JP2024124964A - Foreign matter removal method, substrate processing system, and article manufacturing method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a technique that can remove a foreign substance attached onto a substrate despite the large size of the foreign substance.SOLUTION: A foreign substance removal method performs a foreign substance removal step of performing first foreign substance removal processing on a substrate and subsequently performing second foreign substance removal processing different from the first foreign substance removal processing, or performing the second foreign substance removal processing on the substrate without performing the first foreign substance removal processing. The second foreign substance removal processing includes: a contact step of bringing a component into contact with a curable composition on the substrate; a curing step of curing the curable composition with the curable composition on the substrate and the component being in contact with each other; and a separation step of, after the curable composition is cured, separating the component from the substrate together with the curable composition.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to a foreign matter removal method, a substrate processing system, and a method for manufacturing an article.

As the demand for miniaturization of semiconductor devices and MEMS increases, in addition to conventional photolithography technology, imprint technology, which can form fine patterns (structures) on a substrate on the order of a few nanometers, is attracting attention. Imprint technology is a microfabrication technology in which uncured imprint material is supplied (applied) onto a substrate, and the imprint material is brought into contact with a mold to form a pattern of the imprint material on the substrate that corresponds to the fine uneven pattern formed on the mold.

In imprint technology, one method for hardening an imprint material is the photo-curing method. In the photo-curing method, the imprint material is supplied to a shot area on a substrate, and is brought into contact with a mold, and then irradiated with light to harden the imprint material. The mold is then separated from the hardened imprint material, forming a pattern of the imprint material on the substrate.

In this type of imprinting technology, if the mold and the imprinting material on the substrate are brought into contact with each other while there is foreign matter adhering to the substrate, not only will it be impossible to form a structure of the desired shape, but there is also a possibility that the mold and/or substrate will be damaged. For this reason, it is necessary to remove any foreign matter adhering to the substrate before carrying out the imprinting process.

Patent Document 1 discloses a method in which, for foreign matter on the uneven pattern surface of a substrate, a resin is applied so as to cover the entire pattern surface, a planarizing member is then pressed against the resin, and the resin is cured in this state. The method then involves peeling off the resin containing the foreign matter from the substrate.

Patent Document 2 describes a method for removing foreign matter on a mold, in which when foreign matter is present on the pattern of the mold, a particle removal film is formed, and then the mold is pressed against a substrate on which an imprint material has been applied, and then light is irradiated to harden the imprint material. The mold is then separated from the substrate, and the foreign matter that was on the mold is incorporated into the imprint material on the substrate.

Patent No. 5982996 Patent No. 5121549

The present inventors are considering applying the foreign matter removal methods described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 to the removal of foreign matter on a substrate. However, when a relatively large foreign matter is attached to a substrate, the foreign matter removal method described above may damage the material layer provided on the substrate or the mold used in the foreign matter removal process during the removal process. By thickening the resin that contains the foreign matter, it is possible to remove large foreign matter without damaging the mold, but there is a concern that large stress will be generated by the cure shrinkage of the resin, and if a material layer has already been provided on the substrate, the material layer may be damaged.

In view of the above problems, the present invention aims to provide a method for removing foreign matter even if large foreign matter is attached to a substrate.

In view of the above object, the foreign matter removal method of the present invention includes a foreign matter removal process in which, after the first foreign matter removal process is performed on the substrate, a second foreign matter removal process different from the first foreign matter removal process is performed on the substrate, or the second foreign matter removal process is performed on the substrate without performing the first foreign matter removal process, and the second foreign matter removal process includes a contact process in which a member is brought into contact with the curable composition on the substrate, a curing process in which the curable composition on the substrate is cured while being in contact with the member, and a separation process in which the member is separated from the substrate together with the curable composition after the curable composition has cured.

The present invention provides an advantageous configuration that can remove foreign matter even if large foreign matter is attached to the substrate.

1 is a schematic diagram showing an overall configuration of a substrate processing system; FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a foreign matter removal device. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a foreign matter removal process. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a foreign matter removal process. 11A and 11B are schematic diagrams illustrating a state in which a foreign matter removal process is performed. 1A to 1C are diagrams for explaining a method for manufacturing an article.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that in each drawing, the same reference numbers are used for the same components, and duplicated descriptions will be omitted.

In each figure of this embodiment, directions are shown in an XYZ coordinate system in which the direction parallel to the surface of the substrate is the XY plane. The directions parallel to the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis in the XYZ coordinate system are the X-direction, Y-direction, and Z-direction, respectively, and rotation around the X-axis, rotation around the Y-axis, and rotation around the Z-axis are θX, θY, and θZ, respectively. Control or drive regarding the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis means control or drive regarding the direction parallel to the X-axis, direction parallel to the Y-axis, and direction parallel to the Z-axis, respectively.

First Embodiment
In this embodiment, the following description will be given taking as an example a substrate processing system 100 that includes a foreign matter removal device that removes foreign matter from a substrate on which imprint processing is performed by an imprint apparatus 14 .

Figure 1(a) is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a substrate processing system 100. The substrate processing system 100 is provided with a cleaning device 11 (first foreign matter removal device) that removes foreign matter, an imprint type foreign matter removal device 10 (second foreign matter removal device), an imprint device 14, a substrate transport unit 13, and a control unit 17 that controls these. Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the foreign matter removal device 10.

In the following explanation, a substrate processing system 100 equipped with an imprinting device 14 as shown in FIG. 1(a) will be described. However, as shown in FIG. 1(b), the substrate processing system 100 may be configured with a cleaning device 11 and a foreign matter removal device 10, and the configuration of the present invention may be applied when cleaning a substrate to be used in a processing device other than the imprinting device 14. Specifically, it can be used in the manufacturing process of an article such as a semiconductor device, and can be used to perform a foreign matter removal process to remove foreign matter adhering to the substrate in order to prevent defects from occurring in the article. Also, although each device of the substrate processing system 100 is inlined in the example of FIG. 1 from the viewpoint of substrate contamination, it may be standalone.

The substrate transport unit 13 is used to move substrates between the cleaning device 11, the foreign matter removal device 10, and the imprint device 14 of the substrate processing system 100. The control unit 17 controls each part of the substrate processing system 100. The control unit 17 can be configured, for example, by a PLD (abbreviation for Programmable Logic Device) such as an FPGA (abbreviation for Field Programmable Gate Array), an ASIC (abbreviation for Application Specific Integrated Circuit), a general-purpose computer or memory with a built-in program, or a combination of all or part of these.

The cleaning device 11 (first foreign matter removal device) can use a cleaning method that physically removes foreign matter on a substrate, which is commonly used as a cleaning method for semiconductor substrates. For example, at least one of cleaning using fluid force, cleaning using electrostatic force, and cleaning using adhesive force can be used. More specifically, there are megasonic cleaning, two-fluid cleaning, cleaning that removes foreign matter by removing static electricity, cleaning using adhesive tape, cleaning using adhesive roller, etc., but are not limited to these. In this embodiment, a cleaning device 11 using two-fluid cleaning will be used for explanation. Such cleaning methods that physically remove foreign matter are difficult to remove small foreign matter on a substrate, but are suitable for removing relatively large foreign matter.

The imprinting device 14 is a microfabrication device that supplies (coats) uncured imprinting material onto a substrate, and then brings the imprinting material into contact with a mold to form a pattern of the imprinting material on the substrate that corresponds to the fine concave-convex pattern formed on the mold.

2 is a schematic diagram showing an imprint type foreign matter removal apparatus 10 (second foreign matter removal apparatus). The foreign matter removal process performed by the foreign matter removal apparatus 10 can include the following steps.
(a) A coating step of coating a resin layer, such as a curable composition, on a substrate.
(b) An imprinting step of bringing the resin layer provided on the substrate into contact with the template.
(c) a curing step of curing the resin layer by applying energy for curing to the resin layer.
(d) A separation step in which the cured resin layer is separated from the substrate together with the template.

By the foreign matter removal process, the foreign matter on the substrate is encapsulated in the cured resin layer and is removed from the substrate together with the resin layer. The resin layer used as the foreign matter removal material is a curable composition (sometimes called uncured resin) that is cured when energy for curing is applied. For example, heat or electromagnetic waves can be used as the energy for curing. For example, light such as infrared rays, visible light, or ultraviolet rays, whose wavelength is selected from the range of 10 nm or more and 1 mm or less, can be used as the electromagnetic wave. Hereinafter, the irradiation of the resin layer with light that causes a curing reaction is referred to as exposure.

In this embodiment, a photocurable composition that is cured by irradiation with light is used as the curable composition. The photocurable resin contains at least a plurality of polymerizable compounds and a photopolymerization initiator that generates a polymerization factor (radical) in response to a predetermined wavelength. Other additives include a sensitizer, a hydrogen donor, an internal mold release agent, a surfactant, an antioxidant, a solvent, a polymer component, and the like. A polymerizable compound is a compound that reacts with a polymerization factor (radical, etc.) generated from a photopolymerization initiator to form a film made of a polymer compound by a chain reaction (polymerization reaction). Examples of such polymerizable compounds include radical polymerizable compounds, and it is preferable that the compound is a compound having one or more acryloyl groups or methacryloyl groups, that is, a (meth)acrylic compound. The curable composition can also contain a non-polymerizable compound or a solvent. Examples of non-polymerizable compounds include a sensitizer, an internal mold release agent, a surfactant, an antioxidant, a solvent, and an antifoaming agent. The curable composition used to remove foreign matter may be the same type of material as the imprint material used in the imprint process, or a different type of material may be used.

The foreign matter removal device 10 shown in FIG. 2 includes a substrate holding unit 23 that holds a substrate 1, a drive unit 25 that moves a template holding unit 24 that holds a template 7 (also called a member or a mold), a curing unit 26, a control unit 27, and an application unit 29.

The substrate 1 may be, for example, a substrate used in device manufacturing, such as a semiconductor wafer with a pattern formed thereon, a MEMS wafer, a power semiconductor wafer, a glass substrate for a display, or a bioelement, and has multiple layers on a base material. Examples of base materials that may be used include semiconductors, glass, ceramics, metals, and resins. It is preferable to provide an adhesion layer on the surface of the substrate 1 as necessary to improve adhesion between the imprint material and the substrate 1. The adhesion layer may be formed by any method that can control the thickness of the coating film, such as inkjet coating, dispenser coating, spin coating, various printing methods such as screen, gravure, and offset printing, and dipping coating. In this embodiment, an example in which a coating-type organic material layer (SOC layer) is spin-coated as the adhesion layer will be described.

In addition, multiple shot areas (imprint areas) may be set on the substrate 1.

The template 7 used for removing foreign matter can have, for example, a circular outer shape similar to that of the substrate 1, and can be made of a material that can transmit ultraviolet light, such as quartz. The surface of the template 7 can be a flat surface without any pattern.

The substrate holding unit 23 is configured to be able to hold the substrate 1, and holds the substrate 1 brought in by the substrate transport unit 13, for example, by vacuum suction force or electrostatic force.

The template holding unit 24 is configured to be able to hold the template 7, and holds the template 7 brought in by the substrate transport unit 13 or the like, for example, by vacuum suction force or electrostatic force.

The driving unit 25 is configured to be able to move the template holding unit 24 in the Z direction, and includes an actuator such as a linear motor or an air cylinder. By controlling the distance between the substrate 1 and the template 7 with the driving unit 25, the substrate 1 and the template 7 can be brought into contact with each other or separated from each other. Furthermore, the driving unit 25 can be driven in the θX axis and the θY axis, and can also be used to adjust the parallelism between the substrate 1 and the template 7.

The curing unit 26 cures the resin layer made of photocurable resin by supplying or irradiating energy for curing the resin layer (e.g., light such as ultraviolet light). Specifically, the curing unit 26 irradiates (exposes) light through the template 7 while the resin layer 6 on the substrate 1 is in contact with the template 7. This forms a cured resin layer containing foreign matter. The curing unit 26 has, for example, a light source that emits light (exposure light such as ultraviolet light) that cures the resin layer. The curing unit 26 may also include an optical element for adjusting the light emitted from the light source to appropriate light for the foreign matter removal process.

The control unit 27 controls each part of the foreign matter removal device 10 to perform the foreign matter removal process. The control unit 27 can be configured, for example, as a PLD (Programmable Logic Device) such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), a general-purpose computer or memory with a built-in program, or a combination of all or part of these. Note that the control unit 27 may not be provided in the foreign matter removal device 10, and the control unit 17 of the substrate processing system 100 may perform the control.

The application unit 29 is configured to be able to apply the resin layer 6 to the substrate 1. The application unit 29 can apply the resin material by a method appropriately selected from various printing methods such as the inkjet method, the dispenser method, the spin coating method, and offset printing, dipping application, etc.

Figure 3 is a flowchart explaining the flow of a foreign matter removal process using the cleaning apparatus 11 (first foreign matter removal apparatus) and foreign matter removal apparatus 10 (second foreign matter removal apparatus) according to the first embodiment. Figure 4 is a flowchart explaining the detailed flow of S104 in Figure 3. Each step in Figures 3 and 4 is executed by controlling each part by the control unit 27 (or control unit 17). The flowchart in Figure 3 explains the state after the substrate 1 has been transferred from an external substrate storage facility (not shown) to the substrate processing system 100.

In step S101, the control unit 17 controls a transport device (not shown) to acquire information about foreign objects on the substrate 1 brought in from an external substrate storage facility. The foreign object information can be the results of an inspection performed by an inspection device outside the substrate processing system 100 or the results of an inspection performed by an inspection means provided within the substrate processing system 100, and is information such as the position and size of foreign objects inspected for each substrate.

In step S102, the control unit 17 determines whether or not there is a large foreign object of a predetermined size or more based on the foreign object information acquired in S101. If a large foreign object is present, the template 7 may be damaged if the foreign object removal process is performed in the second foreign object removal device in that state, so the process proceeds to S103 to perform cleaning in the cleaning device 11 suitable for removing large foreign objects. On the other hand, if there is no large foreign object, there is no need to perform cleaning in the cleaning device 11, so the process proceeds to S104 to shorten the processing time. Specifically, if the particle diameter of the foreign object is 500 nm or more, the template 7 may be damaged, so if it is determined that a foreign object of a size of 500 nm or more is present on the substrate 1, the process proceeds to S103. Figure 5 (a) shows an example in which a small foreign object 3 and a large foreign object 4 that is difficult to remove by the foreign object removal device 10 are mixed on the adhesion layer 2 of the substrate 1. However, if it is known that the template will not be destroyed even if a foreign object of 1 μm in size is present on the substrate, it is acceptable to proceed to S103 even if it is determined that a foreign object of 1 μm or larger in size is present on the substrate 1.

In step S103, the control unit 17 controls the cleaning device 11 to perform a foreign matter removal process on the substrate 1. FIG. 5(b) shows the state in which the foreign matter 4 on the adhesion layer 2 of the substrate 1 has been removed.

Next, details of step S104 will be explained using the flowchart in Figure 4.

In step S201, the control unit 27 (control unit 17) controls the application unit 29 to apply a resin layer 6 used as a foreign matter removal material onto the substrate 1 (on the adhesion layer 2). FIG. 5(c) shows the state of the substrate 1 after the resin layer 6 has been applied. The thickness of the resin layer 6 is set to 500 nm so that foreign matter with a particle diameter of 500 nm can be removed. The thickness of the resin layer 6 must be such that the adhesion layer 2 on the substrate 1 is not damaged by the contraction force during hardening, and is preferably 1 μm or less.

In step S202, the control unit 27 controls the driving unit 25 to press the template 7 against the resin layer 6 on the substrate 1. Specifically, the control unit 27 controls the driving unit 25 to lower the Z-axis position of the template holding unit 24 that holds the template 7 so that the distance between the substrate 1 and the template 7 in the Z direction gradually decreases.

Step S203 (filling step) is the time to wait until the resin layer 6 spreads between the substrate 1 and the template 7. The waiting time Ta can vary depending on factors such as the film thickness of the resin layer 6 and the surface shape of the substrate 1, and can be set by the user. If the waiting time Ta is set longer than necessary, the time required for the foreign matter removal process will be longer, so it is necessary that the waiting time Ta is an appropriate time to spread to every corner. In this embodiment, spreading the resin layer 6 to every corner between the substrate 1 and the template 7 is called filling.

In step S204 (curing step), the control unit 27 controls the curing unit 26 after the waiting time Ta has elapsed to apply curing energy to the resin layer 6 to harden it. FIG. 5(d) shows the substrate 1, template 7, and resin layer 6 in the curing step. The arrow 8 in the figure represents the curing energy. Since the curing unit 26 is located above the template 7 in the Z direction, the curing energy is applied from above the template 7. The curing energy is light that contains ultraviolet light, and since the template 7 is made of a material that transmits ultraviolet light, such as quartz glass, the curing energy reaches the resin layer 6.

In step S205 (separation step), the control unit 27 controls the drive unit 25 to drive in a direction to separate the substrate 1 and the template 7. FIG. 5(e) shows the substrate 1, the template 7, and the resin layer 6 in the separation step. When the template 7 is separated from the substrate 1, the cured resin layer 6 adheres to the template 7 side and does not remain on the substrate 1. Whether the resin layer 6 adheres to the substrate 1 or the template 7 depends on the adhesion and contact area of the resin layer 6 with each other. Therefore, a material having a large adhesion to the template 7 is selected for the resin layer 6. In addition, another layer may be provided between the template 7 and the resin layer 6 to improve the adhesion between the template 7 and the resin layer 6. The foreign matter 3 on the adhesion layer 2 of the substrate 1 is encapsulated in the cured resin layer 6, so it moves to the template 7 side together with the resin layer 6 and is removed from the substrate 1.

The above is a method for removing foreign matter using the cleaning device 11 and the foreign matter removal device 10. The template 7 used in the foreign matter removal process may be changed to a different template for each imprint, or the same template may be used repeatedly. The template used for imprinting may also be cleaned and reused. General semiconductor cleaning methods can be used to clean the template.

It may be possible to remove relatively large foreign particles by adjusting the amount of resin layer 6 applied by the foreign particle removal device 10 without using the cleaning device 11. However, as the resin film becomes thicker, the stress increases due to hardening shrinkage, and there is a concern that the coated organic material layer (SOC layer) used as an adhesion layer may be damaged.

Therefore, by using a cleaning device 11 suitable for removing large foreign matter and a foreign matter removal device 10 suitable for removing small foreign matter in combination as in the present invention, it is possible to reliably remove even small foreign matter without damaging the adhesion layer.

Regarding the manufacture of goods
The substrate from which foreign matter has been removed by the above-described method can be further used to form structures such as a cured material pattern using an imprinting device 14 or the like, and these structures can be used permanently as at least a part of various articles, or temporarily when manufacturing various articles.

The article may be an electric circuit element, an optical element, a MEMS, a recording element, a sensor, or a mold. Examples of the electric circuit element include volatile or non-volatile semiconductor memory such as DRAM, SRAM, flash memory, and MRAM, and semiconductor elements such as LSI, CCD, image sensor, and FPGA. Examples of the mold include a mold for imprinting.

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

Next, using FIG. 6, an article manufacturing method will be described in which a pattern is formed on a substrate by an imprinting device, the substrate on which the pattern is formed is processed, and an article is manufactured from the processed substrate. First, as shown in FIG. 6(a), a substrate 1z such as a silicon wafer having a workpiece 2z such as an insulator formed on its surface is prepared, and then an imprinting material 3z is applied to the surface of the workpiece 2z by an inkjet method or the like. Here, the state in which the imprinting material 3z in the form of multiple droplets is applied onto the substrate is shown.

As shown in FIG. 6(b), the imprinting mold 4z is placed with the side on which the concave-convex pattern is formed facing the imprinting material 3z on the substrate. As shown in FIG. 6(c), the substrate 1z to which the imprinting material 3z has been applied is brought into contact with the mold 4z, and pressure is applied. The imprinting material 3z fills the gap between the mold 4z and the workpiece 2z. When light is irradiated through the mold 4z in this state as hardening energy, the imprinting material 3z hardens.

As shown in FIG. 6(d), after the imprint material 3z is cured, the mold 4z and the substrate 1z are separated, and a pattern of the cured product of the imprint material 3z is formed on the substrate 1z. This cured product pattern has a shape in which the concave portions of the mold correspond to the convex portions of the cured product, and the convex portions of the mold correspond to the concave portions of the cured product, i.e., the concave-convex pattern of the mold 4z is transferred to the imprint material 3z.

As shown in FIG. 6(e), when etching is performed using the pattern of the cured material as an etching-resistant mask, the portions of the surface of the workpiece 2z where there is no cured material or where only a thin layer remains are removed, forming grooves 5z. As shown in FIG. 6(f), when the pattern of the cured material is removed, an article is obtained in which grooves 5z are formed on the surface of the workpiece 2z. Here, the pattern of the cured material is removed, but it may also be used as an interlayer insulating film included in a semiconductor element or the like, that is, as a component of an article, without being removed after processing.

The method for manufacturing an article also includes a step of forming a pattern on an imprint material supplied (applied) to a substrate using the above-mentioned imprint apparatus (imprint method), and a step of processing the substrate on which the pattern has been formed in this step. Furthermore, this manufacturing method also includes other well-known steps (oxidation, film formation, deposition, doping, planarization, etching, resist stripping, dicing, bonding, packaging, etc.). It can be said that the method for manufacturing an article of this embodiment is advantageous in at least one of the performance, quality, productivity, and production cost of the article compared to conventional methods.

The above describes preferred embodiments of the present invention, but it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various modifications and variations are possible within the scope of the gist of the invention.

Summary of the embodiment
The disclosure of the present specification includes at least the following configurations.

(Item 1)
A method for removing foreign matter on a substrate, comprising the steps of:
a foreign matter removal step of performing a first foreign matter removal process on the substrate and then performing a second foreign matter removal process different from the first foreign matter removal process, or performing the second foreign matter removal process on the substrate without performing the first foreign matter removal process,
The second foreign matter removal process includes:
a contacting step of contacting a member with the curable composition on the substrate;
a curing step of curing the curable composition on the substrate while the curable composition is in contact with the member;
and a separation step of separating the member together with the curable composition from the substrate after the curable composition has cured.

(Item 2)
An acquisition step of acquiring information about the substrate;
and determining whether to perform a first foreign matter removal process based on the acquired information,
2. The foreign matter removal method according to item 1, characterized in that, when it is determined in the determination step that the first foreign matter removal treatment is to be performed, after the first foreign matter removal treatment is performed on the substrate, a second foreign matter removal treatment different from the first foreign matter removal treatment is performed.

(Item 3)
the acquiring step acquires information about foreign matter on a substrate;
3. The foreign substance removal method according to claim 2, wherein the determining step determines whether or not to perform the first foreign substance removal process based on the acquired foreign substance information.

(Item 4)
The foreign matter removal method according to item 3, characterized in that the judgment step judges that a first foreign matter removal process is necessary when it is judged based on the acquired foreign matter information that a foreign matter of a predetermined size or larger is present.

(Item 5)
5. The method for removing foreign matter according to any one of items 1 to 4, wherein an adhesive layer is provided on the substrate, and the curable composition is applied onto the adhesive layer.

(Item 6)
6. The foreign matter removal method according to claim 5, wherein the adhesion layer is an organic material layer.

(Item 7)
7. The foreign matter removal method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the first foreign matter removal process includes at least one of a cleaning method utilizing fluid force, a cleaning method utilizing electrostatic force, and a cleaning method utilizing adhesive force.

(Item 8)
a first foreign matter removal device that performs a first foreign matter removal process;
a second foreign matter removal device that performs a second foreign matter removal process different from the first foreign matter removal process, in which a member is brought into contact with the curable composition on the substrate, the curable composition is cured, and the member is separated from the substrate together with the curable composition, thereby removing foreign matter on the substrate;
a control unit for controlling the first foreign matter removal device and the second foreign matter removal process,
The control unit controls the substrate processing system so that after the first foreign matter removal process is performed on the substrate in the first foreign matter removal device, the second foreign matter removal process is performed on the substrate in the second foreign matter removal device, or the second foreign matter removal process is performed on the substrate in the second foreign matter removal device without performing the first foreign matter removal process on the substrate in the first foreign matter removal device.

(Item 9)
The control unit determines whether to perform the first foreign matter removal process based on information about the substrate to be processed, and if it determines that the first foreign matter removal process should be performed, performs the first foreign matter removal process on the substrate in the first foreign matter removal device, and then performs the second foreign matter removal process in the second foreign matter removal device.

(Item 10)
A step of providing a substrate from which foreign matter has been removed by the foreign matter removal method according to any one of items 1 to 7;
processing the substrate;
A method for manufacturing an article, comprising manufacturing an article from the processed substrate.

Claims (10)

A method for removing foreign matter on a substrate, comprising the steps of:
a foreign matter removal step of performing a first foreign matter removal process on the substrate and then performing a second foreign matter removal process different from the first foreign matter removal process, or performing the second foreign matter removal process on the substrate without performing the first foreign matter removal process,
The second foreign matter removal process includes:
a contacting step of contacting a member with the curable composition on the substrate;
a curing step of curing the curable composition on the substrate while the curable composition is in contact with the member;
and a separation step of separating the member together with the curable composition from the substrate after the curable composition has cured. An acquisition step of acquiring information about the substrate;
and determining whether to perform a first foreign matter removal process based on the acquired information,
2. The foreign matter removal method according to claim 1, characterized in that, when it is determined in the judgment step that the first foreign matter removal process is to be performed, after the first foreign matter removal process is performed on the substrate, a second foreign matter removal process different from the first foreign matter removal process is performed. the acquiring step acquires information about foreign matter on a substrate;
3. The foreign matter removal method according to claim 2, wherein the determining step determines whether or not to perform the first foreign matter removal process based on the acquired foreign matter information. The foreign matter removal method according to claim 3, characterized in that the determination step determines that a first foreign matter removal process is necessary when it is determined based on the acquired foreign matter information that a foreign matter of a predetermined size or larger is present. The method for removing foreign matter according to claim 1, characterized in that an adhesive layer is provided on the substrate, and the curable composition is applied onto the adhesive layer. The method for removing foreign matter according to claim 5, characterized in that the adhesion layer is an organic material layer. The method for removing foreign matter according to claim 1, characterized in that the first foreign matter removal process includes at least one of the following cleaning methods: a cleaning method using fluid force, a cleaning method using electrostatic force, and a cleaning method using adhesive force. a first foreign matter removal device that performs a first foreign matter removal process;
a second foreign matter removal device that performs a second foreign matter removal process different from the first foreign matter removal process, in which a member is brought into contact with the curable composition on the substrate, the curable composition is cured, and the member is separated from the substrate together with the curable composition, thereby removing foreign matter on the substrate;
a control unit for controlling the first foreign matter removal device and the second foreign matter removal process,
The control unit controls the substrate processing system so that after the first foreign matter removal process is performed on the substrate in the first foreign matter removal device, the second foreign matter removal process is performed on the substrate in the second foreign matter removal device, or the second foreign matter removal process is performed on the substrate in the second foreign matter removal device without performing the first foreign matter removal process on the substrate in the first foreign matter removal device. The substrate processing system according to claim 8, characterized in that the control unit determines whether to perform the first foreign matter removal process based on information about the substrate to be processed, and when it determines to perform the first foreign matter removal process, performs the first foreign matter removal process on the substrate in the first foreign matter removal device, and then performs the second foreign matter removal process in the second foreign matter removal device. providing a substrate from which foreign matter has been removed by the method for removing foreign matter according to any one of claims 1 to 7;
processing the substrate;
A method for manufacturing an article, comprising manufacturing an article from the processed substrate.

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