JPH10333050A - Rotation fine adjustment device for object to be observed - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device easily executing rotation fine adjustment work of an object to be observed by using a simple mechanism. SOLUTION: This device 10 is for finely adjusting the position of an object to be observed (wafer 5) in a microscope 7 or the like in a rotating direction. Then, the device 10 is provided with a fixing part 3 fixed to the outside circumferential part of the wafer 5 and a sliding circular-arc guide part 2 of the fixing part 3. Further, the device 10 is provided with a supporting part 1 supporting the guide part 2 and a handle 4 for sliding the fixing part 3 together with the wafer 5 against the guide part 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to, for example, fine position adjustment (fine adjustment) of a wafer in which a semiconductor device pattern is formed in a rotational direction when the wafer is observed with a microscope.
The present invention relates to a rotary fine-tuning device used when performing the adjustment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When observing with a microscope for the purpose of measuring a minute wafer pattern on a wafer and inspecting its appearance, a target wafer pattern is set to a position and an angle suitable for measurement and inspection within a field of view of the microscope. Therefore, it is necessary to finely adjust the attitude of the wafer. For this reason, observation of a wafer pattern by a microscope requires a fine adjustment mechanism such as a stage for holding, rotating, and translating the wafer. However, in this fine adjustment mechanism, (1) the wafer does not rotate or translate correctly with respect to the field of view of the microscope, and (2) the fine adjustment mechanism is not fixed after the fine adjustment of the wafer is performed, and the field of view of the microscope during observation is not fixed. If a problem such as a movement of the wafer pattern occurs within the chamber, it becomes difficult to observe the wafer pattern to be observed at a position and angle suitable for measurement and inspection.

Conventionally, in the case where a problem occurs in the fine adjustment mechanism as described above, a method of directly finely adjusting the wafer directly without using the fine adjustment mechanism has been generally used. FIG. 5 shows the principle of this method. FIG. 5 shows a state in which a wafer pattern (not shown) on the wafer 5 held by the wafer chuck 6 is observed using the microscope 7. The wafer 5 is held on a chuck 6 by vacuum suction. The chuck 6 is mounted on a table 8 including an XY stage, a turntable, and the like, and can rotate and translate the wafer 5 with respect to the microscope 7. Some trouble occurs in the fine adjustment mechanism in the table 8, and the wafer 5
When fine adjustment of the wafer pattern becomes impossible, fine adjustment of the wafer pattern is performed by the following procedure.

(1) The vacuum suction of the chuck 6 is stopped, and the wafer 5 is released from the chuck 6. Thus, the wafer 5 can be freely shifted on the chuck 6. (2) The outer peripheral portion of the wafer 5 is held using the tweezers 31 for a wafer. (3) While observing the field of view of the microscope 7, the wafer pattern to be observed is positioned at an appropriate position and angle.
The wafer 5 is manually finely moved via the tweezers 31. (4) After setting the wafer pattern at an appropriate position and angle,
The vacuum suction of the chuck 6 is operated again to fix the wafer 5 to the chuck 6, and the observation is continued.

[0005]

In the prior art as described above, when the wafer 5 is finely adjusted with respect to the chuck 6, the center of rotation of the wafer 5 is not fixed. Is difficult to rotate, it is difficult to adjust the angle of the wafer pattern,
There was a problem. The present invention has been made in view of such a conventional problem, and provides a rotation fine-tuning apparatus for an observation object, which can easily perform the above-described operations using a simple mechanism. Aim.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an apparatus for finely adjusting the rotation of an observation object according to the present invention is an apparatus for finely adjusting the position of an observation object in a microscope or the like in a rotation direction; A fixed portion fixed to the outer peripheral portion of the object, a guide portion having an arc-shaped guide that slides on the fixed portion, a support portion supporting the guide portion, and a guide for the fixed portion together with the observation target. And a handle for sliding with respect to the part.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the present invention, the object to be observed has a disk shape, and the circular arc of the guide is
When the observation object is fixed to the fixing portion, it is preferable that the observation object be substantially concentric with the outer periphery of the disk-shaped observation object. That is, when finely adjusting a disk-shaped observation object (hereinafter, referred to as a wafer), the wafer is held by a simple mechanism capable of holding and rotating the wafer along the circumference instead of tweezers for the wafer. By rotating, the angle of the wafer pattern can be finely adjusted. In the present invention, fine adjustment of the wafer can be quickly performed manually by using a fine adjustment mechanism capable of rotating the wafer even if the wafer pattern is inclined in the visual field of the microscope.

Hereinafter, description will be made with reference to the drawings. FIG.
1 is an overall perspective view of a wafer inspection apparatus having an observation object rotation fine adjustment apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a detailed structure of a rotation fine-tuning device for an observation object according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing how to use the rotation fine-tuning device for the observation object of the present embodiment.

FIG. 1 shows a thin disk-shaped wafer 5 to be observed and a microscope 7 for observation. The wafer 5 is placed on a chuck 6. Chuck 6 is X
It is mounted on a table 8 including a Y stage, a rotary stage (not shown), and the like. The microscope 7 is held by an arm (not shown) with its optical axis perpendicular to the wafer 5. The microscope 7 is for observing a device pattern formed on the wafer 5.

The fine rotation adjusting device 10 comprises a wafer fixing portion 3, a guide portion 2, a handle 4, a support portion 1, and the like. Fixed part 3
Consists of two upper and lower plates 3a and 3b having an arc shape. The upper and lower plates 3a and 3b face each other with a spring 13 therebetween. The spring 13 urges the two plates 3a, 3b in a direction to separate the two plates 3a, 3b from each other. Upper surface of plate 3a and plate 3b
A belt-like convex portion is formed on the lower surface of the. These projections have a circular arc shape concentric with the side of the fixing portion 3 and slide in a recess inside the guide portion described later.

The upper and lower fixed portions 3a and 3b
2 and nut 11 to tighten up and down.
The outer peripheral portion of the wafer 5 is interposed therebetween. The bolt 12 is passed through a hole formed in the fixing portion plates 3a, 3b with the head down. The bolt head is housed in a concave portion on the lower surface of the lower fixed part plate 3b, and is engaged with the plate 3b. The nut 11 has a sleeve portion 11a extending downward along the circumference of the bolt. This sleeve portion 11a is in contact with the upper surface of the upper fixed portion plate 3a. Nut 11 and bolt 1
When the nut 11 is tightened, the space between the upper and lower fixing portion plates 3a and 3b becomes narrower, and when the nut 11 is loosened, the space between the two plates 3a and 3b is expanded by the urging force of the spring 13. The fixed part plates 3a, 3b
Is made of a resin with a low coefficient of friction, such as Teflon or Delrin.

A handle 4 is provided on the outer surfaces of the fixing plates 3a and 3b.
Is protruding. The handle 4 protrudes outside the guide portion 2. By holding and moving the handle 4, the fixing portion 3 can be rotated along the guide portion 2.

The guide part 2 is also composed of two upper and lower arc-shaped plates 2.
a and 2b. Opposing surfaces of both plates 2a, 2b have guide grooves 2c, 2
d is formed. The inner and outer surfaces of these grooves 2c and 2d are concentric arcs (centering on the center of the wafer 5).
And the inner and outer surfaces of the fixed portion 3 slide in the groove. The distance between the upper and lower guide plates 2a, 2b is constant.

The upper and lower guide plates 2a and 2b are assembled with screws 14 at four corners as shown in a plan view (FIG. 3). The support portion 1 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the lower plate 2b of the guide portion so as to protrude outward. The guide portion 2 can be fixed by holding the support portion 1 by hand. An arc-shaped window 2e is opened at the center of the upper guide plate 2a.
When the guide portion 2 and the fixed portion 3 are relatively rotated, the bolt 12 and the nut 11 move within the window 2e. In the drawing, the fixing portion 3, the guide portion 2, and the window 2e are drawn considerably long. However, in practice, if the rotation angle of the wafer 5 can be 5 to 10 °, the purpose of fine adjustment can be sufficiently achieved. .

The overall operation of the fine rotation adjustment device for the observation object of the present embodiment will be described. (1) The vacuum chuck of the wafer chuck 6 is stopped, and the wafer 5 is freely shifted on the chuck 6. (2) The wafer 5 is fixed to the wafer fixing section 3 along the outer peripheral portion of the wafer. At this time, the upper and lower fixed part plates 3a, 3b
The end of the wafer is sandwiched between them, and the nut 11 is tightened.

(3) Holding the support 1 with one hand, the guide 2
Is fixed, the handle 4 is photographed with the other hand, and the fixing unit 3 and the wafer 5 are slid along the guide unit 2. Thereby, the wafer 5 can be rotated substantially around its center.

FIG. 4 is an overall perspective view of a wafer inspection apparatus having an apparatus for finely adjusting the rotation of an observation object according to another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the support 1 ′ connected to the guide 2 is fixed on the micro stage 33 via the mounting bracket 37. This micro stage 3
3 is a fixed base 3 connected to the table 8 of the inspection apparatus.
5 can be finely driven in two orthogonal directions in a plane parallel to the wafer 5. Therefore, the wafer 5 can be finely adjusted in the X and Y directions while holding the wafer 5 on the fixing portion 3.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention, even when a malfunction occurs in the fine adjustment mechanism provided in a microscope or the like,
Using a simple mechanism, it is possible to finely adjust an observation target such as a wafer quickly and manually. Further, the present apparatus can be applied to a wafer stage itself for moving a wafer in multiple axes, and the configuration of the apparatus can be greatly simplified as compared with a conventional stage.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of a wafer inspection apparatus having an observation object rotation fine adjustment apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a detailed structure of a rotation fine-tuning device for an observation object of the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing how to use the rotation fine-tuning device for the observation object of the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an overall perspective view of a wafer inspection apparatus having an observation object rotation fine adjustment apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the principle of a conventional method of directly finely adjusting a wafer directly.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Support part 2 Guide part 3 Wafer fixing part 4 Slide handle 5 Wafer 6 Chuck 7 Microscope 8 Table 10 Rotation fine-adjustment device 11 Nut 12 Bolt 13 Spring 31 Tweezers 33 Micro stage 35 Fixing stand 37 Mounting bracket

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A device for finely adjusting the position of an observation object in a microscope or the like in a rotation direction, comprising: a fixing portion fixed to an outer peripheral portion of the observation object; A guide portion having a guide, a support portion for supporting the guide portion, and a handle for sliding the fixing portion with respect to the guide portion together with the observation object, rotation of the observation object. Fine adjustment device. 2. The observation object has a disk shape, and when the arc of the guide is fixed to the fixed portion, the outer periphery of the disk-shaped observation object is formed. 2. The rotation fine-tuning device for an observation target according to claim 1, wherein the rotation fine-tuning device is substantially concentric. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a microstage for adjusting a position of said support portion.
A rotation fine-tuning device for the observation object described in the above.