KR20110131288A - Exposure device - Google Patents

Abstract

In the exposure apparatus which performs the stitching exposure which exposes on the board | substrate 4 in the state which partially overlapped the periphery of a shot area | region, the density filter F which has a photosensitive part set so that the illumination intensity distribution of exposure light may be gradually reduced in the part corresponding to the said peripheral part. ) And a reduction optical system composed of a condenser lens system 113 and an imaging lens system 114 between the mask and the mask Ri.

Description

Exposure device {EXPOSURE DEVICE}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an exposure apparatus used when fabricating semiconductor integrated circuits, liquid crystal display elements, thin film magnetic heads, and other microdevices using lithographic techniques.

In a photolithography process that is usually formed as one of the microdevice manufacturing processes, a pattern of a photomask or a reticle (hereinafter, collectively referred to as a mask) is applied to a substrate (a semiconductor wafer or a glass plate coated with photoresist) as an exposure target. An exposure apparatus for projecting and exposing the image is used. In recent years, in the manufacture of microdevices including semiconductor integrated circuits, it is required to faithfully form very fine patterns as designed.

In addition, in recent years, the micro devices have been required to be highly functionalized, and thus they tend to be scaled up. For example, taking a semiconductor integrated circuit as an example, systemization is also performed by including functions such as a CPU (central processing unit) and a RAM (Random Access Memory) in one semiconductor integrated circuit. In manufacturing a large-scale semiconductor integrated circuit having such a fine pattern, the exposed area of the substrate is divided into a plurality of partition areas (hereinafter, referred to as a short or a short area), and a pattern corresponding to each short is formed. Stitching exposure may be performed in which an image is sequentially projected and exposed.

When using such an exposure method, a mismatch may occur in the joint part of each shot, so that a part of the pattern image for one shot and a part of the pattern image for another shot adjacent thereto are overlapped and The line width at the overlapping portion is set so that the exposure dose distribution of the portion to be overlapped is inclined so as to decrease as it goes outward, so that the exposure amount of the overlapping portion is equal to the exposure dose of portions other than the overlapping portion as a whole by two exposures. To prevent change. When such stitching exposure is performed, a line width error due to a position error in the joint does not occur, and a micro device such as a semiconductor integrated circuit can be manufactured with high throughput.

By the way, in recent years, in particular, semiconductor integrated circuits are required to be miniaturized, but in order to respond to this demand, it is necessary to miniaturize the line width itself that can be formed in the photolithography process and to make the line width uniform. In order to form a pattern of uniform line width, it is essential to make the illuminance distribution of the exposure light illuminating the mask uniform. Further, miniaturization of the line width itself can be realized by improving the resolution of the exposure apparatus. In order to improve the resolution, shortening of the wavelength of the light source formed in the exposure apparatus and high NA (number of apertures) of the projection optical system have been devised.

However, in the exposure apparatus which performs the stitching exposure mentioned above, in order to obtain the oblique exposure amount distribution in an overlapping part, the density filter for forming oblique illuminance distribution in the part corresponding to the overlapping part on a mask is formed. Since the density filter is disposed at a position that is almost optically conjugate with the mask, if foreign matters such as dust adhere to the density filter, the necessary exposure dose distribution can be locally obtained by these effects. Therefore, there exists a problem that the location which changes the exposure amount on a board | substrate finally changes locally, and a line width change arises in this location.

In addition, when the NA of the projection optical system is increased in order to improve the resolution, the influence of spherical aberration, distortion aberration, and other various aberrations is increased, which makes it difficult to design the projection optical system in which the influence of the residual aberration is reduced. The adjustment at the time becomes difficult, too, and the problem that the manufacturing cost of a projection optical system and also the cost of an exposure apparatus rises.

An object of the present invention can reduce the influence of foreign matter attached to the density filter to form a fine pattern of a uniform line width, and further suppress the increase in the manufacturing cost of the projection optical system required for design and assembly as possible. It is to provide an exposure apparatus.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, in order to transfer a pattern formed in the mask to a plurality of regions where the periphery partially overlaps on the sensitive object, the photosensitive portion is set so as to gradually reduce the illuminance distribution of the exposure light at the portion corresponding to the periphery. In the exposure apparatus which exposes each said area | region through the density filter which has, WHEREIN: The exposure apparatus which arrange | positioned the reduction optical system between the said density filter and the said mask is provided.

Since a reduction optical system is disposed between the density filter and the mask to reduce the light passing through the density filter and irradiate the mask, even if foreign matter such as dust is attached to the density filter, the influence of the foreign matter (for example, Local change in illuminance distribution of light to be illuminated) can be reduced. As a result, since the illuminance distribution on the sensitive object can be made uniform, a fine pattern of uniform line width can be faithfully formed (that is, a fine pattern can be formed with high fidelity).

In the exposure apparatus which concerns on the 1st viewpoint of this invention, what is necessary is just to set the reduction magnification of the said reduction optical system to 1 / 1.5-1 / 1.6. This is because by setting the reduction magnification of the reduction optical system to this extent, it is possible to reduce the influence of foreign matter attached to the density filter without causing the apparatus to become extremely large.

In the exposure apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the transfer of the pattern by exposure of the region is performed collectively in a state in which the concentration filter, the mask, and the sensitive object are stopped, or the exposure light. The concentration filter, the mask and the sensitive object are sequentially performed with respect to each other.

When the pattern is transferred collectively while the density filter, mask and sensitive object are stopped, high overlapping accuracy can be ensured, while the density filter, mask and sensitive object are moved synchronously with respect to the exposure light. In the case of sequentially transferring the pattern, throughput can be improved.

In the exposure apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the pattern formed on the mask is composed of a plurality of partial patterns divided into a plurality of regions, and each of the partial patterns is at least one of the plurality of regions as the pattern. Can be transferred to one.

In this case, it is provided with the illumination optical system comprised including the said density filter and the said reduction optical system, and the illumination area | region of the said illumination optical system on the said mask is set to the size which can illuminate at least one of the said partial pattern. desirable. This configuration is suitable for illuminating the mask with light reduced by the reduced optical system, since the illumination region of the illumination optical system needs only to be large enough to illuminate any of the partial patterns. When the pattern is transferred while the mask and the sensitive object are stopped, the illumination area is set to a size including the entirety of at least one partial pattern to be transferred onto the sensitive object in one exposure operation. When the pattern is transferred by synchronously moving the sensitive object, at least one of the at least one to be transferred onto the sensitive object in one exposure operation with respect to the direction (non-scanning direction) in which the illumination area is orthogonal to the scanning direction in which the mask is moved. It may be set to a size larger than or equal to the partial pattern.

An exposure apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention, further comprising a projection optical system for projecting the pattern formed on the mask onto the sensitive object, wherein an exposure area of the projection optical system includes at least the partial pattern on the sensitive object. It can be set to a size that can be projected onto, or a portion that can project a portion of the partial pattern onto the sensitive object.

By setting the exposure area of the projection optical system to a size such that the partial pattern can be projected onto the sensitive object or a size that can partially project a portion of the partial pattern onto the sensitive object, the residual aberration is reduced as much as possible. In addition to facilitating the design of the projection optical system of NA, the adjustment at the time of manufacture becomes easy, and the rise of the cost of manufacturing a projection optical system can be suppressed, and also the cost increase of an exposure apparatus can be suppressed.

In the exposure apparatus which concerns on the 1st viewpoint of this invention, the light shielding member which shields a part of the photosensitive part of the said density filter according to the position on the said sensitive object of the area | region which should transfer the said pattern can be provided.

In addition, "the area | region where a peripheral part partially overlaps on a sensitive object" means the area | region (short area) to which all the patterns formed in one mask are transferred, and a part (for example, one part) of the some partial pattern formed in the mask is transferred. It is meant to include an area (partial short area). In addition, the patterns to be transferred to the plurality of regions where the periphery partially overlaps on the sensitive object may not be formed in the same mask, or may be formed separately in a plurality of different masks.

According to the 2nd viewpoint of this invention, the exposure apparatus which irradiates the sensitive object with the energy beam through the density filter which prescribes the intensity distribution of an energy beam to a predetermined distribution, and the mask in which the pattern to be transferred on the sensitive object was formed. An exposure apparatus in which a reduction optical system is disposed between the concentration filter and the mask is provided.

According to the invention according to the second aspect of the present invention, not only when exposing a plurality of regions where the peripheral portion partially overlaps as in the first aspect, but also when a density filter is used to set the energy beam to a desired intensity distribution. In addition, since the influence of the foreign matter attached to the concentration filter can be reduced, the mask can be illuminated with a desired intensity distribution, and further, the sensitive object can be exposed with a desired energy distribution, so that a fine pattern with a uniform line width can be faithfully formed. have.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the exposure apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention.
2A is a top view illustrating an example of the configuration of the concentration filter.
It is a figure which shows an example of the mark formed in a density filter.
3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a reticle used in the exposure apparatus of the present embodiment.
4A and 4B are diagrams showing the configuration of the illuminance distribution detection sensor.
FIG. 5 is a view for explaining a manufacturing step when manufacturing a micro device such as a semiconductor integrated circuit using a reticle. FIG.
6 is a diagram illustrating a situation in which the first partial pattern is transferred to the shot region.
7 is a diagram illustrating a situation in which the second partial pattern is transferred to the shot region.
8 is a diagram illustrating a situation in which the third partial pattern is transferred to the shot region.
It is a figure which shows the alignment mechanism of a reticle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the exposure apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention, This exposure apparatus is a stitch-type projection exposure apparatus of a step-and-repeat system.

In addition, in the following description, the positional relationship of each member is demonstrated, referring to this XYZ rectangular coordinate system by setting the XYZ rectangular coordinate system shown in FIG. The XYZ rectangular coordinate system is set so that the X axis and the Z axis are parallel to the ground, and the Y axis is set in the direction perpendicular to the ground. In the figure, the XYZ coordinate system is actually set on the plane in which the XY plane is parallel to the horizontal plane, and the Z axis is set in the vertical upward direction.

In FIG. 1, ultraviolet pulse light IL (hereinafter referred to as exposure light IL) as light from the light source 100 (hereafter referred to as ArF excimer laser) is positioned in the optical path between the illumination optical system 1. Passing through a beam matching unit (BMU) 101 including a movable mirror and the like for matching with each other, and enters the variable photoreceptor 103 as a light attenuator via a pipe 102.

In order to control the exposure amount with respect to the resist on the board | substrate 4 as a sensitive object, the main control system 9 communicates with the light source 100, and is determined by control of the start and stop of light emission, oscillation frequency, and pulse energy. While controlling the output, the photosensitivity with respect to the exposure light IL in the variable photosensitive device 103 is adjusted stepwise or continuously.

The exposure light IL passing through the variable photosensitive device 103 is incident on the optical integrator (homogenizer) 106 via a beam shaping optical system composed of the lens systems 104 and 105 arranged along a predetermined optical axis. Here, in this embodiment, since a fly-eye lens is used as the optical integrator 106, it is also called fly eye lens 106 hereafter. Instead of using the fly's eye lens 106, a rod integrator (inner reflective reflector) or a diffractive optical element may be employed. In addition, the optical integrator 106 may be disposed in two stages in series with the optical system in order to further increase the illuminance distribution uniformity.

An aperture diaphragm system 107 is disposed on the exit surface of the fly's eye lens 106. In the aperture diaphragm system 107, a circular aperture diaphragm for normal illumination, a modified aperture aperture diaphragm consisting of a plurality of eccentric introduction openings, an aperture diaphragm for circular illumination, and the like are arranged freely. In addition, instead of the aperture stop system 107, a region is disposed between the light source 100 (particularly the variable photoconductor 103) and the fly's eye lens 106 so that the exposure light IL is distributed on the pupil plane of the illumination optical system. You may use the optical unit (molding optical system) containing the some diffraction optical element which differs, and a zoom lens system. The exposure light IL emitted from the fly's eye lens 106 and passing through the predetermined aperture stop of the aperture stop system 107 enters the beam splitter 108 having a high transmittance and a low reflectance. The light reflected by the beam splitter 108 is incident on the integrator sensor 109 made of a photoelectric detector, and the detection signal of the integrator sensor 109 is transmitted to the main control system 9 through a communication line (not shown). Supplied.

The transmittance and reflectance of the beam splitter 108 are previously measured with high accuracy and stored in a memory in the main control system 9, and the main control system 9 is indirectly derived from the detection signal of the integrator sensor 109. It is comprised so that the incident light amount (and / or the light amount or illuminance of exposure light IL on the board | substrate 4) with respect to 3) may be monitored.

The exposure light IL transmitted through the beam splitter 108 is incident on the reticle blind mechanism 110. The reticle blind mechanism 110 is comprised with four movable blinds (light shielding plate; 111-A) and its drive mechanism. By setting these four blinds 111 in appropriate positions, a rectangular illumination area | region is formed in the visual field of the projection optical system 3, respectively. In addition, the blind 111 is used also for shielding a part of the photosensitive part formed in the density | concentration filter F mentioned later.

The exposure light IL shaped into a rectangular shape by the blind 111 of the reticle blind mechanism 110 is incident on the density filter F mounted on the filter stage FS. The concentration filter F is basically a configuration as shown in Fig. 2A. 2A is a top view illustrating an example of the configuration of the concentration filter F. FIG. This concentration filter F deposits the light-shielding part 121 which deposited the light-shielding material, such as chromium, on the light transmissive substrate, such as quartz glass or fluorine-doped quartz glass, and the light-shielding material, for example. And a photosensitive portion (damping portion) 123 in which the light-transmitting portion 122 and the light-shielding material are deposited while varying their probability of existence.

The shape of the light transmitting portion 122 and the external shape of the photosensitive portion 123 are formed in a rectangular shape. The reason is as follows. In the conventional exposure apparatus, the pattern formed on the reticle is collectively transferred to the shot set on the substrate 4, so that the light transmitting portion is set to a shape (approximately square) almost similar to the external shape of the region where the pattern is formed. On the other hand, as will be described in detail later, in this exposure apparatus, a reticle Ri having a partial pattern obtained by dividing a plurality of patterns transferred to a shot is formed, and the partial patterns are sequentially transferred to a portion of the shot. The pattern is transferred to the short. Hereinafter, within one shot, each region to which the partial pattern is transferred is called a partial shot region. For this reason, the shape of the light transmission part 122 and the external shape of the photosensitive part 123 are set to the elongate rectangular shape (rectangular shape) substantially similar to the partial pattern formed in the reticle Ri.

The photosensitive portion 123 is formed by depositing a light-shielding material in a dot shape. The dot size is in the state in which the density filter F is provided at the position shown in FIG. It is below the resolution limit of the optical system which has several optical elements 112-116 arrange | positioned at between. The dot is formed by increasing its existence probability so as to increase the photosensitivity in an oblique linear manner as it goes from the inner side (the light transmitting portion 122 side) to the outer side (the light blocking portion 121 side). However, the dot may be formed by increasing its existence probability so as to increase the photosensitivity curve by curve from inside to outside.

In addition, in the dot arrangement method, rather than arranging dots at the same pitch P in the same transmittance portion, arranging P + R in which random number R having a Gaussian distribution is generated for each dot is added to P. good. The reason is that diffraction light occurs due to the dot arrangement, and in some cases, light does not reach the photosensitive substrate beyond the numerical aperture NA of the illumination system, resulting in a large error from the design transmittance.

In addition, the dot size is preferably all the same size. The reason for this is that when a plurality of dot sizes are used, when an error from the design transmittance due to the above-described diffraction occurs, the error becomes complicated, that is, the transmittance correction becomes complicated. By the way, since the drawing of a density filter makes a dot shape error small, it is preferable to draw with a high acceleration EB drawing, and the dot shape is preferably a rectangle (square) in which the shape error by a process is easy to be measured. If there is a shape error, there is an advantage that the transmittance can be easily corrected if the error amount can be measured.

The light shielding portion 121 is provided with a plurality of alignment marks 124A, 124B, 124C, and 124D. These marks 124A, 124B, 124C, and 124D remove a part of the light shielding portion 121 of the density filter F, as shown in Fig. 2A, and have an opening of a rectangular shape or other shape (light transmitting portion; 124A). , 124B, 124C, and 124D can be formed and made into the mark.

In addition, the mark shown in FIG. 2B can also be used. 2B is a top view illustrating an example of a mark formed in the concentration filter F. FIG. In FIG. 2B, the slit mark 125 which consists of a some slit-shaped opening is employ | adopted. This slit mark 125 combines the mark element which arranged the slit formed in the Y direction in the X direction, and the mark element which arranged the slit formed in the X direction in the Y direction, in order to measure the position of a X direction and a Y direction. will be.

The position in the Z direction, the tilt amount in the Z direction, and the projection magnification of the density filter F are adjusted based on the result of measuring the position information of the marks 124A, 124B, 124C, and 124D. For this measurement, at least a part is formed in the sample stage 5, and the apparatus etc. which detect the mark of the density | concentration filter F with an imaging element, etc. can be used. In this case, the concentration filter F is moved in the optical axis direction to measure the marks 124A, 124B, 124C, and 124D or the marks 125 at the plurality of Z positions to obtain a Z position where the signal strength or signal contrast is maximized. Using this as the best focus position, the density filter F is disposed at this best focus position (a position conjugated with the object plane or the image plane of the projection optical system 3) or a position defocused a fixed amount from this best focus position. In this example, the density filter F is provided at a certain defocused position from the best focus position.

The number of marks formed on the density filter is not limited to four, but may be formed at least one depending on the setting accuracy of the density filter. In this example, the density filter is arranged so that the optical axis and the center of the illumination optical system almost coincide, and four marks are formed symmetrically with respect to the center (optical axis). It is preferable to arrange the plurality of marks so as not to be point symmetrical about the center, or to arrange the plurality of marks in point symmetry and form a recognition pattern separately. The reason for this is that when the concentration filter is placed in the illumination optical system and the energy distribution is measured, the density filter is removed and reset, and as a result, the density filter is modified in consideration of the optical characteristics (distortion, etc.) of the illumination optical system. This is because the correction loses meaning when the concentration filter is rotated and reset, so that the concentration filter can be reset to its original state.

Although the photosensitive part 123 is formed in the periphery (four sides) of the light transmission part 122 in the density | concentration filter F shown in FIG. 2A, the photosensitive part 123 is used when transferring the partial pattern formed in the reticle Ri. You don't always use the whole thing. In other words, according to the position of the partial short region to which the partial pattern on the substrate 4 is to be transferred, the blinds 111 serving as the light shielding portions are controlled to shield a part of the photosensitive portion 123 or the entire photosensitive portion 123. I'm using. The reason is that during the stitching exposure, the exposure amount of the overlapping portion is set to be inclined in order to make the exposure amount at the overlapping portion of the adjacent shots (partial shot regions) constant, and there is no adjacent short (partial shot region). It is because it is not necessary to make it the oblique exposure amount distribution in the site | part. In the case of using the density filter F in which the photosensitive part 123 is formed around the light transmission part 122 set to the elongate rectangular shape shown in FIG. 2A, the photosensitive part 123 is moved by the blind 111. FIG. When shielding, partial pattern transfer is performed in a state where one, two or three sides of four sides are shielded.

In addition, as the concentration filter F, not only the light-sensitive part and the light-shielding part were formed on the glass substrate as mentioned above by the light-shielding material, such as chromium, but also the position of the light-shielding part, the photosensitive part, and the photosensitive characteristic of the light-sensitive part using a liquid crystal element etc. You can also use the ones that you can change as needed. In this case, while the control of the blind 111 becomes unnecessary, it is possible to flexibly respond to various requests on the specification of the micro device to be manufactured, and is highly efficient.

The filter stage FS microscopically moves or moves the density | concentration filter F holding in the rotational direction and the translational direction in an XY plane. With the laser interferometer not shown, the X coordinate, Y coordinate, and rotation angle of the filter stage FS are measured, and the operation of the filter stage FS is controlled by this measured value and the control information from the main control system 9. Controlled.

The exposure light IL passing through the density filter F enters the condenser lens system 113 and the imaging lens system 114 through the reflection mirror 112. The condenser lens system 113 and the imaging lens system 114 are optical systems corresponding to the reduction optical system according to the present invention, and the reduction magnification is set to 1 / 1.5 to 1 / 1.6.

Here, the optical system composed of the condenser lens system 113 and the imaging lens system 114 is set in the reduced optical system in order to reduce the influence of foreign matter such as dust attached to the density filter F described above. In other words, the density filter F is a position that is optically conjugate with the object plane or the image plane of the projection optical system 3 (the surface on which the pattern forming surface of the reticle Ri is arranged) or a certain defocused position from this position. Since the foreign matter adheres to the concentration filter F, the uniform illumination distribution is locally collapsed on the reticle Ri, and the exposure amount on the substrate 4 is locally changed. This is because it causes a problem in forming a fine pattern of uniform line width.

Further, the reason for setting the reduction magnification of the condenser lens system 113 and the imaging lens system 114 to 1 / 1.5 to 1 / 1.6 is to ensure a magnification that can reduce the influence of foreign matter attached to the density filter F. Of course, the illumination area of the necessary size is not caused to increase the size of the illumination optical system 1 (in particular, the size of the optical systems 112 to 116 disposed between the density filter F and the reticle Ri). To form on the phase.

The exposure light IL having passed through the imaging lens system 114 is illuminated through the reflection mirror 115 and the main capacitor lens system 116, similar to the rectangular opening of the blind 111 on the circuit pattern region of the reticle Ri. The region (the region to which the exposure light IL is irradiated to the reticle Ri) is irradiated with a predetermined intensity distribution. That is, the arrangement surface of the opening part of the blind 111 is substantially conjugated with the pattern formation surface of the reticle Ri by the synthesis system with the condenser lens system 113, the imaging lens system 114, and the main capacitor lens system 116. . Moreover, you may arrange | position the blind 111 apart from the conjugate surface with the pattern formation surface of the reticle Ri, for example, and arrange | position substantially in conjugate with the density | concentration filter F. FIG. In addition, in this embodiment, although the condenser lens system 113 and the imaging lens system 114 were used as a reduction system, the optical system 113, 114, 116 which consists of all the optical elements arrange | positioned between the density | concentration filter F and the reticle Ri is carried out. You may comprise the reduction optical system of this invention. In addition, in this embodiment, the illumination area set on the reticle Ri is set to elongate rectangular shape (rectangular shape) according to the external shape of the partial pattern, and set to the size which can illuminate one whole part pattern. It is. In addition, in this embodiment, since the illumination area on the reticle Ri is limited by the density | concentration filter F and the blind 111, the density | concentration filter F is matched with the reticle pattern, and the magnitude | size and shape of the light transmission part 122 are shown. You may comprise so that it may replace | exchange with another density filter different from others.

By the exposure light IL emitted from the illumination optical system 1, the reticle Ri held on the reticle stage 2 is illuminated. In the reticle stage 2, the reticle Ri of the ith (i = 1 to N) is held. In the reticle Ri used in the exposure apparatus of the present embodiment, a plurality of partial patterns in which a pattern transferred to a shot set on the substrate 4 is divided into a plurality of elongated rectangular (rectangular) regions are formed.

3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a reticle Ri used in this exposure apparatus. In FIG. 3, the site | part shown with the code | symbol 200, 201, 202 has shown the support surface (support position) in which the reticle Ri is supported when the reticle Ri is supported on the reticle stage 2. As shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, among the two pairs of sides of the reticle Ri facing each other, the support surfaces 200 and 201 extending in the X direction so as to follow the pair of sides 150 and 151 extending in the X direction. , 202 are set, two support surfaces 200, 201 are disposed along one side 150, and one support surface 202 is disposed along the other side 151. In this reticle Ri, a plurality of elongate rectangular patterns (three partial patterns 161, 162, 163 in Fig. 3) having a longitudinal direction set in the X direction are arranged in the Y direction. Moreover, when the reticle Ri is held on the reticle stage 2, the reticle Ri is bent by its own weight. In this example, due to the arrangement of the three support surfaces 200 to 202 shown in FIG. It bends larger in the Y direction than in the X direction. Therefore, in order to suppress the imaging error (especially the focus error) on the board | substrate 4 which arises because of the curvature at the time of transfer of each partial pattern, in the reticle Ri, the some partial pattern 161-163 is the same. It is formed making the arrangement direction Y. That is, the reticle Ri is held on the reticle stage 2 so that the arrangement direction of the plurality of partial patterns coincides with the direction in which the warpage caused by the above-described self weight increases among the X and Y directions (Y direction in this example). At this time, the number of partial patterns formed in the reticle Ri and the width of each partial pattern in the Y direction may be set according to the amount of warpage of the reticle Ri, the forming position on the reticle Ri, and the like in the Y direction. For example, by the device which adjusts the relative positional relationship of the imaging surface of the projection optical system 3 and the board | substrate 4 (imaging adjustment apparatus mentioned later), it projects in the whole area | region of the projection area | region (exposure area) for every partial pattern. Each partial pattern is below an allowable value that allows the imaging surface of the optical system 3 and the surface of the substrate 4 to substantially match (i.e., set the surface of the substrate 4 within the depth of focus of the projection optical system 3). What is necessary is just to determine the number of the partial patterns, and the width | variety so that the curvature amount in may be suppressed. In addition, the plurality of partial patterns may have different sizes (particularly, widths in the Y direction), shapes, positions in the X direction, and the like, that is, they may be formed at different positions with respect to the Y direction on the reticle Ri.

As described later, in the present embodiment, when the partial patterns 161, 162, and 163 are transferred to the partial short region of the substrate 4, the end portions are transferred so as to overlap the ends by stitching exposure. For this reason, the partial patterns 161, 162, and 163 are not simply divided into three parts of the pattern transferred to the short of the substrate 4, but instead of the ends (peripherals) 161b and the partial patterns 162 of the partial pattern 161. The same pattern is formed in the corresponding end part (peripheral part) 162a, and the same pattern is formed in the end part 162b of the partial pattern 162, and the corresponding end part 163a of the partial pattern 163. FIG. Therefore, if the lengths of the Y-directions of the partial patterns 161, 162, and 163 are Y1, Y2, and Y3, respectively, the sum thereof is the Y-direction of the undivided pattern formed in the reticle used in the conventional stitching type projection exposure apparatus. Is longer than the length. In the figure, 164 and 165 are alignment mark formation areas in which the reticle alignment marks 21B and 21A for position alignment of the reticle Ri are formed, respectively.

Again, reference is made to FIG. 1. A shelf-shaped reticle library 16b is disposed on the side of the reticle stage 2, and the reticle library 16b has N support plates 17b (N is a natural number) sequentially arranged in the Z direction, and a support plate 17b ) Is equipped with a reticle (R1, ..., RN). The patterns of these reticles R1, ..., RN each contain a plurality of partial patterns as shown in FIG.

The reticle library 16b is freely supported in the Z direction by the slide device 18b, and has an arm which is rotatable freely in the Z direction between the reticle stage 2 and the reticle library 16b. One loader 19b is disposed. After the main control system 9 adjusts the position of the reticle library 16b in the Z direction through the slide device 18b, the operation of the loader 19b is controlled to provide the desired support plate 17b in the reticle library 16b. Between the reticle stage 2, it is comprised so that the desired reticle R1-R1 can be received. In addition, in the exposure apparatus of FIG. 1, for example, a conveying system (not shown) for transferring the reticles R1 to RN between the hermetic cassette (SMIF port or the like) and the reticle library 16b is also formed. The type (number) of reticles necessary for exposing the number of wafers is carried in to the exposure apparatus by a sealed cassette in advance and mounted on the reticle library 16b. For this reason, even in a wafer in which it is necessary to use a plurality of reticles, it is possible to shorten the replacement time of the reticle and to improve the throughput (shortening the processing time).

The pattern image in the illumination region of the reticle Ri is reduced by a reduction factor (1 / α; for example, 5, or 4, etc.) through the projection optical system 3, so that the surface of the substrate 4 (ie, the substrate 4 ) Is projected onto the projection optical system 3 to which the exposure light IL is irradiated onto an exposure region which is conjugate with the illumination region. Here, the exposure area of the projection optical system 3 is set to a size substantially the same as the partial shot area set on the substrate 4, that is, a size capable of projecting the partial pattern on the substrate 4. Thus, in this embodiment, the pattern of the reticle Ri is made into the some partial pattern, and the exposure area of the projection optical system 3 is set to the magnitude | size which can project a partial pattern on the board | substrate 4. As shown in FIG. Thus, by setting the exposure area of the projection optical system 3 as small as possible, the design of the high NA projection optical system 3 in which the residual aberration is reduced as much as possible becomes easy, and the adjustment at the time of manufacture becomes easy, and projection The increase of the cost of manufacturing the optical system 3 can be suppressed, and also the cost of an exposure apparatus can be suppressed.

The reticle stage 2 moves the holding reticle Ri in the rotational direction and the translational direction in the XY plane. In addition, in this embodiment, since it is necessary to transfer the some partial pattern formed in the reticle Ri on the board | substrate 4 sequentially, the reticle stage 2 is the width | variety of the width | variety of the reticle Ri at least in the Y direction. It is configured to move by distance.

A laser interferometer (not shown) is formed in the reticle stage 2, and the X coordinate, the Y coordinate, and the rotation angle of the reticle stage 2 are measured by this laser interferometer, and the measured value and the main control system 9 The operation of the reticle stage 2 is controlled by the control information from. The reticle stage 2 is configured to be able to move in the direction of the optical axis AX of the projection optical system 3 and to be able to change the angle with respect to the optical axis AX. Thereby, the position and attitude | position of the Z direction of the reticle Ri can be adjusted, respectively. These are controlled by control information from the main control system 9.

On the other hand, the substrate (wafer in this embodiment) 4 is held on a substrate holder (not shown) such as a pin chuck holder by vacuum suction or the like, for example, and the substrate holder is placed on a sample table (substrate table; 5). The sample stage 5 is fixed on the substrate and is provided on the substrate stage 6 via a drive mechanism (not shown). This drive mechanism makes the sample stage 5 microscopically movable in the Z direction parallel to the optical axis of the projection optical system 3 and inclined with respect to the XY plane, and in this example, three actuators each independently movable ( Voice coil motor or EI core). Moreover, the board | substrate 4 may only adsorb | suck without adsorption or soft adsorption on the holder which consists of three pins.

In addition, a multi-point focal position detection system of an oblique incidence system having a light transmitting system AF1 and a light receiving system AF2 for detecting the position of the substrate 4 in the optical axis direction (Z direction) of the projection optical system 3 (hereinafter, A focus sensor AF) is formed. The focus sensor AF irradiates a light beam to a plurality of measurement points in an exposure area (corresponding to a partial short area) to which a reduced image of the partial pattern is projected in the field of view of the projection optical system 3, respectively, and the substrate 4 The light reflected by the light-receiving light is independently received, and the position in the Z direction of the substrate 4 at each measurement point (in this example, the surface of the substrate 4 relative to the predetermined reference plane, for example, the image plane of the projection optical system 3). Position shift amount) is detected. The measured value of this focus sensor AF is output to the main control system 9, The main control system 9 drives the sample stand 5 via the above-mentioned drive mechanism based on the measured value, and the focus of the board | substrate 4 is carried out. Position (position in the optical axis AX) direction and tilt angle control (focus and leveling adjustment) are performed. Thereby, in the exposure area of the projection optical system 3, the image plane of the projection optical system 3 and the surface of each partial shot region on the substrate 4 almost coincide, i.e., the entire surface of the partial shot region in the exposure region. The depth of focus of the projection optical system 3 is set. Moreover, the apparatus (image adjustment apparatus) which adjusts the image formation state of the pattern image on the board | substrate 4 in this example is not only the focus sensor AF used for focus and leveling adjustment, but the above-mentioned drive mechanism, as well as a projection optical system. Actuators (such as piezoelectric elements) for driving the plurality of optical elements of (3) independently of each other, and wavelength control devices (not shown) which vary the wavelength of exposure light IL oscillated from light source 100, etc. In addition, the imaging error generated due to the installation environment of the projection optical system 3, heat accumulation, or the like is set to almost zero (0) or less than the allowable value.

On this sample stage 5, an illuminance distribution detection sensor (so-called illuminance nonuniformity sensor) 126 that detects illuminance distribution on the positioning reference mark member 12 and the substrate 4 is fixed. In addition, the substrate stage 6 moves and positions the sample stage 5 (substrate 4) on the base 7 in the X direction and the Y direction, for example, by a linear motor.

In addition, a moving mirror 8m is fixed to the upper portion of the sample stage 5, and a laser interferometer 8 is disposed to face the moving mirror 8m. In addition, although the illustration is simplified in FIG. 1, the movable mirror 8m is provided with the movable mirror extended in the X direction and the movable mirror extended in the Y direction on the sample stage 5, and each movable mirror is formed. A laser interferometer is formed opposite to. In addition, instead of the said moving mirror, you may use the reflecting surface formed by mirror-processing the cross section (side surface) of the sample stand 5, for example.

The X coordinate, the Y coordinate, and the rotation angle of the sample stage 5 are measured by the laser interferometer 8, and the measured values are supplied to the stage control system 10 and the main control system 9. The stage control system 10 controls the operation of the linear motor or the like of the substrate stage 6 based on the measured value and the control information from the main control system 9. In addition, although illustration is abbreviate | omitted in FIG. 1, the measurement result from the laser interferometer provided in the reticle stage 2 is supplied to the main control system 9, and according to this measurement result, the main control system 9 is a reticle stage ( 2) controls the X coordinate, the Y coordinate, and the angle with respect to the rotation angle, the Z coordinate, and the optical axis AX.

Next, the illuminance distribution detecting sensor 126 will be described in detail. 4A and 4B are diagrams showing the configuration of the illuminance distribution detection sensor 126. The illuminance distribution detection sensor 126 moves the substrate stage 6 in a plane horizontal to the substrate 4 in the state where the exposure light IL is illuminated through the projection optical system 3. It is for measuring the spatial distribution, that is, the intensity distribution (illuminance distribution) of exposure light.

As shown in FIG. 4A, the illuminance distribution detection sensor 126 forms a photoelectric sensor 56 under the light shielding plate 55 having an opening (or pin hole) 54 having a rectangular (square in this embodiment) shape. The detection signal by the photoelectric sensor 56 is output to the main control system 9. In addition, the photoelectric sensor 56 may not be provided below the opening 54, and the light may be guided by a light guide or the like to detect the amount of light received by the photoelectric sensor or the like at another part.

The light shielding plate 55 is usually formed by depositing a metal such as chromium (Cr) on a substrate such as quartz, but when the metal such as chromium is deposited, the reflectance of the exposure light exposed on the light shielding plate 55 is high and the amount of reflection of the exposure light is large. . As a result, a flare phenomenon occurs because the reflected light by the light shielding plate 55 is reflected by the projection optical system or the reticle. This illuminance distribution detection sensor 126 is formed in order to measure the illuminance distribution of the exposure light when the board | substrate 4 is exposed, and it is most preferable to measure the illuminance distribution of the exposure light at the time of actual exposure. However, when measuring the illuminance distribution of the exposure light, if there is a situation different from the actual exposure situation, that is, a situation where the amount of reflection of the exposure light increases, the illuminance distribution of the exposure light at the time of actual exposure cannot be measured accurately.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, in order to make measurements as close as possible to the illuminance distribution of the actual exposure light at the time of exposure, the reflectance of the upper surface of the light shielding plate 55 is made approximately equal to the reflectance of the substrate 4 so that the influence of the reflected light is affected. We reduce. On the upper surface of the light shielding plate 55, a film having a reflectance on the same level as that of the substrate 4 in the wavelength region of the exposure light is formed. In order to realize this film, for example, as shown in FIG. 4B, chromium 58 is deposited on the transparent substrate 57 of quartz, and a thin film 59 of chromium oxide is formed on the chromium 58. Alternatively, a photoresist 60 such as a photoresist applied to the substrate 4 may be applied to the same film thickness. The reflectance of the upper surface of the light shielding plate 55 can be adjusted by appropriately selecting not only the material of the film formed on the surface thereof, but also the film thickness and composition (the number of layers, the thickness of each layer, the material of each layer, etc.). When the antireflection film or the like is formed on the substrate 4, the reflectance of the upper surface of the light shielding plate 55 is set in consideration of all such conditions.

By using the illuminance distribution detection sensor 126, the exposure light that has passed through the opening 54 formed in the light shielding plate 55 is measured while moving the substrate stage 6 in a plane horizontal to the surface of the substrate 4. The illuminance distribution almost equal to the illuminance distribution of the exposure light at the time of actual exposure can be measured.

In addition, a storage device 11 such as a magnetic disk device is connected to the main control system 9, and the exposure data file is stored in the storage device 11. The exposure data file includes design information of the reticles R1 to RN, mutual positional relationship between the reticles R1 to RN, information about the blind 111 to be controlled for each partial pattern formed in the reticles R1 to RN, alignment information, Information indicating the optical characteristics of the projection optical system 3, information on the warpage of the reticle Ri, and the like are recorded.

The information indicative of the optical characteristics of the projection optical system 3 is, for example, aberrations such as tilt of the image plane and image plane curvature. This information is the information obtained from the design value of the projection optical system 3 or the actual value of the optical characteristic of the projection optical system 3. In addition, the optical characteristics of the projection optical system 3 change due to changes in the installation environment (temperature, atmospheric pressure, etc.), heat accumulation in the projection optical system 3 due to irradiation of the exposure light IL, and the like. For this reason, when formed in the projection optical system 3 by the above-mentioned imaging adjustment apparatus, and when the optical characteristic of the projection optical system 3 is adjusted by this mechanism, the projection optical system stored in the exposure data file in the memory | storage device 11 is carried out. It is preferable to update the information which shows the optical characteristic of (3). Further, the information on the warp of the reticle Ri is the amount of warp in each partial pattern at least for each reticle in the Y direction when the reticle Ri is held by the reticle stage 2, and in this example, the warp amount It is a calculated value obtained from simulation or the like. The amount of warpage may be a measured value obtained by detecting the positional information in the Z direction at a plurality of points separated at least in the Y direction by forming a sensor having the same configuration as the above-described focus sensor AF on the reticle side, for example. none. In addition, when the structure (size, position, etc. of a partial pattern) of several reticles is substantially the same, you may just memorize | store one set of deflection amounts common to the plurality of reticles.

The exposure apparatus of the present embodiment exposes one shot while exposing a plurality of partial patterns formed on one reticle, and performs overlapping exposure between the shots using a plurality of reticles. Here, the reticle Ri and a method of manufacturing a micro device such as a semiconductor integrated circuit using this exposure apparatus will be described schematically.

FIG. 5 is a view for explaining a manufacturing process when manufacturing a micro device such as a semiconductor integrated circuit using the reticle Ri. FIG. The wafer W (substrate 4) shown in FIG. 5 is a micro device finally manufactured. In Fig. 5, a circuit pattern 27 of a layer with a semiconductor integrated circuit finally manufactured is designed. The circuit pattern 27 forms various line-and-space patterns (or isolation patterns) and the like in a rectangular region having a width of orthogonal sides dX and dY.

Next, the circuit pattern 27 is α times (α is an integer greater than 1, or a semi-integer, etc., and as an example 4, 5, 6, etc.), and the rectangle of which the width | variety of an orthogonal side is alpha * dX, alpha * dY is next. The parent pattern 36 which consists of an area | region of the area | region is created on image data, and the parent pattern 36 is divided into (alpha) pieces vertically and horizontally, and (alpha) * alpha parent pattern (P1, P2, P3, ...) , PN (N = α ² ) is created on the image data. In FIG. 5, the case of α = 5 is shown. Incidentally, the magnification α is the inverse of the projection magnification (magnification of the projection optical system 3 in FIG. 1 in this example) of the projection exposure apparatus used for the manufacture of the micro device such as the semiconductor integrated circuit. In addition, the number of divisions of the parent pattern 36 does not have to be the same number in the vertical and horizontal directions, and it is not necessary to necessarily match the magnification α from the circuit pattern 27 to the parent pattern 36.

Thereafter, with respect to these parent patterns Pi (i = 1 to N), drawing data for an electron beam drawing apparatus (or a laser beam drawing apparatus or the like can be used) is generated, respectively, and the parent patterns Pi are respectively generated. Transfer on reticle Ri in equal distribution.

For example, when manufacturing the first reticle R1, a thin film of a mask material such as chromium or molybdenum is formed on a light-transmissive substrate such as quartz glass, and the electron beam resist is applied thereon, followed by electrons. A latent image of an equal multiple of the first parent pattern P1 is drawn on the electron beam resist using a beam drawing apparatus. At this time, the parent pattern P1 is divided into a plurality (here three) and drawn.

Peripherals (ends) of the divided partial patterns 161, 162, 163 are not simply divided, but overlap each other, for overlapping with patterns of adjacent partial patterns 161, 162, 163 and other parent masks, respectively. It is as described above that the area is as wide as the negative number. Thereafter, the electron beam resist is developed, followed by etching, resist stripping, or the like, whereby the parent pattern P1 is formed in the pattern region 20 on the reticle R1.

Further, on the reticle R1, alignment marks 21A and 21B made of two-dimensional marks are formed in a predetermined positional relationship with respect to the parent pattern P1. The alignment marks 21A and 21B are formed in the alignment mark forming regions 164 and 165 shown in FIG. 3, and are formed corresponding to the partial patterns 161, 162 and 163 in this embodiment. Similarly, in the other reticle Ri, the parent pattern Pi and the alignment marks 21A, 21B are formed using an electron beam drawing apparatus or the like, respectively. These alignment marks 21A, 21B are used for position alignment with respect to the substrate or the concentration filter F. As shown in FIG.

Using the N reticles Ri thus produced, a reduced image of 1 / α times the parent pattern Pi of the reticle Ri is in the shot region 48 on the wafer W to which the photoresist is applied. Transferring while screen stitching is performed, a predetermined circuit pattern 35 is formed in each shot region 48. Here, in exposing each of the shot regions 48 set on the wafer W, exposure is performed while overlapping a part of the partial patterns 161, 162, 163 formed on the reticle Ri. In addition, when there is a shot which has already been exposed to the shot, the transfer is performed while partially overlapping the shot and a reduced image of 1 / α times the partial pattern.

The detail of the exposure operation | movement using the reticle Ri is as follows. Incidentally, in the following description, for simplicity, the parent pattern 36 is divided into two in the vertical and horizontal directions, and the substrate 4 (wafer W) is formed by using four reticles in which the divided parent patterns are formed. The overlapping joint exposure is performed in the four shot regions SH1 to SH4 on)).

First, the reticle R1 is loaded into and held in the reticle stage 2 from the reticle library 16b via the loader 19b. Next, the main control system 9 moves the reticle stage 2, arranges the partial pattern 161 at the position (lighting area) to which the exposure light IL is irradiated, and forms it corresponding to the partial pattern 161. Alignment is performed using the alignment marks 21A and 21B.

Moreover, when performing this alignment, the exact positional relationship of the alignment marks 21A, 21B previously formed corresponding to each of the partial patterns 161, 162, 163 is measured, and the reticle R1 is the reticle stage 2 It is preferable to make the alignment using the alignment mark (for example, alignment marks 21A and 21B formed corresponding to the partial pattern 162) which become a reference | standard at the time of mounting on the image already made. By setting it as such a state, the time to align using the alignment mark formed corresponding to the partial pattern 161 can be shortened, and alignment can be performed with high precision.

In addition, alignment of the concentration filter F is also performed in parallel with the alignment of the reticle R1, and the photosensitive portion 123 of the concentration filter F is depending on the position on the substrate 4 of the partial short region to be exposed. A process of shielding a part of the light with the blind 111 is also performed.

When the above alignment or the like is finished, the portion where the partial pattern is first transferred among the first shot regions on the substrate 4 by the step movement of the substrate stage 6 is the exposure region (projection region) of the projection optical system 3. Is moved to. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a situation where a partial pattern is first transferred to one short region. 6, the relative positional relationship of the reticle R1, the projection optical system 3, and the board | substrate 4, and the upper surface of the board | substrate 4 is shown typically.

In FIG. 6, the site | part shown with the code | symbol EA has shown the exposure area of the projection optical system 3, and the rectangular area | region with the code | symbol SH1-SH4 has shown the shot area set on the board | substrate 4. As shown in FIG. In addition, the shot region SH1 represents the first shot region, and the shot region SH2 represents the second shot region. In addition, the area | region with the code | symbol PH1 in the shot area | region SH1 has shown the partial short area | region to which the partial pattern is first transferred. As shown in FIG. 6, when the alignment of the reticle R1 and the step movement of the substrate stage 6 are completed, the partial shot region PH1 is positioned in the exposure region EA of the projection optical system 3, thereby partially The relative position of the pattern 161 and the partial short region PH1 is aligned. In other words, the partial pattern 161 formed on the reticle R1 and the partial shot region PH1 set on the substrate 4 are in a state of being disposed on the optical axis AX of the projection optical system 3. Further, using the focus sensor AF, the positional information at a plurality of points of the partial short region PH1 in the Z direction is detected, and the main control system 9 reads out the detected positional information and the exposure data file. Based on the warp information of the partial pattern 161, the position shift amount and the inclination amount in the Z direction between the imaging surface of the projection optical system 3 and the surface (approximate surface) of the partial shot region PH1 are calculated. And according to this calculation result, the sample stand 5 is driven through the above-mentioned imaging adjustment apparatus, and the imaging surface of the projection optical system 3 and the surface of the partial shot region PH1 are carried out on the entire surface of the exposure area EA. Substantially match. Thereby, generation | occurrence | production of the imaging error (focus error) which arises because of curvature by the self weight of reticle Ri can be prevented.

In this state, when the exposure light IL is irradiated to the partial pattern 161 through a reduction optical system composed of the condenser lens system 113 and the imaging lens system 114, the reduced image of the partial pattern 161 is partially shorted region ( Is transferred to PH1). In addition, although illustration is abbreviate | omitted in FIG. 6, the edge part of the two sides (side L10, L11) of the partial shot area | region PH1 is exposed with the light quantity distribution in which exposure amount gradually decreases as it goes to the outer side.

When the transfer of the reduced image of the partial pattern 161 formed on the reticle R1 is terminated, the irradiation of the exposure light IL to the partial pattern 161 is stopped, and the main control system 9 performs the reticle stage 2. The partial pattern 162 is arrange | positioned at the position to which exposure light IL is irradiated, and alignment is performed using the alignment mark formed corresponding to the partial pattern 162. FIG. Parallel to this alignment, alignment of the density | concentration filter F2 is also performed by the blind 111, and the part which changes the light-shielding part 123 of the density | concentration filter F by the blind 111 is also performed. In addition, in parallel with this, the main control system 9 moves the substrate stage 6 stepwise, so that the partial shot region to which the partial pattern is transferred next in the shot region SH1 is exposed to the exposure region (projection region) of the projection optical system 3. Move to).

7 is a diagram illustrating a situation in which the second partial pattern is transferred to one short region. 7, the relative positional relationship of the reticle R1, the projection optical system 3, and the board | substrate 4, and the upper surface of the board | substrate 4 is shown typically. As shown in FIG. 7, the partial shot region PH2 to which the second partial pattern 162 is transferred by the step movement of the substrate stage 6 includes a part of the partial shot region PH1 that has already been exposed. Is set. The reason for this is to prevent misalignment of the joint portion between the partial shot region PH1 and the partial shot region PH2. Next, the sample stage 5 is driven by using the positional information of the partial shot region PH2 obtained by the focus sensor AF and the warpage information of the partial pattern 162 read out from the exposure data file to drive the projection optical system ( The imaging surface of 3) and the surface of the partial short region PH2 are substantially matched.

As described above, the position of the substrate 4 is set, and the partial pattern 162 formed on the reticle R1 and the partial short region PH2 set on the substrate 4 are formed on the optical axis AX of the projection optical system 3. When the exposure light IL is irradiated to the partial pattern 162 through the reduction optical system composed of the condenser lens system 113 and the imaging lens system 114 in the arranged state, the reduced image of the partial pattern 162 is partially shorted region PH2. Is transferred). At this time, although illustration is abbreviate | omitted in FIG. 7, the edge part of the three sides (side L20, L21, L22) of the partial short area | region PH2 is exposed with the light quantity distribution in which exposure amount gradually decreases as it goes to the outer side. have.

When the transfer of the reduced image of the partial pattern 162 formed on the reticle R1 is completed, a process of transferring the third partial pattern is performed next. In the present embodiment, when the third partial pattern is transferred, the exposure of the shot region SH1 is terminated. However, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the shot region SH2 is disposed adjacent to the shot region SH1. Since it is assumed that not only the partial pattern is transferred but also the overlapping exposure between the shot regions, the location of shielding the photosensitive portion 123 of the density filter F with the blind 111 is not changed. Does

For this reason, when the transfer of the partial pattern 162 is complete | finished and irradiation of the exposure light IL with respect to the partial pattern 162 is stopped, the main control system 9 will move the reticle stage 2, and the exposure light ( The partial pattern 163 is arrange | positioned at the position to which IL) is irradiated, and alignment is performed using the alignment mark formed corresponding to the partial pattern 163. FIG. In addition, in parallel to this, the main control system 9 moves the substrate stage 6 stepwise, so that the partial shot region to which the partial pattern is transferred next in the shot region SH1 is exposed to the exposure region (projection region) of the projection optical system 3. Move to).

8 is a diagram illustrating a situation in which the third partial pattern is transferred to one short region. 8, the relative positional relationship of the reticle R1, the projection optical system 3, and the board | substrate 4, and the upper surface of the board | substrate 4 is shown typically. Even when the third partial pattern is transferred, as shown in FIG. 8, the partial shot region PH3 to which the third partial pattern 162 is transferred is already exposed by the step movement of the substrate stage 6. It is set including the part of the finished partial short region PH2. Next, the sample stage 5 is driven using the positional information of the partial shot region PH3 obtained from the focus sensor AF and the warpage information of the partial pattern 163 read out from the exposure data file to drive the projection optical system ( The imaging surface of 3) and the surface of the partial short region PH3 are substantially matched.

As described above, the position of the substrate 4 is set, and the partial pattern 163 formed on the reticle R1 and the partial short region PH3 set on the substrate 4 are formed on the optical axis AX of the projection optical system 3. When the exposure light IL is irradiated to the partial pattern 163 in the arranged state, the reduced image of the partial pattern 163 is transferred to the partial shot region PH3. Although not shown in FIG. 8, when transferring the partial pattern 163, the light amount of which the exposure amount gradually decreases as the end portions of the three sides (sides L30, L31, L32) of the partial short region PH3 move outwards. It is exposed with a distribution. 6 to 8 show exaggerated shot regions SH1 to SH4 on the substrate 4 for ease of explanation.

By the above, exposure of one shot region SH1 is completed. When exposing the other shots SH2 to SH4, the reticle on the reticle stage 2 is exchanged, and the blinds 111 are changed depending on whether there is an adjacent short region and which of the partial patterns 161, 162, and 163 is transferred. By changing the location of the photosensitive portion 123 of the density filter F to be shielded by light, the reduced image of the partial patterns 161, 162, and 163 is transferred to the corresponding partial short region in a step and repeat manner.

By the way, when projecting and exposing the reduced image of reticle R1-RN on the board | substrate 4 in this way, it is necessary to implement the screen joint (joint connection) between adjacent reduced images with high precision. In particular, in the present embodiment, partial patterns obtained by dividing a plurality of patterns are formed in each of the reticles R1 to RN, and each partial pattern is sequentially transferred to the partial short region on the substrate 4, so that each reticle (Ri) It is necessary to perform alignment between (i = 1 to N) and the corresponding short region on the substrate 4 with high accuracy. For this alignment, the projection exposure apparatus of the present embodiment is provided with a reticle and a substrate alignment mechanism.

FIG. 9 shows the alignment mechanism of the reticle. In this FIG. 9, the reference mark member 12 is fixed to the vicinity of the substrate 4 on the sample table 5, and in the X direction on the reference mark member 12. At predetermined intervals, for example, a pair of cross mark reference marks 13A and 13B are formed. At the time of alignment of the reticle Ri, by driving the substrate stage 6 of FIG. 1, as shown in FIG. 9, the center of the reference marks 13A, 13B on the reference mark member 12 is almost the projection optical system 3. The reference marks 13A, 13B are positioned so as to coincide with the optical axis AX of.

Moreover, two alignment marks 21A and 21B of cross shape are formed as an example so that the pattern area | region 20 of the pattern surface (lower surface) of the reticle Ri may be interposed between them. In addition, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, the pattern area | region 20 is divided into several, alignment mark 21A, 21B is formed corresponding to each pattern area | region, and the partial pattern 162 is shown in FIG. ) Shows a situation in which alignment is performed using the alignment marks 21A and 21B formed corresponding to the pattern region 20 in which is formed.

The intervals of the reference marks 13A and 13B are set to be substantially equal to the intervals of the reduced images by the projection optical system 3 of the alignment marks 21A and 21B, and as described above, the center of the reference marks 13A and 13B. Is aligned approximately to the optical axis AX, the alignment sensors 14A and 14B are respectively provided through the mirrors 22A and 22B to the illumination light having substantially the same wavelength as the exposure light IL (in this example, the illumination optical system 1). The alignment marks 21A, 21B and the reference marks 13A, 13B of the reticle Ri are illuminated by the exposure light IL branched (or changed in the optical path) halfway.

The alignment sensors 14A and 14B are each equipped with two-dimensional imaging elements such as an illumination system, an imaging system, and a CCD camera in a TTR (through the reticle) system, and the imaging elements are alignment marks 21A and 21B. And an image processing method for picking up images of corresponding reference marks 13A and 13B, and the picked-up signal is supplied to the alignment signal processing system 15 of FIG.

The alignment signal processing system 15 image-processes the captured image signal, calculates the positional shift amounts of the reference marks 13A, 13B and the alignment marks 21A, 21B in the X-direction, Y-direction, and the rotational direction, and these positions The shift amount is supplied to the main control system 9. The main control system 9 positions the reticle stage 2 so that these position shift amounts fall within zero or a predetermined range. Thereby, the partial marks 162 formed in the alignment marks 21A, 21B, and also in the pattern region 20 of the reticle Ri with respect to the reference marks 13A, 13B are positioned.

In other words, the center (exposure center) of the reduced image by the projection optical system 3 of the partial pattern 162 of the reticle Ri is substantially located at the center (approximately the optical axis AX) of the reference marks 13A, 13B. Determined and the orthogonal sides of the contour of the partial pattern 162 (the contour of the pattern region 20 in which the partial pattern 162 is formed) are set parallel to the X axis and the Y axis, respectively. In this state, the main control system 9 of FIG. 1 stores coordinates XF ₀ and YF _{0 in} the X-direction and Y-direction of the sample stage 5 measured by the laser interferometer 8 to determine the reticle Ri. Alignment ends. At this time, the coordinates of the reticle Ri obtained from the laser interferometer not shown are stored in correspondence with the partial pattern 162. Then, any point on the sample stage 5 can be moved to the exposure center of the parent pattern Pi. Moreover, also about partial patterns 161 and 163, alignment is performed similarly using the alignment mark 21A, 21B formed correspondingly, respectively. In this embodiment, the reticle alignment is performed for each partial pattern. For example, only one partial pattern is used to perform the reticle alignment using an alignment mark corresponding to the partial pattern. The reticle stage 2 may only be moved in accordance with the distance (design value or actual value obtained by detecting alignment marks 21A and 21B). Only when the reticle Ri is first mounted on the reticle stage 2, reticle alignment is performed for each partial pattern, and the relative positional relationship of all alignment marks on the reticle Ri is obtained and stored. When (Ri) is mounted on the reticle stage 2 after the second time, only a part of the alignment marks on the reticle Ri (for example, one or two) is aligned, and as a result (mark coordinates) The reticle stage 2 may be moved by using and the relative position relationship stored first. In this case, the time of reticle alignment can be shortened. In the present embodiment, the reticle stage 2 is driven at the time of alignment of the reticle Ri, but the above-described positional displacement amount, the reticle stage 2, and the substrate stage 6 are not driven without driving the reticle stage 2. The coordinates of the sample table 5 may be stored.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 1, the alignment sensor 23 of the image processing method is provided in the off-axis method in order to detect the position of the mark on the board | substrate 4 in the side part of the projection optical system 3. The alignment sensor 23 illuminates the to-be-detected mark with broadband illumination light non-photosensitively to a photoresist, image | photographs the image of a to-be-detected mark with a two-dimensional imaging element, such as a CCD camera, and aligns an imaging signal with an alignment signal processing system It supplies to (15). In addition, the distance (base line amount) between the detection center of the alignment sensor 23 and the center (exposure center) of the projection image of the pattern of the reticle Ri is previously determined using a predetermined reference mark on the reference mark member 12. It is stored in the main control system 9.

And when transferring each partial pattern of the reticle Ri to the 1st layer (first layer) on the board | substrate 4, the reticle based on the coordinate of the reticle Ri for every partial pattern memorize | stored at the time of reticle alignment mentioned above. The stage 2 is driven to position the partial pattern 161 of the reticle R1. Thereby, the partial pattern 161 is set so that its center substantially coincides with the optical axis AX of the projection optical system 3, and its two orthogonal sides are set parallel to the X axis and the Y axis, respectively, that is, the partial pattern 161. ) Is precisely aligned with the illumination area on the reticle R1 defined by the concentration filter F and the blind 111. In addition, the partial pattern 161 of the reticle R1 in the enlarged short region in which a plurality of (four in this example) shot regions SH1 to SH4 on which the screen is joined on the substrate 4 is regarded as one. The blind 111 is driven in accordance with the position of the partial pattern region PH1 to be transferred to shield a part of the photosensitive portion 123 of the density filter F.

In addition, the main control system 9 drives the substrate stage 6 based on the arrangement information (shot map data) of the plurality of shot regions set on the substrate 4, which are read from the exposure data file. After determining the position of the s), the partial pattern 161 is transferred onto the substrate 4. The partial patterns 162 and 163 of the reticle R1 are transferred onto the substrate 4, respectively, while stepping the reticle stage 2 and the substrate stage 6, respectively. Thus, three partial patterns 161 to 163 are formed in the first shot region SH1 on the substrate 4 by the screen joining, and the stitching exposure of the shot region SH1 is completed. At this time, prior to the transfer of the partial pattern 162, the blind 111 is driven to change the area of the photosensitive portion 123 of the concentration filter F to be shielded. In addition, in the partial pattern 162 and the partial pattern 163, the area to be shielded among the photosensitive parts 123 is the same, so the blind 111 is not driven.

After the exposure of the shot region SH1 is completed, the reticle is exchanged to mount a separate reticle on the reticle stage 2, and is operated in exactly the same manner as the shot region SH1, so as to be separated within the above-mentioned enlarged shot region. The shot region may be stitched-exposed, or the shot region in another enlarged shot region may be stitched-exposed on the substrate 4 without using the reticle R1 as it is. In particular, in the latter case, the transfer may be started from the partial pattern 161 of the reticle R1, but since the partial pattern 163 is positioned in the illumination region at the end of the exposure of the shot region SH1, the shot region SH1 The transfer may be started from the partial pattern 163 in the reverse order. However, the time until the reticle stage 2 is driven to complete positioning of the partial pattern 161 into the illumination region is completed. The substrate stage 6 is driven to expose the exposure region of the next shot region (partial shot region). As long as it is equal to or less than the time until the positioning to is completed, the transfer may be started from the partial pattern 161.

In addition, before the respective partial patterns of the reticle Ri are transferred to the first layer on the substrate 4, for example, two alignment marks 24A and 24B in the cross shape shown in FIG. 9 are already on the substrate 4. When formed, the substrate stage 6 is driven based on the coordinates of each mark obtained by detecting the alignment marks 24A and 24B using the alignment sensor 23, the base line amount and the short map data described above. The position of the substrate 4 may be determined.

When the pattern of the reticle Ri is superimposed on the pattern already formed on the substrate 4, any one of the above-described partial short region, shot region, and enlarged shot region is used as the basic short, and the alignment sensor ( 23) is used to perform statistical calculation on coordinates obtained by detecting alignment marks respectively attached to at least three basic shots on the substrate 4, thereby calculating the coordinates of all the basic shots to be overlaid on the substrate 4. And while controlling the movement of the board | substrate stage 6 based on this calculated coordinate, each partial pattern is transferred onto the board | substrate 4 for every reticle Ri. At this time, the movement of the reticle stage 2 is controlled as in the pattern transfer to the first layer described above. Thereby, the stitching exposure can be performed for each shot region while the respective partial patterns are exactly overlapped with the corresponding patterns on the substrate 4 for each reticle Ri.

Although the positional alignment of the reticle Ri and the substrate 4 has been described above, the relative positional alignment of the reticle Ri and the concentration filter F of the marks 124A, 124B, 124C, 124D or the slit mark 125 is described. It is performed based on the result of measuring positional information. In addition, in the characteristic of the board | substrate stage 6, the micro-rotation may arise in the board | substrate 4 by an error, such as a yaw error, and for this reason, a slight misalignment to the relative attitude | position of the reticle Ri and the board | substrate 4 Is generated. This error is measured in advance or measured during actual processing, so that the reticle stage 2 or the substrate stage 6 is controlled so as to cancel it out so that the attitude of the reticle Ri and the substrate 4 is corrected to match. have. When the displacement amount (including the rotation amount) from the predetermined position of the reticle stage 2 exceeds the allowable value by the alignment of each partial pattern of the reticle Ri and the partial short region on the substrate 4, the reticle stage ( In addition to the reticle stage 2, the substrate stage 6 and / or the sample stage 5 are finely moved while suppressing the displacement amount of 2) below the allowable value, or the concentration filter (in accordance with the displacement amount of the reticle stage 2) F) may be fine-tuned. Thereby, the alignment error of each partial pattern of the reticle Ri and the above-mentioned illumination area | region can always be suppressed small, and the exposure amount distribution in each shot area on the board | substrate 4 can be made almost uniform. In addition, in this embodiment, instead of rotating the reticle stage 2 or in combination with it, you may micro-rotate the sample stand 5.

In this way, the reduced images of the parent patterns P1 to PN (partial patterns) of the N reticles R1 to RN in FIG. 1 are superimposed on the corresponding short regions (partial short regions) on the substrate 4 in sequence. By exposure transfer, the reduced images of each of the parent patterns P1 to PN are subjected to exposure transfer while performing the reduction of the adjacent images of the parent pattern and the screen. Thereby, the projection image which reduced the parent pattern 36 of FIG. 1 by 1 / (alpha) times on the board | substrate 4 is exposure-transferred.

Thereafter, the photoresist on the substrate 4 is developed to perform etching, peeling off of the remaining resist pattern, and the like, so that the projected image on the substrate 4 becomes a circuit pattern 35 as shown in FIG. Formation of the layer with integrated circuits is terminated. Hereinafter, the semiconductor integrated circuit as a micro device is finally manufactured by repeating the exposure operation described above with respect to other layers.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the respective partial patterns 161, 162, 163 are transferred to the corresponding partial short region using a reticle Ri having a plurality of partial patterns 161, 162, 163 is formed. Explained. However, the present invention is not limited to the case of using a reticle Ri having a plurality of partial patterns, but is also applied to the case of using a reticle in which a non-divided pattern is formed, that is, a conventionally used reticle. can do.

In the case of using this reticle, in order to secure the illumination area | region which can illuminate the whole pattern, while increasing the density | concentration filter F and the reticle blind mechanism 110, the furnace which injects into the reticle blind mechanism 110 is carried out. It is also necessary to enlarge the cross-sectional shape of the light light IL. For example, when the reduction magnification of the optical system composed of the condenser lens system 113 and the imaging lens system is β, in order to enlarge the illumination area of the illumination optical system 1 by Mx times in the X direction and My times in the Y direction It is necessary to Mx / β multiply the cross-sectional shape of the exposure light IL immediately after passing through the density filter F, and My / β multiply the cross-sectional shape of the Y direction.

In addition, in the said embodiment, although the exposure area of the projection optical system 3 is set to the magnitude | size which can project the partial pattern formed in the reticle Ri on the board | substrate 4, the reticle in which the pattern which is not divided is formed is formed. In the case of using, it is also necessary to set the exposure area of the projection optical system 3 to a size capable of projecting the entire pattern formed on the reticle onto the substrate 4.

When exposing using the exposure apparatus which added the above change, the whole pattern formed in the reticle is collectively transferred to one shot area on the board | substrate 4. In this case, the periphery of the shot region is arranged to overlap with the periphery of other shot regions, and stitching exposure is performed in the state where the periphery between the shots overlaps.

The projection exposure apparatus in the above-described embodiment is a batch exposure type in which batch exposure is sequentially repeated for each partial shot region (or each shot region), but scanning exposure is performed for each partial shot region (or each shot region). The present invention can also be applied to a scanning exposure type which is sequentially repeated. In this case, the concentration filter F is configured to be movable in the XY plane, and a fixed slit plate (fixed blind) (not shown) having an elongated rectangular slit (opening) is formed by the concentration filter F and the reflection mirror ( Arranged on the optical path between 112, the illumination area of the illumination optical system 1 is set to a slit shape. By setting it as such a structure, the illumination region of the illumination optical system 1 is set in the state which can illuminate a part of the partial pattern formed in the reticle Ri or a part of the pattern formed in the reticle. At this time, the illumination area is set smaller than the partial pattern or pattern with respect to the scanning direction in which the reticle is moved at the time of scanning exposure, and is also similar to the partial pattern or pattern with respect to the direction orthogonal to the scanning direction (non-scanning direction). It is set more than enough.

In addition, the exposure area of the projection optical system 3 is set to a size capable of projecting a part of the partial pattern in the illumination area or a part of the pattern formed on the reticle onto the substrate 4. In short, the projection optical system 3 is set such that the size of its projection field of view (image field) includes an illumination area on the object plane side and an exposure area on the image plane side.

When exposing using the exposure apparatus which added the above change, in the state in which the exposure light IL shape | molded in the slit shape illuminates a part of the partial pattern formed in the reticle Ri or a part of the pattern formed in the reticle, The partial pattern is sequentially transferred to the partial short region while the wafer is moved relative to the exposure area in synchronization with the reticle and the substrate 4 with respect to the light light IL, that is, the relative movement of the reticle with respect to the illumination area. , Or the pattern is transferred to the shot region. At this time, the concentration filter F is moved relative to the exposure light IL in synchronization with the movement of the reticle and the substrate 4, for example, the concentration when the exposure light IL irradiates the periphery of the shot region. The photosensitive portion 123 of the filter F is controlled to reduce the exposure light IL.

In addition, when scanning exposure of each partial shot area | region, you may move the reticle Ri and the board | substrate 4 to the arrangement direction (Y direction which becomes a short longitudinal direction) of a partial pattern or partial short area, respectively, or reticle Ri ) And the substrate 4 may be respectively moved in the direction orthogonal to the arrangement direction (the X direction serving as the longitudinal direction of the partial pattern or the partial short region). In the latter case, in particular, the reticle Ri and the substrate 4 are stepped in the X direction between scanning exposures of the partial shot regions, but the field of view (image field) of the projection optical system 3 is smaller than that of the former scanning exposure method. Therefore, the manufacturing cost of the projection optical system 3 can be greatly reduced.

As described above, the present invention can be applied to both the projection exposure apparatus of the batch exposure type and the projection exposure apparatus of the scanning exposure type, but when a high overlapping accuracy is required, the batch exposure type projection exposure apparatus is adopted, In the case where priority is given to improvement in throughput, i.e., throughput of the substrate per unit time, it is preferable to employ a scanning exposure type projection exposure apparatus.

In addition, in the said embodiment, the density filter F was used in order to make the exposure amount distribution of the peripheral part of the shot region or partial shot region set on the board | substrate 4 into the oblique exposure amount distribution. However, in addition to this, for example, the present invention also applies when a density filter is used in order to make the illuminance distribution of the exposure light IL irradiated onto the reticle R into a desired distribution (for example, a uniform illuminance distribution). can do. In short, the present invention is applicable to all configurations in which the concentration filter is disposed on the optical path on the incident side of the exposure light IL of the reticle.

In addition, as already described in the above embodiment, when the reticle Ri is disposed on the reticle stage 2, warping may occur in the reticle. If the reticle Ri is warped, since the pattern formation surface of the reticle Ri does not coincide with the image surface of the projection optical system 3, the amount of deviation of the pattern with respect to the image surface is closer to the image surface side of the projection optical system 3. As a focus error. In the above exposure apparatus, in order to correct the focus error on the image plane side of the projection optical system 3 generated due to the warp of the reticle Ri, the position in the Z direction of the substrate 4 in accordance with the warp amount of the reticle Ri and The posture (the inclination of the surface of the substrate 4 with respect to the optical axis AX) may be corrected.

For example, when the reticle Ri is held by the support surfaces 200, 201, 202 shown in FIG. 3, warping of the reticle Ri occurs along the Y direction. When this warp occurs, the warp amount of the partial pattern 162 formed at the center portion of the reticle Ri is small, but the partial patterns 161 and 163 formed at a position near the periphery of the reticle Ri are images of the projection optical system 3. It is arranged in an inclined state with respect to the surface. Therefore, when transferring the partial pattern 162, the position of the Z direction of the board | substrate 4 is adjusted, and when transferring the partial patterns 161, 163, the position of the Z direction of the board | substrate 4 is adjusted, and At the same time, it is preferable to control the posture of the substrate 4 to correct the defocus error caused by the warping of the reticle Ri.

In addition, when correcting this defocus error, you may correct | amend by controlling the position and attitude | position of the Z direction of the reticle Ri. At this time, if the reduction magnification of the projection optical system 3 is 1/4, the correction amount is 16 times that of the case of controlling and correcting the position and attitude in the Z direction of the substrate 4. Further, for example, by moving at least one optical element of the projection optical system 3 or by changing the wavelength of the exposure light IL emitted from the light source 100, the optical characteristics of the projection optical system 3 By adjusting the (imaging characteristic), at least part of the image plane may be moved within the exposure area of the projection optical system 3 to correct the above-described focus error. Therefore, in the above embodiment, at least one of the movement of the substrate 4, the movement of the reticle Ri, and the adjustment of the optical characteristics of the projection optical system 3 may be performed in order to correct the focus error.

In addition, when correcting the defocus amount according to the warp of the reticle Ri, the warp amount of the reticle R1 to RN on the reticle stage 2 measured in advance is stored in the exposure data file in the storage device 11, and the reticle stage A measuring device for reading the amount of warpage according to the reticle Ri disposed on (2) and correcting the amount of warpage or measuring the warpage amount of the reticle Ri held on the reticle stage 2 (e.g., For example, an optical sensor having the same configuration as the above-described focus sensor AF) may be formed, and the focus error generated due to the warpage of the reticle Ri may be corrected according to the measurement result.

In order to further improve the uniformity of the line width, the error of the focus control may be further reduced. To this end, while improving the accuracy itself of the autofocus mechanism (including the focus sensor AF, the actuator for driving the sample stage 5, etc.) for realizing autofocus (including leveling) of the substrate 4, the exposure light What is necessary is just to transfer the partial pattern, realizing a high-precision autofocus by making IL low and low exposure time.

In the above-described embodiment, when the inclination and the image plane curvature of the image plane of the projection optical system 3 are generated, or the surface of the substrate 4 is not flat, the main control system 9 is stored in the storage device 11. What is necessary is just to read out the information regarding the optical characteristic of the projection optical system 3 stored, or the flatness of the board | substrate 4, and correct | amend the correction value for correcting these in addition to the correction value of the above-mentioned focus error.

In addition, since the parent pattern of the reticle Ri is often composed of a plurality of patterns, the parent pattern is divided into the pattern units to form a partial pattern, thereby forming a partial pattern in each short region on the substrate 4. The seam of the shot region may be removed. Therefore, each partial pattern or the formation region thereof on the reticle Ri may not be rectangular. For example, some of them may have irregularities.

Moreover, especially in the reticle used for manufacture of a semiconductor integrated circuit, since the circuit pattern of the same structure may be formed in multiple numbers, it is good also as a partial pattern by dividing a some circuit pattern by a circuit pattern unit, for example. At this time, the circuit patterns included in each partial pattern may not be one or the same number, or may be a plurality or a different number. In addition, in the said embodiment, although the width | variety of each partial pattern or its formation area | region with respect to the arrangement direction of several partial patterns (Y direction corresponding to the short longitudinal direction of a partial pattern in FIG. 3) was the same, for example, a parent Depending on the configuration of the pattern, a plurality of partial patterns may be formed with different widths. That is, in the above embodiment, when the reticle Ri is mounted on the reticle stage 2, the reticle Ri is used in the X- and Y-directions in the direction in which the warp amount of the reticle Ri is large (Y direction in this example). What is necessary is just to divide the pattern to be formed into a some partial pattern, and the shape, size (width), etc. of each partial pattern or its formation area can be arbitrary.

Moreover, in the said embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the shape extended in a Y direction so that one pair of sides 150 and 151 which extend in a Y direction may follow among two pairs of opposite sides of a reticle Ri. The case where the support surface (supporting position) of 200, 201, 202 is set and the amount of curvature of the reticle Ri in the Y direction is taken as an example. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the pattern (Parent pattern) is divided | segmented into the partial patterns 160, 161, and 162 extended in an X direction, and what arrange | positioned them in the Y direction is formed in reticle R1-RN. It was. However, the shape and arrangement method of the partial pattern are not limited to this, and can be arbitrarily set according to the bending method of the reticle Ri. For example, considering not only the warp in the Y direction of the reticle Ri but also the warp in the X direction, the pattern (parent pattern) may be further divided in the X direction to arrange the partial pattern in a lattice shape. . However, if the number of divisions is too large, the control becomes complicated and the throughput decreases. Therefore, the number of divisions is preferably set in consideration of the throughput and the precision of the pattern formed on the substrate 4. In addition, in the said embodiment, although each partial pattern of the reticle Ri is a division | segmentation pattern obtained by dividing one pattern into a plurality, you may form several mutually different patterns in the same reticle Ri.

Further, in the above embodiment, when the reduced image of the partial patterns 161, 162, 163 formed on the reticle Ri is transferred to each of the corresponding partial short regions PH1, PH2, PH3, the reticle Ri is Y. The partial pattern arranged in the illumination region of the reticle Ri is switched by moving in the direction, but the partial pattern arranged in the illumination region may be switched by moving the illumination region without moving the reticle Ri. At this time, each of the four blinds 111 of the reticle blind mechanism 110 may be controlled, and the concentration filter F may be moved in accordance with the positions of the partial patterns 161, 162, and 163.

In addition, although the intensity distribution of exposure light IL was detected using the illuminance distribution detection sensor 126 which has the micro aperture 54 in the above-mentioned embodiment, it is a line sensor or a one-dimensional or two-dimensional CCD, for example. The exposure light IL may be detected to shorten the measurement time of the intensity distribution. In addition, in the case of using a rod integrator (inner reflective reflection integrator) as the optical integrator 106, for example, it is close to the ejection surface of the rod integrator which is substantially conjugated with the pattern forming surface of the reticle. You may arrange | position a density | concentration filter. The reticle blind mechanism 110 may be formed in addition to the illumination optical system. In addition, although the reticle blind mechanism 110 has four blinds 111, you may use two L-shaped light shielding plates, for example, and the structure may be arbitrary.

In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the shapes of the shot region and the partial shot region are rectangular. However, the shot region and the partial shot region do not necessarily have to be rectangular. For example, they may be pentagon, hexagon, or other polygon. In addition, each shot region and partial shot region do not have to have the same shape, and can be made into different shapes and sizes. In addition, the shape of the part where screen joint is performed does not need to be rectangular, but can also be made into a zigzag stripe shape, a meandering stripe shape, and other shape. In addition, "screen joint" in this specification means not only connecting a pattern to a joint, but also arranging a pattern and a pattern in a desired positional relationship. In addition, the pattern or the partial pattern does not need to be transferred to an overlapping portion (peripheral portion exposed to multiple exposures) between the plurality of shot regions or the partial shot regions.

For example, it may divide into a dense pattern and an isolated pattern, and may form in a reticle, and may remove or reduce the joint part of the patterns on the board | substrate 4, for example. In this case, depending on the device pattern to be formed on the substrate 4 (wafer, etc.), the pattern of one reticle may be transferred to a plurality of regions on the substrate 4, respectively, so that the number of reticles used for manufacturing the device is determined. Can be reduced. Or at least one CPU, DRAM, SRAM, A / D converter, and D / A converter, each of which expands the enlarged pattern (the above-described parent pattern 36) in units of functional blocks. The functional blocks may be formed in a plurality of reticles, respectively. In the above-described embodiment, a plurality of reticles are used for the exposure (stitch joint exposure) using a stitching method, but only one reticle in which a plurality of partial patterns are formed may be used. Further, the patterns or partial patterns which are respectively transferred to a plurality of shot regions or partial shot regions where the peripheral portions partially overlap on the substrate do not need to be different from each other, and are transferred to at least two shot regions or partial shot regions, for example. The pattern or partial pattern may be the same. In addition, according to the above-described embodiment, a fine pattern having a uniform line width can be formed on the entire surface of a plurality of shot regions or partial shot regions where the peripheral portions partially overlap on the substrate, and patterns having different line widths are mixed. Even if it is, the pattern can be formed with an accurate line width for each pattern, that is, the mixed pattern can be formed on the substrate with high fidelity. In the above embodiment, although the reticle stage 2 is equipped with one reticle, for example, a reticle stage capable of mounting a plurality of reticles may be used, in which case the replacement time of the reticle can be shortened. have. At this time, each reticle is mounted on the reticle stage through the fine movement mechanism, so that the reticle can be aligned with high precision. In addition, in the said embodiment, although the filter stage FS which drives the density | concentration filter F, and the interferometer which measures the position are formed, these do not necessarily need to be formed. In the above embodiment, the focus leveling adjustment is performed in consideration of the warp in the weight of the reticle Ri. In particular, in a reticle in which a plurality of patterns are arranged along the direction in which the warpage amount is large (Y direction), the warp amount for each pattern becomes small. It is not necessary to perform the focus leveling adjustment in which the deflection amount is added, or only the part of the plurality of patterns (for example, the patterns at both ends) may be performed in the focus leveling adjustment in which the deflection amount is added.

In the above-described embodiment, ArF excimer laser light (wavelength 193 nm) is used as the illumination light for exposure, but g line (wavelength 436 nm), i line (wavelength 365 nm), KrF excimer laser light (wavelength 248 nm), and F ₂ laser light ( Wavelength 157 nm), Ar ₂ laser light (wavelength 126 nm), or the like. In the exposure apparatus of the F ₂ laser as a light source, for example refractive optical element (lens elements) that are used to together soon as the catadioptric optical system is employed as the projection optical system, the illumination optical system or the projection optical system are both being as fluorite, and a laser light source, light The air in the optical system and the projection optical system is replaced with, for example, helium gas, and the helium gas is also filled between the illumination optical system and the projection optical system, and between the projection optical system and the substrate.

In exposure apparatuses using F ₂ lasers, the reticle or concentration filter is made of fluorite, fluorine-doped synthetic quartz, magnesium fluoride, LiF, LaF ₃ , lithium, calcium, aluminum, fluoride (Lycaf crystal) or quartz. Is used.

Instead of the excimer laser, for example, harmonics of a solid laser such as a YAG laser having an oscillation spectrum at any one of wavelengths 248 nm, 193 nm and 157 nm may be used.

In addition, a single wavelength laser in the infrared or visible region oscillated from a DFB semiconductor laser or a fiber laser is amplified with a fiber amplifier doped with, for example, erbium (or both of erbium and ytterbium), using a nonlinear optical crystal. You may use the harmonics wavelength-converted to ultraviolet light.

For example, when the oscillation wavelength of a single wavelength laser is within the range of 1.51 to 1.59 µm, 8 times harmonics in which the generated wavelength is in the range of 189 to 199 nm, or 10 times harmonics in which the generated wavelength is in the range of 151 to 159 nm are output. do. In particular, when the oscillation wavelength is in the range of 1.544 to 1.553 µm, 8 times harmonics in the range of 193 to 194 nm, that is, the ultraviolet light which becomes almost the same wavelength as the ArF excimer laser, are obtained, and the oscillation wavelength is within the range of 1.57 to 1.58 µm. In this case, ultraviolet light having a 10 times harmonic in the range of 157 to 158 nm, that is, substantially the same wavelength as the F ₂ laser is obtained.

When the oscillation wavelength is in the range of 1.03 to 1.12 µm, 7 times harmonics in which the generation wavelength is in the range of 147 to 160 nm is output. In particular, when the oscillation wavelength is in the range of 1.099 to 1.106 µm, the generation wavelength is 157 to 158 nm. Seven times harmonics in the range, i.e., ultraviolet light, which is approximately the same wavelength as the F ₂ laser, are obtained. Moreover, an ytterbium dope fiber laser is used as a single wavelength oscillation laser. In addition, a soft X-ray region generated by a laser plasma light source or SOR, for example, Extreme Ultra Violet (EUV) light having a wavelength of 13.4 nm or 11.5 nm may be used. Moreover, you may use charged particle beams, such as an electron beam or an ion beam.

In addition, the projection optical system may use not only a reduction system but an equal magnification system or an expansion system (for example, exposure apparatus for liquid crystal display or plasma display manufacture, etc.). In addition, you may use any of a reflection optical system, a refractive optical system, and a reflective refractive optical system as a projection optical system. Further, the present invention may also be applied to an exposure apparatus of a proximity type, a mirror projection aligner, and an immersion type exposure apparatus in which a liquid is filled between a projection optical system PL disclosed in, for example, International Publication WO99 / 49504 and the like and a wafer. do. In addition, the liquid immersion type exposure apparatus may be a scanning exposure method using a reflection-optical projection optical system, or may be a static exposure method using a projection optical system having a projection magnification of 1/8. In the latter liquid immersion type exposure apparatus, in order to form a large pattern on the substrate, it is preferable to employ the step-and-stitch method described in the above embodiment.

Moreover, you may apply this invention to the exposure apparatus which has two wafer stages which are each independently movable. This twin wafer stage type exposure apparatus is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 10-214783 and corresponding US Pat. No. 6,341,007, or International Publication No. WO98 / 40791 and corresponding US Pat. No. 6,262,796. As long as the national legislation of the designated country or selected country selected in this international application allows, the contents disclosed in that U.S. patent are incorporated herein by reference.

Moreover, the exposure apparatus used for manufacture of the display containing a liquid crystal display element etc. as well as the exposure apparatus used for manufacture of a semiconductor element, the exposure apparatus which transfers a device pattern on a glass plate, and the device pattern used for manufacture of a thin film magnetic head. The present invention can also be applied to an exposure apparatus for transferring an image onto a ceramic wafer, an imaging device (CCD, etc.), an exposure apparatus used for manufacturing a micromachine, a DNA chip, or the like.

In such an exposure apparatus, the exposed substrate (device substrate) to which the device pattern is transferred is held on the substrate stage 6 by vacuum adsorption or electrostatic adsorption. By the way, a reflective mask is used in an exposure apparatus using EUV light, and a transmissive mask (stencil mask, membrane mask) is used in an proximity X-ray exposure apparatus or an electron beam exposure apparatus. Etc. are used.

The illumination optical system composed of a plurality of lenses and the projection optical system are incorporated in the exposure apparatus main body to perform optical adjustment, and a reticle stage or a substrate stage composed of a plurality of mechanical components is mounted on the exposure apparatus main body to connect wiring and piping, Furthermore, the exposure apparatus of this embodiment can be manufactured by performing comprehensive adjustment (electric adjustment, operation | movement confirmation, etc.). Moreover, it is preferable to manufacture an exposure apparatus in the clean room in which temperature, a clean degree, etc. were managed.

The semiconductor integrated circuit uses the steps of designing the function and performance of the device, manufacturing the reticle based on the designing step, manufacturing the wafer from the silicon material, and exposing the pattern of the reticle by the exposure apparatus of the above-described embodiment or the like. And a step of exposure transfer to a device, a device assembly step (including a dicing step, a bonding step, a package step), and an inspection step.

In addition, this invention is not limited to each above-mentioned embodiment, Needless to say that it can variously change within the range of this invention.

According to the present invention, even if foreign matters such as dust are attached to the concentration filter, the influence of the foreign matters can be reduced, and as a result, the energy distribution on the sensitive object can be made uniform, resulting in a uniform line width. There is an effect that a fine pattern can be faithfully formed.

In addition, the present invention facilitates the design of a high NA projection optical system in which the residual aberration is reduced as much as possible, and facilitates adjustment at the time of manufacture, thereby suppressing an increase in the cost of manufacturing the projection optical system. It is also possible to further suppress the increase in the cost of the exposure apparatus.

In addition, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned above, Needless to say that it can variously change within the range of this invention. In addition, the content disclosed in all the above-mentioned publications is used as a part of description of this specification, so long as the domestic law of the designated country or selected selected country which designated in this international application allows.

The content disclosed in this application relates to the subject matter contained in Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-14457 filed on January 23, 2003, all of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference.

Claims (8)

A method of exposing through a mask formed with a pattern to be transferred to a partition region set on a sensitive object,
Any one of the partial partitioned areas obtained by dividing the partial pattern and the partitioned area set in the sensitive object for each partial pattern formed in the mask so that an image of the partial pattern obtained by dividing the pattern into a plurality of areas is connected on the sensitive object. The exposure method is characterized by sequentially transferring the partial pattern onto the sensitive object while adjusting its relative position with the. The method of claim 1,
A mask in which a pattern to be transferred to the partition region is divided into a plurality of elongate rectangular regions, and the elongated rectangular region is arranged in a second direction orthogonal to a first direction representing the longitudinal direction. And exposing the thin rectangular shape region as the partial pattern. The method of claim 2,
While supporting the mask horizontally in at least three support positions, a third direction passing through two support positions disposed along one side of the mask among the at least three support positions is parallel to the first direction. The exposure method characterized by exposing in the state which supported the mask. The method of claim 2,
While supporting the mask horizontally in at least three support positions, the amount of warpage of the mask relative to the third direction passing through two of the support positions and its fourth direction perpendicular to the horizontal plane in the third direction; Exposure in the state which supported the mask so that the direction in which the deflection amount of a mask may be large, and the said 2nd direction may become parallel, The exposure method characterized by the above-mentioned. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The partial pattern is transferred onto the sensitive object through a projection system, and the positional alignment of the partial pattern and the sensitive object provides at least one of focus adjustment and leveling adjustment relative to the image plane of the projection system and the sensitive object. It is made by performing. The exposure method characterized by the above-mentioned. The method of claim 5
The amount of warpage accompanying the support of the mask is determined in advance in relation to the position of the partial pattern, and at least one of the focus adjustment and the level length adjustment is performed based on the calculated warpage amount. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
Exposure is carried out so that a part of said partial pattern and a part of the partial pattern adjacent to this may overlap. The method of claim 7, wherein
The exposure method characterized by setting the energy distribution of the exposure light which exposes the overlapping part which the said partial pattern overlaps obliquely so that it may become small gradually.

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