KR20080005844A - Exposure apparatus and exposure method - Google Patents

Abstract

An exposure apparatus and an exposure method are provided to ensure safety and to improve the throughput by carrying out step operations for short time. An exposure apparatus includes: a work stage(2) which holds a substrate(W); a mask stage(1) which is disposed to face the substrate and holds a mask(M); an irradiation unit which irradiates the substrate with a light for pattern exposure through the mask; a transfer unit(2B) which moves one of the work stage and the mask stage vertically and horizontally relative to the other so that a mask pattern of the mask faces many predetermined positions on the substrate; and a control device which controls the transfer unit. The control device controls the transfer unit so that the transfer unit synchronizes the horizontally relative movement and the vertically relative movement.

Description

Exposure apparatus and exposure method {EXPOSURE APPARATUS AND EXPOSURE METHOD}

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The perspective view which partially exploded the split sequential proximity exposure apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention.

2 is an enlarged perspective view of a mask stage portion;

Fig. 3 (a) is a sectional view taken along the line III-III of Fig. 2, and Fig. 3 (b) is a top view of the mask position adjusting mechanism of Fig. 3 (a).

4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an irradiation optical system of a work-side alignment mark;

5 is a configuration diagram illustrating a focus adjustment mechanism of an alignment image.

Fig. 6 is a side view showing the basic structure of the alignment camera and the focus adjustment mechanism of the alignment camera.

FIG. 7 is a front view of the divided sequential proximity exposure apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a split sequential proximity exposure apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

9 is a plan view of a substrate W on which 12 surfaces of a 15-inch display material DP are obtained.

10 is a diagram illustrating a mask disposed opposite to the substrate W of FIG. 10.

11 (a) to 11 (d) are explanatory diagrams for explaining step exposure.

Fig. 12 is a flowchart showing step operations in the step exposure of the present invention.

Fig. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing a trajectory at the time of step exposure of the present invention.

Fig. 14 is a plan view schematically showing the overall configuration of a divided sequential proximity exposure apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a front view of the main part of the split sequential exposure apparatus of FIG. 14; FIG.

16 is a side view of the substrate stage.

17 is a side view of the mask loader in FIG. 14.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of a divided sequential proximity exposure apparatus of a second embodiment; FIG.

Fig. 19 is a flowchart showing step operations at the time of step exposure in the second embodiment.

20 is a graph showing the rotational speed of the motors of the X and Y axis feed drive mechanisms.

Fig. 21 is an explanatory diagram showing a trajectory during step exposure of the second embodiment.

FIG. 22 is a plan view schematically illustrating an example in which the configuration of the divided sequential proximity exposure apparatus of the second embodiment is applied to a single stage configuration; FIG.

FIG. 23 is a front view of an essential part of the split sequential exposure apparatus of FIG. 22; FIG.

24 is a flowchart for explaining step operations in a conventional exposure apparatus.

25 is a cross-sectional view of a mask stage portion of a split sequential exposure apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 26 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a chuck device illustrating a modification of the split sequential exposure device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 27 is a sectional view of a mask stage portion of the split sequential exposure apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 28 is a sectional view of the vicinity of a mask stage portion of a split sequential exposure apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

29 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a relative movement of a substrate and a mask of a conventional divided sequential exposure apparatus.

FIG. 30A is a diagram showing a gap between the substrate and the mask of FIG. 29, and FIG. 30B is a diagram obtained by numerical calculation of the pressure change of the mask when the substrate and the mask of FIG. 29 are moved relative to each other.

Explanation of the sign

1: mask stage 2: work stage

2A: Z axis feeder 2B: Work stage feed mechanism

3: illumination optical system 4: device base

8: work chuck 10: mask stage base

10a: opening 11: mask stage strut

12: mask holding frame 12a: flange

13 mask position adjustment mechanism 13x: X-axis direction drive device

13y: Y-axis drive device 16: Chuck

17: masking aperture 18: masking aperture driving device

19: moving mechanism 20: spacer

21: Up and down coarse mechanism 21a: motor

21b: Ball screw 22: Z axis roughness stage

23: up and down fine movement mechanism 24: fine movement stage

23c, 24a: sheep wedge 31: high pressure mercury lamp

32: concave mirror 33: optical integrator

34: exposure control shutter 35, 36: plane mirror

37: spherical mirror 41: linear guide

41a: Slider 42: X Axis Feeder

43: X axis feed drive mechanism 51: linear guide

51a: Slider 52: Y Axis Feeder

53: Y axis feed mechanism 60: Laser measuring device

62, 63: Y-axis interferometer 64: X-axis interferometer

66: mirror for Y axis 68: mirror for X axis

80: control device 100, 101: alignment mark

131: electric actuator 131r: rod

32: pin support mechanism 133, 192: linear guide

133r, 192r: guide rail 133s: slider

154: motor 152t: table

191: holding frame 210: mask stage

211: first work stage 212: second work stage

213: irradiation optical system 214: prealignment unit

215: first work loader 216: second work loader

217: Mask Loader 218: Mask Aligner

221: substrate stand 222: post

223: stage base 224: Z axis coarse mechanism

225: mask holding portion 225a: opening

225b: suction hole

226: alignment camera for the mask 227: gap sensor

233: Y axis table 234: Y axis feed mechanism

235 X axis table 236 X axis feed mechanism

237: Z-tilt adjustment mechanism 245: linear guide

247: guide rail 248: slider

249: motor 250, 253: ball screw shaft

251, 254: ball screw nut 261, 262: bar mirror

263, 264: laser interferometer 270B: substrate cassette

281: column 282, 283: conveying unit

284: first arm 285: second arm

286: rod-shaped member 287: mask mount

291: mask cassette

431 motor

432: ball screw shaft 433: ball screw nut

531: motor 532: ball screw shaft

Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-127702

TECHNICAL FIELD This invention relates to the exposure apparatus and exposure method which are suitable for transferring the mask pattern of a mask on the board | substrate of large flat panel displays, such as a liquid crystal display and a plasma display, by proximity sequential exposure system.

DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART Conventionally, the exposure apparatus which manufactures the color filter of flat panel display apparatuses, such as a liquid crystal display device and a plasma display apparatus, is devised variously (for example, refer patent document 1). The exposure apparatus of patent document 1 uses the mask smaller than the board | substrate as an to-be-exposed material, hold | maintains the mask in a mask stage, hold | maintains a board | substrate in a work stage, and mutually arranges and opposes them. In this state, the substrate and the mask are moved relative to each other (generally, the substrate is moved) to irradiate the substrate with light for pattern exposure from the mask side for each step, thereby exposing and transferring the mask pattern drawn on the mask to a plurality of points on the substrate. Etc. are manufactured.

In the above exposure apparatus, for example, when the substrate is moved in step with respect to the mask, usually, the substrate is lowered once, or the mask is raised once, and the step is moved, and then the substrate is raised or masked. Is lowered and gap adjustment at the time of exposure is performed. For example, as shown in FIG. 24, when the exposure transfer in a predetermined position is completed (step S101), for example, the work stage of a transfer mechanism will operate, and a board | substrate will descend | fall in a vertical direction (Z-axis evacuation). (Step S102). Next, the transfer mechanism is moved in the horizontal direction (XY direction) so as to position the substrate at the next exposure position (step S103), and then the work stage is until the point where the gap between the mask becomes a predetermined gap amount. Is raised in the vertical direction (Z-axis rise) (step S104). And gap adjustment and alignment adjustment are performed (step S105), and the next exposure transfer is performed.

By the way, the operation at the time of exposure transfer does not have to worry that the substrate is in contact with the mask and damage the mask, and it is a high safety device. However, the operation for lowering and raising the substrate in the vertical direction takes time, which is negligible for throughput. I could not influence.

This invention is made | formed in view of the said situation, The objective is to provide the exposure apparatus and exposure method which can improve a throughput by performing step operation for a short time, ensuring safety.

Means to solve the problem

The said object of this invention is achieved by the following structures.

(1) A work stage for holding a substrate as a to-be-exposed material, a mask stage disposed opposite to the substrate for holding a mask, irradiation means for irradiating light for pattern exposure to the substrate through a mask, and a mask pattern for the mask An exposure apparatus comprising a transfer mechanism for relatively moving one of a work stage and a mask stage in a horizontal direction and a vertical direction with respect to the other so as to face a plurality of predetermined positions on the image, and a control device that controls the transfer mechanism,

The control apparatus controls the transfer mechanism so that the transfer mechanism synchronizes the relative movement in the horizontal direction and the relative movement in the vertical direction.

(2) The transfer mechanism includes a motor for moving the work stage in the horizontal direction,

The exposure apparatus according to (1), wherein the control device controls the transfer mechanism to start relative movement in the vertical direction in which the mask and the substrate are close to each other based on the state signal of the motor during the relative movement in the horizontal direction.

(3) The control apparatus controls the transfer mechanism to start the relative movement in the vertical direction in which the mask and the substrate are close to each other when the rotational speed of the motor is decelerated below a predetermined speed during the relative movement in the horizontal direction. The exposure apparatus described in (2).

(4) The control apparatus synchronizes the relative movement in the horizontal direction and the relative movement in the vertical direction in which the mask and the substrate are close to each other up to a first gap larger than the exposure gap between the mask and the substrate at the time of exposure, The exposure apparatus according to any one of (1) to (3), wherein the transfer mechanism is controlled so that only the relative movement in the vertical direction in which the mask and the substrate are closer to each other is performed from the first gap to the exposure gap.

(5) The control apparatus only performs relative movement in the vertical direction in which the mask and the substrate are separated from each other from the exposure gap between the mask and the substrate at the time of exposure to a second gap larger than the exposure gap, After exceeding, the exposure apparatus as described in any one of (1)-(3) characterized by controlling a conveyance mechanism so that the relative movement of a horizontal direction and the vertical movement of a mask and a board | substrate further mutually synchronize. .

(6) An exposure method using the exposure apparatus described in (1) to (3), wherein the transfer mechanism performs synchronous relative movement in the horizontal direction and relative movement in the vertical direction.

Implement the invention  Best form for

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, each embodiment which concerns on the exposure apparatus of this invention is described in detail, referring an accompanying drawing.

(1st embodiment)

This embodiment demonstrates the display manufacturing apparatus provided with the divided sequential proximity exposure apparatus PE which is the exposure apparatus of this invention, and the control apparatus 80 (refer FIG. 8). As shown in FIG. 1, the divided sequential proximity exposure apparatus PE includes a mask stage 1 holding a mask M, a work stage 2 holding a glass substrate (exposed material) W, and a pattern. It is provided with the illumination optical system 3 as irradiation means for exposure, and the apparatus base 4 which supports the mask stage 1 and the work stage 2.

In addition, the glass substrate W (hereinafter, simply referred to as "substrate W") is disposed on the surface of the mask M so as to face the mask M to expose and transfer the mask pattern P drawn on the mask M. The photosensitive agent is apply | coated to (M) opposing surface), and it becomes translucent.

For convenience of explanation, from the illumination optical system 3, the illumination optical system 3 is irradiated from the high-pressure mercury lamp 31 and the high-pressure mercury lamp 31, which are light sources for ultraviolet irradiation, for example. A concave mirror 32 that condenses the collected light, two kinds of optical integrators 33 arranged so as to be freely switched near the focal point of the concave mirror 32, planar mirrors 35, 36 and spherical mirror 37 And an exposure control shutter 34 disposed between the planar mirror 36 and the optical integrator 33 to open and control the irradiation light path.

When the exposure control shutter 34 is controlled to open at the time of exposure, the light irradiated from the high pressure mercury lamp 31 passes through the optical path L shown in FIG. Is irradiated as parallel light for pattern exposure perpendicular to the surface of the substrate W held by the work stage 2. Thereby, the mask pattern P of the mask M is exposed and transferred on the board | substrate W. As shown in FIG.

Next, the mask stage 1 and the work stage 2 will be described in order. Initially, the mask stage 1 is provided with the mask stage base 10, The mask stage base 10 is supported by the mask stage support | pillar 11 which protruded from the apparatus base 4, and the workpiece | work It is arrange | positioned above the stage 2.

As shown in FIG. 2, the mask stage base 10 has a substantially rectangular shape and has an opening 10a in the center, and the mask holding frame 12 is movable in the X and Y directions in the opening 10a. Is fitted.

As shown in Fig. 3 (a), the mask holding frame 12 mounts the flange 12a formed on the upper peripheral portion of the mask stage on the upper surface near the opening 10a of the mask stage base 10, and the mask stage base ( It is inserted through the predetermined clearance gap between the inner periphery of the opening 10a of 10). As a result, the mask holder 12 is movable in the X and Y directions by this gap.

The chuck part 16 is fixed to the lower surface of this mask holding frame 12 via the spacer 20, and it can move to the mask stage base 10 with the mask holding frame 12 in the X and Y directions. . The chuck | zipper part 16 is provided with the some suction nozzle 16a for attracting the peripheral part which is the edge part of the mask M on which the mask pattern P is drawn. Thereby, the mask M is hold | maintained so that it may be detachably attached to the chuck | zipper part 16 by a vacuum suction device (not shown) via the suction nozzle 16a.

Moreover, based on the detection result by the alignment camera 15 mentioned later in FIG. 2, or the measurement result by the laser measuring apparatus 60 mentioned later on the upper surface of the mask stage base 10, The mask position adjustment mechanism 13 which moves the mask holding frame 12 in the XY plane, and adjusts the position and attitude | position of the mask M hold | maintained in this mask holding frame 12 is provided.

The mask position adjusting mechanism 13 includes an X axis direction driving device 13x attached to one side along the Y axis direction of the mask holding frame 12, and one side along the X axis direction of the mask holding frame 12. Two Y-axis direction drive devices 13y mounted to the wall are provided.

As shown to FIG.3 (a) and FIG.3 (b), the X-axis direction drive apparatus 13x is a drive actuator (for example, electric actuator; 131r) which has the rod 131r extended in the X-axis direction. ) And a linear guide (direct bearing guide) 133 attached to the edge portion of the mask holding frame 12 along the Y axis direction. The guide rail 133r of the linear guide 133 extends in the Y-axis direction and is fixed to the mask holding frame 12. Moreover, the slider 133s attached to the guide rail 133r so that movement is possible is connected to the front-end | tip of the rod 131r fixedly attached to the mask stage base 10 via the pin support mechanism 132.

On the other hand, the Y-axis direction drive device 13y also has the same configuration as the X-axis direction drive device 13x, and has a driving actuator (for example, an electric actuator; 131) having a rod 131r that is stretched and contracted in the Y-axis direction. And a linear guide (direct bearing guide) 133 attached to the edge portion of the mask holder 12 along the X-axis direction. The guide rail 133r of the linear guide 133 extends in the X-axis direction and is fixed to the mask holding frame 12. In addition, the slider 133s mounted to the guide rail 133r so as to be movable is connected to the tip of the rod 131r via the pin support mechanism 132. And adjustment of the X-axis direction of the mask holding | maintenance frame 12 by the X-axis direction drive device 13x is carried out by the Y-axis direction and (theta) of the mask holding frame 12 by two Y-axis-direction drive devices 13y. The axial direction (swing around the Z axis) is adjusted.

Moreover, the gap sensor as a means for measuring the gap between the mask M and the opposing surface of the board | substrate W inside two sides which mutually oppose each other in the X-axis direction of the mask holding frame 12 as shown in FIG. (14) and the alignment camera 15 as a means for detecting the amount of plane shift between the mask M and the alignment reference are arranged. The gap sensor 14 and the alignment camera 15 are both movable in the X axis direction through the moving mechanism 19.

The moving mechanism 19 has a holding mount 191 holding the gap sensor 14 and the alignment camera 15 on the upper surface side of the two sides facing each other in the X axis direction of the mask holding frame 12, respectively. It extends in the Y-axis direction, and the edge part of the side of the holding stand 191 separated from the Y-axis-direction drive device 13y is supported by the linear guide 192. As shown in FIG. The linear guide 192 is provided with the guide rail 192r provided on the mask stage base 10 and extending along the X-axis direction, and the slider (not shown) which moves on the guide rail 192r, The end of the holding mount 191 is fixed to the slider.

The gap sensor 14 and the alignment camera 15 are moved in the X-axis direction via the holding mount 191 by driving the slider by the driving actuator 193 composed of a motor and a ball screw.

As shown in FIG. 4, the alignment camera 15 optically detects the mask side alignment mark 101 of the surface of the mask M hold | maintained on the lower surface of the mask stage 1 from the mask back surface side, The focus adjustment mechanism 151 moves near the mask M so as to perform the focus adjustment.

The focus adjustment mechanism 151 includes a linear guide 152, a ball screw 153, and a motor 154. The linear guide 152 is provided with the guide rail 152r and the slider 152s, among which the guide rail 152r is an up-down direction to the holding mount 191 of the movement mechanism 19 of the mask stage 1. The alignment camera 15 is fixed to the slider 152s of the linear guide 152 via the table 152t. The nut screwed to the screw shaft of the ball screw 153 is connected to the table 152t, and the screw shaft is rotationally driven by the motor 154.

In addition, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, below the work chuck 8 provided in the work stage 2, the work side alignment mark 100 has a light source 781 and a condenser lens 782. Is projected integrally with the Z-axis microscopic moving stage 24 in accordance with the optical axis of the alignment camera 15. Moreover, the through-hole corresponding to the optical path of the projection optical system 78 is formed in the work stage 2 and the Y-axis feed stand 52.

In addition, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, the position of the surface (mask mark surface Mm) which has the mask side alignment mark 101 of the mask M is detected, and the focus shift of the alignment camera 15 is carried out. The best focus adjustment mechanism 150 of the alignment image which prevents an error is formed. This best focus adjustment mechanism 150 uses the gap sensor 14 as a focus shift detection means in addition to the alignment camera 15 and the focus adjustment mechanism 151. That is, a difference is obtained by comparing the measured value of the mask lower surface position measured by this gap sensor 14 with the focus position preset by the control apparatus 80, and the amount of change in the relative focus position from the setting focus position from the difference. Is calculated and the alignment camera 15 is moved by controlling the motor 154 of the focus adjusting mechanism 151 according to the calculated amount of change, thereby adjusting the focus of the alignment camera 15.

By using this best focus adjustment mechanism 150, high-precision focus adjustment of the alignment image is attained irrespective of the plate | board thickness change of the mask M and the deviation of plate | board thickness. That is, in the case of using a plurality of types of masks M interchangeably, an appropriate focus can always be obtained even when the thickness of each mask is different. In addition, the focus adjustment mechanism 151, the projection optical system 78, the best focus adjustment mechanism 150, etc. not only correspond to the high precision of the alignment of the first layer division pattern, but also the high precision of the alignment after the second layer. In addition, if the thickness of the mask M is known, the best focus adjustment mechanism 150 may be omitted, and the focus adjustment mechanism may be moved according to the thickness.

Moreover, the masking aperture (shielding plate) 17 which shields both ends of the mask M as needed is located in the both ends of the Y-axis direction of the opening 10a of the mask stage base 10 above the mask M. The masking aperture 17 is movable in the Y-axis direction by the masking aperture driving device 18 which consists of a motor, a ball screw, and a linear guide, and the shielding area of the both ends of the mask M is changed. It can be adjusted.

Next, the work stage 2 is provided on the apparatus base 4, and moves in a vertical direction, Z-axis feed which adjusts the gap between the mask M and the opposing surface of the substrate W to a predetermined amount. A base 2A and a work stage feed mechanism 2B disposed on the Z axis feed table 2A and horizontally moving the work stage 2 in the XY axis direction are provided. In other words, the Z-axis feeder 2A and the work stage feed mechanism 2B constitute a feed mechanism for relatively moving one of the work stage 2 and the mask stage 1 in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction with respect to the other. .

As shown in FIG. 7, the Z-axis feeder 2A includes a Z-axis coarse stage 22 movably supported in the Z-axis direction by a vertical coarse mechanism 21 standing up on the apparatus base 4. And the Z axis fine movement stage 24 supported on the Z axis coarse motion stage 22 via the vertical movement mechanism 23 (refer to FIG. 1). The up-and-down coarse mechanism 21 uses the electric actuator which consists of a motor 21a, the ball screw 21b, etc., and is Z-axis coarse stage 22 by carrying out drive control by the control apparatus 80, and performing an up-down operation. ) Is moved up to a preset position without measuring the gap between the mask M and the substrate W. FIG.

On the other hand, the up-and-down fine movement mechanism 23 shown in FIG. 1 is equipped with the movable wedge mechanism which combines a motor, a ball screw, and a wedge. In this embodiment, the ball screw nut 23c is wedge-shaped while the screw shaft 23b of the ball screw is rotationally driven by the motor 23a provided on the upper surface of the Z axis coarse motion stage 22, for example. (Hereinafter referred to as "wedge nut 23c"), and the inclined surface of the wedge nut 23c is engaged with the inclined surface of the wedge 24a protruding from the lower surface of the Z axis fine movement stage 24, and Thus, the movable wedge mechanism is constituted.

When the screw shaft 23b of the ball screw is driven to rotate, the wedge-shaped nut 23c moves horizontally in the Y-axis direction, and this horizontal fine movement is performed with high precision by the inclined surface action of both wedges 23c and 24a. Converted to vertical motion.

The up-and-down fine motion mechanism 23 which consists of this movable wedge mechanism is two in the one end side (front side of FIG. 1) of the Z-axis fine movement stage 24 in the Y-axis direction, and one in the other end side (not shown), and total 3 A stand is provided and each drive control is performed independently. Thereby, the up-and-down fine movement mechanism 23 also has a tilting function, and based on the measurement result of the clearance of the mask M and the board | substrate W by the three gap sensors 14, the mask M and The height of the Z axis fine movement stage 24 is adjusted so that the board | substrate W may be parallel and oppose through a predetermined clearance gap. In addition, the up-down coarse motion mechanism 21 and this up-down fine motion mechanism 23 may be provided in the part of the Y-axis feed stand 52.

As shown in FIG. 7, the work stage feed mechanism 2B is arranged on the upper surface of the Z axis fine moving stage 24 so as to be spaced apart from each other in the Y axis direction, and each of the two sets of rolling guides provided along the X axis direction. X-axis feed drive mechanism for moving the longitudinal linear guide 41, the X-axis feed table 42 mounted on the slider 41a of the linear guide 41, and the X-axis feed table 42 in the X-axis direction. The X-axis feed table 42 is provided with a ball screw nut 433 provided with a 43 and screwed to a ball screw shaft 432 that is rotationally driven by the motor 431 of the X-axis feed drive mechanism 43. Is connected.

Moreover, on the upper surface of this X-axis feed stand 42, the linear guide 51 which is one kind of two sets of rolling guides arrange | positioned mutually in the X-axis direction and extended along the Y-axis direction, respectively, and the linear guide 51 Y-axis feed table 52 attached to the slider 51a of the < RTI ID = 0.0 >) < / RTI > and a Y-axis feed drive mechanism 53 for moving the Y-axis feed table 52 in the Y-axis direction. The Y-axis feeder 52 is connected to a ball screw nut (not shown) which is screwed to the ball screw shaft 532 which is rotationally driven by the motor 531 of the 53. The work stage 2 is attached to the upper surface of the Y-axis feed table 52.

Here, when the Z-axis feeder 2A and the work stage feed mechanism 2B of the present embodiment expose the pattern of each layer at a plurality of predetermined positions on the substrate, the retracting operation and the raising operation of the work stage 2 are performed. It is comprised so that control is possible in synchronization with this step movement.

Moreover, the laser measuring device 60 as a movement distance measuring part which detects the X-axis and Y-axis position of the work stage 2 is provided in the apparatus base 4. In the work stage 2 configured as described above, due to errors such as the shape of the ball screw and the linear guide itself, mounting errors thereof, and the like, when the work stage 2 moves, positioning errors, yawing, Generation of straightness or the like is inevitable. Therefore, this laser measuring device 60 aims at measuring these errors. As shown in FIG. 1, the laser length measuring device 60 is provided to face the Y axis direction end portion of the work stage 2, and has a pair of Y axis interferometers 62 and 63 provided with a laser, and a workpiece. For the Y axis, which is provided at the X axis direction end of the stage 2 and disposed at a position opposite to the one X axis interferometer 64 with a laser and the Y axis interferometers 62 and 63 of the work stage 2. It consists of the mirror 66 and the X-axis mirror 68 arrange | positioned in the position which opposes the X-axis interferometer 64 of the work stage 2. As shown in FIG.

Thus, by providing two Y-axis interferometers 62 and 63 with respect to the Y-axis direction, not only the information of the Y-axis direction position of the work stage 2, but also the position data of the Y-axis interferometers 62 and 63 are shown. Yaw error can also be known by the difference of. About the Y-axis direction position, it can calculate by adding correction to an average value of both, adding the X-axis direction position and yaw error of the work stage 2 suitably.

And the detection signal output from each interferometer 62-64 is shown in FIG. 8 at the time of sending the board | substrate W to the next area, when connecting and exposing the next division pattern after exposure of the division pattern. Similarly, it inputs to the control apparatus 80. FIG. Here, a detection signal is a signal which detected the XY direction position, ie, the position of the Y-axis feed stand 52. The control device 80 controls the X-axis feed drive mechanism 43 and the Y-axis feed drive mechanism 53 to adjust the amount of movement in the XY direction for the divided exposure based on this detection signal, while X Based on the detection result by the axis interferometer 64 and the detection result by the Y axis interferometers 62 and 63, the positioning correction amount for the connection exposure is calculated, and the calculation result is converted into the mask position adjustment mechanism 13 and required. In response to the up-and-down fine movement mechanism 23). Thereby, the mask position adjustment mechanism 13 etc. are driven according to this correction amount, and the influence of positioning error, straightness error, yaw, etc. by the X-axis feed drive mechanism 43 or the Y-axis feed drive mechanism 53 is influenced. Resolved.

Moreover, even when there is no error in the conveyance of the work stage 2, if the direction of the mask pattern P of the mask M is shift | deviated from the conveyance direction of the work stage 2 in an initial state, it will be divided | segmented by exposure. Each pattern formed on the board | substrate W is formed in the inclined state, or the joint of the patterns divided on the board | substrate W by the connection exposure shift | deviates, and it does not match.

In addition, as mentioned above, although the mask M is made to adsorb | suck and hold | maintain the chuck | zipper part 16 via a vacuum suction apparatus, when carrying out this suction holding, the direction of the mask pattern P of the mask M, and the work stage conveyance mechanism It is difficult to match the moving direction of the work stage 2 by (2B) with good precision.

For example, as shown in Fig. 11A, when exposed in the inclined state at the first position, even when there is no conveyance error, the exposure pattern at the next position is inclined equally as indicated by the dashed-dotted line. Formed in the state.

Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, a cross, for example, is provided at at least two points of the upper surface of the work stage 2 (actually, the work chuck 8 provided on the work stage 2). The work side alignment marks 100 having a shape (reticle) are formed to be spaced apart from each other in the X axis direction. On the other hand, the mask side alignment mark 101 corresponding to the workpiece | work side alignment mark 100 is formed in the mask M side. The line which connects the centers of the alignment marks 100 of two points which are the reference | standard sides is previously adjusted so that it may correspond to the X-axis direction and orthogonal to the Y-axis direction in an initial state (reference position).

And in the initial state (reference position), by the alignment camera 15, the position shift amount with the alignment marks 100 and 101 is detected, and the X-axis direction drive apparatus 13x and Y-axis direction drive apparatus 13y are detected. By adjusting the position of the mask holding frame 12), the centers of the work side alignment mark 100 and the mask side alignment mark 101 are substantially matched in the XY plane to match.

In addition, the alignment of the work side alignment mark 100 and the mask side alignment mark 101 is comprised by the alignment camera 15 which is an alignment mark detection means, and it is comprised so that it can be performed with high precision easily.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 8, the control device 80 of the present embodiment controls the opening of the exposure control shutter 34, the work stage 2 (2A Z-axis feeder 2A, and the work stage feed mechanism 2B). ), Calculation of the correction amount based on the detection values of the laser interferometers 62 to 64, calculation of the correction amount at the time of alignment adjustment, in addition to the drive control of the mask position adjustment mechanism 13, of the automatic work supply device (not shown) The driving and predetermined arithmetic processing of most actuators mounted on the divided sequential exposure apparatus, such as drive control, are executed based on the order control using a microcomputer, a sequencer, or the like.

In particular, when the control device 80 exposes the pattern of each layer, which is a feature of the present invention, at a plurality of predetermined positions on the substrate, the Z-axis of the work stage 2 performs the step operation of moving to the next predetermined position to be exposed. It is comprised so that control of the Z-axis feed stand 2A and the work stage feed mechanism 2B may be carried out synchronously so that it may carry out simultaneously with the retraction operation of a direction, and the raising operation with respect to the next exposure gap. Therefore, the control apparatus 80 is equipped with the microcomputer, the sequencer, etc. inside, and by the control method memorize | stored in memory, such as RAM or ROM, the Z-axis feeder 2A and the work stage feed mechanism 2B. Drive in synchronization.

Next, the exposure process using the divided sequential proximity exposure apparatus PE of this embodiment is demonstrated in detail. In this embodiment, as the board | substrate W, the thing which does 12 surface acquisitions (X direction 4 * Y direction 3) of the display material DP is used for the large sized substrate W exceeding 1m per side shown in FIG.

In addition, in the division sequential exposure process of this embodiment, the process of manufacturing the RGB color filter for large liquid crystal displays, for example includes the process of exposing a predetermined pattern on the board | substrate W used as a material. The pattern is formed by first forming a black matrix that divides the pixels, and then, each of the three primary colors of R (red), G (green), and B (blue) is divided into black matrix patterns for each color. It forms by repeating the same process as formation. For this reason, it is assumed that the first layer, that is, the exposure treatment of the pattern of the black matrix is described in detail.

In addition, at the time of step exposure of the pattern of a black matrix, the number of times of X direction steps Nx = 2, the number of Y direction steps in the glass substrate W which acquires 12 said display materials DP using the mask M of FIG. It is set as Ny = 3, and the pattern of the 1st black matrix on the glass substrate W of the color filter for large liquid crystal displays is formed by divisional successive exposure. In this example, the first exposure is performed at the initial positioning position (the origin position), and then the step transfer and the exposure are repeated.

(1) setting

In this embodiment, first, the mask M is held by the chuck | zipper part 16 of the mask stage 2. As shown in FIG. This mask M may have a lower surface where the mask pattern P is drawn. In addition, the work stage 2 is located in the vicinity of the advance limit in the X axis direction and the Y axis direction, and is lowered to the lowest limit in the Z axis direction.

In this state, when power is supplied to the control device 80, the current position of the work stage 2 is read in and input from the laser measuring device 60, and the work stage 2 is preliminarily based on the current position read out. The X-axis feed drive mechanism 43 and the Y-axis feed drive mechanism 53 are drive-controlled so as to be the set control home position, and the initial stage positioning of the work stage 2 is performed.

(2) alignment adjustment

Thereafter, the vertical coarse mechanism 21 and the vertical microscopic mechanism 23 of the Z axis feeder 2A constituting the gap adjusting means are driven to face the work stage 2 and the mask M through a predetermined gap. The mask position adjusting mechanism 13 adjusts the direction of the mask M so that there is no inclination with respect to the Y axis direction.

That is, when a misalignment is detected between the work side alignment mark 100 and the mask side alignment mark 101 by the alignment camera 15 (for example, FIG. 11 (a)), the detection signal is converted into a mask position adjusting mechanism. It outputs to the control apparatus 80 of (13). Then, by controlling the driving of the X-direction driving device 13x and the two Y-direction driving devices 13y by the control device 80, the attitude of the mask holding frame 12 is corrected, so that both marks 100, 101 ) Is matched as shown in Fig. 11 (b). Thereby, the inclination (theta) of the mask M and the Y-axis direction (the same figure) shows that the long side direction of the board | substrate W, the Y-axis direction, the short side direction of the mask M, and the short side direction of the mask pattern P, The case where each is parallel is shown) is eliminated.

(3) Loading of the substrate W and exposure in one step

After completion of the alignment, the work stage 2 is first lowered to a position where the substrate W can be received from the transfer mechanism by the Z axis feeder 2A of the gap adjusting means. In this state, the board | substrate W prealigned with the conveyance mechanism from the prealignment unit which is not shown in figure is mounted on a work stage, and the board | substrate W is vacuum-suctioned by a workpiece chuck. Thereafter, the gap adjusting means adjusts the gap between the lower surface of the mask M and the upper surface of the substrate W so as to be a predetermined value required for exposure.

In addition, when moving the work stage 2 up and down by the Z-axis feeder 2A of a gap adjusting means, the work stage 2 may move a little in the XY plane although it is slightly. In this case, the position data by each laser interferometer 62, 63, 64 after the completion of the alignment in (2) is stored by the memory of the control device 80, and the position data after gap adjustment is stored. In the case where the data differs from the data, the mask position adjusting mechanism 13 corrects the change by the amount of change, so that the mask M can be returned to the state where there is no inclination between the direction of the mask M and the Y axis direction.

Next, opening control of the exposure control shutter 34 of the illumination optical system 3 is performed to perform exposure in one step, the mask pattern P of the mask M is transferred to a predetermined position of the substrate W, and the substrate ( The first division pattern P1 is obtained on W).

(4) Movement of the work stage 2 to the exposure position of the second stage

Next, in order to perform the connection exposure of the 2nd dividing pattern P2, the control apparatus 80 operationally controls the Z-axis feed stand 2A and the work stage feed mechanism 2B. As shown in FIG. 12, when the exposure transcription | transfer process of 1st stage is completed (step S11), the control apparatus 80 will follow the Y-axis of the motor 21a of the up-and-down coarse motion mechanism 23, and the work stage feed mechanism 2B. The motor 531 of the feed drive mechanism 53 is driven in synchronism, and the exposure apparatus PE performs the retraction operation in the Z axis direction of the work stage 2 and the work stage 2 from the exposed predetermined position X1 in one step. The step operation of starts at about the same time (step S12). Subsequently, at a time point away from the predetermined gap where the contact between the mask M and the substrate W is reliably avoided, horizontal movement of only the step operation is performed (step S13), and the work stage 2 is performed in the second stage. At the point of time of approaching the predetermined position X2 to be exposed, the ascending operation of the work stage 2 and the step operation of the work stage 2 are started at the same time, and these operations are terminated almost simultaneously at the predetermined position X2 (step S14). . In addition, the raising operation of the work stage 2 may be started by detecting the rotation speed of the motor 531 of the work stage feed mechanism 2B similarly to 2nd Embodiment mentioned later.

In this manner, the work stage 2 moves from the first exposure position X1 to the second exposure position X2 through the trajectory T as shown in FIG. 13 with respect to the mask stage 1. After that, the alignment adjustment shown in (5) is performed (step S15).

In addition, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 13, in order to more reliably avoid the contact of the mask M and the board | substrate W which are in step operation, the evacuation operation of a Z-axis direction is operated slightly earlier than step operation. It is preferable to terminate the step operation slightly earlier than the rising operation.

In addition, although the present embodiment includes a step of performing only the step operation between the synchronous control of the retraction operation and the step operation in the Z-axis direction and the synchronous control of the rising operation and the step operation, the retraction operation and the step in the Z-axis direction The end of the synchronous control of the operation and the start of the synchronous control of the ascending operation and the step operation may be almost the same time point, and the trajectory T may be further shortened to shorten the operation time.

In addition, the synchronous control of the evacuation operation and the step operation in the Z-axis direction may be gradually increased from the start time toward the end point, and the synchronous control of the ascending operation and the step operation may be gradually decelerated from the start point to the end time point. Thereby, the operation time in step operation can be shortened. In addition, these synchronization controls may draw a linear trajectory as shown in FIG. 13, or may draw a curved trajectory.

(5) Alignment Adjustment by Feeding Error of Work Stage (2)

As described above, when the work stage 2 is conveyed by the amount of one step with respect to the mask M in the direction of the arrow Y in FIG. When the exposure is performed, the second divided pattern P2 is slightly formed, but there is a fear of causing a position shift. For example, due to the yawing of the work stage 2 and the error of the straightness in the X-axis direction during the step feeding of the work stage 2, the straightness Δx and the inclination angle θ 'as shown in Fig. 11C. We shift from normal position by).

Therefore, before exposure-transferring the 2nd division pattern P2 on the glass substrate W, the detection result of the position of the work stage 2 after completion of the step conveyance acquired by the interferometers 62, 63, and 64 is carried out. Output to correction control means for correcting the connection exposure position. And the correction control means calculates the positioning correction amount for the connection exposure based on the detection result, and gaps as needed, such as the mask position adjustment mechanism 13 and pitching correction at the time of transfer, based on the calculation result. In order to perform adjustment, the position of the mask holding frame 12 is adjusted by controlling the X-axis direction driving device 13x and the Y-axis direction driving device 13y of the vertical motion mechanism 23. The alignment adjustment which corrects a position shift is performed. Yawing, that is, the inclination angle θ 'is calculated by the computing device included in the control device 80 based on the difference in the detection results by the two Y-axis interferometers 62 and 63. Δx is obtained based on the detection result by the X-axis interferometer 64. Also for the Y-axis position, the amount to be corrected as needed is obtained by taking into account the yawing and the X-axis present position.

(6) second stage exposure

Thereafter, the exposure control shutter 34 of the illumination optical system 3 is opened to perform exposure in the second stage, the mask pattern P of the mask M is transferred to a predetermined position of the substrate W, and the substrate The second division pattern P2 in which the position shift is corrected on (W) is obtained (see Fig. 11 (d)).

(7) Exposure after the third step

Hereinafter, the work stage 2 is moved to the exposure position in each step similarly to said (4)-(6), alignment adjustment by the feed error of the work stage 2, and exposure of each step are performed. In this manner, each of the divided patterns P3 to P6 in which the positional deviation is corrected on the substrate W is obtained. When the exposure of the sixth step is completed, the work stage 2 is returned to the control home position, and after the vacuum suction state is released by the work chuck 8, the glass substrate W is carried out by a conveyer not shown. It carries out to this outside and the process of said (2)-(7) is performed for exposure of the new glass substrate W. FIG.

In addition, in the case of the movement of the work stage 2 to the exposure position of the 4th stage, since the work stage 2 moves to X direction with respect to the mask stage 1, the control apparatus 80 is an up-down coordination mechanism The motor 21a of the 23 and the motor 431 of the X-axis feed drive mechanism 43 of the work stage feed mechanism 2B are driven in synchronization, and the step operation of the work stage 2 is driven by the work stage 2. Is performed simultaneously with the evacuation operation in the Z-axis direction and the raising operation of the work stage 2.

Therefore, according to the divided-sequential proximity exposure apparatus PE of this embodiment, the control apparatus 80 is a relative of the vertical direction of the Z-axis feeder 2A, and the relative of the horizontal direction of the work stage feed mechanism 2B. Since the Z-axis feed table 2A and the work stage feed mechanism 2B are controlled to synchronize the movement, the step operation is performed for a short time while ensuring safety, thereby reducing the tact time of the exposure operation. This can improve throughput.

In addition, in this embodiment, since the relative movement by a transfer mechanism is performed, the work stage 2 side which mounts a board | substrate was moved, but in contrast, it is comprised so that a mask side may be moved, You may control so that an operation | movement and a step operation | movement of a horizontal direction may be performed substantially in synchronization. Moreover, you may provide the transfer mechanism in one direction of the horizontal direction and the vertical direction on the work stage side, and provide the transfer mechanism in the other direction on the mask side, and control these transfer mechanisms simultaneously.

(2nd embodiment)

Next, with reference to FIGS. 14-21, the split sequential proximity exposure apparatus PE 'which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. In addition, about the part which attached | subjected the same code | symbol as 1st Embodiment, since it is the same structure, description is abbreviate | omitted or simplified.

FIG. 14 is a plan view schematically showing the overall configuration of the exposure apparatus of the second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 15 is a front view of a main part of the exposure apparatus, and FIG. 16 is a side view of the work stage. As shown in FIGS. 14-16, the exposure apparatus PE 'is the mask stage 210, the 1st work stage 211, the 2nd work stage 212, the irradiation optical system 213, and the prealignment unit 214. ), A first work loader 215, a second work loader 216, a mask loader 217, and a mask aligner 218, and are mounted on the substrate stage 221, respectively.

The mask stage 210 is supported by a plurality of support posts 222 provided on a rectangular stage base 223 disposed on the substrate stage 221, and is provided between the stage base 223 and the support posts 222. It is arrange | positioned up and down by the axial coarse motion mechanism 224. The plurality of posts 222 of the stage base 223 allow the first and second work stages 211 and 212 to move in the Y direction (left and right directions in FIG. 14) to advance below the mask stage 210. A space is formed above.

The mask stage 210 has a rectangular opening 225a at the center, and can be positioned in the X, Y, and θ directions with respect to the mask stage 210 by the same mask position adjusting mechanism 13 as in the first embodiment. And a mask holding portion 225 supported. In the mask holding part 225, a plurality of suction holes 225b are formed in the lower surface, and the mask M having the pattern to be exposed faces the opening 225a, and the suction holes 225b are formed by vacuum suction. It is held by the mask holding part 225 through. In addition, the mask stage 210 includes a mask alignment camera 226 (see FIG. 18) for detecting the position of the mask M with respect to the mask holding part 225, and between the mask M and the substrate W. FIG. The gap sensor 227 (refer FIG. 18) which detects a gap is provided.

As shown to FIG. 15 and FIG. 16, the 1st and 2nd work stages 211 and 212 have the board | substrate holding parts 231a and 231b which hold | maintain the board | substrate W as an to-be-exposed material, respectively. Moreover, below the 1st and 2nd work stages 211 and 212, the Y-axis table 233, the Y-axis feed mechanism 234, the X-axis table 235, the X-axis feed mechanism 236, and Z- The work stage feed mechanisms 232 and 232 provided with the tilt adjustment mechanism 237 are respectively provided. Each work stage feed mechanism 232, 232 transfers and drives the first and second work stages 211, 212 in the X direction and the Y direction with respect to the stage base 223, and the mask M and the substrate. The first and second work stages 211 and 212 are finely moved and tilted in the Z-axis direction so as to fine-tune the gap between (W).

Specifically, the Y axis feed mechanism 234 includes a linear guide 238 and a Y axis feed drive mechanism 239 between the stage base 223 and the Y axis table 233. On the stage base 223, two guide rails 240 are arranged in parallel along the Y-axis direction, and the slider 241 mounted on the rear surface of the Y-axis table 233 is interposed between the rolling elements (not shown). Laid on top Thereby, two Y-axis stages 233, 233 are supported so that movement along the Y-axis direction along two guide rails 240 is possible.

Moreover, on the stage base 223, the ball screw shaft 243 rotationally driven by the motor 242 is formed corresponding to the 1st and 2nd work stages 211 and 212, respectively, and the ball screw shaft 243 The ball screw nut 244 attached to the back surface of the Y-axis table 233 is screwed together).

In addition, as shown in FIG. 16, the X-axis feed mechanism 236 also includes a linear guide 245 and an X-axis feed drive mechanism 246 between the Y-axis table 233 and the X-axis table 235. It is. On the Y-axis table 233, two guide rails 247 are arranged in parallel along the X-axis direction, and the slider 248 mounted on the rear surface of the X-axis table 235 is interposed through a rolling element (not shown). Put it on. Moreover, on the Y-axis table 233, the ball screw shaft 250 which is rotationally driven by the motor 249 is formed, and the ball screw shaft 250 is provided with the ball screw attached to the back surface of the Y-axis table 235. The nut 251 is screwed in.

On the other hand, the Z-tilt adjustment mechanism 237 includes a movable wedge mechanism formed by combining a motor, a ball screw and a wedge, and is provided with a ball screw shaft by a motor 252 provided on the upper surface of the X-axis table 235. While driving 253 rotationally, the ball screw nut 254 is mounted on the wedge-shaped moving body, and the inclined surfaces of the wedges are engaged with the inclined surfaces of the wedges 255 protruding from the lower surfaces of the work stages 211 and 212. I'm guessing.

Then, when the ball screw shaft 253 is driven to rotate, the ball screw nut 254 moves finely in the X-axis direction, and the vertical fine movement is performed with high precision by the inclined surface of the wedge-shaped movable body to which the horizontal fine movement is mounted. Is converted to. Two movable wedge mechanisms are provided on one end side in the X-axis direction and one on the other end side in total (not shown), and each of them is driven and controlled independently.

Thereby, the Y-axis feed mechanism 234 exposes the board | substrate W hold | maintained at the board | substrate holding part 231a, 231b of each work stage 211, 212 in the position below the mask stage 210 individually. In order to arrange the position EP, the first work stage 211 is moved in the Y axis direction along the guide rail 240 between the first standby position (loading position) WP1 and the exposure position EP, The second work stage 212 is moved in the Y axis direction along the guide rail 240 between the second waiting position WP2 and the exposure position EP. Moreover, the X-axis feed mechanism 236 and the Y-axis feed mechanism 234 move the board | substrate holding parts 231a and 231b in the exposure position EP so that it may stepwise with respect to the mask M in X and Y directions. The first and second work stages 211 and 212 are moved.

In addition, although the Y-axis feed drive mechanism 239, the X-axis feed drive mechanism 246, and the movable wedge mechanism combine the motor and the ball screw device, they may be comprised by the linear motor which has a stator and a movable body.

In addition, as shown to FIGS. 14-16, in the 1st and 2nd work stages 211, 212, the bar mirror 261, each in the X direction side part and the Y direction side part of each board | substrate holding part 231a, 231b, respectively. 262 is mounted, and three laser interferometers 263, 264, 265 are provided on both sides of the Y-axis direction of the stage base 223 and one side of the X-axis direction of the stage base 223. Thereby, the laser beam is irradiated to the bar mirrors 261 and 262 from the laser interferometers 263, 264, and 265, the laser beam reflected by the bar mirrors 261 and 262 is received, and the laser beam and the bar mirror 261 are received. 262 measures the interference of the laser light reflected by the laser beam, and detects the positions of the first and second stages 211 and 212.

As shown in FIG. 15, the illumination optical system 213 is arrange | positioned above the opening 225a of the mask holding part 225, and is a light source for ultraviolet irradiation, for example, a high pressure mercury lamp similarly to 1st Embodiment. 31, the concave mirror 32, the optical integrator 33, the planar mirrors 35 and 36, the spherical mirror 37, the shutter 34 for exposure control, etc. are comprised. The illumination optical system 213 masks light for pattern exposure to the substrate W held by the substrate holding portions 231a and 231b of the first and second work stages 211 and 212 moved to the exposure position. Investigate through). Thereby, the mask pattern P of the mask M is exposed and transferred to the board | substrate W. As shown in FIG.

In the prealignment unit 214, the substrate W conveyed from the substrate cassettes 270A and 270B provided on the outside of the substrate stand 221 is supplied to the first work stage 211 or the second work stage 212. Prior to this, prealignment is performed such that the position of the substrate W with respect to the mask M becomes a predetermined position, and is arranged in front of the mask stage 210 in the figure. The prealignment unit 214 is provided with an X-axis feed mechanism, a Y-axis feed mechanism, and a rotation mechanism not shown, and adjusts the position of the substrate W mounted on the prealignment unit 214 to a predetermined position. .

The first work loader 215 is disposed on the right side of the prealignment unit 214 in FIG. 14, and holds the substrate W supplied to the second work stage 212 to hold the prealignment unit 214. To the first work stage 211 from the prealignment unit 214 and further positioned at the first waiting position WP1. The substrate W after the exposure transfer is conveyed to the substrate cassette 270A.

The second work loader 216 is disposed opposite to the prealignment unit 214 with the first work loader 215, that is, to the left of the prealignment unit 214 in the drawing, and the first work stage 211. ), The substrate W is supplied to the pre-alignment unit 214, and the pre-aligned substrate W is transferred from the pre-alignment unit 214 to the second work stage 212. The board | substrate W after exposure transcription | transfer on the 2nd work stage 212 located in 2 standby position WP2 is conveyed to the board | substrate cassette 270B.

In addition, the mask loader 217 and the mask aligner 218 are arranged facing the first work loader 215 with respect to the first work stage 211. As shown in FIG. 17, the mask loader 217 is a loader robot arrange | positioned so that the some conveyance part 282, 283 may freely swing in the column 281 fixed to the board | substrate stand 221. As shown in FIG. The plurality of conveying units 282 and 283 move up and down along the column 281 by a lifting mechanism (not shown), and servo motors are arranged and driven independently of each other. Each conveying unit 282, 283 has a mask mounting table provided with a plurality of rod-shaped members 286 installed in parallel with the first and second arms 284, 285 and the tip of the first arm 284 ( 287). Then, by operating each servo motor under control, the mask mounting table 287 is lifted, rotated, and moved to convey the mask M on the mask mounting table 287. Thereby, the mask loader 217 carries in the mask M from the mask cassette 291 provided in the outer side of the board stand 221, and pre-aligns the mask M prealigned with the mask aligner 218. It conveys to the work stage 211, and the conveyed mask M is supplied to the mask stage 210 by the 1st work stage 211. FIG.

In addition, although one conveyance part may be sufficient as the mask loader 217, when it has several conveyance parts 282 and 283, one mask of the some conveyance parts 282 and 283 is used as the mask M before exposure transcription | transfer. In the state held by the mounting table 287, the mask M after the exposure transfer is removed from the other mask mounting table 287, and immediately after the removal, the mask before the exposure transferring held by the mask mounting table 287 is removed. It becomes possible to mount it.

As shown in FIG. 18, the control device 270 reads and inputs detection signals from the alignment camera 226, the gap sensor 227, and the laser interferometers 263, 264, and 265 as detection values. The mask position adjustment mechanism 13 receives control signals obtained from the input interface circuit 270a having a conversion function, the arithmetic processing unit 270b, a storage device 270c such as a ROM, a RAM, and the arithmetic processing unit 270b. Output to the respective drive circuits of the Y-axis feed drive mechanism 239, the X-axis feed drive mechanism 246, the Z-tilt adjustment mechanism 237, the Z-axis coordination mechanism 224, and the exposure control shutter 34. The interface circuit 270d and the timer 272 are provided.

And the control apparatus 270 calculates shutter opening control of the irradiation optical system 213, the feed control of the X-axis and Y-axis feed drive mechanisms 239 and 246, the calculation of the step feed error amount, and the correction amount at the time of alignment adjustment. , The drive control of the Z-tilt adjustment mechanism 237 at the time of gap adjustment, the drive of most actuators mounted on the apparatus, and the predetermined arithmetic processing are performed based on sequence control using a microcomputer, a sequencer, or the like.

Next, about the exposure process using the divided sequential proximity exposure apparatus PE 'of this embodiment, in the process of pattern formation of the black matrix at the time of creating the RGB color filter for large liquid crystal displays similarly to 1st Embodiment. It demonstrates in detail.

(1) setting

In this embodiment, first, the mask M is attached to the mask holding part 225 of the mask stage 210. The mask loader 217 mounts the mask M, which is supplied from the mask cassette 291 and adjusted to a predetermined position by the mask aligner 218, on the mask mounting table 287. The mask loader 217 moves below the mask holding part 225 in a state where the mask M is mounted. And the mask M is attracted to the mask holding | maintenance part 225 by sucking the peripheral part of the mask M by the vacuum suction from the suction hole 225b of the mask holding | maintenance part 225. In addition, the mask M mounted in the mask loader 217 may be directly conveyed to the mask holding | maintenance frame 225, or it moves to the 1st work loader 211, and is made by the 1st work loader 211. You may convey to the mask M. FIG.

(2) alignment adjustment

Thereafter, similarly to the first embodiment, the first and second work stages 211 and 212 are moved in order from the first and second waiting positions WP1 and WP2 to the exposure position EP, respectively. After the initial positioning of the first and second work stages 211 and 212 is performed, alignment adjustment of the mask M to the first and second work stages 211 and 212 is performed.

(3) Inserting the substrate W and exposing the first stage

After completion of the alignment of the mask M, the substrate W pre-aligned by the pre-alignment unit 214 is moved by the first and second work loaders 215 and 216 to the first and second standby positions WP1,. It is alternately supplied to the first and second work stages 211 and 212 located at WP2. For example, when exposing the board | substrate W hold | maintained by the 1st work stage 211 for the first time, in the state in which the board | substrate W was adsorbed by the board | substrate holding part 231a, the 1st work stage 211 is a The Y-axis feed mechanism 234 moves to the exposure position EP.

Here, the 1st work stage 211 located in the exposure position EP is the target of one step in the exposure position EP by the Y-axis feed drive mechanism 239 and the X-axis feed drive mechanism 246. Although the substrate W is moved to a planar position, the vertical movement of the mask M and the substrate W to approach each other by driving the Z-tilt adjustment mechanism 237 in synchronism with this horizontal movement (raising operation). ).

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 19, the control device 270 controls the Y-axis feed drive mechanism 239 and the X-axis feed drive mechanism 246 so that the substrate W moves to the target plane position in the first stage. (Step S20). The horizontal movement of the substrate W by the Y-axis feed drive mechanism 239 and the X-axis feed drive mechanism 246 is performed by the motor 242 of the Y-axis feed drive mechanism 239 and the X-axis feed drive mechanism 246. 249) is monitored by the status signal (rotational speed or position deviation). 20 shows the rotation speed state of the motor 242 or the motor 249.

And when the board | substrate W moves to the target plane position vicinity, the Y-axis feed drive mechanism 239 and the X-axis feed drive mechanism 246 perform deceleration operation so that the board | substrate W may stop at a target plane position.

When the deceleration operation of the Y-axis feed drive mechanism 239 and the X-axis feed drive mechanism 246 is performed, the control apparatus 270 is a motor of the Y-axis feed drive mechanism 239 and the X-axis feed drive mechanism 246. Based on the (242, 249) state signal, the ascending operation of the Z-tilt adjustment mechanism 237 is started. In particular, in the present embodiment, when the rotational speeds of the motors 242 and 249 are read by the encoder (step S22), when both rotational speeds are equal to or less than a predetermined rotational speed (for example, 200 mm / s). , The raising operation by the Z-tilt adjusting mechanism 237 is started (step S24).

In addition, since the amount of movement can be calculated by detecting the rotational speeds of the motors 242 and 249, the application software can be used to compare the developed value with the target value to achieve a position (target value + α) for quick calculation. , Z-tilt adjustment mechanism 237 may be operated. Moreover, when the step movement to the target plane position is performed by one drive of the Y-axis feed drive mechanism 239 and the X-axis feed drive mechanism 246, the rotational speed of a certain motor is below the predetermined rotational speed. When is set, the ascending operation of the Z-tilt adjustment mechanism 237 is started. The control apparatus 270 controls the rotation speed of the motor 252 of the Z-tilt adjustment mechanism 237, and the 1st gap larger than the exposure gap between the mask M and the board | substrate W at the time of exposure. The substrate W is raised to (for example, 400 µm).

In this way, the step movement with respect to the target plane position of the board | substrate W is completed by driving in synchronization with the Y-axis feed drive mechanism 239, the X-axis feed drive mechanism 246, and the Z-tilt adjustment mechanism 237. In addition, the raising operation for the first gap is completed (step S26).

Thereafter, the Z-tilt adjustment mechanism 237 is driven so that the mask M and the substrate W are closer to each other, and the gap between the mask M and the substrate W is closed by the gap sensor 227. While monitoring, the substrate W is raised and the Z-tilt adjustment mechanism 237 until the gap between the mask M and the substrate W becomes an exposure gap (for example, 100 μm) from the first gap. Is stopped (step S28).

Thereafter, the exposure control shutter 34 of the illumination optical system 213 is opened to perform exposure in one step, the mask pattern P of the mask M is transferred to a predetermined position of the substrate W, and the substrate ( The exposure pattern of one step is obtained on W).

(4) Movement of the work stage with respect to the exposure position of the second stage

Next, in order to perform the exposure process of the 2nd step, as shown in FIG. 21, when the exposure transfer process of 1st step is completed, the control apparatus 270 will drive-control the Z-tilt adjustment mechanism 237, and a board | substrate ( The substrate W is lowered from the exposure gap (substrate position A1) to the second gap (e.g., 400 µm) larger than the exposure gap while the retraction operation of W) is controlled and the rotation speed of the motor 252 is controlled. (Substrate position A2). And when the board | substrate W descend | falls to the position exceeding a 2nd gap, the control apparatus 270 will drive-control the Y-axis feed mechanism 234 or the X-axis feed mechanism 236, and will step a board | substrate W. In operation, the mask and the substrate are synchronized with the retraction operation, which is further separated from each other.

Thereafter, the retraction operation is stopped at a point in time where the contact between the mask M and the substrate W is reliably avoided, and horizontal movement of only the step operation is performed (substrate position A3).

And if the 1st work stage 211 moves to the target plane position of the 2nd stage, similarly to the movement in a 1st stage, the Y-axis feed mechanism 234 or the X-axis feed mechanism 236 will perform deceleration operation. . Thereafter, similarly to the steps S20 to S28 in the first step, the Y-axis feed mechanism 234 or the X-axis feed mechanism 236 and the Z-tilt adjustment mechanism 237 are synchronously driven, and the substrate W is 2 The target plane position in the step and the gap between the mask M and the substrate W move to a position where the first gap is 400 μm (substrate position A4), and then the Z-tilt adjustment mechanism 237 Is driven to raise the substrate W to a position where the exposure gap occurs (substrate position A5). After that, alignment adjustment of the mask M and the substrate W is performed. Therefore, in this embodiment, the board | substrate W can move with the trace T with respect to the conventional trace T ', and can shorten an operation time.

In addition, the synchronous control by a step operation | movement and an raising or retraction operation | movement can be suitably changed as demonstrated in 1st Embodiment, For example, the mask M and the board | substrate W are horizontal direction at the position of an exposure gap. When it is confirmed in advance that interference does not occur even in the case of relative movement, the step operation and the rising operation may be synchronized to the exposure gap, or the step operation and the retraction operation may be synchronized from the exposure gap.

(5) alignment adjustment by the feed error of the work stage (2),

(6) second stage exposure

Moreover, also in this embodiment, the laser interferometer 263, 264, 265 detects whether the conveyance error generate | occur | produced during a step operation | movement and an ascending or retraction operation | movement, and when a conveyance error occurs, the X-axis direction drive apparatus Position shift of the mask M is correct | amended using 213x and the Y-axis direction drive device 213y and the Z-tilt adjustment mechanism 237. As shown in FIG. After correcting in this manner, the exposure control shutter 34 of the illumination optical system 213 is controlled to be opened to perform exposure at the second stage.

(7) Exposure after the third step

Hereinafter, the work stage 2 is moved to the exposure position in each stage # similarly to said (4)-(6), alignment adjustment by the conveyance error of the work stage 2, and exposure of each step are performed. This is done.

And in the exposure process of the board | substrate W mounted in the 1st work stage 211, in the 2nd work stage 212, carrying out of the board | substrate W which was already exposed, and carrying in the pre-aligned board | substrate W are carried out. The first work stage 211 holding the substrate W after exposure is carried out from the exposure position EP to the first waiting position WP1, and the substrate W to be exposed next is held. The second work stage 212 to be carried is carried in to the exposure position EP. Then, the process of said (2)-(7) is performed for exposure to the new board | substrate W, and the exposure process by the 1st and 2nd work stages 211 and 212 is performed alternately.

When the mask M and the substrate W are aligned after the gap adjustment, R, G, and B are used instead of the bar mirrors 261 and 262 and the laser interferometers 263, 264 and 265. In order to expose the pattern of, you may perform using the alignment camera which picks up the alignment mark of a mask and the alignment mark of the board | substrate W. FIG. In this case, even at the time of exposure transfer of the 1st shot, positioning may be performed using this alignment camera after gap adjustment.

Moreover, the said exposure process relates to the board | substrate W after two sheets conveyed by the 1st and 2nd work stages 211 and 212, respectively. In the exposure apparatus PE ', the mask M and the substrate W at each step position are determined by the repulsive force of the substrate holding portions 231a and 231b and the posture at each step position of the work stage transfer mechanism 232. There is a possibility that an error occurs in the gap between them. For this reason, when exposing the one board | substrate W conveyed from the 1st and 2nd work stages 211 and 212, as shown by the trace T 'of FIG. 21, the Y-axis feed drive mechanism ( 239) or the step operation | movement by the X-axis feed drive mechanism 246, and the retraction operation | movement or raising operation of the Z-tilt drive mechanism 237 are performed separately. The Y-axis feed drive mechanism 239 after the sheet is based on the position data obtained by the gap sensor 227 or the laser interferometers 263, 264, and 265 when the substrate W is subjected to the step exposure. Alternatively, the step operation by the X-axis feed drive mechanism 246 and the retraction operation or the raising operation of the Z-tilt drive mechanism 237 are performed in synchronization.

Therefore, according to the divided-sequential proximity exposure apparatus PE 'of this embodiment, the control apparatus 270 is a vertical movement of the Z-tilt adjustment mechanism 237, and an X-axis and a Y-axis feed drive mechanism 239, Since the Z-tilt adjustment mechanism 237 and the X-axis and Y-axis feed drive mechanisms 239 and 246 are controlled to synchronize the horizontal movement of the 246, the step operation is performed for a short time while ensuring the safety and exposure. The tact time of the operation can be shortened, whereby the throughput can be improved.

In particular, as indicated by X in FIG. 20, in the control of the X-axis and Y-axis feed drive mechanisms 239 and 246 which perform the step operation, an overshoot that reaches the target value after exceeding the target value once occurs. In this case, even during this operation time, the ascending or retracting operation by the Z-tilt adjustment mechanism 237 can be synchronized to shorten the time associated with the step operation and the raising or retracting operation, thereby shortening the tact time of the exposure operation. Can be.

Moreover, the control apparatus 270 is based on the motor 242, 249 state signal during the movement of the board | substrate W in the horizontal direction, In particular, in this embodiment, the rotation speed of the motor 242, 249 is predetermined speed. Since the Z-tilt adjustment mechanism 237 is controlled to start the rising operation of the substrate W when decelerated below, the start timing of the rising operation can be controlled stably and the synchronous control ensuring safety is performed. Can be.

In addition, the control device 270 synchronizes the horizontal movement of the substrate W and the raising operation up to the first gap, and further performs only the raising operation of the substrate W from the first gap to the exposure gap. Since the Z-tilt adjustment mechanism 237 and the X-axis and Y-axis feed drive mechanisms 239 and 246 are controlled, the mask M and the substrate in step operation are not moved up to the exposure gap while moving in the horizontal direction. Contact of (W) can be more reliably avoided.

In addition, the control device 270 performs only the retraction operation from the exposure gap to the second gap, and after exceeding the second gap, the Z-tilt to synchronize the horizontal movement of the substrate W and the retraction operation. Since the adjustment mechanism 237 and the X-axis and Y-axis feed drive mechanisms 239 and 246 are controlled, the mask M and the substrate W in the step operation operation are performed without moving from the exposure gap while moving in the horizontal direction. ) Contact can be more reliably avoided.

In addition, the raising operation and the retraction operation may be performed together with the driving of the Z-axis coarse mechanism 224 in addition to the driving of the Z-tilt adjustment mechanism 237.

Moreover, although the exposure apparatus PE 'of this embodiment is set as the twin stage structure using two work stages 211 and 212, 1st implementation is carried out using only the 1st work stage 211 of this embodiment. Similarly, the configuration may be a single stage configuration.

That is, in the divided sequential proximity exposure apparatus PE ″ shown in FIGS. 22 and 23, the mask stage 210, the first work stage 211, the irradiation optical system 213, and the alignment on the substrate stage 221. The unit 214, the first work loader 215, the mask loader 217, and the mask aligner 218 are mounted, and the first substrate cassette 270A is masked in the vicinity of the first work loader 215. The mask cassette 291 is arrange | positioned in the vicinity of the aligner 218. The structure and operation | movement of the board | substrate holding part 231a of the 1st work stage 211 are of the 2nd Embodiment shown to FIG. Same as

In addition, since exposure operation PE "is performed only in the 1st work stage 211, exposure operation of the board | substrate W mounted in the 1st work stage 211 located in exposure position EP is performed. Thereafter, the first work stage 211 is moved from the exposure position EP to the standby position WP, and then the carrying-out operation of the next substrate W that is prealigned with the carrying out of the substrate W already exposed is performed. After the first work stage 211 is moved from the standby position WP to the exposure position EP, the exposure operation is repeated.

Other configurations and actions are the same as those of the first embodiment.

(Third embodiment)

Next, the division sequential proximity exposure apparatus PE which concerns on 3rd Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. In addition, about the part which attached | subjected the same code | symbol as 1st Embodiment, since it is the same structure, description is abbreviate | omitted or simplified.

First, the problem to be solved by the invention described in this embodiment and its effects will be described. In the exposure apparatus of patent document 1, the mask is hold | maintained in the mask stage by vacuum-aspirating the circumference | surroundings with a chuck apparatus. For this reason, the mask processed in the flat shape with predetermined flatness and predetermined parallelism tends to bend in the center part by the weight of the mask itself. In particular, with the recent increase in size of flat panel display devices, masks for manufacturing color filters are also increasing, and the warping of the mask by its own weight cannot be ignored in order to realize high-precision exposure.

Moreover, compared with the conventional exposure apparatus which moves a board | substrate or a mask up and down and performs a step movement, in order to shorten the processing time at the time of performing a step movement, the gap at the time of exposure of a board | substrate and a mask (hereinafter, referred to as an exposure gap) A rapid mode in which the substrate and the mask are moved relative to each other while maintaining the same is desired.

However, when the rapid mode is executed while the mask is in the off state, the internal pressure changes due to the deviation of the gap between the substrate and the mask, and the phenomenon that the mask on the stationary side vibrates occurs.

For example, FIG. 29 is a schematic diagram in the case of horizontally moving the work stage S supporting the substrate W to V = 1 m / s using a mask M0 having 1.4 × 1.1 m and a thickness of 13 mm. to be. In this case, its own weight of about 44 kg acts on the mask M0, and as shown in FIG. 30A, the gap between the substrate W and the mask M is 150 μm in the vicinity of the periphery, It becomes 100 micrometers in the vicinity of the center. In this state, when the work stage S is horizontally moved at V = 1 m / s, as shown in Fig. 17B, the pressure decreases in front of the mask M0 and the pressure rises in the rear. With this, since the front side of the mask M0 is bent downward and the rear side is bent upward, vibration is generated in the mask M0.

If such vibration occurs, the substrate W and the mask M0 may come into contact with each other, not only causing a delay in the operation for the next exposure operation.

Therefore, the object of the invention described in this embodiment is to realize a rapid mode in which the substrate and the mask are relatively moved while maintaining the gap between the substrate and the mask while suppressing the vibration of the mask, thereby shortening the tact time. It is to provide the exposure apparatus which exists.

According to the present invention, there is provided a flat state forming means for holding the mask at the time of exposure in a flat shape, and when exposing at a plurality of predetermined positions on the substrate, the transfer mechanism maintains the exposure gap between the substrate and the mask. Since one of the stage and the mask stage is relatively moved relative to the other, relative movement of the substrate and the mask in the rapid mode can be realized while suppressing the vibration of the mask, thereby reducing the tact time.

Next, the mask M of this embodiment is demonstrated. The mask M has a substantially bowl-like shape in which the lower side is formed in a concave shape in a gravity-free state (or vertical laying state) in which gravity does not act (the dashed-dotted line in Fig. 3 (a)). In the state chucked by the chuck | zipper part 16, it maintains in flat shape over the whole plane by the action of gravity (solid line of FIG. 3 (a)). That is, the mask M formed in the substantially bowl shape comprises the flat state formation means which keeps the mask at the time of exposure in a flat shape. In addition, although the dimension of the mask M of this embodiment is arbitrary, for example, 600 * 500 which produces the self weight deflection which affects vibration in the step movement by a rapid mode in the conventional mask M0, A dimension of 5 mm or more is preferable, and even if the mask M having a larger size is the same thickness, the warpage is generated even more, and therefore it is more preferably used. Moreover, the chuck | zipper part 16 is comprised so that the mask M of such a dimension can be hold | maintained.

Moreover, in this embodiment, when exposing the pattern of each layer in several predetermined positions on a board | substrate, in order to adjust the exposure gap between the board | substrate W and the mask M at the time of performing exposure of one step, Z-axis Although the feed table 2A is operated, during the exposure after the second step, the Z-axis feed table 2A does not operate and maintains the exposure gap between the substrate W and the mask M, while transferring the work stage. The mechanism 2B performs step movement in the so-called rapid mode in which the work stage 2 is moved relative to the mask stage 1.

Next, only the part different from 1st Embodiment is demonstrated about 1) setting, 2) alignment adjustment, 3) loading of the board | substrate W, and description of exposure of 1st step.

 The part already demonstrated in 1st Embodiment is abbreviate | omitted.

1) In the setting, first, in the present embodiment, the mask M, which is formed in a substantially bowl-like shape, is formed to have a convex shape on the upper side, and is held in the chuck portion 16 of the mask stage 2. Thereby, the mask M is maintained in a flat shape over the whole plane by its own weight, and the surface on which the mask pattern P was drawn becomes a lower surface. In addition, the work stage 2 is located in the vicinity of the forward and backward directions in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction, and is lowered to the minimum in the Z-axis direction.

2) The description of alignment adjustment is omitted because it is the same as the description already described in the first embodiment.

Next, 3) injecting the substrate W and exposure in one step, in the present embodiment, the exposure control shutter 34 of the illumination optical system 3 is controlled to be opened to perform one step of exposure, and the mask M ) Mask pattern P is transferred to a predetermined position of the substrate W to obtain the first divided pattern P1 on the substrate W. FIG. At this time, since the mask M is maintained in a flat shape over the whole plane by its own weight, the exposure gap between the mask M and the substrate W can be made small and high-precision exposure can be realized. .

The following description will be described in detail because it is different from the description described in the first embodiment.

(4) Movement of the work stage 2 to the exposure position of the second stage

Next, in order to perform the connection exposure of the 2nd dividing pattern P2, the control apparatus 80 operationally controls the work stage feed mechanism 2B. Specifically, the Y-axis feed drive device 53 of the work stage feed mechanism 2B is driven to move the work stage 2 in the Y direction while maintaining the exposure gap between the substrate W and the mask M. As shown in FIG. By carrying out the step movement in the so-called rapid mode, the work stage 2 is transferred with respect to the mask M in the direction of the arrow Y in FIG. 11 (b) by one step amount, and the substrate W is moved in two steps. It arrange | positions to an exposure apparatus.

At this time, the mask M held by the chuck | zipper part 16 is maintained in the flat shape by its own weight, and even if it moves the work stage 2, a substantially uniform pressure will act on the lower surface of the mask M, Since the mask M does not bend and deform, the vibration of the mask M is suppressed.

For example, in the conventional mask M0 as shown to FIG. 30 (a), although the curvature amount in a center part is about 50 micrometers, in the mask M which has the flatness of about 10 micrometers of this embodiment, Since it is kept in a flat shape, the amount of warpage is suppressed to about 10 mu m. Thereby, when moving the work stage 2 on the same conditions, the pressure rise of the mask M of this embodiment can be suppressed to 1/10 compared with the conventional mask M0.

Therefore, since the vibration of the mask M can also be suppressed compared with the case where the conventional mask M0 is used, the board | substrate W and the mask M do not interfere, and the work stage feed mechanism 2B is the said, Step movement can be performed in the rapid mode.

(5) Alignment Adjustment by Feeding Error of Work Stage (2)

As described above, when sending the work stage 2 to the mask M in the amount of one step in the direction of the arrow Y in FIG. The second division pattern P2 is slightly but causes positional shift. For example, due to the yawing of the work stage 2 and the error of the straightness in the X-axis direction during the step feeding of the work stage 2, the straightness Δx and the inclination angle θ 'as shown in Fig. 11C. We shift from normal position by).

Therefore, before exposure-transferring the 2nd division pattern P2 on the glass substrate W, the detection result of the position of the work stage 2 after completion of the step conveyance acquired by the interferometers 62, 63, and 64 is carried out. Output to correction control means for correcting the connection exposure position. And the correction control means calculates the positioning correction amount for the connection exposure based on the detection result, and gaps as needed, such as mask position adjustment means 13 and pitching correction at the time of transfer, based on the calculation result. In order to perform the adjustment, the position of the mask holding frame 12 is adjusted by controlling the X-axis direction driving device 13x and the Y-axis direction driving device 13y of the up and down fine motion device 23 to adjust the position of the mask M. The alignment adjustment which corrects a position shift is performed. Yawing, that is, the inclination angle θ 'is calculated by the computing device included in the control device 80 based on the difference in the detection results by the two Y-axis interferometers 62 and 63. Δx is obtained based on the detection result by the X-axis interferometer 64. Also for the Y-axis position, the amount to be corrected as needed is obtained by taking into account the yawing and the X-axis present position.

(6) second stage exposure

Thereafter, the exposure control shutter 34 of the illumination optical system 3 is opened to perform exposure in the second stage, the mask pattern P of the mask M is transferred to a predetermined position of the substrate W, and the substrate The second division pattern P2 in which the position shift is corrected on (W) is obtained (see Fig. 11 (d)).

(7) Exposure after the third step

In the same manner as in (4) to (6) below, the work stage 2 is moved in the rapid mode to the exposure position in each step, alignment adjustment by the feed error of the work stage 2, and each step Exposure is performed, and each of the divided patterns P3 to P6 in which the positional deviation is corrected on the substrate W is obtained. When the exposure of the sixth step is completed, the work stage 2 is returned to the control home position, and after the vacuum suction state is released by the work chuck 8, the glass substrate W is moved by a conveyer not shown. It is carried out outside and the process of said (2)-(7) is performed for exposure of the new glass substrate W. FIG.

Therefore, according to the divided sequential exposure apparatus PE of this embodiment, it is provided with the mask M formed in a substantially bowl shape as flat state formation means which keeps the mask M at the time of exposure in a flat shape, When exposing at a plurality of predetermined positions on the substrate W, the work stage feed mechanism 2B moves the work stage 2 to the mask stage (while maintaining the exposure gap between the substrate W and the mask M). Since the relative movement with respect to 1), the relative movement of the substrate W and the mask M by the rapid mode can be realized while suppressing the vibration of the mask M, thereby reducing the tact time of the exposure operation. . In addition, since the mask M is maintained in a flat shape at the time of exposure, it is possible to provide high-precision exposure, and can provide the divided sequential exposure apparatus PE that enables high-precision and high-speed processing.

(4th Embodiment)

Next, the division sequential exposure apparatus PE which concerns on 4th Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated with reference to FIG. In addition, about the part equivalent to 1st, 3rd embodiment, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and description is abbreviate | omitted or simplified.

In this embodiment, the mask M0 which shows a flat shape when it arrange | positions horizontally in the state in which gravity does not act (or vertical laying) is used as a mask as a conventional thing. On the other hand, in the chuck device of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 25, the two spacers 20A and 20B have a tapered surface on the lower surface thereof, and the chuck portion 16 is upwardly inward from the outer circumferential portion, which is the outer end portion. It is fixed to the spacers 20A and 20B to have the inclined mounting surface 16b. That is, in this embodiment, the chuck | zipper part 16 which chucks the mask M0 with the mounting surface 16b inclined upwards toward the inner side from the outer end part maintains the mask M0 at the time of exposure to a flat shape. It constitutes a flat state forming means.

Thus, if the mask M0 is held at the chuck 16 by the vacuum suction device via the suction nozzle 16a, the mask M0 tends to be warped in a shape in which the center portion is convex by the mounting surface 16b. (The dashed-dotted line in FIG. 25), the mask M0 is maintained in a flat shape by the action of its own weight bending (solid line in FIG. 25).

Other configurations and actions are the same as those in the first and third embodiments.

Therefore, according to the divided sequential exposure apparatus PE of this embodiment, the mounting surface 16b which inclines upward toward the inner side from the outer end as flat state formation means which keeps the mask M0 at the time of exposure in a flat shape. Having a chuck portion 16 for chucking the mask M0, and when exposing at a plurality of predetermined positions on the substrate W, the work stage feed mechanism 2 is disposed between the substrate W and the mask M. FIG. Since the work stage 2 is relatively moved with respect to the mask stage 1 while maintaining the exposure gap of, while the vibration of the mask M is suppressed, the substrate W and the mask M in the rapid mode are suppressed. The relative movement can be realized and the tact time of the exposure operation can be shortened. In addition, since the mask M0 is maintained in a flat shape at the time of exposure, it is possible to provide a high-precision exposure and can provide a divided sequential exposure apparatus PE that enables high-precision and high-speed processing.

In addition, instead of forming two spacers 20A and 20B having a tapered surface and forming the upwardly inclined mounting surface 16b as in the above embodiment, two spacers as shown in FIG. 26 ( 20C, 20D) may be formed and configured. In this case, the spacer 20D is comprised from the fixing member 81 which has an inclined surface, and the movable member 82 which has the inclined surface movable by the feed screw 83, The movable member 82 is fixed to the fixing member 81 By moving with respect to, the mounting surface 16b of the chuck | zipper part 16 may be inclined upwards toward an inner side from an outer end part.

(5th Embodiment)

Next, the divided sequential exposure apparatus PE which concerns on 3rd Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated with reference to FIG. In addition, about the part equivalent to 1st, 3rd embodiment, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected, and description is abbreviate | omitted or simplified.

In this embodiment, the mask M0 which shows a flat shape when it arrange | positions horizontally in the state where gravity does not act (or vertical laying) is used as a mask as 4th Embodiment. On the other hand, the glass member 90 is being fixed to the upper inner peripheral edge of 12 A of mask holding frames of this embodiment. In addition, the two spacers 20E disposed between the mask holder 12A and the chuck 16 are formed in a rectangular shape so as to cover the inner circumference of the mask holder 12A. Thereby, the sealing space 91 is formed in the upper surface side of the mask M0 by the mask M0, the chuck | zipper part 16, the spacer 20E, the mask holding frame 12A, and the glass member 90, and is sealed. In the space 91, it is controlled by the pressure control mechanism 92 to a predetermined air pressure.

Thereby, the pressure control mechanism 92 is operated in the state which hold | maintained the mask M0 in the chuck | zipper part 16 by the vacuum suction device via the suction nozzle 16a, and masks the inside of the sealed space 91 as a negative pressure. When a pressure difference is generated in the air contacting the upper and lower surfaces of M0, the mask M0 (dotted dashed line in FIG. 27) in which the center portion is concave is maintained in a flat shape (solid line in FIG. 27).

Other configurations and actions are the same as those of the first embodiment.

Therefore, according to the divided sequential exposure apparatus PE of this embodiment, as a flat state formation means which keeps the mask M0 at the time of exposure in a flat shape, the pressure difference is applied to the air which contact | connects the upper surface and lower surface of the mask M0. The pressure control mechanism 92 which generate | occur | produces, and when exposing at the some predetermined position on the board | substrate W, the work stage feed mechanism 2 hold | maintains the exposure gap between the board | substrate W and the mask M. FIG. Since the work stage 2 is relatively moved relative to the mask stage 1, the relative movement of the substrate W and the mask M by the rapid mode can be realized while suppressing the vibration of the mask M. This can shorten the tact time of the exposure operation. In addition, since the mask M0 is maintained in a flat shape at the time of exposure, it is possible to provide high-precision exposure, and can provide the divided sequential exposure apparatus PE that enables high-precision and high-speed processing.

(6th Embodiment)

Next, the division sequential exposure apparatus PE which concerns on 6th Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. In addition, about the part equivalent to 1st, 3rd embodiment, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected, and description is abbreviate | omitted or simplified.

In this embodiment, the mask M0 which shows a flat shape when it arrange | positions horizontally in the state where gravity does not act (or vertical laying) is used as a mask as 4th Embodiment. On the other hand, in the chuck | zipper part 16 of this embodiment, the piping H is arrange | positioned outside the suction nozzle 16a. The plurality of discharge ports Ha are formed in the pipe H so as to open toward the surface of the substrate W, and are connected to an external positive pressure pump P. As shown in FIG.

And in this embodiment, when exposing the pattern of each layer in several predetermined positions on a board | substrate, and performing a 1st stage exposure, in order to adjust the exposure gap between the board | substrate W and the mask M0, Z-axis While operating the transfer table 2A, at this time, the substrate W is brought close to the mask M to impart an exposure gap, thereby raising the atmospheric pressure between the mask M0 and the substrate W to generate a positive pressure, The mask M0 is deformed to have a flat shape.

In addition, by supplying gas from the constant pressure pump P through the pipe H, the gas is discharged from the discharge port Ha, and an air curtain is formed, while the mask M0 and the substrate W are around. A small gap is formed to form an ambient pressure to maintain the pressure distribution between the mask M0 and the substrate W so as to maintain a flat shape of the mask M0. Therefore, in this embodiment, 2 A of Z-axis feeders, the positive pressure pump P, and the piping H act as a positive pressure generation mechanism which produces a positive pressure between the mask M0 and the board | substrate W. As shown in FIG.

Moreover, when moving the work stage 2 relative to the mask stage 1 in the rapid mode, gas is supplied from the constant pressure pump P in order to maintain the exposure gap between the substrate W and the mask M0. The step is performed while maintaining the pressure distribution between the mask M0 and the substrate W by the air curtain.

Other configurations and actions are the same as those in the first and third embodiments.

Therefore, according to the divided sequential exposure apparatus PE of this embodiment, it is a flat state formation means which keeps the mask M0 at the time of exposure in a flat shape, and is provided with the positive pressure generation mechanism which produces a positive pressure between a mask and a board | substrate. When exposing at a plurality of predetermined positions on the substrate W, the work stage transport mechanism 2 masks the work stage 2 to the mask stage while maintaining the exposure gap between the substrate W and the mask M. FIG. Since relative movement with respect to (1), relative movement of the substrate W and the mask M in the rapid mode can be realized while suppressing the vibration of the mask M. FIG. In addition, since the mask M0 is held in a flat shape at the time of exposure, it is possible to provide a high-precision exposure, and can provide a divided sequential exposure apparatus PE that enables high-precision and high-speed processing.

In addition, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned above arbitrarily, It can implement in various forms in the range which does not deviate from the summary.

According to the present invention, since the control device controls the transfer mechanism so that the transfer mechanism synchronizes the relative movement in the horizontal direction and the relative movement in the vertical direction, the control device performs the step operation for a short time while ensuring safety, and thus the tact of the exposure operation. The time can be shortened, whereby the throughput can be improved.

Claims (6)

A work stage for holding a substrate as an exposed material, A mask stage disposed opposite the substrate to hold a mask; Irradiation means for irradiating the substrate with light for pattern exposure through the mask; A transfer mechanism for relatively moving the work stage and one of the mask stages in a horizontal direction and a vertical direction with respect to the other so that a mask pattern of the mask faces a plurality of predetermined positions on the substrate; An exposure apparatus comprising a control device for controlling the transfer mechanism, And the control device controls the transfer mechanism so that the transfer mechanism synchronizes the relative movement in the horizontal direction and the relative movement in the vertical direction. The method of claim 1, The transfer mechanism includes a motor for moving the work stage in a horizontal direction, The control device controls the transfer mechanism to start relative movement in the vertical direction in which the mask and the substrate are close to each other based on a state signal of the motor during the relative movement in the horizontal direction. Exposure apparatus. The method of claim 2, The control device controls the transfer mechanism to start relative movement in the vertical direction in which the mask and the substrate are close to each other when the rotational speed of the motor is reduced to a predetermined speed or less during the relative movement in the horizontal direction. The exposure apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, The control device synchronizes the relative movement in the horizontal direction and the relative movement in the vertical direction in which the mask and the substrate are close to each other, to a first gap that is larger than the exposure gap between the mask and the substrate during exposure. And the transfer mechanism is controlled so as to perform only the relative movement in the vertical direction in which the mask and the substrate are closer to each other from the first gap to the exposure gap. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, The control device performs only the relative movement in the vertical direction in which the mask and the substrate are separated from each other from an exposure gap between the mask and the substrate at the time of exposure to a second gap that is larger than the exposure gap. And the transfer mechanism is controlled to synchronize the relative movement in the horizontal direction and the relative movement in the vertical direction such that the mask and the substrate are further separated from each other after exceeding the second gap. As an exposure method using the exposure apparatus as described in any one of Claims 1-3, The transfer mechanism is configured to perform synchronous movement in the horizontal direction and relative movement in the vertical direction.

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