JPH06124864A - Exposure system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To downsize an oligner and to cause a plurality of aligness to have a mask for common use. CONSTITUTION:A mask library 6, mask conveyor 7 and mask defect inspector 9 are provided in a conveying car separate from an aligner 10 and positioned relative to each of a plurality of aligner to deliver a necessary mask. Immediately before the delivery of the mask, the defect of the mask is inspected; and at the time of the delivery, the vibrational state of the delivery apparatus 14 of the aligner is detected so that the conveying car is vibrated simultaneously with the vibration.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an exposure system including an exposure apparatus used for manufacturing semiconductor devices, etc., and more particularly to an apparatus for temporarily storing a mask, an apparatus for transferring the mask to an exposure unit, and a mask defect. The present invention relates to an exposure system in which an inspection device is independent of an exposure device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional exposure system, an operator selects a mask required for a predetermined exposure process or a mask case storing a mask from a mask stocker and loads it into a mask library in an exposure apparatus. Therefore, one exposure apparatus simultaneously accommodates a plurality of masks necessary for the exposure process, and also has a mask defect inspection apparatus.

Of the masks thus loaded in the mask library, a mask required for arbitrary exposure is transferred to the mask mounting table of the exposure unit by the mask transfer device in the exposure apparatus. A defect inspection apparatus has been used to inspect foreign matters and defects on the mask. After that, the mask is aligned and exposed, and then returned to the mask library again.

[0004]

In recent years, as semiconductor elements have become highly integrated, circuit patterns have become finer, and accordingly, the projection lens of the exposure apparatus has become larger, and the mask (reticle used in one exposure apparatus The number of
Further, as the size of the wafer becomes larger, the size of the entire exposure apparatus is becoming larger and larger.

Further, due to the miniaturization of circuit patterns, improvement of cleanliness in the exposure apparatus and improvement of processing speed are required. In the conventional exposure system as described above,
Since the mask storage unit, the transport unit, and the defect inspection apparatus are arranged on the upper front surface of the exposure apparatus, the maintainability from the front of the exposure apparatus main body is poor. In addition, although the exposure apparatus is air-conditioned in consideration of cleanliness, this arrangement may disturb the air flow and may not provide a sufficient air-conditioning effect. Further, if the mask transfer device is provided in the exposure apparatus, dust may be emitted from the driving part of the apparatus and vibration may affect the exposure apparatus main body.

In addition, the method of manually loading the mask or the mask case storing the mask into the mask library is one of the causes of foreign matter generation, and it is desirable that the periphery of the exposure apparatus is unmanned. In view of the conventional problems as described above, the present invention avoids the influence of the mask storage portion, the transfer device, and the defect inspection device mounted on the exposure apparatus, downsizes the exposure apparatus, and improves the cleanliness in the apparatus, and The purpose is to operate the exposure system efficiently.

[0007]

In order to solve the above problems, according to the present invention, a plurality of exposure apparatuses (10) for exposing a pattern of a mask on which a pattern to be transferred is formed onto a substrate to be exposed; A vibration detection means (20 to 25) for detecting the vibration of the mask transfer means (14) provided in each of the exposure apparatuses; and a defect inspection means (9) for inspecting a mask defect and a plurality of masks are mounted. And a mask transfer device (1) for transferring the mask to the transfer means (14) while being movable to a predetermined position with respect to each of the plurality of exposure devices. In addition, the defect inspection means inspects the mask for defects and vibrates in synchronization with the vibration of the exposure apparatus at the time of transfer.

[0008]

According to the present invention, since the mask storage section, the transport section and the defect inspection apparatus are independent of the exposure apparatus, the exposure apparatus can be downsized and one exposure apparatus occupies the mask. Disappears.

[0009]

1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an exposure system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The mask transport vehicle 1 is composed of a drive unit 2 including wheels and the like and a storage unit 3, and can be moved by the drive unit 2 to a mask transfer position for each of the plurality of exposure apparatuses 10. The running method may be either track or trackless, or may be overhead traveling. The drive unit 2 and the storage unit 3 are connected by an active suspension 4 so that they are not affected by vibrations of the vehicle while traveling, and the suspension drive unit 5 drives the suspension 4 to change the posture of the storage unit 3. Can be changed. In the storage part 3,
A mask library 6 for storing masks, a transfer device 7 for transferring masks, a defect inspection device 9 for inspecting foreign matters and defects on the masks, and the like are provided, and an air conditioner 8 keeps the environment such as temperature and humidity constant. Is dripping The transport device 7 is
The mask is transferred between the exposure apparatus 10 and an external device such as a mask storage (not shown) via an automatic door or the like (not shown). At this time, the mask can be managed by detecting a bar code, magnetic recording, or the like provided on the mask with a mask discrimination device (not shown). The transport vehicle 1 is driven by a battery and operated by remote control by a wireless device. However, a wired method may be used as long as the wiring is not complicated. Alternatively, a method may be used in which an operation command is input in advance in a storage device in the transport vehicle and automatically controlled.

By the way, a mask stage 11 for placing and positioning a mask in the exposure apparatus 10 described above, a substrate stage 12 for placing and positioning a photosensitive substrate, and a projection optical system in the case of a projection type exposure apparatus. 13 etc. are provided,
Further, the mask transfer vehicle 1 is also provided with a transfer device 14 for transferring a mask and transferring the mask onto the mask stage 11.

The mask carrier 1 preliminarily selects a required mask from a mask storage (not shown) and stores it in the mask library 6. At this time, the mask discrimination device discriminates the mask type and stores it in association with the storage position. Next, the carrier 1 is an exposure apparatus 1 that requires a mask.
It moves toward 0 and is positioned at the delivery position. Then, the transport device 7 carries out a predetermined mask from the mask library 6, the defect inspection device 9 inspects the mask for defects, and then delivers the mask to the delivery device 14 in the exposure device 10. If a plurality of defect inspection devices are mounted and the inspection end time of the mask is shifted according to the order of the transported mask, the inspection time required for one mask can be apparently shortened and the processing speed can be improved. . If a defect is found in the mask, a spare mask should be installed in the mask carrier and the spare mask should be carried instead of the defective mask, or another mask should be carried. The same mask may be temporarily transported from inside the vehicle. These controls may be performed by a main computer that manages and controls this exposure system.

FIG. 2A shows how the mask is conveyed. After the defect inspection is completed, the mask carried out by the carrier device 7 is placed on the pre-alignment station 15 in the delivery device 14. After being roughly positioned on the pre-alignment station 15,
The mask stage 11 is moved by the transfer device 16 on the exposure device side.
A series of exposure operations are carried out after being mounted on and positioned.

When the mask is to be carried out when the exposure operation is completed and the mask is to be replaced, the mask is transferred from the mask stage 11 to the transfer device 7 of the transfer vehicle 1 via the transfer device 14 contrary to the above procedure. Handed over, mask library 6
Returned to. When the mask is delivered as described above, the delivery device 14 may vibrate depending on the operating state of the exposure apparatus, and the delivery of the mask may not be performed smoothly. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4A, a displacement sensor 20, a speed sensor 21, an acceleration sensor 22, and the like are provided near the pre-alignment station 15, and the state of vibration is analyzed based on the output from these sensors to wirelessly measure. The vibration information is sent to the mask carrier 1 side. The transport vehicle 1 drives the active suspension 4 based on the vibration information, and synchronizes the transport vehicle with the vibration of the exposure apparatus.

In the above embodiment, an example in which the mask itself is transferred between the transport vehicle and the exposure apparatus has been described, but the mask may be transported in a case. In that case, as shown in FIG. 2B, the exposure apparatus 10 is provided with a mask library 17 in which a mask case can be loaded.
To provide. Then, the transfer device 7 of the transfer vehicle may transfer the required mask case to the mask library 17. In the exposure apparatus 10, the mask is taken out from the case by the carrying device 18, and the pre-alignment station 15
Transport the mask to. After that, the exposure operation is performed in the same manner as described above. Also in this case, similarly to the above, the displacement sensor 23, the speed sensor 24, and the acceleration sensor 25 as shown in FIG. 4B may be provided in the vicinity of the mask library 17 to detect the vibration of the mask library 17. . When the mask case is delivered to the exposure apparatus as described above, the mask cannot be inspected by the defect inspection apparatus as it is. Therefore, the mask is temporarily taken out from the case during the transportation of the mask case, and the inspection by the defect inspection apparatus is performed. You can do it.

By the way, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, if a pre-alignment station is provided on the mask stage of the exposure apparatus and a plurality of pre-alignment stations are provided, the exposure apparatus uses an arbitrary mask. It is possible to convey and position another mask even during the exposure operation, and the processing speed is improved as compared with the above-mentioned one. When the mask itself is transported, the mask transported by the transport device 7 of the transport vehicle is directly placed on the mask stage 11 as shown in FIG. Here, the pre-alignment is performed by the pre-alignment station 15. Then, at the time of exposure, the mask stage 11 is moved in the direction of the arrow to position the mask on the optical axis of the projection optical system 13. The exposed mask is returned to the transport vehicle 1 by the transport device 7.

On the other hand, in the case of transporting the mask together with the case, in addition to the configuration shown in FIG. 3A, mask libraries 17 corresponding to the number of reticle stages 11 as shown in FIG. 3B are added. do it. Masking from the mask library 17 onto the mask stage 11 is performed by the transfer device 18 as in the case shown in FIG.

In the above-described embodiment, the entire transportation vehicle 1 is vibrated in synchronization with the vibration of the exposure apparatus 10. However, the transportation apparatus 7 that actually delivers the vehicle to the exposure apparatus is subjected to the vibration of the exposure apparatus. You may make it synchronize.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the conventional mask library and mask transfer device are independent from the inside of the exposure apparatus, maintainability of the exposure apparatus main body from the front side is improved, and the exposure apparatus is exposed. The airflow in the device is not disturbed, and dust is not emitted from the drive unit, so that the cleanliness is improved.

Further, the main body of the exposure apparatus is not affected by the vibration of the mask carrying apparatus, and it is possible to eliminate one cause of deterioration in accuracy. Further, the exposure apparatus is downsized and the occupied area and volume of the apparatus are suppressed, and efficient equipment arrangement in a clean room becomes possible. In addition, unlike the conventional case, one exposure apparatus does not occupy the mask, so that the mask can be commonly used, the mask can be efficiently used, and the mask manufacturing cost can be reduced. .

In addition, the mask transportation and management can be automated to promote unmanned operation around the exposure apparatus.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an exposure system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a delivery section of an exposure apparatus used in an exposure system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another example of the configuration of the transfer section of the exposure apparatus used in the exposure system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of an apparatus for detecting vibration of a transfer section of an exposure apparatus used in an exposure system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Mask carrier 4 Active suspension 9 Defect inspection device 10 Exposure device 14 Transfer device 20,23 Displacement sensor 21,24 Speed sensor 22,25 Acceleration sensor

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Yasuo Araki 3 2-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Inside Nikon Corporation

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of exposure devices that expose a pattern of a mask on which a pattern to be transferred is formed onto a substrate to be exposed; vibration of a mask transfer means provided in each of the plurality of exposure devices. Vibration detecting means for detecting; defect inspecting means for inspecting defects of the mask and a plurality of the masks are mounted, and the movable means can move to a predetermined position with respect to each of the plurality of exposure apparatuses, and the transfer means. A mask transfer device that transfers the mask to the mask transfer device, wherein the mask transfer device inspects a defect of the mask by the defect inspection unit immediately before the transfer, and prevents vibration of the exposure device during the transfer. An exposure system that vibrates in synchronization.