Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method

• US 7,177,012 B2
• Filed: 10/18/2004
• Issued: 02/13/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/18/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: ASML Netherlands BV (ASML Holding NV)
• Original Assignee: ASML Netherlands BV (ASML Holding NV)
• Inventors: Bleeker, Arno Jan, Troost, Kars Zeger
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, HUNG
• Application Number:
  US10/966,147
• Publication Number:
  US 20060082752A1
• Time in Patent Office: 848 Days
• Field of Search: 355/53, 355/55, 355 67- 71, 430/5, 430/20, 430/30, 250/548, 250/559.1
• US Class Current: 355/69
• CPC Class Codes: G03F 7/70291 Addressable masks, e.g. spatial light modulators [SLMs], digital micro-mirror devices [DMDs] or liquid crystal display [LCD] patterning devices
• CPC Class Codes: G03F 7/70425 Imaging strategies, e.g. for increasing throughput or resolution, printing product fields larger than the image field or compensating lithography- or non-lithography errors, e.g. proximity correction, mix-and-match, stitching or double patterning
• CPC Class Codes: G03F 7/70516 Calibration of components of the microlithographic apparatus, e.g. light sources, addressable masks or detectors

Abstract

Lithographic apparatus using an array of individually controllable elements in which a fraction of the intensity of the beam of radiation patterned by the array of individually controllable elements is diverted to an image sensor for verifying the quality of the image generated.

Claims

1. A lithographic apparatus comprising:

an illumination system that conditions a beam of radiation;

an array of individually controllable elements that pattern the beam;

a beam divider that divides an intensity of the patterned beam into at least first and second fractions, each having substantially a complete cross-section of the pattern;

a projection system that projects the first fraction of the patterned beam onto a target portion of a substrate; and

an image sensor that inspects at least a portion of the cross-section of the second fraction of the patterned beam,

wherein the beam divider is positioned between a last element of the proiection system and the substrate.

2. The lithographic apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

an actuator that moves the image sensor to select the portion of the cross-section of the second fraction of the patterned beam that is inspected.

3. The lithographic apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

one or more moveable optical components and associated actuators configured to select the portion of the cross-section of the second fraction of the patterned beam that is inspected.

4. The lithographic apparatus of claim 1, wherein the portion of the patterned beam inspected by the image sensor is magnified.

5. The lithographic apparatus of claim 1, wherein a number of sensing pixels in the image sensor is greater than a number of individually controllable elements in the array of individually controllable elements corresponding to the portion of the cross-section of the patterned beam that is inspected by the image sensor.

6. The lithographic apparatus of claim 1, wherein a number of sensing pixels in the image sensor is at least 4 times or greater than a number of individually controllable elements in the array of individually controllable elements corresponding to the portion of the cross-section of the patterned beam that is inspected by the image sensor.

7. The lithographic apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a polarizing filter positioned between the beam divider and the image sensor, wherein the radiation reaching the image sensor is substantially only the radiation in the second fraction of the patterned beam that is plane polarized in a given orientation.

8. The lithographic apparatus of claim 7, wherein the polarizing filter is adjusted to select an orientation of the plane polarized radiation that reaches the image sensor.

9. The lithographic apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a polarizing beam splitter that divides the second fraction of the patterned beam of radiation into first and second plane polarized sub-fractions of the patterned beam; and

a second image sensor,

wherein the radiation in the first plane polarized sub-fraction corresponds to the radiation in the second fraction of the patterned beam that is substantially plane polarized in a first orientation,

wherein the radiation in the second plane polarized sub-fraction corresponds to the radiation in the second fraction of the patterned beam that is substantially plane polarized in a second orientation, substantially perpendicular to the first orientation, and

wherein said first and second image sensors inspect at least a portion of the cross-section of the first and second plane polarized sub-fractions of the patterned beam, respectively.

10. The lithographic apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a controller that compares an image detected by the image sensor with a corresponding portion of an image intended to be projected into the substrate.

11. The lithographic apparatus of claim 10, wherein the controller terminates an exposure of the substrate if the controller determines that the difference between the image detected by the image sensor and the intended image exceeds a predetermined threshold.

12. The lithographic apparatus of claim 10, wherein the controller adjusts a calibration control of the array of individually controllable elements based on a difference between the image detected by the image sensor and the intended image.

13. The lithographic apparatus of claim 10, wherein the controller identifies from one or more exposures which, if any, of the individually controllable elements in the array of individually controllable elements fail to adequately respond to control signals intended to control that individually controllable element.

14. The lithographic apparatus of claim 13, wherein the controller uses the identification to calibrate or adjust the individually controllable elements prior to exposure of the substrate.

15. The lithographic apparatus of claim 1, wherein the image sensor is also used to calibrate control of the individually controllable elements prior to exposure of the substrate.

16. The lithographic apparatus of claim 1, further comprises:

a display that displays the image detected by the image sensor, which allows a user to use the image to calibration the array of individually controllable elements prior to exposure of the substrate.

17. The lithographic apparatus of claim 16, wherein said display further displays a corresponding portion of an intended image in overlapping registry with the image detected by the image sensor.

18. The lithographic apparatus of claim 16, wherein said display further displays features of the portion of the substrate at a position on which the image inspected by the image sensor is exposed on the substrate, in overlapping registry with the image detected by the image sensor.

19. The lithographic apparatus of claim 18, wherein the displayed features of the substrate include at least one of:

a feature of a device being formed on the substrate that has already been formed;

a feature of the device being formed on the substrate that is to be formed;

a boundary between two adjacent devices being formed on the substrate; and

a boundary between parts of the substrate being exposed at different times.

20. The lithographic apparatus of claim 16, further comprising:

a memory that stores image data representing the image detected by the image sensor,

wherein said display substantially simultaneously displays the images detected by the image detector at two or more times during the exposure of the substrate and the relative positions of the respective images projected on the substrate.

21. The lithographic apparatus of claim 16, further comprising:

a user interface that allows a user to select an image inspected by the image sensor for display based on at least one of;

the portion of the cross-section of the diverted fraction of the patterned beam that is inspected;

the image projected onto a selected portion of the substrate; and

the image projected onto the substrate for a selected portion of a repeating pattern projecting onto the substrate.

22. The lithographic apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

and image analyzer that analyses an image detected by the image sensor and determines a coefficient characterizing a quality of at least a part of the image based on a size of one or more features within the image.

23. The lithographic apparatus of claim 22, further comprising:

a memory that stores the coefficient values determined by the image analyzer, wherein said coefficients or average coefficient values are accessed for at least one of;

the substrate;

a particular area on the substrate;

a batch of the substrates exposed by the lithographic apparatus;

a device formed on the substrate;

a common portion of a plurality of devices on the substrate; and

over a specified time for the lithographic apparatus.

24. The lithographic apparatus of claim 23, further comprising:

an interface for making said coefficient values available to at least one of;

another apparatus that subsequently processes the substrate exposed by the lithographic apparatus;

a central controller that monitors a production quality of a plurality of apparatus including the lithographic apparatus; and

an inspection device that measures the production quality of the lithographic apparatus.

25. A device manufacturing method, comprising:

patterning a beam of radiation using array of individually controllable elements;

dividing an intensity of the patterned beam into at least first and second fractions, each of the first and second fractions having substantially a complete cross-section of the pattern;

projecting the first fraction of the patterned beam onto a target portion of a substrate;

polarization filtering the second fraction of the patterned beam; and

inspecting at least a portion of the cross-section of the second fraction of the patterned beam that is plane polarized in a given orientation with an image sensor.

26. A lithographic apparatus, comprising:

an illumination system that conditions a beam of radiation;

an array of individually controllable elements that pattern the beam;

a beam divider that divides an intensity of the patterned beam into at least first and second portions, each of the first and second portions having substantially a complete cross-section of the pattern;

a projection system that projects the first portion of the patterned beam onto a target portion of a substrate; and

an image sensor that inspects at least a part of the cross-section of the second portion of the patterned beam, the image sensor including a number of sensing pixels that is greater than a number of individually controllable elements in the array of individually controllable elements, whereby through the greater number of sensing pixels than the individually controllable elements the image sensor is configured, to have increased sensitivity to detect minor variations from an intended image.

27. The lithographic apparatus of claim 26, wherein the beam divider is positioned between a last element of the projection system and the substrate, within the projection system, or between the array of individually controllable elements and the projection system.