KR100614635B1 - A exposure system for a semiconductor device fabrication installation - Google Patents

Abstract

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor exposure system for exposing a surface of a wafer with light in a semiconductor manufacturing process, wherein a semiconductor exposure system for exposing a photomask having a predetermined pattern through an aperture includes slots in which the apertures are placed. A slot having a first moving member for moving the case and a selected aperture positioned at the loading position in the case moved by the first moving member such that the selected aperture among the apertures placed in the slots is positioned at the loading position. And a second moving member for drawing out from and moving to a setting position on a path through which light passes.

Description

A EXPOSURE SYSTEM FOR A SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE FABRICATION INSTALLATION

1 is a simplified illustration of an optical system of an exposure system according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining the aperture replacement means shown in FIG. 1; FIG.

3A to 3C are views for sequentially explaining aperture replacement by the aperture replacement means shown in FIG. 2;

4 is a block diagram illustrating an aperture replacement means according to another embodiment of the present invention.

* Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings

12: beam source unit 30: case

32: slot 40: first moving member

42: lead screw 44: motor

46: guide rail 48: moving plate

50: second moving member 52: drive device

54: arm 56: handler

60: aperture

The present invention relates to a semiconductor exposure system, and more particularly to a semiconductor exposure system for exposing a surface of a wafer with light in a semiconductor manufacturing process.

As high-integration devices such as 256M DRAM and 1G DRAM are developed, the corresponding lithography technology also demands a higher level of resolution.

Accordingly, photo lithography also meets the needs by introducing a modified illumination system (hereinafter referred to as "aperture") several years ago in order to secure a margin necessary for the process. It is a technology that improves resolution and DOF (depth of focus) margin by adjusting and modifying the path of light to be exposed. Currently, various apertures have been developed in the conventional aperture to improve resolution. In addition, the same aperture in the future, but the aperture size to control the path and size of the light seems to be more and more diversified into various types.

Existing exposure systems are time consuming because the operator replaces the aperture with a manual, and in particular, such manual work has been a major cause of contamination and errors in the system. On the other hand, the circular revolver to which six apertures are attached turns automatically according to the number to select. However, the number of apertures that can be used is limited to six.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such a conventional problem, and an object thereof is to provide a large amount of apertures therein, and a new type of semiconductor which can be easily replaced by selecting a desired aperture among the large amounts of apertures. An exposure system is provided.

According to a feature of the present invention for achieving the above object, a semiconductor exposure system includes a case having slots in which apertures are placed; A first moving member for moving the case such that a selected one of the apertures placed in the slots is positioned at the loading position; And a second moving member for drawing the selected aperture positioned at a loading position in the case moved by the first transfer member from a slot to move to a setting position on a path through which light passes.

In such a system, the first moving member includes a lead screw; A motor installed at one end of the lead screw to rotate the lead screw forward / reversely; A moving plate installed in engagement with the lead screw and moved by rotation of the lead screw, and in which the case is installed; It includes a rail for guiding the linear movement of the moving plate.

In such a system, the second moving member includes a driving device; An arm moved by the drive device; A handler installed at one end of the arm and for holding the selected aperture. In such a system, the apertures placed in the slots of the case may be formed in the shape of a reverberator to fit several apertures in one reverberator.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. In the drawings, components that perform the same function are denoted by the same reference numerals.

1 briefly illustrates an optical system of an exposure system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a view for explaining the aperture replacement means shown in FIG. 1. 3A to 3C are views for sequentially explaining aperture replacement by the aperture replacement means shown in FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 1, an exposure system 60 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a beam source unit 12, a shutter 16, an input lens 18, filters 20a and 20b, and a play. The conventional configuration of fly-eye lenses 22a, 22b, relay lenses 24a, 24b, 24c, 24d, reflectors 14a, 14b, 14c, etc. It has a case 30 for storing a plurality of characteristic apertures 60 and a first moving member 40 and a second moving member 50 which are aperture replacement means. For example, the techniques related to the above conventional configurations may use a general method in the art, and thus, the detailed description will be omitted and the most characteristic configurations will be described in detail. Twelve slots 32 are formed in the case 30 at regular intervals. Various slots 50 are accommodated in the slots 32. The apertures 60 have openings 62 of various shapes to allow light to pass through only a desired portion of the thin metal plate. For example, the case 30 may be various structural changes and modifications within the scope not departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. The case 30 includes the first movable member 40 such that the selected aperture 60 ′ of the apertures 60 placed in the slots 32 is positioned at a loading position (as shown in FIG. 3A; a). ) Is for feeding in the X-axis direction. Then, the second moving member 50 withdraws the selected aperture 60 'positioned at the loading position in the case 30 moved by the first moving member 40 from the slot 32 and It is for transferring the aperture to a setting position (shown in Fig. 3a; b) on the path through which light passes. Here, the loading position (a) means a position where the handler 56 of the second moving member 50 can hold the aperture. On the other hand, the setting position (b) of the aperture corresponds between the player lens 22b and the relay lens 24c as shown in FIG. 3A.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3A, the first and second moving members, which are aperture replacement means, will be described in more detail. The first moving members 40 may include two guide rails 46 parallel to each other in the X-axis direction. And a lead screw 42. And a moving plate 48 which is engaged with the motor 44 for rotating the lead screw 42 and the rotating lead screw 42 and slides along the guide rail 46 along the X-axis. The case 30 is fixed to the movable plate 48. One end of the lead screw 42 is preferably connected to the drive shaft of the motor 44 and the other end is fixed to the frame (not shown) of the exposure system by the fixed end 42a. The motor 44 is connected to a controller 70, which is connected to the computer 80 of the exposure system. That is, when a predetermined signal is output from the computer 80 through the controller 70, the motor 44 is driven accordingly, and the movable plate 48 slides by the distance between the aperture and the loading position selected in the X-axis direction. It is moved.

The second moving member 50 holds the driving device 52, an arm 54 connected to the driving device 52, and an aperture installed at the end of the arm 54 and positioned at the loading position. Has a handler 56. The handler 56 preferably holds the edge of the aperture so that the opening 62 of the aperture through which light passes is not covered. On the other hand, the driving device 52 is connected to the computer 80 of the exposure system and controlled by the computer, similarly to the motor. For example, the handler shown in the drawing is merely an example, and for example, the handler is preferably configured to hold the aperture.

3A to 3C are views for explaining the operation of the aperture replacement means having such a configuration.

In order to use a desired aperture among the apertures stored in the case 30, first, the movable plate 30 is slid along the X axis by the distance between the selected aperture 60 'and the loading position (a). Let's do it. That is, when the desired aperture 60 'number is input to the exposure system computer 80, the computer calculates the distance between the selected aperture 60' and the loading position a to drive the motor 44. Let's do it. As a result, as shown in FIG. 3B, the lead screw 42 is rotated by the driving of the motor 44, and thus the moving plate 48 is moved.

For example, the exposure system 10 may further include a sensing member for sensing whether the selected aperture 60 'is correctly moved to the loading position a. This makes it possible to prevent mismatching during automatic aperture shift replacement.

When the selected aperture 60 'is positioned at the loading position a, the handler 56 is moved to the loading position a by the driving device 52 of the second moving member 50. Aperture 60 ′ is held in the handler 56. The handler 56 positions the selected aperture 60 'at the aperture setting position b on the path through which the light passes by the drive device 52 while holding the aperture. In the embodiment of the present invention, although the setting position (b) of the aperture is located between the player lens 22b and the relay lens 24c, this is merely an example, and the setting position of the aperture is shown. Of course, it is possible to change to any position of the path that the light passes.

4 is a block diagram illustrating an aperture replacement means according to another embodiment of the present invention.

In the case 30 ′ shown in this embodiment, circular revolvers 90 to which six apertures are attached are accommodated in each slot.

As shown in FIG. 4, the aperture replacement means includes a first moving member 40, a second moving member 50 ′, and a rotating member 100. The first moving member 40 is for moving the case 30 'such that a desired reverberator is located at a loading position among the reverberators 90 accommodated in the case 30'. The second movable member 50 ′ may be pulled out of the case 30 ′ from the case 30 ′ to be loaded into the rotating member 100 in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction. Operation is possible. The revolving member 100 has the revolving shaft 102 fitted into a hole formed in the center of the reverberation 90, and the desired aperture is positioned at a setting position among six apertures attached to the reverberation 90. It is for rotating the bulb 90. The first moving member has the same configuration as in the first embodiment.

As described above, according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the existing six-aperture reverberator may be mounted in a large amount on the case 30 ', and a desired reverberator may be installed in the first moving member as the aperture replacement means. 40) and the second moving member 50 'and the rotating member 100 can be easily replaced using. The revolver will automatically run according to the number you choose.

In the above, the configuration and operation of the exposure system according to the present invention are shown in accordance with the above description and drawings, but this is merely an example, and various changes and modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the present invention. to be.

Applying the present invention as described above can be equipped with more than two to three times more apertures than the existing, and also because it automatically replaces the aperture can significantly shorten the aperture replacement time, when replacing the system by the operator Internal contamination and errors can be prevented.

Claims (3)

In a semiconductor exposure system for exposing to a photomask having a predetermined pattern through an aperture: A case having slots into which the apertures are placed; A first moving member for moving the case such that a selected one of the apertures placed in the slots is positioned at the loading position; And a second moving member for extracting the selected aperture located at a loading position in the case moved by the first moving member from a slot to move to a setting position on a path through which light passes. A semiconductor exposure system, characterized in that it is easy to replace the desired aperture of the plurality of apertures as needed. The method of claim 1, The first moving member includes a lead screw; A motor installed at one end of the lead screw to rotate the lead screw forward / reversely; A moving plate installed in engagement with the lead screw and moved by rotation of the lead screw, and in which the case is installed; And a rail for guiding the linear movement of the moving plate. The method of claim 1, The second moving member includes a drive device; An arm moved by the drive device; A handler installed at one end of the arm and for holding the selected aperture, The aperture placed in the slot of the case is formed in the shape of a reverber, it is possible to fit a plurality of apertures in one reverberator.

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