JPH0471224A - Aligner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a low-cost aligner requiring less space by branching a light into two light paths, and installing an optical cable for guiding one of the branched lights, and a mechanism for moving the spot position of the light led out from the optical cable. CONSTITUTION:A peripheral exposing part 1 having an optical cable 3 for introducing one of lights wherein the light generated by a mercury lamp 5 as a light source is branched by a half mirror 4 is installed. A driving part 10 for retaining one end of the optical cable 3 and moving the cable is installed in the lower part of the peripheral exposing part 1. A spin chuck 8 for retaining a wafer 9 and rotating it in the manner in which the periphery of the wafer 9 is irradiated with the light led out from the optical cable 3 is installed so as to face the driving part 10.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an exposure apparatus that projects light onto a resist coated on a wafer, which is a semiconductor substrate.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, the photolithography process in the manufacture of semiconductor devices involves coating a photoresist onto a wafer, and then
The process involved exposing the material to light containing ultraviolet light through a photomask, and then immersing it in a developer to form a desired pattern. In recent years, as patterns have become finer, the photoresist type has been shifted from the conventional negative type to the positive type, and the positive type has come to be used in large quantities. However, since positive resists have relatively high hardness, they have the disadvantage that they tend to chip when using a mechanical balancer or the like. For this reason, at the outermost periphery of the wafer, mechanical contact such as rubbing with a wafer carrier or handling with a bottle set causes resist buildup, which causes dust generation. Therefore, as one of the countermeasures, a technique has been developed, for example, in which the outermost periphery of the wafer is divided into several millimeters, the photoresist is exposed, and the photoresist is removed before development.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining an example of a photolithography process using a conventional exposure apparatus.

Conventionally, in this photolithography process, although not shown in the drawings, a coating device that coats the wafer with resist;
An exposure device that projects light containing ultraviolet light onto the coated resist and a developing device that removes the printed portion of the resist were used. Also, in this photolithography process, as shown in Figure 2, first, [resist coating]
Then, the resist is uniformly applied to the wafer surface using a coating device, the first exposure device performs pattern exposure in [alignment exposure], and the second exposure is performed in [peripheral exposure]. The 0th order, in which the equipment emits light onto the periphery of the wafer, [development]
Then, the exposed portion of the resist is etched away by the developing device, and the peripheral portion of the resist is removed, and a positive resist pattern is formed.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, the exposure equipment used in the conventional lithography process described above requires a large amount of floor space because the exposure equipment for alignment exposure and the exposure equipment for peripheral area exposure are installed separately. Not only that, but there is also a drawback that the transfer between the exposure apparatuses takes a considerable amount of time. Further, the transfer method has the disadvantage that the wafer may be damaged due to transfer. Furthermore, there is a drawback that the equipment investment cost is large.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve this problem and provide an inexpensive exposure apparatus that requires only a small floor space and does not require transfer work.

[Means to solve the problem]

The exposure apparatus of the present invention includes a light source that generates light including ultraviolet light, a half mirror that branches the light into two optical paths, an optical cable that guides one of the branched lights, and one end of the optical cable that is held. and a mechanism for moving the spot position of the light led out from the optical cable.

〔Example〕

Next, the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of an exposure apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, this exposure apparatus includes an alignment exposure section 2 for alignment exposure, and a half mirror in which light generated from a mercury lamp 5, which is a light source of this alignment exposure section 2, is used for alignment exposure.
5 is provided with a peripheral exposure section 1 having an optical cable 3 into which one of the lights branched by 5 is introduced. Further, a driving section 10 for holding one end of the optical cable 3 and moving it is provided at the peripheral exposure section 1 and below. Furthermore, a spin chuck 8 that holds and rotates the wafer 9 so that the periphery of the wafer 9 is irradiated with light led out from the optical cable 3 is provided so as to face the drive unit 10 .

On the other hand, the alignment exposure section 2 has the same structure as the conventional one, and its
In the optical path, a lens 6C26d for enlarging the light source, a mirror 6 for reflection, and a lens 6a for projecting light onto the reticle 14.
and a reduction lens 6b that reduces the image of the reticle and projects it onto the wafer 9. Further, the drive section 10 has a mechanism for projecting light onto the periphery of the wafer 9.

Next, the operation of this exposure apparatus will be explained.

First, the periphery of the wafer 9 held by the spin chuck 8 is exposed to light emitted from the optical cable 3. At the same time as this operation, the light transmitted from the reticle 14 is projected onto the wafer 9, which is mounted on the stage 7 on the alignment exposure section 2 side and whose peripheral portion has already been exposed. The exposed wafer 9 is transferred to the outside of the apparatus by a handling device (not shown), and the wafer 9 held by the spin chuck 8 is moved by the handling device in the direction of the arrow and transferred to the stage 7. . At the same time as this operation, another loader
(not shown), the unexposed wafer is transferred to the spin chuck 8. These operations are repeated to sequentially expose the wafers. In this way, the entire wafer can be exposed at the same time by using one light source and splitting it into two lights, emitting one light to the periphery of the wafer and the other light to the main part of the wafer. Since the same effect can be obtained, it has the advantage of cutting the exposure processing time in half.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the present invention splits the light generated by one light source into two, and separates the alignment exposure section that introduces these branched lights and the peripheral exposure section, thereby achieving alignment. The two steps of exposure and peripheral exposure can be performed simultaneously, and the light source and wafer storage chamber of these two exposure sections can be shared. Furthermore, a transport mechanism for transporting the wafer outside the wafer apparatus between two exposure processes becomes unnecessary. Therefore, it is possible to obtain an inexpensive exposure apparatus that does not damage the wafer and occupies a small area.

Small lens, 7... Stage, 8... Spin chuck, 9... Wafer, 10... Drive unit, 11... Light emitting element, 12... Light receiving element, 13... Servo motor, 14... Reticle.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A light source that generates light including ultraviolet rays, a half mirror that splits the light into two optical paths, an optical cable that guides one of the split lights, and a cable that holds one end of the optical cable and that is led out from the optical cable. 1. An exposure apparatus comprising: a mechanism for moving a spot position of light;