CN112309947B

CN112309947B - Adsorption device, exposure table, lithography equipment and adsorption method

Info

Publication number: CN112309947B
Application number: CN201910691314.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 蔡晨; 王鑫鑫
Original assignee: Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-07-29
Filing date: 2019-07-29
Publication date: 2024-07-02
Anticipated expiration: 2039-07-29
Also published as: TW202105083A; CN112309947A; TWI764212B

Abstract

The invention belongs to the technical field of lithography, and particularly discloses an adsorption device, an exposure device, a lithography device and an adsorption method. The adsorption device comprises: the substrate adsorption surface of the sucker surrounds the center of the sucker and is provided with a mounting groove, and the inner side of the substrate adsorption surface of the sucker is provided with an adsorption groove communicated with a vacuum source; the lower end of the sealing ring is hermetically arranged in the mounting groove, and the upper end of the sealing ring is used for contacting with the substrate; when the sealing ring is not contacted with the substrate, the upper end of the sealing ring protrudes out of the adsorption surface, when the adsorption groove is in a vacuum state, the sealing ring is completely positioned in the mounting groove, and the upper end of the sealing ring is flush with the adsorption surface of the substrate. The exposure device comprises the adsorption device, the lithography equipment comprises the exposure device, and the adsorption method is applied to the adsorption device to adsorb the substrate. The adsorption device, the exposure device, the photoetching equipment and the adsorption method disclosed by the invention can improve the adsorption capacity to the warpage substrate and improve the exposure stability and the photoetching quality.

Description

Adsorption device, exposure table, lithography equipment and adsorption method

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of photolithography, and in particular, to an adsorption apparatus, an exposure stage, a photolithography apparatus, and an adsorption method.

Background

In photolithography, an exposure stage is used to project a circuit pattern on a mask plate through an optical projection system, so that the circuit pattern is projected onto a silicon wafer for manufacturing an integrated circuit at a magnification of a certain enlargement or reduction. Before exposure, a wafer is generally sucked by a delivery mechanism and placed on a chuck of an exposure stage, so that the chuck performs vacuum suction on the wafer, and the wafer is fixed on the exposure stage to prevent movement of the wafer during exposure.

With the continuous development of integrated circuit manufacturing industry technology, silicon wafer treatment processes are various, so that silicon wafers often generate larger buckling deformation. When the conventional sucking disc is used for sucking the warped silicon wafer, a closed vacuum sucking cavity cannot be formed on the rigid sucking surface due to the warping of the silicon wafer, so that the sucking disc is difficult to effectively suck the silicon wafer, and the exposure stability and the exposure quality of the silicon wafer are affected.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide an adsorption device which can improve the adsorption capacity of the adsorption device on a warp substrate and improve the adsorption stability and reliability of the substrate.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide an exposure stage that improves substrate exposure stability and substrate exposure quality.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a lithographic apparatus that improves lithographic stability and lithographic quality.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide an adsorption method that improves adsorption capacity to a warped substrate and improves substrate adsorption stability and reliability.

In order to achieve the above purpose, the present invention adopts the following technical scheme:

An adsorption apparatus, comprising:

The substrate adsorption surface of the sucker surrounds the center of the sucker and is provided with an installation groove, and the substrate adsorption surface is provided with an adsorption groove which is communicated with a vacuum source at the inner side of the installation groove;

the lower end of the sealing ring is hermetically arranged in the mounting groove, and the upper end of the sealing ring is used for contacting with the substrate;

When the sealing ring is not contacted with the substrate, the upper end of the sealing ring protrudes out of the adsorption surface, and when the adsorption groove is in a vacuum state, the sealing ring is completely positioned in the mounting groove, and the upper end of the sealing ring is flush with the adsorption surface of the substrate.

As a preferred method of the suction device, the suction cup is provided with a suction hole on the inner side of the mounting groove, the suction hole penetrates through the suction cup in the thickness direction of the suction cup, the suction device further comprises a delivery mechanism, and the delivery mechanism comprises:

The adsorption component is perpendicular to the adsorption surface of the substrate, the lower end of the adsorption component is positioned at the lower side of the sucker, the upper end of the adsorption component can penetrate and seal the adsorption hole, the adsorption component can move relative to the sucker along the direction perpendicular to the sucker, a vacuum air channel is formed in the adsorption component, and the vacuum air channel penetrates through the upper end surface of the adsorption component to adsorb the substrate.

As a preferred method of adsorbing the device, the adsorbing assembly comprises:

the adsorption column is perpendicular to the substrate adsorption surface, the upper end of the adsorption column can extend into the adsorption hole and can move along the direction perpendicular to the substrate adsorption surface relative to the adsorption hole, the vacuum air passage is formed in the adsorption column, the upper end of the vacuum air passage penetrates through the upper end surface of the adsorption column, and the vacuum air passage is communicated with a vacuum source;

The suction nozzle is arranged at the upper end of the adsorption column and is communicated with the vacuum air passage, the outer surface of the suction nozzle can be in sealing fit with the inner wall of the adsorption hole, and the upper end of the suction nozzle is higher than the upper end face of the adsorption column.

As a preferable method of the adsorption device, the mounting groove comprises a mounting groove part and a containing groove part which are communicated in the thickness direction of the sucker, the mounting groove part is positioned at the bottom of the containing groove part, the groove width of the containing groove part is larger than that of the mounting groove part, and the lower end of the sealing ring is clamped in the mounting groove part.

As a preferred method of the adsorption device, the groove width of the installation groove portion gradually decreases from the groove bottom thereof to the notch thereof.

As a preferred method of the adsorption device, the seal ring includes:

the cross section of the mounting part is trapezoid with a large lower end and a small upper end, and the mounting part is in sealing clamping connection with the accommodating groove part;

And one end of the deformation part is connected with the mounting part, and the other end of the deformation part extends along the direction away from the mounting part.

As a preferable method of the adsorption device, the cross section of the deformation portion is in a zigzag shape, and the zigzag shape extends along the axial direction of the seal ring; or alternatively, the first and second heat exchangers may be,

The deformation part is in a conical surface shape, and one end of the conical surface, which is close to the installation part, is smaller than the inner diameter of the other end of the conical surface.

As a preferred method of the adsorption device, the seal ring includes:

The sealing ring comprises a sealing ring body, wherein the cross section of the sealing ring body is of a strip hole structure, and the length direction of the strip hole structure is arranged along the axial direction of the sealing ring;

And the rubber rope is arranged at the lower end of the sealing ring body in a penetrating way.

As a preferred method of the suction means, the mounting groove is provided concentrically with the suction cup.

As a preferred method of the adsorption device, the substrate adsorption surface is divided into a plurality of adsorption areas along the radial direction of the sucker, and the adsorption areas are used for adsorbing substrates with different sizes, and each adsorption area is internally provided with at least one sealing ring.

As a preferred method of the adsorption device, one of the sealing rings is provided at the edge of each of the adsorption zones.

As a preferred method of the adsorption device, the adsorption grooves are annular concentric with the suction disc, and a plurality of circles of adsorption grooves are concentrically arranged on the inner side of each sealing ring, and the adsorption grooves in the same adsorption area are mutually communicated.

As a preferred method of the adsorption device, the upper surface of the adsorption boss formed between two adjacent adsorption grooves is the substrate adsorption surface, the width of each adsorption groove is 0.5-1.5 mm, the width of each adsorption boss is 0.2-0.8 mm, and the width of each adsorption boss is as follows: the width of the adsorption groove=1:1.5-1:2.5.

As a preferable method of the adsorption device, the adsorption hole is a conical hole with a large upper end and a small lower end, and the suction nozzle is a conical suction nozzle matched with the conical hole.

As a preferred method of the adsorption device, the upper end of the suction nozzle is 0.2-1 mm higher than the upper end face of the adsorption column.

As a preferred method of the adsorption device, an annular clamping groove is formed in the outer wall of the upper end of the adsorption column, an annular convex part is arranged in the inner wall of the lower end of the suction nozzle in a protruding mode, and the annular convex part is clamped with the clamping groove in a sealing mode.

As a preferred method of the adsorption device, a plurality of adsorption holes are formed at intervals along the circumferential direction of the sucker, and the adsorption components are arranged in one-to-one correspondence with the adsorption holes.

As a preferred method of adsorbing the device, the delivery mechanism further comprises:

The lower end of the adsorption component is connected with the supporting plate, a communication air passage is formed in the supporting plate, the vacuum air passage of each adsorption component is communicated with the communication air passage, and the communication air passages are communicated with an air source connector;

And the vertical movement assembly is connected with the supporting plate and can drive the supporting plate to move along the direction vertical to the substrate adsorption surface.

An exposure apparatus includes the adsorption apparatus as described above.

A lithographic apparatus comprising an exposure device as described above.

An adsorption method applied to the adsorption device for adsorbing the substrate comprises the following steps:

The lower surface of the substrate is contacted with the upper end of the sealing ring, so that a closed vacuum adsorption cavity is formed among the sealing ring, the substrate and the sucker;

And vacuumizing the adsorption groove until the sealing ring is completely positioned in the mounting groove, and completely attaching the lower surface of the substrate to the adsorption surface of the substrate.

As a preferred scheme of the adsorption method, the suction cup is provided with a suction hole on the inner side of the mounting groove, the suction hole penetrates through the suction cup along the thickness direction of the suction cup, the adsorption device further comprises a delivery mechanism, and the delivery mechanism comprises: the adsorption component is perpendicular to the adsorption surface of the substrate, the lower end of the adsorption component is positioned at the lower side of the sucker, the upper end of the adsorption component can penetrate through and seal the adsorption hole, the adsorption component can move relative to the sucker along the direction perpendicular to the sucker, a vacuum air channel is formed in the adsorption component, and the vacuum air channel penetrates through the upper end surface of the adsorption component to adsorb the substrate;

before the substrate contacts the sealing ring, the method further comprises:

The upper end of the adsorption component extends out of the upper end surface of the sucker and is contacted with the substrate;

Vacuumizing the vacuum air channel to enable the adsorption component to adsorb the substrate;

the adsorption component drives the substrate to descend until the lower surface of the substrate contacts with the upper end of the sealing ring;

And in the process of vacuumizing the adsorption groove, vacuumizing the vacuum air passage continuously, and enabling the adsorption assembly to continuously drive the substrate to descend until the adsorption assembly stops descending and vacuumizing the vacuum air passage after the upper end of the adsorption assembly is positioned at the lowest position of the sucker and seals the adsorption hole.

The invention has the beneficial effects that:

According to the adsorption device provided by the invention, the sealing ring is arranged on the substrate adsorption surface of the sucker, and when the sucker adsorbs a warped substrate, the upper end surface of the sealing ring protrudes out of the substrate adsorption surface and is contacted with the lower surface of the substrate firstly; because the sealing ring has elasticity, the sealing ring can locally deform under the action of the gravity of the substrate, so that the shape of the upper end of the sealing ring is matched with the bottom surface of the substrate; when the adsorption groove is vacuumized, the substrate moves downwards under the action of vacuum negative pressure, and the sealing ring is further extruded, so that the periphery of the sealing ring is completely attached to the substrate, a closed vacuum adsorption cavity is formed at the inner side of the sealing ring, vacuum leakage is avoided, and the adsorption capacity and the adsorption effect on the substrate are improved; when the adsorption groove at the inner side of the sealing ring reaches a vacuum state, the sealing ring is retracted into the mounting groove due to elastic deformation under the extrusion action, the lower surface of the substrate is in contact with the adsorption surface of the substrate, the substrate is tightly attached to the adsorption surface of the substrate under the action of vacuum negative pressure, the warping state is changed into a flat state, and the adsorption force between the substrate and the sucker is further improved.

According to the exposure device provided by the invention, the adsorption capacity of the exposure device to the warping substrate is improved by adopting the adsorption device, the applicability of the exposure device to the substrate is enlarged, and the exposure stability and the exposure quality are improved.

By adopting the exposure device, the photoetching equipment provided by the invention improves the applicability and warping tolerance of the photoetching equipment to the substrate and improves the photoetching stability and photoetching quality.

According to the adsorption method provided by the invention, the adsorption capacity and adsorption stability of the warpage substrate are improved by adopting the adsorption device to adsorb the substrate.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an exposure apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an exposure stage according to an embodiment of the present invention at a single viewing angle;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of an exposure stage according to an embodiment of the present invention at another view angle;

FIG. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of an adsorption device according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a front view of a chuck assembly according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 6 at I;

FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a handover mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of an adsorption device according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of a portion of J of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a pallet according to a first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of a chuck assembly according to a second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 13 is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 12 at K;

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view of a chuck assembly provided in accordance with a third embodiment of the invention;

fig. 15 is a partial enlarged view at L in fig. 14.

The figures are labeled as follows:

10-an adsorption device; 20-an exposure stage;

1-a suction cup assembly; 11-sucking discs; 111-adsorption grooves; 112-mounting grooves; 1121-mounting groove portions; 1122-receiving groove portion; 113-a communication groove; 114-adsorption holes; 115-perforating the hole; 116-vacuum holes; 12-sealing rings; 121-an installation part; 122-deformation; 1221-a fold line panel section; 123-rubber rope;

2-a handover mechanism; 21-a base; 22-vertical movement assembly; 23-supporting plates; 231-a first air passage; 232-a second communication air passage; 233-a third communication air passage; 234-plugs; 235-inserting grooves; 236-a connecting arm; 24-an adsorption column; 241-a body portion; 242-plug-in part; 243-vacuum airway; 25-suction nozzle; 251-connecting the barrel portion; 2511-annular protrusions; 26-an air source connector; 27-a guide assembly; 271-a rail; 272—a guide rail mount; 273-slide; 28-a displacement detection assembly;

201-qi foot; 202-a vertical adjusting mechanism; 203-upper plate; 204-a sucker seat; 205-Rz adjustment mechanism; 2051-an arc motor; 2052-arc-shaped guide blocks; 206-an air guide assembly; 207-a support assembly; 2071-supporting seat; 2072-elastic sheet.

Detailed Description

The invention is described in further detail below with reference to the drawings and examples. It is to be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and are not limiting thereof. It should be further noted that, for convenience of description, only some, but not all of the structures related to the present invention are shown in the drawings.

In the description of the present invention, unless explicitly stated and limited otherwise, the terms "connected," "connected," and "fixed" are to be construed broadly, and may be, for example, fixedly connected, detachably connected, or integrally formed; can be mechanically or electrically connected; can be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, and can be communicated with the inside of two elements or the interaction relationship of the two elements. The specific meaning of the above terms in the present invention will be understood in specific cases by those of ordinary skill in the art.

In the present invention, unless expressly stated or limited otherwise, a first feature "above" or "below" a second feature may include both the first and second features being in direct contact, as well as the first and second features not being in direct contact but being in contact with each other through additional features therebetween. Moreover, a first feature being "above," "over" and "on" a second feature includes the first feature being directly above and obliquely above the second feature, or simply indicating that the first feature is higher in level than the second feature. The first feature being "under", "below" and "beneath" the second feature includes the first feature being directly under and obliquely below the second feature, or simply means that the first feature is less level than the second feature.

In the description of the present embodiment, the terms "upper", "lower", "right", etc. orientation or positional relationship are based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, and are merely for convenience of description and simplicity of operation, and do not indicate or imply that the apparatus or elements referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and thus should not be construed as limiting the invention. Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," and the like, are used merely for distinguishing between descriptions and not for distinguishing between them.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an exposure apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and as shown in fig. 1, the embodiment provides an exposure apparatus, which is mainly used in a photolithography apparatus to perform photolithography exposure processing on a substrate such as a silicon wafer substrate, a glass substrate, etc., so as to form a circuit pattern required by an integrated circuit on the substrate.

As shown in fig. 1, in the present embodiment, for convenience of description of the structure of the exposure apparatus, a coordinate system is constructed with reference to the state of the exposure apparatus at the time of normal use. In the conventional use process of the exposure device, the substrate is horizontally arranged, an X coordinate system and a Y coordinate system are constructed according to the horizontal plane of the substrate and the direction shown in fig. 1, a Z coordinate system is taken as the vertical direction, and X, Y and Z meet the right rule. It will be appreciated that in other use conditions, the substrate may not be disposed in a horizontal orientation.

The exposure device provided by the embodiment mainly comprises an exposure table 20 and an adsorption device 10, wherein the adsorption device 10 is used for delivering and adsorbing a substrate to be exposed, and fixing the substrate on the exposure table 20 so as to ensure the stability of exposure and the exposure quality of the substrate; the exposure stage 20 is used for realizing coarse adjustment and fine adjustment of the substrate in each direction, and performing optical exposure treatment on the substrate after leveling and focusing on the substrate are completed. Specifically, fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of an exposure stage according to an embodiment of the present invention at one view angle, and fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of an exposure stage according to an embodiment of the present invention at another view angle, where, as shown in fig. 2 and 3, the exposure stage 20 includes a fixed base (not shown), an air foot 201, a vertical adjustment mechanism 202, an Rz adjustment mechanism 205, a support assembly 207, and a chuck base 204.

The fixed base is used for fixing and supporting the whole exposure device and positioning the optical system, the bottom of the fixed base is provided with the optical system for exposing the substrate, the fixed base is provided with a light-transmitting through hole for passing light of the optical system, and the fixed base is preferably a marble base. The air foot 201 is horizontally arranged on the fixed base, and is used for performing coarse movement adjustment of a large stroke in the X direction and the Y direction on the substrate placed on the exposure table 20, so that the substrate and the optical system are ensured to be arranged opposite to each other, and scanning exposure processing of the substrate is realized. An X-direction coarse movement adjusting mechanism and a Y-direction coarse movement adjusting mechanism are arranged between the air foot 201 and the fixed base, so that coarse movement adjustment of the air foot 201 in the X direction and the Y direction is realized respectively. In this embodiment, the setting of the fixed base and the air foot 201 and the adoption of the X-direction coarse movement adjusting mechanism and the Y-direction coarse movement adjusting mechanism implement that the coarse movement adjustment of the air foot 201 in the X-direction and the Y-direction is a conventional technical means in the art, and the description of this embodiment is omitted.

The upper plate 203 is horizontally arranged above the air foot 201, and a vertical adjusting mechanism 202 is arranged between the upper plate 203 and the air foot 201 to realize the height adjustment of the upper plate 203 in the vertical direction. In this embodiment, the upper plate 203 is preferably in a rectangular structure, and the vertical adjustment mechanisms 202 are respectively provided with a group at four corners of the rectangular structure, so that the Rx and Ry direction adjustment of the upper plate 203 is realized by adjusting the adjustment amount of each group of vertical adjustment mechanisms 202, and the adjustment difficulty of the exposure stage 20 and the setting of the adjustment structure are simplified. In this embodiment, the vertical adjustment mechanism 202 is driven and adjusted by a voice coil motor, and the specific structure can be described with reference to the structure of the vertical adjustment assembly in the patent cn201820746378. X. In other embodiments, the vertical adjustment mechanism 202 may further be adjusted by a rotating motor and a cam assembly or other structures capable of achieving vertical adjustment in the field, which will not be described in detail in this embodiment.

A support assembly 207 is also provided between the upper plate 203 and the foot 201 to improve support for the upper plate 203 and to enable decoupling of Rx and Ry adjustments. The support assembly 207 comprises a support base 2071 and an elastic piece 2072, wherein the lower end of the support base 2071 is fixedly connected with the air foot 201, and a positioning groove for connecting and positioning the support base 2071 is arranged on the air foot 201. The elastic piece 2072 is of a spoke-shaped structure, and the upper end of the supporting seat 2071 is fixedly connected with the inner ring of the elastic piece 2072. The outer ring of the elastic piece 2072 is fixedly connected with the lower surface of the upper plate 203. When the adjustment heights of the plurality of groups of vertical adjustment mechanisms 202 are different, the deformation of the outer side portions of the elastic pieces 2072 corresponding to the vertical adjustment mechanisms 202 is different, and the inner ring of the elastic piece 2072 is basically not deformed due to the limitation of the supporting seat 2071, so that the decoupling movement of Z-direction translation, X-direction rotation and Y-direction rotation can be realized through the deformation of the outer ring of the elastic piece 2072. In this embodiment, the arrangement of the support assembly 207 can be referred to the related description of the support assembly in the CN201520120168.6, and the description of this embodiment is omitted.

The sucker seat 204 is arranged on the upper plate 203 and is used for vacuum suction and connection positioning of the sucker 11. In order to realize the rotation adjustment of the Rz direction, an Rz adjusting mechanism 205 is arranged between the sucker seat 204 and the upper plate 203. In this embodiment, the chuck base 204 has a disk-like structure, and the Rz adjustment mechanism 205 includes an arc motor 2051, where the arc motor 2051 includes a stator and a rotor rotatable relative to the stator. The stator is arc structure and with last dull and stereotyped 203 fixed connection, the stator includes curved stator casing and coil, and the coil sets up in the holding groove of stator casing to be located between stator casing and the rotor. The rotor includes curved movable housing and magnet, and movable housing one side and sucking disc seat 204 fixed connection, and its one side that is towards sucking disc seat 204 closely laminates with sucking disc seat 204 outer wall, and a plurality of magnet intervals set up in movable housing one side of keeping away from sucking disc seat 204, and the magnetism between two adjacent magnets is opposite. The magnet and the coil are oppositely arranged, and after the arc-shaped motor 2051 is electrified, the movable shell is driven to rotate relative to the fixed shell through the magnetic force generated between the coil and the magnet, so that the sucker seat 204 rotates relative to the upper plate 203 around the Z direction.

The Rz adjustment mechanism 205 also includes a plurality of arcuate guide blocks 2052 to provide guidance for the rotation of the suction cup holder 204 about the Z-direction. One side of the arc-shaped guide blocks 2052 facing the sucker seat 204 is an arc-shaped surface, the diameter of the arc-shaped surface is matched with the outer diameter of the sucker seat 204, and the arc-shaped guide blocks 2052 are uniformly arranged at intervals along the circumferential direction of the sucker seat 204. To reduce friction of the chuck base 204 around the Z-direction rotation and improve the accuracy of the Z-direction rotation adjustment, in this embodiment, the arc-shaped guide block 2052 is an air-floating guide block. By filling positive pressure gas into the air floatation guide block, an air film is formed between the air floatation guide block and the sucker seat 204, friction-free movement of the sucker seat 204 relative to the air floatation guide block is realized, and Rz-direction movement adjusting precision of the sucker seat 204 is improved.

In order to further improve the Rz adjustment accuracy, in this embodiment, the lower surface of the suction cup seat 204 and the upper surface of the upper plate 203 are air-floating surfaces, so that the suction cup seat 204 is suspended on the upper plate 203 during the Rz adjustment process of the suction cup seat 204, thereby reducing the movement friction between the upper plate 203 and the suction cup seat 204 and improving the adjustment accuracy of the suction cup seat 204. Specifically, the exposure stage 20 provided in this embodiment further includes an air guide assembly 206 for implementing suspension and adsorption between the chuck base 204 and the upper plate 203, and for implementing adsorption of the chuck base 204 to the chuck 11. In the present invention, the arrangement of the suction cup base 204, the upper plate 203 and the air guide assembly 206 is a conventional technical means in the art, and the arrangement of the suction cup base 204, the upper plate 203 and the air guide assembly 206 can be specifically referred to, but not limited to, the arrangement of the suction cup base, the upper plate and the second air guide assembly in the CN 201520120168.6.

In the present embodiment, the entire structure of the exposure stage 20 may be the structure of the stage in the CN201520120168.6, but the present embodiment is not limited thereto, and the structure of the exposure stage 20 applied to substrate exposure in the prior art may be applied to the present embodiment.

Fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of an adsorption apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 4, the adsorption apparatus 10 is used for delivering and adsorbing a substrate, so that the substrate is fixed on the chuck base 204 of the exposure stage 20. Specifically, the suction device 10 includes a chuck assembly 1 and a delivery mechanism 2, where the chuck assembly 1 is disposed on a chuck base 204, and is used for sucking a substrate, so that the substrate is fixed on the exposure device; the transfer mechanism 2 is used for transferring the substrate, sucking the substrate to be exposed onto the chuck assembly 1, or removing the exposed substrate from the chuck 11, so as to realize the transfer of the substrate exposure and the preceding or subsequent process.

Specifically, fig. 5 is a top view of a chuck assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention, fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along A-A in fig. 5, and fig. 7 is an enlarged view of a portion of the chuck assembly at I in fig. 6. As shown in fig. 5-7, the suction cup assembly 1 includes a suction cup 11 and a sealing ring 12. The chuck 11 has a disk-like structure, and is suitable for a substrate shape such as a conventional general silicon wafer or glass wafer. In order to make the suction cup 11 perform vacuum suction on the substrate, the lower surface of the suction cup 11 facing the suction cup seat 204 is a fixed suction surface, so that the suction cup 11 is sucked and fixed on the suction cup seat 204, and the upper surface of the suction cup 11 far away from the suction cup seat 204 is a substrate suction surface for sucking the substrate. The vacuum suction of the suction cup seat 204 to the suction cup 11 is a conventional arrangement in the art, and the description of this embodiment is omitted.

In order to adsorb the substrate, an adsorption groove 111 for forming a vacuum adsorption cavity is formed on the substrate adsorption surface of the sucker 11, the adsorption groove 111 is communicated with a vacuum source, and the vacuum source is used for vacuumizing the adsorption groove 111, so that a vacuum cavity is formed between the lower surface of the substrate and the substrate adsorption surface, and the vacuum adsorption of the sucker 11 to the substrate is realized. In this embodiment, the suction groove 111 is preferably an annular groove concentrically arranged with the center of the suction cup 11, and the annular groove is concentrically arranged with a plurality of circles in the radial direction of the suction cup 11 to increase the number of annular grooves on the suction surface of the substrate, thereby increasing the area of the vacuum chamber between the substrate and the suction surface of the substrate, and thus increasing the suction area and suction strength to the substrate. An adsorption step is formed between two adjacent circles of adsorption grooves 111, and the upper end surface of the adsorption step forms a substrate adsorption surface.

In order to make the suction cup 11 suitable for the suction of substrates of different sizes, such as 8-inch and 12-inch substrates, in this embodiment, the suction cup 11 is radially divided to form a plurality of suction areas, and a plurality of suction grooves 111 are provided in each suction area. Specifically, as shown in fig. 5, in this embodiment, the suction cup 11 includes a circular first adsorption area and a second adsorption area located outside the first adsorption area, where the maximum outer diameter of the first adsorption area is adapted to an 8-inch silicon wafer substrate, and the maximum outer diameter of the second adsorption area is adapted to a 12-inch substrate. When the 8-inch substrate is required to be exposed, the adsorption grooves 111 of the first adsorption zone are communicated with a vacuum source, and when the 12-inch substrate is required to be exposed, the adsorption grooves 111 of the first adsorption zone and the second adsorption zone are communicated with the vacuum source. By the arrangement mode, the flexibility and applicability of the sucker 11 to substrates with different sizes can be enlarged, the substrates can be selectively adsorbed by the corresponding adsorption areas, and energy consumption is saved. In other embodiments, the number of the adsorption areas may be three or more, and the size of each adsorption area may be determined according to the size of the substrate to which the present embodiment is applicable, which is not particularly limited.

In the present embodiment, it is preferable that the adsorption grooves 111 in each adsorption zone communicate with each other, simplifying connection of the adsorption grooves 111 to a vacuum source. Specifically, in each adsorption zone, a communication groove 113 is opened along the radial direction of the suction cup 11, and the communication groove 113 penetrates each adsorption groove 111 in the adsorption zone in the radial direction, so that each adsorption groove 111 is communicated with the communication groove 113, and each adsorption groove 111 in the same adsorption zone is communicated. Preferably, the bottom of the communication groove 113 is flush with the bottom of the adsorption groove 111, facilitating the processing of the adsorption groove 111 and the communication groove 113. More preferably, the communication grooves 113 are provided in plurality along the circumferential direction of the suction cup 11 to improve the speed and consistency of the expansion of the vacuum chamber in the suction area.

In this embodiment, preferably, the communicating grooves 113 of two adjacent adsorption areas are arranged in a staggered manner in the circumferential direction of the suction cup 11, which is beneficial to dividing and positioning different adsorption areas, and on the other hand, prevents the two adjacent adsorption areas from being mutually conducted, and reduces the vacuum degree of the adsorption areas.

In this embodiment, a vacuum hole 116 for communicating the vacuum source with the suction groove 111 is formed in each suction area. Preferably, the vacuum hole 116 penetrates the suction cup 11 along the thickness direction of the suction cup 11, the lower end of the vacuum hole 116 is communicated with a vent hole formed in the suction cup seat 204, the vent hole is communicated with the air guide component 206, the upper end of the vacuum hole 116 is communicated with the adsorption groove 111, and the vacuum pumping treatment of the vacuum hole 116 is realized through the air guide component 206, so that the adsorption groove 111 is vacuumized, and the adsorption groove 111 is in a vacuum state, so that the suction of the suction cup 11 to the substrate is realized. The arrangement can enable the sucker 11 and the sucker seat 204 to share one set of vacuum source device, and simplify the vacuumizing structure of the sucker 11 and the sucker seat 204.

Preferably, in the present embodiment, the vacuum holes 116 are opened at the bottoms of the communication grooves 113 to improve the speed of vacuum suction and consistency of the degree of vacuum in each of the suction grooves 111, thereby achieving smooth suction of the substrate. And further, a vacuum hole 116 is formed at the bottom of each communication groove 113, so that the vacuumizing efficiency and the circumferential vacuum consistency of the adsorption area are improved. More preferably, the vacuum hole 116 is opened at an end of the communication groove 113 away from the center of the chuck 11 to enhance the adsorption capacity to the edge of the substrate.

In this embodiment, to further improve the adsorption capacity of the chuck 11 on the substrate, the width of each adsorption groove 111 is preferably 0.5mm to 1.5mm, most preferably 1mm, and the width of the adsorption boss is preferably 0.2mm to 0.8mm, most preferably 0.5mm. And the width of the adsorption boss: the width of the adsorption groove 111 is 1:1.5-1:2.5, and is most preferably 1:2.

In this embodiment, to enhance the suction capability of the suction cup 11 to the warped substrate, the suction cup assembly 1 further includes a sealing ring 12 disposed on the suction cup 11. Specifically, the substrate adsorption surface is further provided with a mounting groove 112, the lower end of the sealing ring 12 is connected in the mounting groove 112 in a sealing manner, the upper end of the sealing ring 12 is used for contacting with the substrate, and the sealing ring 12 is arranged around the center of the sucker 11. When the sealing ring 12 is not in contact with the substrate, the upper end of the sealing ring 12 is higher than the adsorption surface of the substrate by a preset distance; when the corresponding suction grooves 111 reach a vacuum state, the seal ring 12 is positioned in the mounting groove 112, and the upper end surface thereof is flush with the suction surface of the substrate.

By arranging the sealing ring 12 on the substrate adsorption surface of the sucker 11, when the sucker 11 adsorbs a warped substrate, the upper end surface of the sealing ring 12 is firstly contacted with the lower surface of the substrate because the upper end surface of the sealing ring 12 protrudes out of the substrate adsorption surface; because the sealing ring 12 has elasticity, the sealing ring 12 can locally deform under the action of the gravity of the substrate, so that the shape of the upper end of the sealing ring 12 is matched with the bottom surface of the substrate. When the adsorption groove 111 is vacuumized, the substrate moves downwards under the action of vacuum negative pressure, and the sealing ring 12 is further extruded, so that the upper periphery of the sealing ring 12 is completely attached to the substrate, a closed vacuum adsorption cavity is formed at the inner side of the sealing ring 12, vacuum leakage is avoided, and the adsorption capacity and the adsorption effect on the substrate are improved; when the adsorption groove 111 on the inner side of the sealing ring 12 reaches a vacuum state, the sealing ring 12 is retracted into the mounting groove 112 due to elastic deformation under the extrusion action, the lower surface of the substrate is in contact with the adsorption surface of the substrate, the substrate is tightly attached to the adsorption surface of the substrate under the action of vacuum negative pressure, the warpage state is changed into a flat state, the adsorption force between the substrate and the sucker 11 is further improved, and the substrate is stably and firmly adsorbed on the sucker 11.

In this embodiment, to further improve the adsorption capacity of the chuck 11 to the substrate, it is preferable that the sealing ring 12 is concentrically disposed with the adsorption groove 111 to make the substrate more stable and balanced in stress. More preferably, the mounting groove 112 is formed at the edge of the adsorption area, so that the sealing ring 12 supports and adsorbs the edge of the substrate corresponding to the adsorption area, the number of the adsorption grooves 111 inside the sealing ring 12 is increased, the area of the vacuum adsorption cavity formed between the sealing ring 12 and the substrate is enlarged, and the adsorption capacity to the substrate is further improved. In this embodiment, each adsorption zone is provided with one sealing ring 12, in other embodiments, two or more sealing rings 12 may be disposed in each adsorption zone at intervals along the radial direction of the adsorption zone, and an edge of each adsorption zone is provided with one sealing ring 12.

Further, in this embodiment, the mounting groove 112 is communicated with the adsorption groove 111, which is favorable for performing vacuum treatment on the mounting groove 112 located at the inner side of the sealing ring 12 in the process of vacuumizing the adsorption groove 111, so as to improve the negative pressure effect born by the substrate where the sealing ring 12 is located, increase the extrusion acting force of the substrate on the sealing ring 12, and further improve the contact tightness between the sealing ring 12 and the substrate and the leveling effect on the substrate.

In the present embodiment, the mounting groove 112 includes a mounting groove portion 1121 and a receiving groove portion 1122 that communicate in the thickness direction of the suction cup 11, the mounting groove portion 1121 is located below the receiving groove portion 1122, and the groove width of the mounting groove portion 1121 is smaller than the groove width of the receiving groove portion 1122. The lower end of the seal ring 12 is engaged with the mounting groove 1121, and when the seal ring 12 is compressively deformed, the upper end of the seal groove is accommodated in the accommodation groove 1122. The clamping mode is adopted, so that the sealing ring 12 can be conveniently installed and detached, and the processing of the sucker 11 is simplified. In other embodiments, the connection of the seal ring 12 in the mounting groove 112 may be a screw connection or other detachable connection.

In order to improve the mounting stability of the seal ring 12 in the mounting groove 112, in this embodiment, preferably, the groove width of the mounting groove 1121 gradually decreases from the groove bottom to the groove opening thereof, and the width of the groove opening of the mounting groove 1121 is smaller than the width of the lower end of the seal ring 12, so that the contracted groove opening enhances the clamping effect on the lower end of the seal ring 12, and the seal ring 12 is in interference connection with the mounting groove 1121, thereby improving the connection tightness and stability. More preferably, in the present embodiment, the mounting groove portion 1121 is a dovetail groove, which facilitates processing.

In the present embodiment, the cross section of the receiving groove portion 1122 is preferably rectangular, the groove width of the receiving groove portion 1122 is larger than the groove width of the mounting groove portion 1121, the receiving ability of the seal ring 12 is improved, and the processing of the mounting groove 112 is facilitated.

In this embodiment, the seal ring 12 is preferably made of silicone rubber, and has good supporting strength, deformability and sealing performance. In other embodiments, the sealing ring 12 may be made of other materials, such as fluororubber, so long as the hardness of the sealing ring 12 is not too hard to affect the adsorption reliability of the substrate, and not too soft to prevent the upper end surface of the sealing ring 12 from being bonded to the silicon wafer after the substrate is adsorbed, which affects the delivery reliability of the substrate and the pollution of the silicon wafer, and the hardness of the sealing ring 12 is preferably 45-55 shore.

In this embodiment, in order to improve the performance of the seal ring 12, the seal ring 12 preferably includes a mounting portion 121 and a deformation portion 122 connected to each other, the mounting portion 121 being connected to a lower end of the deformation portion 122, and an upper end of the deformation portion 122 extending in a direction away from the mounting portion 121. The cross section of the mounting portion 121 is preferably trapezoidal to fit into the mounting groove portion 1121 to facilitate the mounting portion 121 being snapped into the mounting groove portion 1121, and the mounting portion 121 being interference fit with the mounting groove portion 1121. The deformation portion 122 is mainly used for bearing the deformation of the seal ring 12 under the action of the pressing force, and in order to improve the deformability of the deformation portion 122, in this embodiment, the cross section of the deformation portion 122 is preferably in a folded line shape extending along the axial direction of the seal ring 12. That is, the deformation portion 122 includes a plurality of sequentially connected fold line plate portions 1221, when the seal ring 12 is not pressed, an included angle between two adjacent fold line plate portions 1221 is 60 ° to 100 °, and the two adjacent fold line plate portions 1221 are connected by arc transition. According to the structure of the sealing ring 12, when the sealing ring 12 receives extrusion acting force, the two adjacent folding line plate parts 1221 are close to each other, the deformability is strong, and the vacuum adsorption pressure for completely adsorbing the substrate can be reduced.

In the present embodiment, the deformation portion 122 includes three folding line plate portions 1221, and the plate thickness of the single folding line plate portion 1221 is 0.3 to 0.5mm. In other embodiments, the deformation portion 122 may include two, four or more fold line plate portions 1221, and the number of the fold line plate portions 1221 and the plate thickness of the fold line plate portions 1221 may be self-designed according to the required deformability of the seal ring 12.

In this embodiment, preferably, the fold line plate 1221 located at the uppermost end of the seal ring 12 extends outward along the center of the seal ring 12 in a direction away from the mounting portion 121, so that the upper end of the seal ring 12 forms a tapered opening, which is advantageous in improving the contact tightness between the substrate and the seal ring 12 and preventing vacuum leakage.

In the present embodiment, the height H1 of the suction surface of the sealing ring 12 protruding from the substrate when not contacting the substrate is related to the maximum allowable warpage amount of the suction cup 11, and the larger the maximum allowable warpage amount of the suction cup 11, the larger the H1. The height H2 of the mounting groove 112 is related to the deformation performance of the seal ring 12 and the allowable maximum amount of warpage of the substrate, and when the allowable maximum amount of warpage of the suction cup 11 is fixed, the stronger the deformation capability of the seal ring 12, the smaller the height of the mounting groove 112. Therefore, the height H1 of the protruding substrate adsorption surface and the depth H2 of the mounting groove 112 should be set according to the requirement when the sealing ring 12 is not in contact with the substrate. In this embodiment, when the thickness of the suction cup 11 is 9mm, the substrate is an 8-inch silicon wafer, the seal ring 12 is made of silicon rubber, and h1=6.5 mm, h2=5 mm, the silicon wafer having a maximum warpage of 13mm can be adsorbed.

When the sucking disc assembly 1 is adopted to adsorb a substrate, firstly, the lower surface of the substrate is contacted with the upper end of the sealing ring 12, so that a closed vacuum adsorption cavity is formed among the sealing ring 12, the substrate and the sucking disc 11; furthermore, the suction groove 111 is vacuumized until the sealing ring 12 is completely positioned in the mounting groove 112, and the lower surface of the substrate is completely attached to the suction surface of the substrate, so that the suction cup 11 can completely adsorb the substrate.

In this embodiment, if the substrate is directly placed on the chuck 11 and then vacuum adsorption is adopted, when the sealing ring 12 is initially contacted with the substrate, the sealing ring 12 is only contacted with the substrate under the action of the substrate gravity, and at this time, if the substrate warpage is large, in order to successfully vacuumize the adsorption groove 111, the sealing ring 12 needs to form a closed vacuum adsorption cavity capable of being used for vacuum adsorption in the initial contact process with the substrate. That is, as the amount of warpage of the substrate is larger, the height of the sealing ring 12 protruding from the suction surface needs to be higher, so that the depth of the mounting groove 112 and the thickness of the suction cup 11 are increased simultaneously. In order to reduce the size of the seal ring 12 and to improve the compactness of the chuck assembly 1, and to improve the adsorption capacity for warped substrates and the transfer performance for substrates, in this embodiment, the adsorption apparatus 10 further includes a transfer mechanism 2.

Specifically, fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a delivery mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention, fig. 9 is a cross-sectional view of an adsorption device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and fig. 10 is a partial enlarged view at J in fig. 9. As shown in fig. 8-10, the interface mechanism 2 includes a base 21, a pallet 23, a vertical motion assembly 22, and an adsorption assembly. The base 21 is used for supporting and fixing the connecting mechanism 2, the supporting plate 23 is arranged above the base 21 and is connected with the base 21 through the vertical movement assembly 22, so that the supporting plate 23 moves along the direction of the vertical sucker 11 under the drive of the vertical movement assembly 22 to drive the supporting plate 23 to move along the direction of the vertical sucker 11; the suction assembly is arranged along the direction perpendicular to the suction cup 11, and the lower end of the suction assembly is connected with the supporting plate 23.

The sucking disc 11 is provided with a sucking hole 114 matched with the delivery mechanism 2, the upper end of the sucking component can extend into the sucking hole 114 and seal the sucking hole 114, and the sucking component can move along the direction vertical to the sucking disc 11 relative to the sucking hole 114 under the drive of the vertical movement component 22. The adsorption component is internally provided with a vacuum air passage 243, the upper end of the vacuum air passage 243 penetrates through the upper end face of the adsorption component to adsorb the substrate, and the vacuum air passage 243 is communicated with a vacuum source to vacuumize the vacuum air passage 243.

When the transfer mechanism 2 is adopted to absorb the substrate, the vertical movement assembly 22 drives the supporting plate 23 and the adsorption assembly to ascend, so that the upper end surface of the adsorption assembly is higher than the sealing ring 12, and the substrate is placed on the upper end surface of the adsorption assembly and contacted with the lower surface of the substrate; the vacuum source vacuumizes the vacuum air channel 243 to enable the adsorption component to adsorb the substrate, so that the adsorption component can drive the substrate to move. When the vertical movement assembly 22 drives the supporting plate 23 and the adsorption assembly to descend, the substrate moves towards the sucker 11 along with the adsorption assembly under the action of vacuum negative pressure, so that the substrate gradually contacts with the sealing ring 12 and presses the sealing ring, and the sealing ring 12 continuously deforms under the combined action of the gravity action of the substrate and the downward movement force of the substrate in the process that the substrate is driven to move downwards. Therefore, in this embodiment, by arranging the delivery mechanism 2, the delivery mechanism 2 first adsorbs the substrate and drives the substrate to descend to contact with the sealing ring 12, so that when the sealing ring 12 contacts with the substrate, the sealing ring 12 is extruded and deformed under the action of the gravity of the substrate and the adsorption force of the delivery mechanism 2 to the substrate, the acting force between the sealing ring 12 and the substrate can be increased, even if the warp of the substrate is large, the substrate can be tightly contacted with the sealing ring 12 under the drive of the vertical movement of the delivery mechanism 2 to form a vacuum adsorption cavity, the requirement on the whole height of the sealing ring 12 is reduced, the allowable maximum warp of the sucker assembly 1 to the substrate can be improved, and the adsorption capacity of the adsorption device 10 to the warped substrate is improved.

In the present embodiment, the adsorption assembly includes an adsorption column 24 and a suction nozzle 25. The adsorption column 24 is arranged vertically to the suction cup, the lower end of the adsorption column 24 is connected with the supporting plate 23, and the upper end can extend into the adsorption hole 114. The adsorption column 24 is provided with a vacuum air channel 243 along the axial direction thereof, and the vacuum air channel 243 penetrates through the upper end surface of the adsorption column 24. The suction nozzle 25 is arranged around the upper end of the adsorption column 24, the upper end surface of the suction nozzle 25 is higher than the upper end surface of the adsorption column 24, and the outer surface of the suction nozzle 25 can be in sealing fit with the inner wall of the adsorption hole 114, so that the suction nozzle 25 seals the adsorption hole 114 when being positioned in the adsorption hole 114.

In the arrangement mode, when the substrate is adsorbed and delivered, the substrate is firstly contacted with the edge of the upper end of the suction nozzle 25, then a vacuum cavity is rapidly formed between the suction nozzle 25 and the substrate, so that the vacuum adsorption of the delivery mechanism 2 to the substrate is realized, the inner surface of the suction nozzle 25 is contacted with the substrate to deform the suction nozzle 25, the upper end surface of the adsorption column 24 is contacted with the substrate, the adsorption column 24 is used for secondarily adsorbing the substrate, and the adsorption stability of the substrate is improved. In the present embodiment, preferably, the height difference between the upper end surface of the suction nozzle 25 and the upper end surface of the suction column 24 is preferably 0.2mm to 1mm.

In this embodiment, in order to improve the sealing performance of the suction hole 114 and the suction nozzle 25, preferably, the suction hole 114 is a tapered hole with a small upper end opening and a large upper end opening, and the suction nozzle 25 is a tapered suction nozzle adapted to the suction hole 114, so that the processing of the suction hole 114 can be simplified, the sealing performance of the suction nozzle 25 to the suction hole 114 can be improved, and the suction nozzle 25 can be prevented from falling out of the suction hole 114. Further, the suction nozzle 25 is made of silicone rubber or other elastic material.

In order to realize the installation of the suction nozzle 25 on the adsorption column 24, an annular clamping groove is formed in the outer wall of the upper end of the adsorption column 24, a connecting cylinder 251 is axially extended at the lower end of the suction nozzle 25, an annular convex portion 2511 is convexly arranged on the inner wall of the connecting cylinder 251, the inner diameter of the connecting cylinder 251 is equal to the outer diameter of the adsorption column 24, and the annular convex portion 2511 is clamped in the clamping groove in a sealing manner, so that the suction nozzle 25 is connected with the adsorption column 24 in a sealing and clamping manner.

In this embodiment, the suction cup 11 is further provided with a through hole 115 communicated with the lower end of the suction hole 114, and the through hole 115 and the suction hole 114 are coaxially arranged, and preferably cylindrical, so that the suction hole 114 is positioned in a machining manner, the opening size of the upper end of the suction hole 114 is ensured, and meanwhile, the influence of the too small opening of the lower end of the suction hole 114 on the vertical movement of the suction column 24 relative to the suction hole 114 is avoided.

In this embodiment, in order to enhance the smoothness of the substrate passing and adsorbing by the passing mechanism 2, preferably, the suction cup 11 is provided with a plurality of adsorption holes 114, the number of the adsorption holes 114 is set in one-to-one correspondence with the adsorption columns 24, the lower end of each adsorption hole 114 is communicated with a through hole 115, and the upper end of each adsorption column 24 is provided with a suction nozzle 25. The upper end edges of the suction nozzles 25 are located on the same plane, the upper end faces of the adsorption columns 24 are located on the same plane, and the substrate is adsorbed in the process of delivery through the suction nozzles 25 and the adsorption columns 24, so that the stress balance and adsorption stability of the substrate can be improved. And more preferably, the adsorption holes 114 are uniformly distributed at intervals along the circumferential direction of the suction cup 11, so that the plurality of adsorption columns 24 can adsorb the substrate around the center of the substrate, which is beneficial to flattening the central area of the substrate in the adsorption process of the substrate and is more beneficial to the adsorption of the subsequent suction cup 11 to the substrate. In the present embodiment, the number of the adsorption holes 114, the adsorption columns 24, and the adsorption nozzles 25 is three, and in other embodiments, the number of the adsorption holes 114, the adsorption columns 24, and the adsorption nozzles 25 may be two, four, or more.

In this embodiment, the supporting plate 23 has a plate-like structure, and a plurality of connecting arms 236 extend radially outward, and the plurality of connecting arms 236 are uniformly spaced apart along the circumferential direction of the supporting plate 23. The connecting arms 236 are in one-to-one correspondence with the adsorption columns 24, and the lower end of each adsorption column 24 is arranged on the connecting arm 236. The provision of the connecting arm 236 is advantageous in reducing the size of the pallet 23 and the weight and space occupation of the interface mechanism 2.

In this embodiment, preferably, the adsorption column 24 is connected to the connection arm 236 in a plug-in manner, specifically, the connection arm 236 is provided with a plug-in slot 235, and the lower end of the adsorption column 24 extends into the plug-in slot 235 and is in interference fit with the plug-in slot 235. More preferably, the adsorption column 24 includes a cylindrical main body portion 241 and a socket portion 242 protruding downward along the axial direction of the main body portion 241, the external diameter of the socket portion 242 being smaller than the external diameter of the main body portion 241, such that a limit step is formed between the main body portion 241 and the socket portion 242. The plug-in part 242 is inserted into the plug-in groove 235 and is in interference fit with the plug-in groove 235, and the limit step is abutted with the upper surface of the supporting plate 23. The positioning is provided for the plugging and installation of the adsorption column 24 and the supporting plate 23, and the disassembly and assembly between the adsorption column 24 and the supporting plate 23 are convenient, and the air tightness between the adsorption column 24 and the supporting plate 23 can be effectively ensured.

The adsorption column 24 is provided with a cylindrical vacuum air passage 243 along the axial direction thereof, and the vacuum air passage 243 penetrates through the upper and lower end surfaces of the adsorption column 24. In order to realize synchronous vacuumizing treatment of the vacuum source on the plurality of vacuum air passages 243, preferably, the supporting plate 23 is internally provided with a communication air passage, and the lower end of each vacuum air passage 243 is communicated with the communication air passage. Fig. 11 is a perspective view of a pallet according to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 11, the communication air channel includes a first communication air channel 231 and a second communication air channel 232, one end of the first communication air channel 231 extends to one of the connection arms 236 and penetrates through the outer wall of the connection arm 236, the other end of the first communication air channel 231 is vertically communicated with the second communication air channel 232, and two ends of the second communication air channel 232 respectively extend to the other two connection arms 236 and penetrate through the outer wall of the connection arm 236. Two ends of the second communication air passage 232 are respectively and vertically communicated with one end of a third communication air passage 233, and the other end of the third communication air passage 233 penetrates through the outer wall of the corresponding connecting arm 236. And one end of each air passage, which is not connected with other air passages, is provided with a plug 234 to prevent vacuum leakage in each air passage.

The first air passage 231 and the third air passage 233 are in opposite communication with the insertion grooves 235 at the corresponding connecting arms 236, so that the first air passage 231 is communicated with the vacuum air passages 243 of one of the adsorption columns 24, and the two third air passages 233 are respectively communicated with the vacuum air passages 243 of the other two adsorption columns 24. An air source connector 26 is also connected to the first air passage 231 for communication with a vacuum source. The vacuum source evacuates the communicating air passages in the pallet 23 through the air source connector 26, thereby evacuating each of the adsorbent columns 24. In the present embodiment, the opening manner of the communicating air passage in the supporting plate 23 is merely an exemplary arrangement, and in other embodiments, the opening manner of the communicating air passage may also take other forms, as long as the communication of the vacuum air passage 243 in each adsorption column 24 can be achieved.

In this embodiment, to facilitate the mating installation of the interface mechanism 2 and the exposure stage 20, the base 21 is a disc-shaped base. In the present embodiment, the support 2071 on the exposure stage 20 has a cylindrical structure, and the base 21 is disposed on the air foot 201 and located inside the support 2071. The outer diameter of the base 21 is equal to the inner diameter of the supporting seat 2071, so that the base 21 can be clamped in the supporting seat 2071 to realize positioning and installation of the delivery mechanism 2. The centers of the upper plate 203 and the sucker seat 204 are respectively provided with a through-hole for the upper end of the connecting mechanism 2 to pass through, and the aperture of the through-hole is preferably equal to the outer diameter of the base 21.

The vertical movement assembly 22 is disposed between the pallet 23 and the base 21. In this embodiment, the vertical movement assembly 22 preferably includes a voice coil motor, and the voice coil motor is used to directly drive the supporting plate 23 for vertical movement, so that the structure is compact, the movement precision is high, and the volume is small. In other embodiments, the vertical movement assembly 22 may be a rotating motor, and the structure capable of realizing the vertical movement assembly 22 is a conventional arrangement in the art, and the description of this embodiment is omitted.

The interface mechanism 2 further comprises a guiding assembly 27 for guiding the vertical movement of the pallet 23. In the present embodiment, the guide assembly 27 is a linear guide assembly including a guide rail 271 connected with the pallet 23 and a slider 273 mated with the guide rail 271, and the slider 273 is connected with the base 21 through a guide rail seat 272. In other embodiments, the guiding assembly 27 may be in other structural forms capable of realizing motion guiding, and the setting of the guiding assembly 27 is a conventional technical means in the art, which is not described in detail in this embodiment.

The interface mechanism 2 further includes a displacement detection assembly 28 for detecting the displacement of the pallet 23 vertically up and down. In this embodiment, the displacement detection assembly 28 is a grating ruler assembly, and has high detection accuracy and high reliability. In other embodiments, the displacement detection assembly 28 may also be a distance sensor, a photoelectric sensor, or the like. And grating chi subassembly, distance sensor and photoelectric sensor are prior art, and this embodiment is not repeated.

The embodiment also provides an adsorption method for a non-warp substrate, which comprises the following steps:

step S101: the adsorption column 24 moves upwards to enable the suction nozzle 25 to extend out of the suction surface of the suction cup 11;

step S102: the substrate transfer robot moves the substrate onto the interface mechanism 2 and brings the substrate into contact with the suction nozzle 25;

step S103: vacuumizing the vacuum air channel 243 to enable the suction nozzle 25 to adsorb the substrate;

step S104: continuously vacuumizing the vacuum air channel 243, extruding the suction nozzle 25 by the substrate to deform the suction nozzle 25, enabling the substrate to be in contact with the upper end surface of the adsorption column 24, and secondarily adsorbing the substrate by the adsorption column 24;

step S105: the substrate conveying manipulator retreats;

Step S106: the adsorption column 24 drives the substrate to move downwards until the substrate contacts with the sealing ring 12, the adsorption air passage of the sucker 11 is vacuumized, so that the sucker 11 adsorbs the substrate, and meanwhile, the vacuumizing of the vacuum air passage 243 is stopped;

step S107: the adsorption column 24 continues to descend until the suction nozzle 25 falls into the lowest position of the adsorption hole 114; simultaneously, the suction airway is continuously vacuumized until the substrate is completely sucked by the sucking disc 11.

The embodiment also provides an adsorption method for the warp substrate, which comprises the following steps:

step S201: the adsorption column 24 moves upwards to enable the suction nozzle 25 to extend out of the suction surface of the suction cup 11;

Step S202: the substrate transfer robot moves the substrate onto the interface mechanism 2 and brings the substrate into contact with the suction nozzle 25;

Step S203: vacuumizing the vacuum air channel 243 to enable the suction nozzle 25 to adsorb the substrate;

Step S204: continuously vacuumizing the vacuum air channel 243, extruding the suction nozzle 25 by the substrate to deform the suction nozzle 25, enabling the substrate to be in contact with the upper end surface of the adsorption column 24, and secondarily adsorbing the substrate by the adsorption column 24;

step S205: the substrate conveying manipulator retreats;

Step S206: the adsorption column 24 drives the substrate to move downwards until the substrate contacts with the sealing ring 12, and the adsorption air passage of the sucker 11 is vacuumized, so that the sucker 11, the adsorption column 24 and the suction nozzle 25 adsorb the substrate simultaneously;

step S207: the adsorption column 24 drives the substrate to move downwards continuously so that the substrate, the sealing ring 12 and the sucker 11 form a sealed adsorption cavity;

Step S208: the adsorption column 24 continues to drive the substrate to move downwards until the suction nozzle 25 falls into the lowest position of the adsorption hole 114, the adsorption column 24 stops moving, and the vacuum pumping of the vacuum air channel 243 is stopped;

Step S209: the suction airway of the suction cup 11 is continued to be evacuated until the sealing ring 12 is completely pressed into the mounting groove 112 and the substrate is completely sucked by the suction cup 11.

In this embodiment, the adsorption method applied to the warpage substrate can also be applied to the adsorption of the non-warpage substrate.

The embodiment also provides a lithographic apparatus comprising the exposure device.

Example two

The second embodiment provides an exposure apparatus including an exposure stage 20 and an adsorption device 10, which is substantially the same as the first embodiment in comparison with the first embodiment, except that the sealing ring 12 in the chuck assembly 1 has a different structural form, and the embodiment only describes the structure different from the first embodiment, and will not be repeated.

Fig. 12 is a cross-sectional view of a chuck assembly provided in this embodiment, fig. 13 is a partial enlarged view of a portion K in fig. 12, and as shown in fig. 12 and 13, in this embodiment, the seal ring 12 includes an O-ring body having an elongated hole-shaped cross section, a rubber rope 123 is passed through the bottom of the seal ring body, and the seal ring 12 passing through the rubber rope 123 is pressed into a mounting groove 1121 of the chuck 11 by using the rubber rope 123, so that the lower end of the seal ring 12 is sealed and clamped in the mounting groove 1121. Preferably, in this embodiment, the cross-sectional thickness of the seal ring 12 is 0.1 to 0.2mm.

The present embodiment also provides an adsorption method applied to a common substrate, and the adsorption method may refer to the first embodiment specifically by adopting the adsorption device 10, and the description of this embodiment is omitted.

The present embodiment also provides an adsorption method applied to a warp substrate, and the adsorption method may refer to the first embodiment specifically by adopting the adsorption device 10, and the description of this embodiment is omitted.

Example III

The embodiment provides an exposure apparatus including an exposure stage 20 and an adsorption device 10, and compared with the first embodiment, the exposure apparatus provided in the embodiment is basically the same as the first embodiment, except that the structure of the sealing ring 12 in the suction cup assembly 1 is different, and only the structure different from the first embodiment is described in the embodiment, and the structure identical to the first embodiment is not repeated.

Fig. 14 is a cross-sectional view of a suction cup assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention, and fig. 15 is a partial enlarged view of L in fig. 14, and as shown in fig. 14 and 15, in this embodiment, a seal ring 12 includes a mounting portion 121 and a deformation portion 122, the cross section of the mounting portion 121 is trapezoid to fit into a mounting groove 1121, the lower end of the deformation portion 122 is connected to the inner side edge of the mounting portion 121, and the upper end of the deformation portion 122 extends in a direction away from the center of the suction cup 11, so that the seal ring 12 forms a tapered structure with a large upper end opening and a small lower end opening. Preferably, in the present embodiment, the thickness of the deformation portion 122 is 0.3-0.5 mm, and the height of the sealing ring 12 protruding from the substrate adsorption surface and the thickness of the mounting groove 112 are determined by the maximum allowable warpage of the suction cup 11 and the deformability of the sealing ring 12.

Note that the above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and the technical principle applied. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the particular embodiments described herein, but is capable of various obvious changes, rearrangements and substitutions as will now become apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. Therefore, while the invention has been described in connection with the above embodiments, the invention is not limited to the embodiments, but may be embodied in many other equivalent forms without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention, which is set forth in the following claims.

Claims

1. An adsorption apparatus, comprising:

The vacuum chuck comprises a sucker (11), wherein a mounting groove (112) is formed around the center of a substrate adsorption surface of the sucker (11), and an adsorption groove (111) used for communicating with a vacuum source is formed on the inner side of the mounting groove (112) on the substrate adsorption surface;

a seal ring (12) having a lower end sealingly disposed in the mounting groove (112) and an upper end for contacting the substrate;

When the sealing ring (12) is not in contact with the substrate, the upper end of the sealing ring (12) protrudes out of the adsorption surface, and when the adsorption groove (111) is in a vacuum state, the sealing ring (12) is completely positioned in the mounting groove (112), and the upper end of the sealing ring (12) is flush with the adsorption surface of the substrate;

The adsorption device further comprises a delivery mechanism (2), wherein the delivery mechanism (2) can adsorb the substrate and drive the substrate to descend, so that the substrate presses the sealing ring (12), and the substrate and the sealing ring (12) are in close contact to form a vacuum adsorption cavity;

The mounting groove (112) comprises a mounting groove part (1121) and a containing groove part (1122) which are communicated in the thickness direction of the sucker (11), the mounting groove part (1121) is positioned at the bottom of the containing groove part (1122), the groove width of the containing groove part (1122) is larger than that of the mounting groove part (1121), and the lower end of the sealing ring (12) is clamped in the mounting groove part (1121);

The groove width of the mounting groove part (1121) gradually decreases from the groove bottom to the notch;

The seal ring (12) includes:

The cross section of the mounting part (121) is a trapezoid with a large lower end and a small upper end, the mounting part (121) is in sealing clamping connection with the accommodating groove part (1122), the cross section of the mounting part (121) is a trapezoid matched with the mounting groove part (1121), and the mounting part (121) is in interference fit with the mounting groove part (1121);

a deformation portion (122) having one end connected to the mounting portion (121) and the other end extending in a direction away from the mounting portion (121);

The cross section of deformation portion (122) is the broken line type, the broken line type is followed the axial direction of sealing washer (12) extends, deformation portion (122) are including a plurality of broken line board portions (1221) that link to each other in proper order, and is adjacent broken line board portion (1221) adopt circular arc transitional coupling when sealing washer (12) receive extrusion effort, two adjacent broken line board portions (1221) are close to each other, are located sealing washer (12) uppermost broken line board portion (1221) are in keeping away from in the direction of installation department (121) follow the outside extension in the center of sealing washer (12).

2. The suction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the suction cup (11) is provided with a suction hole (114) inside the mounting groove (112), the suction hole (114) penetrates the suction cup (11) in a thickness direction of the suction cup (11), and the delivery mechanism (2) includes:

The adsorption component is perpendicular to the adsorption surface of the substrate, the lower end of the adsorption component is positioned at the lower side of the sucker (11), the upper end of the adsorption component can penetrate through and seal the adsorption hole (114), the adsorption component can move relative to the sucker (11) along the direction perpendicular to the sucker (11), a vacuum air passage (243) is formed in the adsorption component, and the vacuum air passage (243) penetrates through the upper end surface of the adsorption component to adsorb the substrate.

3. The adsorption device of claim 2, wherein the adsorption assembly comprises:

The adsorption column (24) is perpendicular to the adsorption surface of the substrate, the upper end of the adsorption column (24) can extend into the adsorption hole (114) and can move along the direction perpendicular to the adsorption surface of the substrate relative to the adsorption hole (114), the vacuum air passage (243) is formed in the adsorption column (24), the upper end of the vacuum air passage (243) penetrates through the upper end surface of the adsorption column (24), and the vacuum air passage (243) is communicated with a vacuum source;

The suction nozzle (25) is arranged at the upper end of the adsorption column (24) and is communicated with the vacuum air passage (243), the outer surface of the suction nozzle (25) can be in sealing fit with the inner wall of the adsorption hole (114), and the upper end of the suction nozzle (25) is higher than the upper end face of the adsorption column (24).

4. A suction device according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that the mounting recess (112) is arranged concentrically with the suction cup (11).

5. The suction device according to claim 4, characterized in that the suction surface of the substrate is divided in the radial direction of the suction cup (11) into a plurality of suction areas for accommodating suction of substrates of different sizes, at least one sealing ring (12) being arranged in each suction area.

6. An adsorption device according to claim 5 wherein one of said sealing rings (12) is provided at the edge of each of said adsorption zones.

7. The adsorption device according to claim 5, wherein the adsorption grooves (111) are annular concentric with the suction cup (11), and a plurality of circles of adsorption grooves (111) are concentrically arranged on the inner side of each sealing ring (12), and the adsorption grooves (111) in the same adsorption area are mutually communicated.

8. The adsorption device according to claim 7, wherein an upper surface of an adsorption boss formed between two adjacent adsorption grooves (111) is the substrate adsorption surface, a width of each adsorption groove (111) is 0.5-1.5 mm, a width of each adsorption boss is 0.2-0.8 mm, and the width of the adsorption boss is: the width of the adsorption groove (111) is=1:1.5-1:2.5.

9. A suction device according to claim 3, characterized in that the suction hole (114) is a conical hole with a large upper end and a small lower end, and the suction nozzle (25) is a conical suction nozzle (25) adapted to the conical hole.

10. An adsorption device according to claim 3, wherein the upper end of the suction nozzle (25) is higher than the upper end surface of the adsorption column (24) by 0.2-1 mm.

11. The adsorption device according to claim 3, wherein an annular clamping groove is formed in the outer wall of the upper end of the adsorption column (24), an annular protruding portion (2511) is arranged in the inner wall of the lower end of the suction nozzle (25) in a protruding mode, and the annular protruding portion (2511) is clamped with the clamping groove in a sealing mode.

12. The adsorption device according to claim 2, wherein a plurality of adsorption holes (114) are arranged at intervals along the circumferential direction of the sucker (11), and the adsorption components are arranged in one-to-one correspondence with the adsorption holes (114).

13. The adsorption apparatus of claim 12, wherein the interface mechanism (2) further comprises:

The lower end of the adsorption component is connected with the support plate (23), a communication air passage is formed in the support plate (23), the vacuum air passages (243) of each adsorption component are communicated with the communication air passages, and the communication air passages are communicated with an air source joint (26);

and the vertical movement assembly (22) is connected with the supporting plate (23) and can drive the supporting plate (23) to move along the direction vertical to the substrate adsorption surface.

14. An exposure apparatus comprising an adsorption apparatus (10) according to any one of claims 1-13.

15. A lithographic apparatus comprising an exposure device according to claim 14.

16. An adsorption method, characterized by being applied to an adsorption apparatus (10) according to any one of claims 1-13 for adsorbing the substrate, and comprising the steps of:

The lower surface of the substrate is contacted with the upper end of the sealing ring (12), so that a closed vacuum adsorption cavity is formed among the sealing ring (12), the substrate and the sucker (11);

vacuumizing the adsorption groove (111) until the sealing ring (12) is completely positioned in the mounting groove (112), and the lower surface of the substrate is completely attached to the adsorption surface of the substrate.

17. The suction method according to claim 16, wherein the suction cup (11) is provided with a suction hole (114) inside the mounting groove (112), the suction hole (114) penetrates the suction cup (11) in a thickness direction of the suction cup (11), the suction apparatus (10) further comprises a delivery mechanism (2), and the delivery mechanism (2) comprises: the adsorption component is perpendicular to the adsorption surface of the substrate, the lower end of the adsorption component is positioned at the lower side of the sucker (11), the upper end of the adsorption component can penetrate through and seal the adsorption hole (114), the adsorption component can move relative to the sucker (11) along the direction perpendicular to the sucker (11), a vacuum air channel (243) is formed in the adsorption component, and the vacuum air channel (243) penetrates through the upper end surface of the adsorption component to adsorb the substrate;

Before the substrate is in contact with the sealing ring (12), further comprising:

the upper end of the adsorption component extends out of the upper end surface of the sucker (11) and is contacted with the substrate;

Evacuating the vacuum airway (243) to cause the adsorption assembly to adsorb the substrate;

the adsorption assembly drives the substrate to descend until the lower surface of the substrate contacts with the upper end of the sealing ring (12);

and in the process of vacuumizing the adsorption groove (111), vacuumizing the vacuum air channel (243) continuously, and enabling the adsorption component to continuously drive the substrate to descend until the adsorption component stops descending and vacuumizing the vacuum air channel (243) after the upper end of the adsorption component is positioned at the lowest position of the sucker (11) and seals the adsorption hole (114).