposure is combined with the unique raster data according to the relative position of the exposure area ,
The data processing means performs drawing based on a positional deviation between a drawing position of a fixed pattern defined during a predetermined exposure operation and a grid along a unit exposure area array defined within the exposure area during the exposure operation. An exposure apparatus that generates fixed-form raster data for exposure whose position is corrected . The data processing means stores the generated standard raster data for exposure in the memory in advance, and in the exposure operation, standard raster data for exposure based on the drawing position of the standard pattern detected from the relative position of the exposure area is stored from the memory. The exposure apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the exposure apparatus reads the data. The data processing means creates a plurality of raster data for exposure by defining a plurality of fixed patterns having different degrees of positional deviation, and at the time of the exposure operation, the positional deviation detected based on the relative position of the exposure area. 2. The exposure apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the corresponding regular raster data for exposure is selected from the plurality of raster data for exposure.   The data processing means determines a deviation between a reference position of the fixed pattern in one unit exposure area and a reference point of the grid as a position shift, and determines a reference position of the fixed pattern in two directions along the grid. 4. The exposure apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of fixed patterns are defined by shifting at intervals.   The fixed pattern corresponds to a template pattern that is repeatedly formed when CAD or CAM data is created, and a drawing position of the fixed pattern is acquired as arrangement information of the fixed pattern. An exposure apparatus according to claim 1.   6. The exposure apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the exposure control unit performs an exposure operation while overlapping unit exposure areas of the respective light modulation elements.   A method for manufacturing a substrate, wherein the substrate patterned by the exposure apparatus according to claim 1 is subjected to development processing, and the photosensitive material is peeled off after etching or plating. The drawing pattern is separated into repetitive regular patterns and unique patterns,
Moving an exposure area, which is a projection area of at least one exposure device in which a plurality of light modulation elements are arranged in a matrix, relative to the object to be drawn along the scanning direction;
Based on the pattern data of the regular pattern, generate regular raster data for exposure that matches the arrangement of a plurality of light modulation elements,
In accordance with the exposure operation, the pattern data of the unique pattern is converted into unique raster data based on the relative position of the exposure area,
According to the relative position of the exposure area, the standard raster data for exposure is combined with the unique raster data to generate exposure raster data,
Controlling the plurality of light modulation elements based on the generated exposure raster data and a relative position of the exposure area with respect to the object to be drawn, and performing an exposure operation ;
When generating regular raster data for exposure, it is based on the positional deviation between the drawing position of the regular pattern defined during a predetermined exposure operation and the grid along the unit exposure area array defined within the exposure area during the exposure operation. An exposure method characterized by generating regular raster data for exposure whose drawing position is corrected . A drawing position detecting means for specifying a drawing position of a fixed pattern and a unique pattern that repeatedly appear in the drawing pattern;
Based on the pattern data of the regular pattern, a regular pattern processing means for generating regular raster data for exposure according to the arrangement of a plurality of light modulation elements constituting the exposure device;
Unique pattern processing means for converting the pattern data of the unique pattern of the exposure device into unique raster data according to the scanning position of the illumination light while scanning the illumination light by the exposure device;
Pattern combining means for generating exposure raster data by combining fixed raster data for exposure with unique raster data in accordance with the scanning position of illumination light ;
The fixed pattern processing means is based on a positional shift between a drawing position of a fixed pattern defined during a predetermined exposure operation and a grid along a unit exposure area array defined in the exposure area during the exposure operation. A drawing data processing apparatus, characterized in that it generates fixed raster data for exposure with a corrected drawing position . Specify the drawing position of the regular pattern and unique pattern that appear repeatedly in the drawing pattern,
Based on the pattern data of the regular pattern, generates regular raster data for exposure that matches the arrangement of a plurality of light modulation elements constituting the exposure device,
While scanning the illumination light by the exposure device, the pattern data of the unique pattern of the exposure device is converted into unique raster data according to the scanning position of the illumination light,
According to the scanning position of the illumination light, the fixed raster data for exposure is combined with the unique raster data to generate exposure raster data ,
When generating regular raster data for exposure, it is based on the positional deviation between the drawing position of the regular pattern defined during a predetermined exposure operation and the grid along the unit exposure area array defined within the exposure area during the exposure operation. A drawing data processing method characterized by generating fixed raster data for exposure with the drawing position corrected .

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