KR20010068643A - A stepper using a multiple alignment manner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An exposure system using a multi-alignment method is provided to expose simultaneously a multitude of semiconductor wafer by using one light source. CONSTITUTION: Two or more wafer stages(102,104) shift a multitude of semiconductor wafer(106,108) toward an X-axis direction or a Y-axis direction, or a Z-axis direction. The semiconductor wafers(106,108) formed with photoresist are loaded on the wafer stages(102,104). A light generation portion(110) generates the light to pattern the photoresist formed on the semiconductor wafers(106,108). Two light irradiation portions(136,138) are installed at a position corresponding to the semiconductor wafers(106,108) loaded on the wafer stages(102,104). The light irradiation portions(136,138) transmits or reflects the light generated from the light generation portion(110).

Description

Exposure device using multiple alignment method {A STEPPER USING A MULTIPLE ALIGNMENT MANNER}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an exposure apparatus, and more specifically, to a plurality of semiconductor wafers that can be exposed at one time using one light source in an exposure process for patterning a photoresist formed on a semiconductor wafer. It relates to an exposure apparatus.

In general, an exposure process for forming a pattern of photoresist formed on a semiconductor wafer processes one semiconductor wafer at a time using one light source.

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a general exposure apparatus.

Referring to FIG. 1, the semiconductor wafer 14 on which the photoresist is formed is loaded into the wafer stage 14 on the pedestal 10, and is moved in the horizontal and vertical directions by the wafer stage 14. The reduction projection lens 16 is provided on the semiconductor wafer 14 at a predetermined distance, and the plurality of lenses 17a, 17b, 17c, and 17d are provided on the reduction projection lens 16.

On the other hand, the light irradiated to the photoresist is generated from the laser or ultra-high pressure mercury lamp 18, the light is incident to the reduction projection lens 16 through the first to fourth reflectors 22, 28, 34, 38. . At this time, the interference filter 26 for reducing interference between the shutter 24 and the light is sequentially installed between the first and second reflectors 22 and 24. Between the second and third reflectors 28 and 34, a fly's eye lens 30 for securing the uniformity of the light and a reticle blind for blinding the exposure pattern of the photoresist. (reticle blind) 32 is sequentially installed. A condenser lens 36 is provided between the third and fourth reflectors 34 and 38 to increase the straightness of the light, and a reticle between the fourth reflector 38 and the reduction projection lens 16. 40 is formed. Light incident to the reduction projection lens 16 on the photoresist on the semiconductor wafer 14 moving by the wafer stage 12 absorbs the reticle pattern reduced by the plurality of lenses 17a, 17b, 17c, and 17d. When the photoresist of the semiconductor wafer 14 is irradiated through, the exposure process for patterning the photoresist is completed.

Isamu Shibuya et al. Entitled "PROCESS FOR EXPOSING A PERIPHERAL AREA OF A WAFER AND A DEVICE FOR EXECUTING THE PROCESS" US Patent No. 5,929,976 discloses an exposure apparatus and method using one wafer stage and two light sources.

U.S. Patent No. 5,218,193 to Tsutomu Miyatake also discloses a method of measuring dual focus using light generated from two light sources.

However, the above-described exposure apparatuses can only expose one semiconductor wafer 14 through one exposure process. Therefore, the throughput of a semiconductor wafer that can be processed by one exposure apparatus is limited.

The present invention proposed to solve the above problems, an exposure apparatus using a multiple alignment method that can expose a plurality of semiconductor wafers at one time using one light source in the exposure process for patterning the photoresist formed on the semiconductor wafer. The purpose is to provide.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a general exposure apparatus; And

Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an exposure apparatus using a multiple alignment method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

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

100: pedestal

102 and 104: first and second wafer stages

106 and 108: first and second semiconductor wafers

110: lamp

114, 120, 126, 130: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th reflector

116: shutter 118: interference filter

122: fly eye lens 124: reticle blind

128: condenser lens 132: reticle

134: reduction projection lens 136, 138: first, second lens

In the exposure apparatus using the multiple alignment method according to the present invention for achieving the above object, the semiconductor wafer on which the photoresist is formed is respectively seated, the X or Y direction orthogonal to each other and parallel to the surface of the semiconductor wafer, or the semiconductor At least two moving means for moving the semiconductor wafer in a Z direction orthogonal to the surface of the wafer, light generating means for generating light for patterning the photoresist of the semiconductor wafer, and the at least two moving means At least two lights arranged to correspond to respective positions of the semiconductor wafer respectively seated on the substrate, and to transmit or reflect light provided from the light generating means and irradiate the photoresist of the semiconductor wafer to pattern the photoresist. Investigation means.

In this case, the at least two moving means are composed of first and second wafer stages on which the first and second semiconductor wafers are seated, respectively.

The at least two light irradiation means may be provided at positions corresponding to the first and second semiconductor wafers, and include first and second lenses for irradiating the light onto the first and second semiconductor wafers, respectively. .

Further, the first lens reflects a part of the light amount from the light generating means, transmits the remainder of the light amount to the first semiconductor wafer, and the second lens reflects the part of the light amount reflected from the first lens. Is reflected to the second semiconductor wafer.

According to such an apparatus, the light generated from the lamp for exposing the photoresist is installed in the reduction projection lens and is spectroscopically by two lenses having different transmittances and reflectances for the light. The light spectroscopy is irradiated to the photoresist on the semiconductor wafer respectively loaded on the two wafer stages to pattern the photoresist. Therefore, the patterning operation for the photoresist of the two semiconductor wafers is completed each time one exposure process is performed.

Hereinafter, the exposure autonomy using the multiple alignment method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 2.

2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an exposure apparatus using a multiple alignment method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, first and second wafer stages 102 and 104 are installed on a pedestal 100, and first and second photoresists are formed on the first and second wafer stages 102 and 104. The semiconductor wafers 106 and 108 are loaded.

The first and second wafer stages 102 and 104 transfer the first and second semiconductor wafers 106 and 108 to the first and second semiconductor wafers 106 under the control of an external controller (not shown). , X or Y directions parallel to the surface of the first and second semiconductor wafers 106 and 108 orthogonal to the surfaces of the first and second semiconductor wafers 106 and 108.

The reduction projection lens 134 is provided on the first and second semiconductor wafers 106 and 108 at a predetermined distance. A plurality of lenses 140a, 140b, 140c, 140d, 142a, 142b, 142c, 142d, 144a, 144b, 144c, and 144d are installed in the reduction projection lens 134. In addition, first and second lenses 136 and 138 are installed in the reduction projection lens 134 to irradiate light from the lamp 110 toward the first and second semiconductor wafers 106 and 108, respectively. do. Here, the first lens 136 transmits 50% of the amount of light generated from the lamp 110 to the first semiconductor wafer 106, and the remaining 50% of the light passes to the second lens 138. Reflect. The second lens 138 reflects the remaining 50% of the light reflected by the first lens 136 toward the second semiconductor wafer 108.

Meanwhile, light irradiated to the photoresist formed on the first and second semiconductor wafers 106 and 108 is generated from the laser or the ultra-high pressure mercury lamp 110. The light generated from the lamp 110 is incident to the reduction projection lens 134 through the first to fourth reflecting mirrors 114, 120, 126, and 130.

An interference filter 118 for reducing interference between the shutter 116 and the light is sequentially installed between the first and second reflectors 114 and 120. A fly's eye lens 122 for securing the uniformity of the light and a reticle blind 124 for blinding the exposure pattern of the photoresist are sequentially installed between the second and third reflectors 120 and 126. do. A condenser lens 128 is provided between the third and fourth reflecting mirrors 126 and 130 to increase the straightness of the light. A reticle 40 is formed between the fourth reflector 130 and the reduction projection lens 134 to form the photoresist exposure pattern by the reticle blind 124.

The operation of the above-described exposure apparatus will now be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 2.

First, the light 112 generated from the lamp 110 is reflected toward the second reflector 120 by the first reflector 114, and the reflected light is applied to the shutter 116 and the interference filter 118. To pass.

The light reflected by the first reflector 114 is reflected toward the third reflector 126 by the second reflector 120. In this case, the light reflected by the second reflector 120 passes through the fly's eye lens 122 and the reticle blind 124 before reaching the third reflector 126. Uniformity of the light reflected by the second reflector 120 is improved by the fly's eye lens 122.

Next, the light reflected by the second reflector 120 is reflected by the third reflector 126, and the light reflected by the third reflector 126 is reflected through the condenser lens 128. 4 reaches the reflector 130.

The fourth reflector 130 reflects the light reflected from the third reflector 126 toward the reticle 132. The light 130a reflected toward the reticle 132 is incident to the first lens 136 installed in the reduction projection lens 134 through the reticle 132.

The first lens 136 transmits only 50% of the light 130a reflected from the fourth reflector 130 to the first semiconductor wafer 106 and the remaining 50% to the second lens 138. Reflect. Light passing through the first lens 136 passes through a reticle pattern reduced by the plurality of lenses 140a, 140b, 140c, and 140d and is irradiated to the photoresist formed on the first semiconductor wafer 106. .

Meanwhile, the light reflected from the first lens 136 is 100% reflected by the second lens 138 toward the second semiconductor wafer 108. The light reflected by the second lens 138 passes through the reticle pattern reduced by the plurality of lenses 144a, 144b, 144c, and 144d installed in the reduction projection lens 134 to pass the second semiconductor wafer. The photoresist formed on 108 is irradiated.

In this case, the first and second semiconductor wafers 106 and 108 are moved by the first and second wafer stages 102 and 104 to correspond to the reticle pattern.

Here, the transmission and the reflectance of the light amount by the first and second lenses 136 and 138 are variably set according to the pattern of the photoresist to be exposed, the exposure time, and the like. That is, when the same photoresist pattern is formed on the first and second semiconductor wafers 106 and 108 or when the same exposure time is applied, the amount of light transmitted and reflected by the first lens 136 is 50, respectively. %to be. However, depending on the exposure time or pattern of the photoresist formed on the first and second semiconductor wafers 106 and 108, the transmission and reflectance of the first lens 136 with respect to the light are 30%: 70%, respectively. Or 70%: 30%.

According to the exposure apparatus using the multiple alignment method as described above, the light generated from the lamp for exposing the photoresist is installed in the reduction projection lens and is spectrated by two lenses having different transmittances and reflectances for the light. .

The light spectroscopy is irradiated to the photoresist on the semiconductor wafer respectively loaded on the two wafer stages to pattern the photoresist.

Therefore, the patterning operation for the photoresist of the two semiconductor wafers is completed each time one exposure process is performed. Therefore, the exposure process of the semiconductor wafer of a larger amount than the conventional exposure apparatus can be performed during the same time.

Although the above has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, those skilled in the art will be variously modified and changed within the scope of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention described in the claims below. I can understand that you can.

Claims (3)

The semiconductor wafer on which the photoresist is formed is respectively seated, and at least two movements for moving the semiconductor wafer in an X or Y direction parallel to and perpendicular to the surface of the semiconductor wafer or in a Z direction orthogonal to the surface of the semiconductor wafer. Way; Light generating means for generating light for patterning the photoresist of the semiconductor wafer; And The photoresist is patterned by irradiating the photoresist of the semiconductor wafer by transmitting or reflecting the light provided from the light generating means so as to correspond to each position of the semiconductor wafer respectively seated on the at least two moving means. Exposure apparatus using a multiple alignment method comprising at least two light irradiation means for. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least two moving means are first and second wafer stages on which first and second semiconductor wafers are seated, and the at least two light irradiation means are the first and second wafer stages. The first and second lenses installed at positions corresponding to the first and second semiconductor wafers seated thereon, for irradiating the first and second semiconductor wafers with the light provided from the light generating means, respectively. Exposure apparatus using the multiple alignment system characterized by the above-mentioned. The photoresist of claim 2, wherein the first lens reflects a part of the amount of light provided from the light generating means, and transmits the rest of the amount of light to the first semiconductor wafer to pattern the photoresist formed on the first semiconductor wafer. And the second lens reflects light of the partial light amount reflected from the first lens to the second semiconductor wafer to pattern the photoresist formed on the second semiconductor wafer. Used exposure apparatus.