JPS61168227A - Substrate for exposure of minute pattern and apparatus for exposing minute pattern - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable the comparative inspection of patterns of any chip size, by drawing a plurality of minute patterns in the same form on the main body of a substrate, and by providing alignment marks for each minute pattern. CONSTITUTION:A reticle 11 is formed to be twice as large as an area wherein exposure can be made, and minute patterns 2c in the same form are drawn in two places on this reticle, while reticle alignment marks 3 are prepared also in two places. Moreover, a substrate driving device having a reticle edge guide 12 which can be driven vertically is provided near a platen of a reduced projection exposure device so as to select a desired pattern 2c with ease and without fail. Even when any defect such as the presence of an alien substance is detected on either one of chips by the comparative inspection of the patterns 2c, the other chip can be mounted on the platen without elimination of said defect, and thus a pattern free from any defect can be transferred efficiently on a wafer 10.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a light-transmitting substrate (hereinafter referred to as a reticle) used when manufacturing semiconductor integrated circuit devices, etc. by photolithography, and a method using the reticle. This paper relates to the improvement of the fine Bakun exposure device.

[Conventional technology]

A conventional reticle of this type is shown in FIG. 2(a).

There was one shown in Figure 3 ia).

In the figure, 1 is a reticle, 2a and 2b are fine patterns drawn on this reticle 1, and 3 is an alignment between the reticle 1 and a reduction projection exposure device.
This is an alignment mark provided on the reticle 1 for the purpose of

Also, using the reticle 1, fine patterns 2b, 2
There are reduction projection exposure apparatuses for transferring the image 3.c on a semiconductor silicon wafer as shown in FIG. 2(C) and FIG. 3(C). In the figure, 1 to 3 are as described above,
6a and 5b are photocouplers serving as alignment mark detection means; 7 is a platen for mounting and holding the reticle 1; and 8 is provided on the platen 7 for aligning the reticle 1 with the alignment mark 3. , 9 is a reduction lens, and 10 is a semiconductor silicon wafer onto which the fine patterns 2a and 2b are transferred.

Next, the reticle 1 is
The case where the above fine patterns 2a and 2b are transferred onto the wafer 10 will be described.

First, the reticle 1 is mounted on the platen 7 of the exposure device at a location where the reticle 1 is to be fixed, and the alignment mark detector (photocoupler) 6a of the exposure device is mounted.
+ 5b, align the fiducial mark 8 formed on the platen 7 and the alignment mark 3 on the reticle 1, and fix the reticle 1 on the platen 7 in this state. 1 is aligned, and then the fine pattern 2a or 2b is transferred onto the wafer 10.

By the way, the conventionally used fine pattern 2a,
The defect inspection method for 2b is as follows: ■ A comparative inspection method in which the fine patterns 2a repeatedly formed on the reticle 1 are compared with each other (see Figure 2 (t+1)) ■ The pattern 2b on the reticle 1 is compared with the design data 5. There is a data reference inspection method (see Figure 3). Here, the inspection status is shown in Figure 2 (mountain) and Figure 3 (b).
1, 4 indicates an objective microscope of the inspection device.

The use of the above two inspection methods is based on the area that can be exposed by the reduction projection exposure device, that is, the effective area (15 mm or 2 mm in the commonly used reduction projection exposure device).
It is determined by whether a plurality of fine patterns can be formed within a diameter of 0 mmφ.

That is, as shown in FIG. 2(a), the size is such that two fine patterns 2a can fit within the effective area, for example, 7.5 x 1.5 m.
In the case of the chip No. m, an exposure device as shown in FIG. .

However, as shown in FIG.
In the case of mm, the comparative inspection method shown in Fig. 2(b) is not possible, and the data reference inspection method shown in Fig. 3(b) must be adopted.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

When performing defect inspection on a reticle 1 whose size allows only one fine pattern 2b to fit within the effective area, as shown in FIG. Since it requires comparison with data, it requires a long inspection time, and because it is necessary to store design data, it has the drawback of requiring a large capacity of data memory.

On the other hand, it may be possible to increase the effective area so that comparative inspection can be performed even when the fine pattern is large, but as the resolution of reduction projection exposure equipment improves, the effective area that can be transferred tends to become smaller. For some reasons, it is not desirable to increase the size as described above.

The present invention has been made in view of such conventional problems, and even if the size of the fine pattern is such that only one fine pattern can be drawn within the effective area, defect inspection of the fine pattern is performed using the comparative inspection method described above. A fine pattern exposure substrate that can shorten inspection time and reduce inspection design data, and the exposed area is the same as conventional ones, and the above exposure substrate can be used to create the desired fine pattern. The object of the present invention is to provide a fine pattern exposure apparatus that can transfer patterns.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention provides a fine pattern exposure substrate in which a plurality of fine patterns having the same shape and an alignment mark for positioning each fine pattern are provided on a light-transmitting substrate body. In addition, in fine pattern exposure equipment,
A substrate driving means is provided for positioning a desired fine pattern within the exposure area.

[Effect]

With the fine pattern exposure substrate of the present invention, when inspecting fine patterns for defects, a comparative inspection method can be used even if the fine pattern is large enough to fit only one within the exposure area, and A desired fine pattern can be positioned within an exposureable area of the same size.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Figure 1 fal ~ (C1 is for explaining one embodiment of the present invention, and in Figure 1 (al) showing the exposure substrate, the size of the conventionally used reticle is shown in the exposure possible area (effective area). ), for example, 5II
x 5″, whereas the reticle 11 of this example
corresponds to twice the size of the above-mentioned exposed area, for example, 5" x 10" or more, and this substrate body has a fine pattern 2 of the same shape.
C is drawn in two places. Similarly, two sets of reticle alignment marks 3 are formed on both sides of each fine pattern 2C.

In the case of a reticle with a fine pattern drawn in a size that allows only one drawing within the effective area, as shown in FIG. As shown in Figure 1(b),
Since the reticle 11 is enlarged and two fine patterns 2C are repeatedly drawn on it, it is possible to compare and inspect these two fine patterns 2C.As a result, inspection time can be shortened and design data for inspection is not required. Can be done.

In the future, as patterns become finer and more highly integrated integrated circuits such as memories are required, chip sizes will continue to increase. On the other hand, as the resolution of reduction projection exposure apparatuses improves, the effective transferable area tends to become smaller, so it is expected that the need for the reticle of this embodiment will increase.

Next, in FIG. 1 [C1] showing a fine pattern exposure apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, 12 is a reticle edge guide (positioning stopper) of a substrate driving device provided near the platen 7; is the above 2
This is for moving the substrate 11 so that a desired pattern among the two ms patterns 2C is located within the effective area.

With the device of this embodiment, for example, the fine pattern 2 on the left side of the figure
In order to transfer C onto the wafer 10, the left fine pattern 2C must first be aligned within the effective area.

Then, the center reticle edge guide 12 is lowered, and in this state, the reticle 11 is moved until it comes into contact with the right reticle edge guide 12.

Further, if the alignment mark 3 for the left fine pattern 2C is positioned on the fiducial 8 on the platen 7, the left fine pattern 2c is aligned, and in this state, the fine pattern 2C is placed on the wafer 10. It will be transferred onto the top.

In the case of a large-sized reticle 11 as shown in FIG. 1 (al), a conventional type reduction projection exposure apparatus as shown in FIG. Since only the reticle can be mounted, transfer is not possible, but in this example apparatus, a substrate drive device having a reticle edge guide 12 that can be moved vertically is installed near the platen of a conventional reduction projection exposure device, so that the desired fineness can be achieved. Pattern 2c can be selected easily and reliably. Therefore, even if a defect such as a foreign object is detected on one of the chips by a comparative inspection of pattern 2C as shown in FIG.
The other chip can be mounted on the platen without removing this defect, thereby efficiently transferring a defect-free pattern onto the wafer.

In the above embodiment, two chips are provided on one reticle, but three or more chips may be provided.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of fine patterns of the same shape are drawn on the substrate body, and alignment marks are provided for each fine pattern, making it possible to perform comparative inspection of patterns of any chip size. This has the effect of shortening the inspection time and eliminating the need for the huge amount of inspection design data that was conventionally required to be stored.Also, it is a substrate driving means for positioning the desired fine pattern in the exposure area. Since this is provided, there is an effect that a desired fine pattern can be transferred using an exposure substrate on which a plurality of fine patterns of a size that only one can be drawn in an exposure possible area are drawn.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1(a) is a plan view of a fine pattern exposure substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1(fb) is a configuration diagram for explaining the inspection method, and FIG. A configuration diagram of a fine pattern exposure apparatus according to an embodiment, FIGS. 2(a) and 3(a) are plan views of a conventional substrate for fine pattern exposure, and FIGS. FIG. 2 fQ) and FIG. 3 fcl, which are block diagrams for explaining the inspection method, are block diagrams of a conventional fine pattern exposure apparatus. 2c... Fine pattern, 3... Alignment mark, 6a, 6b, 8... Detection means, 12... Substrate drive means (reticle edge guide). Note that the same reference numerals in the figures indicate the same or equivalent parts.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A plurality of fine patterns having the same shape, and an alignment mark for aligning each fine pattern with an exposure device for transferring the fine patterns onto a wafer, on one main surface of a light-transmitting substrate body. A substrate for fine pattern exposure, which is characterized by being drawn with. (2) Any of the above-mentioned fine patterns can be produced by using a substrate on which a plurality of fine patterns of the same shape and alignment marks for positioning the fine patterns are drawn on one main surface of a light-transmitting substrate body. A fine pattern exposure apparatus for transferring a pattern onto a wafer, the apparatus comprising a detection means for detecting the alignment mark, and an alignment mark for the desired fine pattern so that the desired fine pattern is located within an exposure possible area. A fine pattern exposure apparatus comprising: substrate driving means for moving the substrate until the substrate is detected.