阅读说明：本技术 用于曝光设备的调整装置、方法及曝光设备 (Adjusting device and method for exposure equipment and exposure equipment ) 是由 金成昱 金帅炯 梁贤石 贺晓彬 杨涛 李俊峰 王文武 于 2020-04-08 设计创作，主要内容包括：本公开提供一种用于曝光设备的调整装置、方法及曝光设备。所述调整装置用于对工件台上放置的基板进行调整,所述基板表面预先被划分为多个测量区域,其包括：在光路上依次设置的光源、投影光栅、可调节反射镜、探测光栅和探测器模块；光源发出的光束经过投影光栅形成具有预设光斑图案的光束后,到达可调节反射镜；所述可调节反射镜将光束调整后照明所述工件台上放置的基板表面对应的测量区域；从所述基板表面反射的光束经所述探测光栅到达所述探测器模块；所述探测器模块根据探测到的光束信息计算调焦调平参数。该调整装置可以准确地对基板偏离量进行校正,可以减少曝光前的调焦调平时间,使得曝光设备的工作效率得到提升。(The disclosure provides an adjusting device and method for an exposure apparatus and the exposure apparatus. The adjusting device is used for adjusting a substrate placed on a workpiece table, the surface of the substrate is divided into a plurality of measuring areas in advance, and the adjusting device comprises: the light source, the projection grating, the adjustable reflector, the detection grating and the detector module are sequentially arranged on the light path; after light beams emitted by the light source pass through the projection grating to form light beams with preset light spot patterns, the light beams reach the adjustable reflector; the adjustable reflector adjusts the light beam and then illuminates a measuring area corresponding to the surface of the substrate placed on the workpiece table; the light beam reflected from the surface of the substrate reaches the detector module through the detection grating; and the detector module calculates focusing and leveling parameters according to the detected light beam information. The adjusting device can accurately correct the deviation of the substrate, and can reduce the focusing and leveling time before exposure, so that the working efficiency of the exposure equipment is improved.)

1. An adjustment device for an exposure apparatus for adjusting a substrate placed on a stage, the substrate surface being divided into a plurality of measurement areas in advance, the adjustment device comprising:

the light source, the projection grating, the adjustable reflector, the detection grating and the detector module are sequentially arranged on the light path;

after the light beam emitted by the light source passes through the projection grating to form a light beam with a preset light spot pattern, the light beam reaches the adjustable reflector; the adjustable reflector is used for projecting and covering all the measuring areas after adjusting the light beam; the light beam reflected from the surface of the substrate reaches the detector module through the detection grating; and the detector module calculates focusing and leveling parameters according to the detected light beam information.

2. The adjustment device of claim 1, wherein the light source is an ultraviolet light source.

3. The adjustment apparatus of claim 1, wherein the detector module uses the same path as the scan path during exposure to test the height of the substrate surface and compensate during exposure.

4. The adjustment device of claim 3, wherein the adjustment device is movable in a first direction or a second direction relative to the workpiece table;

when the adjusting device moves relative to the workpiece table along a first direction, the adjustable reflecting mirror reflects a light beam to the surface of the substrate, a measuring area corresponding to the surface of the substrate is scanned along the first direction, and the detector module measures focusing and leveling parameters of the corresponding area;

when the adjusting device moves relative to the workpiece table along a second direction, the adjustable reflecting mirror reflects the light beam to the surface of the substrate, the measuring area corresponding to the surface of the substrate is scanned along the second direction, and the detector module measures the focusing and leveling parameters of the corresponding area.

5. The adjustment device of claim 4, wherein the first direction and the second direction are opposite.

6. The adjustment device according to claim 5, wherein the detector module is specifically configured to:

calculating a first focusing and leveling parameter according to the detected first direction light beam information;

and calculating a second focusing and leveling parameter according to the detected second direction light beam information.

7. The adjustment device of claim 1, wherein the number of gratings in the projection grating is larger than the number of measurement areas into which the substrate surface is divided in advance.

8. The adjustment device of claim 6, wherein the number of gratings in the projection grating is greater than 100.

9. An adjusting method for an exposure apparatus, for use in the adjusting device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized by comprising:

after light beams emitted by the light source pass through the projection grating to form light beams with preset light spot patterns, the light beams reach the adjustable reflector;

the adjustable reflector is used for projecting and covering all measurement areas of the surface of a substrate placed on a workpiece table after adjusting the light beam, and the surface of the substrate is divided into a plurality of measurement areas in advance;

the light beam reflected from the surface of the substrate reaches a detector module through a detection grating;

the detector module calculates focusing and leveling parameters according to the detected light beam information;

and focusing and leveling the substrate according to the focusing and leveling parameters.

10. The adjustment method according to claim 9, characterized in that the method further comprises: the prober module uses the same path as the scan path during exposure to test the height of the substrate surface and compensate during exposure.

11. The adjustment method according to claim 10, characterized in that the adjustment device is movable in a first direction or a second direction relative to the work table; the method further comprises the following steps:

when the adjusting device moves relative to the workpiece table along a first direction, the adjustable reflecting mirror reflects a light beam to the surface of the substrate, a measuring area corresponding to the surface of the substrate is scanned along the first direction, and the detector module measures focusing and leveling parameters of the corresponding area;

when the adjusting device moves relative to the workpiece table along a second direction, the adjustable reflecting mirror reflects the light beam to the surface of the substrate, the measuring area corresponding to the surface of the substrate is scanned along the second direction, and the detector module measures the focusing and leveling parameters of the corresponding area.

12. The adjustment method according to claim 11, characterized in that the first direction and the second direction are opposite.

13. An exposure apparatus characterized by comprising:

the adjustment device of any one of claims 1 to 8.

Technical Field

The disclosure relates to the technical field of semiconductor manufacturing, in particular to an adjusting device and method for exposure equipment and the exposure equipment.

Background

In a projection lithography machine, an exposure beam illuminates a mask, on which an integrated circuit pattern is inscribed, the mask is imaged onto a Wafer (Wafer) via a projection objective, and the photoresist coated on the Wafer is exposed, so that the mask pattern is copied onto the Wafer surface.

The reduction of the projection objective focal depth makes it increasingly difficult for the wafer surface coated with photoresist to be within the effective focal depth range, and therefore, the deviation of the wafer surface from the height and inclination of the best focal plane of the projection objective must be accurately measured by a focusing and leveling Sensor (L ev Sensor) and corrected by a focusing and leveling actuator.

The single imaged area on the wafer after exposure of the mask pattern through the lens of the lithography machine is called a Shot. In the prior art, the projection scanning measurement of a focusing and leveling sensor is used for obtaining the exposure height of each Shot, but the scanning direction in the actual exposure is different from the scanning direction in the measurement of the focusing and leveling sensor, so that the deviation cannot be accurately corrected. In addition, in the prior art, the time for measuring the deviation of the height and the inclination of the wafer surface relative to the optimal focal plane of the projection objective is long, and the working efficiency is influenced.

Disclosure of Invention

An object of the present disclosure is to provide an adjustment device for an exposure apparatus, an adjustment method for an exposure apparatus, and an exposure apparatus.

The present disclosure in a first aspect provides an adjusting apparatus for an exposure apparatus, configured to adjust a substrate placed on a workpiece stage, a surface of the substrate being divided into a plurality of measurement regions in advance, including:

the light source, the projection grating, the adjustable reflector, the detection grating and the detector module are sequentially arranged on the light path; the workpiece table is used for placing a substrate to be measured, and the surface of the substrate is divided into a plurality of measuring areas in advance;

after the light beam emitted by the light source passes through the projection grating to form a light beam with a preset light spot pattern, the light beam reaches the adjustable reflector; the adjustable reflector is used for projecting and covering all the measuring areas after adjusting the light beam; the light beam reflected from the surface of the substrate reaches the detector module through the detection grating; and the detector module calculates focusing and leveling parameters according to the detected light beam information.

A second aspect of the present disclosure provides an adjustment method for an exposure apparatus, including:

after light beams emitted by the light source pass through the projection grating to form light beams with preset light spot patterns, the light beams reach the adjustable reflector;

the adjustable reflector is used for projecting and covering all measurement areas of the surface of a substrate placed on a workpiece table after adjusting the light beam, and the surface of the substrate is divided into a plurality of measurement areas in advance;

the light beam reflected from the surface of the substrate reaches a detector module through a detection grating;

the detector module calculates focusing and leveling parameters according to the detected light beam information;

and focusing and leveling the substrate according to the focusing and leveling parameters.

A third aspect of the present disclosure provides an exposure apparatus comprising:

an adjustment device as described in the first aspect.

This disclosure compares advantage with prior art and lies in:

(1) according to the method, the focusing and leveling parameters of each measuring area in different directions are obtained through projection scanning measurement, the focusing and leveling parameters in the same direction as the exposure scanning direction are selected for focusing and leveling during actual exposure, the deviation of the substrate can be accurately corrected, and therefore the exposure quality is improved.

(2) In practical use, the focusing and leveling time before exposure is reduced, so that the working efficiency of the photoetching machine is improved.

Drawings

Various other advantages and benefits will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments. The drawings are only for purposes of illustrating the preferred embodiments and are not to be construed as limiting the disclosure. Also, like reference numerals are used to refer to like parts throughout the drawings. In the drawings:

fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of an adjusting apparatus for an exposure apparatus provided by the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic view of bi-directional scanning of a substrate surface provided by the present disclosure;

fig. 3 shows a flowchart of an adjustment method for an exposure apparatus provided by the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the description is illustrative only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Moreover, in the following description, descriptions of well-known structures and techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the concepts of the present disclosure.

Various structural schematics according to embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in the figures. The figures are not drawn to scale, wherein certain details are exaggerated and possibly omitted for clarity of presentation. The shapes of various regions, layers, and relative sizes and positional relationships therebetween shown in the drawings are merely exemplary, and deviations may occur in practice due to manufacturing tolerances or technical limitations, and a person skilled in the art may additionally design regions/layers having different shapes, sizes, relative positions, as actually required.

In the context of the present disclosure, when a layer/element is referred to as being "on" another layer/element, it can be directly on the other layer/element or intervening layers/elements may be present. In addition, if a layer/element is "on" another layer/element in one orientation, then that layer/element may be "under" the other layer/element when the orientation is reversed.

The single imaging area on the Wafer after the mask pattern is exposed through the lens of the photoetching machine is called as a Shot.

In order to solve the above problems in the prior art, embodiments of the present disclosure provide an adjusting device for an exposure apparatus, an adjusting method for an exposure apparatus, and a lithography machine, which are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of an adjusting device for an exposure apparatus provided by the present disclosure.

Referring to fig. 1, the adjusting apparatus includes: the light source 100, the projection grating 200, the adjustable reflector 300, the workpiece table 400, the detection grating 500 and the detector module 600 are sequentially arranged on the light path; wherein the workpiece stage 400 is used for placing a substrate (e.g., Wafer) to be measured, the substrate surface being divided into a plurality of measurement regions (i.e., Shot) in advance;

after the light beam emitted by the light source 100 passes through the projection grating 200 to form a light beam with a preset light spot pattern, the light beam reaches the adjustable reflector 300; the adjustable reflector 300 adjusts the light beam to illuminate a measurement area corresponding to the surface of a substrate (as shown in the figure) placed on the workpiece stage 400; the light beam reflected from the substrate surface reaches the detector module 600 via the detection grating 500; the detector module 600 calculates focusing and leveling parameters according to the detected light beam information.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the detector module 600 uses the same path as the scan path at the time of exposure to test the height of the substrate surface and compensate at the time of exposure.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the light Source 100 may be an ultraviolet light Source (UV Source), the projection grating 200 has a predetermined grating pattern, and the light beam may form a corresponding light spot pattern after passing through the grating, the number of gratings in the projection grating 200 is greater than the number of measurement regions previously divided on the surface of the substrate, that is, each Shot is guaranteed to correspond to one light spot, in practical applications, the number of gratings may be set to be greater than 100, a vacuum chuck may be disposed on the workpiece stage 400 to suck and fix the substrate, the detection grating 500 may split the light beam into a plurality of branches (e.g., two branches), and correspondingly, the detector module 600 may include a plurality of detectors (e.g., two branches, such as "L" and "R" shown in fig. 1), and the detectors may perform full signal detection and digitization on the light beam to obtain beam information to calculate the focusing and leveling parameters.

Specifically, the adjusting device can move along a first direction or a second direction relative to the workpiece table;

when the adjusting device moves along a first direction relative to the workpiece table, the adjustable reflecting mirror 300 reflects the light beam to the surface of the substrate, the measuring area corresponding to the surface of the substrate is scanned along the first direction, and the detector module measures the focusing and leveling parameters of the corresponding area;

when the adjusting device moves along a second direction relative to the workpiece table, the adjustable reflecting mirror 300 reflects the light beam to the surface of the substrate, the measuring area corresponding to the surface of the substrate is scanned along the second direction, and the detector module measures the focusing and leveling parameters of the corresponding area.

Wherein the first direction and the second direction may be opposite, such as bi-directional (Up/Down) scanning. In practical applications, the first direction and the second direction may be set according to an actual work flow (Job recipe).

Fig. 2 shows a schematic diagram of bi-directional scanning of a substrate surface provided by the present disclosure. Referring to fig. 2, the substrate is divided into a plurality of shots, each Shot is exposed with an exposure scan in an Up or Down direction (as indicated by an arrow in the figure), and in order to make the scan direction at the time of actual exposure and the scan direction at the time of focus-leveling measurement coincide, the adjusting apparatus of the present disclosure makes focus-leveling measurement on all shots by one scan, and makes all shots perform post-scan (Up/Down) measurement in both directions.

Further, the detector module is specifically configured to: calculating a first focusing and leveling parameter according to the detected first direction light beam information; and calculating a second focusing and leveling parameter according to the detected second direction light beam information.

Further, the adjusting device of the present disclosure may further include:

and a focusing and leveling actuator (not shown) for selecting focusing and leveling parameters in accordance with the exposure scanning direction and performing focusing and leveling on the substrate.

According to the adjusting device provided by the disclosure, the projection grating is arranged in front of the light source, light can reach the adjustable reflector according to the light spot pattern, the adjustable reflector can adjust the light according to different Wafer shots, and the Wafer surface height is measured. When the Shot exposure scanning direction is consistent with the focusing and leveling scanning direction, the focal depth can be accurately corrected. In actual use, the focusing and leveling time before exposure can be reduced (actually measured from 11 seconds to 5 seconds), so that the working efficiency of the photoetching machine is improved.

Fig. 3 shows a flowchart of an adjustment method for an exposure apparatus provided by the present disclosure;

referring to fig. 3, the adjusting method for an exposure apparatus provided by the present disclosure adopts the adjusting device for an exposure apparatus in the above embodiment; the focusing and leveling method comprises the following steps:

step S101: after light beams emitted by the light source pass through the projection grating to form light beams with preset light spot patterns, the light beams reach the adjustable reflector;

step S102: the adjustable reflector is used for projecting and covering all measurement areas of the surface of a substrate placed on a workpiece table after adjusting the light beam, and the surface of the substrate is divided into a plurality of measurement areas in advance;

step S103: the light beam reflected from the surface of the substrate reaches a detector module through a detection grating;

step S104: the detector module calculates focusing and leveling parameters according to the detected light beam information;

step S105: and focusing and leveling the substrate according to the focusing and leveling parameters.

Specifically, the prober module uses the same path as the scanning path during exposure to test the height of the substrate surface and compensate during exposure.

Specifically, the adjusting device can move along a first direction or a second direction relative to the workpiece table;

when the adjusting device moves relative to the workpiece table along a first direction, the adjustable reflecting mirror reflects a light beam to the surface of the substrate, a measuring area corresponding to the surface of the substrate is scanned along the first direction, and the detector module measures focusing and leveling parameters of the corresponding area;

when the adjusting device moves relative to the workpiece table along a second direction, the adjustable reflecting mirror reflects the light beam to the surface of the substrate, the measuring area corresponding to the surface of the substrate is scanned along the second direction, and the detector module measures the focusing and leveling parameters of the corresponding area.

Specifically, the first direction and the second direction are opposite.

Further, the detector module calculates a focusing and leveling parameter according to the detected light beam information, and includes:

calculating a first focusing and leveling parameter according to the detected first direction light beam information;

and calculating a second focusing and leveling parameter according to the detected second direction light beam information.

Further, the focusing and leveling actuator performs focusing and leveling on the substrate according to the focusing and leveling parameters, specifically: and the focusing and leveling actuator selects focusing and leveling parameters consistent with the exposure scanning direction, and performs focusing and leveling on the substrate.

Further, the number of the gratings in the projection grating is larger than the number of the measurement areas which are divided on the surface of the substrate in advance.

Further, the number of the gratings in the projection grating is greater than 100.

In the method, the focusing and leveling parameters of each measuring area in different directions are obtained through projection scanning measurement, and the focusing and leveling parameters in the same direction as the exposure scanning direction are selected for focusing and leveling during actual exposure, so that the deviation of the substrate can be accurately corrected, and the exposure quality is improved. In actual use, the focusing and leveling time before exposure can be reduced, so that the working efficiency of the photoetching machine is improved.

The embodiment of the present disclosure further provides an exposure apparatus, which includes the adjusting device in the above embodiment.

Referring to fig. 1, the adjusting apparatus includes: the light source 100, the projection grating 200, the adjustable reflector 300, the workpiece table 400, the detection grating 500 and the detector module 600 are sequentially arranged on the light path; wherein the workpiece stage 400 is used for placing a substrate (e.g., Wafer) to be measured, the substrate surface being divided into a plurality of measurement regions (i.e., Shot) in advance;

after the light beam emitted by the light source 100 passes through the projection grating 200 to form a light beam with a preset light spot pattern, the light beam reaches the adjustable reflector 300; the adjustable mirror 300 adjusts the light beam to illuminate the corresponding measuring region on the surface of the substrate (Wafer in the figure) placed on the workpiece table 400; the light beam reflected from the substrate surface reaches the detector module 600 via the detection grating 500; the detector module 600 calculates focusing and leveling parameters according to the detected light beam information.

Specifically, the prober module 600 tests the height of the substrate surface using the same path as the scan path during exposure and compensates for the exposure.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the light Source 100 may be an ultraviolet light Source (UV Source), the projection grating 200 has a predetermined grating pattern, and the light beam may form a corresponding light spot pattern after passing through the grating, the number of gratings in the projection grating 200 is greater than the number of measurement regions previously divided on the surface of the substrate, that is, each Shot is guaranteed to correspond to one light spot, in practical applications, the number of gratings may be set to be greater than 100, a vacuum chuck may be disposed on the workpiece stage 400 to suck and fix the substrate, the detection grating 500 may split the light beam into a plurality of branches (e.g., two branches), and correspondingly, the detector module 600 may include a plurality of detectors (e.g., two branches, such as "L" and "R" shown in fig. 1), and the detectors may perform full signal detection and digitization on the light beam to obtain beam information to calculate the focusing and leveling parameters.

Specifically, the adjusting device can move along a first direction or a second direction relative to the workpiece table;

when the adjusting device moves along a first direction relative to the workpiece table, the adjustable reflecting mirror 300 reflects the light beam to the surface of the substrate, the measuring area corresponding to the surface of the substrate is scanned along the first direction, and the detector module measures the focusing and leveling parameters of the corresponding area;

when the adjusting device moves along a second direction relative to the workpiece table, the adjustable reflecting mirror 300 reflects the light beam to the surface of the substrate, the measuring area corresponding to the surface of the substrate is scanned along the second direction, and the detector module measures the focusing and leveling parameters of the corresponding area.

Wherein the first direction and the second direction may be opposite, such as bi-directional (Up/Down) scanning. In practical applications, the first direction and the second direction may be set according to an actual work flow (Job recipe).

Referring to fig. 2, the substrate is divided into a plurality of shots, each Shot is exposed with an exposure scan in an Up or Down direction (as indicated by an arrow in the figure), and in order to make the scan direction at the time of actual exposure and the scan direction at the time of focus-leveling measurement coincide, the adjusting apparatus of the present disclosure makes focus-leveling measurement on all shots by one scan, and makes all shots perform post-scan (Up/Down) measurement in both directions.

Further, the detector module is specifically configured to: calculating a first focusing and leveling parameter according to the detected first direction light beam information; and calculating a second focusing and leveling parameter according to the detected second direction light beam information.

Further, the adjusting device of the present disclosure further includes:

and a focusing and leveling actuator (not shown) for selecting focusing and leveling parameters in accordance with the exposure scanning direction and performing focusing and leveling on the substrate.

According to the photoetching machine provided by the disclosure, in the adjusting device, the projection grating is arranged in front of the light source, light can reach the adjustable reflecting mirror according to the light spot pattern, the adjustable reflecting mirror can adjust the light according to different Wafer shots, and the Wafer surface height is measured. When the Shot exposure scanning direction is consistent with the focusing and leveling scanning direction, the focal depth can be accurately corrected. In actual use, the focusing and leveling time before exposure can be reduced, so that the working efficiency of the photoetching machine is improved.

In the above description, the technical details of patterning, etching, and the like of each layer are not described in detail. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that layers, regions, etc. of the desired shape may be formed by various technical means. In addition, in order to form the same structure, those skilled in the art can also design a method which is not exactly the same as the method described above. In addition, although the embodiments are described separately above, this does not mean that the measures in the embodiments cannot be used in advantageous combination.

The embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above. However, these examples are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. The scope of the disclosure is defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof. Various alternatives and modifications can be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, and such alternatives and modifications are intended to fall within the scope of the present disclosure.