JP7406338B2 - Stage device, stage device adjustment method, and article manufacturing method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a stage device, a method for adjusting the stage device, and a method for manufacturing articles.

In a lithography process that is a manufacturing process for flat panel displays and the like, a step-and-scan type (scanner type) exposure apparatus is used. Scanner-type exposure equipment drives a photomask (original) and glass substrate synchronously in the scanning direction while irradiating exposure light only in the slit-shaped exposure area, and transfers the pattern formed on the mask onto the substrate using light. do. As flat panel displays become more precise and performant, the patterns that are transferred are becoming increasingly finer, and scanner-type exposure equipment is required to achieve high resolution.

A common method for improving resolution is to increase the aperture ratio (NA) of the projection optical system. However, according to Rayleigh's equation, the resolution of the exposure device improves in inverse proportion to the aperture ratio (NA) of the projection optical system, while the depth of focus (DOF) of the projection optical system improves in inverse proportion to the square of the aperture ratio. and become smaller. That is, resolution and depth of focus are generally in a trade-off relationship. Therefore, in an exposure apparatus using a projection optical system with high resolution, ensuring the depth of focus is a very important issue.

In order to achieve the desired resolution, the sum of various focus-inhibiting factors such as optical system aberrations, mask flatness, and substrate flatness must fall within the depth of focus. Therefore, in order to achieve high resolution, the substrate holder that holds the substrate in contact with the substrate is generally required to have high flatness. In addition, there is less margin for changes in the equipment environment, such as changes in components over time or equipment temperature, so it is necessary to maintain high board flatness over a long period of time, or to perform readjustment as part of equipment maintenance. We have to go.

In order to achieve high flatness of the substrate holder, high-precision processing of the substrate holder and height adjustment during assembly are performed. In Patent Document 1, processing is performed in a state that reproduces the same stress state as in actual use, and when assembling the substrate holder, a height adjustment section is provided directly under the substrate holder and driven in the height direction. It is described that a predetermined flatness is achieved. Furthermore, in Patent Document 1, the bonding state between the substrate holding part and the adjustment movable part (the adjustment part has a movable part that is driven in the height direction and a fixed part that is fixed to the base side) is determined by vacuum suction or Switching is possible using magnetism. Then, the flatness of the substrate holder is adjusted by following the steps of releasing the coupling before driving the height adjusting section and recoupling it after driving. This is said to prevent stress from occurring and remaining due to distortion that occurs in the substrate holder due to height adjustment, and prevent flatness changes that occur as residual stress is alleviated over time. There is.

Patent No. 5932305

By the way, since the board holding part needs to have the function of sucking and holding the board, it needs to have the same size as the board, and for example, in the G8.5 generation, one side is 2500 mm. The substrate holding part is often made of light metals such as aluminum or ceramics, but manufacturing it as one piece is difficult due to issues such as availability of materials and limited processing machines. Or it's very expensive. Further, even if it is possible to manufacture the substrate in one piece, in order to process a substrate holding portion large enough to suction and hold the entire surface of a substrate of this size with high flatness, a corresponding degree of member rigidity is required. This means that the substrate holder is thick and heavy. Since the substrate holder is a member that is configured on the substrate stage and is driven in a plane together with the substrate stage, an increase in the weight of this member increases the load on the actuator of the substrate stage, leading to an unnecessary increase in the size of the substrate stage.

On the other hand, by dividing the substrate holder into a plurality of parts and reducing the size of each part, problems such as material availability and processing machine limitations can be alleviated. However, in order to improve the processing accuracy of a single item, it is necessary to increase the rigidity of the member as in the case of an integral part. In addition, when the substrate holder is divided, a difference in height will occur between adjacent sides of the substrate holder, and since the flatness changes sharply at such locations, pattern defects may occur during exposure. This may occur. Therefore, more precision is required for adjustment near the adjacent sides.

In view of this situation, the technique of Patent Document 1 causes the following inconvenience. Patent Document 1 states that the substrate holding part and the adjustment movable part are coupled by vacuum suction or vacuum suction with the assistance of magnetic force, but there is no description regarding the relationship between these bonding forces and the rigidity of the substrate holding part. . Therefore, when deforming the substrate holder in order to partially adjust the substrate holder, depending on the amount of adjustment, the rigidity of the substrate holder may overcome the vacuum suction force, making the adjustment unstable. In some cases, it may not be possible to make adjustments. For example, if an attempt is made to partially lower the height by 5 μm, it is necessary to locally deform the chuck by 5 μm using the bonding force of the vacuum suction, but if the chuck can only be deformed by 2 μm due to the vacuum suction force, then the chuck will be deformed by 3 μm. remains as a non-adjustable amount. If the amount of adjustment becomes even larger, the vacuum leak will increase and the bonding force will become even weaker, so there is a possibility that adjustment will not be possible at all.

Further, in Patent Document 1, the substrate holding section is coupled to the adjustment movable section, but there is a description regarding the relationship between the rigidity of the substrate holding section and the rigidity of the adjustment section itself (rigidity between the adjustment movable section and the adjustment fixed section). There is no. Therefore, for the same reason, the adjustment section is deformed, making the adjustment unstable or even impossible. For example, if the adjustment section is driven in a direction that partially lowers the height by 5 μm, the adjustment movable section itself will be pulled upward depending on the rigidity ratio of the adjustment section and the substrate holding section. In this case, a situation may occur in which the adjustment portion is lowered by 5 μm but deformed upward by 3 μm, and the substrate holding portion can be lowered by only 2 μm. In order to lower the substrate holding part by 5 μm, it is necessary to lower the degree adjustment part further before performing vacuum suction, but the vacuum leak at the start of suction becomes large and the bonding force becomes even weaker, making adjustment impossible. Sometimes it gets put away.

The adjustment mechanism of Patent Document 1 has instability in adjustment, and not only does the adjustment accuracy have difficulty, but depending on the amount of adjustment, the adjustment itself may become impossible. In addition, since the adjustment accuracy is low, it is necessary to perform follow-up adjustment many times in order to achieve a predetermined accuracy, and the adjustment takes time.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a stage device that is advantageous in achieving both accuracy of flatness of a substrate holder and adjustment speed.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a stage apparatus that holds and moves a substrate, including a base, a substrate holding section that holds the substrate at a position above the base, and a substrate holding section that includes the base and the substrate holding section. a plurality of adjusting parts provided between the plurality of substrate holding parts, which individually apply force from below to each of the plurality of locations on the substrate holding surface in order to adjust the shape of the substrate holding surface of the substrate holding part; a plurality of fastening parts that are provided corresponding to each of the adjustment parts and fasten the base and the substrate holding part by sandwiching the adjustment parts using fastening members, and the plurality of adjustment parts each includes a movable part that moves in contact with the substrate holding part, a fixed part that is disposed on the base and supports the movable part, and a part that passes through the movable part and the fixed part to connect the base and the substrate holding part. each of the plurality of fastening parts includes a rod as the fastening member that connects the base and the substrate holding part, and the rod is inside the hollow part. , there is provided a stage apparatus characterized in that the stage apparatus is arranged concentrically with the movable part .

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide, for example, a stage device that is advantageous in achieving both precision in flatness of a substrate holder and adjustment speed.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an exposure apparatus in an embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of a substrate stage in an embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of a substrate stage in an embodiment. The figure which shows the structure of the adjustment part in embodiment. The figure which shows the structure of the adjustment part based on a modification. The figure which shows the structure of the adjustment part based on a modification. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of a positioning mechanism for a substrate holding section in an embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the following embodiments do not limit the claimed invention. Although a plurality of features are described in the embodiments, not all of these features are essential to the invention, and the plurality of features may be arbitrarily combined. Furthermore, in the accompanying drawings, the same or similar components are designated by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

First, an exposure apparatus to which the stage apparatus of the present invention is applied will be explained. In the following description, specific configurations, operations, etc. will be shown and explained, but these can be changed as appropriate.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an exposure apparatus in an embodiment. In this specification and the drawings, directions are shown in an XYZ coordinate system in which the horizontal plane is the XY plane. Generally, a substrate W, which is a substrate to be exposed, is placed on the substrate stage 20 so that its surface is parallel to a horizontal plane (XY plane). Therefore, hereinafter, directions perpendicular to each other within a plane along the surface of the substrate W will be referred to as the X-axis and the Y-axis, and a direction perpendicular to the X-axis and the Y-axis will be referred to as the Z-axis. In addition, in the following, directions parallel to the X, Y, and Z axes in the XYZ coordinate system are referred to as the X direction, Y direction, and Z direction, respectively, and the rotation direction around the X axis, the rotation direction around the Y axis, and the Z axis The surrounding rotation directions are respectively referred to as the θx direction, the θy direction, and the θz direction.

The exposure apparatus may include a projection optical system 10, a substrate stage 20 serving as a stage device that holds a substrate W, a mask stage 30 that holds a mask M that is an original, an illumination optical system 40, an interferometer 50, and a main body base 60. The projection optical system 10 projects the pattern of the mask M held by the mask stage 30 onto the substrate W held by the substrate stage 20. This projection is performed using diffracted light emitted from the mask M using light from a light source of the illumination optical system 40 that irradiates the mask M. Further, an observation optical system 41 may be arranged between the illumination optical system 40 and the mask M. The observation optical system 41 can observe the image formed on the substrate W by the mask M and the projection optical system 10.

The mask M is held by suction on a mask holding section 32 within the mask stage 30. The mask holding section 32 is arranged on the mask stage base 31. The mask M can be moved in the X and Y directions by moving the mask stage 30 in the X and Y directions. Note that here, the Y direction is defined as a scan direction (scanning direction) in scanning exposure, and the X direction is defined as a step direction (non-scanning direction). That is, the direction in which the mask stage 30 and the substrate stage 20 are synchronously scanned during projection exposure is the Y direction. Further, the mask M is also movable in a rotational direction (θz direction) in which it rotates within the X and Y planes formed by two axes in the X and Y directions.

By projection exposure, the pattern is transferred from the mask M to the substrate W by synchronous scanning at the same speed ratio as the magnification ratio of the mask M and the substrate W. Each area on the substrate W onto which the pattern of the mask M is transferred is called a shot area. Note that alignment marks (not shown) are formed on the substrate W to be used for alignment between each shot area and the mask. This alignment mark can be observed by the observation optical system 41.

Interferometer 50 measures the respective positions of mask stage 30 and substrate stage 20. Interferometer 50 may include a laser head 51 serving as a light source of detection light, a beam splitter 52, a bending mirror 53, and bar mirrors 54 and 55 that reflect detection light.

The substrate stage 20 is a stage device that can be driven in at least two axes of X and Y directions. The substrate stage 20 moves the substrate W to a predetermined exposure position (shot position) with respect to the mask M, and can be aligned based on the correction value obtained from the measurement result of the alignment mark by the observation optical system 41. Thereafter, the substrate stage 20 may be scan-driven in synchronization with the mask stage 30 during scanning exposure. Further, the substrate stage 20 can also be driven in each of the Z, θx, θy, and θz directions for positioning and focus correction. However, in FIG. 1, no mechanism for driving the substrate stage 20 in each direction is shown. The stage base 21 is arranged on the main body base 60, and the bar mirror 54 and the substrate W are arranged on the stage base 21.

The control section 70 controls each section of the exposure apparatus. The control unit 70 may be implemented by a computer including a CPU and memory. The control unit 70 is connected to each part of the exposure apparatus by wire or wirelessly, and may be installed in a location isolated from each part of the exposure apparatus described above. This allows the exposure apparatus to be remotely controlled.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the substrate stage 20. As shown in FIG. A stage base 21 is arranged on the main body base 60, and a substrate holder base 220 (base) is arranged on the stage base 21. Further, the relationship between the substrate holder base 220 and the stage base 21 is not important in the present disclosure. The substrate holder base 220 and the stage base 21 may be fixed to each other as separate members, or may be coupled together via some kind of drive shaft. Alternatively, the substrate holder base 220 and the stage base 21 may be integrally configured. The stage base 21 is provided with drive mechanisms for driving in each of the Z, θx, θy, and θz directions, but illustrations and explanations of these structures will be omitted.

A substrate holder 230 that holds the substrate W is arranged above the substrate holder base 220. A plurality of adjustment parts 240 are arranged between the substrate holding part base 220 and the substrate holding part 230. The plurality of adjustment sections 240 are configured to individually apply force from below to each of a plurality of locations on the substrate holding surface of the substrate holding section 230 in order to adjust the shape of the substrate holding surface. The substrate W is fixed to the substrate holder 230 by vacuum suction. In the embodiment, the substrate holding surface of the substrate holding part 230 is divided into a plurality of regions. Although the substrate holding unit 230 is provided with suction grooves, pneumatic piping, pneumatic control equipment, etc. for suctioning and fixing the substrate W, illustration and description of these structures will be omitted. Furthermore, a bar mirror 54 of the interferometer 50 is also arranged on the stage base 21.

The flatness of the substrate holding surface of the substrate holding section 230 that is in contact with the substrate W can be measured by the height sensor 42 (measuring section) shown in FIG. The height sensor 42 may be provided inside the exposure apparatus or may be provided outside the exposure apparatus. The flatness of the substrate holder 230 can be measured by measuring the height of the substrate holder 230 in the Z direction using the height sensor 42 at multiple locations while moving the substrate holder 230 in the XY directions.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the detailed configuration of the substrate stage 20. Each of the plurality of adjustment sections 240 includes a movable section 242 that moves in contact with the substrate holding section 230, a fixed section 241 that is disposed on the substrate holding section base 220 and supports the movable section 242, and an actuator that drives the movable section 242. 243. The actuator 243 includes a motor, a deceleration mechanism, a drive conversion mechanism, and the like, and may further include a driver board, a control board, an encoder that calculates the drive position of the motor, an origin sensor, and the like. Note that a cable (not shown) that is connected to a higher-level control system, a power supply circuit, etc. may also be arranged in the actuator 243. The fixing part 241 is fixed on the substrate holding part base 220. The movable part 242 is movable in the Z direction with respect to the fixed part 241. The amount of linear motion or rotational drive output from the actuator 243 is converted into linear motion in the Z direction inside the fixed part 241, and is output as a drive of the movable part 242 in the Z direction. Although various specific configurations of the adjustment section 240 can be considered depending on the type of actuator 243, the type of Z conversion mechanism, etc., one example is shown in FIG.

The adjustment section 240 in FIG. 4 employs a wedge mechanism as the Z conversion mechanism, and employs the linear drive amount of a sliding feed screw as the output of the actuator 243. The adjustment section 240 includes a wedge member 241a that is moved in the horizontal direction (Y direction) by an actuator 243 on the bottom 241b of the fixed section 241. The upper surface of the wedge member 241a is a slope inclined with respect to the Y direction. A movable portion 242 is mounted on this wedge member 241a. The lower surface of the movable portion 242 that comes into contact with the upper surface of the wedge member 241a has a slope corresponding to the slope of the upper surface of the wedge member 241a so that the upper surface of the movable portion 242 is horizontal. The movable part 242 is restricted from moving in the X direction and the Y direction by the vertical wall of the fixed part 241, and is only allowed to move in the Z direction.

A feed screw 243a extending in the Y direction is attached to the side surface of the wedge member 241a to drive the wedge member 241a in the Y direction. Rotation of the feed screw 243a is provided by a rotary motor 243c via a reduction gear 243b. As the feed screw 243a rotates, the wedge member 241a moves in the Y direction. The movable portion 242 moves upward (Z direction) by an amount according to the wedge ratio as the wedge member 241a moves in the Y direction.

At this time, by setting a large wedge ratio such as 25 to 100, the resolution of this mechanism in the Z direction can be increased. Further, by appropriately setting the reduction ratio of the reduction gear 243b, the output of the rotary motor 243c can be made small, and the entire mechanism can be realized with a very small motor. This leads to a reduction in the space in which the adjustment section 240 is arranged, and is useful for reducing the size and weight of the entire stage.

A worm gear, a gear train, a planetary gear train, etc. can be employed as the mechanism of the speed reducer 243b. Various types of rotary motors can be used as the rotary motor 243c, such as a DC motor, a stepping motor, an AC motor, and an ultrasonic motor. Furthermore, an encoder may be disposed on the rotary motor 243c, and the amount of drive of the adjustment section 240 can be estimated using the encoder. The product of the reduction ratio of the reduction gear, the reduction ratio of the screw mechanism, and the reduction ratio of the wedge mechanism is the reduction ratio of the entire mechanism. Since this mechanism has a very large reduction ratio, it is possible to achieve submicron-order Z-direction resolution even if the encoder resolution is relatively coarse. Therefore, sufficient resolution can be achieved even with a simple method such as detecting a large number of circular slits arranged on a disk using a photointerceptor. In addition, the mechanism in which the wedge mechanism is driven by a sliding feed screw is a mechanism that self-locks due to internal friction against force in the -Z direction, so the reducer and motor shaft will not rotate in the opposite direction. The mechanism has extremely high rigidity. Furthermore, although the wedge mechanism is a mechanism that has zero rigidity in the +Z direction, the fastening section 250 fastens the substrate holding section 230 and the substrate holding section base 220 via the adjustment section 240, as described below. Therefore, it is only necessary to consider the rigidity in the -Z direction.

The substrate stage in the embodiment has a plurality of fastening parts 250. Each of the plurality of fastening parts 250 is provided corresponding to each of the plurality of adjustment parts 240, and uses a fastening member to fasten the substrate holding part base 220 and the board holding part 230 with the adjustment part 240 sandwiched therebetween. . The fastening section 250 includes a rod 252 as a fastening member that extends in the Z direction between the substrate holding section base 220 and the substrate holding section 230 to connect them, and a driving section 251 that drives the rod 252. A through hole is formed in the substrate holding part 230, and the rod 252 passes through the through hole. The head 252a of the rod 252 has a larger diameter than the through hole, and the head 252 cannot pass through the through hole. Further, the board holding part 230 is formed with a recessed part for accommodating the head 252 at the upper part of the through hole, so that the head 252 does not protrude above the top surface of the board holding part 230 under normal conditions. .

The drive unit 251 is configured inside the substrate holder base 220 , and the tip of the rod 252 is attached to the drive unit 251 . The drive unit 251 pulls in/releases the rod 252. When the drive unit 251 pulls in the rod 252 with a predetermined force F, the substrate holding unit 230 and the substrate holding unit base 220 are coupled with the force F via the adjustment unit 240. Examples of implementation include a push-pull drive method using an air cylinder, a push-pull drive method using a hydraulic cylinder, and a method in which the retracting force F is generated by a spring, etc., and a pushing force that cancels the retracting force F is applied using a direct-acting cylinder, etc., for fastening. There are many possible ways to perform the release. An electric linear actuator may be used instead of the air cylinder, or a booster mechanism may be mounted on the cylinder to save space. Alternatively, a method may be adopted in which a screw is formed on the rod 252, the screw is rotated by a motor built in the drive section 251, and a specified torque is applied by a torque limiter to tighten the screw.

This fastening section 250 can easily extend the tube outside the board holding section if it is fluid-driven or the cable if it is electric, and can be remotely controlled from the control section 70 or an external control device. It is. By configuring both the adjustment section 240 and the fastening section 250 so that they can be remotely controlled from the outside, it becomes possible to adjust the flatness in a very short time.

The fastening force F required for the fastening portion 250 can be determined as follows.

First, the amount of adjustment necessary for the substrate holder 230 is determined. Factors that reduce flatness, such as the flatness of the upper surface of the substrate holder base 220, the flatness of the substrate holder 230, and the difference in thickness between adjacent substrate holders 230, are extracted, and the sum of these factors is determined as the maximum necessary adjustment amount. Ru.

Next, the reaction force generated when the determined maximum necessary adjustment amount is applied to each support adjustment point of the plurality of substrate holders 230 is calculated using an FEM or the like. The value obtained by multiplying the calculated reaction force by the safety factor is determined as the required fastening force.

As long as the fastening section 250 generates this fastening force F, it is guaranteed that the substrate holding section 230, the adjusting section 240, and the substrate holding section base 220 will come into close contact with each other due to the sandwiching connection by the fastening section 250. In this state, the amount of drive of the adjustment section 240 is directly reflected in the amount of change in the flatness of the substrate holding section 230, thereby making it possible to adjust the flatness with high precision.

Next, a method for adjusting the flatness and a method for calculating the amount of drive of the adjustment section 240 will be explained. As described above, the flatness of the substrate holder 230 can be measured using the height sensor 42. The flatness is determined by sequentially driving the substrate stage 20 and measuring the entire surface of the substrate holder 230 at predetermined intervals using the height sensor 42.

Next, the adjustment amount of each of the plurality of adjustment units 240 is calculated. For example, for each of the plurality of adjustment sections 240, the relationship between the drive amount of the plurality of adjustment sections 240 and the deformation amount of the substrate holding section 230 is determined in advance by FEM or actual measurement, and is stored as a correction table. Based on the correction table and the flatness measurement results, the adjustment amount of each of the plurality of adjustment sections 240 is calculated backward using the method of least squares or the like so that the flatness after adjustment is minimized.

By adjusting each of the plurality of adjustment sections 240 using the adjustment amount of each of the plurality of adjustment sections 240 calculated in this way, high accuracy can be achieved, including even the steps and local irregularities between the plurality of regions of the substrate holding section. It becomes possible to adjust. However, in this case, stress remains inside the substrate holder 230, and as this residual stress is relaxed over time, a change in flatness may occur.

Therefore, in this embodiment, each of the plurality of fastening parts 250 is in a fastened state in which the board holding part base 220 and the board holding part 230 are fastened together, and in a state in which the fastening state in which the board holding part base 220 and the board holding part 230 are fastened is released. It is configured to be able to control switching between the released state and the released state. While adjusting at least one adjustment section among the plurality of adjustment sections 240, at least one fastening section corresponding to the at least one adjustment section among the plurality of fastening sections 250 can be switched to a released state.

For example, the control section 70 is configured to control each of the plurality of adjustment sections 240 and each of the plurality of fastening sections 250. Based on the measurement results of the height sensor 42, which is a measurement unit, the control unit 70 sets at least one fastening portion to a released state, and then controls the control unit 70 to reduce the difference in level between the ends of adjacent areas among the plurality of areas. In addition, the at least one adjusting section is controlled so that the substrate holding surface becomes flat.

With the above configuration, the following stage device adjustment method is realized. Once the fastening portion 250 is uncoupled. After the coupling of the fastening portion 250 is released, adjustment is performed by at least one adjustment portion using the adjustment amount of each of the plurality of adjustment portions 240 calculated in the previous step. After the adjustment is made, the fastening section brings the fastening state into a fastened state. In the adjustment by the adjustment sections, each adjustment section may be driven sequentially, or all the adjustment sections may be driven simultaneously. At this time, the drive amount may be guaranteed using information from an encoder built into the actuator 243 in each adjustment section. Alternatively, the height sensor 42 may be used to measure the support adjustment location of each adjustment section or its vicinity, and the drive amount may be guaranteed based on the measurement results. In the former case, the driving accuracy depends on the driving accuracy of the encoder and the adjustment section 240 as a whole. However, since all adjustment mechanisms can be driven simultaneously, the adjustment time itself can be shortened. In the latter case, it is necessary to measure using the height sensor 42 at or near each support adjustment location of the adjustment section 240, and therefore it is necessary to move the stage from time to time. Further, at each support adjustment location, the steps of measurement, fastening/releasing, driving the adjustment section, fastening, and measurement are performed to ensure whether or not the support is being driven by a predetermined adjustment amount. Therefore, although the adjustment accuracy is high, the adjustment time itself becomes long. When the adjustment part 240 has elasticity, the adjustment part can be deformed by an amount depending on the fastening force F and the elastic constant. In this case, by calculating or actually measuring the elastic constant in advance and adding it to the correction table as a correction value, it is possible to perform adjustment taking into account the influence of elasticity. However, since the error component will increase, there is a possibility that the adjustment accuracy will decrease accordingly. Therefore, it is advantageous for the adjustment section 240 to be rigid from the viewpoint of adjustment accuracy.

In a similar way, there may be a case where the rigidity of the substrate holder base 220 cannot be ignored compared to the rigidity of the substrate holder 230. In this case as well, correction can be made by performing FEM including the rigidity of the substrate holder base 220 and creating a correction table. However, in this case as well, the error component is bound to increase, so it is preferable that the substrate holding part 230 be more rigid than the substrate holding part 230.

In the embodiment, the rod 252 is arranged concentrically (coaxially) with the movable portion 242 . For example, a hollow portion 246 is formed that passes through the movable portion 242 and the fixed portion 241 and communicates the substrate holding portion base 220 and the substrate holding portion 230. By disposing the rod 252 inside the hollow portion 246, the rod 252 can be disposed concentrically (coaxially) with the movable portion 242. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the generation of a moment due to a shift in the point of application of the fastening force F. Further, it is also possible to prevent the deformation of the substrate holder 230 from becoming complicated and causing a large error component in the correction table for flatness adjustment. According to the above configuration, the flatness can be adjusted with high precision.

If the position of the board holder 230 shifts when the board holder 230 is fastened by the fastening part 250, the point of application of the fastening force F shifts and a moment is generated, which causes the flatness of the board holder 230 to change. may change. Therefore, it is desirable to position the substrate holding part 230 after the fastening part 250 is in the released state, and after the positioning, to put it in the fastened state. Therefore, a positioning mechanism for correcting the positional shift of the substrate holder 230 may be provided between the substrate holder 230 and the substrate holder base 220.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a positioning mechanism for the substrate holding section 230. The positioning mechanism positions the substrate holder 230 in the horizontal direction (XY direction) with respect to the substrate holder base 220. FIG. 7(a) is a side view, and FIG. 7(b) is a plan perspective view with the substrate W removed. The substrate holder 230 is provided with two positioning pins 253 that protrude toward the substrate holder base 220. Further, a positioning member 254 and a pressing member 255 are provided on the substrate holding unit base 220 so as to sandwich each positioning pin 253 along the X direction or the Y direction. Specifically, a positioning member 254 and a pressing member 255 are provided so as to sandwich one positioning pin 253 along the Y direction, and a positioning member 254 and a pressing member 255 are provided so as to sandwich the other positioning pin 253 along the X direction. A pressing member 255 is arranged. In one example, as shown in FIG. 7B, the contact portions of the two positioning members 254 with the positioning pin 253 are V-shaped, and the other is flat. Before fastening by the fastening section 250, the substrate holding section 230 is moved by pushing the positioning pin 253 with the pressing member 255. This pressing causes the positioning pin 253 to abut against the positioning member 254, thereby performing positioning.

With this positioning performed, fastening by the fastening portion 250 is performed. Once the fastening is completed, the pressing by the pressing member 255 may be released. Note that the pressing member may be configured by, for example, an air cylinder, an electric actuator, or the like. Alternatively, the pressure may be constantly applied using a spring or the like.

Further, in the example of FIG. 7, positioning is performed by pressing the positioning pins 253 provided on the substrate holder 230 against the positioning member 254, but positioning may be performed using other configurations. For example, positioning may be performed by providing a hole in the positioning member 254 and inserting the positioning pin 253 into the hole. Since this method does not require an actuator, it is simple and can be realized at low cost. However, if the accuracy of the position of the hole for inserting the positioning pin 253 is low, the positioning error may become large. This method can also be used as long as the amount of change in flatness of the substrate holder 230 caused by the positional deviation of the holes is within a permissible range.

As described above, in this embodiment, the fastening section 250 is once released, the adjusting section 240 is adjusted, and then the fastening section 250 is fastened again. This makes it possible to return the stress state and flatness to the same state as when adjusting again.

Note that if the fastening section 250 is configured to be remotely controlled from the outside, release and fastening can be performed in a short time by commands from outside the device. Therefore, it is possible to incorporate a function as a maintenance operation during device operation, which is suitable for maintaining flatness.

(Modified example)
A modification of the adjustment section 240 is shown in FIG. In FIG. 5, an adjustment mechanism is employed that converts the volume movement of the incompressible fluid into a Z drive amount. In the example of FIG. 5, the fixing portion 241 forms a container filled with incompressible fluid. The inside of the fixed part 241 (container) is filled with an incompressible fluid 245 such as oil, and the surface of the incompressible fluid 245 is sealed with a diaphragm 244 . Both ends of the movable part 242 are connected to a diaphragm 244. Incompressible fluid 245 is sent from piston-type actuator 243 to the inside of fixed part 241 via a tube. The volume of the incompressible fluid 245 inside changes depending on the amount of incompressible fluid sent from the actuator 243, and the diaphragm 244 deforms accordingly. As the diaphragm 244 deforms, the movable portion 242 moves upward (Z direction).

The length of the tube connecting the piston-type actuator 243 and the fixed part 241 is arbitrary. Therefore, the actuator 243 may be located outside the substrate holder base 220. Therefore, it is possible to remotely adjust the substrate holding section 230 by controlling the piston section from the outside.

A hollow part 246 is formed in the center part (Z-axis center) of the adjustment part 240, and the board holding part 230 and the board holding part base 220 are connected to each other by the fastening part 250 through the hollow part 246. They are joined in a sandwiched manner. With such a structure, it is possible to perform highly accurate adjustment even with an adjustment section that uses fluid. Furthermore, if the incompressibility of the incompressible fluid 245 is not perfect, the mechanism may have elasticity due to the elasticity of the diaphragm or tube. By actually measuring such elasticity in advance and adding it to the correction table, adjustment accuracy can be improved.

The adjustment section using an incompressible fluid has a two-axis tilt mechanism that has degrees of freedom in tilting the movable section 242 around the X-axis and around the Y-axis. That is, the movable section 242 can include a tilt mechanism for allowing the substrate holder to be displaced in a direction different from the direction in which force is applied to the substrate holder 230. Due to the effect of this two-axis tilt mechanism, the structure is not easily affected by the flatness of the back surface of the substrate holder 230, and it also has a structure that is not easily affected by the flatness of the back surface of the substrate holder 230. Since the influence of bending is eliminated, it is advantageous in terms of adjustment accuracy.

Such a two-axis tilt mechanism can also be applied to the aforementioned wedge mechanism adjustment section (FIG. 4). As an example, FIG. 6 shows a configuration of an adjustment section 240 having a support member having a two-axis tilt function on the movable section 242. In FIG. 6, a support member 256 that supports the substrate holding section 230 is provided on the movable section 242. The upper surface of the support member 256 is a flat surface for receiving the substrate holder 230, while the lower end of the support member 256 is a convex spherical surface. A spherical seat 242a is formed on the upper surface of the movable portion 242 where the support member 256 is disposed. The spherical seat 242a is formed into a concave spherical shape so as to hold the lower end of the support member 256, which has a convex spherical surface. The support member 256 is supported by the spherical seat 242a of the movable portion 242 so as to be swingable and rotatable. The support member 256 supported so as to be able to swing and rotate in this manner serves as a so-called "dodging" mechanism that absorbs variations in the flatness of the back surface of the substrate holder 230.

Note that the dodging mechanism can be realized with various other configurations such as a spherical surface + three-point support, a hinge mechanism, etc. However, it is necessary to consider the elasticity of the dodging mechanism. As mentioned above, correction can be made by measuring the elasticity of the dodging mechanism in advance and taking its influence into consideration in the correction table.

<Embodiment of article manufacturing method>
The article manufacturing method according to the embodiment of the present invention is suitable for manufacturing articles such as micro devices such as semiconductor devices and elements having fine structures. The article manufacturing method of the present embodiment includes a step of forming a latent image pattern on a photosensitive agent applied to a substrate using the above exposure device (a step of exposing the substrate), and a step of forming a latent image pattern in this step. and developing the substrate. Additionally, such manufacturing methods include other well-known steps (oxidation, deposition, deposition, doping, planarization, etching, resist stripping, dicing, bonding, packaging, etc.). The article manufacturing method of this embodiment is advantageous in at least one of article performance, quality, productivity, and production cost compared to conventional methods.

(Other embodiments)
The present invention provides a system or device with a program that implements one or more functions of the embodiments described above via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or device reads and executes the program. This can also be achieved by processing. It can also be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, the following claims are hereby appended to disclose the scope of the invention.

220: Board holding part base, 230: Board holding part, 240: Adjustment part, 241: Fixed part, 242: Movable part, 243: Actuator, 250: Fastening part, 251: Drive part, 252: Rod

Claims (14)

A stage device that holds and moves a substrate,
base and
a substrate holder that holds the substrate at a position above the base;
A plurality of parts are provided between the base and the substrate holder, and apply force from below individually to each of a plurality of locations on the substrate holding surface in order to adjust the shape of the substrate holding surface of the substrate holder. an adjustment section,
a plurality of fastening parts that are provided corresponding to each of the plurality of adjustment parts and fasten the base and the substrate holding part using fastening members to sandwich the adjustment parts;
has
Each of the plurality of adjustment parts is
a movable part that moves in contact with the substrate holding part;
a fixed part disposed on the base and supporting the movable part;
a hollow part that penetrates the movable part and the fixed part and communicates the base and the substrate holding part;
including;
Each of the plurality of fastening parts includes a rod as the fastening member that connects the base and the substrate holding part,
The stage apparatus is characterized in that the rod is arranged inside the hollow part and concentrically with the movable part . Each of the plurality of fastening parts is configured to be switchable and controllable between a fastened state in which the base and the substrate holding part are fastened, and a released state in which the fastening between the base and the board holding part is released. The stage device according to claim 1, characterized in that: While adjusting at least one of the plurality of adjustment parts, at least one fastening part corresponding to the at least one adjustment part among the plurality of fastening parts is switched to the released state. The stage device according to claim 2. Each of the plurality of fastening parts is
further comprising a drive unit provided on the base and configured to drive the rod to retract it;
4. The stage apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the fastened state is obtained by drawing the rod with a predetermined force by the drive section. 5. The stage apparatus according to claim 4, wherein each of the plurality of adjustment sections further includes an actuator that drives the movable section. 6. The movable section includes a tilt mechanism for allowing displacement of the substrate holder in a direction different from the direction in which the force is applied to the substrate holder. The stage device according to item 1. Each of the plurality of adjustment parts further includes a wedge member that is moved in a horizontal direction by the actuator on the fixed part,
The stage apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the movable part moves upward as the wedge member moves. The fixed part forms a container filled with an incompressible fluid,
Each of the plurality of adjustment parts further includes a diaphragm that seals a liquid level of the incompressible fluid filled in the container,
the actuator is configured to pump an incompressible fluid into the container;
The stage apparatus according to claim 5 or 7, wherein the movable part moves upward as the diaphragm is deformed due to incompressible fluid being sent into the container by the actuator. further comprising a positioning mechanism for horizontally positioning the substrate holder with respect to the base,
Claims 2 to 5, characterized in that, after the plurality of fastening parts are brought into the released state, the positioning is performed by the positioning mechanism, and after the positioning is performed, the plurality of fastening parts are brought into the fastened state. The stage device according to any one of , 7 and 8 . a control unit that controls each of the plurality of adjustment units and each of the plurality of fastening units;
further comprising a measuring unit that measures the flatness of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit,
The substrate holding surface is divided into a plurality of regions,
Based on the measurement result of the measurement unit, the control unit may be configured to reduce the difference in level between the ends of adjacent areas among the plurality of areas and to reduce the difference in level between the ends of adjacent areas of the plurality of areas, after the at least one fastening part is brought into the released state, based on the measurement result of the measurement unit. The stage device according to claim 3, wherein the at least one adjustment section is controlled so that the substrate holding surface becomes flat. A stage device that holds and moves a substrate,
base and
a substrate holder that holds the substrate at a position above the base;
A plurality of parts are provided between the base and the substrate holder, and apply force from below individually to each of a plurality of locations on the substrate holding surface in order to adjust the shape of the substrate holding surface of the substrate holder. an adjustment section,
a plurality of fastening parts that are provided corresponding to each of the plurality of adjustment parts and fasten the base and the substrate holding part using fastening members to sandwich the adjustment parts;
a positioning mechanism that horizontally positions the substrate holder with respect to the base;
has
Each of the plurality of fastening parts is configured to be switchable and controllable between a fastened state in which the base and the substrate holding part are fastened, and a released state in which the fastening between the base and the board holding part is released. ,
After the plurality of fastening parts are brought into the released state, the positioning is performed by the positioning mechanism, and after the positioning is performed, the plurality of fastening parts are brought into the fastened state.
A stage device characterized by: a base, a substrate holder for holding a substrate at a position above the base; and a substrate holder provided between the base and the substrate holder to adjust the shape of the substrate holding surface of the substrate holder. A plurality of adjustment parts that individually apply force from below to each of a plurality of locations on the holding surface, and a type that is provided corresponding to each of the plurality of adjustment parts, and the adjustment parts are sandwiched using fastening members. A method for adjusting a stage device, comprising: a plurality of fastening parts that fasten the base and the substrate holding part,
Each of the plurality of adjustment parts is
a movable part that moves in contact with the substrate holding part;
a fixed part disposed on the base and supporting the movable part;
a hollow part that penetrates the movable part and the fixed part and communicates the base and the substrate holding part;
including;
Each of the plurality of fastening parts includes a rod as the fastening member that connects the base and the substrate holding part,
The rod is arranged inside the hollow part and concentrically with the movable part,
The adjustment method is
In order to perform adjustment in at least one of the plurality of adjustment parts, at least one fastening part corresponding to the at least one adjustment part of the plurality of fastening parts is connected to the base and the substrate holding part. a step of bringing the connection to the part into a released state,
After the at least one fastening section is brought into the released state, adjusting the at least one adjusting section;
After the adjustment by the at least one adjustment section is performed, the at least one fastening section is brought into a fastening state that fastens the base and the substrate holding section;
An adjustment method characterized by having the following. An exposure device that exposes a substrate,
An exposure apparatus comprising the stage apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 11 , which holds the substrate. A step of exposing the substrate using the exposure apparatus according to claim 13 ;
Developing the exposed substrate;
A method for manufacturing an article, comprising: manufacturing an article from the developed substrate.

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