KR20090021875A - A photolithography apparatus including an illumination system for aligning a reticle - Google Patents

A photolithography apparatus including an illumination system for aligning a reticle Download PDF

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Publication number
KR20090021875A
KR20090021875A KR1020070086753A KR20070086753A KR20090021875A KR 20090021875 A KR20090021875 A KR 20090021875A KR 1020070086753 A KR1020070086753 A KR 1020070086753A KR 20070086753 A KR20070086753 A KR 20070086753A KR 20090021875 A KR20090021875 A KR 20090021875A
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KR
South Korea
Prior art keywords
reticle
light
reticle alignment
light source
lighting system
Prior art date
Application number
KR1020070086753A
Other languages
Korean (ko)
Inventor
이성원
Original Assignee
삼성전자주식회사
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
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Publication date
Application filed by 삼성전자주식회사 filed Critical 삼성전자주식회사
Priority to KR1020070086753A priority Critical patent/KR20090021875A/en
Publication of KR20090021875A publication Critical patent/KR20090021875A/en

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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
    • G03F—PHOTOMECHANICAL PRODUCTION OF TEXTURED OR PATTERNED SURFACES, e.g. FOR PRINTING, FOR PROCESSING OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; MATERIALS THEREFOR; ORIGINALS THEREFOR; APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED THEREFOR
    • G03F7/00—Photomechanical, e.g. photolithographic, production of textured or patterned surfaces, e.g. printing surfaces; Materials therefor, e.g. comprising photoresists; Apparatus specially adapted therefor
    • G03F7/70—Microphotolithographic exposure; Apparatus therefor
    • G03F7/70058—Mask illumination systems
    • G03F7/70091—Illumination settings, i.e. intensity distribution in the pupil plane or angular distribution in the field plane; On-axis or off-axis settings, e.g. annular, dipole or quadrupole settings; Partial coherence control, i.e. sigma or numerical aperture [NA]
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/02—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/027—Making masks on semiconductor bodies for further photolithographic processing not provided for in group H01L21/18 or H01L21/34
    • H01L21/0271—Making masks on semiconductor bodies for further photolithographic processing not provided for in group H01L21/18 or H01L21/34 comprising organic layers
    • H01L21/0273—Making masks on semiconductor bodies for further photolithographic processing not provided for in group H01L21/18 or H01L21/34 comprising organic layers characterised by the treatment of photoresist layers
    • H01L21/0274—Photolithographic processes
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/02—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/027—Making masks on semiconductor bodies for further photolithographic processing not provided for in group H01L21/18 or H01L21/34
    • H01L21/033—Making masks on semiconductor bodies for further photolithographic processing not provided for in group H01L21/18 or H01L21/34 comprising inorganic layers
    • H01L21/0334—Making masks on semiconductor bodies for further photolithographic processing not provided for in group H01L21/18 or H01L21/34 comprising inorganic layers characterised by their size, orientation, disposition, behaviour, shape, in horizontal or vertical plane
    • H01L21/0337—Making masks on semiconductor bodies for further photolithographic processing not provided for in group H01L21/18 or H01L21/34 comprising inorganic layers characterised by their size, orientation, disposition, behaviour, shape, in horizontal or vertical plane characterised by the process involved to create the mask, e.g. lift-off masks, sidewalls, or to modify the mask, e.g. pre-treatment, post-treatment

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Condensed Matter Physics & Semiconductors (AREA)
  • Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
  • Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
  • Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
  • Power Engineering (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Inorganic Chemistry (AREA)
  • Exposure And Positioning Against Photoresist Photosensitive Materials (AREA)
  • Length Measuring Devices By Optical Means (AREA)

Abstract

A photolithographic apparatus is provided that includes an illumination system for reticle alignment having an independent light source and a power supply. The photolithographic apparatus according to the present invention includes a lighting system for reticle alignment having a light source, a power supply, an optical fiber, and a detection device.

Description

Photolithography Apparatus Including an Illumination System for Aligning a Reticle

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a photolithographic apparatus, and more particularly to a photolithographic apparatus comprising an illumination system for independent reticle alignment in a photolithographic apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor device.

It is very important for photolithographic apparatuses used to manufacture semiconductor devices to accurately transfer patterns formed on a reticle or photomask (hereinafter referred to as a reticle) on a semiconductor wafer. To that end, an essential process procedure is a procedure for accurately aligning the reticle and the semiconductor wafer with each other. If the alignment between the reticle and the semiconductor wafer is not exactly aligned, the pattern is a big problem because the pattern of the reticle is incorrectly transferred to the semiconductor wafer, but the alignment of the reticle with the patterns of other reticles to be transferred or transferred in the pre- and post-processing is particularly important. (Overlay align) is not matched, the semiconductor device can not be manufactured.

Therefore, in order to accurately transfer the pattern of the reticle onto the semiconductor wafer, it is necessary to provide an alignment mark on the reticle and to align the reticle so that the alignment mark is always at a constant position. Just before the photolithography process.

The lighting system for reticle alignment used in the conventional photolithography apparatus will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a view schematically showing a lighting system for reticle alignment used in a conventional photolithography apparatus.

Referring to FIG. 1, the lighting system 100 for reticle alignment of a conventional photolithography apparatus includes a light source 110, a condenser mirror 120, a shutter mirror 130, a reticle alignment block 140, and an optical fiber ( 150 and detection device 170.

The light source 110 is an element that generates light for irradiating the alignment mark 160 on the reticle, and is formed in a shape in which a hemispherical mirror is wrapped around the lamp to emit light in a specific direction.

The condensing mirror 120 collects the light emitted from the light source 110 and reflects the light to one point or one plane. Typically consists of a planar mirror.

The shutter mirror 130 has both a shutter function and a mirror function. The shutter function means an open / close operation. That is, when opened, the shutter mirror 130 emits light in the direction of the dotted arrow A without performing a function as a mirror. On the contrary, when closed, the shutter mirror 130 functions as a plane mirror to reflect the incident light to another point or to one surface.

The reticle alignment block 140 receives light incident from the shutter mirror 130 and adjusts a path, direction, energy uniformity, and the like to convert the reticle into a form suitable for aligning the reticle.

The optical fiber 150 receives the light emitted from the reticle align block 140 and moves the light to a reticle alignment mark 160 formed on a specific position, for example, the reticle.

The alignment mark 160 formed on the reticle has a characteristic shape for each photolithography apparatus. The drawings briefly illustrate commonly used shapes.

The light transmitted through the alignment mark 160 formed on the reticle is incident on the detection device 170 with the information of the shape of the alignment mark 160, and the detection device 170 detects the correct position of the reticle.

Although not shown, a control device connected to a driving device for displaying the position of the reticle and adjusting the position of the reticle according to the result detected by the detection device 170 is further provided.

The lighting system 100 for the reticle alignment of such a conventional photolithography apparatus operates an excessive reticle alignment block 140, so that the light energy lost in the intermediate stage cannot be ignored. That is, the light generated from the light source 110 is not sufficiently used. If enough light is not available to align the reticle, it will be difficult to align the reticle correctly and will inevitably have a reticle alignment error, which will have a fatal impact on the semiconductor production process.

Therefore, although the light generated by the light source 110 is still enough to use enough, it is inevitable to change the lamp or must be replaced accessories such as the filter inside the reticle alignment block 140. Such frequent replacement of accessories is expensive, but the time required for the operation of expensive semiconductor equipment is not only increased, but also the human resources have to be invested in it. It significantly reduces manufacturing productivity and is an obstacle to the normal operation of photolithography equipment.

An object of the present invention is to provide an illumination system photolithography apparatus for independent reticle alignment.

The problem to be solved by the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned technical problem, another task that is not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

A photolithography apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object includes a lighting system for reticle alignment including a light source, a power supply, an optical fiber, and a detection device.

Specific details of other embodiments are included in the detailed description and drawings.

As described above, the photolithography apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention operates an independent reticle alignment lighting system and maintains the photolithography apparatus in the past because it can be used for a long time without replacing the accessories because the loss of the light source is small. As a result, the length of time to repair them is greatly increased. In other words, the physical and human resources consumed in operating, maintaining and maintaining the photolithography apparatus can be saved, and the uptime is increased, thereby increasing productivity.

Advantages and features of the present invention and methods for achieving them will be apparent with reference to the embodiments described below in detail with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but will be implemented in various forms, and only the present embodiments are intended to complete the disclosure of the present invention, and the general knowledge in the art to which the present invention pertains. It is provided to fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art, and the present invention is defined only by the scope of the claims. In the drawings, the sizes and relative sizes of layers and regions may be exaggerated for clarity. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.

Embodiments described herein will be described with reference to plan and cross-sectional views, which are ideal schematic diagrams of the invention. Accordingly, shapes of the exemplary views may be modified by manufacturing techniques and / or tolerances. Accordingly, the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the specific forms shown, but also include variations in forms generated by the manufacturing process. Thus, the regions illustrated in the figures have schematic attributes, and the shape of the regions illustrated in the figures is intended to illustrate a particular form of region of the device, and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

Hereinafter, a photolithography apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 is a view schematically showing a lighting system for reticle alignment of a photolithographic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the lighting system 200 for the reticle alignment of the photolithography apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention may include a light source 210, a power supply 220, an optical fiber 230, and a detection device 250. Include.

The light source 210 may generate unique light used in the reticle alignment process. More specifically, since it can be used only for the reticle alignment process independently, it is possible to select and use the optimal light source for the reticle alignment process. A general photolithography system may not only use a light source for transferring a pattern of a reticle to a semiconductor wafer but may also be variously used in a reticle or wafer alignment process, a wafer peripheral exposure process, and the like. However, since the photolithographic apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention has an illumination system having a light source for reticle alignment only, it is possible to always maintain optimal reticle alignment process conditions.

However, the lighting system for reticle alignment according to the embodiment of the present invention does not need to be limited to the reticle alignment process. In the embodiment of the present invention, since the light propagation direction can be easily irradiated to another position by the optical fiber 230, it can be used in various processes. However, even when used in other processes, the lighting system according to the embodiment of the present invention does not include unnecessary mirrors or reticle alignment blocks, which faithfully meets the object of the present invention.

The light source 210 according to the embodiment of the present invention may be installed outside the photolithography apparatus. In this case, since the photolithography apparatus may be manufactured by excluding a part of the lighting system for the reticle alignment, the cost of the equipment may be lowered.

When the light source 210 is installed externally, since the internal heat generation burden of the photolithography apparatus is reduced, durability of the facility is also enhanced.

In addition, if there is a need to manage, maintain and repair only the photolithography apparatus, only the photolithography apparatus needs to be managed, ubiquitous and repaired without having to touch the reticle alignment lighting system 200. This is alleviated.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the light source 210 may be a mercury lamp and may generate light (called an i-line) having a wavelength of about 365 nm. When the energy of the generated light is about 200 mW or more, it can be stably applied to the photolithography apparatus and used in the reticle alignment process.

The power supply 220 may be designed to supply power only to the reticle alignment lighting system 200 of the present invention. In the embodiment of the present invention, since the power supply 220 is designed to supply power only to the lighting system 200 for the reticle aligning independently, the power supply 220 can be stably supplied and has a small capacity and is designed to be simple to maintain and maintain. Easy

In addition, in the embodiment of the present invention, the power supply 220 may be independently installed outside the photolithography apparatus. As mentioned above, in this embodiment, the power supply 220 may be designed to supply power only to the reticle lighting system 200, and thus the capacity and size are small. Therefore, it can be installed independently of the outside of the photolithographic apparatus. The power supply 220 may be referred to as a high heat generation device. Photolithographic apparatuses are also devices with high heat generation. Therefore, the heat generating power supply 220 can be installed outside of the photolithography apparatus, so that the overall cooling efficiency of the equipment is improved. In addition, since it is installed externally, maintenance and repair can be performed without affecting other facilities, and thus the facility management, maintenance, and maintenance are very easy.

The optical fiber 230 may collect light directly from the light source 210. That is, the light can be received directly from the light source without going through a separate light collecting system. A path of light is provided so that the received light is irradiated to the reticle alignment mark 240 formed on the reticle.

Light passing through the reticle alignment mark 240 is incident on the detection device 250 with information on the reticle alignment.

The detection apparatus 250 receives and analyzes light having information on the reticle alignment mark 240 and outputs an electrical signal for alignment of the reticle. That is, a light receiving element such as a CCD or a sensor is provided to analyze the intensity of the received light and output an electric signal corresponding thereto. In this case, when the maximum value of the output is less than a specific level, it may be set as a reference for determining when to replace the light source 210.

Although not shown, the electric signal output from the detection device 250 is received to compare the information on the exact position on which the reticle should be placed with the information on the position of the currently placed reticle, and post a command to be aligned. Can be output as a signal. In addition, the display unit may be visually displayed so that the operator may visually identify the alignment information.

The lighting system for reticle alignment of the photolithographic apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention does not include a reticle alignment block. The reticle alignment block has multiple lenses and mirrors. The reticle alignment block is therefore an expensive accessory and a simple maintenance and repair. However, in the lighting system for the reticle alignment of the photolithography system according to the embodiment of the present invention, the equipment price can be lowered because the reticle alignment block is excluded.

Although embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains may implement the present invention in other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential features thereof. I can understand that. Therefore, it should be understood that the embodiments described above are exemplary in all respects and not restrictive.

1 is a view schematically showing a lighting system for reticle alignment used in a conventional photolithography apparatus.

2 is a view schematically showing a lighting system for reticle alignment of a photolithographic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

 (Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawing)

200: lighting system for reticle alignment

210: light source

220: power supply

230: optical fiber

240: alignment mark on the reticle

250: detection device

Claims (10)

Light Source, Power Supply, Optical fiber, and A photolithographic apparatus having an illumination system for reticle alignment that includes a detection device. The method of claim 1, And the light source is installed outside of the photolithographic apparatus. The method of claim 1, The light source is a photolithography apparatus for generating i-line light with energy of 200mW or more. The method of claim 1, And the light source supplies light only to the lighting system for reticle alignment. The method of claim 1, And the power supply is installed outside of the photolithographic apparatus. The method of claim 1, And the power supply supplies power only to the lighting system for reticle alignment. The method of claim 1, And the detection device receives light to generate an electrical signal. The method of claim 1, And the detection device receives light and generates an alarm when the maximum value is lower than a reference value. The method of claim 1, The reticle alignment lighting system, Output an electrical signal from the detection device, and And a display unit for visually displaying the electrical signal. The method of claim 1, And the detection device comprises a CCD.
KR1020070086753A 2007-08-28 2007-08-28 A photolithography apparatus including an illumination system for aligning a reticle KR20090021875A (en)

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KR1020070086753A KR20090021875A (en) 2007-08-28 2007-08-28 A photolithography apparatus including an illumination system for aligning a reticle

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KR1020070086753A KR20090021875A (en) 2007-08-28 2007-08-28 A photolithography apparatus including an illumination system for aligning a reticle

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Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN109690400A (en) * 2016-09-12 2019-04-26 西默有限公司 Estimate the gain relationship of light source
KR20220064508A (en) * 2020-11-12 2022-05-19 아이센서스 주식회사 Lithographic apparatus and lithographic method

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN109690400A (en) * 2016-09-12 2019-04-26 西默有限公司 Estimate the gain relationship of light source
CN109690400B (en) * 2016-09-12 2021-01-12 西默有限公司 Estimating a gain relationship of a light source
KR20220064508A (en) * 2020-11-12 2022-05-19 아이센서스 주식회사 Lithographic apparatus and lithographic method

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