JPH02106918A - Electron beam aligner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform an accurate mask pattern lithography by providing a mirror unit on the side face of a mask holder, and securing the holder on a stage by utilizing a spring unit. CONSTITUTION:A mask dry plate 1 is attached to a mask holder 2, and placed at the rear of a stage 3 in a vacuum chamber, i.e., at the side of a motor 5 with a mirror unit 2a disposed at the front. When the position of a T-shaped groove 2b is matched to a holder securing button 7 mounted on the stage 3 and pressed forward, the button 7 protrudes along the inclination of the groove 2b to compress a compression coil spring 8, thereby storing its energizing force. When the button 7 arrives at an engaging recess 2c, the holder 2 is brought into pressure contact with the upper face of the stage 3 to be fixed. Since the holder 2 is secured directly to the stage 3 in this manner, the unit 2a of the holder 2 is radiated with the laser light of a laser interference measuring unit without disturbance. Accordingly, the position of the holder 2 can be detected directly by said measuring unit.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an electron beam exposure apparatus used for manufacturing photomasks in the production process of semiconductor integrated circuits.

(Prior Art) A conventional electron beam exposure apparatus will be explained with reference to a side sectional view of the main part shown in FIG. A mask dry plate 1 on which a mask pattern is drawn using an electron beam is held in a mask holder 2
It is fixed in a jig called.

Stage 3 placed in the vacuum chamber of the electron beam seismic device
The holder is fixed on a base called a holder by means of holder fixing claws 4.

The stage 3 has a jetty-like mirror surface part 6 formed at the side end of its upper surface, and is moved by an electric motor 5 provided outside the vacuum chamber by 1ψ, so that it can freely move on the bottom surface of the vacuum chamber. Note that the above-mentioned holder fixing claw 4 is connected to a drive device (
(not shown), the mask holder 2 is fixed to the upper surface of the stage 3 by sliding in the vertical direction. If the mask pattern exceeds the deflection range of the electron beam, the electric motor 5 is operated to move the stage 3, the mask dry plate 1 is again placed within the -1 direction range, and drawing is continued. To detect the position of the mask dry plate 1 at this time, a laser beam is applied to the mirror surface 6, and laser interference is detected. 11! This is done using a fixed method.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In semiconductor integrated circuits, as manufacturing technology advances, the mask dry plate 1 becomes larger, and the mask holder 2 that supports it also becomes larger. On the other hand, stage 3 of the electron beam exposure apparatus is
When drawing a mask pattern, acceleration and deceleration are repeated to move both drawing areas.

There was a problem in that the position of the mask holder 2 with respect to the stage 3 was likely to shift. In the future, as the mask dry plate 1 and the mask holder 2 become larger in size, it is predicted that the mask holder 2 will become more likely to be misaligned. However, in the above configuration, since the position of the stage 3 is detected, there is a problem that the mask pattern drawing accuracy deteriorates due to the positional deviation of the mask holder 2.The present invention solves the above problem, and An object of the present invention is to provide an electron beam exposure apparatus that is capable of drawing a mask pattern with high precision and is not affected by misalignment of a holder.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a mirror surface portion on the side surface of a mask holder, and fixes the mask holder on a stage using a spring device. .

(Function) According to the above configuration, the mirror surface of the mask holder on the stage is directly irradiated with a laser beam, and the position of the mask holder can be measured by the laser interferometer. It is not affected by misalignment.

(Example) An example of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 1(a) is a side sectional view of essential parts showing the inside of the vacuum chamber of the electron beam exposure apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 1(b) and (
c) is an enlarged side sectional view and front sectional view of the circled portion shown in FIG. 1(a).

In FIG. 1(a), the electron beam seismic device according to the present invention is different from the conventional example shown in FIG. The point is that the mirror surface part 6 was replaced.

The holder fixing claw 4 provided on the stage 3 has been replaced with a fixing device shown in FIGS. 1(b) and 1(c).

Since the rest remains the same, the same components are given the same reference numerals and their explanations will be omitted.

In FIG. 1(b), the mask holder 2 has a tilted T shape with an elliptical cross-sectional shape on the lower surface of the mirror surface 2a side of the mask holder 2.
A groove 2b is formed, the distal end of which is sloped in the opposite direction, and an engagement recess 2c is provided. Stage 3 has the above T-slot 2.
The holder fixing button 7 into which b is fitted is attached so that it can freely slide up and down while always being biased downward by a compression coil spring 8 housed in a storage space 3a provided in the stage 3. has been done.

The operation of the electron beam exposure apparatus configured in this way will be explained.

First, the mask drying plate 1 is attached to the mask holder 2, and placed on the back of the stage 3 in the vacuum chamber, on the side of the Suranari motor 5, with the mirror surface 2a facing forward, and then placed on the holder fixing button 7 attached to the stage 3. When the T-groove 2b is aligned and pushed forward, the holder fixing button 7 protrudes along the slope of the T-groove 2b, compresses the compression coil spring 8, and stores biasing force. When the holder fixing button 7 reaches the engagement recess 2c, its biasing force causes the mask holder 2 to be crimped and fixed on the upper surface of the stage 3, as shown in FIG. 1(c).

In this way, the mask holder 2 is directly fixed to the stage 3, so that the laser beam of the laser interferometric length measuring device hits the mirror surface 2a of the mask holder 2 without any obstruction. Therefore,
The position of the mask holder 2 can be directly detected by the laser interferometer.

Figure 2 shows a mask drying plate 1 using an electron beam exposure device.
3 is a distribution diagram showing variations in the position of the mask pattern formed above, where curve a shows the embodiment according to the present invention, and curve a shows the conventional example.

As is clear from this, it can be seen that the electron beam exposure apparatus according to the present invention has small variations in the position of the mask pattern and is capable of drawing a mask pattern with high precision.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained below, according to the present invention, laser interference f
il'! Since the position of the mask holder can be directly detected using a long device, an electron beam optical device with good positional accuracy of the mask pattern without being affected by positional displacement of the mask holder on the stage can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1(a) is a side sectional view of a main part of an electron beam exposure apparatus according to the present invention, FIGS. 1(b) and (c) are a side sectional view of the main part and a front sectional view of the main part with the negative part thereof enlarged, FIG. 2 is a positional variation distribution diagram of an electron beam exposure apparatus, and FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of a main part of a conventional electron beam exposure apparatus. 1...Mask dry plate, 2...Mask holder, 2a
, 6... Mirror surface portion, 2b... T groove, 2c... Engagement recess, 3... Stage, 3a... Storage space,
4...Holder fixing claw, 5...Electric motor, 7...
Holder fixing button, 8...Compression coil spring. Patent applicant Matsushita Electronics Co., Ltd. (a)

Claims (1)

[Claims] The jig with the substrate to be exposed is removably fixed, and
In an electron beam exposure system equipped with a base that can freely move in any direction and a laser interferometric length measuring device that detects the moving position of the base, the side surface of the jig described above reflects the laser beam of the laser interferometric length measuring device. An electron beam exposure device characterized by having a mirror surface.