US20090305171A1 - Apparatus for scanning sites on a wafer along a short dimension of the sites - Google Patents
Apparatus for scanning sites on a wafer along a short dimension of the sites Download PDFInfo
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- US20090305171A1 US20090305171A1 US12/481,447 US48144709A US2009305171A1 US 20090305171 A1 US20090305171 A1 US 20090305171A1 US 48144709 A US48144709 A US 48144709A US 2009305171 A1 US2009305171 A1 US 2009305171A1
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- site
- mask
- substrate
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- pattern
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- G—PHYSICS
- G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
- G03B—APPARATUS OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS OR FOR PROJECTING OR VIEWING THEM; APPARATUS OR ARRANGEMENTS EMPLOYING ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ACCESSORIES THEREFOR
- G03B27/00—Photographic printing apparatus
- G03B27/32—Projection printing apparatus, e.g. enlarger, copying camera
- G03B27/52—Details
- G03B27/54—Lamp housings; Illuminating means
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- G—PHYSICS
- G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
- G03F—PHOTOMECHANICAL PRODUCTION OF TEXTURED OR PATTERNED SURFACES, e.g. FOR PRINTING, FOR PROCESSING OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; MATERIALS THEREFOR; ORIGINALS THEREFOR; APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED THEREFOR
- G03F7/00—Photomechanical, e.g. photolithographic, production of textured or patterned surfaces, e.g. printing surfaces; Materials therefor, e.g. comprising photoresists; Apparatus specially adapted therefor
- G03F7/70—Microphotolithographic exposure; Apparatus therefor
- G03F7/70216—Mask projection systems
- G03F7/70358—Scanning exposure, i.e. relative movement of patterned beam and workpiece during imaging
Definitions
- Exposure apparatuses for semiconductor processing are commonly used to transfer images from a reticle onto a semiconductor wafer during semiconductor processing.
- a typical exposure apparatus includes an illumination source, a reticle stage assembly that positions a reticle, a projection optical assembly, and a wafer stage assembly that positions a semiconductor wafer.
- each wafer 1 P is typically divided into a plurality of rectangular shaped integrated circuits 2 P (sometimes referred to as “sites”). Further, each site 2 P has a first site dimension 3 P along a first axis (e.g. the X axis), and a second site dimension 4 P along a second axis (e.g. the Y axis). Typically, the second site dimension 4 P is greater than the first site dimension 3 P.
- a common site 2 P has a first site dimension 3 P of twenty-six millimeters and a second site dimension 4 P of thirty-three millimeters.
- the first kind is commonly referred to as a Stepper lithography system.
- the reticle is fixed (except for slight corrections in position) and the wafer stage assembly moves the wafer to fixed chip sites where the illumination source directs an illumination beam at an entire reticle pattern on the reticle. This causes the entire reticle pattern to be exposed onto one of the chip sites of the wafer at one time.
- the reticle and the wafer are stationary. After the exposure, the wafer is moved (“stepped”) to the next site for subsequent exposure.
- the second kind of system is commonly referred to as a Scanner lithography system.
- the reticle stage assembly moves the reticle in one direction along a scan axis 5 P (the second axis) concurrently with the wafer stage assembly moving the wafer in one direction along the scan axis 5 P during the exposure of a first site 1 S.
- the illumination beam is slit shaped and illuminates only a portion of the reticle pattern on the reticle. This causes a slit shaped pattern beam 6 P to be imaged onto the wafer 1 P.
- This pattern beam 6 P exposes only a portion of the first site 1 S at a given moment, and the entire reticle pattern is exposed and transferred to the first site 1 S over time as the reticle pattern is moved relative to the illumination beam.
- the wafer 1 P is stepped along a step axis 7 P (the first axis) and subsequently a second site 2 S is scanned while moving the wafer 1 P in the opposite direction along the scan axis 5 P.
- each site 1 S, 2 S is scanned along the second axis (the longer dimension of the site).
- dashed line 11 P illustrates an exposure pattern 11 P of the first row of sites 2 P on the wafer 1 P.
- the exposure pattern 11 P comprises a plurality of scanning operations 13 P and a plurality of stepping operations 15 P, wherein the scanning operations 13 P and the stepping operations 15 P alternate so that the exposure proceeds in a scan-step-scan-step-scan fashion.
- the scanning of each site 2 P occurs across the second site dimension 4 P and the steps between each site 2 P occurs along the first axis. This typically results in scanning times and stepping times that are nearly equal to each other.
- the throughput capacity of an exposure apparatus used in lithography is often quoted in the number of wafers that can be printed per hour (WPH). Throughput depends on many factors, such as the reticle stage and wafer stage performances, nozzle capabilities (for immersion type exposure apparatuses), and available power for the illumination system.
- the optical assembly is one of the limiting factors in the performance of a lithography system. More specifically, the optical assembly is thought of as limiting the performance in terms of the resolution, or smallest printable feature.
- One design tradeoff that is utilized includes keeping a used field of the optical assembly as small as possible to minimize aberrations.
- FIG. 1B illustrates a field of view 17 P (illustrated with a dashed circle) for a prior art optical assembly having a numerical aperture (NA) of 1.30.
- NA numerical aperture
- the field of view 17 P defines a substantially rectangular used field 19 P.
- the used field 19 P has a first field dimension 21 P of about twenty-six millimeters along the first axis, and a second field dimension 23 P of about five millimeters along the second axis.
- the corresponding dimensions at the reticle plane are determined by the magnification ratio of the projection optical assembly. For example, in a 4 ⁇ reduction machine, the reticle dimensions are 4 ⁇ bigger.
- the optical assembly is catadioptric.
- the closest edge of the used field 19 P has an offset distance 25 P of about 2.5 millimeters from an optical axis 27 P.
- the diagonal of the point in the used field 19 P farthest from the optical axis 27 P is 15.01 millimeters, and the field of view 17 P has a field diameter of 30.02 millimeters, as explained in Equation 1.
- each chip is 16 ⁇ 32 mm, average wafer stage acceleration of 2.5G in the X axis and the Y axis, an average reticle stage acceleration of 10G, and a wafer stage scan velocity of 0.7 m/s, the maximum possible throughput is 246 WPH (assuming no overhead time between wafers).
- the present invention is directed to an exposure apparatus for transferring a first mask pattern from a first mask to a substrate.
- the substrate includes a first site having a first site dimension along a first axis and a second site dimension along a second axis that is perpendicular to the first axis.
- the second site dimension is larger than the first site dimension.
- the exposure apparatus includes an illumination system, a first mask stage assembly, a substrate stage assembly, and a control system.
- the illumination system generates a first illumination beam that is directed at the first mask.
- the first mask stage assembly retains and positions the first mask along the first axis relative to the first illumination beam.
- the substrate stage assembly retains and positions the substrate along the first axis.
- the control system controls the illumination system, the first mask stage assembly and the substrate stage assembly so that a portion of the first mask pattern is transferred to a portion of the first site while the first mask stage assembly is moving the first mask along the first axis, and the substrate stage assembly is moving the substrate along the first axis.
- the first illumination beam illuminates the first mask pattern to generate a first pattern beam.
- the exposure apparatus further comprises an optical assembly that focuses the first pattern beam on the substrate.
- the optical assembly includes a used field having a first field dimension along the first axis and a second field dimension along the second axis, wherein the first field dimension is smaller than the second field dimension.
- the second field dimension is between approximately thirty millimeters and thirty-five millimeters.
- the first field dimension can be between approximately 1.5 mm and 5 mm.
- the first field dimension is shorter than the first site dimension and the second field dimension is equal to or greater than the second site dimension.
- the exposure apparatus further comprises a second mask stage assembly that retains and positions a second mask.
- the illumination system generates a second illumination beam that is directed at the second mask. Additionally, the second illumination beam illuminates a second mask pattern of the second mask to generate a second pattern beam. Further, in this embodiment, the optical assembly focuses the first pattern beam and the second pattern beam on the substrate.
- the substrate may further include a second site
- the control system may control the illumination system, the mask stage assemblies and the substrate stage assembly to transfer an image of the first mask pattern to the first site, and an image of the second mask pattern to the second site.
- the control system controls the substrate stage assembly to continuously move the substrate at a constant velocity along the first axis when transferring the images to the first site and the second site.
- the present invention is further directed to a method for transferring a first mask pattern from a first mask to a substrate, a method for making an exposure apparatus, and a method of manufacturing a wafer with the exposure apparatus.
- FIG. 1A is a simplified illustration of a prior art exposure pattern on a wafer
- FIG. 1B is a simplified illustration of a field of view for a prior art optical assembly
- FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a first embodiment of an exposure apparatus having features of the present invention
- FIG. 3A is a simplified top illustration of a substrate and an exposure pattern having features of the present invention.
- FIG. 3B is a simplified top illustration of a field of view for an optical assembly having features of the present invention.
- FIG. 3C is a simplified top illustration of the mask and a portion of the substrate at the beginning of a scanning procedure on a first site;
- FIG. 3D is a simplified top illustration of the mask and a portion of the substrate at the end the scanning procedure on the first site;
- FIG. 3E is a simplified top illustration of the mask and a portion of the substrate at the beginning of a scanning procedure on a second site;
- FIG. 3F is a simplified illustration of an optical assembly having features of the present invention.
- FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of a second embodiment of an exposure apparatus having features of the present invention.
- FIG. 5A is a simplified top view of an embodiment of a substrate exposed by the exposure apparatus of FIG. 4 ;
- FIG. 5B is a simplified illustration of a field of view of an embodiment of an optical assembly having features of the present invention.
- FIG. 6A is a simplified side view of a first mask, a second mask, an optical assembly, and a substrate at a beginning of an exposure of a first site;
- FIG. 6B is a simplified side view of the first mask, the second mask, the optical assembly, and the substrate at a beginning of an exposure of a second site;
- FIG. 6C is a simplified side view of the first mask, the second mask, the optical assembly, and the substrate at a beginning of an exposure of a third site;
- FIG. 6D is a simplified side view of the first mask, the second mask, the optical assembly, and the substrate at a beginning of an exposure of a fourth site;
- FIGS. 7A-7I illustrate one embodiment of the exposure of four sites
- FIGS. 8A-8I illustrate another embodiment of the exposure of four sites
- FIGS. 9A-98I illustrate yet another embodiment of the exposure of four sites
- FIGS. 10A-10D illustrate one embodiment of the exposure of one site
- FIGS. 11A-11D illustrate another embodiment of the exposure of one site
- FIG. 12 is a schematic illustration of the first mask, the second mask, the substrate, and an embodiment of an optical assembly having features of the present invention
- FIG. 13 is a simplified perspective view of portion of another embodiment of an exposure apparatus having features of the present invention.
- FIG. 14 is a simplified top view of an embodiment of a substrate exposed utilizing the exposure apparatus illustrated in FIG. 13 ;
- FIG. 15A is a flow chart that outlines a process for manufacturing a device in accordance with the present invention.
- FIG. 15B is a flow chart that outlines device processing in more detail.
- FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a precision assembly, namely an exposure apparatus 210 that transfers features from a mask 212 to a substrate 214 such as a semiconductor wafer that includes a plurality of sites 315 (illustrated in FIG. 3A ).
- the design of the exposure apparatus 210 can be varied to achieve the desired throughput, and quality and density of the features on the substrate 214 .
- the exposure apparatus 210 includes an apparatus frame 216 , an illumination system 218 (irradiation apparatus), a projection optical assembly 220 , a mask stage assembly 222 , a substrate stage assembly 224 , a measurement system 226 , and a control system 228 .
- the exposure apparatus 210 mounts to a mounting base 230 , e.g., the ground, a base, or a floor, or some other supporting structure.
- the projection optical assembly 220 is designed to have a larger field of view 331 (illustrated in FIG. 3B ) and/or one or more of the sites 315 of the substrate 214 are scanned along their short dimension.
- the exposure apparatus 410 (illustrated in FIG. 4 ) is designed to use multiple masks 412 to sequentially expose adjacent sites 315 . These features can increase the throughput capabilities of the exposure apparatuses 210 , 410 .
- a number of Figures include an orientation system that illustrates an X axis, a Y axis that is orthogonal to the X axis, and a Z axis that is orthogonal to the X and Y axes. It should be noted that any of these axes can also be referred to as the first, second, and/or third axes.
- the exposure apparatus 210 discussed herein is particularly useful as a photolithography system for semiconductor manufacturing that transfers features from a reticle (the mask 212 ) to a wafer (the substrate 214 ).
- the exposure apparatus 210 provided herein is not limited to a photolithography system for semiconductor manufacturing.
- the exposure apparatus 210 can be used as an LCD photolithography system that exposes a liquid crystal display device pattern onto a glass plate or a photolithography system for manufacturing a thin film magnetic head.
- the concepts of the present invention can be utilized in a maskless exposure apparatus.
- the apparatus frame 216 is rigid and supports the components of the exposure apparatus 210 .
- the apparatus frame 216 illustrated in FIG. 2 supports the mask stage assembly 222 , the projection optical assembly 220 , the illumination system 218 , and the substrate stage assembly 224 above the mounting base 230 .
- the illumination system 218 includes an illumination source 232 and an illumination optical assembly 234 .
- the illumination source 232 emits an illumination beam 235 (irradiation) of light energy.
- the illumination optical assembly 234 guides the illumination beam 235 from the illumination source 232 to near the mask 212 .
- the illumination beam 235 illuminates the mask 212 to generate a pattern beam 236 (e.g. images from the mask 212 ) that exposes the substrate 214 .
- the illumination beam 235 is generally slit shaped and illuminates only a portion of the mask 212 at any given moment.
- the pattern beam 236 is generally slit shaped and exposes only a portion of the substrate 214 at any given moment.
- the mask stage assembly 222 moves the mask 212 back and forth along the first axis (e.g. the X axis) during scanning of the sites 315 .
- the mask 212 is at least partly transparent, and the illumination beam 235 is transmitted through a portion of the mask 212 .
- the mask 212 can be reflective, and the illumination beam 235 can be directed at the mask 212 and reflected off of the mask 212 .
- the illumination source 232 can be a g-line source (436 nm), an i-line source (365 nm), a KrF excimer laser (248 nm), an ArF excimer laser (193 nm) or an F 2 laser (157 nm).
- the illumination source 232 can generate charged particle beams such as an x-ray or an electron beam.
- thermionic emission type lanthanum hexaboride (LaB 6 ) or tantalum (Ta) can be used as a cathode for an electron gun.
- the projection optical assembly 220 projects and/or focuses the pattern beam 236 from the mask 212 to the substrate 214 .
- the projection optical assembly 220 can magnify or reduce the pattern beam 236 .
- the projection optical assembly 220 reduces the pattern beam 236 by a reduction factor of four.
- the mask stage assembly 222 must move the mask 212 a distance that is four times greater than a distance in which the substrate stage assembly 224 moves the substrate 214 .
- the projection optical assembly 220 has a reduction factor of 4
- the substrate 214 is moved at a rate that is one fourth that of the mask 212 .
- the projection optical assembly 220 includes a plurality of optical elements 220 A (illustrated in phantom in FIG. 2 ) that are designed and arranged so that the projection optical assembly 220 will have a relatively large field of view 331 so that one or more of the sites 315 of the substrate 214 can be scanned along their short dimension.
- a discussion of possible fields of view 331 for the projection optical assembly 220 is described in more detail below.
- the mask stage assembly 222 holds and positions the mask 212 relative to the projection optical assembly 220 and the substrate 214 .
- the mask stage assembly 222 can include (i) a mask stage 237 having a chuck (not shown) for holding the mask 212 , and (ii) a mask stage mover assembly 238 that moves and positions the mask stage 237 and the mask 212 .
- the mask stage mover assembly 238 can move the mask stage 237 and the mask 212 along the Y axis, along the X axis, and about the Z axis.
- the mask stage mover assembly 238 could be designed to move the mask stage 237 and the mask 212 with more than three degrees of freedom, or less than three degrees of freedom.
- the mask stage mover assembly 238 can include one or more linear motors, rotary motors, planar motors, voice coil actuators, or other type of actuators.
- the mask stage mover assembly 238 moves the mask 212 along the first axis (e.g. the X axis) during scanning of the sites 315 .
- the substrate stage assembly 224 holds and positions the substrate 214 with respect to the pattern beam 236 .
- the substrate stage assembly 224 can include (i) a substrate stage 240 having a chuck (not shown) for holding the substrate 214 , and (ii) a substrate stage mover assembly 242 that moves and positions the substrate stage 240 and the substrate 214 .
- the substrate stage mover assembly 242 can move the substrate stage 240 and the substrate 214 along the Y axis, along the X axis, and about the Z axis.
- the substrate stage mover assembly 242 could be designed to move the substrate stage 240 and the substrate 214 with more than three degrees of freedom, or less than three degrees of freedom.
- the substrate stage mover assembly 242 can include one or more linear motors, rotary motors, planar motors, voice coil actuators, or other type of actuators.
- the substrate stage mover assembly 242 moves the substrate 214 along the first axis (e.g. the X axis) during scanning of the sites 315 and moves the substrate 214 along the second axis (e.g. the Y axis) while stepping in between scanning of the sites 315 .
- the measurement system 226 monitors movement of the mask 212 and the substrate 214 relative to the projection optical assembly 220 or some other reference. With this information, the control system 228 can control the mask stage assembly 222 to precisely position the mask 212 and the substrate stage assembly 224 to precisely position the substrate 214 .
- the measurement system 226 can utilize multiple laser interferometers, encoders, and/or other measuring devices.
- the control system 228 is connected to the illumination system 218 , the mask stage assembly 222 , the substrate stage assembly 224 , and the measurement system 226 .
- the control system 228 receives information from the measurement system 226 , and controls the illumination system 218 and the stage assemblies 222 , 224 to precisely position the mask 212 and the substrate 214 and expose the sites 315 .
- the control system 228 can include one or more processors and circuits. In FIG. 2 , the control system 228 is illustrated as a single unit. It should be noted that in alternative embodiments the control system 228 can be designed with multiple, spaced apart controllers.
- FIG. 3A is a simplified top view of one non-exclusive embodiment of a substrate 214 that has been processed with the exposure apparatus 210 of FIG. 2 .
- the substrate 214 is a generally disk shaped, thin slice of semiconductor material, e.g. a semiconductor wafer, that serves as a substrate for photolithographic patterning.
- the disk shaped substrate 214 is divided into a plurality of rectangular shaped sites 315 (e.g. chips) that are organized into a plurality of rows (along the X axis) and columns (along the Y axis).
- the term “site” shall mean an area on the substrate 214 to which the entire or a portion of the mask pattern 346 (illustrated in FIG.
- each site 315 is one or more integrated circuits that include a number of connected circuit elements that were transferred to the substrate 214 by the exposure apparatus 210 of FIG. 2 .
- each site 315 contains one or more integral die piece(s) that can be sliced from the wafer.
- each site 315 is generally rectangular shaped and has a first site dimension 348 (measured along the X axis) that is less than a second site dimension 350 (measured along the Y axis).
- each site 315 has a first site dimension 348 of approximately twenty-six (26) millimeters, and a second site dimension 350 of approximately thirty-three (33) millimeters.
- each site 315 can have a first site dimension 348 that is greater than or less than twenty-six (26) millimeters, and a second site dimension 350 that is greater than or less than thirty-three (33) millimeters.
- each site 315 can have a first site dimension 348 of approximately sixteen (16) millimeters, and a second site dimension 350 of approximately thirty-two (32) millimeters.
- the size of the substrate 214 and the number of sites 315 on the substrate 214 can be varied.
- the substrate 214 can have a diameter of approximately three hundred millimeters.
- the substrate 214 can have a diameter that is greater than or less than three hundred millimeters and/or the substrate 214 can have a shape that is different than disk shaped (e.g. rectangular shaped).
- the substrate 214 can be circularly shaped with a diameter approximately four hundred fifty millimeters.
- the substrate 214 is illustrated as having fifteen separate sites 315 .
- the substrate 214 can be separated into greater than or fewer than fifteen sites 315 .
- the sites 315 have been labeled “ 1 ” through “ 15 ” (one through fifteen).
- the sites 315 labeled “ 1 ” through “ 3 ” are aligned in a first column along the Y axis;
- the sites 315 labeled “ 4 ” through “ 6 ” are aligned in a second column along the Y axis;
- the sites 315 labeled “ 7 ” through “ 9 ” are aligned in a third column along the Y axis;
- the sites 315 labeled “ 10 ” through “ 12 ” are aligned in a fourth column along the Y axis; and
- the sites 315 labeled “ 13 ” through “ 15 ” are aligned in a fifth column along the Y axis.
- the labels “ 1 ” through “ 15 ” represent one non-exclusive embodiment of a sequence in which the mask pattern 346 can be transferred to the sites 315 on the substrate 214 . More specifically, as provided herein, the exposure apparatus 210 can first transfer the mask pattern 346 to the site 315 labeled “ 1 ” (sometimes referred to as the “first site”). Next, the exposure apparatus 210 can move the mask 212 (illustrated in FIG. 2 ) and the substrate 214 , and transfer the mask pattern 346 to the site 315 labeled “ 2 ” (sometimes referred to as the “second site”).
- the exposure apparatus 210 can move the mask 212 and the substrate 214 to sequentially transfer the mask pattern 346 to the sites 315 labeled “ 3 ”, “ 4 ”, “ 5 ”, . . . and “ 15 ”.
- FIG. 3A includes an exposure pattern 352 (illustrated with a dashed line) which further illustrates the order in which the mask pattern 346 is transferred to sites “ 1 ” through “ 3 ” in the first column.
- the sites 315 labeled “ 1 ” through “ 3 ” are sequentially exposed as the substrate 214 is moved in a weaving (boustrophedonic) fashion and the mask 212 is moved back and forth.
- the exposure pattern 352 comprises a plurality of scanning operations 354 and a plurality of stepping operations 356 , wherein the scanning operations 354 and the stepping operations 356 alternate so that the exposure proceeds in a scan-step-scan-step-scan fashion.
- the scanning 354 of each site 315 occurs as the substrate 214 is moved along a scan axis 358 (i.e., the X axis) across the first site dimension 348 , and the stepping 356 in between exposures of sites 315 occurs as the substrate 214 is moved along a step axis 360 (i.e., the Y axis).
- the scanning operations 354 occur while the substrate 214 is moved along the first site dimension 348 and stepping operations 356 occur while the substrate 214 is moved along the second site dimension 350 . This results in shorter scanning times and longer stepping times compared to the prior art.
- the site 315 that is exposed first and the order in which the columns are exposed can be different than that illustrated in FIG. 3A . Further, the site 315 that is first exposed can be located away from the edge of the substrate 214
- FIG. 3A illustrates the pattern beam 236 that is directed at the first site “ 1 ” on the substrate 214 .
- the pattern beam 236 is discussed in more detail with reference to FIGS. 3C-3E .
- FIG. 3B is a simplified illustration of one embodiment of a field of view 331 (illustrated with a dashed circle) of the projection optical assembly 220 (illustrated in FIG. 2 ).
- the term field of view 331 shall mean the maximum image area over which the projection optical assembly 220 can provide a sufficiently accurate image of the mask pattern.
- the field of view 331 of the projection optical assembly 220 must be relatively large in order to transfer a relatively large pattern beam 236 (illustrated in FIG. 3A ) to the site 315 .
- the field of view 331 defines a rectangular shaped used field 362 (illustrated with a box with “X”'s) that includes a first field dimension 364 that is measured along the first axis (the X axis) and a second field dimension 366 that is measured along the second axis (the Y axis).
- the second field dimension 366 is larger than the first field dimension 366 .
- the projection optical assembly 220 is designed so that the first field dimension 364 is less than the first site dimension 348 (illustrated in FIG. 3A ) and the second field dimension 366 is equal to or greater than the second site dimension 350 .
- each site 315 has a first site dimension 348 of twenty-six (26) millimeters and a second site dimension 350 of thirty-three (33) millimeters.
- the second field dimension 366 can be approximately thirty-three (33) millimeters, and the first field dimension 364 is less than twenty-six (26) millimeters.
- the first field dimension 364 can be approximately 2, 3, 4, 5, or 5.5 millimeters.
- the second field dimension 366 can be approximately 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, or 35 millimeters
- the used field 362 of FIG. 3B has been rotated by approximately 90 degrees from the orientation of the used field 19 P in the prior art (as illustrated in FIG. 1B ).
- the edge of the used field 362 can be moved closer to an optical axis 368 of the projection optical assembly 220 .
- the offset distance 368 A is about 1.25 millimeters, instead of the prior art design of 2.50 millimeters illustrated in FIG. 1B .
- the first field dimension 364 of the used field 362 is less than the prior art design described above. The resulting maximum field point is now 16.92 millimeters for a field diameter 368 B of 33.84 millimeters as calculated in Equation 2.
- the maximum throughput is 274 wafers per hour.
- the gain is 28 WPH, or an 11.5% gain in throughput over the prior art described in the background.
- the idea of scanning the used field 362 across the first field dimension 364 could be used to decrease the requirements for acceleration and maximum scanning velocity of the substrate stage assembly 224 (illustrated in FIG. 2 ) and/or the mask stage assembly 222 (illustrated in FIG. 2 ), while still maintaining the same or better throughput than is possible in the prior art.
- FIG. 3C is a simplified top illustration of the mask 212 and a portion of the substrate 214 in a side-by-side arrangement, at the start of an exposure of the first site 1 (illustrated as a box). It should be noted that the components of the exposure apparatus 210 (illustrated in FIG. 2 ) are not shown in FIGS. 3C-3E for clarity. Further, it should also be noted that the mask 212 and the substrate 214 are shown in a side-by-side arrangement during exposure and that FIGS. 3C-3E are only illustrated in this configuration so that the relative positions of these components can be better understood. Additionally, in these Figures, the mask pattern 346 is illustrated as being approximately the same size as each site 315 .
- each site 315 includes a site left side 315 A, an opposed site right side 315 B, and a site center 315 C (only one is illustrated with a FIG. 3C illustrates that the mask 212 includes the mask pattern 346 (illustrated as a box) that includes the features that are to be transferred to the substrate 214 .
- the mask pattern 346 includes a pattern left side 346 A, and opposed pattern right side 346 B, and a pattern center 346 C (illustrated as with a “+”).
- the control system 228 controls the illumination system 218 (illustrated in FIG. 2 ) to generate the slit shaped illumination beam 235 (illustrated as “o”'s) that is directed at the mask 212 , and controls the mask stage assembly 222 (illustrated in FIG. 2 ) to position the mask 212 so that the mask pattern 346 is illuminated near the pattern left side 346 A.
- the left side of the mask pattern area corresponds to the left side of the substrate site.
- the image may be reversed, so the right side of the mask pattern area corresponds to the left side of the substrate site.
- the pattern center 346 C is located at a first mask position, which is referenced as Xm 1 along the scan axis 358 and Ym 1 along the step axis 360
- the site center 315 C of the first site 1 is located at a site first position, which is referenced as Xs 1 along the scan axis 358 and Ys 1 along the step axis 360 .
- the control system 228 (illustrated in FIG. 2 ) (i) controls the mask stage assembly 222 so that the mask 212 is being moved at a constant velocity in a first scan direction 370 A (from right to left in FIG. 3A ) along the scan axis 358 (the X axis), and (ii) controls the substrate stage assembly 224 (illustrated in FIG. 2 ) so that the substrate 214 is also being moved at a constant velocity in the first scan direction 370 A along the scan axis 358 .
- both the mask 212 and the substrate 214 are moved synchronously in the same scan direction 370 A.
- the mask 212 is moved at a rate that is four times greater than that of the substrate 214 .
- the mask 212 and substrate 214 can be moved in opposite directions along the scan axis 358 during scanning of the sites 315 .
- the pattern beam 236 is generally rectangular slit shaped and includes a first beam dimension 372 along the first axis (the X axis) and a second beam dimension 374 along the second axis (the Y axis).
- the second beam dimension 374 is larger than the first beam dimension 372 .
- the exposure apparatus 210 (illustrated in FIG. 2 ) is designed so that the first beam dimension 372 is less than the first site dimension 348 (illustrated in FIG. 3A ) and the second beam dimension 374 is equal to the second site dimension 350 (illustrated in FIG. 3A ).
- each site 315 has a first site dimension 348 of twenty-six (26) millimeters and a second site dimension 350 of thirty-three (33) millimeters.
- the second beam dimension 374 can be approximately thirty-three (33) millimeters, and the first beam dimension 372 is less than twenty-six (26) millimeters.
- the first beam dimension 372 can be approximately 2, 3, 4, 5, or 5.5 millimeters.
- the second beam dimension 374 can be approximately 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, or 35 millimeters.
- FIG. 3D is a simplified top illustration of the mask 212 and a portion of the substrate 214 in a side-by-side arrangement, at the end of the exposure of the first site 1 .
- the control system 228 controls the illumination system 218 (illustrated in FIG. 2 ) to generate the slit shaped illumination beam 235 (illustrated as “o”'s) that is directed at the mask 212 , and controls the mask stage assembly 222 (illustrated in FIG. 2 ) to position the mask 212 so that the mask pattern 346 is illuminated near the pattern right side 346 B.
- This causes the resulting pattern beam 236 (illustrated as “ ⁇ ”'s) to be directed at a portion of the first site 1 .
- the pattern center 346 C is located at a second mask position, which is referenced as Xm 2 along the scan axis 358 and Ym 1 along the step axis 360
- the site center 315 C of the first site 1 is located at a site second position, which is referenced as Xs 2 along the scan axis 358 and Ys 1 along the step axis 360 .
- the difference between the first mask position Xm 1 and the second mask position Xm 2 along the scan axis 358 is referred to herein as a mask exposure distance 376
- the difference between the first substrate position Xs 1 and the second substrate position Xs 2 along the scan axis 358 is referred to herein as a site exposure distance 378
- the mask exposure distance 376 is the distance in which the mask 212 is moved along the scan axis 358 during the exposure (i.e., the scanning operation 354 as illustrated in FIG. 3A ) of the first site 1
- the site exposure distance 378 is the distance in which the substrate 314 is moved along the scan axis 358 during the exposure of the first site 1 .
- the mask exposure distance 376 is illustrated as being equal to the site exposure distance 378 .
- the mask exposure distance 376 is four times larger than the site exposure distance 378 .
- the entire mask pattern 346 is scanned to the first site 1 during movement of the mask 212 the mask exposure distance 376 . Additionally, the exposure of the first site 1 is halted once the pattern beam 236 is directed at the pattern right side 346 B.
- the control system 228 controls the mask stage assembly 222 so that the mask 212 is approximately not moved along the step axis 360 (the Y axis), and the control system 228 controls the substrate stage assembly 224 (illustrated in FIG. 2 ) so that the substrate 214 is approximately not moved along the step axis 360 (the Y axis).
- both the mask 212 and the substrate 214 are moved at a constant velocity along the scan axis 358 .
- FIGS. 3E is a simplified top illustration of the mask 212 and a portion of the substrate 214 in a side-by-side arrangement, at the start of an exposure of the second site 2 .
- the control system 228 controls the illumination system 218 (illustrated in FIG. 2 ) to generate the slit shaped illumination beam 235 (illustrated as “o”'s) that is directed at the mask 212 , and controls the mask stage assembly 222 (illustrated in FIG. 2 ) to position the mask 212 so that the mask pattern 346 is illuminated near the pattern right side 346 B.
- This causes the resulting pattern beam 236 (illustrated as “ ⁇ ”'s) to be directed at a corresponding portion of the second site 2 .
- the pattern center 346 C is again located at the second mask position, which is referenced as Xm 2 along the scan axis 358 and Ym 1 along the step axis 360
- the site center 315 C of the first site 1 is located at a site third position, which is referenced as Xs 2 along the scan axis 358 and Ys 2 along the step axis 360 .
- the substrate 214 is stepped with the substrate stage assembly 224 (illustrated in FIG. 2 ) so that the second site 2 is being moved towards the field of view 331 (illustrated in FIG. 3B ) of the projection optical assembly 220 (illustrated in FIG. 2 ), and (ii) the position of the mask pattern 346 is reset along the scan axis 358 to the second mask position Xm 2 with the mask stage assembly 222 (illustrated in FIG. 2 ).
- the mask pattern 346 is moved past the second mask position Xm 2 after the exposure because the mask 212 is moved at a constant velocity during the entire exposure and the mask 212 must be decelerated after the exposure.
- the mask is subsequently accelerated back toward the second mask position Xm 2 prior to the next exposure, so that the mask 212 can again be moved at a constant velocity from the second mask position Xm 2 to the first mask position Xm 1 during the subsequent exposure of the second site 2 .
- the site step distance 380 is the distance in which the substrate 314 is moved along the step axis 360 between the exposure of the first site 1 and the exposure of the second site 2 (i.e., during the stepping operation 356 ).
- the control system 228 (illustrated in FIG. 2 ) (i) controls the mask stage assembly 222 so that the mask 212 is being moved at a constant velocity in a second scan direction 370 B (from left to right in FIG. 3A ) along the scan axis 358 (the X axis) from the second mask position Xm 2 back toward the first mask position Xm 1 , and (ii) controls the substrate stage assembly 224 (illustrated in FIG. 2 ) so that the substrate 214 is also being moved at a constant velocity in the second scan direction 370 B along the scan axis 358 from Xs 2 back toward Xs 1 .
- both the mask 212 and the substrate 214 are moved synchronously in the same scan direction 370 B. Further, for example, if the projection optical assembly 220 (illustrated in FIG. 2 ) has a reduction factor of four, the mask 212 is moved at a rate that is four times greater than that of the substrate 214 . Alternatively, as noted above, the mask 212 and substrate 214 can be moved in opposite directions along the scan axis 358 during scanning of the sites 315 .
- FIG. 3F is a simplified illustration of one non-exclusive embodiment of the projection optical assembly 220 .
- the projection optical assembly 220 includes the plurality of spaced apart optical elements 220 A and an optical housing 382 A.
- the projection optical assembly 220 has an optical axis 382 B and the optical elements 220 A are aligned along the optical axis 382 B.
- the design, positioning, and number of optical elements 220 A can be varied to achieve the relatively large field of view 331 (illustrated in FIG. 3B ) and described above so that one or more of the sites 315 (illustrated in FIG. 3A ) of the substrate 214 (illustrated in FIG. 3A ) can be scanned along their short dimension.
- the projection optical assembly 220 is illustrated as having eleven optical elements 220 A.
- the projection optical assembly 220 can be designed with greater or fewer than eleven optical elements 220 A.
- the number of optical elements 220 A can be greater than what is typical utilized in prior art projection optical assemblies to cancel off-axis aberrations.
- the optical elements 220 A are aligned along the common optical axis 382 B.
- the optical path can be folded to allow for the use of additional optical elements 220 A for aberration correction without increasing the distance between the mask and the substrate.
- one or more of the optical elements 220 A is a lens that is made of high quality fused silica (SiO2).
- one or more of the optical elements 220 A can be made of another material.
- one or more of the optical elements 220 A can have an element diameter 320 B that is greater than approximately three hundred fifty millimeters (350 mm).
- one or more of the optical elements 220 A can have an element diameter 320 B that is greater than approximately 360, 370, 375, 380, 385, or 390 millimeters.
- a separation distance 320 C between a top of an uppermost element 320 U of the projection optical assembly 220 and a bottom of a lowermost element 320 L can be greater than approximately 1.4 meters.
- FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of a second embodiment of an exposure apparatus 410 having features of the present invention.
- the exposure apparatus 410 includes an apparatus frame 416 , an illumination system 418 , an optical assembly 420 , a first mask stage assembly 422 A, a second mask stage assembly 422 B, a substrate stage assembly 424 , a measurement system 426 , and a control system 428 .
- Many of these components are similar in design to the corresponding similarly named components described above and illustrated in FIG. 2 .
- the exposure apparatus 410 utilizes multiple masks 412 A, 412 B to transfer images to a substrate 414 that includes a plurality of sites 415 .
- the masks 412 A, 412 B are substantially identical in design, and at least two adjacent sites 415 on the substrate 414 can be sequentially exposed without stopping the substrate 414 and without changing the movement direction of substrate 414 . Stated in another fashion, at least two sites 415 can be scanned without stepping the substrate 414. This allows for higher overall throughput for the exposure apparatus 410 .
- the exposure apparatus 410 is a scanning type photolithography system (i) that first exposes a first mask pattern 429 A from the first mask 412 A onto one of the sites 415 of the substrate 414 while the first mask 412 A and the substrate 414 are moving synchronously, and (ii) that subsequently exposes a second mask pattern 429 B from the second mask 412 B onto an adjacent site 415 on the substrate 414 while the second mask 412 B and the substrate 414 are moving synchronously.
- the masks 412 A, 412 B can be different in design and the exposure apparatus 410 can be used to scan both the first mask pattern 429 A and the second mask pattern 429 B onto the same site 415 , simultaneously or at different times.
- the illumination system 418 generates a first illumination beam 435 A (irradiation) of light energy that is selectively directed at the first mask 412 A, and a second illumination beam 435 B (irradiation) of light energy that is selectively directed at the second mask 412 B.
- the illumination system 418 generates both illumination beams 435 A, 435 B at the same time.
- the illumination system 418 will sequentially generate the illumination beams 435 A, 435 B during the sequential exposure of the sites 415 .
- the illumination system 418 includes (i) a first illumination source 432 A that emits the first illumination beam 435 A; (ii) a first illumination optical assembly 434 A that guides the first illumination beam 435 A from the first illumination source 432 A to near the first mask 412 A; (iii) a second illumination source 432 B that emits the second illumination beam 435 B; and (iv) a second illumination optical assembly 434 B that guides the second illumination beam 435 B from the second illumination source 432 B to near the second mask 412 B.
- the illumination system 418 can be designed with a single illumination source that generates an illumination beam that is split or selectively redirected to create the multiple separate illumination beams 435 A, 435 B.
- the first illumination beam 435 A illuminates the first mask 412 A to generate a first pattern beam 436 A (e.g. images from the first mask 412 A) that exposes the substrate 414 .
- the second illumination beam 435 B illuminates the second mask 412 B to generate a second pattern beam 436 B (e.g. images from the second mask 412 B) that exposes the substrate 414 .
- the optical assembly 420 projects and/or focuses the first pattern beam 436 A and the second pattern beam 436 B onto the substrate 414 .
- the optical assembly 420 includes (i) a first optical inlet 421 A that receives the first pattern beam 436 A, (ii) a second optical inlet 421 B that receives the second pattern beam 436 B, and (iii) an optical outlet 421 C that directs both pattern beams 436 A, 436 B at the substrate 414 .
- the first optical inlet 421 A includes a first inlet axis 421 D
- the second optical inlet 421 B includes a second inlet axis 421 E
- the optical outlet 421 C includes an outlet axis 421 F.
- the optical assembly 420 is described in more detail below.
- the first mask stage assembly 422 A holds and positions the first mask 412 A relative to the optical assembly 420 and the substrate 414 .
- the second mask stage assembly 422 B holds and positions the second mask 412 B relative to the optical assembly 420 and the substrate 414 .
- the substrate stage assembly 424 holds and positions the substrate 414 with respect to the pattern beams 436 A, 436 B.
- the stage assemblies 422 A, 422 B, 424 can be similar in design to the corresponding components described above with reference to FIG. 2 .
- the control system 428 receives information from the measurement system 426 and controls the stage assemblies 422 A, 422 B, 424 to precisely position the masks 412 A, 412 B and the substrate 414 . Further, the control system 428 can control the operation of the illumination system 418 to selectively and independently generate the illumination beams 435 A, 435 B.
- FIG. 5A is a simplified top view of one non-exclusive embodiment of a substrate 414 that can be exposed with the exposure apparatus 410 described above.
- the design of the substrate 414 is similar to the substrate 214 described above and illustrated in FIG. 3A .
- the order in which the sites 415 are exposed is different. More specifically, two sites 415 are scanned along the X axis (e.g. the short dimension of the sites 415 ) before being stepped along the Y axis.
- the substrate 414 is illustrated as having thirty-two separate sites 415 , with each site 415 having a first site dimension 548 (measured along the X axis) that is less than a second site dimension 550 (measured along the Y axis).
- each site 415 has a first site dimension 548 of approximately twenty-six (26) millimeters, and a second site dimension 550 of approximately thirty-three (33) millimeters.
- the sites 415 have been labeled “ 1 ” through “ 32 ” (one through thirty-two).
- the labels “ 1 ” through “ 32 ” represent one non-exclusive embodiment of the sequence in which the mask patterns 436 A, 436 B can be transferred to the sites 415 on the substrate 414 .
- the exposure apparatus 410 can transfer the first mask pattern 429 A from the first mask 412 A to the site 415 labeled “ 1 ” (sometimes referred to as the “first site”).
- the exposure apparatus 410 can transfer the second mask pattern 429 B from the second mask 412 B to the site 415 labeled “ 2 ” (sometimes referred to as the “second site”).
- the exposure apparatus 410 can transfer the second mask pattern 429 B from the second mask 412 B to the site 415 labeled “ 3 ” (sometimes referred to as the “third site”).
- the exposure apparatus 410 can transfer the first mask pattern 429 A from the first mask 412 A to the site 415 labeled “ 4 ” (sometimes referred to as the “fourth site”).
- the exposure apparatus 410 can continue repeating the sequencing of the transferring of the first mask pattern 429 A and the second mask pattern 429 B (i.e., in a first, second, second, first sequence) to the sites 415 labeled “ 6 ”, “ 7 ”, “ 8 ”, . . . and “ 32 ”.
- the exposure apparatus 410 can alternate between transferring the first mask pattern 429 A and the second mask pattern 429 B to the sites 415 labeled “ 1 ”, “ 2 ”, “ 3 ”, “ 4 ”, “ 5 ”, . . . and “ 32 ” (i.e., the first mask pattern 429 A is transferred to all the odd numbered sites 415 , and the second mask pattern 429 B is transferred to all the even numbered sites 415 ).
- FIG. 5A includes an exposure pattern 552 A (illustrated with a dashed line) which further illustrates the order in which the mask patterns 429 A, 429 B are transferred to sites 415 .
- the exposure pattern 552 A again includes a plurality of scanning operations 552 B and a plurality of stepping operations 552 C, wherein the scanning operations 552 B and the stepping operations 552 C alternate so that the exposure proceeds in a scan-step-scan-step-scan fashion.
- the scanning 552 B occurs as the substrate 414 is moved along a scan axis 558 (the X axis)
- the stepping 552 C occurs as the substrate 414 is moved along a step axis 560 (the Y axis).
- two adjacent sites 415 can be scanned sequentially while moving the substrate 414 at a constant velocity along the scan axis 558 .
- the substrate 414 does not have to be stepped and reversed in direction between the exposures of the sites 415 .
- the substrate 414 is only stepped between the exposure of pairs of adjacent sites 415 aligned on the scan axis 558 .
- the site 415 that is exposed first and the order in which the sites 415 are exposed can be different than that illustrated in FIG. 5A . Further, the site 415 that is first exposed can be located away from the edge of the substrate 414 .
- FIG. 5B is a simplified illustration of one embodiment of a field of view 531 (illustrated with a dashed circle) of the optical assembly 420 (illustrated in FIG. 4 ).
- the field of view 531 of the optical assembly 420 must be relatively large in order to transfer a relatively large pattern beam 436 A, 436 B (illustrated in FIG. 4 ) to the site 415 (illustrated in FIG. 5A ).
- the field of view 531 defines (i) a first used field 562 A (illustrated as a box with solid lines) in which the first pattern beam 436 A (illustrated in FIG. 4 ) exits the optical assembly 420 , and (ii) and a spaced apart second used field 562 B (illustrated as a box with dashed lines) in which the second pattern beam 436 B (illustrated in FIG. 4 ) exits the optical assembly 420 .
- the first used field 562 A and the second used field 562 B are substantially similar in shape and size.
- the first used field 562 A has a rectangular shape that includes a first field dimension 564 that is measured along the first axis (the X axis) and a second field dimension 566 that is measured along the second axis (the Y axis).
- the second field dimension 566 is larger than the first field dimension 564 .
- the optical assembly 420 is designed so that the first field dimension 564 is less than the first site dimension 548 (illustrated in FIG. 5A ) and the second field dimension 566 is equal to the second site dimension 550 (illustrated in FIG. 5A ).
- each site 415 has a first site dimension 548 of twenty-six (26) millimeters and a second site dimension 550 of thirty-three (33) millimeters.
- the second field dimension 566 can be approximately thirty-three (33) millimeters, and the first field dimension 564 is less than twenty-six (26) millimeters.
- the first field dimension 564 can be approximately 2, 2.5, or 3 millimeters.
- the optical assembly 420 has a numerical aperture (NA) of at least approximately 1.30.
- NA numerical aperture
- the optical assembly 16 can be catadioptric.
- the used fields 562 A, 562 B are off-axis in order to avoid obscurations from the relative surfaces. Stated in another fashion, in the embodiment illustrated in FIG.
- the first used field 562 A is offset from an optical axis 568 of the optical assembly 420 a first offset distance 568 A
- the second used field 562 B is offset from the optical axis 568 a second offset distance 568 B
- the first used field 562 A and the second used field 562 B are spaced apart a separation distance 568 C.
- the used fields 562 A, 562 B are positioned on opposite sides of the optical axis 568 , and the used fields 562 A, 562 B are substantially parallel to each other.
- each offset distance 568 A, 568 B is approximately 2.5 millimeters
- the separation distance 568 C is approximately 5 millimeters.
- the offset distances 568 A, 568 B can be greater than or less than 2.5 millimeters.
- FIGS. 6A-6D further illustrate one non-exclusive embodiment of how a substrate 414 can be exposed utilizing the exposure apparatus 410 illustrated in FIG. 4 .
- FIG. 6A is a simplified side view of the first mask 412 A, the second mask 412 B, the optical assembly 420 , and the substrate 414 at a beginning of an exposure of a first site 1 .
- the control system 428 controls the illumination system 418 (illustrated in FIG. 4 ) to generate the slit shaped first illumination beam 435 A that is directed at the first mask 412 A, and controls the first mask stage assembly 422 A (illustrated in FIG.
- the first pattern beam 436 A is initially directed toward the first optical inlet 421 A along the first inlet axis 421 D.
- the first pattern beam 436 A is subsequently redirected and focused within the optical assembly 420 until the first pattern beam 436 A is ultimately directed by the optical assembly 420 from the optical outlet 421 C offset from the outlet axis 421 F. More particularly, the first pattern beam 436 A is directed by the optical assembly 420 through the optical outlet 421 C toward a right side of the first site 1 .
- the control system 428 controls the first mask stage assembly 422 A so that the first mask 412 A is being moved at a constant velocity in a first scan direction 558 A (from left to right in FIG. 6A ) along the scan axis 558 (the X axis), and (ii) controls the substrate stage assembly 424 (illustrated in FIG. 4 ) so that the substrate 414 is also being moved at a constant velocity in the first scan direction 558 A along the scan axis 558 .
- both the first mask 412 A and the substrate 412 are moved synchronously in the same scan direction 558 A.
- the first mask 412 A is moved at a rate that is four times greater than that of the substrate 414 .
- the first mask 412 A and the substrate 414 can be moved in opposite directions along the scan axis 558 during scanning of the sites 415 .
- the first pattern beam 436 A continues to illuminate a portion of the first mask 412 A from initially near the right side toward the left side.
- the substrate 414 is being moved in the first scan direction 558 A so that the first pattern beam 436 A is directed initially at the right side and continuously and subsequently toward the left side of the substrate 414 .
- FIG. 6B is a simplified side view of the first mask 412 A, the second mask 412 B, the optical assembly 420 , and the substrate 414 at a beginning of an exposure of the second site 2 .
- the control system 428 controls the illumination system 418 (illustrated in FIG. 4 ) to generate the slit shaped second illumination beam 435 B that is directed at the second mask 412 B, and controls the second mask stage assembly 422 B (illustrated in FIG. 4 ) to position the second mask 412 B so that a second mask pattern 429 B is illuminated near the right side of the pattern 429 B. This causes a resulting second pattern beam 436 B to be directed by the optical assembly 420 at a portion of the second site 2 .
- the second pattern beam 436 B is initially directed toward a second optical inlet 421 B of the optical assembly 420 along a second inlet axis 421 E.
- the second pattern beam 436 B is subsequently redirected and focused within the optical assembly 420 until the second pattern beam 436 B exits the optical outlet 421 C offset from the outlet axis 421 F.
- the control system 428 controls the second mask stage assembly 422 B so that the second mask 412 B is being moved at a constant velocity in the first scan direction 558 A along the scan axis 558 , and (ii) controls the substrate stage assembly 424 (illustrated in FIG. 4 ) so that the substrate 414 is also being moved at a constant velocity in the first scan direction 558 A.
- both the second mask 412 B and the substrate 414 are moved synchronously in the same scan direction 558 A.
- the second mask 412 B and the substrate 414 can be moved in opposite directions along the scan axis 558 during scanning of the sites 415 .
- the exposure of the first site 1 and the second site 2 occurs with the substrate 414 being moved in the same first scan direction 558 A at a substantially constant velocity. This enables greater throughput for the exposure apparatus 410 (illustrated in FIG. 4 ).
- FIG. 6C is a simplified side view of the first mask 412 A, the second mask 412 B, the optical assembly 420 , and the substrate 414 at a beginning of an exposure of the third site 3 . It should be noted that after the exposure of the second site illustrated in FIG. 6B , the substrate 414 is stepped into the page along the Y axis.
- the control system 428 controls the illumination system 418 (illustrated in FIG. 4 ) to generate the slit shaped second illumination beam 435 B that is directed at the second mask 412 B, and controls the second mask stage assembly 422 B (illustrated in FIG. 4 ) to position the second mask 412 B so that the second mask pattern 429 B is illuminated near its left side. This causes a resulting second pattern beam 436 B to be directed by the optical assembly 420 at a portion of the third site 3 .
- control system 428 controls the second mask stage assembly 422 B so that the second mask 412 B is being moved at a constant velocity in a second scan direction 558 B (from right to left in FIG. 6C , opposite from the first scan direction 558 A) along the scan axis 558 (the X axis), and (ii) controls the substrate stage assembly 424 (illustrated in FIG. 4 ) so that the substrate 414 is also being moved at a constant velocity in the second scan direction 558 B.
- FIG. 6D is a simplified side view of the first mask 412 A, the second mask 412 B, the optical assembly 420 , and the substrate 414 at a beginning of an exposure of the fourth site 4 .
- the control system 428 controls the illumination system 418 (illustrated in FIG. 4 ) to generate the slit shaped first illumination beam 435 A that is directed at the first mask 412 A, and controls the first mask stage assembly 422 A (illustrated in FIG. 4 ) to position the first mask 412 A so that the first mask pattern 429 A is illuminated near its left side.
- the exposure of the fourth site 4 using reticle 412 A can begin before the exposure of the third site 3 using reticle 412 B has finished.
- the control system 428 (i) controls the first mask stage assembly 422 A so that the first mask 412 A is being moved at a substantially constant velocity in the second scan direction 558 B along the scan axis 558 , and (ii) controls the substrate stage assembly 424 (illustrated in FIG. 4 ) so that the substrate 414 is also being moved at a substantially constant velocity in the second scan direction 558 B.
- the exposure of the third site 3 and the fourth site 4 occur with the substrate 414 being moved in the same second scan direction 558 B along the scan axis 558 . Further, the four sites 1 - 4 can be exposed with only one stepping motion.
- FIGS. 7A-7I further illustrate one embodiment of how four sites labeled 1 - 4 can be exposed using the exposure apparatus 410 as illustrated in FIG. 4 and as described above.
- the box with solid lines represents the first used field 762 A
- the box with dashed lines represents the second used field 762 B
- the slashes represent the respective pattern beam.
- the arrow represents the direction in which the substrate is being moved during scanning at that particular time. During the exposure of the sites 1 - 4 , the substrate is moved down the page, then left, and then up. In FIGS. 7A-7I , it appears that the used fields 762 A, 762 B move, however, the substrate is actually being moved relative to the used fields 762 A, 762 B.
- the first pattern beam 736 A (illustrated with slashes) is exposing the first site 1 and there is no second pattern beam.
- the first used field 762 A is positioned over the first site 1
- the second used field 762 B is not over any of the sites 1 - 4 .
- the first used field 762 A is positioned over the second site 2
- the second used field 762 B is positioned over the first site 1 .
- the amount of time in which the two beams are off is determined by the distance between the slits and the motion of the stages.
- the second pattern beam 736 B (illustrated with slashes) begins to expose the second site 2 , and there is no first pattern beam.
- the second pattern beam 736 B (illustrated with slashes) continues to expose the second site 2 , and there is no first pattern beam.
- the substrate is moved to the left.
- the second pattern beam 736 B (illustrated with slashes) begins to expose the third site 3 , and there is no first pattern beam. At this time, the substrate is being moved up the page.
- the second pattern beam 736 B (illustrated with slashes) continues to expose the third site 3 , and there is no first pattern beam.
- the first used field 762 A is positioned over the third site 3
- the second used field 762 B is positioned over the fourth site 4 . At this time neither of the pattern beams are being generated.
- the first pattern beam 736 A (illustrated with slashes) begins to expose the fourth site 4 , and there is no second pattern beam.
- the first pattern beam 736 A (illustrated with slashes) continues to expose the fourth site 4 , and there is no second pattern beam.
- the system is designed so that the second site 2 is not exposed until after the exposure of the first site 1 is fully completed, and the fourth site 4 is not exposed until after the exposure of the third site 3 is fully completed.
- the benefit of this sequence is that there is never a time when both pattern beams are required, so it is easier to use a single illumination source 432 A, 432 B (illustrated in FIG. 4 ).
- the drawbacks of this sequence are (1) that the reticle stage acceleration must be proportional to the substrate acceleration (e.g., in a 4 ⁇ reduction system, the reticle acceleration is four times the substrate acceleration), and (2) that the scanning distance is longer than that required for the sequence described below for FIGS. 8A-8I .
- FIGS. 8A-8I further illustrate another embodiment of how four sites labeled 1 - 4 can be exposed using the exposure apparatus 410 as illustrated in FIG. 4 and as described above. Similar to the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 7A-71 , in this embodiment, the box with solid lines is the first used field 862 A, the box with dashed lines is the second used field 862 B, and the slashes represent the pattern beam. Further, the arrow again represents the direction in which the substrate is being moved during scanning at that particular time, with the substrate initially being moved down the page, then left, and then up during the exposure of the four sites.
- the second pattern beam 836 B (illustrated with slashes) is exposing the first site 1 and there is no first pattern beam.
- both the first used field 862 A and the second used field 862 B are positioned over the first site 1 . Further, at this time, the substrate is being moved down the page.
- the first used field 862 A is positioned over the second site 2
- the second used field 862 B is positioned over the first site 1 .
- the first pattern beam 836 A (illustrated with slashes) begins to expose the second site 2 .
- the second pattern beam 836 B (illustrated with slashes) is still being generated and is still exposing the first site 1 .
- both of the pattern beams 836 A, 836 B are being generated, and the continuing exposure of the first site 1 coincides or overlaps with the beginning of the exposure of the second site 2 .
- both the first used field 862 A and the second used field 862 B are positioned over the second site 2 .
- the second pattern beam is no longer being generated, but the first pattern beam 836 A (illustrated with slashes) is still being generated and is continuing exposure of the second site 2 .
- the second used field 862 B is positioned over the third site 3 , and the first used field 862 A is not positioned over any of the sites. At this time, neither of the pattern beams are being generated. Further, at this time, the substrate is being moved up the page, and is finishing its stepping motion to the left.
- the first pattern beam 836 A (illustrated with slashes) begins to expose the third site 3 .
- the second used field 862 B is still positioned over the third site 3 , and no second pattern beam is being generated.
- the first used field 862 A is still positioned over the third site 3
- the second used field 862 B is now positioned over the fourth site 4 .
- the second pattern beam 836 B (illustrated with slashes) begins to expose the fourth site 4 .
- the first pattern beam 836 A (illustrated with slashes) is still being generated and is still exposing the third site 3 .
- both of the pattern beams 836 A, 836 B are being generated, and the continuing exposure of the third site 3 coincides or overlaps with the beginning of the exposure of the fourth site 4 .
- both the first used field 862 A and the second used field 862 B are now positioned over the fourth site 4 .
- the first pattern beam is no longer being generated, but the second pattern beam 836 B (illustrated with slashes) is still being generated and is continuing exposure of the fourth site 4 .
- the system is designed so that the exposure of the second site 2 is started prior to the exposure of the first site 1 being fully completed.
- FIGS. 7A-7I Comparing the exposures illustrated in FIGS. 7A-7I with exposures illustrated in FIGS. 8A-8I , the overall scanning distance is longer for the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 7A-7I . Therefore, the exposure of FIG. 8A-8I is completed faster, leading to higher overall throughput, assuming the same scan velocity for the two cases.
- the B-A-A-B sequence shown in FIGS. 8A-8I achieves this higher throughput by having time when both pattern beams are used simultaneously.
- the drawbacks of this sequence are (1) that the reticle stage acceleration must be proportional to the substrate acceleration (e.g., in a 4 ⁇ reduction system, the reticle acceleration is four times the substrate acceleration), and (2) the design of the illumination system may be more difficult compared to what is required for the sequence shown in FIGS. 7A-7I .
- FIGS. 9A-9I further illustrate another embodiment of how four sites labeled 1 - 4 can be exposed using the exposure apparatus 410 as illustrated in FIG. 4 and as described above. Similar to the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 7A-7I and 8 A- 8 I, in this embodiment, the box with solid lines is the first used field 962 A, the box with dashed lines is the second used field 962 B, and the slashes represent the pattern beam. Further, the arrow again represents the direction in which the substrate is being moved during scanning at that particular time, with the substrate initially being moved down the page, then left, and then up during the exposure of the four sites.
- the first pattern beam 936 A (illustrated with slashes) is exposing the first site 1 and there is no second pattern beam.
- the first used field 962 A is positioned over the first site 1
- the second used field 962 B is not over any of the sites 1 - 4 .
- the first used field 962 A is positioned over the second site 2
- the second used field 962 B is positioned over the first site 1 . At this time neither of the pattern beams is being generated.
- the second pattern beam 936 B (illustrated with slashes) begins to expose the second site 2 , and there is no first pattern beam.
- the second pattern beam 936 B (illustrated with slashes) continues to expose the second site 2 , and there is no first pattern beam.
- the substrate is moved to the left. Referring to FIG. 9E , once the second used field 962 B is positioned over the third site 3 , neither of the pattern beams is being generated.
- the first pattern beam 736 A (illustrated with slashes) begins to expose the third site 3 , and there is no second pattern beam.
- the first used field 962 A is positioned over the third site 3
- the second used field 962 B is positioned over the fourth site 4 .
- both pattern beams 936 A, 936 B are being generated.
- the second pattern beam 936 B (illustrated with slashes) continues to expose the fourth site 4 , and there is no first pattern beam.
- This sequence provides the same throughput and scanning distance as the sequence illustrated in FIGS. 7A-7I , and requires some times (half as much) when both pattern beams are used simultaneously, like the sequence in FIGS. 8A-8I .
- the advantage of this sequence is that the two masks are always used for alternate exposures, so the requirement for mask acceleration is much lower. In other words, each of the mask stages 422 A, 422 B can perform its “turn-around” acceleration during an exposure using the other mask, 412 B, 412 A, respectively. For future machines with very high throughput, this advantage may make this sequence the preferred embodiment.
- FIGS. 10A-10D further illustrate one embodiment of how a first site 1 can be exposed using the exposure apparatus 410 as illustrated in FIG. 4 and as described above.
- the box with solid lines represents the first used field 1062 A
- the box with dashed lines represents the second used field 1062 B
- the slashes represent the pattern beam.
- the arrow again represents the direction in which the substrate is being moved during scanning at that particular time, with the substrate initially being moved down the page, and then up during the exposure of the first site 1 .
- the first site 1 is sequentially exposed to the first pattern beam 1036 A and the second pattern beam 1036 B.
- the first pattern beam 1036 A (illustrated with slashes) is exposing the first site 1 and there is no second pattern beam.
- the first used field 1062 A is positioned over the first site 1
- the second used field 1062 B is not positioned over any of the sites. Further, at this time, the substrate is being moved down the page.
- the first used field 1062 A is now positioned over a second site 2 (i.e., not over the first site 1 ) and the second used field 1062 B is now positioned over the first site 1 , and the substrate is still being moved down the page. At this time, neither of the pattern beams are being generated.
- the first used field 1062 A is again positioned over the second site 2 (i.e., not over the first site 1 ) and the second used field 1062 B is positioned over the uppermost portion of the first site 1 .
- the substrate is beginning to be moved back up the page.
- the second used field 1062 B being positioned over the uppermost portion of the second site 2 , and the substrate being moved up the page, the second pattern beam 1036 B is being generated and the first site 1 is being exposed. Further, at this time, no first pattern beam is being generated.
- the first used field 1062 A is positioned over the first site 1 , and the second used field 1062 B is not positioned over any of the sites. At this time, neither of the pattern beams are being generated.
- FIGS. 10A-10D Other sequences can be utilized than that illustrated in FIGS. 10A-10D .
- two adjacent sites can be sequentially scanned in one motion, then the substrate can be turned around and the second exposure of these sites can be performed.
- the first site can be exposed using the first reticle and subsequently the second site can be exposed using second reticle (similar as illustrated in FIGS. 9A-9D ).
- the direction of the substrate along the X axis can be reversed, the second site can exposed using the first reticle, and subsequently the first site can be exposed using the second reticle. This is similar to sequence illustrated in FIG. 9A-9I , except without the Y direction stepping motion.
- FIGS. 11A-11D further illustrate another embodiment of how a first site 1 can be exposed using the exposure apparatus 410 as illustrated in FIG. 4 and as described above.
- the box with solid lines is the first used field 1162 A
- the box with dashed lines is the second used field 1162 B
- the slashes represent the pattern beam.
- the arrow again represents the direction in which the substrate is being moved during scanning at that particular time, with the substrate being moved down the page during the exposure of the first site 1 .
- the first site 1 is exposed to both the first pattern beam 1136 A and the second pattern beam 1136 B.
- the first pattern beam 1136 A (illustrated with slashes) is exposing the first site 1 and there is no second pattern beam.
- the first used field 1162 A is positioned over the first site 1
- the second used field 1162 B is not positioned over any of the sites 1 - 4 .
- both the first used field 1162 A and the second used field 1162 B are now positioned over the first site 1 .
- both of the pattern beams 1136 A, 1136 B (illustrated with slashes) are being generated, and the first site 1 is simultaneously being exposed to both the first pattern beam 1136 A and the second pattern beam 1136 B.
- the first used field 1162 A is now positioned over the second site 2 (i.e., not over the first site 1 ) and the second used field 1162 B is still positioned over the first site 1 .
- the second pattern beam 1136 B (illustrated with slashes) is exposing the first site 1 and no first pattern beam 1136 A is being generated.
- both the first used field 1162 A and the second used field 1162 B are positioned over the second site 2 (i.e., not over the first site 1 ). At this time, neither of the pattern beams are being generated.
- FIG. 12 is a schematic illustration of the first mask 412 A, the second mask 412 B, the substrate 414 , and one, non-exclusive embodiment of an optical assembly 1220 having features of the present invention. As noted above, the optical assembly 1220 projects and/or focuses the first pattern beam 436 A and the second pattern beam 436 B onto the substrate 414 .
- the optical assembly 1220 includes (i) the first optical inlet 421 A, (ii) the second optical inlet 421 B, (iii) the optical outlet 421 C, (iv) a plurality of first vertical optical elements 1220 AA that are positioned along the first inlet axis, (v) a plurality of second vertical optical elements 1220 AB that are positioned along the second inlet axis, (vi) a plurality of first transverse optical elements 1220 AC that are positioned along a first transverse axis between the first inlet axis and the outlet axis, (vii) a plurality of second transverse optical elements 1220 AD that are positioned along a second transverse axis between the second inlet axis and the outlet axis, and (viii) a plurality of third vertical optical elements 1220 AE that are positioned along the outlet axis.
- the first pattern beam 436 A is initially directed through the first optical inlet 421 A and through the plurality of first vertical optical elements 1220 AA. Subsequently, the first pattern beam 436 A is redirected toward the plurality of first transverse optical elements 1220 AC. Next, the first pattern beam 436 A is redirected toward the plurality of third vertical optical elements 1220 AE. The third vertical optical elements 1220 AE then project and/or focus the first pattern beam 436 A through the optical outlet 421 C and toward the substrate 421 offset from the outlet axis.
- the second pattern beam 436 B is initially directed through the second optical inlet 421 B and toward the plurality of second vertical optical elements 1220 AB. Subsequently, the second pattern beam 436 B is redirected toward the plurality of second transverse optical elements 1220 AD. Next, the second pattern beam 436 B is redirected toward the plurality of third vertical optical elements 1220 AE. The third vertical optical elements 1220 AE then project and/or focus the second pattern beam 436 B through the optical outlet 421 C and toward the substrate 414 offset from the outlet axis.
- the first vertical optical elements 1220 AA are substantially identical to the second vertical optical elements 1220 AB. Additionally, the first transverse optical elements 1220 AC are substantially identical to the second transverse optical elements 1220 AD. Accordingly, only the first vertical optical elements 1220 AA and the first transverse optical elements 1220 AC will be described in detail herein. Further, both beams 436 A, 436 B travel through the same third vertical optical elements 1220 AE.
- the first vertical optical elements 1220 AA include a plurality of individual optical elements labeled E 1 through E 18 .
- the first pattern beam 436 A is altered and/or focused as it initially passes in a generally downward direction through optical elements E 1 through E 13 .
- Optical elements E 1 through E 13 are optical lenses that can be made from material such as silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ).
- the first pattern beam 436 A is reflected off optical element E 14 so that it is now directed in a generally upward direction.
- optical element E 14 can be a spherical mirror.
- the first pattern beam 436 A is directed through optical elements E 15 through E 17 . As illustrated in FIG.
- optical elements E 15 through E 17 are the same as optical elements E 11 through E 13 , with the first pattern beam 436 A passing through optical elements E 11 through E 13 in one direction and subsequently passing through optical elements E 15 through E 17 and in the substantially opposite direction.
- the first pattern beam 436 A is reflected transversely off optical element E 18 so that it is now redirected toward the first transverse optical elements 1220 AC.
- Optical element E 18 can be a mirror or other reflecting element.
- the first transverse optical elements 1220 AC include a plurality of individual optical elements E 19 through E 29 .
- the first pattern beam 436 A is altered and/or refocused as it passes in a generally transverse or horizontal direction through optical elements E 19 through E 28 .
- Optical elements E 19 through E 28 are optical lenses that can be made from material such as silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ).
- the first pattern beam 436 A is reflected off optical element E 29 so that it is now redirected toward the third vertical optical elements 1120 AE.
- optical element E 29 can be a field splitting V-mirror.
- the third vertical optical elements 1220 AE include a plurality of optical elements E 30 through E 45 .
- the first pattern beam 436 A is altered and/or refocused as it passes in a generally downward direction through optical elements E 30 through E 45 .
- Optical elements E 30 through E 45 are optical lenses that can be made from material such as silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ).
- the first pattern beam 436 A then passes through element E 46 (represented as X's), which is a fluid, such as water, if the exposure apparatus 410 is an immersion type system, before being projected and/or focused onto the substrate 414 .
- the design of the optical assembly 1220 illustrated in FIG. 12 contains more intermediate images than the optical assemblies used in prior art lithography machines. It should be noted that these intermediate images can be highly aberrated, as is the case in this embodiment. This makes it easier to increase the field size without increasing the diameter of the optical elements, since the optical distance between the reticle and the wafer is much longer than in the current state of the art for projection optical assemblies, thanks to the folded optical path (i.e. the physical distance between the plane containing the reticle 412 A and the plane containing the substrate 414 is nominally the same as current state of the art). Further, the optical assembly 1220 allows for the continuous exposure of two or more shots per scanning motion. With this exposure pattern, the reduction in scanning time is much greater than the increase in stepping time, and dramatic improvements in throughput are possible.
- Table 1 illustrates one, non-exclusive example of a prescription for the optic elements E 1 through E 46 of the optical assembly 1216 illustrated in FIG. 12 . More particularly, for each optical element E 1 through E 46 , the charts in Table 1 show a prescription for (i) the radius of curvature for the front of the optical element, (ii) the radius of curvature for the back of the optical element, (iii) the thickness of the optical element (in the column for thickness the top number represents the distance between that optical element and the preceding optical element (or the mask in the case of optical element E 1 ), and the bottom number represents the actual thickness of that optical element, (iv) the aperture diameter for the front of the optical element, and (v) the aperture diameter for the back of the optical element.
- the thickness of each optical element is specified along the optical axis (e.g. the center of rotation for the element).
- Table 2 illustrates the calculation of aspheric constants related to the radius of curvature for certain of the optical elements as shown in Table 1. More particularly, aspheric constant A(1) relates to the radius of curvature for the back of optical element E 3 ; aspheric constant A(2) relates to the radius of curvature for the front of optical element E 8 ; aspheric constant A(3) relates to the radius of curvature for the back of optical element E 10 ; aspheric constant A(4) relates to the radius of curvature for the front of optical element E 12 ; aspheric constant A(5) relates to the radius of curvature for the back of optical element E 16 ; aspheric constant A(6) relates to the radius of curvature for the front of optical element E 19 ; aspheric constant A(7) relates to the radius of curvature for the back of optical element E 21 ; aspheric constant A(8) relates to the radius of curvature for the front of optical element E 26 ; aspheric constant A(9)
- Y represents the distance from the optical axis (i.e., the first inlet axis, a first transverse axis, or the outlet axis)
- CURV represents (1/radius of curvature)
- K represents the conic constant.
- Table 3 illustrates the decentering information as it relates to optical elements E 18 and E 29 (i.e., certain of the mirror elements). Table 3 further provides additional system characteristics for the optical assembly 1120 .
- a decenter defines a new coordinate system (displaced and/or rotated) in which subsequent surfaces are defined. Surfaces following a decenter are aligned on the local mechanical axis (z-axis) of the new coordinate system. The new mechanical axis remains in use until changed by another decenter. The order in which displacements and tilts are applied on a given surface is specified using different decenter types and these generate different new coordinate systems; those used here are explained below.
- Alpha, beta, and gamma are in degrees.
- the projection optical assembly 1216 provided herein is uniquely designed so that a plurality of intermediate images are directed at the field splitting V-mirror E- 29 inside the projection optical assembly 1216 .
- the field splitting V-mirror E- 29 is positioned away from the image plane of the optical assembly 1216 .
- image plane shall mean the plane in which an image produced by the optical assembly is formed. With the present design, the image plane of the optical assembly 1216 is located at the substrate.
- elements E- 30 through E- 46 separate the field splitting V-mirror E- 29 from the image plane. With the present design, many aberrated images are transmitted through elements E- 30 -E- 46 .
- the aberrated images give the optical designer much more flexibility in balancing aberrations before and after the V-mirror E- 29 . This also enables the larger field size for scanning along the short dimension of the site (X axis scan), without a larger and more complicated optical design.
- the projection optical assembly 1216 is a Catadioptric design that includes one or more lenses and one or more curved mirrors.
- the projection optical assembly 1216 includes at least one concave mirror (e.g. E 14 for each optical path), for the purposes of field curvature correction over the large field size of 33 mm. It is conceivable that the projection optical assembly 1216 can be designed with more than one curved mirror per optical path.
- the fold mirror E 18 allows light to be incident on, and reflected from, the concave mirror E 14 without obscuration.
- the fold direction is in the short direction of the field (e.g. 5 mm at the wafer), and it is close to a second intermediate image ( FIG. 12 illustrates the rays coming to a focus right next to E 18 , as they do next to E 29 ). This facilitates the folding arrangement at E 18 , in the same way that it does at the V-mirror E 29 .
- the projection optical assembly 1216 illustrated and described herein is a 4 ⁇ reduction system that reduces the size of the projected image between elements E 1 and E 45 .
- the projection optical assembly 1216 can be designed to be a 1 ⁇ system, a magnification system, or a reduction system that is greater than or less than 4 ⁇ .
- FIG. 13 is a simplified perspective view that includes, a first mask 1312 A, a second mask 1312 B, a third mask 1312 C, a fourth mask 1312 D, and another embodiment of an optical assembly 1320 .
- the optical assembly 1320 projects and/or focuses a first pattern beam 1336 A from the first mask 1312 A, a second pattern beam 1336 B from the second mask 1312 B, a third pattern beam 1336 C from the third mask 1312 C, and a fourth pattern beam 1336 D from the fourth mask 1312 D onto the substrate 1414 (illustrated in FIG. 14 ).
- the masks 1312 A- 1312 D can be individually positioned and individually illuminated, and the substrate can be positioned with components that somewhat similar to those described above and illustrated in FIG. 4 .
- the mask patterns from the four masks 1312 A- 1312 D can be sequentially transferred to the substrate 414 while the substrate 14 is being moved along the X axis (e.g. the scanning along the short dimension of the site) to provide further improvements in the throughput of the system.
- the design of the optical assembly 1320 can be varied depending on the requirements of the exposure apparatus. As illustrated, the optical assembly 1320 is substantially similar to the optical assembly 1220 illustrated in FIG. 12 . For example, the design, positioning and orientation of optical elements E 6 through E 46 (the immersion fluid is not shown in FIG. 13 ) is substantially repeated in this embodiment. Accordingly, a detailed description that portion of the optical assembly 1320 will not be repeated herein. However, the optical assembly 1320 , as illustrated in the embodiment shown in FIG.
- optical elements E 1 through E 5 which are positioned substantially between the first mask 1312 A and optical element E 6 and are oriented substantially transversely relative to optical element E 6
- optical elements E 1 ′ through E 5 ′ which are positioned substantially between the second mask 1312 B and optical element E 6 and are oriented substantially transversely relative to optical element E 6
- optical elements E 1 ′′ through E 5 ′′ which are positioned substantially between the third mask 1312 C and optical element E 6 ′′ and are oriented substantially transversely relative to optical element E 6 ′′
- optical elements E 1 ′′′ through E 5 ′′′ which are positioned substantially between the fourth mask 1312 D and optical element E 6 ′′ and are oriented substantially transversely relative to optical element E 6 ′′.
- the optical assembly 1320 further includes a first switching mirror 1384 A that is positioned substantially between optical elements E 5 and E 6 and between optical elements E 5 ′ and E 6 , and a second switching mirror 1384 B that is positioned substantially between optical elements E 5 ′′ and E 6 ′′ and between optical elements E 5 ′′′ and E 6 ′′ on the opposite side of the optical assembly 1320 .
- the first switching mirror 1384 A enables the optical assembly 1320 to selectively, alternatively and/or sequentially project and/or focus the first pattern beam 1336 A from the first mask 1312 A onto the substrate 414 , and the second pattern beam 1336 B from the second mask 1312 B onto the substrate 414 .
- the second switching mirror 1384 B enables the optical assembly 1320 to selectively, alternatively and/or sequentially project and/or focus the third pattern beam 1336 C from the third mask 1312 C onto the substrate 414 , and the fourth pattern beam 1336 D from the fourth mask 1312 D onto the substrate 414 .
- the process of the optical assembly 1320 projecting and/or focusing the first pattern beam 1336 A from the first mask 1312 A onto the substrate 414 is substantially similar to the projecting and/or focusing of the second pattern beam 1336 B from the second mask 1312 B, the third pattern beam 1336 C from the third mask 1312 C, and/or the fourth pattern beam 1336 D from the fourth mask 1312 D onto the substrate 414 .
- FIG. 14 is a simplified top view of one non-exclusive embodiment of a substrate 1414 that was exposed utilizing the four mask design and the optical assembly 1320 illustrated in FIG. 13 .
- the design of the substrate 1414 is similar to the substrate 414 described above and illustrated in FIG. 5A . However, in FIG. 14 , the sequence in which the sites 1415 are exposed is different.
- the substrate 1414 is again labeled “ 1 ” through “ 32 ” (one through thirty-two).
- the labels “ 1 ” through “ 32 ” represent one non-exclusive embodiment of the sequence in which mask patterns from each of the first mask 1312 A, the second mask 1312 B, the third mask 1312 C and the fourth mask 1312 D (illustrated In FIG. 13 ) can be transferred to the sites 1415 on the substrate 1414 .
- FIG. 14 includes an exposure pattern 1452 A (illustrated with a dashed line) which further illustrates the order in which the mask patterns are transferred to sites 1415 .
- the exposure pattern 1452 A comprises a plurality of scanning operations 1452 B and a plurality of stepping operations 1452 C, wherein the scanning operations 1452 B and the stepping operations 1452 C alternate so that the exposure proceeds in a scan-step-scan-step-scan fashion.
- the scanning 1452 B occurs as the substrate 1414 is moved along a scan axis 1458 (the X axis)
- the stepping 1452 C occurs as the substrate 1414 is moved along a step axis 1460 (the Y axis).
- the sites are scanned along the short dimension of the sites. This allows for greater throughput of the exposure apparatus because there are fewer steps of the substrate 1414 required during the exposure of the substrate 1414 .
- four adjacent sites 1415 can be scanned sequentially while moving the substrate 1414 at a constant velocity along the scan axis 1458 .
- the substrate 1414 does not have to be stepped and reversed in direction between the exposures of adjacent sites 1415 .
- the substrate 1414 is only stepped between the exposure of sets of four adjacent sites 1415 aligned on the scan axis 1458 .
- the site 1415 that is exposed first and the order in which the sites 1415 are exposed can be different than that illustrated in FIG. 14 . Further, the site 1415 that is first exposed can be located away from the edge of the substrate 1414 .
- step 1501 the device's function and performance characteristics are designed.
- step 1502 a mask (reticle) having a pattern is designed according to the previous designing step, and in a parallel step 1503 a wafer is made from a silicon material.
- the mask pattern designed in step 1502 is exposed onto the wafer from step 1503 in step 1504 by a photolithography system described hereinabove in accordance with the present invention.
- step 1505 the semiconductor device is assembled (including the dicing process, bonding process and packaging process), finally, the device is then inspected in step 1506 .
- FIG. 15B illustrates a detailed flowchart example of the above-mentioned step 1504 in the case of fabricating semiconductor devices.
- step 1511 oxidation step
- step 1512 CVD step
- step 1513 electrode formation step
- step 1514 ion implantation step
- steps 1511 - 1514 form the preprocessing steps for wafers during wafer processing, and selection is made at each step according to processing requirements.
- step 1515 photoresist formation step
- step 1516 exposure step
- step 1518 etching step
- step 1518 photoresist removal step
Abstract
An exposure apparatus (210) for transferring a mask pattern (346) from a mask (212) to a substrate (214) includes a first site (315) having a first site dimension (348) along a first axis and a second site dimension (350) along a second axis that is perpendicular to the first axis. The second site dimension (350) is larger than the first site dimension (348). The exposure apparatus (210) includes an illumination system (218), a mask stage assembly (222), a substrate stage assembly (224), and a control system (228). The illumination system (218) generates an illumination beam (235) that is directed at the mask (212). The mask stage assembly (222) retains and positions the mask (212) along the first axis relative to the illumination beam (235). The substrate stage assembly (224) retains and positions the substrate (214) along the first axis. The control system (228) controls the illumination system (218), the mask stage assembly (222), and the substrate stage assembly (224) so that a portion of the mask pattern (346) is transferred to a portion of the first site (315) while the mask stage assembly (222) is moving the mask (212) along the first axis, and the substrate stage assembly (224) is moving the substrate (214) along the first axis.
Description
- This application claims priority on U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/060,411, filed Jun. 10, 2008 and entitled “SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE FOR ACHIEVING HIGHER SCANNER THROUGHPUT”; on U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/078,251, filed Jul. 3, 2008 and entitled “HIGH NA CATADIOPTRIC PROJECTION OPTICS FOR IMAGING TWO RETICLES ONTO ONE WAFER”; on U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/078,254 filed on Jul. 3, 2008 and entitled “X-SCANNING EXPOSURE SYSTEM WITH CONTINUOUS EXPOSURE”; and on U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/104,477 filed on Oct. 10, 2008. As far as is permitted, the contents of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. Nos. 61/060,411, 61/078,251, 61/078,254 and 61/104,477 are incorporated herein by reference.
- Exposure apparatuses for semiconductor processing are commonly used to transfer images from a reticle onto a semiconductor wafer during semiconductor processing. A typical exposure apparatus includes an illumination source, a reticle stage assembly that positions a reticle, a projection optical assembly, and a wafer stage assembly that positions a semiconductor wafer.
- As illustrated in prior art
FIG. 1A , eachwafer 1P is typically divided into a plurality of rectangular shaped integratedcircuits 2P (sometimes referred to as “sites”). Further, eachsite 2P has afirst site dimension 3P along a first axis (e.g. the X axis), and asecond site dimension 4P along a second axis (e.g. the Y axis). Typically, thesecond site dimension 4P is greater than thefirst site dimension 3P. For example, acommon site 2P has afirst site dimension 3P of twenty-six millimeters and asecond site dimension 4P of thirty-three millimeters. - There are two kinds of exposure apparatuses that are generally known and currently used. The first kind is commonly referred to as a Stepper lithography system. In a Stepper lithography system, the reticle is fixed (except for slight corrections in position) and the wafer stage assembly moves the wafer to fixed chip sites where the illumination source directs an illumination beam at an entire reticle pattern on the reticle. This causes the entire reticle pattern to be exposed onto one of the chip sites of the wafer at one time. At the time of exposure, the reticle and the wafer are stationary. After the exposure, the wafer is moved (“stepped”) to the next site for subsequent exposure.
- The second kind of system is commonly referred to as a Scanner lithography system. In a Scanner lithography system, the reticle stage assembly moves the reticle in one direction along a
scan axis 5P (the second axis) concurrently with the wafer stage assembly moving the wafer in one direction along thescan axis 5P during the exposure of a first site 1S. With this system, the illumination beam is slit shaped and illuminates only a portion of the reticle pattern on the reticle. This causes a slit shapedpattern beam 6P to be imaged onto thewafer 1P. Thispattern beam 6P exposes only a portion of the first site 1S at a given moment, and the entire reticle pattern is exposed and transferred to the first site 1S over time as the reticle pattern is moved relative to the illumination beam. After exposure of the first site 1S, thewafer 1P is stepped along astep axis 7P (the first axis) and subsequently asecond site 2S is scanned while moving thewafer 1P in the opposite direction along thescan axis 5P. With this design, eachsite 1S, 2S is scanned along the second axis (the longer dimension of the site). - In
FIG. 1A , dashedline 11P illustrates anexposure pattern 11P of the first row ofsites 2P on thewafer 1P. Theexposure pattern 11P comprises a plurality ofscanning operations 13P and a plurality ofstepping operations 15P, wherein thescanning operations 13P and thestepping operations 15P alternate so that the exposure proceeds in a scan-step-scan-step-scan fashion. As illustrated, and as noted above, the scanning of eachsite 2P occurs across thesecond site dimension 4P and the steps between eachsite 2P occurs along the first axis. This typically results in scanning times and stepping times that are nearly equal to each other. - The throughput capacity of an exposure apparatus used in lithography is often quoted in the number of wafers that can be printed per hour (WPH). Throughput depends on many factors, such as the reticle stage and wafer stage performances, nozzle capabilities (for immersion type exposure apparatuses), and available power for the illumination system.
- Additionally, the optical assembly is one of the limiting factors in the performance of a lithography system. More specifically, the optical assembly is thought of as limiting the performance in terms of the resolution, or smallest printable feature. One design tradeoff that is utilized includes keeping a used field of the optical assembly as small as possible to minimize aberrations. For example,
FIG. 1B illustrates a field ofview 17P (illustrated with a dashed circle) for a prior art optical assembly having a numerical aperture (NA) of 1.30. In this example, the field ofview 17P defines a substantially rectangular usedfield 19P. In the example provided above, to expose a site that is twenty-six millimeters by thirty-three millimeters, theused field 19P has afirst field dimension 21P of about twenty-six millimeters along the first axis, and asecond field dimension 23P of about five millimeters along the second axis. These measurements are specified at the wafer plane. The corresponding dimensions at the reticle plane are determined by the magnification ratio of the projection optical assembly. For example, in a 4× reduction machine, the reticle dimensions are 4× bigger. - Additionally, in order to further minimize or correct aberrations at such a high NA, the optical assembly is catadioptric. This requires the used
field 19P to be off-axis in order to avoid obscurations from the relative surfaces. In one prior art design, the closest edge of the usedfield 19P has anoffset distance 25P of about 2.5 millimeters from anoptical axis 27P. This means the diagonal of the point in theused field 19P farthest from theoptical axis 27P is 15.01 millimeters, and the field ofview 17P has a field diameter of 30.02 millimeters, as explained inEquation 1. -
2*√{square root over (13 2+(5+2.5)2)}=30.02 mm (Equation 1) - Using the specifications for one embodiment of a prior system, where there are 125 chips per wafer, each chip is 16×32 mm, average wafer stage acceleration of 2.5G in the X axis and the Y axis, an average reticle stage acceleration of 10G, and a wafer stage scan velocity of 0.7 m/s, the maximum possible throughput is 246 WPH (assuming no overhead time between wafers).
- As is known, there is a never ending search to increase the throughput in exposure apparatuses.
- The present invention is directed to an exposure apparatus for transferring a first mask pattern from a first mask to a substrate. The substrate includes a first site having a first site dimension along a first axis and a second site dimension along a second axis that is perpendicular to the first axis. The second site dimension is larger than the first site dimension.
- In one embodiment, the exposure apparatus includes an illumination system, a first mask stage assembly, a substrate stage assembly, and a control system. The illumination system generates a first illumination beam that is directed at the first mask. The first mask stage assembly retains and positions the first mask along the first axis relative to the first illumination beam. The substrate stage assembly retains and positions the substrate along the first axis. The control system controls the illumination system, the first mask stage assembly and the substrate stage assembly so that a portion of the first mask pattern is transferred to a portion of the first site while the first mask stage assembly is moving the first mask along the first axis, and the substrate stage assembly is moving the substrate along the first axis.
- With this design, one or more of the sites of the substrate are scanned along their short dimension. As a result thereof, the throughput of the exposure apparatus can be improved.
- In certain embodiments, the first illumination beam illuminates the first mask pattern to generate a first pattern beam. In this embodiment, the exposure apparatus further comprises an optical assembly that focuses the first pattern beam on the substrate. Additionally, the optical assembly includes a used field having a first field dimension along the first axis and a second field dimension along the second axis, wherein the first field dimension is smaller than the second field dimension. In one such embodiment, the second field dimension is between approximately thirty millimeters and thirty-five millimeters. Further, in this embodiment, the first field dimension can be between approximately 1.5 mm and 5 mm. Still further, in one embodiment, the first field dimension is shorter than the first site dimension and the second field dimension is equal to or greater than the second site dimension. As provided herein, the design of the optical assembly provided herein allows for the scanning of the sites along their short dimension.
- In one embodiment, the exposure apparatus further comprises a second mask stage assembly that retains and positions a second mask. In this embodiment, the illumination system generates a second illumination beam that is directed at the second mask. Additionally, the second illumination beam illuminates a second mask pattern of the second mask to generate a second pattern beam. Further, in this embodiment, the optical assembly focuses the first pattern beam and the second pattern beam on the substrate.
- In some embodiments, the substrate may further include a second site, and the control system may control the illumination system, the mask stage assemblies and the substrate stage assembly to transfer an image of the first mask pattern to the first site, and an image of the second mask pattern to the second site. In one such embodiment, the control system controls the substrate stage assembly to continuously move the substrate at a constant velocity along the first axis when transferring the images to the first site and the second site. With this design, multiple sites can be exposed between stepping of the substrate. This improves the throughput of the exposure apparatus.
- The present invention is further directed to a method for transferring a first mask pattern from a first mask to a substrate, a method for making an exposure apparatus, and a method of manufacturing a wafer with the exposure apparatus.
- The novel features of this invention, as well as the invention itself, both as to its structure and its operation, will be best understood from the accompanying drawings, taken in conjunction with the accompanying description, in which similar reference characters refer to similar parts, and in which:
-
FIG. 1A is a simplified illustration of a prior art exposure pattern on a wafer; -
FIG. 1B is a simplified illustration of a field of view for a prior art optical assembly; -
FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a first embodiment of an exposure apparatus having features of the present invention; -
FIG. 3A is a simplified top illustration of a substrate and an exposure pattern having features of the present invention; -
FIG. 3B is a simplified top illustration of a field of view for an optical assembly having features of the present invention; -
FIG. 3C is a simplified top illustration of the mask and a portion of the substrate at the beginning of a scanning procedure on a first site; -
FIG. 3D is a simplified top illustration of the mask and a portion of the substrate at the end the scanning procedure on the first site; -
FIG. 3E is a simplified top illustration of the mask and a portion of the substrate at the beginning of a scanning procedure on a second site; -
FIG. 3F is a simplified illustration of an optical assembly having features of the present invention; -
FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of a second embodiment of an exposure apparatus having features of the present invention; -
FIG. 5A is a simplified top view of an embodiment of a substrate exposed by the exposure apparatus ofFIG. 4 ; -
FIG. 5B is a simplified illustration of a field of view of an embodiment of an optical assembly having features of the present invention; -
FIG. 6A is a simplified side view of a first mask, a second mask, an optical assembly, and a substrate at a beginning of an exposure of a first site; -
FIG. 6B is a simplified side view of the first mask, the second mask, the optical assembly, and the substrate at a beginning of an exposure of a second site; -
FIG. 6C is a simplified side view of the first mask, the second mask, the optical assembly, and the substrate at a beginning of an exposure of a third site; -
FIG. 6D is a simplified side view of the first mask, the second mask, the optical assembly, and the substrate at a beginning of an exposure of a fourth site; -
FIGS. 7A-7I illustrate one embodiment of the exposure of four sites; -
FIGS. 8A-8I illustrate another embodiment of the exposure of four sites; -
FIGS. 9A-98I illustrate yet another embodiment of the exposure of four sites; -
FIGS. 10A-10D illustrate one embodiment of the exposure of one site; -
FIGS. 11A-11D illustrate another embodiment of the exposure of one site; -
FIG. 12 is a schematic illustration of the first mask, the second mask, the substrate, and an embodiment of an optical assembly having features of the present invention; -
FIG. 13 is a simplified perspective view of portion of another embodiment of an exposure apparatus having features of the present invention; -
FIG. 14 is a simplified top view of an embodiment of a substrate exposed utilizing the exposure apparatus illustrated inFIG. 13 ; -
FIG. 15A is a flow chart that outlines a process for manufacturing a device in accordance with the present invention; and -
FIG. 15B is a flow chart that outlines device processing in more detail. -
FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a precision assembly, namely anexposure apparatus 210 that transfers features from amask 212 to asubstrate 214 such as a semiconductor wafer that includes a plurality of sites 315 (illustrated inFIG. 3A ). The design of theexposure apparatus 210 can be varied to achieve the desired throughput, and quality and density of the features on thesubstrate 214. InFIG. 2 , theexposure apparatus 210 includes anapparatus frame 216, an illumination system 218 (irradiation apparatus), a projectionoptical assembly 220, amask stage assembly 222, asubstrate stage assembly 224, ameasurement system 226, and acontrol system 228. Further, theexposure apparatus 210 mounts to a mountingbase 230, e.g., the ground, a base, or a floor, or some other supporting structure. - As an overview, in certain embodiments, the projection
optical assembly 220 is designed to have a larger field of view 331 (illustrated inFIG. 3B ) and/or one or more of thesites 315 of thesubstrate 214 are scanned along their short dimension. Further, in certain embodiments, the exposure apparatus 410 (illustrated inFIG. 4 ) is designed to use multiple masks 412 to sequentially exposeadjacent sites 315. These features can increase the throughput capabilities of theexposure apparatuses - A number of Figures include an orientation system that illustrates an X axis, a Y axis that is orthogonal to the X axis, and a Z axis that is orthogonal to the X and Y axes. It should be noted that any of these axes can also be referred to as the first, second, and/or third axes.
- The
exposure apparatus 210 discussed herein is particularly useful as a photolithography system for semiconductor manufacturing that transfers features from a reticle (the mask 212) to a wafer (the substrate 214). However, theexposure apparatus 210 provided herein is not limited to a photolithography system for semiconductor manufacturing. Theexposure apparatus 210, for example, can be used as an LCD photolithography system that exposes a liquid crystal display device pattern onto a glass plate or a photolithography system for manufacturing a thin film magnetic head. Further, in certain embodiments, the concepts of the present invention can be utilized in a maskless exposure apparatus. - The
apparatus frame 216 is rigid and supports the components of theexposure apparatus 210. Theapparatus frame 216 illustrated inFIG. 2 supports themask stage assembly 222, the projectionoptical assembly 220, theillumination system 218, and thesubstrate stage assembly 224 above the mountingbase 230. - The
illumination system 218 includes anillumination source 232 and an illuminationoptical assembly 234. Theillumination source 232 emits an illumination beam 235 (irradiation) of light energy. The illuminationoptical assembly 234 guides theillumination beam 235 from theillumination source 232 to near themask 212. Theillumination beam 235 illuminates themask 212 to generate a pattern beam 236 (e.g. images from the mask 212) that exposes thesubstrate 214. In one embodiment, theillumination beam 235 is generally slit shaped and illuminates only a portion of themask 212 at any given moment. Similarly, thepattern beam 236 is generally slit shaped and exposes only a portion of thesubstrate 214 at any given moment. In the embodiment illustrated inFIG. 2 , themask stage assembly 222 moves themask 212 back and forth along the first axis (e.g. the X axis) during scanning of thesites 315. - In
FIG. 1 , themask 212 is at least partly transparent, and theillumination beam 235 is transmitted through a portion of themask 212. Alternatively, themask 212 can be reflective, and theillumination beam 235 can be directed at themask 212 and reflected off of themask 212. - The
illumination source 232 can be a g-line source (436 nm), an i-line source (365 nm), a KrF excimer laser (248 nm), an ArF excimer laser (193 nm) or an F2 laser (157 nm). Alternatively, theillumination source 232 can generate charged particle beams such as an x-ray or an electron beam. For instance, in the case where an electron beam is used, thermionic emission type lanthanum hexaboride (LaB6) or tantalum (Ta) can be used as a cathode for an electron gun. - The projection
optical assembly 220 projects and/or focuses thepattern beam 236 from themask 212 to thesubstrate 214. Depending upon the design of theexposure apparatus 210, the projectionoptical assembly 220 can magnify or reduce thepattern beam 236. In one non-exclusive embodiment, the projectionoptical assembly 220 reduces thepattern beam 236 by a reduction factor of four. As a result thereof, during the exposure of asite 315, themask stage assembly 222 must move the mask 212 a distance that is four times greater than a distance in which thesubstrate stage assembly 224 moves thesubstrate 214. Stated in another fashion, if the projectionoptical assembly 220 has a reduction factor of 4, thesubstrate 214 is moved at a rate that is one fourth that of themask 212. - In certain embodiments, as discussed in more detail below, the projection
optical assembly 220 includes a plurality ofoptical elements 220A (illustrated in phantom inFIG. 2 ) that are designed and arranged so that the projectionoptical assembly 220 will have a relatively large field ofview 331 so that one or more of thesites 315 of thesubstrate 214 can be scanned along their short dimension. A discussion of possible fields ofview 331 for the projectionoptical assembly 220 is described in more detail below. - The
mask stage assembly 222 holds and positions themask 212 relative to the projectionoptical assembly 220 and thesubstrate 214. Themask stage assembly 222 can include (i) amask stage 237 having a chuck (not shown) for holding themask 212, and (ii) a maskstage mover assembly 238 that moves and positions themask stage 237 and themask 212. For example, the maskstage mover assembly 238 can move themask stage 237 and themask 212 along the Y axis, along the X axis, and about the Z axis. Alternatively, for example, the maskstage mover assembly 238 could be designed to move themask stage 237 and themask 212 with more than three degrees of freedom, or less than three degrees of freedom. For example, the maskstage mover assembly 238 can include one or more linear motors, rotary motors, planar motors, voice coil actuators, or other type of actuators. In the embodiment illustrated inFIG. 2 , the maskstage mover assembly 238 moves themask 212 along the first axis (e.g. the X axis) during scanning of thesites 315. - Somewhat similarly, the
substrate stage assembly 224 holds and positions thesubstrate 214 with respect to thepattern beam 236. Thesubstrate stage assembly 224 can include (i) asubstrate stage 240 having a chuck (not shown) for holding thesubstrate 214, and (ii) a substratestage mover assembly 242 that moves and positions thesubstrate stage 240 and thesubstrate 214. For example, the substratestage mover assembly 242 can move thesubstrate stage 240 and thesubstrate 214 along the Y axis, along the X axis, and about the Z axis. Alternatively, for example, the substratestage mover assembly 242 could be designed to move thesubstrate stage 240 and thesubstrate 214 with more than three degrees of freedom, or less than three degrees of freedom. For example, the substratestage mover assembly 242 can include one or more linear motors, rotary motors, planar motors, voice coil actuators, or other type of actuators. In the embodiment illustrated inFIG. 2 , the substratestage mover assembly 242 moves thesubstrate 214 along the first axis (e.g. the X axis) during scanning of thesites 315 and moves thesubstrate 214 along the second axis (e.g. the Y axis) while stepping in between scanning of thesites 315. - The
measurement system 226 monitors movement of themask 212 and thesubstrate 214 relative to the projectionoptical assembly 220 or some other reference. With this information, thecontrol system 228 can control themask stage assembly 222 to precisely position themask 212 and thesubstrate stage assembly 224 to precisely position thesubstrate 214. For example, themeasurement system 226 can utilize multiple laser interferometers, encoders, and/or other measuring devices. - The
control system 228 is connected to theillumination system 218, themask stage assembly 222, thesubstrate stage assembly 224, and themeasurement system 226. Thecontrol system 228 receives information from themeasurement system 226, and controls theillumination system 218 and thestage assemblies mask 212 and thesubstrate 214 and expose thesites 315. Thecontrol system 228 can include one or more processors and circuits. InFIG. 2 , thecontrol system 228 is illustrated as a single unit. It should be noted that in alternative embodiments thecontrol system 228 can be designed with multiple, spaced apart controllers. -
FIG. 3A is a simplified top view of one non-exclusive embodiment of asubstrate 214 that has been processed with theexposure apparatus 210 ofFIG. 2 . In this embodiment, thesubstrate 214 is a generally disk shaped, thin slice of semiconductor material, e.g. a semiconductor wafer, that serves as a substrate for photolithographic patterning. Typically, the disk shapedsubstrate 214 is divided into a plurality of rectangular shaped sites 315 (e.g. chips) that are organized into a plurality of rows (along the X axis) and columns (along the Y axis). As used herein, the term “site” shall mean an area on thesubstrate 214 to which the entire or a portion of the mask pattern 346 (illustrated inFIG. 3C ) has been transferred. For example, for a semiconductor wafer, eachsite 315 is one or more integrated circuits that include a number of connected circuit elements that were transferred to thesubstrate 214 by theexposure apparatus 210 ofFIG. 2 . In this example, eachsite 315 contains one or more integral die piece(s) that can be sliced from the wafer. - In one embodiment, each
site 315 is generally rectangular shaped and has a first site dimension 348 (measured along the X axis) that is less than a second site dimension 350 (measured along the Y axis). In one non-exclusive embodiment, eachsite 315 has afirst site dimension 348 of approximately twenty-six (26) millimeters, and asecond site dimension 350 of approximately thirty-three (33) millimeters. Alternatively, for example, eachsite 315 can have afirst site dimension 348 that is greater than or less than twenty-six (26) millimeters, and asecond site dimension 350 that is greater than or less than thirty-three (33) millimeters. For example, eachsite 315 can have afirst site dimension 348 of approximately sixteen (16) millimeters, and asecond site dimension 350 of approximately thirty-two (32) millimeters. - The size of the
substrate 214 and the number ofsites 315 on thesubstrate 214 can be varied. For example, thesubstrate 214 can have a diameter of approximately three hundred millimeters. Alternatively, thesubstrate 214 can have a diameter that is greater than or less than three hundred millimeters and/or thesubstrate 214 can have a shape that is different than disk shaped (e.g. rectangular shaped). For example, thesubstrate 214 can be circularly shaped with a diameter approximately four hundred fifty millimeters. - Further, for simplicity, in the embodiment illustrated in
FIG. 3A , thesubstrate 214 is illustrated as having fifteenseparate sites 315. Alternatively, for example, thesubstrate 214 can be separated into greater than or fewer than fifteensites 315. - In
FIG. 3A , thesites 315 have been labeled “1” through “15” (one through fifteen). In this example, (i) thesites 315 labeled “1” through “3” are aligned in a first column along the Y axis; (ii) thesites 315 labeled “4” through “6” are aligned in a second column along the Y axis; (iii) thesites 315 labeled “7” through “9” are aligned in a third column along the Y axis; (iv) thesites 315 labeled “10” through “12” are aligned in a fourth column along the Y axis; and (v) thesites 315 labeled “13” through “15” are aligned in a fifth column along the Y axis. Additionally, the labels “1” through “15” represent one non-exclusive embodiment of a sequence in which themask pattern 346 can be transferred to thesites 315 on thesubstrate 214. More specifically, as provided herein, theexposure apparatus 210 can first transfer themask pattern 346 to thesite 315 labeled “1” (sometimes referred to as the “first site”). Next, theexposure apparatus 210 can move the mask 212 (illustrated inFIG. 2 ) and thesubstrate 214, and transfer themask pattern 346 to thesite 315 labeled “2” (sometimes referred to as the “second site”). Subsequently, and sequentially, theexposure apparatus 210 can move themask 212 and thesubstrate 214 to sequentially transfer themask pattern 346 to thesites 315 labeled “3”, “4”, “5”, . . . and “15”. - Moreover,
FIG. 3A includes an exposure pattern 352 (illustrated with a dashed line) which further illustrates the order in which themask pattern 346 is transferred to sites “1” through “3” in the first column. In this example, (i) thesites 315 labeled “1” through “3” are sequentially exposed as thesubstrate 214 is moved in a weaving (boustrophedonic) fashion and themask 212 is moved back and forth. More specifically, theexposure pattern 352 comprises a plurality of scanningoperations 354 and a plurality of steppingoperations 356, wherein thescanning operations 354 and the steppingoperations 356 alternate so that the exposure proceeds in a scan-step-scan-step-scan fashion. As provided herein, thescanning 354 of eachsite 315 occurs as thesubstrate 214 is moved along a scan axis 358 (i.e., the X axis) across thefirst site dimension 348, and the stepping 356 in between exposures ofsites 315 occurs as thesubstrate 214 is moved along a step axis 360 (i.e., the Y axis). - It should be noted that with the design illustrated in
FIG. 3A , thescanning operations 354 occur while thesubstrate 214 is moved along thefirst site dimension 348 and steppingoperations 356 occur while thesubstrate 214 is moved along thesecond site dimension 350. This results in shorter scanning times and longer stepping times compared to the prior art. - It should also be noted that in this example, the
site 315 that is exposed first and the order in which the columns are exposed can be different than that illustrated inFIG. 3A . Further, thesite 315 that is first exposed can be located away from the edge of thesubstrate 214 - Additionally,
FIG. 3A illustrates thepattern beam 236 that is directed at the first site “1” on thesubstrate 214. Thepattern beam 236 is discussed in more detail with reference toFIGS. 3C-3E . -
FIG. 3B is a simplified illustration of one embodiment of a field of view 331 (illustrated with a dashed circle) of the projection optical assembly 220 (illustrated inFIG. 2 ). As used herein, the term field ofview 331 shall mean the maximum image area over which the projectionoptical assembly 220 can provide a sufficiently accurate image of the mask pattern. As provided herein, in certain embodiments, the field ofview 331 of the projectionoptical assembly 220 must be relatively large in order to transfer a relatively large pattern beam 236 (illustrated inFIG. 3A ) to thesite 315. - In one embodiment, the field of
view 331 defines a rectangular shaped used field 362 (illustrated with a box with “X”'s) that includes afirst field dimension 364 that is measured along the first axis (the X axis) and asecond field dimension 366 that is measured along the second axis (the Y axis). In this embodiment, thesecond field dimension 366 is larger than thefirst field dimension 366. - In certain embodiments, the projection
optical assembly 220 is designed so that thefirst field dimension 364 is less than the first site dimension 348 (illustrated inFIG. 3A ) and thesecond field dimension 366 is equal to or greater than thesecond site dimension 350. - In one non-exclusive example, each
site 315 has afirst site dimension 348 of twenty-six (26) millimeters and asecond site dimension 350 of thirty-three (33) millimeters. In this example, thesecond field dimension 366 can be approximately thirty-three (33) millimeters, and thefirst field dimension 364 is less than twenty-six (26) millimeters. As non-exclusive examples, thefirst field dimension 364 can be approximately 2, 3, 4, 5, or 5.5 millimeters. Further, as non-exclusive examples, thesecond field dimension 366 can be approximately 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, or 35 millimeters - Further, comparing prior art
FIG. 1B andFIG. 3B , the usedfield 362 ofFIG. 3B has been rotated by approximately 90 degrees from the orientation of the usedfield 19P in the prior art (as illustrated inFIG. 1B ). In one non-exclusive embodiment, in order to minimize the impact of the orientation change, the edge of the usedfield 362 can be moved closer to anoptical axis 368 of the projectionoptical assembly 220. In this embodiment, for example, the offsetdistance 368A is about 1.25 millimeters, instead of the prior art design of 2.50 millimeters illustrated inFIG. 1B . Further, thefirst field dimension 364 of the usedfield 362 is less than the prior art design described above. The resulting maximum field point is now 16.92 millimeters for afield diameter 368B of 33.84 millimeters as calculated inEquation 2. -
- Additionally, it is important to look at the approximate gain in throughput obtained by increasing the size of the used
field 362 of the projectionoptical assembly 220 and changing the scan direction from across thesecond site dimension 350 to across thefirst site dimension 348. - More specifically, utilizing a slightly larger used
field 362 size of 33 millimeters by 2.5 millimeters foroptical assembly 220, scanning the usedfield 362 across thefirst site dimension 348 instead of across thesecond site dimension 350, with an average wafer stage acceleration of 2.5G in X axis and Y axis, anaverage mask 212 acceleration of 10G, and asubstrate 214 scan velocity of 0.7 m/s, the maximum throughput is 274 wafers per hour. The gain is 28 WPH, or an 11.5% gain in throughput over the prior art described in the background. Alternatively, in certain embodiments, the idea of scanning the usedfield 362 across thefirst field dimension 364 could be used to decrease the requirements for acceleration and maximum scanning velocity of the substrate stage assembly 224 (illustrated inFIG. 2 ) and/or the mask stage assembly 222 (illustrated inFIG. 2 ), while still maintaining the same or better throughput than is possible in the prior art. -
FIG. 3C is a simplified top illustration of themask 212 and a portion of thesubstrate 214 in a side-by-side arrangement, at the start of an exposure of the first site 1 (illustrated as a box). It should be noted that the components of the exposure apparatus 210 (illustrated inFIG. 2 ) are not shown inFIGS. 3C-3E for clarity. Further, it should also be noted that themask 212 and thesubstrate 214 are shown in a side-by-side arrangement during exposure and thatFIGS. 3C-3E are only illustrated in this configuration so that the relative positions of these components can be better understood. Additionally, in these Figures, themask pattern 346 is illustrated as being approximately the same size as eachsite 315. However, in the event that the projectionoptical assembly 220 has a reduction factor of 4, themask pattern 346 can be four times larger than the size of eachsite 315. Moreover,FIG. 3C also illustrates at least a portion ofsites 2 through 9. In this embodiment, eachsite 315 includes a siteleft side 315A, an opposed siteright side 315B, and asite center 315C (only one is illustrated with aFIG. 3C illustrates that themask 212 includes the mask pattern 346 (illustrated as a box) that includes the features that are to be transferred to thesubstrate 214. In this embodiment, themask pattern 346 includes a patternleft side 346A, and opposed patternright side 346B, and a pattern center 346C (illustrated as with a “+”). - At the start of exposure of the
first site 1, the control system 228 (illustrated inFIG. 2 ) controls the illumination system 218 (illustrated inFIG. 2 ) to generate the slit shaped illumination beam 235 (illustrated as “o”'s) that is directed at themask 212, and controls the mask stage assembly 222 (illustrated inFIG. 2 ) to position themask 212 so that themask pattern 346 is illuminated near the pattern leftside 346A. This causes the resulting pattern beam 236 (illustrated as “\”'s) to be directed at a corresponding portion of thefirst site 1. In the illustrations, the left side of the mask pattern area corresponds to the left side of the substrate site. Depending on the optical design, however, the image may be reversed, so the right side of the mask pattern area corresponds to the left side of the substrate site. - At the beginning of the exposure of the
first site 1, (i) the pattern center 346C is located at a first mask position, which is referenced as Xm1 along thescan axis 358 and Ym1 along thestep axis 360, and (ii) thesite center 315C of thefirst site 1 is located at a site first position, which is referenced as Xs1 along thescan axis 358 and Ys1 along thestep axis 360. - Further, at the beginning of the exposure, the control system 228 (illustrated in
FIG. 2 ) (i) controls themask stage assembly 222 so that themask 212 is being moved at a constant velocity in afirst scan direction 370A (from right to left inFIG. 3A ) along the scan axis 358 (the X axis), and (ii) controls the substrate stage assembly 224 (illustrated inFIG. 2 ) so that thesubstrate 214 is also being moved at a constant velocity in thefirst scan direction 370A along thescan axis 358. With the present design, in certain embodiments, both themask 212 and thesubstrate 214 are moved synchronously in thesame scan direction 370A. Further, for example, if the projection optical assembly 220 (illustrated inFIG. 2 ) has a reduction factor of four, themask 212 is moved at a rate that is four times greater than that of thesubstrate 214. Alternatively, themask 212 andsubstrate 214 can be moved in opposite directions along thescan axis 358 during scanning of thesites 315. - Additionally, as illustrated in
FIG. 3C , thepattern beam 236 is generally rectangular slit shaped and includes afirst beam dimension 372 along the first axis (the X axis) and asecond beam dimension 374 along the second axis (the Y axis). In this embodiment, thesecond beam dimension 374 is larger than thefirst beam dimension 372. In certain embodiments, the exposure apparatus 210 (illustrated inFIG. 2 ) is designed so that thefirst beam dimension 372 is less than the first site dimension 348 (illustrated inFIG. 3A ) and thesecond beam dimension 374 is equal to the second site dimension 350 (illustrated inFIG. 3A ). In one non-exclusive example, eachsite 315 has afirst site dimension 348 of twenty-six (26) millimeters and asecond site dimension 350 of thirty-three (33) millimeters. In this example, thesecond beam dimension 374 can be approximately thirty-three (33) millimeters, and thefirst beam dimension 372 is less than twenty-six (26) millimeters. As non-exclusive examples, thefirst beam dimension 372 can be approximately 2, 3, 4, 5, or 5.5 millimeters. Alternatively, for example, thesecond beam dimension 374 can be approximately 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, or 35 millimeters. -
FIG. 3D is a simplified top illustration of themask 212 and a portion of thesubstrate 214 in a side-by-side arrangement, at the end of the exposure of thefirst site 1. At this time, the control system 228 (illustrated inFIG. 2 ) controls the illumination system 218 (illustrated inFIG. 2 ) to generate the slit shaped illumination beam 235 (illustrated as “o”'s) that is directed at themask 212, and controls the mask stage assembly 222 (illustrated inFIG. 2 ) to position themask 212 so that themask pattern 346 is illuminated near the patternright side 346B. This causes the resulting pattern beam 236 (illustrated as “\”'s) to be directed at a portion of thefirst site 1. - At the end of the exposure of the
first site 1, (i) the pattern center 346C is located at a second mask position, which is referenced as Xm2 along thescan axis 358 and Ym1 along thestep axis 360, and (ii) thesite center 315C of thefirst site 1 is located at a site second position, which is referenced as Xs2 along thescan axis 358 and Ys1 along thestep axis 360. - It should be noted that (i) the difference between the first mask position Xm1 and the second mask position Xm2 along the
scan axis 358 is referred to herein as amask exposure distance 376, and (ii) the difference between the first substrate position Xs1 and the second substrate position Xs2 along thescan axis 358 is referred to herein as asite exposure distance 378. In this example, (i) themask exposure distance 376 is the distance in which themask 212 is moved along thescan axis 358 during the exposure (i.e., thescanning operation 354 as illustrated inFIG. 3A ) of thefirst site 1, and (ii) thesite exposure distance 378 is the distance in which the substrate 314 is moved along thescan axis 358 during the exposure of thefirst site 1. - For clarity, in
FIG. 3D , themask exposure distance 376 is illustrated as being equal to thesite exposure distance 378. Alternatively, in the event the projection optical assembly 220 (illustrated inFIG. 1 ) has a reduction factor of four, themask exposure distance 376 is four times larger than thesite exposure distance 378. - Referring to
FIGS. 3C and 3D , it should also be noted that theentire mask pattern 346 is scanned to thefirst site 1 during movement of themask 212 themask exposure distance 376. Additionally, the exposure of thefirst site 1 is halted once thepattern beam 236 is directed at the patternright side 346B. - Further, it should be noted that during the exposure of the sites 315 (i.e., during the scanning operations 354), the
control system 228 controls themask stage assembly 222 so that themask 212 is approximately not moved along the step axis 360 (the Y axis), and thecontrol system 228 controls the substrate stage assembly 224 (illustrated inFIG. 2 ) so that thesubstrate 214 is approximately not moved along the step axis 360 (the Y axis). Moreover, during scanning, both themask 212 and thesubstrate 214 are moved at a constant velocity along thescan axis 358. -
FIGS. 3E is a simplified top illustration of themask 212 and a portion of thesubstrate 214 in a side-by-side arrangement, at the start of an exposure of thesecond site 2. At this time, the control system 228 (illustrated inFIG. 2 ) controls the illumination system 218 (illustrated inFIG. 2 ) to generate the slit shaped illumination beam 235 (illustrated as “o”'s) that is directed at themask 212, and controls the mask stage assembly 222 (illustrated inFIG. 2 ) to position themask 212 so that themask pattern 346 is illuminated near the patternright side 346B. This causes the resulting pattern beam 236 (illustrated as “\”'s) to be directed at a corresponding portion of thesecond site 2. - At the beginning of the exposure of the
second site 2, (i) the pattern center 346C is again located at the second mask position, which is referenced as Xm2 along thescan axis 358 and Ym1 along thestep axis 360, and (ii) thesite center 315C of thefirst site 1 is located at a site third position, which is referenced as Xs2 along thescan axis 358 and Ys2 along thestep axis 360. - Basically, in between exposures (i.e., during the stepping
operations 356 as illustrated inFIG. 3A ), (i) thesubstrate 214 is stepped with the substrate stage assembly 224 (illustrated inFIG. 2 ) so that thesecond site 2 is being moved towards the field of view 331 (illustrated inFIG. 3B ) of the projection optical assembly 220 (illustrated inFIG. 2 ), and (ii) the position of themask pattern 346 is reset along thescan axis 358 to the second mask position Xm2 with the mask stage assembly 222 (illustrated inFIG. 2 ). It should be noted that themask pattern 346 is moved past the second mask position Xm2 after the exposure because themask 212 is moved at a constant velocity during the entire exposure and themask 212 must be decelerated after the exposure. The mask is subsequently accelerated back toward the second mask position Xm2 prior to the next exposure, so that themask 212 can again be moved at a constant velocity from the second mask position Xm2 to the first mask position Xm1 during the subsequent exposure of thesecond site 2. - It should also be noted that the difference between the site first position Ys1 and the site third position Ys2 along the
step axis 358 is referred to herein as asite step distance 380. In this example, thesite step distance 380 is the distance in which the substrate 314 is moved along thestep axis 360 between the exposure of thefirst site 1 and the exposure of the second site 2 (i.e., during the stepping operation 356). - Further, at the beginning of the exposure, the control system 228 (illustrated in
FIG. 2 ) (i) controls themask stage assembly 222 so that themask 212 is being moved at a constant velocity in asecond scan direction 370B (from left to right inFIG. 3A ) along the scan axis 358 (the X axis) from the second mask position Xm2 back toward the first mask position Xm1, and (ii) controls the substrate stage assembly 224 (illustrated inFIG. 2 ) so that thesubstrate 214 is also being moved at a constant velocity in thesecond scan direction 370B along thescan axis 358 from Xs2 back toward Xs1. With the present design, in certain embodiments, both themask 212 and thesubstrate 214 are moved synchronously in thesame scan direction 370B. Further, for example, if the projection optical assembly 220 (illustrated inFIG. 2 ) has a reduction factor of four, themask 212 is moved at a rate that is four times greater than that of thesubstrate 214. Alternatively, as noted above, themask 212 andsubstrate 214 can be moved in opposite directions along thescan axis 358 during scanning of thesites 315. -
FIG. 3F is a simplified illustration of one non-exclusive embodiment of the projectionoptical assembly 220. In this embodiment, the projectionoptical assembly 220 includes the plurality of spaced apartoptical elements 220A and anoptical housing 382A. In this embodiment, the projectionoptical assembly 220 has anoptical axis 382B and theoptical elements 220A are aligned along theoptical axis 382B. - As provided herein, the design, positioning, and number of
optical elements 220A can be varied to achieve the relatively large field of view 331 (illustrated inFIG. 3B ) and described above so that one or more of the sites 315 (illustrated inFIG. 3A ) of the substrate 214 (illustrated inFIG. 3A ) can be scanned along their short dimension. InFIG. 3F , the projectionoptical assembly 220 is illustrated as having elevenoptical elements 220A. Alternatively, the projectionoptical assembly 220 can be designed with greater or fewer than elevenoptical elements 220A. As provided herein, the number ofoptical elements 220A can be greater than what is typical utilized in prior art projection optical assemblies to cancel off-axis aberrations. InFIG. 3F , theoptical elements 220A are aligned along the commonoptical axis 382B. Alternatively, the optical path can be folded to allow for the use of additionaloptical elements 220A for aberration correction without increasing the distance between the mask and the substrate. - In one embodiment, one or more of the
optical elements 220A is a lens that is made of high quality fused silica (SiO2). Alternatively, one or more of theoptical elements 220A can be made of another material. - In one embodiment, in order to achieve a larger field of
view 331, one or more of theoptical elements 220A can have an element diameter 320B that is greater than approximately three hundred fifty millimeters (350 mm). For example, in alternative non-exclusive embodiments, one or more of theoptical elements 220A can have an element diameter 320B that is greater than approximately 360, 370, 375, 380, 385, or 390 millimeters. - Further, in order to achieve a larger field of
view 331 with less off-axis aberrations, aseparation distance 320C between a top of anuppermost element 320U of the projectionoptical assembly 220 and a bottom of alowermost element 320L can be greater than approximately 1.4 meters. For example, in alternative non-exclusive embodiments, theseparation distance 320C can be greater than approximately 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8, 1.9, or 2 meters for a NA=1.3 system. -
FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of a second embodiment of anexposure apparatus 410 having features of the present invention. InFIG. 4 , theexposure apparatus 410 includes anapparatus frame 416, anillumination system 418, anoptical assembly 420, a firstmask stage assembly 422A, a secondmask stage assembly 422B, asubstrate stage assembly 424, ameasurement system 426, and acontrol system 428. Many of these components are similar in design to the corresponding similarly named components described above and illustrated inFIG. 2 . - In this embodiment, the
exposure apparatus 410 utilizesmultiple masks substrate 414 that includes a plurality ofsites 415. With this embodiment, in certain embodiments, themasks adjacent sites 415 on thesubstrate 414 can be sequentially exposed without stopping thesubstrate 414 and without changing the movement direction ofsubstrate 414. Stated in another fashion, at least twosites 415 can be scanned without stepping thesubstrate 414. This allows for higher overall throughput for theexposure apparatus 410. - Further, in this embodiment, the
exposure apparatus 410 is a scanning type photolithography system (i) that first exposes afirst mask pattern 429A from thefirst mask 412A onto one of thesites 415 of thesubstrate 414 while thefirst mask 412A and thesubstrate 414 are moving synchronously, and (ii) that subsequently exposes asecond mask pattern 429B from thesecond mask 412B onto anadjacent site 415 on thesubstrate 414 while thesecond mask 412B and thesubstrate 414 are moving synchronously. Alternatively, themasks exposure apparatus 410 can be used to scan both thefirst mask pattern 429A and thesecond mask pattern 429B onto thesame site 415, simultaneously or at different times. - An additional discussion of a multiple mask exposure system is disclosed in concurrently filed application Ser. No. ______, entitled “EXPOSURE APPARATUS THAT UTILIZES MULTIPLE MASKS” (PA1017-00/4990/Roeder Ref. No.11269.156), which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention, and is incorporated by reference herein as far as permitted.
- An additional discussion regarding another type of exposure apparatus is disclosed in concurrently filed application Ser. No. ______, entitled “EXPOSURE APPARATUS WITH SCANNING ILLUMINATION BEAM” (PAO1003-00/04982/Roeder Ref. No. 11269.177), which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention, and is incorporated by reference herein as far as permitted.
- The
illumination system 418 generates afirst illumination beam 435A (irradiation) of light energy that is selectively directed at thefirst mask 412A, and asecond illumination beam 435B (irradiation) of light energy that is selectively directed at thesecond mask 412B. In certain embodiments, theillumination system 418 generates bothillumination beams illumination system 418 will sequentially generate the illumination beams 435A, 435B during the sequential exposure of thesites 415. - In one embodiment, the
illumination system 418 includes (i) afirst illumination source 432A that emits thefirst illumination beam 435A; (ii) a first illuminationoptical assembly 434A that guides thefirst illumination beam 435A from thefirst illumination source 432A to near thefirst mask 412A; (iii) asecond illumination source 432B that emits thesecond illumination beam 435B; and (iv) a second illuminationoptical assembly 434B that guides thesecond illumination beam 435B from thesecond illumination source 432B to near thesecond mask 412B. Alternatively, theillumination system 418 can be designed with a single illumination source that generates an illumination beam that is split or selectively redirected to create the multipleseparate illumination beams - The
first illumination beam 435A illuminates thefirst mask 412A to generate afirst pattern beam 436A (e.g. images from thefirst mask 412A) that exposes thesubstrate 414. Similarly, thesecond illumination beam 435B illuminates thesecond mask 412B to generate asecond pattern beam 436B (e.g. images from thesecond mask 412B) that exposes thesubstrate 414. - The
optical assembly 420 projects and/or focuses thefirst pattern beam 436A and thesecond pattern beam 436B onto thesubstrate 414. In the embodiment illustrated inFIG. 4 , theoptical assembly 420 includes (i) a firstoptical inlet 421A that receives thefirst pattern beam 436A, (ii) a secondoptical inlet 421B that receives thesecond pattern beam 436B, and (iii) anoptical outlet 421C that directs both pattern beams 436A, 436B at thesubstrate 414. Further, in this embodiment, (i) the firstoptical inlet 421A includes afirst inlet axis 421D, (ii) the secondoptical inlet 421B includes asecond inlet axis 421E, and (iii) theoptical outlet 421C includes anoutlet axis 421F. Theoptical assembly 420 is described in more detail below. - The first
mask stage assembly 422A holds and positions thefirst mask 412A relative to theoptical assembly 420 and thesubstrate 414. Similarly, the secondmask stage assembly 422B holds and positions thesecond mask 412B relative to theoptical assembly 420 and thesubstrate 414. Further, thesubstrate stage assembly 424 holds and positions thesubstrate 414 with respect to the pattern beams 436A, 436B. Thestage assemblies FIG. 2 . - The
control system 428 receives information from themeasurement system 426 and controls thestage assemblies masks substrate 414. Further, thecontrol system 428 can control the operation of theillumination system 418 to selectively and independently generate the illumination beams 435A, 435B. -
FIG. 5A is a simplified top view of one non-exclusive embodiment of asubstrate 414 that can be exposed with theexposure apparatus 410 described above. The design of thesubstrate 414 is similar to thesubstrate 214 described above and illustrated inFIG. 3A . However, inFIG. 5A , the order in which thesites 415 are exposed is different. More specifically, twosites 415 are scanned along the X axis (e.g. the short dimension of the sites 415) before being stepped along the Y axis. - In this embodiment, the
substrate 414 is illustrated as having thirty-twoseparate sites 415, with eachsite 415 having a first site dimension 548 (measured along the X axis) that is less than a second site dimension 550 (measured along the Y axis). In one non-exclusive embodiment, eachsite 415 has afirst site dimension 548 of approximately twenty-six (26) millimeters, and asecond site dimension 550 of approximately thirty-three (33) millimeters. - In
FIG. 5A , thesites 415 have been labeled “1” through “32” (one through thirty-two). In this example, the labels “1” through “32” represent one non-exclusive embodiment of the sequence in which themask patterns sites 415 on thesubstrate 414. More specifically, as provided herein, theexposure apparatus 410 can transfer thefirst mask pattern 429A from thefirst mask 412A to thesite 415 labeled “1” (sometimes referred to as the “first site”). Next, theexposure apparatus 410 can transfer thesecond mask pattern 429B from thesecond mask 412B to thesite 415 labeled “2” (sometimes referred to as the “second site”). Subsequently, theexposure apparatus 410 can transfer thesecond mask pattern 429B from thesecond mask 412B to thesite 415 labeled “3” (sometimes referred to as the “third site”). Next, theexposure apparatus 410 can transfer thefirst mask pattern 429A from thefirst mask 412A to thesite 415 labeled “4” (sometimes referred to as the “fourth site”). Subsequently, theexposure apparatus 410 can continue repeating the sequencing of the transferring of thefirst mask pattern 429A and thesecond mask pattern 429B (i.e., in a first, second, second, first sequence) to thesites 415 labeled “6”, “7”, “8”, . . . and “32”. In an alternative embodiment, theexposure apparatus 410 can alternate between transferring thefirst mask pattern 429A and thesecond mask pattern 429B to thesites 415 labeled “1”, “2”, “3”, “4”, “5”, . . . and “32” (i.e., thefirst mask pattern 429A is transferred to all the odd numberedsites 415, and thesecond mask pattern 429B is transferred to all the even numbered sites 415). - Moreover,
FIG. 5A includes anexposure pattern 552A (illustrated with a dashed line) which further illustrates the order in which themask patterns sites 415. In this example, theexposure pattern 552A again includes a plurality of scanningoperations 552B and a plurality of steppingoperations 552C, wherein thescanning operations 552B and the steppingoperations 552C alternate so that the exposure proceeds in a scan-step-scan-step-scan fashion. In this embodiment, thescanning 552B occurs as thesubstrate 414 is moved along a scan axis 558 (the X axis), and the stepping 552C occurs as thesubstrate 414 is moved along a step axis 560 (the Y axis). - It should be noted that with the use of
multiple masks FIG. 4 ), two adjacent sites 415 (e.g. 1 and 2) can be scanned sequentially while moving thesubstrate 414 at a constant velocity along thescan axis 558. As a result thereof, thesubstrate 414 does not have to be stepped and reversed in direction between the exposures of thesites 415. Instead, for the embodiment illustrated inFIG. 5A , thesubstrate 414 is only stepped between the exposure of pairs ofadjacent sites 415 aligned on thescan axis 558. Stated in another fashion, with the present design, there is one stepping motion for every twosites 415 scanned. This results in fewer steps and significantly improved throughput from theexposure apparatus 410. - It should be noted that in this example, the
site 415 that is exposed first and the order in which thesites 415 are exposed can be different than that illustrated inFIG. 5A . Further, thesite 415 that is first exposed can be located away from the edge of thesubstrate 414. -
FIG. 5B is a simplified illustration of one embodiment of a field of view 531 (illustrated with a dashed circle) of the optical assembly 420 (illustrated inFIG. 4 ). As provided herein, in certain embodiments, the field ofview 531 of theoptical assembly 420 must be relatively large in order to transfer a relativelylarge pattern beam FIG. 4 ) to the site 415 (illustrated inFIG. 5A ). - In one embodiment, the field of
view 531 defines (i) a firstused field 562A (illustrated as a box with solid lines) in which thefirst pattern beam 436A (illustrated inFIG. 4 ) exits theoptical assembly 420, and (ii) and a spaced apart second usedfield 562B (illustrated as a box with dashed lines) in which thesecond pattern beam 436B (illustrated inFIG. 4 ) exits theoptical assembly 420. In one embodiment, the firstused field 562A and the secondused field 562B are substantially similar in shape and size. As illustrated, the firstused field 562A has a rectangular shape that includes afirst field dimension 564 that is measured along the first axis (the X axis) and asecond field dimension 566 that is measured along the second axis (the Y axis). In this embodiment, thesecond field dimension 566 is larger than thefirst field dimension 564. - In certain embodiments, the
optical assembly 420 is designed so that thefirst field dimension 564 is less than the first site dimension 548 (illustrated inFIG. 5A ) and thesecond field dimension 566 is equal to the second site dimension 550 (illustrated inFIG. 5A ). In one non-exclusive example, eachsite 415 has afirst site dimension 548 of twenty-six (26) millimeters and asecond site dimension 550 of thirty-three (33) millimeters. In this example, thesecond field dimension 566 can be approximately thirty-three (33) millimeters, and thefirst field dimension 564 is less than twenty-six (26) millimeters. As non-exclusive examples, thefirst field dimension 564 can be approximately 2, 2.5, or 3 millimeters. - In one embodiment, the
optical assembly 420 has a numerical aperture (NA) of at least approximately 1.30. In order to minimize or correct aberrations of theoptical assembly 420 at such a high NA, theoptical assembly 16 can be catadioptric. In one embodiment, the usedfields FIG. 5B , (i) the firstused field 562A is offset from anoptical axis 568 of the optical assembly 420 a first offsetdistance 568A, (ii) the secondused field 562B is offset from the optical axis 568 a second offsetdistance 568B, and (iii) the firstused field 562A and the secondused field 562B are spaced apart aseparation distance 568C. Moreover, the usedfields optical axis 568, and the usedfields distance separation distance 568C is approximately 5 millimeters. Alternatively, the offset distances 568A, 568B can be greater than or less than 2.5 millimeters. -
FIGS. 6A-6D further illustrate one non-exclusive embodiment of how asubstrate 414 can be exposed utilizing theexposure apparatus 410 illustrated inFIG. 4 . More specifically,FIG. 6A is a simplified side view of thefirst mask 412A, thesecond mask 412B, theoptical assembly 420, and thesubstrate 414 at a beginning of an exposure of afirst site 1. At the start of exposure of thefirst site 1, the control system 428 (illustrated inFIG. 4 ) controls the illumination system 418 (illustrated inFIG. 4 ) to generate the slit shapedfirst illumination beam 435A that is directed at thefirst mask 412A, and controls the firstmask stage assembly 422A (illustrated inFIG. 4 ) to position thefirst mask 412A so that thefirst mask pattern 429A is illuminated near a right side of thepattern 429A. This causes a resultingfirst pattern beam 436A to be directed by theoptical assembly 420 at the right side of thefirst site 1. - Additionally, as illustrated in
FIG. 6A , thefirst pattern beam 436A is initially directed toward the firstoptical inlet 421A along thefirst inlet axis 421D. Thefirst pattern beam 436A is subsequently redirected and focused within theoptical assembly 420 until thefirst pattern beam 436A is ultimately directed by theoptical assembly 420 from theoptical outlet 421C offset from theoutlet axis 421F. More particularly, thefirst pattern beam 436A is directed by theoptical assembly 420 through theoptical outlet 421C toward a right side of thefirst site 1. - Further, at the beginning of the exposure of the
first site 1, the control system 428 (i) controls the firstmask stage assembly 422A so that thefirst mask 412A is being moved at a constant velocity in afirst scan direction 558A (from left to right inFIG. 6A ) along the scan axis 558 (the X axis), and (ii) controls the substrate stage assembly 424 (illustrated inFIG. 4 ) so that thesubstrate 414 is also being moved at a constant velocity in thefirst scan direction 558A along thescan axis 558. With the present design, in certain embodiments, both thefirst mask 412A and the substrate 412 are moved synchronously in thesame scan direction 558A. Further, for example, if theoptical assembly 420 has a reduction factor of four, thefirst mask 412A is moved at a rate that is four times greater than that of thesubstrate 414. Alternatively, thefirst mask 412A and thesubstrate 414 can be moved in opposite directions along thescan axis 558 during scanning of thesites 415. - As the
first mask 412A is being moved in thefirst scan direction 558A, thefirst pattern beam 436A continues to illuminate a portion of thefirst mask 412A from initially near the right side toward the left side. At the same time, thesubstrate 414 is being moved in thefirst scan direction 558A so that thefirst pattern beam 436A is directed initially at the right side and continuously and subsequently toward the left side of thesubstrate 414. -
FIG. 6B is a simplified side view of thefirst mask 412A, thesecond mask 412B, theoptical assembly 420, and thesubstrate 414 at a beginning of an exposure of thesecond site 2. - At the start of exposure of the
second site 2, the control system 428 (illustrated inFIG. 4 ) controls the illumination system 418 (illustrated inFIG. 4 ) to generate the slit shapedsecond illumination beam 435B that is directed at thesecond mask 412B, and controls the secondmask stage assembly 422B (illustrated inFIG. 4 ) to position thesecond mask 412B so that asecond mask pattern 429B is illuminated near the right side of thepattern 429B. This causes a resultingsecond pattern beam 436B to be directed by theoptical assembly 420 at a portion of thesecond site 2. - Additionally, as illustrated in
FIG. 6B , thesecond pattern beam 436B is initially directed toward a secondoptical inlet 421B of theoptical assembly 420 along asecond inlet axis 421E. Thesecond pattern beam 436B is subsequently redirected and focused within theoptical assembly 420 until thesecond pattern beam 436B exits theoptical outlet 421C offset from theoutlet axis 421F. - Further, at the beginning of the exposure of the
second site 2, the control system 428 (i) controls the secondmask stage assembly 422B so that thesecond mask 412B is being moved at a constant velocity in thefirst scan direction 558A along thescan axis 558, and (ii) controls the substrate stage assembly 424 (illustrated inFIG. 4 ) so that thesubstrate 414 is also being moved at a constant velocity in thefirst scan direction 558A. With the present design, in certain embodiments, both thesecond mask 412B and thesubstrate 414 are moved synchronously in thesame scan direction 558A. Alternatively, thesecond mask 412B and thesubstrate 414 can be moved in opposite directions along thescan axis 558 during scanning of thesites 415. - It should be noted that with the design of the
optical assembly 420 as illustrated herein, the exposure of thefirst site 1 and thesecond site 2 occurs with thesubstrate 414 being moved in the samefirst scan direction 558A at a substantially constant velocity. This enables greater throughput for the exposure apparatus 410 (illustrated inFIG. 4 ). -
FIG. 6C is a simplified side view of thefirst mask 412A, thesecond mask 412B, theoptical assembly 420, and thesubstrate 414 at a beginning of an exposure of thethird site 3. It should be noted that after the exposure of the second site illustrated inFIG. 6B , thesubstrate 414 is stepped into the page along the Y axis. - During the exposure of the
third site 3, the control system 428 (illustrated inFIG. 4 ) controls the illumination system 418 (illustrated inFIG. 4 ) to generate the slit shapedsecond illumination beam 435B that is directed at thesecond mask 412B, and controls the secondmask stage assembly 422B (illustrated inFIG. 4 ) to position thesecond mask 412B so that thesecond mask pattern 429B is illuminated near its left side. This causes a resultingsecond pattern beam 436B to be directed by theoptical assembly 420 at a portion of thethird site 3. - Further, during the exposure of the
third site 3, the control system 428 (i) controls the secondmask stage assembly 422B so that thesecond mask 412B is being moved at a constant velocity in asecond scan direction 558B (from right to left inFIG. 6C , opposite from thefirst scan direction 558A) along the scan axis 558 (the X axis), and (ii) controls the substrate stage assembly 424 (illustrated inFIG. 4 ) so that thesubstrate 414 is also being moved at a constant velocity in thesecond scan direction 558B. -
FIG. 6D is a simplified side view of thefirst mask 412A, thesecond mask 412B, theoptical assembly 420, and thesubstrate 414 at a beginning of an exposure of thefourth site 4. At the start of exposure of thefourth site 4, the control system 428 (illustrated inFIG. 4 ) controls the illumination system 418 (illustrated inFIG. 4 ) to generate the slit shapedfirst illumination beam 435A that is directed at thefirst mask 412A, and controls the firstmask stage assembly 422A (illustrated inFIG. 4 ) to position thefirst mask 412A so that thefirst mask pattern 429A is illuminated near its left side. This causes a resultingfirst pattern beam 436A to be directed by theoptical assembly 420 at a portion of thefourth site 4. In certain embodiments, the exposure of thefourth site 4 usingreticle 412A can begin before the exposure of thethird site 3 usingreticle 412B has finished. - During the exposure of the
fourth site 4, the control system 428 (i) controls the firstmask stage assembly 422A so that thefirst mask 412A is being moved at a substantially constant velocity in thesecond scan direction 558B along thescan axis 558, and (ii) controls the substrate stage assembly 424 (illustrated inFIG. 4 ) so that thesubstrate 414 is also being moved at a substantially constant velocity in thesecond scan direction 558B. - It should be noted that with the design of the
optical assembly 420 as illustrated herein, the exposure of thethird site 3 and thefourth site 4 occur with thesubstrate 414 being moved in the samesecond scan direction 558B along thescan axis 558. Further, the four sites 1-4 can be exposed with only one stepping motion. -
FIGS. 7A-7I further illustrate one embodiment of how four sites labeled 1-4 can be exposed using theexposure apparatus 410 as illustrated inFIG. 4 and as described above. In these Figures, the box with solid lines represents the firstused field 762A, the box with dashed lines represents the secondused field 762B, and the slashes represent the respective pattern beam. Further, in these Figures, the arrow represents the direction in which the substrate is being moved during scanning at that particular time. During the exposure of the sites 1-4, the substrate is moved down the page, then left, and then up. InFIGS. 7A-7I , it appears that the usedfields fields - Starting with
FIG. 7A , at the beginning of the exposure of thefirst site 1, thefirst pattern beam 736A (illustrated with slashes) is exposing thefirst site 1 and there is no second pattern beam. At this time, the firstused field 762A is positioned over thefirst site 1, and the secondused field 762B is not over any of the sites 1-4. - Next, referring to
FIG. 7B , after thefirst site 1 is exposed, the firstused field 762A is positioned over thesecond site 2, and the secondused field 762B is positioned over thefirst site 1. At this time neither of the pattern beams is being generated. The amount of time in which the two beams are off is determined by the distance between the slits and the motion of the stages. - Subsequently, referring to
FIG. 7C , once the secondused field 762B is positioned over thesecond site 2, thesecond pattern beam 736B (illustrated with slashes) begins to expose thesecond site 2, and there is no first pattern beam. - Next, referring to
FIG. 7D , while the secondused field 762B is still positioned over thesecond site 2, thesecond pattern beam 736B (illustrated with slashes) continues to expose thesecond site 2, and there is no first pattern beam. - Subsequently, upon the completion of the exposure of the
second site 2, the substrate is moved to the left. Referring toFIG. 7E , once the secondused field 762B is positioned over thethird site 3, thesecond pattern beam 736B (illustrated with slashes) begins to expose thethird site 3, and there is no first pattern beam. At this time, the substrate is being moved up the page. - Next, referring to
FIG. 7F , while the secondused field 762B is still positioned over thethird site 3, thesecond pattern beam 736B (illustrated with slashes) continues to expose thethird site 3, and there is no first pattern beam. - Subsequently, referring to
FIG. 7G , after thethird site 3 is exposed, the firstused field 762A is positioned over thethird site 3, and the secondused field 762B is positioned over thefourth site 4. At this time neither of the pattern beams are being generated. - Next, referring to
FIG. 7H , once the firstused field 762A is positioned over thefourth site 4, thefirst pattern beam 736A (illustrated with slashes) begins to expose thefourth site 4, and there is no second pattern beam. - Subsequently, referring to
FIG. 7I , while the firstused field 762A is still positioned over thefourth site 4, thefirst pattern beam 736A (illustrated with slashes) continues to expose thefourth site 4, and there is no second pattern beam. - In this embodiment, the system is designed so that the
second site 2 is not exposed until after the exposure of thefirst site 1 is fully completed, and thefourth site 4 is not exposed until after the exposure of thethird site 3 is fully completed. This requires an A-B-B-A exposure sequence. The benefit of this sequence is that there is never a time when both pattern beams are required, so it is easier to use asingle illumination source FIG. 4 ). The drawbacks of this sequence are (1) that the reticle stage acceleration must be proportional to the substrate acceleration (e.g., in a 4× reduction system, the reticle acceleration is four times the substrate acceleration), and (2) that the scanning distance is longer than that required for the sequence described below forFIGS. 8A-8I . -
FIGS. 8A-8I further illustrate another embodiment of how four sites labeled 1-4 can be exposed using theexposure apparatus 410 as illustrated inFIG. 4 and as described above. Similar to the embodiment illustrated inFIGS. 7A-71 , in this embodiment, the box with solid lines is the firstused field 862A, the box with dashed lines is the secondused field 862B, and the slashes represent the pattern beam. Further, the arrow again represents the direction in which the substrate is being moved during scanning at that particular time, with the substrate initially being moved down the page, then left, and then up during the exposure of the four sites. - Starting with
FIG. 8A , at the beginning of the exposure of thefirst site 1, thesecond pattern beam 836B (illustrated with slashes) is exposing thefirst site 1 and there is no first pattern beam. At this time, both the firstused field 862A and the secondused field 862B are positioned over thefirst site 1. Further, at this time, the substrate is being moved down the page. - Next, referring to
FIG. 8B , during continuation of exposure of thefirst site 1, the firstused field 862A is positioned over thesecond site 2, and the secondused field 862B is positioned over thefirst site 1. Once the firstused field 862A is positioned over thesecond site 2, thefirst pattern beam 836A (illustrated with slashes) begins to expose thesecond site 2. At the same time, thesecond pattern beam 836B (illustrated with slashes) is still being generated and is still exposing thefirst site 1. Stated another way, at this time both of the pattern beams 836A, 836B are being generated, and the continuing exposure of thefirst site 1 coincides or overlaps with the beginning of the exposure of thesecond site 2. - Subsequently, referring to
FIG. 8C , both the firstused field 862A and the secondused field 862B are positioned over thesecond site 2. Once the secondused field 862B is positioned over thesecond site 2, the second pattern beam is no longer being generated, but thefirst pattern beam 836A (illustrated with slashes) is still being generated and is continuing exposure of thesecond site 2. - Next, referring to
FIG. 8D , only the secondused field 862B is still positioned over thesecond site 2, and the firstused field 862A is not positioned over any of the sites. This is the condition after completion of the exposure of thesecond site 2. At this time, neither of the pattern beams are being generated, and the substrate is already stepping to the left. - Referring next to
FIG. 8E , the secondused field 862B is positioned over thethird site 3, and the firstused field 862A is not positioned over any of the sites. At this time, neither of the pattern beams are being generated. Further, at this time, the substrate is being moved up the page, and is finishing its stepping motion to the left. - Next, referring to
FIG. 8F , once the firstused field 862A is positioned over thethird site 3, thefirst pattern beam 836A (illustrated with slashes) begins to expose thethird site 3. At this time, the secondused field 862B is still positioned over thethird site 3, and no second pattern beam is being generated. - Subsequently, referring to
FIG. 8G , during continuation of exposure of thethird site 3, the firstused field 862A is still positioned over thethird site 3, and the secondused field 862B is now positioned over thefourth site 4. Once the secondused field 862B is positioned over thefourth site 4, thesecond pattern beam 836B (illustrated with slashes) begins to expose thefourth site 4. At the same time, thefirst pattern beam 836A (illustrated with slashes) is still being generated and is still exposing thethird site 3. Stated another way, at this time both of the pattern beams 836A, 836B are being generated, and the continuing exposure of thethird site 3 coincides or overlaps with the beginning of the exposure of thefourth site 4. - Next, referring to
FIG. 8H , both the firstused field 862A and the secondused field 862B are now positioned over thefourth site 4. Once the firstused field 862A is positioned over thefourth site 4, the first pattern beam is no longer being generated, but thesecond pattern beam 836B (illustrated with slashes) is still being generated and is continuing exposure of thefourth site 4. - Subsequently, referring to
FIG. 81 , only the firstused field 862A is still positioned over thefourth site 4, and the secondused field 862B is not positioned over any of the sites. At this time, neither of the pattern beams are being generated. - In this embodiment, the system is designed so that the exposure of the
second site 2 is started prior to the exposure of thefirst site 1 being fully completed. - Comparing the exposures illustrated in
FIGS. 7A-7I with exposures illustrated inFIGS. 8A-8I , the overall scanning distance is longer for the embodiment illustrated inFIGS. 7A-7I . Therefore, the exposure ofFIG. 8A-8I is completed faster, leading to higher overall throughput, assuming the same scan velocity for the two cases. The B-A-A-B sequence shown inFIGS. 8A-8I achieves this higher throughput by having time when both pattern beams are used simultaneously. The drawbacks of this sequence are (1) that the reticle stage acceleration must be proportional to the substrate acceleration (e.g., in a 4× reduction system, the reticle acceleration is four times the substrate acceleration), and (2) the design of the illumination system may be more difficult compared to what is required for the sequence shown inFIGS. 7A-7I . -
FIGS. 9A-9I further illustrate another embodiment of how four sites labeled 1-4 can be exposed using theexposure apparatus 410 as illustrated inFIG. 4 and as described above. Similar to the embodiment illustrated inFIGS. 7A-7I and 8A-8I, in this embodiment, the box with solid lines is the firstused field 962A, the box with dashed lines is the secondused field 962B, and the slashes represent the pattern beam. Further, the arrow again represents the direction in which the substrate is being moved during scanning at that particular time, with the substrate initially being moved down the page, then left, and then up during the exposure of the four sites. - Starting with
FIG. 9A , at the beginning of the exposure of thefirst site 1, thefirst pattern beam 936A (illustrated with slashes) is exposing thefirst site 1 and there is no second pattern beam. At this time, the firstused field 962A is positioned over thefirst site 1, and the secondused field 962B is not over any of the sites 1-4. - Next, referring to
FIG. 9B , after thefirst site 1 is exposed, the firstused field 962A is positioned over thesecond site 2, and the secondused field 962B is positioned over thefirst site 1. At this time neither of the pattern beams is being generated. - Subsequently, referring to
FIG. 9C , once the secondused field 962B is positioned over thesecond site 2, thesecond pattern beam 936B (illustrated with slashes) begins to expose thesecond site 2, and there is no first pattern beam. - Next, referring to
FIG. 9D , while the secondused field 962B is still positioned over thesecond site 2, thesecond pattern beam 936B (illustrated with slashes) continues to expose thesecond site 2, and there is no first pattern beam. - Subsequently, upon the completion of the exposure of the
second site 2, the substrate is moved to the left. Referring toFIG. 9E , once the secondused field 962B is positioned over thethird site 3, neither of the pattern beams is being generated. - Next, referring to
FIG. 9F , once the firstused field 962A is positioned over thethird site 3, thefirst pattern beam 736A (illustrated with slashes) begins to expose thethird site 3, and there is no second pattern beam. - Subsequently, referring to
FIG. 9G , while still exposing thethird site 3, the firstused field 962A is positioned over thethird site 3, and the secondused field 962B is positioned over thefourth site 4. At this time both pattern beams 936A, 936B are being generated. - Next, referring to
FIG. 9H , with the secondused field 962B is still positioned over thefourth site 4, thesecond pattern beam 936B (illustrated with slashes) continues to expose thefourth site 4, and there is no first pattern beam. - Subsequently, referring to
FIG. 9I , after the secondused field 962B is no longer positioned over thefourth site 4, and there is no pattern beam being generated. - With this sequence, the
first site 1 and thethird site 3 are exposed with thefirst pattern beam 936A, and thesecond site 2 and thefourth site 4 are exposed with thesecond pattern beam 936B. This sequence provides the same throughput and scanning distance as the sequence illustrated inFIGS. 7A-7I , and requires some times (half as much) when both pattern beams are used simultaneously, like the sequence inFIGS. 8A-8I . The advantage of this sequence is that the two masks are always used for alternate exposures, so the requirement for mask acceleration is much lower. In other words, each of the mask stages 422A, 422B can perform its “turn-around” acceleration during an exposure using the other mask, 412B, 412A, respectively. For future machines with very high throughput, this advantage may make this sequence the preferred embodiment. - It should be noted that with these designs, greater throughput of the exposure apparatus is achieved because the number of steps required to process the substrate is less than if the sites are scanned along the long dimension of the sites.
-
FIGS. 10A-10D further illustrate one embodiment of how afirst site 1 can be exposed using theexposure apparatus 410 as illustrated inFIG. 4 and as described above. Similar to the embodiments illustrated above, in this embodiment, the box with solid lines represents the first usedfield 1062A, the box with dashed lines represents the second usedfield 1062B, and the slashes represent the pattern beam. Further, the arrow again represents the direction in which the substrate is being moved during scanning at that particular time, with the substrate initially being moved down the page, and then up during the exposure of thefirst site 1. Moreover, in this embodiment, thefirst site 1 is sequentially exposed to thefirst pattern beam 1036A and thesecond pattern beam 1036B. - Starting with
FIG. 10A , at the beginning of the exposure of thefirst site 1, thefirst pattern beam 1036A (illustrated with slashes) is exposing thefirst site 1 and there is no second pattern beam. At this time, the first usedfield 1062A is positioned over thefirst site 1, and the second usedfield 1062B is not positioned over any of the sites. Further, at this time, the substrate is being moved down the page. - Next, referring to
FIG. 10B , the first usedfield 1062A is now positioned over a second site 2 (i.e., not over the first site 1) and the second usedfield 1062B is now positioned over thefirst site 1, and the substrate is still being moved down the page. At this time, neither of the pattern beams are being generated. - Subsequently, referring to
FIG. 10C , the first usedfield 1062A is again positioned over the second site 2 (i.e., not over the first site 1) and the second usedfield 1062B is positioned over the uppermost portion of thefirst site 1. At this time, the substrate is beginning to be moved back up the page. With the second usedfield 1062B being positioned over the uppermost portion of thesecond site 2, and the substrate being moved up the page, thesecond pattern beam 1036B is being generated and thefirst site 1 is being exposed. Further, at this time, no first pattern beam is being generated. - Next, referring to
FIG. 10D , the first usedfield 1062A is positioned over thefirst site 1, and the second usedfield 1062B is not positioned over any of the sites. At this time, neither of the pattern beams are being generated. - Other sequences can be utilized than that illustrated in
FIGS. 10A-10D . For example, two adjacent sites can be sequentially scanned in one motion, then the substrate can be turned around and the second exposure of these sites can be performed. For example, while moving substrate in one direction along the X axis, the first site can be exposed using the first reticle and subsequently the second site can be exposed using second reticle (similar as illustrated inFIGS. 9A-9D ). Next, the direction of the substrate along the X axis can be reversed, the second site can exposed using the first reticle, and subsequently the first site can be exposed using the second reticle. This is similar to sequence illustrated inFIG. 9A-9I , except without the Y direction stepping motion. -
FIGS. 11A-11D further illustrate another embodiment of how afirst site 1 can be exposed using theexposure apparatus 410 as illustrated inFIG. 4 and as described above. Similar to the embodiments illustrated above, in this embodiment, the box with solid lines is the first usedfield 1162A, the box with dashed lines is the second usedfield 1162B, and the slashes represent the pattern beam. Further, the arrow again represents the direction in which the substrate is being moved during scanning at that particular time, with the substrate being moved down the page during the exposure of thefirst site 1. Moreover, in this embodiment, thefirst site 1 is exposed to both thefirst pattern beam 1136A and thesecond pattern beam 1136B. - Starting with
FIG. 11A , at the beginning of the exposure of thefirst site 1, thefirst pattern beam 1136A (illustrated with slashes) is exposing thefirst site 1 and there is no second pattern beam. At this time, the first usedfield 1162A is positioned over thefirst site 1, and the second usedfield 1162B is not positioned over any of the sites 1-4. - Next, referring to
FIG. 11B , both the first usedfield 1162A and the second usedfield 1162B are now positioned over thefirst site 1. At this time, both of the pattern beams 1136A, 1136B (illustrated with slashes) are being generated, and thefirst site 1 is simultaneously being exposed to both thefirst pattern beam 1136A and thesecond pattern beam 1136B. - Subsequently, referring to
FIG. 11C , the first usedfield 1162A is now positioned over the second site 2 (i.e., not over the first site 1) and the second usedfield 1162B is still positioned over thefirst site 1. At this time, thesecond pattern beam 1136B (illustrated with slashes) is exposing thefirst site 1 and nofirst pattern beam 1136A is being generated. - Next, referring to
FIG. 11D , both the first usedfield 1162A and the second usedfield 1162B are positioned over the second site 2 (i.e., not over the first site 1). At this time, neither of the pattern beams are being generated. -
FIG. 12 is a schematic illustration of thefirst mask 412A, thesecond mask 412B, thesubstrate 414, and one, non-exclusive embodiment of anoptical assembly 1220 having features of the present invention. As noted above, theoptical assembly 1220 projects and/or focuses thefirst pattern beam 436A and thesecond pattern beam 436B onto thesubstrate 414. - As illustrated, the
optical assembly 1220 includes (i) the firstoptical inlet 421A, (ii) the secondoptical inlet 421B, (iii) theoptical outlet 421C, (iv) a plurality of first vertical optical elements 1220AA that are positioned along the first inlet axis, (v) a plurality of second vertical optical elements 1220AB that are positioned along the second inlet axis, (vi) a plurality of first transverse optical elements 1220AC that are positioned along a first transverse axis between the first inlet axis and the outlet axis, (vii) a plurality of second transverse optical elements 1220AD that are positioned along a second transverse axis between the second inlet axis and the outlet axis, and (viii) a plurality of third vertical optical elements 1220AE that are positioned along the outlet axis. - During projection and/or focusing of the
first pattern beam 436A from thefirst mask 412A onto thesubstrate 414, thefirst pattern beam 436A is initially directed through the firstoptical inlet 421A and through the plurality of first vertical optical elements 1220AA. Subsequently, thefirst pattern beam 436A is redirected toward the plurality of first transverse optical elements 1220AC. Next, thefirst pattern beam 436A is redirected toward the plurality of third vertical optical elements 1220AE. The third vertical optical elements 1220AE then project and/or focus thefirst pattern beam 436A through theoptical outlet 421C and toward the substrate 421 offset from the outlet axis. - Similarly, during projection and/or focusing of the
second pattern beam 436B from thesecond mask 412B onto thesubstrate 414, thesecond pattern beam 436B is initially directed through the secondoptical inlet 421B and toward the plurality of second vertical optical elements 1220AB. Subsequently, thesecond pattern beam 436B is redirected toward the plurality of second transverse optical elements 1220AD. Next, thesecond pattern beam 436B is redirected toward the plurality of third vertical optical elements 1220AE. The third vertical optical elements 1220AE then project and/or focus thesecond pattern beam 436B through theoptical outlet 421C and toward thesubstrate 414 offset from the outlet axis. - As illustrated in
FIG. 12 , the first vertical optical elements 1220AA are substantially identical to the second vertical optical elements 1220AB. Additionally, the first transverse optical elements 1220AC are substantially identical to the second transverse optical elements 1220AD. Accordingly, only the first vertical optical elements 1220AA and the first transverse optical elements 1220AC will be described in detail herein. Further, bothbeams - The first vertical optical elements 1220AA include a plurality of individual optical elements labeled E1 through E18. In this embodiment, the
first pattern beam 436A is altered and/or focused as it initially passes in a generally downward direction through optical elements E1 through E13. Optical elements E1 through E13 are optical lenses that can be made from material such as silicon dioxide (SiO2). Subsequently, thefirst pattern beam 436A is reflected off optical element E14 so that it is now directed in a generally upward direction. In one embodiment, optical element E14 can be a spherical mirror. Next, thefirst pattern beam 436A is directed through optical elements E15 through E17. As illustrated inFIG. 10 , optical elements E15 through E17 are the same as optical elements E11 through E13, with thefirst pattern beam 436A passing through optical elements E11 through E13 in one direction and subsequently passing through optical elements E15 through E17 and in the substantially opposite direction. Next, thefirst pattern beam 436A is reflected transversely off optical element E18 so that it is now redirected toward the first transverse optical elements 1220AC. Optical element E18 can be a mirror or other reflecting element. - The first transverse optical elements 1220AC include a plurality of individual optical elements E19 through E29. The
first pattern beam 436A is altered and/or refocused as it passes in a generally transverse or horizontal direction through optical elements E19 through E28. Optical elements E19 through E28 are optical lenses that can be made from material such as silicon dioxide (SiO2). Subsequently, thefirst pattern beam 436A is reflected off optical element E29 so that it is now redirected toward the third vertical optical elements 1120AE. In one embodiment, optical element E29 can be a field splitting V-mirror. - The third vertical optical elements 1220AE include a plurality of optical elements E30 through E45. The
first pattern beam 436A is altered and/or refocused as it passes in a generally downward direction through optical elements E30 through E45. Optical elements E30 through E45 are optical lenses that can be made from material such as silicon dioxide (SiO2). Thefirst pattern beam 436A then passes through element E46 (represented as X's), which is a fluid, such as water, if theexposure apparatus 410 is an immersion type system, before being projected and/or focused onto thesubstrate 414. - It should be noted that the design of the
optical assembly 1220 illustrated inFIG. 12 contains more intermediate images than the optical assemblies used in prior art lithography machines. It should be noted that these intermediate images can be highly aberrated, as is the case in this embodiment. This makes it easier to increase the field size without increasing the diameter of the optical elements, since the optical distance between the reticle and the wafer is much longer than in the current state of the art for projection optical assemblies, thanks to the folded optical path (i.e. the physical distance between the plane containing thereticle 412A and the plane containing thesubstrate 414 is nominally the same as current state of the art). Further, theoptical assembly 1220 allows for the continuous exposure of two or more shots per scanning motion. With this exposure pattern, the reduction in scanning time is much greater than the increase in stepping time, and dramatic improvements in throughput are possible. - Table 1, as provided below, illustrates one, non-exclusive example of a prescription for the optic elements E1 through E46 of the optical assembly 1216 illustrated in
FIG. 12 . More particularly, for each optical element E1 through E46, the charts in Table 1 show a prescription for (i) the radius of curvature for the front of the optical element, (ii) the radius of curvature for the back of the optical element, (iii) the thickness of the optical element (in the column for thickness the top number represents the distance between that optical element and the preceding optical element (or the mask in the case of optical element E1), and the bottom number represents the actual thickness of that optical element, (iv) the aperture diameter for the front of the optical element, and (v) the aperture diameter for the back of the optical element. The thickness of each optical element is specified along the optical axis (e.g. the center of rotation for the element). -
TABLE 1 APERTURE ELEMENT RADIUS OF CURVATURE DIAMETER NUMBER FRONT BACK THICKNESS FRONT BACK MASK INF 80.0000 E1 332.3631 CX −772.3579 CX 38.0763 215.2012 217.2506 26.9220 E2 1988.1790 CX −557.1967 CX 26.6978 220.9056 221.1825 56.1372 E3 128.4263 CX A(1) 31.0843 198.8483 187.8534 26.0025 E4 98.6558 CX 321.1966 CC 45.2849 159.9568 143.6474 16.3918 E5 −454.4909 CC −730.0124 CX 59.99325 137.4985 118.9757 59.7289 E6 −64.8711 CC −199.1701 CX 12.5000 125.5907 190.0548 1.0877 E7 −224.3732 CC −132.7050 CX 46.3257 196.0660 217.1116 1.0000 E8 A(2) −158.7960 CX 45.6873 245.0434 260.0687 1.0000 E9 −646.1248 CC −226.2058 CX 51.0836 289.0873 295.5915 1.0000 E10 360.6986 CX A(3) 53.3734 287.2861 282.7083 139.9997 211.4006 100.0000 E11 237.9744 CX −1445.3266 CX 51.2169 244.1453 240.7614 174.1733 E12 A(4) 487.4478 CC 12.5000 158.1046 166.9962 58.1229 E13 −98.2161 CC −210.5104 CX 12.5000 168.7470 212.4076 24.2148 E14 −145.6557 CC −24.2148 218.4194 E15 −210.5104 CX −98.2161 CC −12.5000 209.9116 168.2949 −58.1229 E16 487.4478 CC A(5) −12.5000 166.3525 155.5700 −174.1733 E17 −1445.3266 CX 237.9744 CX −51.2169 252.3990 255.2359 −100.0000 DECENTER(1) E18 INF 0.0000 358.2570 230.1752 139.9999 E19 A(6) −489.7915 CX 48.1053 269.5593 273.1352 1.0509 E20 440.2750 CX −1319.4966 CX 42.3662 278.5086 276.5223 1.0004 E21 153.2021 CX A(7) 35.3619 249.4052 236.0525 1.0048 E22 129.8182 CX 247.8748 CC 51.0939 218.2553 199.2937 14.1804 E23 139.9820 CX 69.7240 CC 17.4815 161.4679 118.1128 56.7295 E24 −317.8201 CC −19220.6836 CX 12.5000 92.5138 103.8677 51.6277 E25 −239.6328 CC −120.1306 CX 53.8056 186.4776 208.1471 1.0000 E26 A(8) −134.3606 CX 57.5209 232.5554 249.2932 3.2068 E27 3402.1195 CX −375.2978 CX 40.6273 270.0570 271.5381 9.9100 E28 501.3345 CX −4078.3847 CX 31.4270 258.1145 253.6591 140.0003 DECENTER(2) E29 INF 0.0000 340.0505 167.4372 −119.0000 E30 −725.7800 CX 971.2181 CX −26.7346 215.7113 218.7057 −1.0000 E31 −246.2088 CX −2291.7420 CC −37.5566 227.3402 224.6272 −1.0000 E32 −240.3807 CX −491.2120 CC −27.0952 217.7132 211.0205 −1.0000 E33 −359.5177 CX A(9) −26.0330 208.1157 200.6343 −2.5888 E34 3436.6049 CC −155.1981 CC −12.5000 201.2703 181.4202 −53.9084 E35 201.2753 CC A(10) −12.5000 181.5783 206.3011 −32.1960 E36 A(11) 22055.3033 CX −18.2557 222.3822 232.1830 −5.7398 E37 −444.9630 CX 855.8885 CX −44.4071 269.0140 274.6713 −1.0250 E38 −1241.2380 CX A(12) −48.8825 285.3656 288.3814 4.0469 E39 505.0198 CC A(13) −19.5442 288.9709 293.2339 −27.7418 E40 A(14) 300.9422 CX −54.8835 293.3251 329.7481 −1.0029 E41 −384.4074 CX 1165.4799 CX −69.9286 356.7095 354.3822 −1.0000 347.3775 −1.0000 APERTURE STOP 313.1895 E42 −192.8071 CX −336.3459 CC −57.1654 313.1895 301.4309 −1.0015 E43 −146.6712 CX A(15) −63.7532 260.7714 240.3029 −1.2011 E44 −93.7790 CX A(16) −53.0084 174.6861 139.7743 −1.0108 E45 −64.9508 CX INF −44.5062 105.4047 44.5875 E46 INF INF −1.5000 44.5875 36.2567 SUBSTRATE INF 36.2567 - In Table 1, it should be noted that (i) positive radius indicates the center of curvature is to the right; (ii) negative radius indicates the center of curvature is to the left; (iii) dimensions are given in millimeters; (iv) thickness is axial distance to next surface; and (v) image diameter is a paraxial value, it is not a ray traced value.
- Table 2, as provided below, illustrates the calculation of aspheric constants related to the radius of curvature for certain of the optical elements as shown in Table 1. More particularly, aspheric constant A(1) relates to the radius of curvature for the back of optical element E3; aspheric constant A(2) relates to the radius of curvature for the front of optical element E8; aspheric constant A(3) relates to the radius of curvature for the back of optical element E10; aspheric constant A(4) relates to the radius of curvature for the front of optical element E12; aspheric constant A(5) relates to the radius of curvature for the back of optical element E16; aspheric constant A(6) relates to the radius of curvature for the front of optical element E19; aspheric constant A(7) relates to the radius of curvature for the back of optical element E21; aspheric constant A(8) relates to the radius of curvature for the front of optical element E26; aspheric constant A(9) relates to the radius of curvature for the back of optical element E33; aspheric constant A(10) relates to the radius of curvature for the back of optical element E35; aspheric constant A(11) relates to the radius of curvature for the front of optical element E36; aspheric constant A(12) relates to the radius of curvature for the back of optical element E38; aspheric constant A(13) relates to the radius of curvature for the back of optical element E39; aspheric constant A(14) relates to the radius of curvature for the front of optical element E40; aspheric constant A(15) relates to the radius of curvature for the back of optical element E43; and aspheric constant A(16) relates to the radius of curvature for the back of optical element E44.
- Additionally, within the formula for the aspheric constants, Y represents the distance from the optical axis (i.e., the first inlet axis, a first transverse axis, or the outlet axis), CURV represents (1/radius of curvature), and K represents the conic constant.
-
TABLE 2 ASPHERIC CONSTANTS K A B C D ASPHERIC CURV E F G H J A(1) 0.00521230 0.000000 7.36515E−08 5.65704E−12 −1.19986E−15 3.47493E−20 1.94010E−24 −2.67446E−28 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 A(2) −0.00474024 0.000000 1.94442E−08 7.19217E−13 −4.39422E−17 −8.49737E−22 1.08518E−25 −2.62326E−30 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 A(3) −0.00181913 0.000000 1.97669E−08 −2.81921E−14 −2.03611E−18 3.92721E−23 8.64464E−29 −2.01755E−32 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 A(4) −0.00943927 0.000000 4.03091E−07 −1.84915E−11 −3.06102E−16 −5.60022E−20 9.77410E−24 −1.64771E−27 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 A(5) −0.00943927 0.000000 1.22035E−07 1.75899E−12 −8.89537E−18 2.56518E−20 −1.72833E−24 2.12380E−28 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 A(6) 0.00250445 0.000000 −2.24797E−08 −1.71809E−14 4.18962E−18 −1.25992E−22 1.93598E−27 −1.52571E−32 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 A(7) 0.00598617 0.000000 −1.78129E−08 −1.34754E−12 −9.63168E−18 −5.96286E−22 8.22593E−26 −3.07075E−30 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 A(8) −0.00402385 0.000000 −5.66102E−08 4.94563E−13 −2.86196E−17 −1.14660E−21 6.70516E−26 −1.34290E−30 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 A(9) 0.00043217 0.000000 −4.01551E−08 7.98475E−13 −8.77129E−17 −1.03388E−21 5.28663E−25 −4.41691E−29 6.99988E−34 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 A(10) −0.00708334 0.000000 1.59565E−07 −5.12216E−12 3.09234E−16 −1.36558E−20 6.81623E−25 −9.67188E−30 −7.26516E−35 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 A(11) −0.00159664 0.000000 8.79056E−08 −4.58660E−12 1.44100E−16 −1.79547E−20 4.80695E−25 −2.72623E−29 1.93370E−33 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 A(12) 0.00262213 0.000000 1.87932E−08 7.71419E−13 −1.47309E−16 3.46140E−21 1.30616E−25 −1.07939E−29 1.84542E−34 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 A(13) 0.00317050 0.000000 −2.49489E−08 −8.47598E−13 1.17616E−16 −3.41773E−21 −1.01449E−25 8.58972E−30 −1.27042E−34 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 A(14) 0.00395847 0.000000 6.54729E−09 3.01118E−13 1.06282E−17 −1.83601E−21 1.35202E−25 −5.49884E−30 9.45241E−35 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 A(15) −0.00373059 0.000000 2.81186E−08 −3.40496E−12 1.73002E−16 −4.39804E−21 −1.60826E−25 1.48359E−29 −3.52669E−34 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 A(16) −0.00548781 0.000000 −1.89752E−07 −2.61284E−13 −1.75568E−15 2.78432E−20 2.85207E−23 −8.14237E−27 5.98295E−31 0.00000E+00 0.00000E+00 - Table 3, as provided below, illustrates the decentering information as it relates to optical elements E18 and E29 (i.e., certain of the mirror elements). Table 3 further provides additional system characteristics for the optical assembly 1120.
-
TABLE 3 DECENTERING CONSTANTS DECENTER X Y Z ALPHA BETA GAMMA D (1) 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 −45.0000 0.0000 0.0000 (BEND) D (2) 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 −45.0000 0.0000 0.0000 (BEND) A decenter defines a new coordinate system (displaced and/or rotated) in which subsequent surfaces are defined. Surfaces following a decenter are aligned on the local mechanical axis (z-axis) of the new coordinate system. The new mechanical axis remains in use until changed by another decenter. The order in which displacements and tilts are applied on a given surface is specified using different decenter types and these generate different new coordinate systems; those used here are explained below. Alpha, beta, and gamma are in degrees. DECENTERING CONSTANT KEY: TYPE TRAILING CODE ORDER OF APPLICATION DECENTER DISPLACE (X, Y, Z) TILT (ALPHA, BETA, GAMMA) REFRACT AT SURFACE THICKNESS TO NEXT SURFACE DECENTER & BEND BEND DECENTER (X, Y, Z, ALPHA, BETA, GAMMA) REFLECT AT SURFACE BEND (ALPHA, BETA, GAMMA) THICKNESS TO NEXT SURFACE REFERENCE WAVELENGTH = 193.3 NM SPECTRAL REGION = 193.3-193.3 NM This is non-symmetric system. If elements with power are decentered or tilted, the first order properties are probably inadequate in describing the system characteristics. INFINITE CONJUGATES EFL = 8645.9595 BFL = 2159.9899 FFL = 23989.7701 F/NO = 0.0000 AT USED CONJUGATES REDUCTION = −0.2500 FINITE F/NO = −0.3704 OBJECT DIST = 80.0000 TOTAL TRACK = 763.7529 IMAGE DIST = −1.5000 OAL = 685.2529 PARAXIAL IMAGE HT = 18.1250 IMAGE DIST = −1.5000 SEMI-FIELD ANGLE = 0.0000 ENTR PUPIL DIAMETER = 0.717E+10 DISTANCE = 0.100E+11 EXIT PUPIL DIAMETER = 4314.9615 DISTANCE = 2159.9951 NOTES FFL is measured from the first surface BFL is measured from the last surface - It should be noted that the projection optical assembly 1216 provided herein is uniquely designed so that a plurality of intermediate images are directed at the field splitting V-mirror E-29 inside the projection optical assembly 1216. Stated in another fashion, with the present design, the field splitting V-mirror E-29 is positioned away from the image plane of the optical assembly 1216. As used herein, the term “image plane” shall mean the plane in which an image produced by the optical assembly is formed. With the present design, the image plane of the optical assembly 1216 is located at the substrate. Thus, in
FIG. 12 , elements E-30 through E-46 separate the field splitting V-mirror E-29 from the image plane. With the present design, many aberrated images are transmitted through elements E-30-E-46. The aberrated images give the optical designer much more flexibility in balancing aberrations before and after the V-mirror E-29. This also enables the larger field size for scanning along the short dimension of the site (X axis scan), without a larger and more complicated optical design. - Additionally, in the embodiment illustrated in
FIG. 12 , the projection optical assembly 1216 is a Catadioptric design that includes one or more lenses and one or more curved mirrors. In this embodiment, the projection optical assembly 1216 includes at least one concave mirror (e.g. E14 for each optical path), for the purposes of field curvature correction over the large field size of 33 mm. It is conceivable that the projection optical assembly 1216 can be designed with more than one curved mirror per optical path. - Further with the projection optical assembly 1216 provided herein, the fold mirror E18 allows light to be incident on, and reflected from, the concave mirror E14 without obscuration. The fold direction is in the short direction of the field (e.g. 5 mm at the wafer), and it is close to a second intermediate image (
FIG. 12 illustrates the rays coming to a focus right next to E18, as they do next to E29). This facilitates the folding arrangement at E18, in the same way that it does at the V-mirror E29. - Additionally, it should be noted that the projection optical assembly 1216 illustrated and described herein is a 4× reduction system that reduces the size of the projected image between elements E1 and E45. Alternatively, the projection optical assembly 1216 can be designed to be a 1× system, a magnification system, or a reduction system that is greater than or less than 4×.
-
FIG. 13 is a simplified perspective view that includes, afirst mask 1312A, asecond mask 1312B, athird mask 1312C, a fourth mask 1312D, and another embodiment of anoptical assembly 1320. In this embodiment, theoptical assembly 1320 projects and/or focuses afirst pattern beam 1336A from thefirst mask 1312A, asecond pattern beam 1336B from thesecond mask 1312B, athird pattern beam 1336C from thethird mask 1312C, and afourth pattern beam 1336D from the fourth mask 1312D onto the substrate 1414 (illustrated inFIG. 14 ). - In this embodiment, the
masks 1312A-1312D can be individually positioned and individually illuminated, and the substrate can be positioned with components that somewhat similar to those described above and illustrated inFIG. 4 . As provided herein, the mask patterns from the fourmasks 1312A-1312D can be sequentially transferred to thesubstrate 414 while thesubstrate 14 is being moved along the X axis (e.g. the scanning along the short dimension of the site) to provide further improvements in the throughput of the system. - One embodiment of a four mask exposure apparatus is disclosed in concurrently filed application Ser. No. ______, entitled “Optical Imaging System and Method for Imaging Up to Four Reticles to a Single Imaging Location” (PAO1041-00/045004/Oremland Ref. No. 6162.118US), which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention, and is incorporated by reference herein.
- The design of the
optical assembly 1320 can be varied depending on the requirements of the exposure apparatus. As illustrated, theoptical assembly 1320 is substantially similar to theoptical assembly 1220 illustrated inFIG. 12 . For example, the design, positioning and orientation of optical elements E6 through E46 (the immersion fluid is not shown inFIG. 13 ) is substantially repeated in this embodiment. Accordingly, a detailed description that portion of theoptical assembly 1320 will not be repeated herein. However, theoptical assembly 1320, as illustrated in the embodiment shown inFIG. 13 , includes (i) optical elements E1 through E5, which are positioned substantially between thefirst mask 1312A and optical element E6 and are oriented substantially transversely relative to optical element E6, (ii) optical elements E1′ through E5′, which are positioned substantially between thesecond mask 1312B and optical element E6 and are oriented substantially transversely relative to optical element E6, (iii) optical elements E1″ through E5″, which are positioned substantially between thethird mask 1312C and optical element E6″ and are oriented substantially transversely relative to optical element E6″, and (iv) optical elements E1′″ through E5′″, which are positioned substantially between the fourth mask 1312D and optical element E6″ and are oriented substantially transversely relative to optical element E6″. - Additionally, the
optical assembly 1320 further includes afirst switching mirror 1384A that is positioned substantially between optical elements E5 and E6 and between optical elements E5′ and E6, and asecond switching mirror 1384B that is positioned substantially between optical elements E5″ and E6″ and between optical elements E5′″ and E6″ on the opposite side of theoptical assembly 1320. Thefirst switching mirror 1384A enables theoptical assembly 1320 to selectively, alternatively and/or sequentially project and/or focus thefirst pattern beam 1336A from thefirst mask 1312A onto thesubstrate 414, and thesecond pattern beam 1336B from thesecond mask 1312B onto thesubstrate 414. Similarly, thesecond switching mirror 1384B enables theoptical assembly 1320 to selectively, alternatively and/or sequentially project and/or focus thethird pattern beam 1336C from thethird mask 1312C onto thesubstrate 414, and thefourth pattern beam 1336D from the fourth mask 1312D onto thesubstrate 414. - The process of the
optical assembly 1320 projecting and/or focusing thefirst pattern beam 1336A from thefirst mask 1312A onto thesubstrate 414 is substantially similar to the projecting and/or focusing of thesecond pattern beam 1336B from thesecond mask 1312B, thethird pattern beam 1336C from thethird mask 1312C, and/or thefourth pattern beam 1336D from the fourth mask 1312D onto thesubstrate 414. -
FIG. 14 is a simplified top view of one non-exclusive embodiment of asubstrate 1414 that was exposed utilizing the four mask design and theoptical assembly 1320 illustrated inFIG. 13 . The design of thesubstrate 1414 is similar to thesubstrate 414 described above and illustrated inFIG. 5A . However, inFIG. 14 , the sequence in which thesites 1415 are exposed is different. - In this embodiment, the
substrate 1414 is again labeled “1” through “32” (one through thirty-two). In this example, the labels “1” through “32” represent one non-exclusive embodiment of the sequence in which mask patterns from each of thefirst mask 1312A, thesecond mask 1312B, thethird mask 1312C and the fourth mask 1312D (illustrated InFIG. 13 ) can be transferred to thesites 1415 on thesubstrate 1414. - Moreover,
FIG. 14 includes anexposure pattern 1452A (illustrated with a dashed line) which further illustrates the order in which the mask patterns are transferred tosites 1415. In this example, theexposure pattern 1452A comprises a plurality ofscanning operations 1452B and a plurality of steppingoperations 1452C, wherein thescanning operations 1452B and the steppingoperations 1452C alternate so that the exposure proceeds in a scan-step-scan-step-scan fashion. In this embodiment, thescanning 1452B occurs as thesubstrate 1414 is moved along a scan axis 1458 (the X axis), and the stepping 1452C occurs as thesubstrate 1414 is moved along a step axis 1460 (the Y axis). - It should be noted that in this embodiment, the sites are scanned along the short dimension of the sites. This allows for greater throughput of the exposure apparatus because there are fewer steps of the
substrate 1414 required during the exposure of thesubstrate 1414. - In this embodiment, because four
individual masks substrate 1414 at a constant velocity along thescan axis 1458. As a result thereof, thesubstrate 1414 does not have to be stepped and reversed in direction between the exposures ofadjacent sites 1415. Instead, for the embodiment illustrated inFIG. 13 , thesubstrate 1414 is only stepped between the exposure of sets of fouradjacent sites 1415 aligned on thescan axis 1458. Stated in another fashion, with the present design, there is one stepping motion for every foursites 1415 scanned. This results in fewer steps and significantly improved throughput from the exposure apparatus 410 (illustrated inFIG. 4 ). - It should be noted that in this example, the
site 1415 that is exposed first and the order in which thesites 1415 are exposed can be different than that illustrated inFIG. 14 . Further, thesite 1415 that is first exposed can be located away from the edge of thesubstrate 1414. - Semiconductor devices can be fabricated using the above described systems, by the process shown generally in
FIG. 15A . Instep 1501 the device's function and performance characteristics are designed. Next, instep 1502, a mask (reticle) having a pattern is designed according to the previous designing step, and in a parallel step 1503 a wafer is made from a silicon material. The mask pattern designed instep 1502 is exposed onto the wafer fromstep 1503 instep 1504 by a photolithography system described hereinabove in accordance with the present invention. Instep 1505, the semiconductor device is assembled (including the dicing process, bonding process and packaging process), finally, the device is then inspected instep 1506. -
FIG. 15B illustrates a detailed flowchart example of the above-mentionedstep 1504 in the case of fabricating semiconductor devices. InFIG. 15B , in step 1511 (oxidation step), the wafer surface is oxidized. In step 1512 (CVD step), an insulation film is formed on the wafer surface. In step 1513 (electrode formation step), electrodes are formed on the wafer by vapor deposition. In step 1514 (ion implantation step), ions are implanted in the wafer. The above mentioned steps 1511-1514 form the preprocessing steps for wafers during wafer processing, and selection is made at each step according to processing requirements. - At each stage of wafer processing, when the above-mentioned preprocessing steps have been completed, the following post-processing steps are implemented. During post-processing, first, in step 1515 (photoresist formation step), photoresist is applied to a wafer. Next, in step 1516 (exposure step), the above-mentioned exposure device is used to transfer the circuit pattern of a mask (reticle) to a wafer. Then in step 1517 (developing step), the exposed wafer is developed, and in step 1518 (etching step), parts other than residual photoresist (exposed material surface) are removed by etching. In step 1518 (photoresist removal step), unnecessary photoresist remaining after etching is removed. Multiple circuit patterns are formed by repetition of these preprocessing and post-processing steps.
- It is to be understood that the exposure apparatuses 10 disclosed herein are merely illustrative of the presently preferred embodiments of the invention and that no limitations are intended to the details of construction or design herein shown other than as described in the appended claims.
Claims (21)
1. An exposure apparatus for transferring a first mask pattern to a substrate, the substrate including a first site having a first site dimension along a first axis and a second site dimension along a second axis that is perpendicular to the first axis, wherein the second site dimension is larger than the first site dimension, the exposure apparatus comprising:
an illumination system that generates a first illumination beam that is used to generate a first pattern beam that contains the first mask pattern;
a substrate stage assembly that retains and positions the substrate along the first axis; and
a control system that controls the illumination system, and the substrate stage assembly so that the first mask pattern is transferred to the first site while the substrate stage assembly is moving the substrate along the first axis.
2. The exposure apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a projection optical assembly that focuses the first pattern beam on the substrate; wherein the projection optical assembly includes a used field having a first field dimension along the first axis and a second field dimension along the second axis, wherein the first field dimension is smaller than the second field dimension.
3. The exposure apparatus of claim 2 wherein the first field dimension is shorter than the first site dimension and the second field dimension is equal to or greater than the second site dimension.
4. The exposure apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a first mask that includes the first mask pattern and a first mask stage assembly that retains and positions the first mask along the first axis relative to the first illumination beam, wherein the first pattern beam is created by directing the first illumination beam at the first mask pattern, and wherein the control system controls the first mask stage assembly so that the first mask stage assembly is moving the first mask along the first axis while the first mask pattern is being transferred to the first site.
5. The exposure apparatus of claim 4 further comprising a second mask stage assembly that retains and positions a second mask, wherein the illumination system generates a second illumination beam that is directed at the second mask, wherein the second illumination beam illuminates a second mask pattern of the second mask to generate a second pattern beam, and wherein the optical assembly focuses the first pattern beam and the second pattern beam on the substrate.
6. The exposure apparatus of claim 5 wherein the substrate further includes a second site, and wherein the control system controls the illumination system, the mask stage assemblies and the substrate stage assembly to transfer an image of the first mask pattern to the first site, and an image of the second mask pattern to the second site.
7. The exposure apparatus of claim 6 wherein the control system controls the substrate stage assembly to continuously move the substrate along the first axis when transferring the images to the first site and the second site.
8. The exposure apparatus of claim 7 wherein the control system controls the substrate stage assembly to move the substrate a movement step along the second axis after the second mask pattern is transferred to the second site.
9. The exposure apparatus of claim 4 wherein the control system controls the illumination system, the first mask stage assembly and the substrate stage assembly so that the entire first mask pattern is transferred to the first site while the first mask stage assembly is moving the first mask along the first axis, and the substrate stage assembly is moving the substrate along the first axis.
10. The exposure apparatus of claim 1 wherein the control system controls the substrate stage assembly to move the substrate a movement step along the second axis after the first mask pattern is transferred to the first site.
11. A process for manufacturing a wafer that includes the steps of providing a substrate having a first site and a second site, and transferring the first mask pattern to the first site and the second site of the substrate with the exposure apparatus of claim 1 .
12. A method for transferring a first mask pattern to a substrate, the substrate including a first site having a first site dimension along a first axis and a second site dimension along a second axis that is perpendicular to the first axis, wherein the second site dimension is larger than the first site dimension, the method comprising the steps of:
directing a first pattern beam that contains the first mask pattern at the substrate;
positioning the substrate along the first axis with a substrate stage assembly; and
controlling the illumination system, and the substrate stage assembly with a control system so that the first mask pattern is transferred to the first site while the substrate stage assembly is moving the substrate along the first axis.
13. The method of claim 12 wherein the step of directing includes the steps of illuminating the first mask pattern with a first illumination beam from an illumination system to generate the first pattern beam, and focusing the first pattern beam on the substrate with an optical assembly.
14. The method of claim 13 wherein the step of focusing includes the optical assembly including a used field having a first field dimension along the first axis and a second field dimension along the second axis, wherein the first field dimension is smaller than the second field dimension.
15. The method of claim 14 wherein the step of focusing includes the first field dimension being shorter than the first site dimension and the second field dimension being equal to or greater than the second site dimension.
16. The method of claim 13 further comprising the steps of positioning a second mask with a second mask stage assembly, generating a second illumination beam that is directed at the second mask with the illumination system, illuminating a second mask pattern of the second mask with the second illumination beam to generate a second pattern beam, and focusing the first pattern beam and the second pattern beam on the substrate with the optical assembly.
17. The method of claim 16 wherein the substrate further includes a second site, and wherein the step of controlling includes the step of controlling the illumination system, the mask stage assemblies and the substrate stage assembly with the control system so that an image of the first mask pattern is transferred to the first site, and an image of the second mask pattern is transferred to the second site.
18. The method of claim 17 wherein the step of controlling includes the step of controlling the substrate stage assembly with the control system to continuously move the substrate along the first axis when transferring the images to the first site and the second site.
19. The method of claim 17 further comprising the step of moving the substrate a movement step along the second axis after the second mask pattern is transferred to the second site.
20. The method of claim 12 wherein the step of controlling includes the step of controlling the illumination system, and the substrate stage assembly with the control system so that the entire first mask pattern is transferred to the first site while the substrate stage assembly is moving the substrate along the first axis.
21. The method of claim 1 2 further comprising the step of controlling the substrate stage assembly with the control system to move the substrate a movement step along the second axis after the first mask pattern is transferred to the first site.
Priority Applications (1)
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US12/481,447 US20090305171A1 (en) | 2008-06-10 | 2009-06-09 | Apparatus for scanning sites on a wafer along a short dimension of the sites |
Applications Claiming Priority (5)
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US6041108P | 2008-06-10 | 2008-06-10 | |
US7825108P | 2008-07-03 | 2008-07-03 | |
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US10447708P | 2008-10-10 | 2008-10-10 | |
US12/481,447 US20090305171A1 (en) | 2008-06-10 | 2009-06-09 | Apparatus for scanning sites on a wafer along a short dimension of the sites |
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US20090305171A1 true US20090305171A1 (en) | 2009-12-10 |
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US12/481,326 Abandoned US20090303454A1 (en) | 2008-06-10 | 2009-06-09 | Exposure apparatus with a scanning illumination beam |
US12/481,539 Active 2031-02-15 US8305559B2 (en) | 2008-06-10 | 2009-06-09 | Exposure apparatus that utilizes multiple masks |
US12/481,447 Abandoned US20090305171A1 (en) | 2008-06-10 | 2009-06-09 | Apparatus for scanning sites on a wafer along a short dimension of the sites |
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US12/481,326 Abandoned US20090303454A1 (en) | 2008-06-10 | 2009-06-09 | Exposure apparatus with a scanning illumination beam |
US12/481,539 Active 2031-02-15 US8305559B2 (en) | 2008-06-10 | 2009-06-09 | Exposure apparatus that utilizes multiple masks |
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US20100123883A1 (en) * | 2008-11-17 | 2010-05-20 | Nikon Corporation | Projection optical system, exposure apparatus, and device manufacturing method |
DE102012208521A1 (en) * | 2012-05-22 | 2013-06-27 | Carl Zeiss Smt Gmbh | Illumination system for microlithography projection exposure system, has illumination optical unit that is designed so that each of the frames is illuminated with respect to illumination light with two states of polarization |
DE102012219545A1 (en) * | 2012-10-25 | 2014-04-30 | Carl Zeiss Smt Gmbh | Projection exposure system for EUV lithography and method of operating the projection exposure system |
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US8305559B2 (en) | 2012-11-06 |
US20090303454A1 (en) | 2009-12-10 |
US20090316131A1 (en) | 2009-12-24 |
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