KR100479119B1 - Light source system for semiconductor pattern alignment - Google Patents

Abstract

According to the present invention, the halogen lamp can be replaced without stopping the operation of the light source system for aligning the semiconductor pattern, and the productivity of the semiconductor device due to the replacement of the halogen lamp is prevented. Unlike conventional systems in which only one halogen lamp is mounted in the unit, the halogen lamp unit is equipped with two halogen lamps and the sensor automatically detects the on / off status of the halogen lamp and in response to the on / off detection signal. Reactive light-path switching means automatically detects when a currently operating halogen lamp reaches its end of life and automatically activates another halogen lamp to deliver light to the desired position via light-switching means, thereby delivering It is possible to prevent the downtime of the light source system equipment caused by the replacement of the lamp. In this way, it is possible to effectively prevent a decrease in the productivity of the semiconductor device due to the decrease in the operation rate of the equipment.

Description

LIGHT SOURCE SYSTEM FOR SEMICONDUCTOR PATTERN ALIGNMENT}

The present invention relates to a light source system for semiconductor pattern alignment, and more particularly, to a light source system for pattern alignment using a halogen lamp as a light source.

Generally, a semiconductor device is manufactured by repeatedly forming a film on a wafer and repeatedly performing a photolithography process using a conventional manufacturing equipment such as a stepper or a scanner to pattern the film into a pattern of a desired shape.

In this way, an alignment mark is used to maintain accurate accuracy when sequentially forming a plurality of pattern layers. For this purpose, an alignment mark is formed together on the pattern. In other words, by accurately aligning the alignment mark and exposing the alignment mark before exposing the pattern of the next process on the current pattern on the wafer, an accurate overlapping degree can be obtained. A light source is required, and a halogen lamp having a wavelength length of about 530 to 800 nm is mainly used as the light source.

3 is an essential part configuration diagram of a conventional lamp unit employing a typical light source system for semiconductor pattern alignment.

Referring to FIG. 3, a halogen lamp 306, which is freely supported by a socket 304, is inserted into the lamp unit 300, and light generated from the halogen lamp 306 may be used to provide an optical fiber 302. It is transmitted to the field image alignment (FLA) alignment unit, which is not shown.

As is well known, halogen lamps used in a light source system for semiconductor alignment have a sealing error in a case where a coherence is low and asymmetric mark shape in a wide band, or a random error in a wafer having a rough surface, etc. It has the advantage of being small, and after a certain period of time, it needs to be replaced aperiodically for reasons of light intensity deterioration, deterioration, failure, etc. Since it is difficult, it is usually used until the halogen lamp deteriorates and naturally turns off.

Thus, if the halogen lamp goes out during use of the equipment, the equipment operator (or administrator) will replace the halogen lamp after bringing the equipment down, which takes approximately 30-40 minutes. That is, since the use of equipment (light source system for semiconductor pattern alignment) must be stopped when replacing the halogen lamp, the operation rate of the equipment is inevitably lowered, which causes a problem that productivity of the semiconductor device is lowered.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and an object thereof is to provide a light source system for semiconductor pattern alignment which can replace a halogen lamp without stopping operation of the light source system for semiconductor pattern alignment.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a light source system for semiconductor pattern alignment which can prevent a decrease in productivity of a semiconductor device due to replacement of a halogen lamp.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention, in the light source system for generating a semiconductor pattern alignment light using a halogen lamp to provide to the alignment unit through the optical fiber, on / off controlled according to the shielding of the power supply to freeze First lamp means for selectively generating cited light; First sensing means for detecting an unlit due to deterioration when the first lamp is lit; Second lamp means which is controlled on / off according to shielding of a power supply to selectively generate the alignment light, and is spatially shielded from the first lamp means through switching of an optical path switching means; Second sensing means for detecting an unlit due to deterioration when the second lamp is lit; The optical path switching means for selectively switching the alignment light generated from the first lamp or the second lamp to the optical fiber side; And means for controlling the operation of the first lamp means and the second lamp means and controlling the optical path switching of the mineral material switching means based on the extinction detection signal provided from the first sensing means or the second sensing means. A light source system for semiconductor pattern alignment is provided.

The above and other objects and various advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the preferred embodiments of the present invention described below with reference to the accompanying drawings by those skilled in the art.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The core idea of the present invention is that, unlike the conventional system described above, in which only one halogen lamp is mounted in the halogen lamp unit, two halogen lamps are mounted in the halogen lamp unit, and the halogen lamp on / off state is automatically By employing a means for sensing and an optical path switching means for responding in response to an on / off sensing signal, it is easy to achieve the object of the present invention through such technical means.

1 is a block diagram of a light source system for semiconductor pattern alignment according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the control block 102, the first switching block 104, the first lamp 106, the first detection sensor 108 ), A second switching block 110, a second lamp 112, a second detection sensor 114, a driver block 116, an optical path switching mirror 118, an indicator 120 and a buzzer 122. .

Referring to FIG. 1, the control block 102 includes, for example, a microprocessor, which performs overall operation control of the light source system, that is, a sensing signal provided from the first and second sensing sensors 108 and 114. On the basis of the (off detection signal), the contact switching of the first and second switching blocks 104 and 110 (that is, the power supply switching to the first and second lamps 106 and 112) is controlled, and the driver block ( The switching operation of the optical path switching mirror 118 is controlled through 116, and operation control such as controlling the operation of the indicator 120 and the buzzer 122 is performed.

That is, the first switching block 104 is switched to the contact a1-b1 or the contact a1-c1 in response to the switching control signal provided from the control block 102, the first lamp 106 is the first switching block 104 It is operated by the power supplied through the contacts a1-c1 of), as shown in Figures 2a and 2b, for example, in the position where the optical path control mirror 118 is placed between the second lamp 112 Mounted (i.e., supported mounted by the socket 204a).

In addition, the first detection sensor 108 is for automatically detecting that the light is naturally turned off while the first lamp 106 is turned on, and the detected signal (lighting off detection signal) is transferred to the control block 102. Delivered.

Next, the second switching block 110 is switched to the contact a2-b2 or the contact a2-c2 in response to the switching control signal provided from the control block 102, and the second lamp 112 is connected to the second switching block ( Operated by power supplied through contacts a2-c2 of 110, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, for example, a position where the optical path adjustment mirror 118 is placed between the first lamp 106 (That is, support mounting by the socket 204b).

In addition, the second detection sensor 114 is for automatically detecting that the light is naturally turned off while the second lamp 112 is turned on, and the detected signal (lighting off detection signal) is transferred to the control block 102. Delivered.

On the other hand, the driver block 116 includes a motor and a motor driver, although not shown in detail in the drawing, and the optical path switching mirror 118 in the left and right directions in response to the driving control signal provided from the control block 102. Drive switch. According to this driving switching, as an example, as shown in FIG. 2A, the light generated from the first lamp 106 is kept in the optical fiber 202 when the optical path switching mirror 118 is kept inclined in the right direction. 2B, the light generated by the second lamp 112 is transmitted toward the optical fiber 202 when the optical path switching mirror 118 is inclined in the left direction as shown in FIG. 2B. do.

In addition, the indicator 120 and the buzzer 122 generate a visual and audible alarm sound in response to the driving control signal from the control block 102. The first lamp 106 or the second lamp 112 A visual and audible alarm is generated to alert the equipment operator when the end of life in use transitions to the use of the second lamp 112 or the first lamp 106. In this case, as the indicator 120, for example, an LED or the like set to blink in response to the driving control signal may be used.

Next, a process of switching the lamp operation during operation of the light source system for semiconductor pattern alignment according to the present invention having the above-described structure will be described.

For convenience of explanation and improvement of understanding, as an example, as shown in FIG. 2A, a first lamp 106 of the first lamp 106 and the second lamp 112 mounted to the lamp unit 200 is provided. It is assumed that it is in operation, and when the first lamp 106 that is in operation is turned off at the end of its life, the first detection sensor 108 detects it and transmits it to the control block 102.

In response, the control block 102 transmits a switching control signal to the second switching switch 110 and a driving control signal to the driver block 116.

Accordingly, the contact point of the second switching switch 110 is switched to a2-c2 so that the second lamp 112 is turned on and the optical path switching mirror 118 is driven as the driver block 116 is driven. As shown in FIG. 2, the light is switched to be inclined in the left direction, and as a result, the light emitted from the second lamp 112 is reflected through the optical path switching mirror 118 and transmitted to the optical fiber 202.

In addition, in the control block 102, a drive control signal is generated on the indicator 120 and the buzzer 122 to operate the indicator 120 and the buzzer 122. In other words, a visual and audible alarm is provided so that the operator can recognize that one lamp (the first lamp) has run the other lamp (the second lamp) at the end of its life. Alert the lamp to replace the new lamp with a new one.

Of course, even when the second lamp 112 is turned off at the end of its service life, the first lamp 106 is operated through the same control process as described above.

As described above, according to the present invention, unlike the above-described conventional system in which only one halogen lamp is mounted in the halogen lamp unit, two halogen lamps are mounted in the halogen lamp unit, and the on / off state of the halogen lamp is changed. Using a sensor that automatically detects and an optical path switching means that responds in response to an on / off detection signal, it automatically detects when a currently operating halogen lamp reaches its end of life and automatically operates another halogen lamp to automatically switch the optical path. By transmitting the light to the desired position, it is possible to prevent the downtime of the light source system equipment caused by the replacement of the halogen lamp at the end of its life, thereby effectively preventing the productivity of the semiconductor device caused by the decrease in the operation rate of the equipment. Can be.

1 is a block diagram of a light source system for semiconductor pattern alignment according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

2A and 2B are diagrams showing the main parts of a lamp unit employing a light source system for semiconductor pattern alignment according to the present invention;

3 is an essential part configuration diagram of a conventional lamp unit employing a typical light source system for semiconductor pattern alignment.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

102: control block 104: first switching block

106: first lamp 108: first detection sensor

110: second switching block 112: second lamp

114: second detection sensor 116: driver block

118: optical path switching mirror 120: indicator

122: buzzer

Claims (4)

A light source system that generates light for semiconductor pattern alignment using a halogen lamp and provides the light to an alignment unit through an optical fiber, First lamp means for generating on-off control selectively according to shielding of the power supply; First sensing means for detecting an unlit due to deterioration when the first lamp is lit; Second lamp means which is controlled on / off according to shielding of a power supply to selectively generate the alignment light, and is spatially shielded from the first lamp means through switching of an optical path switching means; Second sensing means for detecting an unlit due to deterioration when the second lamp is lit; The optical path switching means for selectively switching the alignment light generated from the first lamp or the second lamp to the optical fiber side; And A semiconductor comprising means for controlling the operation of the first lamp means and the second lamp means and controlling the optical path switching of the mineral material switching means based on the extinction detection signal provided from the first sensing means or the second sensing means. Light source system for pattern alignment. 2. The light source system of claim 1, wherein the light source system further comprises means for generating visual and audio alarm sounds in accordance with control from the control means when a light out detection signal is detected from the first or second sensing means. A light source system for semiconductor pattern alignment, comprising: The light source system for semiconductor pattern alignment according to claim 2, wherein the alarm sound generating means is an LED and a buzzer. 4. The light source system for semiconductor pattern alignment according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the optical path switching means is an optical path switching mirror driven by a motor at an arbitrary inclination angle in a horizontal direction.