JP5831773B2 - Conveying apparatus, object processing apparatus, conveying method, and object processing method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a transport apparatus, an object processing apparatus, a transport method, and an object processing method .

Conventionally, when manufacturing a semiconductor element or a liquid crystal display element, a mask (reticle, photomask, etc.) pattern is projected and exposed onto a plate (glass plate, semiconductor wafer, etc.) coated with a resist via a projection optical system. An exposure apparatus is used. Here, as the exposure apparatus, an exposure apparatus that collectively exposes a reticle pattern on each shot area on the plate by a step-and-repeat method, and a mask and a plate to the projection optical system by a step-and-scan method. There is an exposure apparatus that exposes a mask pattern onto a plate while scanning in synchronization.

In such an exposure apparatus, the mask pattern is transferred to each region of the plate by moving the substrate stage on which the plate is placed with respect to the projection optical system (see, for example, Patent Document 1). ).

JP 2006-203113 A

By the way, in the above-mentioned exposure apparatus, since the photosensitive substrate is fixed to the substrate holder and placed on the substrate stage, as the photosensitive substrate increases in size, the substrate holder and the substrate stage also increase in size.
Its weight also increases. In this case, a large inertia force acts in driving the substrate stage, and it becomes difficult to move the photosensitive substrate with high speed and high accuracy. In addition, since the photosensitive substrate is fixed to the substrate holder, a predetermined flatness required for exposure is required over the entire surface of the substrate holder, and its manufacture becomes difficult.

An object of the present invention is to control the movement of the photosensitive substrate at high speed and with high accuracy.

Conveying apparatus of the present invention includes a holder for holding an object, the predetermined area is supported by said first supporting surface and the first support portion having a first supporting surface for supporting opposite a predetermined region of the object a supporting portion is floated to the holding portion and a second support portion for supporting in a drive unit for relatively moving the holding portion supported by levitation with respect to the support portion, Ru comprising a.

Moreover, the object processing apparatus of this invention is provided with the conveying apparatus of this invention, and the processing apparatus which performs a predetermined process with respect to the said predetermined area | region.

Further, in the transport method of the present invention, the object is held by the holding unit , the predetermined region of the object is supported by the first support surface of the first support unit of the support unit, and the second of the support unit is supported. When the predetermined region is supported on the first support surface by the support portion, the holding portion is lifted and supported, and the holding portion that is lifted and supported by the driving portion is relative to the support portion. Moving.

The object processing method of the present invention includes the transport method of the present invention and performing a predetermined process on the predetermined area by a processing device.

According to the present invention, even when the photosensitive substrate is enlarged, the movement of the photosensitive substrate can be controlled at high speed and with high accuracy, and the exposure processing for the photosensitive substrate can be performed precisely and with high throughput. .

1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an exposure apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the substrate stage which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the holding | maintenance part which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the substrate stage which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the state of the movement of the plate on the substrate stage which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the floating state of the plate by the floating mechanism which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the other structure of the support part provided in the substrate stage which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the other structure of the support part provided in the substrate stage which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the other structure of the holding | maintenance part which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the board | substrate tray and moving mechanism which are used with the exposure apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the board | substrate tray and moving mechanism which are used with the exposure apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the manufacturing process of the device manufacturing method which concerns on this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the manufacturing process of the device manufacturing method which concerns on this invention.

Hereinafter, an exposure apparatus, an exposure method, and a device manufacturing method according to embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a view showing the overall arrangement of an exposure apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the pattern provided on the mask M is placed on the projection optical system PL while the mask M supported by the mask stage MS and the plate P placed on the substrate stage ST are stationary. An example of a step-and-repeat type exposure apparatus that sequentially performs an exposure process in which the plate P is moved stepwise by transferring to P will be described. In the following description, an XYZ rectangular coordinate system is set as shown in FIG.
The positional relationship of each part will be described with reference to the YZ orthogonal coordinate system. The XYZ Cartesian coordinate system is X
The axis and the Y axis are set to be parallel to the plate P, and the Z axis is set to a direction orthogonal to the plate P. In the XYZ orthogonal coordinate system in the figure, the XY plane is actually set to a plane parallel to the horizontal plane, and the Z axis is set to the vertically upward direction.

The exposure apparatus shown in FIG. 1 includes an illuminator IL that irradiates the plate P with exposure light through the pattern of the mask M. The illumination device IL includes a light source and an illumination optical system, and the exposure light emitted from the illumination device IL uniformly illuminates the illumination area on the mask M. The exposure light that has passed through the mask M enters the projection optical system PL, and the projection optical system PL forms a projection image of the pattern provided on the mask M on the plate P.

The exposure apparatus is provided with a substrate stage ST on which the plate P is placed. As shown in FIG. 2, a support portion (support surface) 10 that supports the plate P is formed at a substantially central portion of the upper surface of the substrate stage ST, and the support portion 10 has a predetermined flatness required for exposure processing. have.

Further, the exposure apparatus is provided with a moving mechanism 20 that moves the plate P in the XY plane with respect to the support unit 10. The moving mechanism 20 includes a drive unit 22, a rod-shaped member 22 a, and a holding unit 22.
b, and the plate P has a holding portion 22b provided at the tip of two rod-like members 22a extending from the driving portion 22 whose + X side edge is located on the + X side of the substrate stage ST.
And the drive section 2 whose edge on the −X side is positioned on the −X side of the substrate stage ST.
2 is held by a holding portion 22b provided at the tip of one rod-like member 22a extending from 2. Here, as shown in FIG. 3, the holding portion 22 b has a configuration in which the upper surface of the plate P is sucked and held. The moving mechanism 20 moves the plate 22 in the Y direction with respect to the support unit 10 on the substrate stage ST by moving the driving unit 22 in the Y direction, and adjusts the length of the rod-shaped member 22a by the driving unit 22. As a result, the plate P is moved in the X direction.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the substrate stage ST includes a levitation mechanism 24 that levitates the plate P from the support portion 10 and an adsorption mechanism 26 that attracts the plate P to the substrate stage ST. That is, a plurality of air supply / intake ports 25 are provided at predetermined intervals in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction at positions other than the support portion 10 on the upper surface of the substrate stage ST. By supplying gas between the plate 25 and the upper surface of the substrate stage ST from the opening 25, the plate P is lifted from the support unit 10, and the suction mechanism 26 moves the plate P and the substrate stage ST from the supply / intake port 25. The plate P is adsorbed to the support portion 10 by sucking the gas between the upper surface.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the movement of the plate P on the substrate stage ST. The moving mechanism 20 drives the drive unit 22 to move each shot area (not shown) on the plate P onto the support unit 10 on the substrate stage ST. For example, when the shot region located on the + X side and the + Y side of the plate P is the supported region 30 (see FIG. 4) by the support unit 10,
The moving mechanism 20 moves the plate P to the position indicated by the reference symbol P <b> 1 by the driving unit 22 and positions the shot area on the support unit 10. When the shot area located on the −X side and the −Y side of the plate P is used as the supported area 30 by the support unit 10, the moving mechanism 20 is
The driving unit 22 moves the plate P to a position indicated by reference numeral P <b> 2, and the shot area is positioned on the support unit 10.

In the exposure apparatus according to the present embodiment, the irradiation area of the exposure light from the illumination device IL and the plate P are relatively displaced, and each shot area of the plate P is used as the supported area 30 and the support unit 1.
By sequentially positioning on 0, the pattern of the mask M is transferred to each shot area. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, by supplying gas between the plate P and the upper surface of the substrate stage ST from the air supply / intake port 25 by the levitation mechanism 24, the plate P is moved to the substrate stage S.
The plate P is moved with respect to the support portion 10 while floating from T. At that time, the plate P slightly floats with respect to the support portion 10 or moves while being in contact therewith. When the next shot area of the plate P is located in the supported area 30 on the support portion 10 of the substrate stage ST, the suction mechanism 26 causes the plate P and the upper surface of the substrate stage ST to be The plate P is adsorbed to the support unit 10 by sucking the gas between them, and the exposure light emitted from the illumination device IL is irradiated into the shot region (supported region 30) of the plate P supported by the support unit 10 Exposure. Here, the illuminating device IL irradiates exposure light only within the supported region 30 of the plate P supported by the support portion 10.

In the exposure apparatus according to the present embodiment, since the plate P is moved on the substrate stage ST using the moving mechanism 20 as described above, the size of the plate P is different from that of the substrate holder or the substrate stage according to the conventional technique. Accordingly, there is no need to move a member that is increased in size and weight with the plate P, the movement of the plate P can be controlled at high speed and with high accuracy, and the exposure processing for the plate P can be performed precisely and with high throughput. It can be carried out.

Further, in the exposure apparatus according to the present embodiment, it is only necessary to ensure a predetermined flatness required for the exposure process only with the predetermined support portion 10 on the substrate stage ST, so that the substrate holder in the conventional exposure apparatus covers the entire surface. The processing (manufacturing process) for ensuring the flatness becomes easier as compared with the case where the predetermined flatness is required.

In the above-described embodiment, the support portion 10 provided on the substrate stage ST is formed at the same height as other regions on the upper surface of the substrate stage ST. However, as shown in FIG. 40 may be formed on the convex portion 41 provided on the upper surface of the substrate stage ST. In this case, the processing for securing the predetermined flatness required for the exposure process in the support unit 40 is easier than in the support unit 10. Moreover, when the support part 40 is formed on the convex part 41, it replaces with the holding | maintenance part 22b and the holding part 42 which hold | grips the edge part of the plate P as shown in FIG.
Can be used. By holding the plate P, the holding portion 42 can hold the plate P more reliably than the holding portion 22b.

On the substrate stage ST provided with such a support part 40, the plate P is moved,
When exposure is performed on each shot area of the plate P, the levitation mechanism 2 as shown in FIG.
4, gas is supplied between the plate P and the upper surface of the substrate stage ST from the air supply / intake port 25 to move the plate P while floating the plate P from the substrate stage ST. At that time, the plate P slightly floats or moves in contact with the support portion 40. When the next shot region of the plate P is located in the supported region 30 on the support unit 40 of the substrate stage ST, the suction mechanism 26 causes the plate P and the upper surface of the substrate stage ST to be During the exposure, the plate P is adsorbed on the support portion 40 by sucking the gas between them.

Further, as shown in FIG. 9, a plurality of intake ports 44 are provided around the support portion 40 on the convex portion 41, and the plate P is adsorbed to the support portion 40 by sucking gas from the intake ports 44. May be. In this case, each shot area of the plate P can be more reliably adsorbed to the support portion 40.

Next, an exposure apparatus according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. The second
The exposure apparatus according to this embodiment has the same configuration as the exposure apparatus according to the first embodiment except that the method for holding the plate P on the substrate stage ST is different. Therefore, in the description of the exposure apparatus according to the second embodiment, only parts different from the exposure apparatus according to the first embodiment will be described. In the following description, the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and described.

In the exposure apparatus according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the peripheral portion of the plate P is held by the substrate tray PT, and extends from the drive unit 22 positioned on the + X side of the substrate stage ST. The substrate tray PT is constituted by the holding portion 50 provided at the tip portion of the member 22a and the holding portion 50 provided at the tip portion of one rod-like member 22a extending from the driving portion 22 located on the −X side of the substrate stage ST. And the drive unit 22 is driven to move the plate P relative to the support unit 40 on the substrate stage ST. In this case, the upper surface of the substrate tray PT can be sucked and held by the same suction mechanism as the holding portion 22b shown in FIG.

Further, when the plate P is held by the substrate tray PT, a floating mechanism for floating the plate P on the substrate stage ST may be provided on the substrate stage ST or may be provided on the substrate tray PT. That is, the air supply / intake port 25 is provided on the upper surface of the substrate stage ST,
The substrate tray PT may be floated on the substrate stage ST by supplying gas from the air supply / intake port 25, or the air supply / intake port 25 is provided on the lower surface of the substrate tray PT. The substrate tray PT may be floated on the substrate stage ST by supplying gas from the intake port 25. Furthermore, an air supply / intake port 25 may be provided on both the upper surface of the substrate stage ST and the lower surface of the substrate tray PT.

In the first and second embodiments described above, the step-and-repeat type exposure apparatus has been described as an example, but the mask stage MS holding the mask M and the plate P are moved synchronously. The present invention can also be applied to a step-and-scan type exposure apparatus that transfers a projection image of a pattern provided on the mask M onto the plate P.

In the first and second embodiments described above, the exposure apparatus provided with one projection optical system has been described as an example. However, the present invention is applied to a multi-lens type exposure apparatus provided with a plurality of projection lenses. It is also possible to do. In this case, the support unit 10 or the support according to the above-described embodiment is applied to each region on the substrate stage ST corresponding to each projection lens, that is, each region where the illumination device IL irradiates exposure light via each projection lens. The portion 40 is formed, and exposure is performed by sequentially positioning at least a part of each shot region of the plate P on the support portion 10 or the support portion 40.

In the first and second embodiments described above, the support portion 10 or the support portion 40 is
Although it is formed as a planar support portion having a predetermined flatness required for the exposure process, it is not limited to the planar support portion. For example, a plurality of pin-like members are formed, and the plurality of pin-like members are formed. Tip (
By providing the height of the support point within a height range corresponding to a predetermined flatness required for the exposure process, a support portion that replaces the support portion 10 or the support portion 40 can be obtained. In this case, the plate P is supported by the tip of each pin-shaped member.

In the first and second embodiments described above, the exposure apparatus provided with the projection optical system has been described as an example. However, the pattern of the mask M is exposed on the plate P without passing through the projection optical system. The present invention can also be applied to a proximity exposure apparatus.

Next, a device manufacturing method using the exposure apparatus according to the present invention will be described. FIG.
It is a flowchart which shows the manufacturing process of a semiconductor device. As shown in this figure, in the semiconductor device manufacturing process, a metal film is vapor-deposited on a wafer to be a semiconductor device substrate (step S40), and a photoresist, which is a photosensitive material, is applied onto the vapor-deposited metal film ( Step S42). Subsequently, by using the exposure apparatus according to the present invention, the pattern formed on the mask is transferred to each shot area on the wafer (step S44: exposure process), and the development of the wafer after the transfer is completed, that is, the pattern is transferred. The developed photoresist is developed (step S4).
6: Development step). Thereafter, the resist pattern formed on the wafer surface in step S46 is used as a mask for processing, and processing such as etching is performed on the wafer surface (step S).
48: Processing step).

Here, the resist pattern is a photoresist layer (transfer pattern layer) in which unevenness having a shape corresponding to the pattern transferred by the exposure apparatus according to the present invention is formed, and the recess penetrates the photoresist layer. It is what. In step S48, the wafer surface is processed through this resist pattern. The processing performed in step S48 includes at least one of etching of the wafer surface or film formation of a metal film, for example. In step S44, the exposure apparatus according to the present invention performs pattern transfer using the photoresist-coated wafer as a photosensitive substrate.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a manufacturing process of a liquid crystal device such as a liquid crystal display element. As shown in this figure, in the liquid crystal device manufacturing process, the pattern forming process (step S50).
The color filter forming step (step S52), the cell assembly step (step S54), and the module assembly step (step S56) are sequentially performed.

In the pattern forming step of step S50, a predetermined pattern such as a circuit pattern and an electrode pattern is formed on a glass substrate coated with a photoresist as a plate (photosensitive substrate) P using the exposure apparatus according to the present invention. In this pattern forming process, an exposure process for transferring the projected image of the pattern provided on the mask to the photoresist layer using the exposure apparatus according to the present invention, and development of the plate on which the projected image of the pattern is transferred, that is, A development process for developing a photoresist layer (transfer pattern layer) on a glass substrate to form a photoresist layer having a shape corresponding to the pattern, and a processing process for processing the glass substrate through the developed photoresist layer And are included.

In the color filter forming step of step S52, R (Red), G (Green), B (
A large number of sets of three dots corresponding to Blue) are arranged in a matrix or R, G
A color filter is formed by arranging a plurality of sets of three stripe filters B and B in the horizontal scanning direction. In the cell assembly process in step S54, a liquid crystal panel (liquid crystal cell) is assembled using the glass substrate on which the predetermined pattern is formed in step S50 and the color filter formed in step S52. Specifically, for example, a liquid crystal panel is formed by injecting liquid crystal between a glass substrate and a color filter. In the module assembling process in step S56, various components such as an electric circuit and a backlight for performing the display operation of the liquid crystal panel are attached to the liquid crystal panel assembled in step S54.

Further, the present invention is not limited to application to an exposure apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor device or a liquid crystal device, for example, an exposure apparatus for a display apparatus such as a plasma display,
The present invention can be widely applied to an exposure apparatus for manufacturing various devices such as an image sensor (CCD or the like), a micromachine, a thin film magnetic head, and a DNA chip. Furthermore, the present invention can also be applied to an exposure process (exposure apparatus) when manufacturing a mask (photomask, reticle, etc.) on which mask patterns of various devices are formed using a photolithography process.

IL: Illumination device, PL: Projection optical system, M: Mask, P: Plate, MS: Mask stage, ST: Substrate stage, PT: Substrate tray, 20: Movement mechanism, 22: Drive unit, 24: Floating mechanism, 25 ... Air supply / intake port, 26 ... Adsorption mechanism.

Claims (26)

A holding unit for holding an object ;
A first support portion having a first support surface that supports a predetermined region of the object so as to face each other, and a second support portion that floats and supports the holding portion when the predetermined region is supported by the first support surface. A support part including
A drive unit that moves the holding unit that is lifted and supported relative to the support unit;
A transport apparatus comprising: The transport apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the holding unit has a holding surface that holds the substrate at a position in a vertical direction below the first support surface of the first support unit. The transport device according to claim 1, wherein the driving unit moves the holding unit relative to the second support unit. The said drive part moves the said holding | maintenance part, and moves the said object from any one of a said 1st support part and a said 2nd support part to the other. Conveying device. The second support portion has a second support surface that supports a supported region outside the predetermined region of the object and supports the object.
The transport apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a distance between the first support surface and the predetermined region is different from a distance between the second support surface and the supported region. The transport apparatus according to claim 5, wherein a distance between the first support surface and the predetermined region is shorter than a distance between the second support surface and the supported region. The conveyance device according to claim 1, wherein the holding unit holds an end portion of the object. The transport device according to claim 1, wherein the support portion includes an air supply port that supplies gas between the object and an upper surface of the support portion. The transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the support part has an intake port that sucks a gas between the object and an upper surface of the support part. The transport device according to any one of claims 1 to 9,
An object processing apparatus comprising: a processing apparatus that performs a predetermined process on the predetermined area. The object processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein an upper surface of the support portion is larger than the object. The object processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the object is a substrate used for a display panel of a display device. The said processing apparatus is an object processing apparatus as described in any one of Claims 10-12 which exposes a predetermined pattern on the said object with respect to the said predetermined area | region. Holding the object by the holding unit;
The predetermined region of the object is supported by the first support surface of the first support portion of the support portion so as to be opposed to the first support surface, and the predetermined region is supported on the first support surface by the second support portion of the support portion. Floating and supporting the holding part;
Moving the holding unit supported by floating by the driving unit relative to the supporting unit;
Conveying method including. The transport method according to claim 14, wherein the holding unit has a holding surface that holds the substrate at a position in a vertical direction below the first support surface of the first support unit. The conveyance method according to claim 14 or 15, wherein the driving unit moves the holding unit relative to the second support unit. 17. The drive unit according to claim 14, wherein the drive unit moves the holding unit to move the object from any one of the first support unit and the second support unit to the other. 17. Transport method. The second support portion has a second support surface that supports a supported region outside the predetermined region of the object and supports the object.
The transport method according to any one of claims 14 to 17, wherein a distance between the first support surface and the predetermined region is different from a distance between the second support surface and the supported region. The transport method according to claim 18, wherein a distance between the first support surface and the predetermined region is shorter than a distance between the second support surface and the supported region. The transport method according to claim 14, wherein the holding unit holds an end portion of the object. The transport method according to any one of claims 14 to 20, wherein the support part has an air supply port for supplying gas between the object and an upper surface of the support part. The transport method according to any one of claims 14 to 21, wherein the support part has an intake port for sucking a gas between the object and an upper surface of the support part. The transport method according to any one of claims 14 to 22,
Performing a predetermined process on the predetermined area by a processing device;
An object processing method including: The object processing method according to claim 23, wherein an upper surface of the support portion is larger than the object. The object processing method according to claim 23 or 24, wherein the object is a substrate used for a display panel of a display device. The object processing method according to any one of claims 23 to 25, wherein the processing apparatus exposes a predetermined pattern on the object with respect to the predetermined area.

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