JPS6398587A - Two-dimensional moving stage - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Objective of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a two-dimensional moving stage movable in the The present invention relates to an improvement in a moving mechanism for an upper moving table that moves by moving.

(Prior Art) This type of moving stage capable of two-dimensional movement in the X and Y directions generally includes a lower moving stage provided on a fixed stage base so as to be movable in one dimension, and a moving direction of the lower moving stage. In order to move the upper moving table two-dimensionally, the lower moving table has conventionally been connected to a drive motor fixed on the stage base. The upper movable stage was configured to move in accordance with the rotation of the connected feed screw, and the upper moving stage was configured to move in response to the rotation of the lead screw connected to a motor fixedly installed on the movable lower moving stage.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the conventionally known moving stage configured as described above, the drive motor, feed screw, etc. for moving the upper moving table are arranged in the direction of movement of the upper moving table. The stage is mounted on a lower moving stage that moves in orthogonal directions, and there is a risk that the running accuracy of the stage will be disrupted due to vibrations of the drive motor, vibration of the feed screw, heat generation between the feed screw and the feed nut, etc. It was. Furthermore, when this moving stage is installed in a vacuum container, the drive motor that drives the upper moving stage moves together with the lower moving stage, so the entire moving stage including the drive motor must be housed inside the vacuum container. However, the vacuum container becomes large, and the wiring connected to the drive motor becomes an obstacle to the movement, which may impair the running accuracy of the stage.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the conventional devices described above, to provide a two-dimensional moving stage that can avoid the effects of heat generation and vibration caused by the drive motor and feed mechanism, and that requires relatively little space.

[Structure of the invention]

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a lower moving table movable in the Y direction and a trajectory in the X direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the lower moving table. A movable stage having a movable upper movable stage, the arm part having one end rotatably supported by a fixed shaft provided at a position independent of both movable stages and crossing the trajectory in the Y direction. A drive lever, a lever displacement means provided on a fixed part independent of both movable bases for rotationally displacing the drive lever, and an upper movable base and an arm portion of the drive lever are combined to move the drive lever. A means for solving the problem is to provide a connecting means that moves the upper moving table only in the direction along the trajectory in the X direction in accordance with the rotation.

(Function) One end of the drive lever (10) is supported by the fixed shaft (11), and the lever displacement means (15 to 17) for displacing the other end are
Since it is provided in a fixed part independent from both movable bases (3, 5), heat and vibration generated from the lever displacement means (15 to 17) such as the drive motor and feed screw mechanism are removed from the upper movable base (5). ) is not transmitted. In addition, the connecting means (12A~
14A) is configured to transmit only the movement of the drive lever (10) in the X direction to the upper moving table (5).
Extremely high running accuracy can be obtained. Furthermore, since the lever displacement means (15-17) do not move together with both movable tables (3, 5), the space required for the stage can be reduced.

(Example) Next, an example of the present invention will be described in detail based on the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway view showing an embodiment of the present invention, in which the upper surface of a stage base 1 fixed on an apparatus main body (not shown) has a ■-shaped guide 2A formed by a plurality of rollers and a flat guide. 2B is provided to form a trajectory in the Y direction. The lower moving table 3 moves in the Y direction on the guide tracks 2A and 2B.

Further, on the upper surface of the lower moving table 3, there are provided a letter-shaped guide 4A and a plane guide 4B, which are formed by a plurality of rollers and constitute a guide track in the X direction. The moving table 5 is configured to move in the X direction. Further, on the side surface of the stage base 1, a bracket 8 is fixedly provided with a drive motor 6 for moving the lower moving table 3 and a bearing 9 for supporting a feed screw 7 extending in the Y direction. . The feed screw 7 is screwed into a feed nut (not shown) fixed to the lower movable table 3.

A drive lever 10 provided across the guide tracks 4A and 4B to drive the upper movable table 5 has one end rotatably supported by a fixed shaft 11 fixed to the bracket 8. The upper moving table 5 is connected to the arm portion 10A of the drive lever 10.
The first member has a pin shaft 13A which supports a pair of 10th rollers 12A sandwiching the 10th member and which is rotatably provided on the upper moving table 5.
It is connected to the drive lever 10 via the 0-lar support plate 14A. The number of rollers 12A may be three or four. The end of the arm portion 10A opposite to the one end of the drive lever 10 supported by the fixed shaft 11 is held between a pair of 20th rollers 12B rotatably provided on the 20th roller support plate 14B. , its 20th-ra support 1
4B is rotatably supported via a pin shaft 13B on a feed napft 15 which is screwed into a feed screw 17 extending in the X direction and driven by a drive motor 16. Feed screw 1
One end of 7 supports the drive motor 16 and is connected to the stage substrate 1.
The other end of the feed screw 17 is supported by another bracket 20 provided on the side surface of the stage base 1.

The upper moving table 5 has a first mirror 31 extending long in the Y direction.
A second mirror 32 extending long in the X direction is fixedly installed, an interferometer 33 is provided on the X axis at a position facing the first mirror 31, and a Y axis interferometer 33 is installed at a position facing the second mirror 32. - The interferometer 34 is provided. The laser beam from the laser light source 35 is divided into two by the beam splitter 36, and one of the divided laser beams is projected onto the first mirror 31 via the X-axis interferometer 33, and the reflected beam is X again
The receiver is inserted into the X-axis interferometer 30, and the distance from the X-axis interferometer 33 to the first mirror 31, that is, the position (or amount of movement) of the upper moving table 5 in the X direction is precisely determined. Detected. Further, the other divided laser beam is projected onto the second mirror 32 via the Y-axis laser interferometer 34, and based on the reflected light, the Y-axis laser interferometer 34 32, that is, the position (or amount of movement) of the upper moving table 5 in the Y direction.

Detection signals from both laser interferometers 33 and 34 are input to a control device 40 that includes calculation means.

The control device 40 also performs arithmetic processing to move the upper moving table 5 to a specified position based on a signal S from an input device (not shown) and human power signals from the laser interferometers 33 and 34. , is configured to output a command for driving the drive motor 6.16.

The bearing 9 rotatably supports the feed screw 7 for movement in the X-axis direction, the drive lever 10, the lever rotation shaft 11, the feed nut 15, the bearing 19 and bracket 20 for supporting the feed screw 17 for movement in the X-axis direction. A vacuum container 50 is provided surrounding it, as shown by the broken line in FIG. The stage substrate 1 and the moving table 3.5 are housed in the vacuum container 50, the drive motors 6 and 16 are placed outside the vacuum container 50, and the portion where the feed screw 7.17 passes through the vacuum container 50 is kept airtight by a gasket (not shown).

Next, the operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 will be explained.

Drive motor 1 for moving in the X direction according to a command from control device 40
6 rotates, the feed screw 17 rotates, and in accordance with the rotation of the feed screw 17, the feed nut 15 moves in the X-axis direction. By this movement of the feed nut 1-15, the pin shaft 13
B, the drive lever 10 via the 20th roller support plate 14B
The 20th roller 128 that holds the 20th roller 128 moves in the X-axis direction and rotates the drive lever 10 around the fixed shaft 11. The rotation of the drive lever 10 is transmitted to the upper moving table 5 via the tenth roller 12A, the tenth roller support plate 14A, and the pin shaft 13A that sandwich the driving lever 10, and the upper moving table 5 ■-shaped guide track 4A provided on the lower moving platform 3
, and moves in the X-axis direction. In this case, the 10th-
The roller support plate 14A and the 20th roller support plate 14B are rotated around the bottle shafts 13A and 13B, respectively, so that the line connecting the respective rotation centers of the pair of rollers 12A and 12B is always perpendicular to the drive lever 10. move. (Figures 2 and 3 show only the 10th roller 12A.)
.

The position (or amount of movement) of the upper moving table 5 displaced in the X-axis direction by the rotation of the drive lever 10 is detected by the X-axis interferometer 33, and the value is input into the control device 40 each time. Ru. In this case, since the drive motor 16 and the feed screw 17 are fixedly mounted on the stage substrate 1 having a large mass, vibrations caused by their rotation are suppressed by the stage substrate 1 and are not transmitted to the upper movable table 5. Therefore, position detection can be performed with extremely high accuracy.

On the other hand, when the drive motor 6 for moving in the Y direction rotates according to a command from the control device 40, the feed screw 7 rotates, and in accordance with the rotation of the feed screw 7, the lower movable table 3 moves along the ■-shaped guide track on the stage base 1. 2A and moves in the Y-axis direction.

In this case, if the drive lever 10 is perpendicular to the trajectory 2A in the X-axis direction (parallel to the Y-axis) as shown in FIG. 14
The 10th roller 12A on A does not move in the X-axis direction.

However, if the drive lever 10 is tilted with respect to the X axis as shown in FIG. 1, the tenth roller 12A will move along the tilted drive lever 10 and As shown, when the upper moving table 5 moves by an amount y in the Y-axis direction together with the lower moving table 3, it is also displaced by an amount X in the X-axis direction.

The position (or amount of movement) of the upper moving table 5 when the lower moving table 3 is moved in the Y-axis direction as described above is detected by the Y-axis interferometer 34 and the X-axis interferometer 33, respectively. The value is manually entered into the control device 40 each time. Even in this movement in the Y-axis direction, the drive motor 6 and the feed screw 7 are fixed to the stage substrate 1 having a large mass, so vibrations caused by the rotation of the drive motor 6 are not transmitted to the upper moving table 5. Therefore, the position (or amount of movement) of the upper moving table 5 in the Y-axis direction can also be detected extremely precisely. In addition, when the control device 40 includes a microcomputer, the control device 40 can be controlled by specifying the positions of the upper moving table 5 on the X-axis and the Y-axis from the outside.
'41U L, which controls the drive motors 6 and 16 simultaneously;
The moving table 5 can be directly moved to that position. First, the drive motor 6 for moving in the Y-axis direction is controlled to determine the position of the upper moving table 5 in the Y-axis direction, and then
It goes without saying that the position of the upper moving table 5 in the X-axis direction may be determined by controlling the drive motor 16 for axial movement.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the amount of relative movement of the 20th roller support plate 14B and the 20th roller 13B provided on the feed nut (15) with respect to the drive lever 10 is relatively small, so that the roller 12B is Sliding pieces may be used instead. Further, the lever displacement means including the fixed shaft 11, the drive motor 16, and the feed screw 17 were configured to be supported by brackets 8, 18, and 20 fixed to the stage base 1, respectively. Needless to say, it may also be provided on a fixed portion of the device main body.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the drive motor for rotating the drive lever for moving the upper movable base and the lever displacement means such as the feed mechanism are provided in the fixed part independent of the movable base. Heat and vibration generated from the motor, feed mechanism, etc. are not directly transmitted to the moving table. Further, since the connecting means such as a roller that connects the drive lever and the upper moving table is configured to transmit only the movement of the drive lever in the X direction to the upper moving table, extremely high running accuracy can be obtained. Furthermore, since the lever displacement means such as the drive motor and feed screw mechanism do not move, the SEM (scanning electron microscope)
When using a moving stage installed in a vacuum container, such as a moving stage for The advantage is that the container can be made more compact. Furthermore, as in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the movement of the feed nut is reduced by the drive lever and transmitted to the upper moving table, so the driving force of the drive motor is reduced and quiet operation is possible. It is possible to almost eliminate vibration.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are explanatory diagrams showing the moving direction of the upper moving table when the lower moving table is moved, and FIG. 2 is a drive lever is perpendicular to the guide track of the upper moving carriage, and FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a state in which the drive lever is inclined with respect to the guide track. (Explanation of symbols of main parts) 3...Lower moving platform 4A, 4B...Race 5...Upper moving platform 10...Drive lever 11...Fixed shaft 17...Feed screw

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A movable stage having a lower movable base movable in one direction and an upper movable base movable on the lower movable base along a trajectory orthogonal to the moving direction of the lower movable base, a drive lever that is rotatably supported at one end by a fixed shaft independent of the movable base and has an arm that crosses the track; lever displacement means for rotationally displacing the upper moving table about a shaft, and coupling the upper moving table and the arm portion of the drive lever to move the upper moving table in a direction along the track in response to rotation of the driving lever. A two-dimensional movement stage, characterized in that it is provided with a connecting means for moving only the two-dimensional movement stage. (2) The connecting means includes a plurality of rollers (12A) that sandwich the arm portion (10A) of the drive lever (10), and supports the rollers (12A) and is rotatable to the upper moving table (5). and a roller support plate (14A) provided therein, and the roller (12A) is configured to roll along the drive lever (10) according to the movement of the lower movement table (3). A two-dimensional moving stage according to claim 1. (3) The lever displacement means includes a feed screw (17) provided on the fixed part and substantially parallel to the tracks (4A, 4B), and a drive motor (16) that rotates the feed screw (17). ), and a feed nut (
15) The two-dimensional moving stage according to claim 1, characterized in that it includes the following.