Method and system for detecting synchronous fault of lithography machine

Abstract

The present invention discloses a method and system for detecting synchronous faults of a photolithography machine. The method and system for detecting synchronous faults of a photolithography machine are applied to a scanning photolithography machine. The scanning photolithography machine includes multiple subsystems, including an interferometer subsystem, a servo motion control subsystem, an exposure subsystem, an alignment subsystem, and an image quality subsystem. The method includes: detecting that a host computer collects synchronous diagnostic parameters from each subsystem, and the synchronous diagnostic parameters include at least one parameter for characterizing a synchronous state; detecting that the host computer determines the synchronous state of each subsystem in the scanning photolithography machine according to the synchronous diagnostic parameters; and detecting that the host computer displays the synchronous state of each subsystem in the scanning photolithography machine through a human-computer interaction interface. The method and system for detecting synchronous faults of a photolithography machine disclosed in an embodiment of the present invention can improve the efficiency of synchronous fault detection of a scanning photolithography machine.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The embodiments of the present invention relate to lithography machine technology, and in particular to a lithography machine synchronization fault detection method and system. Background Art

[0002] Lithography machines can generally be divided into stepper lithography machines and scanning lithography machines, among which stepper lithography machines use one-shot imaging technology. Due to the dual constraints of technology and economic cost, the application occasions of stepper lithography machines are limited. Therefore, scanning lithography machines are produced, and the biggest feature of scanning lithography machines is the synchronous scanning function. During the exposure process of the scanning lithography machine, the light beam passes through a slit and is projected onto the mask surface through the illumination system. The mask passes through the light speed at a set uniform speed. At the same time, the silicon wafer moves in the opposite direction of the mask under the lens. During the scanning period, the subsystem modules involved must complete the scanning in the same time period, and the start and end times of the scanning must be the same. That is, for scanning, all subsystem modules involved must be strictly consistent in the scanning timing. During the exposure scanning process, there are strict synchronous timing requirements for the subsystems involved. At the same time, other scanning, such as alignment scanning, also has strict synchronous timing requirements for all subsystem modules involved.

[0003] However, currently the synchronization fault information of the underlying hardware synchronization link of the lithography machine and the synchronization fault information caused by the subsystem are not visible to the host computer, and the source of the fault cannot be quickly and intuitively reflected. In addition, there is a lack of system detection at the level of the entire machine, and the diagnostic information of the subsystem is relatively scattered. If a synchronization interruption is lost or the synchronization status cannot be received, it will be very difficult to quickly troubleshoot and resolve the synchronization fault. Summary of the invention

[0004] The present invention provides a method and system for detecting synchronous faults of a photolithography machine, which can improve the efficiency of detecting synchronous faults of a scanning photolithography machine.

[0005] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for detecting synchronization failures of a lithography machine, which is applied to a scanning lithography machine, wherein the scanning lithography machine includes multiple subsystems, including an interferometer subsystem, a servo motion control subsystem, an exposure subsystem, an alignment subsystem, and an image quality subsystem. The method includes:

[0006] The detection host computer collects synchronization diagnosis parameters from each subsystem, and the synchronization diagnosis parameters include at least one parameter for characterizing the synchronization state;

[0007] The detection host computer determines the synchronization status of each subsystem in the scanning lithography machine according to the synchronization diagnosis parameters;

[0008] The detection host computer displays the synchronization status of each subsystem in the scanning lithography machine through the human-computer interaction interface.

[0009] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, each subsystem of the scanning lithography machine includes a control module, and the control module of each subsystem is connected to the detection host computer via Ethernet. The control module of each subsystem is used to collect synchronous diagnostic parameters within the subsystem and send them to the detection host computer.

[0010] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, before the detection host computer collects synchronous diagnostic parameters from each subsystem, the method further includes:

[0011] In each servo cycle, the control module in the servo motion control subsystem sends a synchronous scanning instruction to the motion synchronization timing control board card in the servo motion control subsystem;

[0012] The motion synchronization timing control board sends synchronization status information to the workpiece table motion controller in the servo motion control subsystem and the synchronization bus control board in the interferometer subsystem;

[0013] The synchronous bus control board in the interferometer subsystem sends synchronization status information to the interferometer motion controller in the interferometer subsystem, the dose timing control card in the exposure subsystem, the alignment timing control card in the alignment subsystem, and the image quality timing control card in the image quality subsystem, and receives synchronization fault diagnosis parameters sent by the dose timing control card, the alignment timing control card, and the image quality timing control card;

[0014] Among them, after receiving the synchronization status information, the dose timing control card, the alignment timing control card and the image quality timing control card determine the synchronization status within their respective subsystems and generate synchronization fault diagnosis parameters.

[0015] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the detection host computer collects synchronous diagnostic parameters from each subsystem, including:

[0016] The detection host computer collects the synchronous diagnosis parameters of each subsystem from the interferometer subsystem.

[0017] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the synchronization fault diagnosis parameter includes a hardware link state, and the hardware link state is a wiring state code;

[0018] After receiving the synchronous fault diagnosis parameters sent by the dose timing control card, the alignment timing control card and the image quality timing control card, it also includes:

[0019] The wiring status code corresponding to each subsystem is stored in the wiring status register;

[0020] The detection host computer collects the synchronous diagnostic parameters of each subsystem from the interferometer subsystem, including:

[0021] The detection host computer reads the wiring status code of each subsystem from the wiring status register;

[0022] The detection host computer determines the synchronization status of each subsystem in the scanning lithography machine according to the synchronization diagnosis parameters, including:

[0023] The detection host computer determines the wiring status of each subsystem according to the wiring status code of each subsystem.

[0024] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the synchronization status information and the synchronization fault diagnosis parameter include a synchronization status code;

[0025] After receiving the synchronous fault diagnosis parameters sent by the dose timing control card, the alignment timing control card and the image quality timing control card, it also includes:

[0026] Compare the external synchronization status code sent by each subsystem with the internal synchronization status code sent by the synchronous bus control board, and store the comparison result in the synchronization status register;

[0027] The detection host computer collects the synchronous diagnostic parameters of each subsystem from the interferometer subsystem, including:

[0028] The detection host computer reads the synchronization status code comparison result of each subsystem from the synchronization status register;

[0029] The detection host computer determines the synchronization status of each subsystem in the scanning lithography machine according to the synchronization diagnosis parameters, including:

[0030] The detection host computer determines the synchronization status of each subsystem based on the comparison results of each subsystem.

[0031] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the method further includes:

[0032] The internal synchronization subsystem and the external synchronization subsystem record a first count value and a second count value respectively, wherein the first count value is the number of times the internal synchronization subsystem enters a servo cycle after receiving a synchronization status code, and the second count value is the number of times the external synchronization subsystem enters a servo cycle after receiving a synchronization status code, wherein the internal synchronization subsystem includes a subsystem to which a synchronization bus control board and a motion synchronization timing control board belong, and the external synchronization subsystem includes a subsystem to which a dose timing control card, an alignment timing control card, and an image quality timing control card belong;

[0033] The detection host computer obtains the first count value and the second count value respectively, and determines the synchronization state of the internal synchronization subsystem and the external synchronization subsystem according to the comparison result of the first count value and the second count value.

[0034] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the method further includes:

[0035] The dose timing control board detects whether the synchronous output signal and the scanning trigger signal of the laser in the exposure subsystem are aligned. If not, an exposure timing fault message is sent to the detection host computer.

[0036] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the dose timing control board detects whether a synchronous output signal of a laser in an exposure subsystem and a scanning trigger signal are aligned, including:

[0037] The dose timing control board detects whether the timing error between the synchronous output signal and the scanning trigger signal of the laser in the exposure subsystem is within the preset time threshold;

[0038] If the timing error between the synchronous output signal and the scanning trigger signal of the laser in the exposure subsystem is not within the preset time threshold, an exposure timing fault message is sent to the detection host computer, and the advance lighting time calculated according to the timing error is stored in the preset timing error register.

[0039] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the detection host computer collects synchronous diagnostic parameters from each subsystem, including:

[0040] After receiving the synchronous fault detection instruction triggered by the user, the detection host computer collects synchronous diagnosis parameters from each subsystem;

[0041] Alternatively, the detection host computer collects synchronous diagnostic parameters from each subsystem according to a preset detection cycle.

[0042] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a synchronous fault detection system for a lithography machine, including: a scanning lithography machine and a detection host computer, the scanning lithography machine includes multiple subsystems, and the multiple subsystems include an interferometer subsystem, a servo motion control subsystem, an exposure subsystem, an alignment subsystem, and an image quality subsystem;

[0043] The detection host computer is used to collect synchronization diagnostic parameters from each subsystem. The synchronization diagnostic parameters include at least one parameter used to characterize the synchronization state. The synchronization state of each subsystem in the scanning lithography machine is determined according to the synchronization diagnostic parameters, and the synchronization state of each subsystem in the scanning lithography machine is displayed through the human-computer interaction interface.

[0044] The lithography machine synchronization fault detection method and system provided by the embodiment of the present invention adopts a detection host computer to collect synchronization diagnosis parameters of each subsystem of the scanning lithography machine, judges the synchronization status of each subsystem of the scanning lithography machine through the synchronization diagnosis parameters, and displays the synchronization status of each subsystem of the scanning lithography machine through a human-computer interaction interface, so that maintenance personnel can intuitively see the synchronization status of each subsystem of the scanning lithography machine, thereby facilitating on-site personnel to quickly discover problems with the scanning lithography machine and solve the problems. In addition, a fault tree is used in the detection host computer to analyze and judge the fault, and according to the performance information of the fault and the collected fault diagnosis parameters, the root error is deeply dug out and reported by the host computer human-computer interaction interface, and corresponding solutions can be given according to the root fault. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0045] Figure 1 A flow chart of a method for detecting faults in a lithography synchronizer provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0046] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of a scanning lithography machine;

[0047] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the communication between the driver software and firmware of the slave synchronization board;

[0048] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of synchronous detection inside a scanning lithography machine;

[0049] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of the synchronization timing principle of the dose timing control board in the lithography machine synchronization fault detection method provided by the embodiment of the present invention;

[0050] Figure 6 A flowchart of another method for detecting faults of a lithography synchronizer provided in an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0051] The present invention will be further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It is to be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present invention, rather than to limit the present invention. It should also be noted that, for ease of description, only parts related to the present invention, rather than all structures, are shown in the accompanying drawings.

[0052] Scanning photolithography machines have been widely used because of their synchronous scanning function. However, since scanning photolithography machines require multiple subsystems to work together to complete photolithography operations, each subsystem needs to have strict synchronization timing. The photolithography machine mainly includes the interferometer subsystem, servo motion control subsystem, image quality subsystem, exposure subsystem, and alignment subsystem, and multiple subsystems need to be synchronized in timing. The timing synchronization between the subsystems in traditional scanning photolithography machines is only completed inside the photolithography machine and cannot be perceived on the control host computer. Therefore, when the timing of the subsystems of the scanning photolithography machine is not synchronized, the maintenance personnel cannot accurately locate the fault in the scanning photolithography machine in a timely manner, thereby reducing the fault maintenance efficiency of the scanning photolithography machine.

[0053] Figure 1 A flowchart of a method for detecting a fault in a lithography synchronizer provided by an embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. Figure 1 As shown, the lithography machine fault detection method provided in this embodiment includes:

[0054] Step S101 : The detection host computer collects synchronization diagnosis parameters from each subsystem, and the synchronization diagnosis parameters include at least one parameter for characterizing the synchronization state.

[0055] The photolithography synchronizer fault detection method provided in the embodiment of the present invention is applied to a scanning photolithography machine, which includes an interferometer subsystem, a servo motion control subsystem, an exposure subsystem, an alignment subsystem and an image quality subsystem. Figure 2 It is a structural schematic diagram of a scanning lithography machine, wherein the interferometer subsystem 21 is used for position sampling and measurement, including a synchronous bus control board 211, a motion control card 212, a counting card 213, a multi-channel optical fiber card 214, and a sampling axis card 215. The synchronous bus control board 211 performs timing synchronization control on the motion control card 212, the counting card 213, the multi-channel optical fiber card 214, and the sampling axis card 215 in the interferometer subsystem. The servo motion control subsystem 22 is used for motion control of the workpiece stage, including a servo timing control card 221 and a motion control card 222, wherein the servo timing control card 221 is used for timing synchronization control of the motion control card 222, and the motion control card 222 is used for motion control of the workpiece stage. The exposure subsystem 23 is used for exposure control. The alignment subsystem 24 is used for alignment control of the mask and the silicon wafer. The image quality subsystem 25 is used to detect the imaging quality. The exposure subsystem 23, the alignment subsystem 24, and the image quality subsystem 25 respectively include a dose control card 231, an alignment timing control card 241, and an image quality timing control card 251 for timing control.

[0056] In order to inform the maintenance personnel whether the scanning lithography machine has a synchronization failure, in this embodiment, a detection host computer is provided. The detection host computer can be an independent device, which is arranged in the machine room for maintaining the scanning lithography machine and connected to each subsystem of the scanning lithography machine through a wired or wireless connection. Alternatively, the detection host computer can also be in the form of software, which is arranged in any computer device and connected to each subsystem of the scanning lithography machine through a wired or wireless connection.

[0057] In order to realize connection with the detection host computer, each subsystem in the scanning lithography machine can be provided with a control module respectively. The control module of each subsystem is connected to the detection host computer through Ethernet 200. The control module of each subsystem is used to collect the synchronous diagnostic parameters in the subsystem and send them to the detection host computer. Among them, the interferometer subsystem 21 includes a position sampling control module 210, the servo motion control subsystem 22 includes a servo timing control module 220, the exposure subsystem 23 includes a dose control module 230, the alignment subsystem includes an alignment control module 240, and the image quality subsystem 25 includes an image quality control module 250. The control module in each subsystem can be any module with processing capability and can be connected to the detection host computer 20 through Ethernet 200. For example, each control module can be implemented through Power PC (Performance Optimization With Enhanced RISC-Performance Computing). Of course, each subsystem in the scanning lithography machine can also be directly connected to the detection host computer without the control module, and the transmission of synchronous diagnostic parameters can be realized through other possible data transmission ports and links.

[0058] Taking the scanning lithography machine as an example, each subsystem includes a control module, and the drivers of each subsystem are respectively run in the position sampling control module 210, the servo timing control module 220, the dose control module 230, the alignment control module 240 and the image quality control module 250, such as vxworks driver software. In addition, the detection host computer 20 can also run the drivers matching each subsystem. The synchronous bus control board 211 running in the interferometer subsystem 21 and the servo timing control card 221 in the servo motion control subsystem 22 are used as the main synchronous board of the synchronous control system, and the image quality timing control card 251 of the image quality subsystem 25, the dose control card 231 of the exposure subsystem 23 and the alignment timing control card 241 of the alignment subsystem 24 are used as slave synchronous boards. Among them, the servo timing control card 221 is connected to the synchronous bus control board card 211 through the chassis backplane P0 port, rear input / output (IO) and Mo-syncbus 400, and the synchronous bus control board card 211 is connected to each subsystem slave synchronous board card (dose control card 231, alignment timing control card 241 and image quality timing control card 251) through the chassis backplane P0 port, rear IO and syncbus 300 bus. In the interferometer subsystem 21, the synchronous bus control board card 211 is connected to the motion control card 212, the counting card 213, the multi-channel optical fiber card 214, and the sampling axis card 215 through the internal synchronous bus SDB. In the servo motion control subsystem 22, the servo timing control card 221 is connected to the motion control card 222 through the internal synchronous bus MDB, and the internal synchronous bus is used for broadcasting synchronization status and data transmission within the subsystem.

[0059] The dose control card 231, the alignment timing control card 241 and the image quality timing control card 251 can adopt a digital signal processing (DSP) + field programmable gate array (FPGA) architecture, the firmware program runs on the DSP, and the firmware and FPGA are used as logic modules of the detection system to diagnose fault information of the subsystem. Figure 3 Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the communication structure between the driver software and firmware of the slave synchronization board. Figure 3 As shown, the communication between the driver software and the firmware is provided by the VME (VersaModule Eurocard) bus through the dual port random access memory (DpRAM), so as to realize the command and parameter communication between the detection host computer and the slave synchronization board.

[0060] Inside the scanning lithography machine, each subsystem can achieve timing synchronization detection through a preset synchronization detection process. Figure 4Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of synchronous detection inside a scanning lithography machine. Figure 4 As shown, in each servo cycle, the control module in the servo motion control subsystem sends a synchronous scanning instruction to the motion synchronization timing control board in the servo motion control subsystem (through the VME bus); the motion synchronization timing control board sends synchronization status information to the workpiece stage motion controller in the servo motion control subsystem (through the MDB bus), and to the synchronization bus control board in the interferometer subsystem (through the MO-syncbus bus); the synchronization bus control board in the interferometer subsystem sends synchronization status information to the interferometer motion controller in the interferometer subsystem (through the SDB bus), and to the dose timing control card in the exposure subsystem, the alignment timing control card in the alignment subsystem, and the image quality timing control card in the image quality subsystem (through the syncbus bus), and receives the synchronization fault diagnosis parameters sent by the dose timing control card, the alignment timing control card, and the image quality timing control card (through the syncbus bus); wherein, after receiving the synchronization status information, the dose timing control card, the alignment timing control card, and the image quality timing control card determine the synchronization status in their respective subsystems and generate synchronization fault diagnosis parameters. The synchronization fault diagnosis parameter includes at least one parameter for characterizing the synchronization state, for example, it may include the connection state, the previous cycle synchronization state code, the board state and state parameters, etc. Figure 4 ① represents synchronization fault diagnosis parameters, and ② represents synchronization status information.

[0061] Step S102, the host computer determines the synchronization status of each subsystem in the scanning lithography machine according to the synchronization diagnosis parameters.

[0062] After the detection host computer collects the synchronization diagnostic parameters from each subsystem of the scanning lithography machine, since each synchronization diagnostic parameter is a parameter used to characterize the synchronization state, the detection host computer can determine the synchronization state of each subsystem according to the synchronization diagnostic parameters corresponding to each subsystem. For example, the synchronization fault detection parameters include the wiring state, the previous cycle synchronization state code, the board state and the state parameters. Then the detection host computer can determine whether there is a fault in the link connection of each subsystem through the wiring state, whether each subsystem is synchronized through whether the previous cycle synchronization state code of each subsystem is the same, whether the state of each board in each subsystem is normal through the board state, and the specific state parameters of each board can be determined through the state parameters.

[0063] Step S103, detecting the synchronization status of each subsystem in the scanning lithography machine displayed by the host computer through the human-computer interaction interface.

[0064] In order to enable maintenance personnel to easily know whether there is a synchronization failure in each subsystem of the scanning lithography machine, a human-computer interaction interface is configured on the detection host computer, and the synchronization status of each subsystem in the scanning lithography machine is displayed in the human-computer interaction interface. The human-computer interaction interface can intuitively reflect the problems of the lower computer (i.e., each subsystem of the scanning lithography machine), and detect the status of each subsystem through the indicator light. Under normal conditions, the indicator light is a normal color. After the user actively triggers the diagnosis, the detection host computer collects the synchronization diagnosis parameters of each subsystem through Ethernet, including the hardware link status, the internal and external synchronization status code status, the board status and status parameters, etc. to determine whether a fault occurs, and further analyzes the source of the fault according to the fault tree set in advance. If one or several subsystems fail, the color of the indicator light will become an alarm color. Alternatively, each subsystem of the scanning lithography machine can actively send synchronization diagnosis parameters to the detection host computer according to a certain period, and the detection host computer will judge the synchronization status of each subsystem and display it in the human-computer interaction interface. The host computer interface presents a simplified diagram of the field scanning lithography machine. When the hardware link is abnormal, the corresponding link of the scanning lithography machine in the simplified version of the host computer human-computer interaction interface turns into an alarm color. When the user clicks the alarm link, a sub-interface pops up, which displays the underlying detection point or register status of the fault subsystem, and gives the final diagnostic information and the reason for the status. Then, the user double-clicks the analysis entry to pop up the recovery method, which is convenient for on-site personnel to quickly find and solve the problem.

[0065] The user can quickly locate the root cause of the fault by checking the indicator lights on the upper computer human-machine interface, the subsystem same-station link, and the synchronization status code, board status, and status parameter status, and can quickly restore the entire machine through the corresponding standard operating procedure (SOP), thereby reducing equipment downtime, improving equipment operation stability, and improving work efficiency.

[0066] In addition, the detection of the host computer through the synchronization fault tree can quickly locate the source of the fault such as inconsistent synchronization status code and subsystem loss of synchronization interruption, and provide solutions. Quickly locate the problem of abnormal subsystem interruption, and also solve the problem of abnormal acquisition of synchronization status code by each subsystem of the lithography machine, reducing the cost of troubleshooting and solving problems. According to the special fault tree, the analysis and judgment are carried out, and according to the performance information of the fault and the collected diagnostic parameters, the root error is deeply dug out and reported by the host computer interface, and the corresponding solution can be given according to the root fault.

[0067] The lithography machine synchronization fault detection method provided in this embodiment adopts a detection host computer to collect the synchronization diagnosis parameters of each subsystem of the scanning lithography machine, judge the synchronization status of each subsystem of the scanning lithography machine through the synchronization diagnosis parameters, and display the synchronization status of each subsystem of the scanning lithography machine through a human-computer interaction interface, so that maintenance personnel can intuitively see the synchronization status of each subsystem of the scanning lithography machine, thereby facilitating on-site personnel to quickly discover problems with the scanning lithography machine and solve the problems.

[0068] based on Figure 2-Figure 4 The scanning lithography machine and timing synchronization process shown, the lithography synchronization machine fault detection method provided by the embodiment of the present invention can also perform further detailed detection on the synchronization fault of the scanning lithography machine.

[0069] Among them, according to Figure 4 From the internal synchronization detection process of the scanning lithography machine shown, it can be seen that there are a main synchronization subsystem and a slave synchronization subsystem in the scanning lithography machine, wherein the synchronization timing of the slave synchronization subsystem is sent by the main synchronization subsystem, and the slave synchronization subsystem also sends synchronization fault diagnosis parameters to the main synchronization subsystem. Then the detection host computer can also collect the synchronization diagnosis parameters of the scanning light technology from the main synchronization subsystem of the scanning lithography machine. More specifically, the detection host computer can collect the synchronization diagnosis parameters of each subsystem from the interferometer subsystem.

[0070] In one embodiment, the synchronous fault diagnosis parameter includes a hardware link state, and the hardware link state is a wiring state code, that is, a few bits of coding (generally two bits) are used as different wiring state codes to identify the hardware link state of each subsystem. Then, after the synchronous bus control board receives the wiring state code sent by the dose timing control card, the alignment timing control card and the image quality timing control card, the synchronous bus control board stores the wiring state code corresponding to each subsystem in the wiring state register. Then the detection host computer can read the wiring state code of each subsystem from the wiring state register, so that the detection host computer can determine the wiring state of each subsystem according to the wiring state code of each subsystem. After the detection host computer obtains the wiring state code of each subsystem, it makes further judgment and displays which subsystem reports an error, and provides a set of recovery mechanisms and board self-test methods in the human interaction interface of the detection host computer.

[0071] In one embodiment, the synchronization status information and the synchronization fault diagnosis parameters include a synchronization status code, that is, the synchronization status information and the synchronization fault diagnosis parameters sent between the subsystems in the scanning lithography machine are a specific synchronization status code. The synchronization status code can be divided into an internal synchronization status code and an external synchronization status code, wherein the synchronization status code sent by the synchronous bus control board is the internal synchronization status code, and the synchronization status code sent by other subsystems is the external synchronization status code. By comparing the internal synchronization status code with the external synchronization status code, it can be determined whether the synchronization status of each subsystem has a fault.

[0072] After receiving the external synchronization status code sent by the dose timing control card, the alignment timing control card and the image quality timing control card, the synchronization bus control board compares the external synchronization status code sent by each subsystem with the internal synchronization status code sent by the synchronization bus control board, and stores the comparison result in the synchronization status register. The detection host computer can read the synchronization status code comparison result of each subsystem from the synchronization status register, and determine the synchronization status of each subsystem according to the comparison result of each subsystem.

[0073] The synchronization status code may adopt any code that can change with the synchronization status of the subsystem.

[0074] In addition, in the scanning lithography machine, the internal synchronization subsystem and the external synchronization subsystem can also record the first count value and the second count value respectively, wherein the first count value is the number of times the internal synchronization subsystem enters the servo cycle after receiving the synchronization status code, and the second count value is the number of times the external synchronization subsystem enters the servo cycle after receiving the synchronization status code. The internal synchronization subsystem includes the subsystems to which the synchronization bus control board and the motion synchronization timing control board belong (i.e., the interferometer subsystem and the servo motion control subsystem), and the external synchronization subsystem includes the subsystems to which the dose timing control card, the alignment timing control card, and the image quality timing control card belong (i.e., the exposure subsystem, the alignment subsystem, and the image quality subsystem). The first count value and the second count value are the number of servo cycles (tick counts) corresponding to the scanning time and the preparation time entered by each subsystem after receiving the synchronization status code.

[0075] For the external synchronization subsystem (exposure subsystem, alignment subsystem and image quality subsystem), the synchronization board (dose timing control card, alignment timing control card, image quality timing control card) returns the synchronization status code value of the previous servo cycle in each servo cycle. The synchronous bus control board compares the sent synchronization status code with the returned synchronization status code. If correct, write 1 to the corresponding bit of the synchronization status register of the subsystem, otherwise write 0. The detection host computer queries the synchronization status register of the synchronous bus control board, makes an analysis, and displays it on the human-computer interaction interface. When the synchronization status code is wrong, the user can double-click the analysis item on the interface to pop up the solution to the external synchronization status code failure.

[0076] For the servo motion control subsystem and interferometer subsystem, the workpiece table motion controller and the interferometer motion controller write the synchronization status code broadcast by the synchronization bus control card or the motion synchronization timing control board card to the VME address, detect whether the host computer can access the VME address through the synchronization driver software, and analyze whether the synchronization status code sent is consistent with that received by the subsystem.

[0077] The tick in the embodiment of the present application refers to a servo cycle. In order to accurately control the preparation time and scanning time of the scanning lithography machine, the preparation time and scanning time are divided into several ticks respectively. After receiving the tick number, the motion synchronization timing control board in the servo motion control subsystem broadcasts the synchronization status code once per servo cycle. The other subsystems then scan according to the synchronization status given by the current servo cycle. Therefore, in order to ensure the correctness of the number, it is strictly required that the number of ticks received by each subsystem must be consistent with the preparation time or scanning time broadcast by the motion synchronization timing control board. The tick number is calculated as follows:

[0078] N tick_prep =prep_time / servo_period,

[0079] N tick_scan =scan_time / servo_period,

[0080] Among them, N tick_prep Indicates the number of ticks corresponding to the preparation time, prep_time indicates the preparation time, servo_period indicates the servo period, N tick_scan Indicates the number of ticks corresponding to the scan time, and scan_time indicates the scan time.

[0081] When the synchronous bus control card or motion synchronous timing control board broadcasts the synchronous status code, the dose timing control card, image quality timing control card, alignment timing control card, and workpiece stage motion controller automatically analyze whether it is the synchronous state required for scanning after receiving the synchronous status code in each servo cycle. If so, a DSP interrupt is generated to the board DSP. Each time an interrupt is generated, the firmware will accumulate once, that is, the number of times the servo cycle is entered after receiving the synchronous status code, that is, the number of ticks in the scanning parameters is recorded. When the scan stops, the firmware writes this value to the VME address, and the interferometer firmware will accumulate the number of times the synchronous status code is received in the alignment cycle due to special needs. When the scan stops, this tick value is saved at the specified VME bus address. The host computer can access the VME address through the synchronous driver software and analyze whether the preparation time / scan time sent is consistent with the subsystem received. It can also access the VME address in each external synchronous chassis through the external synchronous subsystem driver to analyze the correctness of the preparation time / scan time.

[0082] In one embodiment, the lithography machine synchronization fault detection method provided by the embodiment of the present invention can also detect whether the lighting timing of the dose timing control board is normal during the mask scanning process. The dose timing control board detects whether the synchronous output signal and the scanning trigger signal of the laser in the exposure subsystem are aligned. If not, an exposure timing fault message is sent to the detection host computer. The dose timing control board is used to execute the dose control algorithm, give the HV value of the laser, and further realize the exposure control of the laser through the logic module and interface management provided by the FPGA. The dose control driver software communicates with the firmware through the VME bus. The driver software receives the commands and data sent by the user and sends them to the dose timing control board. Then the dose timing control board uploads the results of the command execution to the driver software, and then returns to the human-computer interaction interface of the detection host computer.

[0083] Furthermore, the above process can also be that the dose timing control board detects whether the timing error of the synchronous output signal and the scanning trigger signal of the laser in the exposure subsystem is within the preset time threshold; if the timing error of the synchronous output signal and the scanning trigger signal of the laser in the exposure subsystem is not within the preset time threshold, an exposure timing fault message is sent to the detection host computer, and the advance lighting time calculated according to the timing error is stored in the preset timing error register.

[0084] Figure 5 The dose timing control board card in the lithography machine synchronization fault detection method provided by the embodiment of the present invention realizes the synchronization timing principle diagram, such as Figure 5 As shown, the laser lighting time is determined by the motion synchronization timing control board. In the first synchronization state START->SCAN, the dose control timing board is given a REMA signal in the previous servo cycle. The REMA duration is as follows: Figure 5As shown, REMA is sent out one servo cycle in advance of the START->SCAN signal, and disappears one servo cycle before the end of the RA scan. The dose control timing board will send an external trigger signal to the laser through a communication structure (such as RS485) after receiving the REMA signal and a period of time before START->SCAN (the machine constant of the laser) according to the light output parameters set by the driver software. After receiving the trigger signal, the laser will delay for a period of time (the machine constant of the laser) to physically light. At the first SCAN moment, the laser returns the SyncOut signal to the dose timing control board. In the current cycle, the mask alignment control board uses the START->SCAN moment of the first synchronization state as the reference to delay the fixed time Triger_delay to collect the light intensity. Therefore, the motion synchronization timing control board is used as the timing control reference of the two subsystems. The dose timing control board is required to trigger the laser strictly according to the instructions of the motion synchronization timing control board, so that the SyncOut signal and the START->SCAN moment are aligned.

[0085] The dose timing control board lighting timing diagnosis scheme of the present invention is that when the dose timing control board recognizes that the synchronization state code is mask alignment scanning, parameters are sent to the firmware to enable the FPGA detection synchronization timing function module of the dose timing control board. At this time, when the FPGA parses the SyncOut signal and the START->SCAN moment timing is not within the allowed range, it is considered to be a timing fault, the synchronization state code register is written as 0x1f, and a DSP interrupt is generated. At this time, the DSP receives the interrupt and parses it to 0x1f, and will actively return it to the driver, report the mask alignment scanning timing misalignment error through EH, stop scanning, set the board state to 0x8, and write the advance lighting time into the state parameter register. The FPGA returns the two values ​​to the synchronous bus control board through the syncbus, and the human-computer interaction interface of the host computer can be detected to obtain the timing fault. Before the next scan, the dose control firmware triggers the FPGA to clear the board state and the state parameter register data. The module triggers the diagnosis by actively reporting the error detected.

[0086] The advance lighting time is stored in the 8-bit state parameter register. The calculation method of the advance lighting time T is: T = 200us-(seq_set-1)*50us-cycle_set*10ns

[0087] Among them, (seq_set-1)*50us indicates fifty microseconds precision, and cycle_set*10ns indicates 10 nanoseconds precision. Assuming 200us is a servo cycle, seq_set is the lower 3 bits of the received state parameter, and the value of seq_set is not greater than 5. When seq_set=5, the advance light-up time T=0us, and the maximum value of cycle_set*10ns does not exceed 50us. The maximum value of cycle_set is 5000ns, and 5000ns needs to be represented by the remaining 5 bits of the register, cycle_set=(high 5 bits of the state parameter)*(5000 / 32), and the precision is 1562.5ns.

[0088] Figure 6 A flowchart of another method for detecting faults of a lithography synchronizer provided by an embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. Figure 6 As shown, the lithography machine fault detection method provided in this embodiment is a complete detection process executed by the user on the detection host computer. Figure 6 As shown:

[0089] Step S601, entering the diagnosis interface in the human interaction interface of the detection host computer.

[0090] Step S602, download the firmware and initialize it.

[0091] Step S603: Initialize the driver software.

[0092] Step S604, click the detection button to perform one-key detection.

[0093] Step S605, check the alarm lights of each subsystem, if there is an alarm, execute step S606, if there is no alarm, end the detection process.

[0094] Step S606, check the dynamic link diagram of the scanning lithography machine to see if the links of each subsystem change color to alarm, if so, execute step S607, if not, execute step S608.

[0095] Step S607, check the link check SOP of the error reporting subsystem, the link self-check interface, insert the self-check test tooling, perform a one-key self-check, locate the erroneous link, and restore the link, and return to step S604.

[0096] Step S608, check whether the internal and external synchronization status code is correct, if an error is reported, execute step S609, if no error is reported, execute step S610.

[0097] Step S609, check the internal and external synchronization status code abnormal SOP, locate the problem, and restore the device / software configuration, and return to step S604.

[0098] Step S610, check the status and status parameters of each subsystem board. If an error is reported, check the board abnormality SOP, locate the problem, and restore / correct the equipment, and return to step S604.

[0099] The embodiment of the present invention further provides a photolithography synchronizer fault detection system. The structure of the photolithography synchronizer fault detection system provided by the embodiment of the present invention is as follows: Figure 2 As shown, it includes a scanning lithography machine and a detection host computer. The specific implementation principle and technical effect of the lithography machine synchronization fault detection system provided by the embodiment of the present invention have been Figures 1 to 6 The detailed description is given in the illustrated embodiment and will not be repeated here.

[0100] Note that the above are only preferred embodiments of the present invention and the technical principles used. Those skilled in the art will understand that the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments herein, and that various obvious changes, readjustments and substitutions can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of protection of the present invention. Therefore, although the present invention has been described in more detail through the above embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and may include more other equivalent embodiments without departing from the concept of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is determined by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for detecting synchronization failure of a lithography machine, characterized in that: Applied to a scanning lithography machine, the scanning lithography machine includes multiple subsystems, the multiple subsystems include an interferometer subsystem, a servo motion control subsystem, an exposure subsystem, an alignment subsystem and an image quality subsystem, the method includes: The detection host computer collects synchronization diagnosis parameters from each subsystem, wherein the synchronization diagnosis parameters include at least one parameter for characterizing the synchronization state; The detection host computer determines the synchronization status of each subsystem in the scanning lithography machine according to the synchronization diagnosis parameters; The detection host computer displays the synchronization status of each subsystem in the scanning lithography machine through a human-computer interaction interface; Before the detection host computer collects synchronous diagnosis parameters from each subsystem, it also includes: In each servo cycle, the control module in the servo motion control subsystem sends a synchronous scanning instruction to the motion synchronization timing control board card in the servo motion control subsystem; The motion synchronization timing control board sends synchronization status information to the workpiece stage motion controller in the servo motion control subsystem and the synchronization bus control board in the interferometer subsystem; The synchronous bus control board in the interferometer subsystem sends the synchronization status information to the interferometer motion controller in the interferometer subsystem, the dose timing control card in the exposure subsystem, the alignment timing control card in the alignment subsystem, and the image quality timing control card in the image quality subsystem, and receives the synchronization fault diagnosis parameters sent by the dose timing control card, the alignment timing control card, and the image quality timing control card; Wherein, after receiving the synchronization status information, the dose timing control card, the alignment timing control card and the image quality timing control card determine the synchronization status within their respective subsystems and generate synchronization fault diagnosis parameters; The dose timing control card detects whether the synchronous output signal of the laser in the exposure subsystem is aligned with the scanning trigger signal, and if not, sends an exposure timing fault message to the detection host computer.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Each subsystem of the scanning lithography machine includes a control module, and the control module of each subsystem is connected to the detection host computer via Ethernet. The control module of each subsystem is used to collect synchronous diagnostic parameters within the subsystem and send them to the detection host computer.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The detection host computer collects synchronous diagnostic parameters from each subsystem, including: The detection host computer collects the synchronous diagnosis parameters of each subsystem from the interferometer subsystem.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The synchronization fault diagnosis parameter includes a hardware link state, and the hardware link state is a wiring state code; After receiving the synchronization fault diagnosis parameters sent by the dose timing control card, the alignment timing control card and the image quality timing control card, the method further includes: The wiring status code corresponding to each subsystem is stored in the wiring status register; The detection host computer collects synchronous diagnostic parameters of each subsystem from the interferometer subsystem, including: The detection host computer reads the wiring status code of each subsystem from the wiring status register; The detection host computer determines the synchronization status of each subsystem in the scanning lithography machine according to the synchronization diagnosis parameter, including: The detection host computer determines the wiring status of each subsystem according to the wiring status code of each subsystem.

5. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that: The synchronization status information and the synchronization fault diagnosis parameters include a synchronization status code; After receiving the synchronization fault diagnosis parameters sent by the dose timing control card, the alignment timing control card and the image quality timing control card, the method further includes: Compare the external synchronization status code sent by each subsystem with the internal synchronization status code sent by the synchronous bus control board, and store the comparison result in the synchronization status register; The detection host computer collects synchronous diagnostic parameters of each subsystem from the interferometer subsystem, including: The detection host computer reads the synchronization status code comparison result of each subsystem from the synchronization status register; The detection host computer determines the synchronization status of each subsystem in the scanning lithography machine according to the synchronization diagnosis parameter, including: The detection host computer determines the synchronization status of each subsystem according to the comparison results of each subsystem.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that Also includes: The internal synchronization subsystem and the external synchronization subsystem record a first count value and a second count value respectively, wherein the first count value is the number of times the internal synchronization subsystem enters a servo cycle after receiving a synchronization status code, and the second count value is the number of times the external synchronization subsystem enters a servo cycle after receiving a synchronization status code, wherein the internal synchronization subsystem includes a subsystem to which a synchronization bus control board and a motion synchronization timing control board belong, and the external synchronization subsystem includes a subsystem to which the dose timing control card, the alignment timing control card, and the image quality timing control card belong; The detection host computer obtains the first count value and the second count value respectively, and determines the synchronization state of the internal synchronization subsystem and the external synchronization subsystem according to the comparison result of the first count value and the second count value.

7. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The dose timing control card detects whether the synchronous output signal of the laser in the exposure subsystem and the scanning trigger signal are aligned, including: The dose timing control card detects whether the timing error between the synchronous output signal and the scanning trigger signal of the laser in the exposure subsystem is within a preset time threshold; If the timing error between the synchronous output signal and the scanning trigger signal of the laser in the exposure subsystem is not within the preset time threshold, an exposure timing fault message is sent to the detection host computer, and the advance lighting time calculated according to the timing error is stored in the preset timing error register.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that: The detection host computer collects synchronous diagnostic parameters from each subsystem, including: After receiving the synchronous fault detection instruction triggered by the user, the detection host computer collects synchronous diagnosis parameters from each subsystem; Alternatively, the detection host computer collects synchronous diagnosis parameters from each subsystem according to a preset detection cycle.

9. A lithography machine synchronization fault detection system, characterized in that: include: A scanning lithography machine and a detection host computer, wherein the scanning lithography machine includes multiple subsystems, including an interferometer subsystem, a servo motion control subsystem, an exposure subsystem, an alignment subsystem, and an image quality subsystem; The detection host computer is used to collect synchronization diagnostic parameters from each subsystem, wherein the synchronization diagnostic parameters include at least one parameter used to characterize the synchronization state, determine the synchronization state of each subsystem in the scanning lithography machine according to the synchronization diagnostic parameters, and display the synchronization state of each subsystem in the scanning lithography machine through a human-computer interaction interface; Before the host computer collects synchronous diagnostic parameters from each subsystem, it also includes: In each servo cycle, the control module in the servo motion control subsystem sends a synchronous scanning instruction to the motion synchronization timing control board card in the servo motion control subsystem; The motion synchronization timing control board sends synchronization status information to the workpiece stage motion controller in the servo motion control subsystem and the synchronization bus control board in the interferometer subsystem; The synchronous bus control board in the interferometer subsystem sends the synchronization status information to the interferometer motion controller in the interferometer subsystem, the dose timing control card in the exposure subsystem, the alignment timing control card in the alignment subsystem, and the image quality timing control card in the image quality subsystem, and receives the synchronization fault diagnosis parameters sent by the dose timing control card, the alignment timing control card, and the image quality timing control card; Wherein, after receiving the synchronization status information, the dose timing control card, the alignment timing control card and the image quality timing control card determine the synchronization status within their respective subsystems and generate synchronization fault diagnosis parameters; The dose timing control card detects whether the synchronous output signal of the laser in the exposure subsystem is aligned with the scanning trigger signal, and if not, sends an exposure timing fault message to the detection host computer.

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