JP2007207887A - Processor and processing method, and exposure apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a processor capable of avoiding thermal influence of an object which is placed later to a holding apparatus resulting from temperature rise of the holding apparatus, and capable of moving a high precision object, moreover, conducting high precision processes for the object without requiring connection of a cooling pipe to the holding apparatus; a processing method; and an exposing apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: The processor for processing the object by irradiation of energy beam includes: the holding apparatus for holding the object placed thereto; and a cooling mechanism for cooling the holding apparatus under the condition that the cooling mechanism is provided in opposition to the holding apparatus. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a processing apparatus, a processing method, and an exposure apparatus, and more particularly to a processing apparatus, a processing method, and an exposure apparatus that process an object by irradiating an energy beam.

  In an exposure apparatus for manufacturing a micro device (such as an electronic device) such as a semiconductor element or a liquid crystal display element, miniaturization has been continued in order to comply with Moore's law. In the process of miniaturization, as the line width of the pattern formed on the wafer by the exposure apparatus becomes narrower, the overlay accuracy between different layers on the wafer becomes stricter.

  For this reason, the exposure apparatus requires an operation (alignment) to bring the pattern already formed on the wafer and the pattern formed by the exposure into an optimum relative positional relationship. In order to improve, it is necessary to keep the wafer temperature at the time of alignment and exposure substantially constant to prevent the deformation (expansion / contraction) of the wafer at the time of alignment and exposure.

  Among the exposure apparatuses, in particular, in the i-line exposure apparatus, the exposure power is large and the wafer is easily heated, which may increase the temperature of the wafer holder holding the wafer. Therefore, in recent exposure apparatuses, a cooling mechanism has been developed in which a flow path for flowing a coolant through the wafer holder is provided, and the temperature of the wafer holder is stabilized by the coolant passing through the flow path (see, for example, Patent Document 1). .

  However, in the conventional cooling mechanism, it is necessary to connect a pipe to the stage in order to supply the coolant to the movable part of the stage that holds and moves the wafer. The tension of this pipe becomes a disturbance factor for the position control of the stage, and there is a possibility that high-precision positioning of the stage is hindered.

JP 2003-309167 A

  The present invention has been made under the circumstances described above. From the first viewpoint, the present invention is a processing apparatus for processing an object by irradiating an energy beam, wherein the object is placed and placed. A first processing apparatus comprising: a holding device that holds an object; and a cooling mechanism that cools the holding device in a state of facing the holding device.

  According to this, since the cooling device cools the holding device while facing the holding device, it is possible to avoid the thermal influence of the object held by the holding device due to the temperature rise of the holding device. is there. Further, since it is not necessary to connect a piping for cooling the inside of the holding device to the holding device as in the prior art, it is possible to eliminate the occurrence of disturbance due to the tension of the pipe when the holding device moves. It is possible to position the object with high accuracy.

  From a second aspect, the present invention is a processing apparatus for processing an object by irradiating an energy beam, the holding apparatus on which the object is placed and holding the placed object; and the holding apparatus And a cooling mechanism that cools the holding device at a position where the object is unloaded from the second processing apparatus.

  According to this, since the cooling mechanism cools the holding device at the position where the object is carried out of the holding device, the thermal influence of the object subsequently held by the holding device due to the temperature rise of the holding device is avoided. Is possible. Also, since the holding device is not cooled during the processing of the object, it is not necessary to connect a cooling pipe to the holding device, and the object can be moved with high accuracy, and the object can be carried out (replaced). Since the cooling of the holding device can be performed in parallel, the throughput hardly decreases.

  From a third aspect, the present invention is an exposure apparatus that includes the first and second processing apparatuses of the present invention and that irradiates the energy beam to expose the object.

  According to this, since the processing apparatus which can avoid the thermal influence of the object by energy beam irradiation with respect to a holding | maintenance apparatus is provided, it becomes possible to perform exposure of a highly accurate object.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a step of placing and holding the object on a holding device capable of placing the object; a step of irradiating the object with an energy beam; and processing the object; And a step of cooling the holding device at a position where it is unloaded from the holding device.

  According to this, the object is held by the holding device, and the object is irradiated with the energy beam and processed, and the holding device is cooled at a position where the object is carried out of the holding device, so that the temperature of the holding device is increased. It is possible to avoid the thermal influence of an object subsequently placed on the holding device. In addition, since the holding device is not cooled during the processing of the object, there is no need to connect a cooling pipe or the like to the holding device, and the object can be moved with high accuracy, and thus the object can be processed with high accuracy. It becomes possible.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 shows a schematic plan view of a substrate processing system 100 according to an embodiment including an exposure apparatus according to the present invention.

  The substrate processing system 100 of FIG. 1 is installed in a clean room having a cleanliness class of about 100 to 1000. The substrate processing system 100 includes an exposure apparatus 10 and a coater / developer (hereinafter referred to as “C / D”) arranged on the floor F of a clean room with a predetermined interval in the X-axis direction (left and right direction in FIG. 1). And an interface unit 14 for connecting the exposure apparatus 10 and the C / D 12 in-line.

  The exposure apparatus 10 is a step-and-repeat reduction projection type exposure apparatus (so-called stepper), and includes a main body chamber 120 as shown in FIG. In the main body chamber 120, an exposure apparatus main body 10A shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the exposure apparatus body 10A includes an illumination system IOP including a light source and an illumination optical system, a reticle holder RH that holds the reticle R, a projection optical system PL, and a wafer stage WST on which the wafer W is placed. And an off-axis alignment detection system ALG and the like.

  The illumination system IOP includes a light source, an optical integrator (for example, fly-eye lens, rod integrator (internal reflection), as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-50417 (corresponding US Pat. No. 4,931,830)). Illuminance uniformizing optical system including a type integrator) or a diffractive optical element), a beam splitter, a relay lens, a reticle blind, etc. (all not shown). In this illumination system IOP, a rectangular, for example, square illumination region on the reticle R defined by the reticle blind is illuminated with illumination light IL with a substantially uniform illuminance. Here, as the illumination light IL, for example, an ultraviolet bright line (for example, i-line) from an ultrahigh pressure mercury lamp is used. As the illumination light IL, g-line can be used, for example, ArF excimer laser light (wavelength 193 nm), KrF excimer laser light (wavelength 248 nm), or the like can be used.

  On the reticle holder RH, the reticle R is fixed by, for example, vacuum suction. Here, the reticle holder RH can be finely driven (including rotation) in the XY plane perpendicular to the optical axis of the projection optical system PL via a reticle stage drive system composed of a linear motor or the like.

  Position information (including θz rotation) of the reticle holder RH in the XY plane is always detected by the reticle laser interferometer 58R with a resolution of about 0.5 to 1 nm, for example.

  The projection optical system PL is, for example, a double-sided telecentric reduction system, and is composed of a plurality of lens elements (not shown) having a common optical axis in the Z-axis direction. Further, as the projection optical system PL, one having a projection magnification β of, for example, 1/4, 1/5, or 1/8 is used. For this reason, as described above, when the reticle R is illuminated by the illumination light (exposure light) IL, the pattern in the illumination area on the reticle R is reduced by the projection optical system PL at the projection magnification β, and the surface And transferred onto the wafer W coated with a resist (photosensitive agent).

  The wafer stage WST is disposed on a base (not shown) below the projection optical system PL in FIG. 2, and a wafer holder WH is placed on the upper surface thereof. A wafer W is fixed on the wafer holder WH by, for example, vacuum suction. Near the center of the wafer holder WH, three through-holes (not shown) that penetrate in the vertical direction (Z-axis direction) are formed substantially at the positions of the apexes of the equilateral triangle. A vertical movement pin (center pin) CT (see FIG. 6 and the like) having a cylindrical shape is inserted into each of these through holes, and these three center pins CT are moved in the vertical direction (not shown) via a vertical movement mechanism (not shown). It can be moved up and down in the Z-axis direction). At the time of wafer loading and wafer unloading, which will be described later, the center pin CT is driven by the vertical movement mechanism, so that the wafer W is supported from below by the three center pins CT or is moved up and down while the wafer W is supported. .

  Wafer stage WST is driven in the X-axis and Y-axis directions by a wafer stage drive system including a motor and the like. Then, by this wafer stage WST, a step-and-repeat operation that repeats the operation of exposing each shot area on wafer W and the movement operation for exposure of the next shot is executed.

  The position information of wafer stage WST in the XY plane is always detected by wafer laser interferometer 58W with a resolution of about 0.5 to 1 nm, for example, and sent to a control device (not shown). Drive control of wafer stage WST is performed via the system.

  Wafer stage WST is also moved in the Z-axis direction, θx direction (rotation direction around X axis), θy direction (rotation direction around Y axis), and θz direction (rotation direction around Z axis) by the wafer stage drive system. It is driven minutely.

  The alignment detection system ALG is disposed on the side surface of the projection optical system PL. In the present embodiment, an imaging type alignment sensor that detects street lines and position detection marks (fine alignment marks) formed on the wafer W is used as the alignment detection system ALG. The detailed configuration of the alignment detection system ALG is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-219354. The detection result by the alignment detection system ALG is supplied to a control device (not shown).

  Referring back to FIG. 1, the C / D 12 is a C / D 12 that carries a housing such as a chamber, a coater (resist coating device), a developer (developing device), and a wafer (not shown) provided in the housing. A D-inside transport system is provided. Although not shown, an entrance / exit (opening) is formed in the side wall portion on the + X side of the casing of C / D12, and the transfer system in the C / D is connected to the resist by the coater through the entrance / exit. The coated wafer W is transferred into the interface unit 14, and the wafer that has been exposed in the exposure apparatus main body 10 </ b> A is carried into the developer from the interface unit 14.

  The interface section 14 includes a housing 122 such as a chamber, and a wafer transfer system 150 shown in FIG.

  FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the wafer transfer system 150. The wafer transfer system 150 includes a relay unit 26 for a wafer W transferred between the exposure apparatus main body 10A and the C / D 12, a robot 28 for wafer transfer, and a rotating member (turntable) on which the wafer W is placed. ) 29, a load arm LA for loading the wafer W from the pre-alignment unit 31 to the wafer stage WST, and its driving mechanism 34, and for unloading the exposed wafer W from the wafer stage WST. The unload arm UA and its drive mechanism 36 and an unload table 32 on which the unloaded exposed wafer W is temporarily placed. Further, in the present embodiment, for example, a front opening unified pod (hereinafter, abbreviated as “FOUP”) 22 can be placed to enable wafer exposure offline. The wafer transfer system 150 also has a FOUP access robot 24 for carrying wafers in and out of the FOUP 22.

  The FOUP 22 is an open / close type container (sealed wafer cassette) similar to the transfer container disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-279546. A plurality of wafers W are stored in the FOUP 22 at a predetermined interval in the vertical direction. The FOUP 22 is set to the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 (outside the housing of the interface unit 14) by a FOUP conveyance device or an operator (not shown), and the + Y side of the FOUP 22 is opened by the opening / closing device 23 at that position. Thus, the wafer W inside the FOUP can be loaded into the housing 122 of the interface unit 14.

  The FOUP access robot 24 is a robot capable of attracting and holding the wafer W at the tip of its arm and transporting the wafer from the FOUP 22 to the relay unit 26 and collecting the exposed wafer from the relay unit 26. .

  The relay unit 26 has a two-stage shelf, and a wafer to be exchanged with the C / D internal transfer system is placed on the lower stage. In addition, a wafer to be exchanged with the FOUP access robot 24 is placed on the upper stage. The number of shelves of the relay unit 26 is not limited to the above.

  The robot 28 is a horizontal articulated robot capable of attracting and holding the wafer W at the tip of its arm and transferring it between the relay unit 26 and the turntable 29 and between the unload table 32 and the relay unit 26. Then, the wafer is transferred.

  The turntable 29 sucks and holds the wafer W by vacuum suction or electrostatic suction, and can move up and down and rotate around the Z axis.

  Although not shown, the pre-alignment apparatus 31 includes a unit (for example, a pair of light projectors and light receivers (light quantity sensor or line sensor)) that detects an edge of the wafer W rotated by the turntable 29, and a plurality of imaging. Apparatus (including a CCD or the like) and a disk-shaped cool plate 30 disposed to face the back surface of the wafer W held on the turntable 29. With this cool plate 30, the temperature of the wafer can be adjusted to a predetermined temperature.

  The load arm LA can enter the main body chamber 120 as shown in FIG. 3 through an opening (not shown) formed in the main body chamber 120 of the exposure apparatus 10. That is, the load arm LA can be moved (slid) in the X-axis direction between the housing 122 of the interface unit 14 and the main body chamber 120 by the drive mechanism 34, and is held on the turntable 29. The wafer W can be received and moved in the + X direction in the received state, whereby the wafer W can be transferred above the position (loading position) for loading the wafer W onto the wafer stage WST. It is possible.

  Like the load arm LA, the unload arm UA can enter the main body chamber 120 through an opening (not shown) formed in the main body chamber 120 of the exposure apparatus 10. That is, the unload arm UA can be moved (slid) in the X-axis direction between the housing 122 of the interface unit 14 and the main body chamber 120 by the drive mechanism 36, and the wafer is unloaded from the wafer stage WST. The wafer W can be received from the wafer stage WST at the position (the unloading position (the position indicated by the symbol WST ′ in FIG. 3)), and in the received state, the wafer W is moved in the −X direction, and the unload table It is possible to transfer the wafer W onto 32.

  FIG. 4 shows an exploded perspective view of the unload arm UA as viewed from below. As shown in FIG. 4, the unload arm UA includes an arm main body 52 and a cover member 54 in a state of being attached to a lower surface (−Z side surface) of the arm main body 52.

  The arm main body 52 includes a substantially disk-shaped disk portion and an arm portion provided in a state of protruding from the front side of the paper on the right side of the disk portion in FIG. A substantially U-shaped (U-shaped) notch 52b is formed in the disk portion. A serpentine groove 52 a is formed on the lower surface (−Z side surface) of the arm body 52 over the entire region.

  The cover member 54 is a plate-like member having the same shape and size as the arm body 52 in plan view (viewed from above or below). The cover member 54 is affixed to the −Z side surface of the arm main body 52, whereby a space formed by the groove 52 a formed in the arm main body 52 and the cover member 54 serves as a liquid flow path.

  A refrigerant (for example, water) having a temperature lower by about 10 ° C. to 20 ° C. than the temperature of the atmosphere in the main body chamber 120 is supplied to the flow path from a liquid supply device (not shown). Therefore, the lower surface of the unload arm UA is cooled by this refrigerant. The cooling liquid (refrigerant) is not limited to water (pure water), and other liquids such as HFE (hydrofluoroether) having a lower boiling point than water may be used.

  Although not shown, a gas flow system in which at least a part is provided in the unload arm UA allows gas to flow between the wafer holder WH and the wafer holder WH in parallel with the cooling of the wafer holder WH by the unload arm UA. A gas ejection port is provided at a position that does not mechanically interfere with the refrigerant flow path on the lower surface of the unload arm UA, and a gas supply (not shown) is provided from the gas ejection port. Gas supplied from the mechanism (for example, chemically clean air (air, dry air, etc.), helium or nitrogen, etc.) is ejected (flowed) downward (−Z direction). Yes.

  Returning to FIG. 3, the unload table 32 is formed of a substantially rectangular parallelepiped member, and is disposed at a substantially intermediate position between the unload arm UA and the robot 28.

  In the wafer transfer system 150 configured as described above, the wafer is transferred as follows. The following operation is performed under the instruction of a control device (not shown), but the description of the control device is omitted unless particularly necessary to avoid complicating the description.

  First, the FOUP access robot 24 takes out the wafer from the FOUP 22 and places it on the shelf of the relay unit 26, or the C / D transfer system transfers the wafer from the C / D 12 and places it on the shelf of the relay unit 26. Then, the robot 28 carries the wafer placed on the relay unit 26 onto the pre-alignment device 31 (turn table 29).

  In the pre-alignment apparatus 31, the notch (notch) of the wafer W is detected by the detection unit (not shown) (for example, a pair of light projector and light receiver) while rotating the wafer W at a predetermined angular velocity by the turntable 29. . Then, the control device calculates the rotation amount (position of the notch in the rotation direction) of the wafer W based on the detection result (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-12709), and based on the calculation result. Thus, the position of the wafer W is adjusted by the rotation of the turntable 29. In this case, the amount of rotation can be adjusted by rotating the turntable 29. Further, the amount of eccentricity can be adjusted by making the turntable 29 movable in the XY two-dimensional directions, or the robot 28 can place the wafer W again.

  Further, in the pre-alignment apparatus 31, the edge portion of the wafer W for which the rotation adjustment has been completed is imaged by the above-described detection unit (not shown) (for example, a plurality of imaging apparatuses). Then, the control device calculates an eccentric amount (position shift amount) in the XY two-dimensional plane of the center of the wafer W with respect to the center of the turn table 29 based on the imaging result, and based on the calculation result, for example, turns the turn table 29 The center position of the wafer W is set to a desired position by moving in the XY two-dimensional direction or by reloading the wafer W by the robot 28. Note that the pre-alignment apparatus 31 may detect only the eccentricity without correcting the position of the wafer W. In this case, for example, when the wafer W is transferred from the turntable 29 to the load arm LA. The position of the wafer W may be corrected by shifting the stop position (wafer delivery position) of the load arm LA, or when the wafer W placed on the load arm LA is delivered to the wafer stage WST. In addition, the positional deviation of the wafer W may be corrected by adjusting the position of at least one of the load arm LA and the wafer stage WST at the loading position. Similarly, the rotation amount of the wafer W detected by the pre-alignment apparatus 31 may be corrected (rotation adjustment) by, for example, rotation of the load arm LA in addition to the rotation of the turntable 29.

  Then, the wafer W on the turntable 29 is transferred up to the loading position by the load arm LA, and the wafer is loaded onto the wafer stage WST that has been waiting at the loading position. In this case, the load arm LA transports the wafer onto the wafer stage WST, the center pin CT rises, and the wafer is delivered to the center pin CT. When this delivery is completed, the load arm LA is retracted to the −X side. The center pin CT is driven downward to place the wafer W on the wafer holder WH.

  Thereafter, vacuum suction of the wafer W by the wafer holder WH is started, and the exposure operation by the wafer alignment operation and the step-and-repeat method is performed in the exposure apparatus main body 10A. When the exposure operation for wafer W is completed, wafer stage WST is positioned at unloading position WST 'shown in FIG.

  Then, unloading of the wafer from wafer stage WST using unload arm UA is executed.

  FIG. 5A shows a state where the center pin CT is driven up and a gap is formed between the wafer holder WH and the wafer W in the wafer stage WST positioned at the unloading position.

  In this state, the unload arm UA is driven in the + X direction by the drive mechanism 36, and is inserted between the wafer W and the wafer holder WH as shown in FIG. In this case, contact between the center pin CT and the unload arm UA is avoided by forming substantially U-shaped (U-shaped) cutouts 52b and 54a in the unload arm UA. .

  Then, the center pin CT is driven downward in the state shown in FIG. 5B, and the wafer W is delivered to the unload arm UA. At this delivery, the wafer holder WH using the unload arm UA is moved. Cooling is taking place.

That is, as can be seen from FIG. 6 showing the state when FIG. 5B is viewed from the + X side, the lower surface of the unload arm UA is cooled by the liquid supplied into the unload arm UA during the delivery. Therefore, the heat accumulated in the wafer holder WH due to the illumination light irradiated in the exposure operation is conducted (and radiated) from the wafer holder WH to the unload arm UA (in FIG. 6, heat is applied). The conduction direction is indicated by a white arrow). Here, generally heat passing through the planar walls by thermal conduction, the heat q, the thermal conductivity of the gas k, the plane distance b, t ₁ the temperature of the wafer holder WH, the temperature of the unload arm UA Is t ₂ , q = k (t ₁ −t ₂ ) / b. Therefore, the greater the temperature difference (t ₁ −t ₂ ) and the smaller the distance (b) between the unload arm UA and the wafer holder WH, the greater the amount of heat conducted from the wafer holder WH to the unload arm UA.

  In this state, the unload arm UA ejects gas from a gas ejection port formed on the lower surface (−Z side surface) of the unload arm UA (in FIG. 6, gas ejection (flow)). Since the direction is indicated by a black arrow), a gas flow can be generated between the wafer holder WH and the unload arm UA, whereby the heat conduction is performed efficiently. Yes.

This will be described using specific numerical values. For example, when the gap between the upper surface of the wafer holder WH and the lower surface of the unload arm UA is 1 mm, nitrogen (N ₂ ) is ejected as a gas. The heat transfer rate is 25 [W / (m ² · K)]. This corresponds to about 10 to 20 times the heat transfer rate when no gas is ejected.

  Here, during exposure (when i-line is used as illumination light), the exposure energy received by one wafer is about 144 [J]. In this case, if the heat capacity of the wafer holder WH is 700 [J / K], the rising temperature of the wafer holder WH is about 0.2 [K] even if all the exposure energy is absorbed by the wafer holder WH. is there. If exposure of the wafer is further continued without cooling the wafer holder WH, naturally, heat is accumulated in the wafer holder WH, and the temperature exceeds the allowable value.

  It has been found that the temperature of 0.2 [K] does not significantly affect the deformation (stretching) of the wafer. Therefore, as in the present embodiment, even when the wafer holder WH is cooled when the wafer W is unloaded from the wafer holder WH, the wafer is not greatly deformed during exposure, and the wafer holder is cooled during exposure. Compared with, the exposure accuracy is not significantly affected.

  The wafer unloaded from above the wafer holder WH as described above is placed on the unload table 32 shown in FIG. 3 by the unload arm UA, and then the wafer is either one of the relay units 26 by the robot 28. To the shelf. The wafer is transferred into the FOUP 22 by the FOUP access robot 24 or is transferred to the developer in the C / D 12 by the C / D transfer system.

  Thereafter, in the same manner as described above, a new wafer is transferred to wafer stage WST by load arm LA, and wafer alignment and exposure operations are performed on the new wafer held on wafer holder WH cooled (temperature-controlled) as described above. Is to be done.

  As described above in detail, according to the present embodiment, the wafer holder WH is cooled via the lower surface of the unload arm UA cooled by the refrigerant in a state where the unload arm UA faces the wafer holder WH. The wafer can be prevented from being deformed due to the temperature rise of the wafer holder WH during the period from exposure to exposure, and high-precision exposure can be performed using the alignment result. Further, unlike the prior art, it is not necessary to provide a path for passing the coolant inside the wafer holder WH, and it is not necessary to connect a pipe for supplying the coolant to the path, resulting in the piping when the wafer holder moves. It is possible to eliminate the occurrence of disturbance and to improve the positioning of the wafer with high accuracy and hence the exposure accuracy.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, the wafer holder is cooled at the position where the wafer W is unloaded from the wafer holder WH via the lower surface of the unload arm cooled by the refrigerant flowing in the unload arm UA. The wafer holder can be cooled in parallel with the unloading. Therefore, it is not necessary to separately provide a time required for cooling, and it becomes possible to prevent a decrease in throughput of the entire exposure apparatus.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, when the wafer is unloaded from the wafer holder WH, the gas flows between the unload arm UA and the wafer holder WH, so that the thermal conductivity of the unload arm UA from the wafer holder WH is improved. Therefore, the wafer holder can be cooled in a short time.

  In the above embodiment, after the wafer W is detached from the wafer holder WH by the center pin CT, the unload arm UA is arranged to face the wafer holder WH (mounting surface), and the unload arm UA cooled by the refrigerant is used. Although the wafer holder WH is cooled via the lower surface, the present invention is not limited to this. The coolant is passed through the load arm LA that loads the wafer, and the wafer holder WH is cooled via the lower surface of the load arm LA that is cooled by the coolant. It's also good. In this case, for example, after unloading of the exposed wafer and before holding the next wafer by the wafer holder, the load arm LA is disposed facing the wafer holder WH (mounting surface) to cool the wafer. Further, when the arm for loading the wafer and the arm for unloading are common, a coolant may be passed through the arm, and the wafer holder WH may be cooled via the lower surface of the arm cooled by the coolant. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the wafer holder WH is cooled by the transfer arm (unload arm, load arm) described above to replace the wafer (an unload position where the wafer is unloaded or a load position where the wafer is loaded). The wafer holder is preferably cooled in parallel with the wafer exchange operation (including at least part of the wafer loading and unloading), but is not limited to this, for example, a position different from the wafer exchange position. Then, the wafer holder may be cooled by the transfer arm while the wafer W is separated from the wafer holder WH by the center pin CT.

  In the above embodiment, the wafer loading position and the unloading position in the exposure apparatus are different from each other. However, both positions may be the same. In the above embodiment, the refrigerant from the gas supply device (not shown) is circulated in the transfer arm. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the refrigerant sealed in the transfer arm may be periodically replaced. . Further, in the above-described embodiment, the wafer is transferred between the load arm LA or unload arm UA and the wafer holder WH (wafer stage WST) by the vertical movement of the center pin CT. The load arm LA or unload arm UA may be moved up and down to transfer wafers to and from the center pins CT, or the wafer holder WH may be moved up and down to transfer wafers to and from the center pins CT. Anyway.

  In addition to the arm for transporting the wafer, a cooling mechanism for cooling the wafer holder is provided. For example, the cooling mechanism is opposed to the wafer holder at the wafer replacement position (unload position or load position). It is good also as arranging. In this case, an actuator (driving mechanism) for driving the cooling mechanism is provided, and the cooling mechanism is made to face the wafer holder in accordance with the wafer replacement operation in the same manner as the unload arm of the above embodiment. The cooling mechanism is fixed, and the wafer is not held by the wafer holder (for example, the wafer is detached from the wafer holder by the center pin). May be made to face each other. Further, the gas jet port of the gas flow system described above may be provided in the cooling mechanism, and gas may be blown to the wafer holder. Further, not only when the wafer is cooled every time it is unloaded or loaded (exchanged or transferred), but also for every predetermined number of times (multiple times) of unloading or loading (exchanged or transferred) (such as the aforementioned arm). ) May be used to cool the wafer holder WH.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the gas is ejected from the lower surface of the unload arm UA toward the wafer holder has been described. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the wafer holder can be sufficiently cooled without ejecting the gas. In this case, it is not necessary to eject gas.

  In the above embodiment, the refrigerant is passed through the unload arm UA to cool the lower surface of the unload arm UA. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a cooling mechanism such as a Peltier element may be used. While unloading, the unload arm UA itself may be cooled by a predetermined cooling device provided separately from the unload arm UA. Further, for example, a coolant channel may be formed in the wafer holder or the wafer stage, and the wafer holder may be cooled by circulating the coolant by connecting a pipe to the channel at the wafer replacement position described above. In this case, it is possible to perform the cooling of the wafer holder and the exchange of the wafer in parallel to prevent a reduction in the throughput of the exposure apparatus, and the connection of the pipe is released when the wafer stage moves away from the exchange position. Therefore, during exposure, the wafer can be moved (positioned) with high accuracy without being affected by the piping, and the exposure accuracy can be improved. In addition, even if the connection of the pipe is released, by leaving a low-temperature refrigerant in the wafer holder or the wafer stage, it is possible to suppress the temperature rise of the wafer holder accompanying the wafer exposure (illumination light irradiation). It is possible to shorten the time when the wafer holder is cooled by connecting.

  In the above embodiment, the interface unit 14 is connected to the exposure apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1, and the wafer transfer system 150 shown in FIG. 3 is accommodated in the housing (chamber) 122 of the interface unit 14. It was supposed to be. Therefore, strictly speaking, in the case of the above embodiment, it can be said that an exposure apparatus as a processing apparatus is configured including the interface unit 14. Of course, when the exposure apparatus includes a main body chamber in which the main body of the exposure apparatus is accommodated and a loader chamber, a wafer conveyance system similar to the wafer conveyance system 150 may be accommodated in the loader chamber. Alternatively, the wafer transfer system may be accommodated together with the exposure apparatus main body in the main body chamber of the exposure apparatus. In these cases, the C / D may be connected to the loader chamber or the main body chamber through a housing (also referred to as an inline interface unit) in which a wafer transfer robot or the like is disposed, or the inline interface unit. You may connect C / D without going through.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the wafer holder WH is fixed on the wafer stage WST by vacuum suction or the like. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a part of the wafer stage WST (for example, fine movement in the Z-axis direction is possible. And a tiltable table).

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the processing apparatus of the present invention is an exposure apparatus has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Various apparatuses can be used as long as the apparatus irradiates an object with an energy beam. It is possible to apply.

  Note that the present invention can also be applied to an immersion exposure apparatus disclosed in International Publication No. 2004/53955 pamphlet. In addition, the exposure apparatus of the above embodiment may include a measurement stage separately from the wafer stage as disclosed in, for example, pamphlet of International Publication No. 2005/074014.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a scanning exposure apparatus such as a step-and-repeat method has been described, but it is needless to say that the scope of the present invention is not limited to this. That is, the present invention can be applied to a step-and-scan projection exposure apparatus, a step-and-stitch exposure apparatus, a proximity exposure apparatus, and a mirror projection aligner.

  The use of the exposure apparatus is not limited to the exposure apparatus for semiconductor manufacturing, but for example, an exposure apparatus for liquid crystal that transfers a liquid crystal display element pattern to a square glass plate, an organic EL, a thin film magnetic head, an image sensor (CCD, etc.), micromachines, DNA chips and the like can also be widely applied to exposure apparatuses. Further, in order to manufacture reticles or masks used in not only microdevices such as semiconductor elements but also light exposure apparatuses, EUV exposure apparatuses, X-ray exposure apparatuses, electron beam exposure apparatuses, etc., glass substrates or silicon wafers, etc. The present invention can also be applied to an exposure apparatus that transfers a circuit pattern. As described above, the object irradiated with the energy beam in the above embodiment is not limited to the wafer, but may be another object such as a glass plate, a ceramic substrate, or a mask blank.

  In the above embodiment, it goes without saying that light having a wavelength of less than 100 nm may be used as illumination light of the exposure apparatus. For example, in recent years, in order to expose a pattern of 70 nm or less, EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet) light in a soft X-ray region (for example, a wavelength region of 5 to 15 nm) is generated using an SOR or a plasma laser as a light source, and its exposure wavelength Development of an EUV exposure apparatus using an all-reflection reduction optical system designed under (for example, 13.5 nm) and a reflective mask is underway. In this apparatus, a configuration in which scanning exposure is performed by synchronously scanning a mask and a wafer using arc illumination is conceivable.

  The present invention can also be applied to an exposure apparatus that uses a charged particle beam such as an electron beam or an ion beam. The electron beam exposure apparatus may be any of a pencil beam method, a variable shaped beam method, a cell projection method, a blanking aperture array method, and a mask projection method.

  In the above embodiment, a light transmissive mask (reticle) in which a predetermined light shielding pattern (or phase pattern / dimming pattern) is formed on a light transmissive substrate is used. Instead of this reticle, for example, As disclosed in US Pat. No. 6,778,257, an electronic mask (or a variable shaping mask, which forms a transmission pattern or a reflection pattern, or a light emission pattern based on electronic data of a pattern to be exposed, For example, a non-light emitting image display element (including DMD (Digital Micro-mirror Device) which is a kind of spatial light modulator) may be used. In the case of using such a variable shaping mask, in consideration of the detection result of the alignment mark described above, at least one of the plurality of partitioned areas on the wafer that is exposed after the shot area that was exposed when the alignment mark was detected. The relative position control between the wafer and the pattern image may be performed by changing a transmission pattern or a reflection pattern to be formed based on electronic data at the time of exposure of two different shot areas.

  The pattern transfer characteristics of a semiconductor device are adjusted by a step of designing the function / performance of the device, a step of manufacturing a reticle based on the design step, a step of manufacturing a wafer from a silicon material, and the adjustment method described above. The exposure apparatus according to the embodiment is manufactured through a lithography step for transferring a pattern formed on a mask onto a photosensitive object, a device assembly step (including a dicing process, a bonding process, and a packaging process), an inspection step, and the like. In this case, since the exposure apparatus of the above embodiment in which the pattern transfer characteristics are adjusted in the lithography step is used, it is possible to improve the productivity of a highly integrated device.

  As described above, the processing apparatus and processing method of the present invention are suitable for processing by irradiating an object with an energy beam. The exposure apparatus of the present invention is suitable for exposing an energy beam to an object.

1 is a schematic view showing a substrate processing system according to an embodiment. It is the schematic which shows the exposure apparatus main body contained in the substrate processing system of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows a wafer conveyance system. It is a disassembled perspective view of an unload arm. 5A and 5B are diagrams for explaining a wafer unloading method. It is the figure which looked at the state of Drawing 5 (B) from the + X side.

Explanation of symbols

  IL: illumination light (energy beam, exposure illumination light), W: wafer (object, photosensitive substrate), WH: wafer holder (holding device), UA: unload arm (cooling mechanism, unloading member).

Claims (19)

A processing apparatus for processing an object by irradiating an energy beam,
A holding device on which the object is placed and holding the placed object;
A cooling mechanism that cools the holding device in a state of facing the holding device.   The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cooling mechanism is disposed to face a mounting surface of the holding device after the processed object is detached.   The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cooling mechanism cools the holding device at an exchange position of the processed object.   The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cooling mechanism cools the holding device at a position where the object is unloaded from the holding device. A processing apparatus for processing an object by irradiating an energy beam,
A holding device on which the object is placed and holding the placed object;
A cooling mechanism that cools the holding device at a position where the object is unloaded from the holding device.   The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cooling mechanism is disposed to face the holding device, and the holding device facing surface is cooled to a predetermined temperature.   The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cooling mechanism includes a gas flow system that flows a gas toward the holding device.   The said cooling mechanism is provided in at least one part of the carrying-out member inserted between the said object and the said holding | maintenance apparatus when carrying out the said object from the said holding | maintenance apparatus. The processing apparatus as described in any one.   The processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the cooling mechanism includes a mechanism that cools the holding device facing surface of the carry-out member to a predetermined temperature.   The process according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the cooling mechanism includes a gas flow system that causes a gas to flow between the carry-out member and the holding device when the object is carried out from the holding device. apparatus.   The processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the gas is any one of nitrogen gas, helium gas, and air.   The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the object is a photosensitive substrate irradiated with an energy beam.   The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the energy beam is exposure illumination light for exposing the object. A processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 13, comprising:
An exposure apparatus that exposes the object by irradiating the energy beam. Placing and holding the object on a holding device capable of placing the object;
Irradiating the object with an energy beam and processing;
Cooling the holding device at a position where the object is unloaded from the holding device.   The object processing method according to claim 15, wherein after the processed object is detached, a cooling mechanism is disposed to face the mounting surface of the holding device to cool the holding device.   The object processing method according to claim 16, wherein the holding device is cooled by cooling the holding device facing surface of the cooling mechanism to a predetermined temperature.   The object processing method according to claim 16 or 17, wherein the holding device is cooled by flowing a gas toward the holding device.   16. The exposure of the object is performed by the irradiation of the energy beam, and the exposure of the next object placed on the cooled holding device is performed by the irradiation of the energy beam. The object processing method according to claim 18.

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