JPH0590131A - X-ray aligner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To control, with high precision, the temperature of exposure atmosphere in the vicinity of a heat generation part like the vicinity of an optical path of SR light, by installing a heat exchanger performing heat exchange between the inside and the outside of an equipment, on the external wall of an aligner. CONSTITUTION:The pressure in a main chamber 101 is controlled to be a specified value by controlling the displacement with a control valve 120. In this state, exposure is performed. At this time, heat exchange is performed between helium in the main chamber 101 and the atmosphere outside the main chamber 101, via a fin 124 fixed to a beam port 111. Thereby at least helium in the optical path of SR light can be managed to be at a temperature equal to the atmosphere outside the main chamber 101 whose temperature is managed to be constant, i.e., 23+ or -0.01 deg.C.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an X-ray exposure apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-100131, an X-ray exposure apparatus using synchrotron radiation light (hereinafter referred to as SR light) as a light source is proposed. X like this
As a characteristic structure of the line exposure apparatus different from the conventional exposure apparatus using deep ultraviolet rays, the exposure atmosphere (pressure, temperature, purity, etc.) is controlled to a predetermined value to perform exposure in order to suppress the attenuation of SR light. Is mentioned.

As the management of such an exposure atmosphere, in the one disclosed in the above-mentioned publication, the variation of the exposure atmosphere is controlled in order to suppress the variation of the SR light transmittance to 2% or less.
Divided into one-half, pressure fluctuation ± 2 torr, temperature fluctuation ±
Control is carried out at a temperature of 0.1 ° C. and a purity fluctuation of 0.01% or less. Among them, there are the following two methods for controlling the temperature.

(1) A flow rate control system and a temperature control system are provided in the middle of the introduction line of helium to be supplied into the chamber, and helium controlled at a constant flow rate and a constant temperature is always supplied during exposure.

(2) The state quantity is controlled as described above, and the temperature of the chamber for enclosing the atmosphere is constantly controlled. For example, in the one described in the above publication, the chamber is housed in a constant temperature chamber whose inside is controlled at 23 ± 0.01 ° C.

A conventional example of the above X-ray exposure apparatus will be described below with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a conventional example of an X-ray exposure apparatus.

In FIG. 5, the atmosphere inside the main chamber 501 that houses the entire X-ray exposure apparatus has a purity of 99.
Helium is controlled to a pressure of 150 ± 2 torr at 99% or more, and the main chamber 501 is controlled to 23 ± 0.01 ° C. by a constant temperature chamber (not shown).

A support material 503 is provided in the main chamber 501.
The main frame 502 is attached via the.
A wafer chuck 505 holding a wafer 504 to be exposed and a mask chuck 507 holding a mask 506 are attached to a main frame 502. Of these, the wafer chuck 505 is the wafer 504.
And a mask 506 positioning mechanism and a main frame 50 via a stage driven by a motor (not shown).
2 is mounted on.

SR light that has passed through the beam port 511 is incident on the main chamber 501. The beam port 511 is kept in a high vacuum in order to prevent the light intensity from being attenuated, and the beryllium that separates the high vacuum region and the exposure atmosphere in the main chamber 501 in the path of the beam port 511. A window 509 is provided. The beryllium window 509 is held by a flange 510 that is insulated so as not to transfer heat on the light source side to the main chamber side.

A valve 51 is provided in the main chamber 501.
2, helium that has passed through the flow rate controller 513, the filter 515, and the heat exchanger 516 in this order is supplied from the supply port 518. The flow rate controller 513 is provided to keep the flow rate of helium constant, and its opening is controlled by the control unit 514. The filter 515 is provided to remove dust mixed in the helium. The heat exchanger 516 is provided to keep the temperature of helium at a predetermined temperature, and the heat exchange amount thereof is controlled by the control unit 517.

The exhaust system of the main chamber 501 includes a pressure sensor 519 provided in the main chamber 501, an exhaust port 523, a control valve 520 provided between the exhaust port 523 and the vacuum pump 522, and a pressure sensor 51.
A valve controller 521 that adjusts the opening degree of the control valve 520 according to the detected pressure of No. 9 to control the exhaust amount.
It consists of

Next, the atmosphere control of the above X-ray exposure apparatus will be described.

The helium supplied is controlled to have a constant flow rate, a constant purity and a constant temperature by a flow rate controller 512, a filter 514 and a heat exchanger 515, and the external atmosphere is brought to a predetermined temperature by a constant temperature chamber (not shown). It is introduced into the temperature-controlled main chamber 501. The pressure in the main chamber 501 is controlled to a predetermined pressure by controlling the exhaust amount by the control valve 519, and exposure is performed in such an environment.

[0014]

In the above-mentioned conventional example,
By controlling the temperature of helium flowing into the main chamber 501 whose temperature is controlled to a predetermined temperature, the main chamber 50
Although the temperature inside 1 is kept constant, the main chamber 501 has a heat generating portion such as a motor for driving the stage 508 and a portion irradiated with SR light. There is a problem in that the temperature distribution of helium occurs and the exposure atmosphere and the SR light transmittance fluctuate, so that good exposure may not be performed.

The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the above-mentioned conventional techniques, and more accurately controls the temperature of the exposure atmosphere in the vicinity of the heat generating portion such as in the vicinity of the SR optical path. It is an object of the present invention to realize an X-ray exposure apparatus capable of performing.

[0016]

The X-ray exposure apparatus of the present invention is an X-ray exposure apparatus using synchrotron radiation as a light source, and a heat for exchanging heat on the outer wall between the inside and the outside of the exposure apparatus. An exchange is provided.

In this case, the heat exchanger may be provided near the heat generating portion in the X-ray exposure apparatus.

[0018]

In addition to the temperature control by the inflowing helium, the temperature control by the heat exchanger provided on the outer wall is added, so that the temperature control range is widened. Further, by providing the heat exchanger in the vicinity of the heat generating portion, effective temperature control becomes possible.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the structure of the first embodiment of the present invention.

A main chamber 101, a main frame 102, a supporting member 103, a wafer 104, a wafer chuck 105, a mask 106, a mask chuck 107 in FIG.
Stage 108, beryllium window 109, flange 11
0, beam port 111, valve 112, flow rate controller 113, control units 114 and 117, filter 1
15 heat exchanger 116, supply port 118, pressure sensor 11
9, control valve 120, valve controller 1
21, the vacuum pump 122 and the exhaust port 123 respectively include the main chamber 501, the main frame 502, the support material 503, the wafer 504, the wafer chuck 505, the mask 506, the mask chuck 507, the stage 508, and the beryllium window 509 shown in FIG. , Flange 510, beam port 511, valve 512, flow controller 5
13, the control units 514, 517, the filter 515, the heat exchanger 516, the supply port 518, the pressure sensor 519, the control valve 520, the valve controller 521, the vacuum pump 522, and the exhaust port 523. The description is omitted.

In the beam port 111 of this embodiment, a fin 1 for heat radiation made of aluminum, which is a heat exchanger, is provided between the beryllium window 109 and the main chamber 101.
24 are provided.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the fin 124 in FIG. 1 in detail. As shown in the drawing, a plurality of fins 124 are provided on each of the inner peripheral surface and the outer peripheral surface of the beam port 111, and are required for heat exchange in the vicinity of the beam path and within a range not hindering the exposure area Z. It is arranged efficiently so as to secure the surface area.

Also in this embodiment, the main chamber 10
1 is 23 ± 0.01 ° C by a constant temperature chamber (not shown)
The atmosphere inside is helium controlled to a purity of 99.99% or more and a pressure of 150 ± 2 torr.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment during exposure will be described.

Helium supplied to the main chamber 101 is introduced while being controlled at a constant temperature. The atmosphere outside the main chamber 101 is adjusted to a predetermined temperature by a constant temperature chamber (not shown). Main chamber 10
The pressure inside 1 is controlled by controlling the amount of exhaust by the control valve 120, so that exposure is performed in an environment controlled to a predetermined pressure. At this time, a temperature distribution may occur in the temperature-controlled helium due to the heat generating portion in the main chamber 101. However, the helium inside the main chamber 101 and the main helium are connected via the fins 124 attached to the beam port 111. Heat exchange is performed with the atmosphere outside the chamber 101. As a result, at least helium in the SR optical path can be controlled to the same temperature as the atmosphere outside the main chamber 101 whose temperature is controlled, that is, 23 ± 0.01 ° C. As a result, the SR light intensity was stabilized, exposure unevenness was suppressed, and printing accuracy was improved.

In this embodiment, the beam port 111 is used.
Although aluminum is used as the material of the fins 124 attached to the above, the material is not limited to aluminum as long as it is a metal having high thermal conductivity. In order to prevent deterioration of the purity of helium, degassing treatment such as EP treatment may be performed.

Further, the shape of the fin is not limited to the annular fin as in this embodiment, and various shapes such as a straight fin and a protruding fin can be considered. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the fin 325 may be arranged parallel to the SR optical path, and its shape is not particularly limited.

Although the fin has been described as being arranged in the vicinity of the beam path of the beam port 111 between the beryllium window 109 and the main chamber 101, heat generation which is expected to be particularly high in the main chamber 101 is generated. By similarly arranging the fins on the wall surface of the main chamber 101 in the vicinity of the portion, effective temperature control can be performed and temperature control accuracy can be improved.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
Will be described.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the structure of the second embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, the beam port 111 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is provided with an annular fin 424 on the inner peripheral surface thereof, and constant temperature water supplied from a constant temperature water supply device 427 is provided inside. The beam port 411 is provided with a water pipe 426 for circulation. The other configuration is shown in FIG.
Since it is the same as the first embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the same reference numerals as those in FIG.

In this embodiment, the constant temperature water supply device 427
The constant temperature water supplied is controlled to 23 ± 0.01 ° C., and the beam port 411 is controlled to the same temperature by the constant temperature water flowing through the water pipe 426.

In contrast to the first embodiment, which uses helium and the atmosphere outside the main chamber 101, that is, temperature control utilizing heat exchange between gas and gas, in the present embodiment, helium and constant temperature water, that is, gas to liquid. Temperature control is performed by heat exchange of. Generally, the heat transfer rate of gas to gas is 3 to 10 kc.
al / m ² hK, while the gas-to-liquid heat transfer rate is 5 to
Since it is as high as 15 kcal / m ² hK, it became possible to perform temperature control in the vicinity of the SR optical path with higher accuracy. The material, surface treatment, shape, and arrangement of the fins 424 are the same as in the first embodiment.

[0035]

Since the present invention is constructed as described above, it has the following effects.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the temperature controllable range is widened, and the temperature of the exposure atmosphere can be controlled with higher accuracy. As a result, even if a temperature distribution occurs in helium in the X-ray exposure apparatus, the SR light intensity can be stabilized, so that uneven exposure can be suppressed and printing accuracy can be improved.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since effective temperature control is possible, the above-mentioned respective effects are further improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a configuration of a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing in detail a fin 124 in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing another configuration example of a fin.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a configuration of a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a configuration of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101 Main Chamber 102 Main Frame 103 Support Material 104 Wafer 105 Wafer Chuck 106 Mask 107 Mask Mask 108 Stage 109 Beryllium Window 110 Flange 111, 411 Beam Port 112 Valve 113 Flow Controller 114, 117 Control Unit 115 Filter 116 Heat Exchanger 118 Supply Port 119 Pressure sensor 120 Control valve 121 Valve controller 122 Vacuum pump 123 Exhaust port 124, 325, 424 Fin 426 Water pipe 427 Constant temperature water supply device

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued Front Page (72) Inventor Hiroshi Tanaka 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An X-ray exposure apparatus using synchrotron radiation as a light source, wherein an outer wall is provided with a heat exchanger for exchanging heat between the inside and outside of the exposure apparatus. apparatus. 2. The X-ray exposure apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the heat exchanger is provided in the vicinity of the heat generating portion in the X-ray exposure apparatus.