Exposure method and apparatus
First Claim
1. An apparatus for exposing a pattern, formed on a mask, on each of a plurality of partitioned areas on a photosensitive substrate by a step-and-repeat scheme, comprising:
- a projection optical system for projecting the pattern of the mask on the photosensitive substrate;
a substrate stage for holding the photosensitive substrate and two-dimensionally moving the photosensitive substrate within a plane perpendicular to an optical axis of said projection optical system;
means for projecting a pattern image having a predetermined shape on the photosensitive substrate and photoelectrically detecting light reflected by the photosensitive substrate to detect a position at each of a plurality of points on the photosensitive substrate along an optical axis of said projection optical system; and
means for, when each of a plurality of measurement points in a partitioned area on which a pattern of the mask is to be exposed next coincides with or approaches the pattern image, detecting an offset amount between an imaging plane of said projection optical system and the next partitioned area along the optical axis during a stepping operation of said substrate stage,wherein the imaging plane and the next partitioned area are relatively moved along the optical axis in accordance with the measured offset amount before the pattern of the mask is exposed on the next partitioned area.
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Abstract
An apparatus for exposing a pattern, formed on a mask, on each of a plurality of partitioned areas on a photosensitive substrate by a step-and-repeat scheme includes a projection optical system for projecting the pattern of the mask on the photosensitive substrate, a substrate stage for holding the photosensitive substrate and two-dimensionally moving the photosensitive substrate within a plane perpendicular to the optical axis of the projection optical system, a detection unit for projecting a pattern image having a predetermined shape on the photosensitive substrate and photoelectrically detecting light reflected by the photosensitive substrate to detect a position at each of a plurality of points on the photosensitive substrate along the optical axis of the projection optical system, and a measurement unit for, when each of a plurality of measurement points in a partitioned area on which a pattern of the mask is to be exposed next coincides with or approaches the pattern image, detecting an offset amount between an imaging plane of the projection optical system and the next partitioned area along the optical axis during a stepping operation of the substrate stage, wherein the imaging plane and the next partitioned area are relatively moved along the optical axis in accordance with the measured offset amount before the pattern of the mask is exposed on the next partitioned area.
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Citations
38 Claims
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1. An apparatus for exposing a pattern, formed on a mask, on each of a plurality of partitioned areas on a photosensitive substrate by a step-and-repeat scheme, comprising:
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a projection optical system for projecting the pattern of the mask on the photosensitive substrate; a substrate stage for holding the photosensitive substrate and two-dimensionally moving the photosensitive substrate within a plane perpendicular to an optical axis of said projection optical system; means for projecting a pattern image having a predetermined shape on the photosensitive substrate and photoelectrically detecting light reflected by the photosensitive substrate to detect a position at each of a plurality of points on the photosensitive substrate along an optical axis of said projection optical system; and means for, when each of a plurality of measurement points in a partitioned area on which a pattern of the mask is to be exposed next coincides with or approaches the pattern image, detecting an offset amount between an imaging plane of said projection optical system and the next partitioned area along the optical axis during a stepping operation of said substrate stage, wherein the imaging plane and the next partitioned area are relatively moved along the optical axis in accordance with the measured offset amount before the pattern of the mask is exposed on the next partitioned area. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. An apparatus for scanning/exposing a pattern of a mask on a photosensitive substrate, comprising:
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a mask stage capable of holding the mask and moving in a predetermined direction along a plane of the pattern; a projection optical system for projecting the pattern of the mask on the photosensitive substrate; a substrate stage capable of holding the photosensitive substrate and moving in the predetermined direction; means for synchronously driving said mask stage and said substrate stage when the pattern of the mask is to be scanned/exposed on a partitioned area on the photosensitive substrate; means for projecting a plurality of pattern images on the photosensitive substrate and photoelectrically detecting light reflected by the photosensitive substrate to detect a position at each of a plurality of points on the photosensitive substrate along an optical axis of said projection optical system, said means including means for projecting at least one of the pattern images on each of two sides of a projection area, on which the pattern of the mask is to be projected by said projection optical system, in the predetermined direction; and means for causing an imaging plane of said projection optical system and the partitioned area to coincide with each other along the optical axis during the scan/exposure on the basis of position information output from said detection means.
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6. An apparatus for scanning/exposing a pattern of a mask on a photosensitive substrate, comprising:
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a projection optical system for projecting the pattern of the mask on the photosensitive substrate; a multi-point measurement system for detecting a position at each of a plurality of points on the photosensitive substrate along an optical axis of said projection optical system; calculation means for calculating an inclination angle between the photosensitive substrate and an imaging plane of said projection optical system on the basis of a detection result obtained by said multi-point measurement system; a table capable of holding the photosensitive substrate and being inclined relative to the imaging plane of said projection optical system; and means for setting a response speed of said table which is inclined in accordance with the calculated inclination angle, said means setting a response speed of said table with respect to a scan direction of the photosensitive substrate to be different from a response speed of said table with respect to a direction perpendicular to the scan direction.
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7. An apparatus for scanning/exposing a pattern of a mask on a photosensitive substrate, comprising:
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a projection optical system for projecting the pattern of the mask on the photosensitive substrate; means for relatively moving the photosensitive substrate and an imaging plane of said projection optical system along an optical axis; means for detecting a deviation between the photosensitive substrate and the imaging plane of said projection optical system at each of a plurality of measurement points separated from a projection area, on which the pattern of the mask is to be projected by said projection optical system, by a predetermined distance; and means for controlling said relative moving means on the basis of maximum and minimum values of the plurality of detected deviations.
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8. A scanning exposure apparatus comprising:
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a projection optical system for projecting a pattern of a mask on a photosensitive substrate; a scanning system for respectively scanning said mask and said substrate along a predetermined direction substantially perpendicular to an optical axis of said projection optical system, in order to transcribe an image of the pattern onto a partitioned area on said substrate; a measuring system having at least one measuring point remote from a projection area of said projection optical system where the pattern image is formed, along the predetermined direction, said measuring system detecting positional information of said substrate at the measuring point in a direction along the optical axis; and a driving device for relatively moving said substrate and the image plane of said projection optical system during the scan thereof in accordance with the detected positional information, so that the image plane of said projection optical system is coincident with the partitioned area within the projection area. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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Specification