JP7289895B2 - IMPRINT APPARATUS, IMPRINT METHOD, AND ARTICLE MANUFACTURING METHOD - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an imprint apparatus that uses a mold to mold an imprint material on a substrate.

2. Description of the Related Art An imprint technique for forming a pattern of an imprint material on a substrate using a mold is known as a method for manufacturing articles such as semiconductor devices. In the imprint technology, an imprint material is supplied onto a substrate, and the supplied imprint material and the mold are brought into contact (imprint). Then, after the imprint material is cured while the imprint material and the mold are in contact with each other, the mold is separated from the cured imprint material (mold release), thereby forming a pattern of the imprint material on the substrate. .

In the imprint technology, methods for supplying the imprint material onto the substrate include a method of supplying the imprint material onto the substrate in advance using a coating device (spin coater, etc.) external to the imprint apparatus, and a method of supplying the imprint material onto the substrate in advance. There is a method using an installed feeding device. When the imprint material is supplied using the supply device in the imprint apparatus, it is required to supply the imprint material to a predetermined position on the substrate, such as a shot region in which a pattern is formed in advance on the substrate. Therefore, the imprint apparatus needs to accurately grasp the position of the supply device (the position of the imprint material supplied from the supply device) installed in the imprint apparatus.

The imprint apparatus of Patent Document 1 is provided with an imaging device, and the position of the feeding device is obtained by imaging a mark formed on the feeding device with the imaging device. In order to accurately grasp the position of the imprint material supplied from the supply device, it is necessary to image the ejection surface (ejection port) of the supply device. there is As described above, the imprint apparatus of Patent Document 1 uses an imaging device that captures an image of a mark formed on the supply device as means for determining the position of the supply device.

JP 2011-151092 A

In the conventional imprint apparatus, it is necessary to provide an optical system such as an illumination optical system and a detection optical system included in an imaging device for imaging marks on the substrate stage, which may increase the size of the substrate stage.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an imprint apparatus capable of measuring the position of a supply apparatus with a simple configuration.

An imprinting apparatus according to the present invention is an imprinting apparatus that uses a mold to mold an imprint material on a substrate, and includes an ejection chip having an ejection port and an ejection surface forming an uneven structure. a supply device configured to supply an imprint material onto the substrate from above; a substrate stage configured to move under the supply device and the mold; a distance measuring sensor capable of measuring the distance of the substrate stage; and a controller for controlling driving of the supply device, the substrate stage, and the distance measuring sensor, wherein the controller moves the substrate stage. Meanwhile, the first measurement for measuring the position of the ejection port is performed by measuring the height of the concave-convex structure formed in a convex or concave shape with respect to the direction perpendicular to the ejection surface by the distance measuring sensor . and controlling the position of the imprint material supplied from the ejection port onto the substrate based on the measurement result of the position of the concave-convex structure, moving the substrate stage under the mold, and performing the distance measurement . The method is characterized in that a sensor performs second measurement for measuring the distance between the mold and the substrate stage.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an imprint apparatus capable of measuring the position of a supply device that supplies an imprint material onto a substrate with a simple configuration.

1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an imprint apparatus according to a first embodiment; FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the sequence of an imprint method; 3 is a diagram showing a cross section of the supply device 21; FIG. 4A and 4B are diagrams showing the configuration of the ejection tip of the first embodiment; FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the structure of a fiducial mark according to the first embodiment; FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the configuration of an ejection tip according to a third embodiment; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the structure of a reference mark according to a third embodiment; FIG. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the configuration of an ejection tip according to a fourth embodiment; 1 is a diagram showing a conventional exposure apparatus; FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the manufacturing method of articles|goods.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, in each figure, the same reference numerals are given to the same members, and redundant explanations are omitted.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of the imprint apparatus IMP according to the first embodiment. The configuration of the imprint apparatus IMP will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, each axis is determined with the plane on which the substrate 13 is arranged as the XY plane and the direction orthogonal thereto as the Z direction. The imprint apparatus IMP is an apparatus that uses a mold to mold an imprint material on a substrate. The imprinting apparatus IMP brings the imprinting material supplied onto the substrate 13 into contact with the mold and applies energy for curing to the imprinting material, thereby forming a pattern of a cured product to which the uneven pattern of the mold is transferred. It is a device. The imprint apparatus IMP in FIG. 1 is used for manufacturing devices such as semiconductor devices as articles. Here, an imprint apparatus IMP that employs a photo-curing method will be described.

A curable composition (also referred to as an uncured resin) that cures when energy for curing is applied is used for the imprint material. Electromagnetic waves, heat, and the like are used as curing energy. The electromagnetic wave is, for example, light such as infrared rays, visible rays, and ultraviolet rays whose wavelengths are selected from the range of 10 nm or more and 1 mm or less.

A curable composition is a composition that is cured by irradiation with light or by heating. Among these, the photocurable composition that is cured by light contains at least a polymerizable compound and a photopolymerization initiator, and may contain a non-polymerizable compound or a solvent if necessary. The non-polymerizable compound is at least one selected from the group consisting of sensitizers, hydrogen donors, internal release agents, surfactants, antioxidants, polymer components and the like.

The imprint material is applied to the substrate in the form of a film by a spin coater or a slit coater. Alternatively, it may be applied onto the substrate in the form of droplets, or in the form of islands or films formed by connecting a plurality of droplets, by a liquid jet head. The viscosity of the imprint material (viscosity at 25° C.) is, for example, 1 mPa·s or more and 100 mPa·s or less.

Glass, ceramics, metal, semiconductor, resin, or the like is used for the substrate 13, and if necessary, a member made of a material different from that of the substrate may be formed on the surface thereof. Specific examples of substrates include silicon wafers, compound semiconductor wafers, and quartz glass.

The imprint apparatus IMP includes a substrate holder 12 that holds a substrate 13 , a substrate stage 11 that moves the substrate holder 12 within the XY plane, and a mold holder 15 that holds a mold 14 . The imprinting apparatus IMP also includes a stage measuring device 16 that measures the position of the substrate stage 11, a light source 17 that irradiates ultraviolet rays that cure the imprinting material, and an imaging device 18 that observes the substrate 13 and the imprinting material through the mold 14. Prepare.

The imprint apparatus IMP further includes a supply device 21 (dispenser) that supplies the imprint material onto the substrate 13 and a measurement device 22 that measures the position of the ejection surface provided in the supply device 21 . The supply device 21 is installed suspended from the upper structure 19 . The imprint apparatus IMP ejects the imprint material from the supply device 21 while moving the substrate 13 on the substrate stage 11 under the supply device 21 in the XY directions in the drawing, thereby imprinting onto a predetermined region on the substrate 13 . Supply printing materials. The imprint apparatus IMP includes a control unit 27 for controlling imprint operations. The operation of each part such as the supply device 21 and the substrate stage 11 is controlled by the controller 27 of the imprint apparatus IMP. The control unit 27 may be provided within the imprint apparatus IMP, or may be provided at a location separate from the imprint apparatus IMP and remotely controlled.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a sequence of an imprinting method for forming a pattern of imprinting material using the imprinting apparatus IMP according to the first embodiment. Here, an imprint method for forming a pattern of the imprint material 23 on the substrate 13 using the mold 14 having the uneven pattern 24 will be described.

In FIG. 2A, the substrate 13 is held (for example, held by suction) on the substrate holding portion 12 and is positioned under the mold 14 by moving in the direction of the arrow by the substrate stage 11 . The imprinting apparatus IMP is provided with a supply device 21 that supplies an uncured imprinting material 23 in the form of droplets. supply. Thereby, the imprint apparatus IMP can supply the imprint material 23 to the shot area of the substrate 13 .

The mold 14 is made of a material (for example, quartz) transparent to the light (ultraviolet rays) emitted from the light source 17, and has an uneven pattern 24 corresponding to the shape of the electric circuit of the semiconductor device on its surface. is formed.

As shown in FIG. 2B, the substrate 13 supplied with the imprint material 23 by the supply device 21 is aligned with the mold 14 . At this time, the mold 14 and the substrate 13 may be aligned by detecting alignment marks formed on the substrate 13 and the mold 14 using a scope (not shown).

After aligning the relative positions of the mold 14 and the substrate 13, the distance between the mold 14 and the substrate 13 is narrowed as shown in FIG. 14 is brought into contact (imprinted). When the mold 14 and the imprint material 23 are brought into contact with each other, the recesses of the pattern 24 of the mold 14 are filled with the imprint material 23 . Also, when the mold 14 is brought into contact with the imprint material 23 , a gap of several nanometers to several tens of nanometers remains between the mold 14 and the substrate 13 to form a film (residual film) of the imprint material 23 .

When the imprint material 23 is irradiated with ultraviolet light emitted from the light source 17 while the mold 14 and the substrate 13 are in contact with each other, the imprint material 23 is cured.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 2D, a transfer pattern 25 of the cured imprint material 23 is formed on the substrate 13 by widening the distance between the substrate 13 and the mold 14 .

In the imprinting method described above, the pattern 24 of the mold 14 must be sufficiently filled with the imprinting material 23 . In addition, in the imprint method, the position and amount of the imprint material to be supplied onto the substrate 13 are adjusted according to the shape of the pattern 24 of the mold 14 so that the excess imprint material 23 does not overflow from the mold 14 . , must be precisely controlled. For this purpose, it is necessary to precisely correct the position of the supply device 21 with respect to the substrate stage 11 in the XY directions. In each step of the imprinting method using the imprinting apparatus IMP, it is required to control the position and spacing of the mold 14 with respect to the substrate 13 in units of nm. Therefore, in the imprint apparatus IMP of the first embodiment shown in FIG. It has become.

FIG. 9 shows a conventional imprint apparatus IMP. In the imprinting apparatus of FIG. 9, the description of the same reference numerals as the imprinting apparatus IMP of FIG. 1 is omitted. The supply device 21 is provided with a plurality of ejection openings 5 (nozzles) for ejecting the imprint material 23 onto the substrate 13 . In order to supply the imprint material to a predetermined position on the substrate 13, it is important to manage and control the relative positions of the supply device 21 (the ejection port 5) and the substrate stage 11 precisely. In the conventional imprint apparatus IMP shown in FIG. 9, the imaging device 26 provided on the substrate stage 11 detects the outline of the ejection port 5 and the mark formed on the supply device 21, thereby measuring the position of the ejection port 5. can do. The imprint apparatus IMP can correct the positional deviation of the ejection port 5 based on the measurement result of the imaging device 26 .

However, it is necessary to provide the illumination optical system and detection optical system included in the imaging device 26 in the substrate stage 11, which may increase the size of the substrate stage 11 or cause the imaging device 26 to become a heat source and reduce the precision of the substrate stage. rice field.

A method for detecting the positions of the ejection openings of the supply device 21 in the imprint apparatus IMP of the first embodiment will be described. As described with reference to FIG. 1, the imprint apparatus IMP of the first embodiment ejects the imprint material 23 onto the substrate 13 from the ejection port 5 of the supply device 21 suspended from the lower surface of the upper structure 19. supply.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of the supply device 21. As shown in FIG. The supply device 21 includes an ejection chip 1 having a plurality of ejection ports 5 formed in a tank 8 for storing the imprint material 23 . The supply device 21 can eject the imprint material 23 in the tank 8 from a plurality of ejection ports 5 . The ejection chip 1 can control the ejection amount and the ejection speed of the ejected imprint material from each of the plurality of ejection ports 5 by means of a MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical System) structure.

FIG. 4 schematically shows the ejection tip 1 included in the supply device 21 provided in the imprint apparatus IMP of the first embodiment. The ejection tip 1 is attached to the ejection tip base 2 . As shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of ejection ports 5 are arranged on the surface of the ejection tip 1 in one direction (X direction). As shown in FIG. 4, the ejection openings 5 may be formed in a plurality of rows (three rows in the case of FIG. 4). The ejection port 5 of the MEMS structure is generally manufactured as a three-dimensional structure using semiconductor manufacturing technology.

Reference marks 4a and 4b formed in a convex shape or a concave shape are arranged on the surface (discharge surface) where the discharge port 5 of the discharge chip 1 shown in FIG. 4 is formed. The ejection surface is a surface including an uneven structure having a convex or concave shape in a direction perpendicular to the ejection surface provided on the ejection port 5 and the supply device 21, or other flat portions. The measuring device 22 measures the position of the ejection surface because the ejection port on the ejection surface, the concave-convex structure, and the positions of the plane portions (particularly, the height perpendicular to the ejection surface, the substrate surface, or the mold surface). position in the vertical direction).

Since the reference marks 4a and 4b formed on the ejection chip 1 are formed as part of the manufacturing process of the ejection port 5, the relative positions of the reference marks 4a and 4b and the ejection port 5 are controlled with high accuracy. For example, each of the reference marks 4a and 4b shown in FIG. 4 is an L-shaped mark formed by combining two straight lines parallel to the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction. This is because the ejection ports 5 in FIG. 4 are arranged parallel to the X-axis direction. Thus, the straight lines forming the reference marks 4a and 4b are desirably formed parallel and perpendicular to the direction in which the ejection ports 5 are arranged. A plurality of reference marks 4a and 4b are formed on the ejection chip 1 shown in FIG. may

In the imprint process using the imprint apparatus IMP of the first embodiment, the position of the supply device 21 (the position of the ejection port 5) is determined using the reference marks 4a and 4b formed on the ejection chip 1. FIG. Before the imprint material 23 is supplied from the supply device 21, the imprint apparatus IMP moves the measuring device 22 shown in FIG. By doing so, the measuring device 22 can measure the reference marks 4 a and 4 b formed on the ejection surface of the ejection tip 1 . The measuring device 22 scans the ejection surface and measures the distance to the ejection surface, thereby collecting information (position and shape) of the concave-convex structure of the reference marks 4a and 4b.

A method for collecting information on the concave-convex structure of the reference marks 4a and 4b will be specifically described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the measurement points of the measurement device 22 are moved along detection trajectories 3X, 3Ya, and 3Yb. Since the reference marks 4a and 4b are formed in a convex shape or a concave shape, when the measuring device 22 is scanned along the detection locus 3X as shown in FIG. The height signal changes at the positions of the marks 4a and 4b. In this way, the measuring device 22 can detect the positions of the reference marks 4a, 4b.

Similarly, when scanning along the detection trajectories 3Ya and 3Yb, the detection result changes the height signal at the positions of the reference marks 4a and 4b as shown by the detection signal 6Y. The positions of the reference marks 4a and 4b can be detected from the detection signals thus obtained.

Reference marks 4a and 4b are three-dimensionally formed on the surface (ejection surface) of the ejection tip 1. As shown in FIG. Further, the measuring device 22 uses a distance measuring sensor capable of measuring the distance to the measurement target. Therefore, detection signal peaks 7Xa and 7Xb corresponding to the respective positions of the reference marks 4a and 4b are obtained from the detection signal 6X, which is the output signal of the measuring device 22. FIG. By synchronizing the positions of these detection signal peaks 7Xa and 7Xb with the positional information of the substrate stage 11 on which the measuring device 22 is mounted, the position of the ejection chip 1 (supplying device 21) with respect to the X-axis direction of the substrate stage 11 is obtained. be able to. Further, it is possible to obtain the displacement amount of the ejection tip 1 in the X-axis direction with respect to the reference position set in the imprint apparatus IMP. The amount of deviation of the ejection tip 1 is equal to the amount of deviation of the relative position of the ejection port 5 with respect to the substrate stage 11 .

Therefore, the deviation amount obtained here is stored in the control unit 27 of FIG. Furthermore, the correction can be reflected in the imprint material supply position information calculated from the ejection position information, so that the resist can be supplied to the correct position.

Similarly, when the substrate stage 11 is scanned in the Y-axis direction, detection signal peaks 7Y are detected at the positions of the detection trajectories 3Ya and 3Yb with respect to the reference marks 4a and 4b, respectively. Therefore, the position of the ejection chip 1 with respect to the Y-axis direction of the substrate stage 11 can be obtained. Further, it is possible to obtain the displacement amount of the ejection tip 1 in the Y-axis direction with respect to the reference position set in the imprint apparatus IMP.

In FIG. 5, the reference marks 4a and 4b are drawn so as to cross the detection trajectories 3Ya and 3Yb at the same position with respect to scanning in the Y-axis direction. Further, when the ejection tip 1 is rotated around the Z axis in FIG. 5, the positions of the detection signal peaks 7Y (7Ya, 7Yb) detected by the detection signals 6Ya and 6Yb are shifted. However, it is also possible to correct the rotation deviation.

It is also possible to detect the contour of the ejection port 5 using the measurement device 22 and obtain the positional information of the supply device 21. Solidified imprint material or particles may adhere to the periphery of 5 . Therefore, even if an attempt is made to directly detect the contour of the ejection port 5 using the measuring device 22, there is a possibility that the contour cannot be detected accurately. Therefore, the reference marks 4a and 4b according to the first embodiment are arranged at positions separated from the ejection port 5 as shown in FIG. .

The imprint apparatus IMP of the above embodiment can detect the position of the supply device 21 using the measurement device 22 already provided on the substrate stage 11 . Therefore, since there is no need to dispose an imaging device for acquiring images of the marks of the supply device 21 in the imprint device IMP, it is possible to prevent the substrate stage 11 from increasing in size and weight. Moreover, the influence of the heat of the imaging device on the substrate stage 11 can be reduced.

(Second embodiment)
When the imprint material is supplied onto the substrate 13 in the process of FIG. 2A, the ejection tip 1 is moved by the substrate stage 11 while moving the substrate 13 in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. The discharge operation is performed in synchronism with . Therefore, if the distance and parallelism between the plane of the ejection chip 1 on which the ejection ports 5 are arranged and the substrate 13 are not arranged with desired accuracy, it takes time for the imprint material 23 to reach the substrate 13. As a result, the feed position deviates from the assumed position. In the explanation using FIG. 5, the method of correcting the positional deviation with respect to the XY plane in the figure was explained, but in reality, the relative distance and parallelism between the surface of the ejection tip 1 and the substrate 13 in the Z direction in the figure are also precise. It is necessary to manage and correct

Detection signals 6X and 6Y shown in FIG. 5 detect detection signal peaks 7Xa, 7Xb, and 7Y (7Ya, 7Yb), and simultaneously measure height information on the surface of the ejection chip 1 at positions other than the detection peaks. are doing. Accordingly, in the imprint apparatus according to the second embodiment, the positional deviation in the three axial directions of X, Y, and Z can be obtained from the measurement result of scanning the ejection surface by the measuring device 22 . The imprint apparatus according to the second embodiment completes the correction in the three axial directions of X, Y, and Z in one measurement, so that the apparatus configuration can be simplified and the number of correction steps can be reduced.

(Third Embodiment)
In the above-described embodiment, the measurement device 22 scans the ejection surface of the ejection chip 1 in two directions to read the positions of the reference marks 4a and 4b. A case in which the position of the supply device 21 is determined by scanning the image will be described.

FIG. 6 schematically shows the ejection tip 1 included in the supply device 21 provided in the imprint apparatus IMP of the third embodiment. As shown in FIG. 6, a plurality of ejection ports 5 are arranged on the surface of the ejection tip 1 in one direction (X direction).

Reference marks 40a and 40b formed in a convex shape or a concave shape are arranged on the surface (ejection surface) of the ejection chip 1 shown in FIG. 6 on which the ejection port 5 is formed. Since the reference marks 40a and 40b formed on the ejection chip 1 are formed as part of the manufacturing process of the ejection port 5, the relative positions of the reference marks 40a and 40b and the ejection port 5 are controlled with high accuracy. Each of the reference marks 40a and 40b shown in FIG. 6 has a so-called V shape obtained by rotating the shape of the reference mark shown in FIG. 4 by 45 degrees about the Z axis.

A method for collecting information on the uneven structure of the reference marks 40a and 40b will be specifically described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, the measuring point of the measuring device 22 is moved along the detection trajectory 30X. Since the reference marks 40a and 40b are formed in a convex shape or a concave shape, when the measuring device 22 is scanned along the detection locus 30X as shown in FIG. The height signal changes at the positions of the marks 40a and 40b.

As shown in FIG. 7A, when the positions of the reference marks 40a and 40b shift in the Y direction with respect to the detection locus 30X, the values of the intervals W1 and W2 between the detection signal peaks (70Xa and 70Xb) occurring in the detection signal 60X are changed to It changes according to the amount of deviation. In this manner, the measuring device 22 can detect the positions of the fiducial marks 40a, 40b.

Also, as shown in FIG. 7B, the detection signal peaks (70Xa, 70Xb) are detected when the reference marks 40a, 40b are arranged with a rotational deviation of ω with respect to the X axis. By doing so, the deviation amount in the rotational direction can be detected. This is because, in the detection signals of the reference marks 40a and 40b shown in FIG. 7B, the values of the intervals W1 and W2 between the detection signal peaks (70Xa and 70Xb) differ according to the amount of the angle ω. Therefore, the imprint apparatus of the third embodiment can detect the amount of deviation of the supply device 21 in the rotational direction.

As described above, the measurement method of the third embodiment makes it possible to measure the amount of deviation in two directions of the X axis and the Y axis without scanning the measurement device 22 in the Y direction as in the first embodiment. Furthermore, according to the measuring method of this embodiment, it is also possible to measure the amount of deviation in the rotational direction with respect to the rotational direction of the Z-axis.

By forming the reference mark shape shown in FIG. The shapes of the reference marks 40a and 40b are not limited to those shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, and may be other shapes such as a semicircular shape as long as they have the same purpose.

(Fourth embodiment)
Next, a method for measuring the position of the supply device 21 (ejection tip 1) according to the fourth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the ejection tip 1 provided in the supply device 21 of the fourth embodiment. In the discharge chip 1 of the fourth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, no reference mark having an uneven structure is formed on the surface of the discharge chip 1 . In the fourth embodiment, the outline of the ejection tip 1 is used as a reference mark. The imprint apparatus of the fourth embodiment obtains the position of the contour line by detecting the step between the ejection chip 1 and the ejection chip base 2 as an uneven structure with the measuring device 22 . As described above, the ejection tip 1 is three-dimensionally manufactured using a semiconductor manufacturing process. Therefore, it is possible to accurately mold the contour shape of the ejection port 5 caused by the difference in level between the ejection tip 1 and the ejection tip base 2 .

Therefore, the imprint apparatus of the fourth embodiment can determine the position of the ejection tip 1 (ejection port 5) without forming a reference mark on the ejection tip 1. FIG. As shown in FIG. 8, detection trajectories 31X, 31Ya, and 31Yb are set, and by detecting the steps of the contour line of the discharge chip 1, the position and rotational deviation of the discharge chip 1 can be detected in the same manner as the detection of the reference mark. can be measured.

Since the ejection tip 1 uses the MEMS structure as described above, it needs to be periodically replaced in a specific cycle of several months to several years. Furthermore, the imprint material 23 used in the imprint process may be of a plurality of types depending on the purpose.

As shown in FIG. 3 , the supply device 21 has a tank 8 that stores the imprint material 23 and the ejection tip 1 is provided. Therefore, since the imprinting material 23 also enters the ejection tip 1 , when changing the type of the imprinting material 23 , it is necessary to replace the ejection tip 1 at the same time. When replacing the ejection tip 1, it is necessary to correct the relative position between the ejection tip 1 (ejection port 5) and the substrate stage 11. Therefore, the position of the ejection port 5 is measured for each different supply device 21. . When a plurality of supply devices 21 are provided in the imprint apparatus IMP, the position of the ejection port 5 is measured for each supply device 21 . Then, the control unit 27 of the imprint apparatus IMP controls the ejection operation of the supply apparatus 21 using the measurement result as a correction value when supplying the imprint material onto the substrate 13 .

In any of the above-described embodiments, the imprint apparatus IMP can read information about the relative position between the supply device 21 (the ejection port 5) and the substrate stage 11 without ejecting the imprint material 23 from the ejection port 5. is. Therefore, the position of the supply device 21 can be measured without wastefully consuming the imprint material for correction work or without using a dummy substrate for measuring the ejection position. In this way, it is possible to measure the positional deviation of the supply device 21 with a simple configuration, and correct the supply position of the imprint material 23 based on the measurement result.

In each of the above-described embodiments, the imprinting method using the photo-curing method for curing the imprinting material by irradiating light has been described. may In the thermal cycle method, a thermoplastic resin is heated to a temperature above the glass transition temperature, the mold is pressed against the substrate through the resin while the fluidity of the resin is increased, and after cooling, the mold is separated from the resin to form a pattern. It is formed.

(Explanation of the manufacturing method of the article)
A pattern of a cured product formed using an imprint apparatus is used permanently on at least a part of various articles, or temporarily used when manufacturing various articles. Articles are electric circuit elements, optical elements, MEMS, recording elements, sensors, molds, or the like. Examples of electric circuit elements include volatile or nonvolatile semiconductor memories such as DRAM, SRAM, flash memory, and MRAM, and semiconductor elements such as LSI, CCD, image sensors, and FPGA. Examples of the mold include imprint molds and the like.

The pattern of the cured product is used as it is or temporarily used as a resist mask as at least a part of the article. After etching, ion implantation, or the like in the substrate processing step, the resist mask is removed.

Next, a specific manufacturing method for the article will be described. As shown in FIG. 10A, a substrate 1z such as a silicon wafer having a surface to be processed 2z such as an insulator is prepared. A printing material 3z is applied. Here, a state is shown in which a plurality of droplet-like imprint materials 3z are applied onto the substrate.

As shown in FIG. 10(b), the imprint mold 4z is opposed to the imprint material 3z on the substrate with the side on which the uneven pattern is formed. As shown in FIG. 10(c), the substrate 1z provided with the imprint material 3z and the mold 4z are brought into contact with each other and pressure is applied. The imprint material 3z is filled in the gap between the mold 4z and the workpiece 2z. In this state, when light is irradiated through the mold 4z as energy for curing, the imprint material 3z is cured.

As shown in FIG. 10D, after the imprint material 3z is cured, the mold 4z and the substrate 1z are separated to form a pattern of the cured imprint material 3z on the substrate 1z. The pattern of this cured product has a shape in which the concave portions of the mold correspond to the convex portions of the cured product, and the concave portions of the mold correspond to the convex portions of the cured product. It will be done.

As shown in FIG. 10(e), when etching is performed using the pattern of the cured product as an anti-etching mask, the portion of the surface of the workpiece 2z where the cured product is absent or remains thin is removed, leaving the grooves 5z. Become. As shown in FIG. 10(f), by removing the pattern of the cured product, an article having grooves 5z formed on the surface of the workpiece 2z can be obtained. Although the pattern of the cured product is removed here, it may be used as an interlayer insulating film included in a semiconductor element or the like, that is, as a constituent member of an article, without being removed after processing.

Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various modifications and changes are possible within the scope of the gist thereof.

Claims (9)

An imprinting apparatus that molds an imprinting material on a substrate using a mold,
a supply device having an ejection tip having an ejection port and an ejection surface forming an uneven structure , and supplying an imprint material from the ejection port onto the substrate;
a substrate stage configured to move under the feeder and the mold;
a distance measuring sensor arranged on the substrate stage and capable of measuring a distance from the substrate stage to a measurement target;
a control unit that controls driving of the supply device, the substrate stage, and the distance measurement sensor;
with
The control unit
While moving the substrate stage, the distance measuring sensor measures the height of the concave-convex structure formed in a convex or concave shape with respect to the direction perpendicular to the ejection surface, thereby measuring the position of the ejection port. Perform a first measurement to
controlling the position of the imprint material supplied from the ejection port onto the substrate based on the measurement result of the position of the uneven structure;
performing a second measurement of moving the substrate stage under the mold and measuring the distance between the mold and the substrate stage with the distance measuring sensor ;
An imprint apparatus characterized by: 2. The distance measuring sensor outputs a signal corresponding to the distance of the measuring point on the ejection surface, and a change in amplitude of the signal output by the distance measuring sensor corresponds to an increase or decrease in the distance. The imprinting apparatus according to . The concave-convex structure is formed in a plurality of positions separated from each other on the ejection surface as mark shapes, and the substrate stage is moved under the supply device to move the measurement point along the ejection surface. 3. The imprinting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the imprinting apparatus is detected by a change in the amplitude of the signal. The position of the supply device is determined by associating the detection of the mark shape with the position of the substrate stage, and the position of the imprint material supplied onto the substrate through the ejection port is determined based on the determination. 4. The imprinting apparatus according to claim 3 , comprising a control unit for controlling. The imprint apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit performs position control of the mold and the substrate stage based on the second measurement result. The imprinting apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a plurality of the uneven structures are formed on the ejection surface. 7. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising a control unit that controls a position of the imprint material supplied from the ejection port onto the substrate based on a measurement result of a position of the uneven structure. The imprinting apparatus according to the item. An imprinting method for molding an imprinting material on a substrate using a mold,
An ejection surface that forms an uneven structure with an ejection port that is arranged on a substrate stage and that supplies an imprint material onto the substrate using a distance sensor capable of measuring a distance from the substrate stage to a measurement target part. a first measuring step of measuring the position of an uneven structure formed in a convex or concave shape with respect to a direction perpendicular to the ejection surface, in a supply device comprising an ejection tip having
supplying the imprint material onto the substrate by controlling the position of the imprint material supplied onto the substrate from the ejection port based on the position of the uneven structure measured in the measuring step; ,
a second measurement step of moving the substrate stage under the mold and measuring the distance between the mold and the substrate stage using the distance measuring sensor ;
An imprinting method characterized by comprising: forming a pattern of an imprint material on a substrate using the imprint apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7;
and a processing step of processing the substrate on which the pattern is formed in the above step, and manufacturing an article from the substrate processed by the processing step.

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