KR102030885B1 - Imprint apparatus, and article manufacturing method - Google Patents

Abstract

A supply device configured to supply an imprint material to the imprint region on the substrate, a drive device configured to perform a drive for contacting the mold with the imprint material supplied to the imprint region, and a sealing device configured to form a flow of gas to seal the imprint region An imprint apparatus is provided, wherein the supply device includes a member having a surface facing the substrate, wherein an inlet through which gas flows into the member and an outlet through which gas flows out of the member are formed on the surface, A flow path connecting the inlet to the outlet is formed in the member.

Description

Imprint apparatus and article manufacturing method {IMPRINT APPARATUS, AND ARTICLE MANUFACTURING METHOD}

The present invention relates to an imprint apparatus and an article manufacturing method.

There is an imprint technique in which an imprint material on a substrate is molded to form a pattern on the substrate. One example of such an imprint technique is photocuring. An imprint apparatus using this method fills the mold with the imprint material by contacting the mold with the imprint material on the substrate. The imprint material is cured by irradiation of light, and then the mold is released from the cured imprint material to form a pattern on the substrate. Here, when foreign matter is deposited on the substrate or the mold, a defect may occur in the pattern or the mold may be broken.

Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2014-56854 discloses an imprint apparatus that reduces foreign matter in an imprint region by surrounding (sealing) the imprint region with a gas curtain.

However, the imprint apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2014-56854 may be disadvantageous in correctly supplying the imprint material to the imprint area when the airflow generated by the gas curtain occurs under the imprint material supply device.

The present invention provides, for example, an imprint apparatus that is advantageous for correctly supplying an imprint material to an imprint region.

The present invention includes an imprint apparatus, the imprint apparatus comprising: a supply device configured to supply an imprint material to an imprint region on a substrate, a drive device configured to perform driving for contacting the mold with the imprint material supplied to the imprint region; And a sealing device configured to form a flow of gas to seal the imprint region, wherein the supply device includes a member having a surface facing the substrate, through which the gas and the inlet through which the gas flows into the member are external to the member The outlet which flows out into the furnace is formed on the surface, and a flow path connecting the inlet to the outlet is formed in the member.

Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1A is a diagram showing a configuration of an imprint apparatus according to the first embodiment.
1B is a diagram showing a configuration of an imprint apparatus according to the first embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a view of the gas flow in the imprint apparatus according to the first embodiment from a positive direction in the Z-axis direction. FIG.
FIG. 3 shows the flow of gas when the groove structure according to the first embodiment is not installed. FIG.
4 shows details of the groove structure and the structure of the supply device.
5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a groove structure according to the second embodiment.
6A is an explanatory diagram illustrating the ease of inflow of gas into a groove structure.
Fig. 6B is a diagram for explaining the ease of inflow of gas into the groove structure.
7A is a diagram showing the shape of the groove structure observed from the + Z direction.
7B is a diagram showing the shape of the groove structure observed from the + Z direction.

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

(First embodiment)

1A and 1B are diagrams showing the configuration of an imprint apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The imprint apparatus 1 includes a light irradiation unit 20, a substrate stage 3, a mold holder 6, a supply device 7, and a sealing device 13. 1a shows a state where the substrate 2 is located below the supply device 7. 1B shows a state where the substrate 2 is positioned below the mold 4. In this embodiment, an ultraviolet curable imprint apparatus is used as the imprint apparatus employing the photocuring method. The curing method of the imprint material is not limited to curing using ultraviolet rays, and may be cured by irradiation of light of different wavelengths, or may be cured by exposure to other energy sources (eg, heat). In the following figures, a description is provided in which the Z axis is aligned parallel to the optical axis of the illumination system irradiating the resin on the substrate with ultraviolet light, and the axes X and Y orthogonal to each other are aligned perpendicular to the plane perpendicular to the Z axis. Will be.

The light irradiation unit 20 irradiates the substrate 2 (mould 4) with ultraviolet rays 21. The mold 4 is made of a material (such as quartz) through which the ultraviolet light 21 can pass, and has a pattern portion 5 on which a concave-convex pattern such as a circuit pattern is formed in three dimensions on a surface facing the substrate 2.

The substrate stage 3 holds the substrate 2 and is positioned between the mold 4 and the resin 8 (substrate 2) when the mold 4 is in contact with the resin (imprint material) 8. Perform the sort Position alignment is performed by a stage drive mechanism (not shown) capable of moving the substrate stage 3 in each axial direction. The substrate 2 is a single crystal silicon substrate, a silicon on insulator (SOI) substrate, or the like.

The stage drive mechanism (not shown) may be constituted by a plurality of drive systems such as a coarse drive system and a fine drive system in the X-axis and Y-axis directions. In addition, the stage driving mechanism includes a drive system for adjusting the position in the Z-axis direction of the substrate 2, a position adjusting function for adjusting the position in the θ direction of the substrate 2, and a tilt for correcting the inclination of the substrate 2. It may be provided with a function.

The mold holder 6 holds the mold 4 by sucking or attracting the outer circumferential region of the surface of the mold 4 irradiated with ultraviolet rays 21 using vacuum suction force or electrostatic force. At the end of the alignment between the mold 4 and the substrate 2, a driving device (not shown) installed in the mold holder 6 makes the mold 4 contact the imprint material 8 on the substrate 2, thereby imprinting the material. After hardening (8), the mold 4 is moved so that the imprint material 8 is released from the mold 4. As a result, a pattern corresponding to the pattern portion 5 is formed on the substrate 2. Like the stage drive mechanism, the mold holder 6 may also include a plurality of drive systems and the like. It should be noted that the contact and release between the mold 4 and the imprint material 8 is performed by moving at least one of the mold 4 or the substrate 2.

The supply device 7 includes a member 11 (face portion) having a surface facing the substrate 2. The supply device 7 is disposed in the vicinity of the mold holder 6 to supply the imprint material 8 to the imprint region on the substrate 2. The imprint material 8 is a photocurable resin which is hardened by the ultraviolet ray 21 and is selected by various conditions, such as a semiconductor device manufacturing step. The amount of the imprint material 8 supplied by the supply device 7 is determined by the desired thickness of the imprint material 8 formed on the substrate 2, the density of the pattern to be formed, and the like.

2 is a view of the flow of the gas 10 observed from the positive direction in the Z-axis direction. As shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B and 2, the sealing device 13 forms a flow (gas curtain) generated by the gas 10 via the first nozzle 9 to seal the imprint region. . This reduces foreign matter in the imprint area. The first nozzle 9 is installed in the mold holder 6 so as to surround the mold 4.

The member 11 has a groove structure 12 including an opening 12a having an opening width w1 and a flow path 12b. The opening 12a is an inlet through which the gas 10 flows in or an outlet through which the gas 10 flows out. The opening width w1 and the distance h1 between the substrate 2 and the member 11 have a predetermined magnitude relationship. Details will be described later. The flow passage 12b is formed in the member 11 to connect the inlet to the outlet.

3 shows the flow of the gas 10 when the member 11 does not have a groove structure 12. As shown in FIG. 3, the gas 10 forms an airflow flowing in the X-axis positive direction in a space sandwiched between the substrate 2 and the member 11. The airflow causes the imprint material 8 dropped by the supply device 7 to be supplied to the substrate 2 to flow in the X-axis positive direction, and as a result, the imprint material 8 in the target region on the substrate 2. It is difficult to feed correctly.

According to the groove structure 12 provided in the member 11 of this embodiment, the airflow flowing into the space sandwiched between the substrate 2 and the member 11 along the X-axis positive direction is less than directly below the supply device 7. It preferentially flows into the groove structure 12. Thereby, the airflow formed just below the supply device 7 is suppressed.

As shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B and 2, the inlet and outlet are connected via a flow path 12b, so that the gas 10 introduced from the inlet flows out of the outlet. Thus, the flow rate of the gas 10 required to reduce the foreign matter in the imprint area can be maintained. The opening width w1 of the opening 12a of the groove structure 12 is, for example, twice the distance (gap) h1 between the substrate 2 and the member 11, and switching or bypassing the airflow. Note that this may be a value that has an effect.

4 shows in detail the structure of the groove structure 12 and the supply device 7. The opening 12a has a curved surface 14 which is convex toward the flow path 12b adjacent thereto (toward the inside of the opening 12a). The flow path 12b is configured to be bent by the curved surface 14 facing inward. Curved surface 14 may be angled or rounded. Thereby, the incoming gas 10 is more easily introduced into the groove structure 12 and the outflowing gas 10 can be discharged more easily toward the outside of the supply device 7.

As described above, according to this embodiment, an imprint apparatus that is advantageous for supplying an imprint material accurately to an imprint region can be provided.

(2nd Example)

Next, a description will be given of an imprint apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is characterized in that the supply port 15 is formed in the flow path 12b. 5 is a diagram showing the groove structure 12 of this embodiment. The groove structure 12 of this embodiment has a gas supply device 16 and a supply port 15. Since the shape of the groove structure 12 is complicated compared with the member 11 around the groove structure, foreign matter can easily remain inside the groove structure 12 (the flow path 12b). The remaining foreign matter is extruded by the gas 10 flowing into the flow passage 12b and thus can be attached to the substrate 2. Residual foreign matter can be removed from the gas supply device 16 by flowing gas from the inlet or the outlet via the supply port 15.

Since the gas curtain is not formed when the substrate 2 is not positioned below the groove structure 12, foreign matter may enter the inside of the groove structure 12. In this case, it is possible to prevent foreign matter from entering the inside of the groove structure 12 by flowing gas from the inlet or outlet through the supply port 15 from the gas supply device 16. Further, in the present embodiment, explanation has been provided by an example in which the supply port 15 is disposed on the upper surface of the member 11, but the supply port 15 may also be disposed on the side of the member 11. It may also be configured to prevent foreign matter from entering the inside of the groove structure 12 using the airflow supplied from the sealing device 13. According to this embodiment, an imprint apparatus that is advantageous for accurately supplying an imprint material to the imprint region can also be provided.

The member 11 is disposed to face the substrate 2 within the movement range of the substrate stage 3. In addition, the first nozzle 9 is provided on the member 11 facing the substrate 2 within the movement range of the substrate stage 3, and thus the substrate stage 3 is disposed around the mold 4. Even if the first nozzle 9 is bypassed from below, the imprint region can be sealed by the first nozzle 9 of the member 11.

By setting the opening width w1 of the opening 12a of the groove structure 12 to be wider than the distance (gap) h1 between the substrate 2 and the member 11, the substrate 2 and the member 11. The airflow flowing into the intervening space is likely to preferentially flow into the groove structure 12 exhibiting low fluid resistance (large conductance).

In the above description, only the relationship between the opening width w1 and the gap h1 is focused on the ease of fluid inflow into the groove structure 12, but other dimensions in the cross section of the flow path of the gas 10 may be considered below. 6A and 6B show the ease of introduction of the gas 10 into the groove structure 12 by adding the length of the flow path cross section in the Y direction and the gas 10 flowing under the supply device 7 in FIGS. 2 and 4. It is a figure explaining. Here, the length of the flow path cross section in the Y direction is defined as L1, and the gas 10 flowing under the supply device 7 is defined as gas v1.

As shown in Fig. 6B, the cross-sectional area of the opening 12a parallel to the XY plane is w1 × L1. Further, the cross-sectional area of the illustrated airflow inhibiting area including the area under the supply device 7, parallel to the YZ plane, is h1 × L1. The gas 10 flowing in the X direction flows into the flow passage having the larger cross-sectional area among the flow passage after the opening 12a and the flow passage after the airflow suppression region. Compared to the case where the groove structure 12 is not provided, the flow rate of the gas v1 may be reduced by 50% or more when the groove structure 12 is provided. When the opening width w1 is extended to twice the gap h1, the flow rate of the gas v1 may be reduced by 10% or more as compared with the case where the groove structure 12 is not provided. As a result, the amount of deviation of the area of the imprint material 8 supplied (dropped) from the supply device 7 from the target area on the substrate 2 can also be reduced by 10% or more.

The wider the opening width w1 with respect to the gap h1, the smaller the flow path fluid resistance in the groove structure 12 can be, but when the opening width w1 is too wide with respect to the gap h1, The volume becomes too large. In this case, the gas 10 originally required to form the gas curtain flows into the groove structure 12 in a large amount, and the flow rate balance of the gas curtain is broken, and as a result, the effect of the gas curtain which prevents foreign matter from entering is reduced. do.

If the opening width w1 exceeds 10 times the gap h1, the detrimental effect of disturbance on the gas curtain formation may be more serious than the advantage of the improvement of the bypass effect of the airflow. Therefore, it is preferable that the opening width w1 is 10 times or less of the gap h1. From the viewpoint of ensuring both the bypass effect of the airflow and the effect of the gas curtain, it is more preferable to make the opening width w1 equal to or less than twice the gap h1.

The above description based on the relationship between the opening width w1 and the gap h1 or the relationship between the cross-sectional areas can be replaced by the description based on the relationship between the fluid resistance (conductance). That is, the above description can be replaced with the description based on the relationship between the conductance of the flow path in the groove structure 12 and the conductance of the flow path crossing the supply device 7 below (the supply path). For example, the conductance of the flow path in the groove structure 12 is required to be larger than the conductance of the flow path below the supply device 7 (supply path). From the point of view of ensuring both the bypass effect of the airflow and the effect of the gas curtain, it should be noted that the former conductance is preferably 10 times or less of the latter, or more preferably 2 times or less of the latter. .

The groove structure 12 is formed around the supply device 7 as shown in FIG. 2, and thus according to the position of the substrate stage 3 which is movable within the arrangement of the first nozzles 9 or its movement range. It is possible to bypass the flow under the supply device 7 of this changing gas 10. The groove structure 12 may be partially blocked instead of completely surrounding the supply device 7. For example, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the groove structure 12 may be formed in a "C" shape to partially surround the supply device 7 (feed path), or the supply device 7 ) May be formed in an "L" shape to partially surround the supply path. In other words, if it is sufficient to bypass only the airflow from a specific direction, a sufficient bypass effect can be obtained by forming the groove structure 12 in this shape so as to partially surround the supply device 7 (feed path).

(Device manufacturing method)

The method of manufacturing a device as an article (semiconductor integrated circuit device, liquid crystal display device, etc.) may include forming a pattern on a substrate (wafer, glass plate, film-like substrate, etc.) using the imprint apparatus described above. . In addition, the manufacturing method may include etching the substrate on which the pattern is formed. When another article such as a patterned medium (recording medium), an optical element, or the like is manufactured, the manufacturing method may include another step of processing a substrate on which a pattern is formed thereon instead of an etching step. The device manufacturing method of this embodiment has an advantage in at least one of the performance, quality, productivity, and production cost of the article, compared to the conventional method.

Although the invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structural and functional examples.

This application is directed to Japanese Patent Application No. 2015-176277, filed September 8, 2015 and Japanese Patent Application No. 2016-121509, filed June 20, 2016, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Insist on priority.

Claims (18)

Imprint device,
A stage configured to hold a substrate and to be movable;
A material supply device configured to supply an imprint material to an imprint region on the substrate;
A holder configured to hold a mold in contact with the imprint material supplied to the imprint region;
A member disposed between the holder and the material supply device and having a surface facing the stage;
A gas supply device configured to form a flow of gas in a direction from the holder toward the material supply device between the face and the stage,
And the flow path of the gas is formed in the member so that the gas is diverted from a supply path through which the material supply device supplies the imprint material to the imprint region. The method of claim 1,
And the conductance of the flow path is greater than the conductance of the flow path of the gas across the supply path. The method of claim 1,
And the conductance of the flow path is less than or equal to 10 times the conductance of the flow path of the gas across the supply path. The method of claim 1,
The conductance of the flow path is less than twice the conductance of the flow path of the gas across the supply path. Is a method of making an article,
Forming a pattern on the substrate using the imprint apparatus, and
Processing the substrate on which the pattern is formed to manufacture the article,
The imprint apparatus,
A stage configured to hold a substrate and to be movable;
A material supply device configured to supply an imprint material to an imprint region on the substrate;
A holder configured to hold a mold in contact with the imprint material supplied to the imprint region;
A member disposed between the holder and the material supply device and having a surface facing the stage;
A gas supply device configured to form a flow of gas in a direction from the holder toward the material supply device between the face and the stage,
And the flow path of the gas is formed in the member such that the gas is diverted from a supply path through which the material supply device supplies the imprint material to the imprint region. Imprint device,
A material supply device configured to supply an imprint material to an imprint region on the substrate;
A gas supply device configured to form a flow of gas in a direction toward the material supply device;
A member disposed between the material supply device and the gas supply device and having a surface facing the substrate,
And the flow path of the gas is formed in the member so that the gas is diverted from a supply path through which the material supply device supplies the imprint material to the imprint region. The imprint apparatus according to claim 6, wherein an inlet port through which the gas flows into the member and an outlet port through which the gas flows from the member are formed on the surface, and a flow path connecting the inlet port and the outlet port is formed in the member. . 8. An imprint apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the inlet or the outlet or their respective opening widths are no more than twice the distance between the material supply device and the substrate. The imprint apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the member has a curved surface convex toward the flow path adjacent to the inlet, and the flow path is configured to be bent by the inside of the curved surface. The imprint apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the member has a curved surface that is convex toward the flow path adjacent to the outlet, and the flow path is configured to be bent by the inside of the curved surface. The imprint apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the member is formed with a supply port connected to the flow path, and the member is configured to allow gas from the supply port to flow out of the inlet port. The imprint apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 11, wherein the member is formed with a supply port connected to the flow path, and the member is configured to allow gas from the supply port to flow out of the outlet. An imprint apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the inlet or the outlet or the cross-sectional area of each of them is wider than the cross-sectional area of the flow path between the material supply device and the substrate. The imprint apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the inlet or the outlet or their respective cross-sectional area is 10 times or less of the cross-sectional area of the flow path between the material supply device and the substrate. The imprint apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the inlet port or the outlet port or their respective cross-sectional area is no more than twice the cross-sectional area of the flow path between the material supply device and the substrate. The imprint apparatus of claim 6, wherein the imprint apparatus is configured to form a pattern of imprint material on the substrate. 17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the flow of gas in a direction toward the material supply device follows a surface of the substrate, and the imprint apparatus is adapted to space the gas from the substrate so that gas in the flow of gas is diverted from the supply path. And an inlet and an outlet for returning the gas to a position along the substrate after gas is diverted from the supply path. Is a method of making an article,
Forming a pattern on the substrate using the imprint apparatus, and
Processing the substrate on which the pattern is formed to manufacture the article,
The imprint apparatus,
A material supply device configured to supply an imprint material to an imprint region on the substrate;
A gas supply device configured to form a flow of gas in a direction toward the material supply device;
A member disposed between the material supply device and the gas supply device and having a surface facing the substrate,
And the flow path of the gas is formed in the member such that the gas is diverted from a supply path through which the material supply device supplies the imprint material to the imprint region.

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