JPH11176740A - Aligner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an aligner which is readily and surely capable of conveying in or out a substrate for the chamber of an aligner in the aligner used in a photolithographic process when manufacturing a semiconductor device, a liquid crystal display unit, a thin-film magnetic head, or the like. SOLUTION: In a aligner comprising, an aligning part 1 for processing in an alignment of a pattern by using a wafer W, a wafer for conveying mechanism for conveying the wafer W to the aligning part 1, and a chamber 6 for enclosing at least the aligning part 1 and the wafer conveying part, this aligner furter comprises a carrier table 2 mounting the wafer W, and a linear moving guide 5 for moving the carrier table 2 outward of the chamber 6, and the carrier table 2 can be moved outward of the chamber 6 by the linear moving guide 5.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an exposure apparatus used in a photolithography process for manufacturing a semiconductor device, a liquid crystal display, a thin film magnetic head, and the like, and more particularly, to an exposure apparatus having a chamber surrounding an exposure unit. Related to the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a photolithography process in a manufacturing process of a semiconductor device or a liquid crystal display device, a circuit pattern formed on a reticle or a mask (hereinafter, referred to as a reticle) is formed on a semiconductor wafer or glass plate (hereinafter, referred to as a reticle) via a projection optical system. , A wafer) is used. This projection exposure apparatus can be roughly classified into an exposure unit for transferring a circuit pattern of a reticle to a predetermined region of a wafer, a storage unit for storing a reticle or a wafer, and a reticle or wafer between the storage unit and the exposure unit. It has a transport section, and further has a chamber surrounding these so as to shut them off from the outside. By using this chamber, it is possible to prevent dust existing in the clean room where the projection exposure apparatus is installed from entering each mechanism of the projection exposure apparatus, and in particular, to expose the exposure section and its surroundings. Can be maintained in a predetermined state.

In a storage section for storing a reticle or a wafer,
A reticle library for storing a plurality of reticles and a wafer carrier for storing a plurality of wafers are provided. The wafer carrier has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped casing, and for example, 25 wafers per lot are stored in the casing. The wafers in the wafer carrier are sequentially sent to an exposure unit via a transfer unit and subjected to an exposure process, and the exposed wafer is stored again in the wafer carrier via the transfer unit. When the exposure for one lot is completed, the wafer carrier is taken out of the chamber from the door provided on the side wall of the chamber and transported to the apparatus for performing the next process, and a new wafer carrier is replaced from the door of the chamber into the chamber. It is to be carried to.

[0004] This operation will be described more specifically with reference to FIGS. FIG. 10 is a front view of a chamber of a conventional exposure apparatus, and FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view taken along line cc of FIG. As shown in these figures, various apparatuses used for exposing a wafer are housed in a chamber 24. In the chamber 24, a wafer carrier C containing a plurality of wafers W is placed on the carrier table 22. An exposure unit 21 for sequentially exposing a plurality of wafers W stored in a wafer carrier C on a carrier table 22 is provided in the chamber 24, and a wafer W is disposed between the exposure unit 21 and the wafer carrier C. Is provided.

A carrier door 25 is provided on a side wall of the chamber 24 on the front side of the apparatus. The carrier door 25 is normally closed by a stopper (not shown), but is opened when carrying out the wafer carrier C on the carrier table 22 or carrying in the wafer carrier C onto the carrier table 22. ing. By opening the carrier door 25, the wafer carrier C can be externally placed on the carrier table 22 in the chamber 24, or the wafer carrier C can be collected from the carrier 22 in the chamber 24. FIG. 12 shows the operation when the operator 20 installs or collects the wafer carrier C. As shown in FIG. 12, when installing or collecting the wafer carrier C, the operator 20 manually opens the carrier door 24, and then uses a handle (not shown) provided on the wafer carrier C or the like. C is lifted and placed on the carrier table 22 in the chamber 24 via the carrier door 25, or collected from the carrier table 22.

[0006]

In recent years, the diameter of a wafer W to be exposed by an exposure apparatus has been increasing, and a wafer W having a diameter of 12 inches has become mainstream at present.
It is expected that the diameter of the wafer W will be further increased in the future,
Therefore, the weight of the wafer carrier C installed in the chamber 24 of the exposure apparatus also tends to increase. For example, 1
The total weight of the wafer carrier C accommodating 25 12-inch wafers weighing 128 g is obtained by adding the weight of 25 wafers (25 wafers x 128 g =) 3.2 kg and the weight of the wafer carrier C itself. It becomes weight and becomes considerable gross weight. Therefore, in order to safely and surely install the heavy wafer carrier C containing a plurality of wafers W on the carrier table 22 in the chamber 24 of the exposure apparatus or to collect the heavy wafer carrier C from the carrier table 22, it is necessary to correspond to the operator 20. This is not preferable because it gives a heavy load. In recent years, an automatic transfer robot (AGV: Automated Transfer Robot) that loads a plurality of wafer carriers and transfers the wafers to a target exposure apparatus.
Guide vehicle) has been proposed, but for an exposure apparatus having a current carrier door provided on the side wall of the chamber, an automatic transfer robot installs a wafer carrier on a carrier table in the chamber or collects a wafer carrier from the carrier table. Is also extremely difficult. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an exposure apparatus that can easily and surely carry a substrate in or out of a chamber of the exposure apparatus.

[0007]

Means for Solving the Problems The above objects will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 9 showing an embodiment of the present invention.
In an exposure apparatus including an exposure unit (1) for performing processing related to pattern exposure using a substrate (W) and a chamber (10) surrounding at least the exposure unit (1), the chamber (10) can be opened and closed. An exposure apparatus having a door mechanism (12) and a control device (14) for controlling the door mechanism (12) when the substrate (W) is carried into the chamber (10). Achieved by According to the exposure apparatus of the present invention, the substrate (W) is placed in the chamber (1).
0), the control device (14) operates the door mechanism (1).
The substrate (W) is placed in the chamber (10) to control 2).
It can be easily and reliably carried into the inside.

The exposure apparatus of the present invention further includes a detection device (13) for detecting a substrate (W) outside the chamber (10), and the control device (14) includes a detection device (1).
3) When the substrate (W) is detected, the door mechanism (12) is opened. Here, the detection device (13)
May detect the substrate (W) itself, may detect a carrier accommodating the substrate (W), and may detect an operator carrying the substrate (W) and an unmanned transfer robot. The main point is that the substrate (W)
May be detected. According to the above-described exposure apparatus, the detection device (13) detects the substrate (W) outside the chamber (10), and when the detection device (13) detects the substrate (W), the control device (11) operates the door. Since the mechanism (12) is released, there is no need for the operator or the automatic transfer robot to open and close the door when loading the substrate (W), and the substrate (W) is easily and reliably loaded into the chamber (10). can do.

In the exposure apparatus of the present invention, the substrate (W) may be a photosensitive substrate (W) on which a pattern is exposed. According to the above exposure apparatus, the photosensitive substrate (W) which is frequently carried into the chamber (10) in the exposure processing can be easily carried into the chamber (10).

[0010] Further, the object is to provide an exposure section (1) for performing processing relating to pattern exposure using a substrate (W), a transport section (3) for transporting the substrate (W) to the exposure section (1), In an exposure apparatus including at least an exposure section (1) and a chamber (6, 10) surrounding a transport section (2, 3, 8), the transport section (3) includes a table section (1) on which a substrate (W) is placed. 2, 8), and the table section (2, 8) is provided with a moving section (5, 9) for moving the table section to the outside of the chamber (6, 10).
According to this exposure apparatus, the table section (2, 8) is moved to the outside of the chamber (6, 10) by the moving section (5, 9), and the substrate (W) is moved outside the chamber (6, 10). Since the substrate (W) can be placed, the substrate (W) can be placed reliably and easily, and the tables (2, 8) can be easily moved into the chambers (6, 10) by the moving parts (5, 9). Can be moved.

Further, in the above exposure apparatus, a detecting device (1) for detecting a substrate (W) outside the chamber (10).
3) may be provided. In this case, the substrate (W) outside the chamber (10) can be detected.
In the above exposure apparatus, the control device (1) controls the moving section (9) based on the detection result of the detection device (13).
4) may be provided. Accordingly, the control device (14) controls the moving unit (9) based on the detection result of the detection device (13), so that an operator or the like directly moves the table unit (8) to the outside of the chamber (10). It is not necessary to perform the operation, and the substrate can be easily mounted.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An exposure apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. First, a schematic configuration of an exposure apparatus according to the present embodiment is shown in FIGS.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a front view of a chamber of the exposure apparatus according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line aa of FIG. As shown in these figures, various apparatuses for exposing the wafer W are housed in the chamber 6. In the present exposure apparatus, a wafer carrier C containing a plurality of wafers W is set on a carrier table 2. The carrier table 2 is supported by a support member 4 at a predetermined height. Also, the support member 4
Is provided with a linear motion guide 5 which can move linearly while maintaining a predetermined height to move the carrier table 2 into and out of the chamber 6. Therefore, when the operator 20 pulls a handle (not shown) provided on the carrier table 2, the carrier table 2 is guided by the linear motion guide 5 and is pulled out of the chamber 6. The table 2 is guided into the chamber 6 from outside by being guided by the linear motion guide 5. In the chamber 6, there is provided an exposure unit 1 for sequentially exposing a plurality of wafers W of the wafer carrier C on the carrier table 2 housed in the chamber 6, and the exposure unit 1 and the wafer carrier in the chamber 6 are provided. A wafer transfer mechanism 3 for transferring the wafer W to and from C is provided. The exposure unit 1 includes an illumination optical system IL that illuminates light from a light source onto a reticle R on which a pattern is formed, and a projection optical system P that projects an image of the pattern of the reticle R onto a wafer W.
L.

A carrier door 7 is provided on a wall surface of the chamber 6 in front of the apparatus. The carrier door 7 is normally closed by a stopper (not shown), but can be opened when the carrier table 2 is pulled out from the chamber 6. By opening the carrier door 7, the carrier table 2 can be pulled out of the chamber 6 through the carrier door 7. Therefore, the extracted carrier table 2
, And the wafer carrier C can be collected from the carrier table 2.

Next, the operation of the exposure apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described. First, a basic operation including exposure processing of a wafer W by the present exposure apparatus will be described. First, in order to perform the exposure process on the wafer W, it is necessary that the wafer carrier C containing the wafer W coated with the photosensitive agent be placed on the carrier table 2 as a precondition. Then, the wafer W is taken out from the wafer carrier C on the carrier table 2 by the wafer transfer mechanism 3 and is loaded into the exposure unit 1. Exposure processing for transferring the image of the reticle R onto the wafer W carried in the exposure unit 1 via the projection optical system PL is performed. When the exposure processing is completed, the wafer W in the exposure unit 1 is again moved by the wafer transport mechanism 3. The wafer is conveyed and stored in the wafer carrier C of the carrier table 2.

Next, the operation of the operator 20 and the operation of the exposure apparatus when the wafer carrier C containing the wafer W is set on the carrier table 2 or when the wafer carrier C is collected from the carrier table 2 will be described. When installing or collecting the wafer carrier C on the carrier table, the operator 20 opens the carrier door 7 of the chamber 6 and then pulls the handle of the carrier table 2. When the handle of the carrier table 2 is pulled by the operator 20, the carrier table 2 is guided by the linear motion guide 5 and pulled out of the chamber 6. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the exposure apparatus in a state where the carrier table 2 is drawn out of the chamber 6, taken along the line aa in FIG. FIG.
Shows the operation when the operator 20 installs or collects the wafer carrier C. As shown in FIG. 4, when setting and collecting the wafer carrier C, the operator can set and collect the wafer carrier C with respect to the carrier table 2 drawn out of the chamber 6. Wafer carrier C on carrier table 2
Is installed, the wafer carrier C is pushed into the chamber 6 by pushing the carrier table 2 into the chamber 6.
It can be easily carried inside.

As described above, the installation and recovery of the wafer carrier C can be performed on the carrier table 2 drawn out of the chamber 6, so that the mounting position of the wafer carrier C on the carrier table 2 can be easily confirmed. Therefore, the installation and collection of the wafer carrier C can be reliably performed.
Accordingly, unlike the conventional exposure apparatus shown in FIG. 12, the operator 20 does not have to perform a difficult operation of holding the wafer carrier C and inserting it into the chamber 6 or taking it out of the chamber 6. In addition, since the operator 20 does not need to use an extra space for holding the wafer carrier C and transferring the wafer carrier C into or out of the chamber 6, the carrier door 7 can be downsized, and the exposure apparatus can be downsized. And the danger of dust entering from the carrier door 7 can be suppressed.

Next, an exposure apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. First, a schematic configuration of an exposure apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a front view of a chamber of the exposure apparatus according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line bb of FIG. As shown in these figures, various apparatuses for exposing a wafer are housed in a chamber 10. In the present exposure apparatus, a wafer carrier C containing a plurality of wafers W is set on a carrier table 8. The carrier table 8 is supported at a predetermined height by a robot arm 9. The robot arm 9 can move the carrier table 8 into and out of the chamber 10 while maintaining a predetermined height.

Here, the robot arm 9 and the carrier table 8 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 7 and FIG.
7 shows a state in which the robot arm 9 and the carrier table 8 are viewed from above the exposure apparatus. FIG. 7A shows a state in which the carrier table 8 is located outside the chamber 10, and FIG. Shows a state where the carrier table 8 is located in the chamber 10. FIG. 8 shows a part of a cross section of the exposure apparatus in the state shown in FIG. A plurality of robot arms 9 (two in FIG. 7)
Arm A is connected by a rotatable joint N,
A carrier table 2 is held on one end of one arm A. By driving the joint N of the robot arm 9, the carrier table 8 is moved inside the chamber 10 (FIG. 7).
(Position shown in FIG. 7 (b)) to outside (position shown in FIG. 7 (a))
Or from outside to inside. Returning to FIG. 6 again, an exposure unit 1 for sequentially exposing a plurality of wafers W of a wafer carrier C on a carrier table 2 housed in the chamber 10 is provided in the chamber 10. 10
A wafer transfer mechanism 3 for transferring a wafer W to and from a wafer carrier C therein is provided.

A carrier door 11 is provided on a wall surface of the chamber 10 in front of the apparatus, and a carrier door drive mechanism 12 for opening and closing the carrier door 7 is provided. The carrier door 11 is normally closed, but is opened by the carrier door drive mechanism 12 when the carrier table 10 is pulled out of the chamber 6. A sensor 13 is provided on the wall of the chamber 10 in front of the apparatus. The sensor 13 is provided by an operator 20 that transports the wafer carrier C or an automatic transport robot AGV by the chamber 1.
0 Detecting that you have reached or left the front,
The control unit 14 that controls opening and closing of the carrier door by the carrier door drive mechanism 12 and driving of the robot arm 9 is notified. For example, a reflector is provided on the operator 20 or the automatic transport robot AGV, and when the light emitted from the sensor 13 is reflected by the reflector and returns to the sensor 13 again, the sensor 13 is controlled by the operator 20 or the automatic transport robot AGV. The arrival at the front of the chamber 10 can be detected. Upon receiving this notification, the control unit 14
A command is sent to the carrier door drive mechanism 12 to open and close the carrier door 11 or to drive the robot arm 9 to move the carrier table 8 outside or inside the chamber 10.

Next, the operation of the exposure apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described. First, when the sensor 13 detects that the operator 20 carrying the wafer carrier C containing the wafer W to be carried into the chamber 10 has arrived, the control unit 14 controls the carrier door driving mechanism 12 to control the carrier door 11. Release. Next, the control unit 14 controls the robot arm 9 to move the carrier table 8 out of the chamber 10. FIG. 9 shows an operation when the operator 20 installs or collects the wafer carrier C in the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 9, when installing or collecting the wafer carrier C, the operator 20
Can set and collect the wafer carrier C with respect to the carrier table 8 automatically coming out of the chamber 10.

When a sensor (not shown) on the carrier table 8 detects that the wafer carrier C has been installed or recovered, the controller 14 controls the robot arm 9 to move the carrier table 8 to the chamber 10.
And the control unit 14 controls the carrier door drive mechanism 12 to close the carrier door 11. As described above, in the present embodiment, the carrier table 8 automatically comes out to the outside, so that the same effects as those of the exposure apparatus according to the first embodiment can be obtained. Operator 2
In the case of 0 or AGV, the wafer carrier C can be set not only in the direction toward the front of the chamber 10 but also in the left and right direction in front of the chamber 10 with respect to the carrier table 8 that automatically comes out.

Since the carrier table 8 automatically comes out of the apparatus, when the operator 20 carries the wafer carrier C while holding it with both hands, the carrier door 11 is opened and closed, and the carrier table 8 is opened. The wafer carrier C can be set on the carrier table 8 without temporarily placing the wafer carrier C in another place for drawing out. When the automatic carrier robot AGV installs the wafer carrier C on the carrier table 8 or collects the wafer carrier C from the carrier table 8, the carrier door 11 is opened and closed on the automatic carrier robot AGV side, or from outside. Since there is no need to provide a mechanism for transporting the wafer carrier C in the chamber 10, there is also an advantage that it is not necessary to incorporate a complicated operation mechanism into the automatic transport robot AGV.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but can be variously modified. For example, in the exposure apparatus according to the above embodiment, the wafer transfer system has been described as an example,
The present invention is not limited to this, but can of course be applied to a reticle transport system or a rectangular glass plate used for exposure of a liquid crystal display element.

In the exposure apparatus, a pattern of the reticle R is exposed while the reticle R and the wafer W are stationary, and a step-and-repeat type exposure apparatus in which the wafer W is sequentially moved is also used. Wafer W
Can be applied to a scanning type exposure apparatus for exposing the pattern of the reticle R by synchronously moving the pattern. Further, KrF excimer laser (248 nm), ArF excimer laser (193 nm), and F ₂ laser (157 n) are used as exposure light.
Not only m) but also charged particle beams such as X-rays and electron beams can be used. For example, when an electron beam is used, a thermionic emission type lanthanum hexaborite (La
B _6), it can be used tantalum (Ta). The magnification of the projection optical system PL may be not only the reduction system but also any one of the same magnification and enlargement system. In addition, when the excimer laser is used as the projection optical system PL, quartz or fluorite is used as a glass material,
When using X-rays, use a catadioptric optical system (use a reflective type reticle). When using an electron beam, use an electron optical system consisting of an electron lens and a deflector as the optical system. Good. It goes without saying that the optical path through which the electron beam passes is in a vacuum state. Further, the present invention can also be applied to a proximity exposure apparatus that exposes the pattern of the reticle R by bringing the reticle R and the wafer W into close contact without using the projection optical system PL.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention, the carrier accommodating the substrate can be placed on the carrier table outside the chamber, so that the operation for the placement can be performed reliably and easily. Can be. In addition, since the carrier door on the chamber wall can be made smaller, the size of the exposure apparatus can be reduced, and fluctuations in the atmosphere in the chamber due to opening and closing of the carrier door can be suppressed. Also,
Even when the operator's hands are occupied, the carrier can be easily carried into the chamber. In addition, the carrier can be carried in and out using an automatic transfer robot with a reduced complexity.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a chamber of an exposure apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the exposure apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating movement of a carrier table of the exposure apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating carrier installation by an operator of the exposure apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a chamber of an exposure apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of an exposure apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a robot arm of an exposure apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating movement of a carrier table by a robot arm of an exposure apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a view for explaining carrier installation by an operator of the exposure apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a front view of a conventional exposure apparatus.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional exposure apparatus.

FIG. 12 is a view for explaining the installation of a carrier by an operator in a conventional exposure apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 W Wafer C Wafer carrier 1 Exposure unit 2, 8 Carrier table 3 Wafer transport mechanism 4 Support member 5 Linear guide 6, 10 Chamber 7, 11 Carrier door 9 Robot arm 12 Carrier door drive mechanism 13 Sensor 14 Control unit 20 Operator

Claims (7)

[Claims] An exposure apparatus comprising: an exposure unit that performs a process related to pattern exposure using a substrate; and a chamber that surrounds at least the exposure unit, wherein the chamber has a door mechanism that can be opened and closed, An exposure apparatus, comprising: a control device for controlling the door mechanism when the substrate is carried into the chamber. 2. The exposure apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a detection device for detecting the substrate outside the chamber, wherein the control device operates the door mechanism when the detection device detects the substrate. An exposure apparatus characterized by being opened. 3. The exposure apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is a photosensitive substrate on which the pattern is exposed. 4. An exposure apparatus comprising: an exposure section for performing processing relating to pattern exposure using a substrate; a transport section for transporting the substrate to the exposure section; and a chamber surrounding at least the exposure section and the transport section. In the apparatus, the transfer unit includes a table unit on which the substrate is placed, and the table unit includes a moving unit that moves the substrate to the outside of the chamber. 5. The exposure apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a detection device for detecting the substrate outside the chamber. 6. The exposure apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising: a control device that controls the moving section based on a detection result of the detection device. 7. The exposure apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the substrate is a photosensitive substrate on which the pattern is exposed.