JPH11233427A - Close head photolithography device and method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable fine work at 100 nm or less with a high throughput, eliminate the necessity of alignment for introduction of light in a work probe, enable compact constitution of a device, realize high rigidity of the device, reduce the influence of external noise such as floor vibration and acoustic vibration, and enable improvement in the work precision. SOLUTION: In this close head photolithography device or method, the surface of an object to be worked is brought closely at a predetermined distance or less and aligned with a optical head 101 having a fine aperture arranged to face the surface to be worked, and the optical head is caused to perform two-dimensional scanning relatively to the surface to be exposed, which is the surface to be worked. Optical irradiation/non-irradiation from a light source is controlled in accordance with the position of the optical head, and an evanescent light 109 leaking out from the distal end of the fine aperture is applied to the surface to be exposed, thus carrying out fine work.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a nanometer-sized fine processing apparatus and method, and more particularly, to a fine processing by exposing a surface to be processed, that is, a surface to be processed, using a near-field optical head having a fine opening. And a method for performing near-field optical lithography.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the progress of large-capacity semiconductor memories and high-speed and large-scale integration of CPU processors, further miniaturization of optical lithography has become indispensable. Generally, the limit of fine processing in an optical lithography apparatus is about the wavelength of light to be used. For this reason, the wavelength of light used in an optical lithography apparatus has been shortened, and a near-ultraviolet laser has been used at present, and fine processing of about 0.1 μm has become possible. Although optical lithography is being miniaturized in this way, there are many issues that must be solved in order to perform fine processing of 0.1 μm or less, such as further shortening the wavelength of a laser and developing a lens in that wavelength range.

On the other hand, as means for enabling fine processing of 0.1 μm or less by light, a near-field optical microscope (hereinafter, SN) is used.
A micromachining apparatus using the configuration of OM (abbreviated as OM) has been proposed (Betzig et al., Science 257 (19)
92) 189. For example, a fine aperture of 100 nm or less is formed at the tip of an optical fiber probe sharpened by etching or the like, and laser light is introduced from the other end. Using evanescent light that oozes out of these minute openings,
This is a device that performs local exposure exceeding the light wavelength limit.

[0004]

However, these SNOM-structured lithography apparatuses have a structure in which fine processing is performed with a single processing probe as in a single-stroke drawing. Had. In addition, there is a problem in that alignment for introducing light into the processing probe is troublesome. Further, the configuration of the apparatus such as the alignment adjustment mechanism becomes large, and the rigidity of the apparatus is reduced, and the apparatus is susceptible to external noise such as floor vibration and acoustic vibration.

Therefore, the present invention solves the above-mentioned problems in the conventional apparatus, can perform fine processing of 100 nm or less with high throughput, does not require alignment for introducing light into a processing probe, and requires an apparatus. To provide a near-field optical lithography apparatus and method which can be configured compactly, have high rigidity of the apparatus, are hardly affected by external noise such as floor vibration and acoustic vibration, and can improve processing accuracy. It is the purpose.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a near-field optical lithography apparatus and method for solving the above-mentioned problems, which are constituted as follows. That is, the near-field optical lithography apparatus of the present invention is arranged such that the surface of the workpiece is brought close to a predetermined distance or less with respect to the near-field optical head having a minute opening arranged opposite to the surface to be processed. The near-field light head is two-dimensionally scanned relative to the surface to be exposed, which is the surface to be processed, to control light irradiation / non-irradiation from a light source according to the position of the near-field light head. A near-field light lithography apparatus for performing fine processing by exposing the surface to be exposed by evanescent light oozing from the tip of the minute opening, wherein control of light irradiation / non-irradiation from the light source is performed by processing pattern data; Is characterized in that the processing is performed in synchronization with the two-dimensional scanning by processing timing control means on the basis of the processing pattern data in a memory for storing. Further, in the near-field optical lithography apparatus of the present invention, the alignment is performed by using a near-field optical head having a minute opening having a size of 100 nm or less with respect to the surface of the workpiece.
It is characterized in that it is performed by approaching to a distance of nm or less. Further, the near-field optical lithography apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that the minute opening is supported by an elastic body, and the alignment mechanism contacts the surface of the workpiece with the minute opening. Further, in the near-field light lithography apparatus according to the present invention, the near-field light head includes a plurality of light sources and a plurality of minute apertures, and the two-dimensional scanning is performed on a surface of the workpiece by a two-dimensional scanning stage. The plurality of minute apertures are integrated so as to be relatively two-dimensionally scanned. Further, in the near-field optical lithography apparatus of the present invention, the two-dimensional scanning may include:
Further, it is characterized in that two-dimensional scanning is performed so that processing regions of adjacent minute openings are connected to each other on the surface of the workpiece. The near-field optical lithography apparatus according to the present invention may further include a surface of the workpiece relative to the minute opening in a direction inward of the workpiece surface.
It is characterized by having two-dimensional step moving means for performing a two-dimensional step movement. Further, in the near-field optical lithography apparatus of the present invention, the two-dimensional step is further moved in a step so that processing areas before and after the adjacent step movement overlap on the surface of the workpiece, and processing in the overlapping processing area is performed. It is characterized in that the patterns are connected to each other. Further, the near-field light lithography apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that the light source is a surface emitting laser or a surface emitting LED. Further, the near-field light lithography apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that a light collecting means for collecting light emitted from the light source and irradiating the light to the minute opening is provided between the light source and the minute opening. I have.

Further, the near-field light lithography method of the present invention uses a near-field light head having a fine aperture of 100 nm or less, irradiates one side of the fine aperture with light from a light source, and irradiates the other side with light. A near-field optical lithography method for performing processing by exuding evanescent light, the method comprising: positioning a surface of a workpiece to approach a distance of 100 nm or less with respect to the minute opening; Performing a two-dimensional scan relative to the surface of the workpiece in the in-plane direction of the workpiece, and irradiating light from the light source in synchronization with the two-dimensional scan based on processing pattern data. And performing a processing timing control for controlling non-irradiation. Further, in the near-field light lithography method of the present invention, in the positioning step, the minute opening supported by an elastic body is brought into contact with the surface of the workpiece. Further, in the near-field light lithography method of the present invention, the near-field light head includes a plurality of the light sources and a plurality of the small apertures, and the two-dimensional scanning step is performed on a surface of the workpiece. It is characterized in that two-dimensional scanning is performed relatively by integrating a plurality of minute openings. Also,
The near-field optical lithography method according to the present invention is characterized in that the two-dimensional scanning step further performs two-dimensional scanning such that adjacent processing regions of minute openings are connected to each other on the surface of the workpiece. . Further, the near-field optical lithography method of the present invention is characterized in that the near-field optical lithography method includes a step of relatively two-dimensionally moving the surface of the workpiece with respect to the minute opening in an in-plane direction of the workpiece surface. . Further, in the near-field optical lithography method of the present invention, the two-dimensional step moving step is further step-moved such that processing regions before and after the adjacent step movement overlap with each other on the surface of the workpiece. The size of the processing pattern is set to be larger than the accuracy of the step movement so that the processing patterns in the processing area are connected to each other.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention provides a near-field optical lithography apparatus and method as described above,
Fine processing of 100 nm or less can be performed with high throughput. In addition, this eliminates the need for alignment for introducing light into the processing probe, allows the apparatus to be compact, has high rigidity, and is less susceptible to external noise such as floor vibration and acoustic vibration. Processing accuracy can be improved. Hereinafter, examples of the present invention will be described.

[0009]

FIG. 1 is a view showing an embodiment of a photolithography apparatus using a near-field optical head according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, a near-field optical head 101 is arranged so as to face a resist 103 on a substrate 102 which is a workpiece. The near-field optical head 101 includes a plurality of micro optical heads 118. In each micro optical head 118, a laser beam 107 from a surface emitting laser 104 as a light source is attached to a free end of a cantilever 105 capable of elastic deformation in a bending direction.
06 is illuminated from the back side (the upper side in FIG. 1). The opening diameter of the minute opening 106 is 100 nm or less.
The tip of the minute opening 106 is
It is arranged so as to contact the surface. At this time,
The cantilever 105 is elastically deformed by an atomic force, an intermolecular force, a van der Waals force, a surface tension, or the like acting between the tip of the minute opening 106 and the surface of the resist 103 on the substrate 102, and the force acting between the two is substantially reduced. It is kept constant. Therefore, the near-field optical head 10
When the entire structure 1 approaches the surface of the resist 103 on the substrate 102, no strong repulsive force is applied and the resist 103 and the tip of the minute opening 106 are not broken. Conversely, even when the distance goes away, the tip of the minute opening 106 does not separate from the resist 103 surface.

The evanescent light 1 is emitted from the minute aperture 106.
Light called 09 exudes, and the resist 103 is exposed using the light. Hereinafter, seepage of evanescent light will be described with reference to FIG. Small opening 201
Is smaller than the light wavelength of the laser beam 202,
The laser beam 202 cannot pass through the minute aperture 201. However, non-propagating light called evanescent light 203 is localized near the small aperture 201. The area where the evanescent light 203 is seeping out is
The vertical direction is a region at a distance of 100 nm or less from the tip of the minute opening 201, and the horizontal direction is a region at a distance of about the opening diameter of the minute opening 201. When the surface of the resist 205 on the substrate 204 is brought close to the minute opening 201 from which the evanescent light 203 is seeping out to a distance of 100 nm or less,
The evanescent light 203 is scattered by the surface of the resist 205 and becomes scattered light 206 and propagates in the resist.
A minute area of the resist 205 can be exposed by the scattered light. The exposure size at this time is not limited by the light wavelength, and is approximately the same as the opening diameter of the minute opening 201. By performing exposure using the evanescent light 203 oozing from the minute opening 201 as described above, photolithography of 100 nm or less, which is smaller than the light wavelength size, can be performed using light. In FIG. 1, by providing a lens 108 between the surface emitting laser 104 and the minute aperture 106, the laser beam 107 can be condensed and efficiently radiated to the vicinity of the minute aperture 106. As a result, it is possible to reduce scattered light and heat that is wasted on the back side of the minute opening 106, to suppress heat generation of members constituting the minute opening 106, and to reduce driving power of the surface emitting laser 104. Surface emitting laser 10
4 can suppress the heat generation.

The photolithography apparatus of the present invention comprises:
Since the apparatus is for exposing a fine pattern of 00 nm or less, expansion of a part or the whole of the apparatus due to heat generation causes a reduction in exposure accuracy. Further, the heat generated by the members forming the microfabrication 106 also becomes a factor of thermally deteriorating the opposing resist. For the above reason, condensing the laser beam 107 in the vicinity of the minute aperture 106 by the lens 108 is extremely effective in improving the performance of the entire apparatus. The near-field optical head 101 is provided with a plurality of micro optical heads 118 in a two-dimensional array, and simultaneously performs exposure with the evanescent light 109 at a plurality of locations on the resist 103 on the substrate 102 in parallel.
Thereby, the throughput can be improved.
FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional configuration of the near-field optical head 101, and FIG. FIG. 3 shows an example in which the near-field optical head 101 is composed of three units: a micro aperture cantilever array unit 301, a micro lens array unit 302, and a surface emitting laser array unit 303. Each unit is separately manufactured as described later, and is joined to each other with adhesives 304 and 305. In FIG.
Although an example in which nine micro optical heads are arranged in a two-dimensional array in three rows × three columns has been shown, in practice, a more two-dimensional array such as 100 rows × 100 columns or 100 rows × 1
What is necessary is just to select an optimal arrangement for a system such as a one-dimensional linear arrangement such as a row.

FIG. 5 shows a procedure for driving the near-field photolithography apparatus having the structure shown in FIG. 1 to perform exposure. First, rough positioning for arranging the near-field optical head 101 and the resist 103 / substrate 102 to face each other is performed, and then fine positioning is performed. Here, the positioning includes the positioning related to translation in the xyz three-axis directions and the positioning related to rotation αβθ around the three axes illustrated in FIG. 1. Here, α means rotation around the x axis, β means rotation around the y axis, and θ means rotation around the z axis. As shown in FIG. 1, the resist 103 / substrate 102 is mounted on an xy stage 110. xy stage 110 is xy
It is mounted on the step moving stage 119. Further, the xy step moving stage 119 is a positioning mechanism 1
11, a horizontal position adjustment of the resist 103 / substrate 102 with respect to the near-field optical head 101 (xy direction, θ) and a relative distance adjustment (z direction) by a positioning signal output from the positioning circuit 113. And relative inclination adjustment (α, β) is performed. At this time, due to the presence or absence of irregularities and undulations on the surface of the resist 103 on the substrate 102 and errors in the fabrication of the near-field optical head 101, the plurality of minute
06, the distance between the tip and the surface of the resist 103 varies. Therefore, the tip of all the small openings 106 is the resist 1
The near-field optical head 101 is brought close to the resist 103 surface until it comes into contact with the 03 surface. Since the micro opening is attached to the cantilever, the micro optical head with a small distance between the tip of the micro opening and the resist surface has a large elastic deformation of the cantilever, and the micro optical head with a large distance has a small elastic deformation of the cantilever, The forces acting between the tips of all the small openings and the resist surface can be made substantially equal. After performing coarse and fine positioning, two-dimensional relative scanning of the resist 103 / substrate 102 in the xy direction with respect to the near-field optical head 101 is performed by the xy stage scanning signal output from the xy stage scanning circuit 112. Do. Even if irregularities and undulations exist on the resist surface 103 on the substrate 102 during the two-dimensional relative scanning, the amount of elastic deformation of the cantilever fluctuates in each micro optical head so as to follow these irregularities and undulations. It is possible to maintain the contact state of all the fine opening tips on the resist surface.

FIG. 6 shows details of the two-dimensional relative scanning. Since the micro optical heads 1 to 9 (601 to 609) move relative to the exposed surface 610 such as the resist 103 / substrate 102 and the like as a unit, the scanning loci of the micro optical heads 1 to 9 on the exposed surface 610 ( 611 to 619) have the same shape. As an example of the scanning method, as shown in the scanning trajectory of FIG. 6, while performing the main scanning 620 in the x direction by a distance equal to the pitch of the micro optical head array in the x direction, the micro optical head is shifted slightly in the y direction. Row of y
The sub-scan 621 is performed in the y direction by a distance equal to the pitch in the direction. Accordingly, scanning can be performed without interruption by the all-micro optical head on the exposed surface 610 to which the near-field optical head 101 faces. Exposure is performed by driving a surface emitting laser as described below while performing two-dimensional scanning. As shown in FIG. 1, processing pattern information input according to a design is stored in a processing pattern data memory 1.
The processing timing control means 115 controls the timing of the xy stage scanning circuit 112 and the laser driving circuit 116 based on the data. Specifically, an xy stage drive control signal is output from the processing timing control means 115 to control the xy stage scanning circuit 112, and the micro optical head 118
When a predetermined relative positional relationship with respect to the substrate 102 is satisfied, a laser drive control signal is output, the laser drive circuit 116 is controlled, and the surface emitting laser 104 is driven.
The resist 103 is exposed. Laser drive circuit 116
Are connected to the surface emitting lasers 104 in the near-field optical head through the driving wiring 117, and independently drive the respective surface emitting lasers 104. Here, the surface emitting laser 104
Are arranged in a two-dimensional array, the drive wiring 11
In order to reduce the number of 7's, it may be driven in a matrix.

The relative scanning as shown in FIG. 6 is performed, and each of the micro optical heads 1 to 9 (601 to
According to the position 609), the emission / non-emission control of the surface emitting laser of each micro optical head is performed as shown in the waveform of FIG. The horizontal axis of each waveform in FIG. 7 represents time, which corresponds to the scanning position, and one graduation on the horizontal axis represents one unit of the scanning distance of each micro optical head shown in FIG. I have. FIG. 8 shows an exposure pattern 801 obtained as a result of driving the surface emitting laser as shown in FIG. 7 while performing relative scanning as shown in FIG. Since the scanning is performed on the surface to be exposed 610 without interruption by all the micro optical heads, it is possible to connect the patterns exposed by the adjacent micro optical heads. Actually, the width of the exposure pattern is about 10 to 100 nm, but the scanning area of one micro optical head, that is, (the pitch in the x direction of the micro optical head array) × (the pitch in the y direction) is 100 μm × 1
By using a piezo element or the like as the xy stage 110, the driving accuracy of scanning can be reduced to 10 nm or less, so that the accuracy of connecting patterns exposed by the adjacent micro optical heads can be obtained. As described above, an exposure pattern can be formed on the portion of the resist 103 / substrate 102 facing the near-field light head 101.

Next, the xy step moving signal from the xy step moving circuit 120 is transmitted to the xy step moving stage 11.
9 and the near-field light head 101 is moved stepwise with respect to the resist 103 / substrate 102, and then an exposure pattern is formed in an adjacent area. FIG. 9 shows the positional relationship of the exposure area in an example in which the near-field optical head including 3 × 3 = 9 micro optical heads is step-moved three times (step movements 1 to 3) and exposure is performed a total of four times. . FIG. 10 shows an example in which the exposure pattern is formed a total of four times while stepwise moving as shown in FIG. The total of four exposure patterns may be the same pattern or different patterns. Further, a pattern in which adjacent exposure patterns are connected before and after the step movement may be used, or a completely independent pattern may be used. When connecting adjacent patterns before and after the step movement as shown in FIG.
In consideration of the movement error at the time of the step movement, the step movement amount is set so that the exposure regions of 1 to 4 times slightly overlap each other. Further, the pattern of the connection portion is set to a large size. For example, one exposure area is 10.000 mm × 1
0.000 mm, the step moving amount is 9.999 mm, and the exposure regions are overlapped by 1 μm. The size (width / length) of the pattern of the connection portion is 1 μm. xy
When a rotary screw feed stage using a stepping motor or the like is used as the step moving stage 119, the driving accuracy of the step moving can be made 1 μm or less.
Accuracy such that adjacent patterns are connected before and after the step movement is obtained. As described above, the resist 10
3 / By moving the near-field light head 101 stepwise with respect to the substrate 102 and performing exposure a plurality of times, an exposure pattern can be formed over a wide area.

The throughput of the photolithography apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to actual examples. The numerical specifications of the device are assumed as follows. Initial alignment time: 100 ms Minimum exposure pattern size: 10 nm Minimum exposure pattern exposure time: 10 ns Micro-optical head array pitch: 100 μm in the x direction, y
100 μm direction Two-dimensional scanning area of 1 micro optical head: 100 μm × 1
00 μm Number of micro optical heads: 10000 (= 100 × in the x direction)
Near field light head size (= one exposure area): 10 mm
× 10 mm Total exposure size: 100 mm × 100 mm Total number of exposures: 100 (= 10 in the x direction × 10 in the y direction) Number of step movements: 99 (= 10 in the x direction × 10 in the y direction)
1) One step movement time (including the alignment time after the step movement): 100 ms At this time, the time required for one exposure = 10 ns × (100 μm / 10 nm) × (100 μm / 10 nm) = 1 s Total exposure time = 1 s × 100 + 100 ms + 100 ms × 99 = 〜110 s Here, the minimum exposure pattern exposure time is 10 ns.
However, this value depends on the optical power of the surface emitting laser, the modulation speed, and the photosensitivity (material) of the resist.
By optimizing these, it is possible to further increase the speed. In the near-field photolithography system of the present invention, exposure is performed by driving a surface-emitting laser during two-dimensional scanning based on input exposure pattern data, so that a mask is not required. Therefore, the time required for manufacturing the mask can be saved. Further, the exposure pattern data can be easily and quickly created using a computer, and the pattern data can be easily changed. From the above characteristics, the present invention is particularly suitable for the production of devices for small-quantity multi-product production such as ASIC.

Next, a manufacturing process of the near-field optical head of the present invention will be described. FIGS. 11 and 12 are views for explaining a manufacturing process of a micro-aperture cantilever array unit which is one of the units constituting the near-field optical head. Si (10) having an oxide film (SiO ₂ ) 1101 formed on the surface
0) A rectangular opening 1103 is provided in the substrate 1102 (FIG. 11A), and an anisotropic etching is performed with KOH to form an inverted pyramid-shaped concave portion 1104 (FIG. 11).
b). An oxide film (SiO ₂ ) 1105 is grown at a low temperature,
The shape of the tip of the recess is sharpened (FIG. 11c). While rotating the substrate 1107 around the substrate surface normal 1106 as a rotation axis,
Au is vapor-deposited from an oblique direction to form an Al thin film 1108 having a minute opening at the tip of the concave portion (FIG. 11D). After masking the minute opening with a resist 1109 (FIG. 11E), the Au thin film 1108 is etched to form a replica minute opening 1110.
Is formed as a replica micro-aperture substrate 1111 (FIG. 11F). A Si ₃ N ₄ thin film 1202 is formed on another Si (100) substrate 1201 by LPCVD.
2a), a cantilever pattern 1203 is formed, and this is used as a cantilever substrate 1204 (FIG. 12B). Here, the replica micro-aperture substrate 1111 having the replica micro-aperture 1110 formed thereon and the cantilever substrate 1204 are pressed against each other by applying pressure (FIG. 12C), and the replica micro-aperture 1205 is pressed onto the cantilever pattern 1203 (FIG. 12D). Finally, back etching is performed with KOH from the back surface of the substrate to form a cantilever 1206 with a small opening 1205 attached thereto, thereby forming a small opening cantilever array unit (FIG. 12E).

FIG. 13 is a view for explaining a manufacturing process of a microlens array unit which is one of the units constituting the near-field optical head. A metal film or a dielectric film is formed on the surface of a multi-component glass substrate 1301 containing monovalent cations by a vapor deposition method or a sputtering method to form an ion exchange blocking film 1302, and then a circular opening 1303 for ion exchange is formed. (FIG. 13a). Subsequently, the molten salt 130 containing dopant ions contributing to an increase in the refractive index is formed on the glass substrate 1301.
4 to form an ion exchange region 1305 (FIG. 13b). The ion exchange region 1305 becomes a distributed refractive index type lens portion according to the dopant ion distribution. At this time, if a dopant ion having a larger ion radius than a monovalent cation in the glass substrate is used, the substrate surface swells in accordance with the ion volume difference, and a convex lens portion is formed. This is referred to as a microlens array unit. FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a surface emitting laser array unit which is one of the units constituting the near-field optical head. GaAs
A GaAlAs / AlAs multilayer film, GaAlAs /
A GaAs quantum well layer, a GaAlAs / AlAs multilayer film,
After forming a Si ₃ N ₄ film, using photolithography,
DBR mirror 1 (1402), 2 (1403), active layer (1404), electrode 1 (1405), 2 (1406),
Polyimide insulation (1407), Si ₃ N ₄ insulation (14
08) is formed. This is a surface emitting laser array unit. Here, an example of a GaAlAs / GaAs surface emitting laser having an oscillation wavelength of about 0.8 μm is described, but a surface emitting laser of another material may be used depending on the light wavelength dependence of the sensitivity of the resist used. For example, GaI
When a surface emitting laser is formed using a GaN-based material such as nAlN / GaAlN, the oscillation wavelength becomes 0.3 to 0.5 μm.
m, and a resist used in ordinary near-ultraviolet photolithography can be used. FIG. 15 shows an example in which a diffraction grating lens 1501 is used as a micro lens constituting a near-field optical head. The diffraction grating lens uses light diffraction by a diffraction grating to condense light, and is smaller, lighter, and lighter than the lens using refraction shown in FIG.
It can be made compact. Moreover, it has a feature that a lens with a higher NA can be realized by using higher-order diffraction. Therefore, when a diffraction grating lens is used in the near-field optical head of the present invention, a near-field optical head that is smaller, lighter, more compact, and more efficient can be realized. FIG. 16 is a diagram for explaining a manufacturing process of a microlens array unit using a diffraction grating lens. A mask 1602 of a diffraction grating lens pattern is provided on a glass substrate 1601 and etching is performed to manufacture a diffraction grating lens 1603. Although an example using a surface emitting laser as a light source has been described through the above-described embodiments, the present invention is not limited to this, and a surface emitting LED may be used. When a surface-emitting LED is used, the coherence of light oozing from the minute aperture is reduced,
This has the effect that it is possible to avoid the deformation of the light beam shape which may occur when stray light such as reflected light or scattered light is present.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention, a near-field optical lithography apparatus and method are applied to a near-field optical head having a minute opening disposed opposite to a surface to be processed. The surface of the object is brought closer to a predetermined distance or less and aligned, and the near-field light head is two-dimensionally scanned relative to the surface to be exposed, which is the surface to be processed, to thereby determine the position of the near-field light head. The light irradiation / non-irradiation from the light source is controlled according to the condition, and the surface to be exposed is exposed and finely processed by evanescent light oozing from the tip of the fine opening, so that the fine processing of 100 nm or less is achieved. Can be performed with high throughput. Further, according to the present invention, alignment for introducing light into the processing probe becomes unnecessary, the apparatus configuration is compact, the rigidity of the apparatus can be increased, and the influence of external noise such as floor vibration and acoustic vibration can be reduced. It is hard to receive, and the processing accuracy can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an optical lithography apparatus using a near-field optical head according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the principle of exposure using evanescent light miserable from a minute aperture.

FIG. 3 is a sectional configuration diagram of a near-field optical head.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a near-field optical head.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a procedure for performing exposure by driving the near-field light lithography apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating details of two-dimensional relative scanning of the micro optical head with respect to a surface to be exposed.

FIG. 7 is a waveform diagram of emission / non-emission control of a surface emitting laser in each micro optical head.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of an exposure pattern obtained by relatively scanning a near-field light head and driving a surface emitting laser.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a positional relationship of an exposure area when a near-field optical head is moved in steps and exposed.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of an exposure pattern formed by moving a near-field optical head stepwise.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a manufacturing process of the micro-aperture cantilever array unit.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of a manufacturing process of the small aperture cantilever array unit.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of a manufacturing process of the microlens array unit.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a surface emitting laser array unit.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example in which a diffraction grating lens is used as a micro lens.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram of a manufacturing process of a microlens array unit using a diffraction grating lens.

[Explanation of symbols]

101: Near-field optical head 102: Substrate 103: Resist 104: Surface emitting laser 105: Cantilever 106: Micro aperture 107: Laser beam 108: Lens 109: Evanescent light 110: xy stage 111: Positioning mechanism 112: xy stage scanning circuit 113: Positioning circuit 114: Processing pattern data memory 115: Processing timing control means 116: Laser drive circuit 117: Drive wiring 118: Micro optical head 119: xy step moving stage 120: xy step moving circuit 201: micro aperture 202: laser Light 203: Evanescent light 204: Substrate 205: Resist 206: Scattered light 301: Small aperture cantilever array unit 302: Micro lens array unit 303: Surface emitting laser array Units 304 and 305: Adhesives 601 to 609: Micro optical heads 1 to 9 610: Surfaces to be exposed 611 to 619: Scanning loci of the micro optical heads 1 to 9 620: Main scan 621: Sub scan 801: Exposure pattern 1101, 1105: Oxide film (SiO ₂ ) 1102: Si substrate 1103: Rectangular opening 1104: Inverted pyramid-shaped concave portion 1106: Substrate surface normal 1107: Substrate 1108: Au thin film 1109: Resist 1110: Replica minute opening 1111: Replica minute opening substrate 1201: Si substrate 1202: Si ₃ N ₄ thin film 1203: cantilever pattern 1204: cantilever substrate 1205: replica micro opening 1206: cantilever 1301: multi-component glass substrate containing monovalent cations 1302: ion exchange blocking film 1303: circular opening 304: molten salt 1305: ion exchange region 1401: GaAs substrate 1402: DBR mirror 1 1403: DBR mirror 2 1404: an active layer 1405: electrode 1 1406: electrode 2 1407: polyimide insulating section 1408: Si ₃ N ₄ 1501: diffraction grating Lens 1601: Glass substrate 1602: Diffraction grating lens pattern mask 1603: Diffraction grating lens

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. A near-field light head having a minute aperture disposed opposite to a surface to be processed, the surface of the object to be processed is positioned close to a predetermined distance or less, and the near-field light is aligned. Move the head relative to the surface to be exposed
Dimensional scanning controls light irradiation / non-irradiation from a light source according to the position of the near-field light head, and performs fine processing by exposing the exposed surface with evanescent light oozing from the tip of the minute opening. A near-field optical lithography apparatus, wherein control of light irradiation / non-irradiation from the light source is performed in synchronization with the two-dimensional scanning by processing timing control means based on the processing pattern data in a memory storing processing pattern data. A near-field optical lithography apparatus configured to perform the method. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the positioning is performed by bringing a surface of the workpiece close to a distance of 100 nm or less with respect to a near-field optical head having a small aperture having a size of 100 nm or less. The near-field optical lithography apparatus according to claim 1. 3. The near-field optical lithography apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the minute opening is supported by an elastic body, and the alignment mechanism brings the surface of the workpiece into contact with the minute opening. 4. The near-field light head includes a plurality of light sources and a plurality of minute openings, and the two-dimensional scanning is performed by using a two-dimensional scanning stage to form the plurality of minute openings with respect to the surface of the workpiece. The near-field optical lithography apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the near-field optical lithography apparatus is configured to relatively two-dimensionally scan as one body. 5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the two-dimensional scanning is further performed such that two adjacent processing areas of the minute openings are connected to each other on the surface of the workpiece. Near-field optical lithography equipment. 6. A two-dimensional step moving means for relatively two-dimensionally moving the surface of the workpiece relative to the minute opening in an in-plane direction of the workpiece surface. The near-field optical lithography apparatus according to claim 5. 7. The method according to claim 7, wherein the two-dimensional step is further step-moved such that adjacent machining areas on the surface of the workpiece before and after the step movement overlap each other, and machining patterns in the overlapping machining areas are connected. The near-field optical lithography apparatus according to claim 6, wherein: 8. The near-field optical lithography apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the light source is a surface emitting laser or a surface emitting LED. 9. A light-collecting means for condensing light emitted from the light source and irradiating the light to the minute opening between the light source and the minute opening. 9. The near-field optical lithography apparatus according to claim 8. 10. A near-field optical head having a small aperture of 100 nm or less is used to irradiate one side of the small aperture with light from a light source and exude evanescent light to the other side for processing. A near-field optical lithography method, comprising: positioning a surface of a workpiece to approach a distance of 100 nm or less with respect to the minute opening; A step of relatively performing two-dimensional scanning in the in-plane direction of the workpiece surface; and a processing timing control for controlling light irradiation / non-irradiation from the light source in synchronization with the two-dimensional scanning based on processing pattern data. Performing a near-field optical lithography method. 11. The near-field optical lithography method according to claim 10, wherein, in the positioning step, the minute opening supported by an elastic body is brought into contact with the surface of the workpiece. 12. The near-field light head includes a plurality of light sources and a plurality of minute openings, and the two-dimensional scanning step integrates the plurality of minute openings with a surface of the workpiece. The near-field optical lithography method according to claim 10, wherein two-dimensional scanning is performed relatively. 13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the two-dimensional scanning step further performs two-dimensional scanning such that adjacent processing areas of minute openings on the surface of the workpiece are connected to each other. Near-field optical lithography method. 14. The method according to claim 10, further comprising the step of relatively two-dimensionally moving the surface of the workpiece relative to the minute opening in a direction within the surface of the workpiece.
The near-field optical lithography method according to claim 13. 15. The two-dimensional step moving step further includes step moving such that adjacent processing areas on the surface of the workpiece before and after the step movement overlap each other, and the processing patterns in the overlapping processing areas overlap each other. 15. The near-field optical lithography method according to claim 14, wherein the size of the processing pattern is set to be larger than the accuracy of the step movement so that the pattern is connected.