JPS5817616A - Movable stage - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To remove a vibration to be transmitted from a drive source through a drive rod to a bearer at the time of stopping the bearer by disposing an electrostrictive material piece at a coupling member of the rod to the bearer in a moving stage mechanism for moving a sample in an electron beam exposure apparatus used for producing a semiconductor device. CONSTITUTION:An input signal is applied to a hydraulic cylinder, a timing pulse is fed from a comparator 32 simultaneously when the drive is started, and a switch 33 is closed. Thus, when a voltage is applied from a DC power source 34 to an electrostrictive material piece 22, the piece 22 is expanded to remove a gap between a slider 12a and a guide 13a, a bearer 11 is coupled through the slider 12a and the guide 13a to the drive rod 14a, and is driven to the target position by the cylinder. Then, when the bearer 11 is stopped at the target position, a timing pulse is generated from the comparator 32, the switch 33 is opened, the piece 22 is removed from the voltage and is returned to the original size, and a mechanical gap is again produced between the slider 12a and the guide 13a, thereby eliminating the vibration to be transmitted from the cylinder to the slider 12a.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a movement stage mechanism for moving a sample in an electron beam exposure apparatus used for manufacturing semiconductor devices.

As a conventional device of this type, there is one shown in FIG. 1, for example.

In the figure, 1 is where the sample is placed and the X
Guide 3 is a Y guide that is coupled to the X guides 2m, 2b and parallel to the Y direction that is perpendicular to the X direction, and 5 is a base for fixing the Y guides 4a, 4b.

In order to move the moving stage having such a configuration in the Y direction, the Y drive rod 6a connected to the Y table 3 is
A method of applying a thrust to the Y table 3 via the Y drive rod 6a is used by connecting a possible drive source that provides linear motion, such as a feed screw nut coupled to a rotary motor or a hydraulic cylinder. . In this case, the X drive rod 6b
A rectangular frame 7 is provided at the tip of the rectangular frame 7, and a roller 8 that can be moved in the Y direction is connected to the X table 1 on the inside of the rectangular frame 7. This allows the X table 1 to move in the Y direction even when the X drive rod 6b remains stationary. Also,
When moving in the X direction, the drive source such as the above hydraulic cylinder is
It is connected to the drive rod 6b and applies thrust to the X-table 1 with the rectangular frame 7 pressed against the rollers 8.

In the conventional moving stage structure described above, the table on which the sample is placed is always mechanically coupled to at least the drive source in either the X or Y direction, so the vibrations generated in the drive source affect the drive rod. Therefore, even after the movement of the sample table has stopped, the vibration is slow to settle, and furthermore, even when the movement of the sample table is stopped, the vibration is transmitted to the sample table by 1/10 to 1 /
Vibration with an amplitude on the order of 100 μm is transmitted from the driving source,
As a result, when it is incorporated into an electron beam exposure apparatus, there are disadvantages in that the extra waiting time for vibration stabilization reduces productivity, and the vibration during stoppage reduces drawing accuracy.

In order to eliminate these drawbacks, the present invention arranges a piece of electrostrictive material at the joint between the drive rod and the stage, and expands the piece of electrostrictive material arranged in the moving direction while the stage is moving. When the stage is stopped, the electrostrictive material piece is contracted to create a gap at the joint, and the connection between the stage and the drive rod is cut off. This is to remove vibrations transmitted from the drive source to the stage through the drive rod when stopped, and will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows one embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 11 is sample 1
The stage 12m and 12b are connected to the stage 11, and sliders 13a are arranged parallel to the Y and X directions, respectively.
, 13b respectively hold sliders 12m and 12b,
Frame slider 12a.

12b is a guide that also has a linear guide function when moving in the axial direction, 14ae14b is a guide 13 m, 13
The drive rods 15a and 15b connected to b are linear guides for ensuring the precision of movement of the drive rods 14a and 14b during forward movement. 16m and 16b are drive rods 14m and 14 via linear motion guides 15m and 15b, respectively.
b, a hydraulic cylinder that provides thrust to drive the stage 11 in the Y and X directions, respectively; 17 is the stage 11;
This is a base that supports the table and has a plane guiding function to suppress vertical fluctuations when the carcass table moves in two-dimensional directions.

Next, FIG. 93 is a sectional view taken along the line AA' in FIG. 2 in the force direction, showing in detail the relative positional relationship between the slider 12m and the guide 13m. Guide 13 Slider 12 of a
An electrostrictive material piece 22 is placed on the side surface facing m via an insulating material 21.
is fixed, and a conductive material 24 is soldered to both sides of the electrostrictive material piece 22 parallel to the slider 12a, and the slider 12a is
The opposing surface of m is covered with an insulating material 23. In fixing the electrostrictive material piece 22, when an external voltage is applied to the electrostrictive material barb 22 and a T field is applied, the direction in which the material piece 22 is deflected is the thickness direction, that is, the Y drive rod 14a. Place it so that it matches the direction of movement. Also, the electrostrictive material piece 22
The 0 dimension means that when the row section voltage is applied and it expands in the thickness direction, the mechanical gap between the slider 12m and the guide 131L is completely removed, and conversely, when the external voltage is removed, it expands in the thickness direction. It shrinks and returns to its original size, and slider 1
2m and the guide 13a so that a mechanical gap is created. Although only the Y direction has been described in FIG. 3, the relative positional relationship between the slider 12b and the guide 13b in the X direction is also equivalent.

Next, the operation of the moving stage having such a configuration will be explained with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

First, when the stage 11 is stopped, the voltage applied to the electrostrictive material piece 22 is released, and the electrostrictive material piece n remains contracted in the thickness direction, and the slider 12m and guide 13a
There is no contact with. As shown in FIG.
The moving distance of 1 in the X and Y directions is constantly measured by laser length measuring devices 31m and 31b having high length measurement resolution,
It is converted into a digital signal and sent to the comparator 32.

On the other hand, a data word corresponding to the target moving distance of the stage 11 is input to the comparator 32, and within the core comparator 32, the input data is compared with the length measurement data of the laser length measuring device 31m or 31b.

Therefore, at the same time that an input signal is applied to the hydraulic cylinder 16m and the drive is started, a timing pulse is sent from the comparator 32 in synchronization with the input signal, and the switch 33 is turned on. As a result, a voltage from a DC power supply is applied to the electrostrictive material piece 22, and the electrostrictive material piece 22 is expanded in the thickness direction to remove the gap between the slider 12m and the guide 13m, and the gap between the slider 12m and the guide 13m is removed. The surface is expanded and sandwiched between nine electrostrictive material pieces 22. In this state, the stage 11 is connected to the drive rod 141 via the slider 12a and the guide 13m, and is driven to the target position by the hydraulic cylinder 16&0.During this operation, the guide 13b remains stationary, and No voltage is applied to the electrostrictive material piece mounted on the guide 13b, so the guide 13b and the slider 12b remain mechanically in a non-contact state, and the document table 11 is moved in the Y direction. does not interfere with the operation of

Next, the stage 11 stops at the target position, and the vibration after stopping is 1
If the configuration is such that the comparator 32 generates a timing pulse and the switch 33 is turned OFF when the thickness has settled to about 710 to 1/100 μm, the electrostrictive material piece 22
The voltage is removed and returns to the original dimensions, and a mechanical gap is created again between the slider 12m and the guide 13m, and therefore the vibration from the hydraulic cylinder 16a is transmitted to the slider 12m.
It is never transmitted to. Therefore, the vibrations after the stage 11 stops are stabilized very quickly.

In addition, in the explanation so far, guides 13m, 13
Although a configuration has been adopted in which the electrostrictive material piece 22 is coupled to the sliders 12a and 12b, it is functionally equivalent to a configuration in which the electrostrictive material piece 22 is coupled to the sliders 12a and 12b. Furthermore, even if an electrostrictive material that contracts when a voltage is applied is used, the switch 3
The same purpose can be achieved by setting the operation 3 to be off when driving and on when stopped.

As explained above, according to the movable stage structure of the present invention, the stage X and the stage on which the sample is placed.

The drive source in the Y direction can be mechanically disconnected from the workpiece table when the workpiece table is stopped. Therefore, the vibrations generated in the drive source are not transmitted to the workpiece table. The vibrations are quickly stabilized, and it is also possible to completely eliminate the vibrations during the standstill. Therefore, when this moving stage is applied to an application such as moving a sample in an electron beam exposure system, the productivity of the exposure system is improved because the vibrations settle down quickly after moving the sample, and the productivity of the exposure system is improved while the sample is stopped. Vibration during baton drawing is completely eliminated, so
This has the advantage of improving baton drawing accuracy.

[Brief Description of the Drawings] Figure 1 is a perspective view of a conventional moving stage, Figure 2 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 3 is a detailed view of the combination of the slider and guide in Figure 2. The cross-sectional view shown in FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a method of releasing the voltage applied to the electrostrictive material piece of FIG. 3.

Claims (1)

[Claims] Place the sample and in a plane parallel to the mounting surface,
A workpiece table movable in two directions at right angles, and a mechanism coupled to the workpiece stand, which is a guided mechanism for one movement direction of the workpiece stand, and which is perpendicular to that direction. In the direction of movement, the drive force receiver is a mechanism, with two sliders whose axial directions are orthogonal to each other, and the slider is fitted, and in the direction of the drive force, it becomes a drive force transmission mechanism, and in the direction perpendicular to the drive direction, it is a drive force transmission mechanism. In a moving stage having a guide that guides the movement of the stage, a fitting part is provided between the guide and the slider using an electrostrictive material that can connect and disconnect an externally applied voltage. A moving stage that costs ￥f.