METHOD OF MANUFACTURING MIRRORS FROM JOINED MIRROR BLANKS, X-Y INTERFEROMETER AND METHOD OF INSPECTING WAFERS
This invention relates to a method of manufacture of mirrors and in particular thin mirrors for use in interferometry.
For some applications, for example x-y stage interferometers, a mirror which is optically flat for the length of a stage in one direction is required. In order to achieve this by current techniques a large cross-sectional area of glass is required. .A certain width is required to enable the mirror surface to be polished to the required accuracy and a large depth is required to stabilise the block. As an example, for a 300mm long mirror a cross-section of the order of 25mm x 25mm is necessary however the closer to a 10:1 or preferably an 8:1 length to width ratio the better.
A further issue, is that for x-y stage interferometry, where a laser beam is reflected off the mirror, typically a glass block of only 300mm x 25mm x 6mm is required. This allows for alignment tolerances and bevel width for a 3mm diameter laser beam. So, not only is there an excess of glass which increases cost, weight etc but, there is also a limitation that more expensive glass must be used, which may not be required by the optical laser interferometer requirements in the system.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a method of manufacturing mirrors comprising the steps of: producing at least two blocks of glass; joining the at least two blocks of glass together to produce a combined block whereby one surface of the combined
block comprises a plane and each of the at least two blocks of glass has a surface lying in that plane which surface additionally comprises the mirror surface; polishing the mirror surface; coating the mirror surface; and separating the combined block into the at least two blocks of glass whereby the steps of coating and separating can be carried out in either order.
For x-y stage interferometry, the at least two blocks of glass may be 6mm wide wherein at least five blocks of glass are joined to provide sufficient surface area for polishing to the required accuracy.
The invention reduces the volume of glass used and, as multiple blocks are polished at one time, cost and manufacturing times are also reduced.
According to a second aspect, the invention provides an x-y interferometer comprising at least two mirrors manufactured by producing at least two blocks of glass; joining the at least two blocks of glass together to produce a combined block whereby one surface of the combined block comprises a plane and each of the at least two blocks of glass has a surface lying in that plane which surface additionally comprises the mirror surface; polishing the mirror surface; coating the mirror surface; and separating the combined block into the at least two blocks of glass whereby the steps of coating and separating can be carried out in either order, whereby at least one mirror is used to measure displacement along the x and y axes respectively.
According to a third aspect, the invention provides an x-y interferometer comprising at least two mirrors
manufactured by producing at least two blocks of glass; joining the at least two blocks of glass together to produce a combined block whereby one surface of the combined block comprises a plane and each of the at least two blocks of glass has a surface lying in that plane which surface additionally comprises the mirror surface; polishing the mirror surface; coating the mirror surface; and separating the combined block into the at least two blocks of glass whereby the steps of coating and separating can be carried out in either order, whereby two of the mirrors are used to measure pitch of an object said two mirrors being vertically displaced with respect to one another.
According to a fourth aspect, the invention provides a method of manufacturing or inspecting semi-conductor wafers comprising an x-y interferometer having at least two mirrors manufactured by producing at least two blocks of glass; joining the at least two blocks of glass together to produce a combined block whereby one surface of the combined block comprises a plane and each of the at least two blocks of glass has a surface lying in that plane which surface additionally comprises the mirror surface; polishing the mirror surface; coating the mirror surface; and separating the combined block into the at least two blocks of glass whereby the steps of coating and separating can be carried out in either order, whereby at least one mirror is used to measure displacement along the x and y axes respectively.
The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: Fig 1 shows schematically, steps involved to
produce mirrors according to the invention; Fig 2 shows an x-y stage for use in x-y interferometry using mirrors manufactured according to the invention; and Fig 3 shows schematically, measurement of pitch in x-y interferometry.
Fig 1 shows the steps involved to produce mirrors according to the invention. Initially, five blocks of glass are cut from a block of substrate. These blocks 10a, 10b, 10c, lOd, lOe are joined 10 to produce a composite block having a common surface 12 which will eventually comprise the mirror surface. The common surface is polished 20, then an optical coating 32 is applied to the polished surface followed by separation 40 of the coated composite block into individual mirrors 40a, 40b, 40c, 40d, 40e.
A number of blocks of glass, for example at least five if each block is βmm wide, are first cut from a block of substrate. If the mirrors are for x-y stage laser interferometry then they can be cut from float glass of βmm depth (to meet optical requirements) or an alternative mirror substrate may be used such as fused silica, borosillicate glass (borofloat) , ROBAX or ZERODUR which have a low coefficient of thermal expansion, if this is a requirement of the mirror. A typical length for a x-y stage laser interferometry mirror is 300-400mm.
The blocks are joined 10 by for example by using a suitable material (for example wax, plaster of Paris, glues) , wringing or even clamping them together. Wringing is where two surfaces are placed together and
twisted producing adhesion between those surfaces. The joined surface is adjacent the surface 12 which will be polished to produce the mirror surface so it is important the blocks are adhered correctly so the mirror surfaces are all on the same side. It is also important that the mirrors are adhered correctly when it comes to separating the mirrors so there is no significant distortion of the mirror surface on separation.
Once the blocks have been joined 10 together to form a large enough single composite block, the mirror side of the whole block 12 can be ground and polished 20 by conventional techniques, to produce the required mirror blank surface.
The glass may now be optically coated either as a whole block 30 followed by separation 40 into individual blocks 40a, 0b, 0c, 40d, 40e or, the block is separated 50 into individual mirror parts 50a, 50b, 50c, 50d, 50e which are then coated 62 by any conventional process to produce individual mirrors 60a, 60b, 60c, βOd, βOe.
Separation is by tapping the joints for wrung blocks or, by immersion in a solvent for example water for wrung blocks or a suitable solvent to break the bonds of any adhesive that has been used.
Referring now to Fig 2, for x-y stage interferometry, one mirror is required for the measurement of movement in each axis. Conveniently, the mirrors may therefore each be adhered to a side of the stage. A stage 100 is provided with a first mirror 120 which is used to measure movement along the x-axis and a second mirror
130 which is used to measure movement along the y-axis. Such an x-y stage may be used in the manufacture or inspection of semi-conductor wafers or other objects where precision location is essential for the production of articles.
It may be desirable to measure the pitch of the stage. Referring now to Fig 3, to measure pitch requires the beams of an interferometer to be vertically displaced. The traditional method to solve this problem is to use mirrors that are wider (higher) than normal. Thus the traditional mirrors are bulky. Using mirrors according to the invention, pitch can be measured by mounting two mirrors 200,210 one above the other with the required separation 220 on the stage 100. To ensure that the two mirrors are placed such that they are sufficiently parallel to achieve adequate signal strength for interferometry, a pair of co-planar roller bearings mounted in a horizontal plane may be used. The two mirrors are placed with their mirror surfaces resting on the roller bearings. Two spacers 230 are then inserted between the two mirrors such that the centre lines of the two mirrors have the correct separation to give adequate resolution for measuring pitch and glued to the mirrors. The advantage of this combined mirror over the standard single mirror is the reduced mass of the combined mirror, and thus permitting a higher dynamic range of the stage for a given set-up. Thus potentially permitting shorter wafer processing and inspection times.