Imprint device, article manufacturing method, determination method, and program

Abstract

To reduce the adverse effects of pattern defects and the like when imprinting a substrate that is not flat.SOLUTION: An imprint device which performs imprint processing of forming a pattern on an imprint material by bringing the imprint material on a substrate and a mold into contact with each other includes: a holding part which holds the substrate; a supply part which supplies droplets of the imprint material onto the substrate in a partial region which includes an edge of the substrate and with which a portion of a pattern region of the mold is brought into contact in the imprint processing; and a processing part which determines the position or amount of the droplets of the imprint material to be supplied to the partial region on the basis of measurement data of the height of surface of the partial region in such a state that the holding part holds the substrate.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an imprint apparatus, an article manufacturing method, a determination method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] The imprint apparatus forms a pattern in the resin by bringing a pattern area of ​​the mold into contact with resin supplied on a substrate, hardening the resin, and releasing the mold from the resin.

[0003] Patent Document 1 describes a technique for correcting local distortion occurring in a substrate by vertically driving a substrate support portion disposed in a substrate holding device. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2013-175595 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] A substrate on which a pattern is formed by a lithography process may be deformed or have steps around the periphery of the substrate due to processing in the subsequent manufacturing process. In addition, the structure of the chuck that holds the substrate and the chucking pressure may cause local distortion in the substrate. As a result, the surface of the substrate held by the chuck may not be flat.

[0006] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to perform an imprint process in which adverse effects are suppressed even when such a substrate is used. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] An imprint apparatus as one aspect of the present invention that solves the above-mentioned problems comprises an imprint apparatus that performs an imprint process in which an imprint material on a substrate is brought into contact with a mold to form a pattern in the imprint material, the imprint apparatus comprising: a holding unit that holds the substrate; a supply unit that supplies droplets of the imprint material onto the substrate in a partial region that includes an edge of the substrate and with which a portion of a pattern region of the mold comes into contact during the imprint process; and a processing unit that determines a position or amount of the droplets of imprint material to be supplied to the partial region based on measurement data of the surface height of the partial region when the holding unit holds the substrate, wherein the supply unit supplies the droplets of imprint material to the partial region based on the determined position or amount of the droplets of imprint material, and the imprint apparatus forms a pattern in the imprint material by bringing the imprint material supplied to the partial region into contact with the mold. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, adverse effects such as pattern defects can be reduced when imprinting on a non-flat substrate. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram of an imprint apparatus showing a first embodiment. [Diagram 2] 1 is a flowchart of an imprint process. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a shot layout. [Figure 4] 1A to 1C are diagrams illustrating defects that occur when performing imprinting. [Diagram 5] 4 is a flowchart of an imprint process according to the first embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the relationship between the height of the substrate and the chucking pressure. [Figure 7] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the relationship between the shape of resin and the elapsed time after the resin is supplied. [Figure 8] 10 is a flowchart of an imprint process according to a second embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining a method for manufacturing an article. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] [First embodiment] First, an imprinting apparatus according to a first embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of an imprinting apparatus 1 according to this embodiment. The imprinting apparatus 1 is used in the manufacture of devices such as semiconductor devices, and is an apparatus that brings uncured resin supplied onto a substrate into contact with a mold (mold, template) to form a resin pattern on the substrate. Note that here, the imprinting apparatus employs a photocuring method. In the following figures, the Z axis is taken parallel to the optical axis of an illumination system that irradiates ultraviolet light onto the resin on the substrate, and the X axis and the Y axis are taken orthogonal to each other in a plane perpendicular to the Z axis. The imprinting apparatus 1 includes a light irradiation unit 2, a mold holding mechanism 3, a substrate stage 4, a coating unit 5, and a control unit 6.

[0011] The light irradiation unit 2 irradiates ultraviolet light 8 onto the mold 7 and the resin on the substrate. The light irradiation unit 2 includes a light source and an illumination optical system that adjusts the ultraviolet light 8 emitted from the light source to light suitable for imprinting and irradiates the mold 7 with the light. The light source may be a lamp such as a mercury lamp, but is not particularly limited as long as it is a light source that transmits light through the mold 7 and emits light of a wavelength that hardens the resin (ultraviolet curable resin) 9 described below. The illumination optical system may include a lens, a mirror, an aperture, or a shutter for switching between irradiation and blocking. In this embodiment, the light irradiation unit 2 is installed to adopt the photocuring method, but when a thermal curing method is adopted, for example, a heat source unit for curing the thermosetting resin is installed instead of the light irradiation unit 2.

[0012] Mold 7 has a polygonal outer periphery (preferably rectangular or square), and the surface facing substrate 10 includes pattern portion 7a (pattern area) in which a concave-convex pattern to be transferred, such as a circuit pattern, is formed three-dimensionally. The pattern size varies depending on the product to be manufactured, but includes patterns of several tens of nanometers. The material of mold 7 is preferably one that can transmit ultraviolet light 8 and has a low thermal expansion coefficient, and may be, for example, quartz. Furthermore, mold 7 may have a cavity that is circular in plan view and has a certain depth on the surface to which ultraviolet light 8 is irradiated.

[0013] The mold holding mechanism 3 has a mold chuck 11 for holding the mold 7, a mold driving mechanism 12 for movably holding the mold chuck 11, and a magnification correction mechanism for correcting the shape of the mold 7 (pattern portion 7a). The mold chuck 11 can hold the mold 7 by attracting the outer peripheral region of the surface of the mold 7 irradiated with the ultraviolet light 8 by vacuum suction force or electrostatic force. When the mold chuck 11 holds the mold 7 by vacuum suction force, for example, it is connected to an externally installed vacuum pump (not shown), and the suction pressure of the vacuum pump can be appropriately adjusted by exhausting the air, thereby adjusting the suction force (holding force) on the mold 7. The mold driving mechanism 12 moves the mold 7 in each axial direction so as to selectively press the mold 7 against or separate the resin 9 on the substrate 10. A linear motor or an air cylinder is an example of a power source that can be adopted for the mold driving mechanism 12. Moreover, the mold driving mechanism 12 may be composed of a plurality of driving systems, such as a coarse movement driving system and a fine movement driving system, in order to accommodate high-precision positioning of the mold 7. Furthermore, the mold driving mechanism 12 may be configured to have a position adjustment function not only in the Z-axis direction but also in the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, or the θ (rotation around the Z-axis) direction, and a tilt function for correcting the inclination of the mold 7. Note that the pressing and separating operations in the imprint apparatus 1 may be realized by moving the mold 7 in the Z-axis direction, or may be realized by moving the substrate stage 4 in the Z-axis direction, or both may be moved relatively. Furthermore, the position of the mold 7 when the mold driving mechanism 12 is driven can be measured by a position measuring unit, such as an optical displacement meter, that measures the distance between the mold 7 and the substrate 10. The magnification correction mechanism is installed on the mold 7 holding side of the mold chuck 11, and corrects the shape of the mold 7 (pattern portion 7a) by mechanically applying an external force or displacement to the side surface of the mold 7.

[0014] Furthermore, the mold chuck 11 and the mold driving mechanism 12 have an opening region 13 at the center (inside) in the planar direction, through which the ultraviolet light 8 irradiated from the light irradiation unit 2 can pass toward the substrate 10. Here, the mold chuck 11 or the mold driving mechanism 12 may be provided with a light-transmitting member (e.g., a glass plate) that forms a cavity surrounded by a part of the opening region 13 and the mold 7 as a sealed space. In this case, the pressure in the cavity is adjusted by a pressure adjusting device (mold deformation unit) including a vacuum pump or the like. This pressure adjusting device can bend the pattern portion 7a into a convex shape toward the substrate 10 and bring the pattern portion 7a into contact with the resin 9 from the center of the pattern portion 7a. For example, when the mold 7 and the resin 9 are pressed against each other, the pressure in the cavity is set higher than the pressure outside the cavity, thereby deforming the pattern portion 7a into a convex shape toward the substrate 10. This allows the resin 9 to be filled into every corner of the uneven pattern of the pattern portion 7a.

[0015] The substrate 10 is, for example, a single crystal silicon substrate, an SOI (Silicon on Insulator) substrate, or a glass substrate. A pattern (a layer including a pattern) of a resin 9 is formed by a pattern unit 7a in a plurality of pattern formation regions (shot regions) of the substrate 10. Note that, in some cases, a pattern (substrate-side pattern) has already been formed in a previous process in the pattern formation region before the substrate is carried into the imprint apparatus 1.

[0016] The substrate stage 4 holds the substrate 10 movably, and performs, for example, alignment between the pattern portion 7a and the substrate-side pattern when pressing the mold 7 against the resin 9 on the substrate 10. The substrate stage 4 has a substrate chuck 14 that holds the substrate 10 by suction force, an auxiliary member 15 that is installed so as to surround the outer periphery of the substrate 10, and a stage drive mechanism 16 that mechanically holds the substrate chuck 14 and allows it to move in each axial direction. The substrate chuck 14 (substrate holder) supports the substrate 10 with, for example, a plurality of pins of uniform height, and holds the substrate 10 by depressurizing the portions other than the pins by vacuum exhaust. The stage drive mechanism 16 is a power source that generates little vibration during driving and when stationary, and examples of power sources that can be adopted include a linear motor or a planar motor. The stage drive mechanism 16 may also be composed of a plurality of drive systems, such as a coarse drive system and a fine drive system, for each of the X-axis and Y-axis directions. Further, the configuration may have a drive system for adjusting the position in the Z-axis direction, a function for adjusting the position of the substrate 10 in the θ direction, or a tilt function for correcting the inclination of the substrate 10. The substrate stage 4 is provided with a plurality of reference mirrors 17 on its side corresponding to the X, Y, Z, ωx, ωy, and ωz directions. Meanwhile, the imprint apparatus 1 is provided with a plurality of laser interferometers (position measurement mechanisms) 18 that measure the position of the substrate stage 4 by irradiating each of these reference mirrors 17 with a beam of helium neon or the like. Note that FIG. 1 illustrates only one pair of the reference mirror 17 and the laser interferometer 18. The laser interferometer 18 measures the position of the substrate stage 4 in real time, and the control unit 6 described later executes positioning control of the substrate 10 (substrate stage 4) based on the measured value at that time. The auxiliary member 15 has a surface height equivalent to that of the substrate 10 placed on the substrate chuck 14, and is used to prevent gas from entering the optical path between the reference mirror 17 and the laser interferometer 18.

[0017] The supply unit 5 is installed near the mold holding mechanism 3, and supplies uncured resin 9 onto a shot region (substrate side pattern) as a pattern formation region present on the substrate 10. The resin 9 is an ultraviolet curable resin (photocurable resin, imprint material) that has a property of being cured by receiving ultraviolet light 8, and is appropriately selected according to various conditions such as a semiconductor device manufacturing process. The supply unit 5 employs an inkjet method and includes a container 19 that contains the uncured resin 9, and a droplet discharge unit 20 that discharges droplets of the resin. The container 19 is preferably one that can control the resin 9 while maintaining an atmosphere inside the container 19 that does not cause a curing reaction of the resin 9, for example, containing a small amount of oxygen. In addition, the material of the container 19 is preferably one that does not mix particles or chemical impurities into the resin 9. The droplet discharge unit 20 has, for example, a piezo-type discharge mechanism (inkjet head) that includes a plurality of discharge ports. The discharge amount of the resin 9 can be adjusted in the range of 0.1 to 10 pL / drop, and is usually used at about 1 pL / drop in many cases. The amount of resin 9 discharged is determined by the density of the pattern portion 7a and the desired remaining film thickness. The supply unit 5 supplies the resin 9 as droplets by dispersing them onto the shot area based on an operation command from the control unit 6, and controls the positions at which the resin droplets should be placed, the amount of each droplet, etc.

[0018] The control unit 6 can control the operation and adjustment of each component of the imprint apparatus 1. The control unit 6 is composed of, for example, a computer or a processing unit including a processor and memory, and is connected to each component of the imprint apparatus 1 via a line, and can control each component according to a program or the like. The control unit 6 in this embodiment controls the operation of at least the supply unit 5, the substrate stage 4, and a rotation mechanism described below. The control unit 6 may be configured within the housing of the imprint apparatus 1, or may be configured separately from the imprint apparatus 1 (in a different housing).

[0019] The imprint apparatus 1 also includes an alignment measurement system 21 that measures an alignment mark formed on the substrate 10. The imprint apparatus 1 also includes a base plate 22 on which the substrate stage 4 is placed and which forms a reference plane, a bridge base plate 23 to which the mold holding mechanism 3 is fixed, and supports 25 that extend from the base plate 22 and support the bridge base plate 23 via vibration isolators 24 that remove vibrations from the floor surface. The imprint apparatus 1 may also include a mold transport mechanism that transports the mold 7 between the outside of the apparatus and the mold holding mechanism 3, a substrate transport mechanism that transports the substrate 10 between the outside of the apparatus and the substrate stage 4, and the like.

[0020] An imprint method (imprint process) by the imprint apparatus 1 will be described. FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of a basic imprint process. First, the control unit 6 places and fixes the substrate 10 on the substrate stage 4 by the substrate transport device. Next, the control unit 6 drives the stage driving mechanism 16 to appropriately change the position of the substrate 10, while sequentially measuring the alignment marks on the substrate 10 by the alignment measurement system 21, and detects the position of the substrate 10 with high accuracy. Then, the control unit 6 calculates each transfer coordinate from the detection result, and sequentially forms a pattern for each predetermined shot based on the calculation result (step and repeat). As a flow of pattern formation for one shot, the control unit 6 first determines a shot area of ​​the substrate 10 to which the resin should be supplied. Then, the stage driving mechanism 16 positions the determined shot area below the discharge port of the droplet discharge unit 20 (S101). Thereafter, the supply unit 5 supplies the resin 9 to the shot area positioned by S101 (S102). Next, the control unit 6 moves and positions the substrate 10 by the stage driving mechanism 16 so that the shot area is located at a pressing position directly below the pattern portion 7a of the mold 7. Next, the control unit 6 performs alignment between the pattern portion 7a and the substrate side pattern of the shot area, and magnification correction of the pattern portion 7a by the magnification correction mechanism. Thereafter, as an imprinting step, the mold driving mechanism 12 is driven to bring the pattern portion 7a into contact with the resin 9 on the shot area to imprint (S103). By this contact and imprinting, the resin 9 is filled into the uneven pattern of the pattern portion 7a. The control unit 6 can determine the completion of imprinting by a load sensor installed inside the mold holding mechanism 3. In this state, the light irradiation unit 2 irradiates ultraviolet light 8 from the back surface (upper surface) of the mold 7 for a predetermined time as a curing step, and the resin 9 is cured by the ultraviolet light 8 that has passed through the mold 7 (S104). Then, after the resin 9 is cured, the control unit 6 drives the mold driving mechanism 12 again as a demolding process to separate the pattern portion 7a from the substrate 10 (mold releasing process_S105). As a result, a resin pattern (layer) having a three-dimensional shape following the concave-convex pattern of the pattern portion 7a is formed on the surface of the shot area on the substrate 10.By performing such a series of imprint operations multiple times while changing the shot area by driving the substrate stage 4, the imprint apparatus 1 can form multiple resin patterns on one substrate 10.

[0021] When the mold 7 is pressed against the resin 9 on the substrate 10 to fill the pattern portion 7a with the resin 9, if air bubbles (atmosphere) are present in the gap between the mold 7 and the substrate 10, unfilled defects will occur in the formed pattern after curing. Therefore, it is preferable to replace the gap between the mold 7 and the substrate 10 with a gas having at least one of the properties of being highly soluble or highly diffusible in the resin 9. An example of a gas having such properties is helium.

[0022] A possible method of gas replacement is to spray helium from at least a gas supply port disposed around the mold 7 to increase the helium concentration around the mold 7. This allows the gas to be replaced in the gap between the mold 7 and the substrate 10 by continuing to spray helium for a certain period of time due to the diffusion effect of helium itself. However, this type of gas replacement method requires a certain waiting time until the helium concentration in the gap between the mold 7 and the substrate 10 increases sufficiently. This has a negative impact on productivity, so it is necessary to shorten this waiting time as much as possible. For this reason, a gas replacement method that utilizes a gas flow using the drive of the substrate stage 4, the so-called Coanda effect, is effective.

[0023] Next, a detailed description will be given of an imprinting method for imprinting the peripheral region of the substrate 10. In order to obtain more patterns (chips, devices) for one substrate 10, it is necessary to imprint the peripheral portion (partial region) including the edge of the substrate.

[0024] The entire shot layout is shown in Fig. 3. The shot layout includes a plurality of full regions (full fields) 100 and a plurality of partial regions (partial fields, missing shots) 101. The full regions 100 have an area overlapping with the entire pattern 7a of the mold 7, and the entire pattern 7a is transferred to the resin of the full region. The partial regions 101 include the edge of the substrate shown by a circle in Fig. 3, and have an area overlapping with only a portion of the pattern 7a, and only a portion of the pattern 7a comes into contact with the resin of the partial region and is transferred in the imprint process.

[0025] The substrate 10 is held by a substrate chuck 14. For example, the substrate 10 is held by vacuum suction. Therefore, depending on the shape of the substrate chuck 14 and the pressure of the vacuum suction, the substrate 10 may bend. In addition, since the substrate 10 to be imprinted has been subjected to various pre-processing steps (for example, patterning by photolithography using light), there may be cases where steps are generated near the outer periphery of the substrate 10.

[0026] The pattern defects caused by such warping and steps will be described with reference to FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b). FIG. 4(a) shows a case where warping occurs near the periphery of the substrate, and FIG. 4(b) shows a case where there is a step near the periphery of the substrate. In S201, the cross-sectional state of the mold 7 and the partial region 101 before the imprint process is shown. The partial region 101 has a region with warping and steps. Next, the resin 9 is supplied to the partial region 101 (S202). In S202, only the resin 9 supplied to the region with warping and steps is shown. In the imprinting step of S203, the resin 9 supplied to the region with warping and steps comes into contact with the mold 7. At that time, as shown in S204, although the mold 7 and the resin 9 come into contact with each other, if the contact between the mold 7 and the resin 9 is insufficient, the resin 9 remains in a liquid state on the mold 7. In the subsequent curing step, the resin 9' remaining on the mold 7 hardens. The next shot area is imprinted with the resin 9' remaining on the surface of the mold 7 without volatilization. S205 to S207 show how the next shot area is imprinted after the partial area 101 is imprinted. The resin 9 is supplied to the complete area of ​​the next shot area (S205). At that time, the hardened resin 9' remains on the mold 7. After the imprinting step, hardening step, and demolding step of S206, the state shown in S207 is reached. The resin 9' remaining on the mold 7 is taken into the resin 9 in the imprinting step, and is released from the mold 7 and remains in the resin 9 as shown in S207. As a result, the resin 9' that has peeled off from the mold remains in the resin 9 on the substrate, and is detected as a defect in the pattern.

[0027] Therefore, in this embodiment, the position and amount of resin to be supplied are determined based on the height of the substrate surface, and then the imprint process is performed. Specifically, the height of the substrate surface is measured while the substrate is held by the substrate chuck, and the position or amount of resin droplets to be supplied to the shot area is determined based on the measurement data of the surface height. Then, based on the determined position or amount of resin droplets, resin droplets are supplied to the shot area, and the resin supplied to the shot area is brought into contact with a mold to form a pattern in the resin.

[0028] A flowchart for performing the imprint process according to this embodiment is shown in Fig. 5. An example will be described in which the shot area to be imprinted is the partial area 101, but the process can also be applied to the complete area 100 in the same manner.

[0029] First, the shape (height) of the surface of a partial region of the substrate 10 is measured (S301). The control unit 6 can obtain the shape of the surface by measuring the surface height at a plurality of positions. That is, the information on the surface height includes information on the shape of the surface. With the substrate 10 held by the substrate chuck, the shape of the surface of the substrate 10 is measured using a measuring means. As a means for measuring the shape (height), the height of the vicinity of the outer periphery of the substrate 10 may be measured using the alignment measuring system 21, or a separate measuring system for measuring the shape of the substrate may be provided. Alternatively, a measuring station for measuring the shape of the surface of the substrate 10 may be provided in the imprint apparatus 1 to measure the shape of the surface of the substrate 10 in advance before the imprint process. FIG. 6 shows an example of a measurement result obtained by measuring the surface height of the substrate 10 at the outer periphery of the substrate. When the chucking pressure of the substrate chuck near the outer periphery of the substrate 10 is increased, the surface of the substrate 10 is deflected further downward, and when the chucking pressure is small, the amount of deformation is small. The suction pressure of the substrate chuck may vary depending on the shape of the pattern formed on the mold 7 and the conditions (imprint conditions) of the imprint process (imprinting, curing, demolding, etc.).

[0030] Next, the control unit 6 acquires information on the shape (height and width) of the droplets of the resin 9 (S302). The shape of the resin surface can be obtained by measuring the height of the resin surface at multiple positions. That is, the information on the height of the droplets includes information on the shape of the resin droplets. FIG. 7 shows the relationship between the height of the resin and the elapsed time after supply. If the resin is supplied onto the substrate immediately after it is supplied, the height of the resin is large and the width is small. As time passes after it is supplied, the resin spreads, the height is small and the width is large. The time from supplying the resin 9 to imprinting may differ depending on the shot position. Therefore, the height (shape) of the resin 9 is predicted from the time from supplying the resin 9 to imprinting. That is, the height of the resin droplets is calculated based on the time from when the resin droplets reach the surface on the substrate to when the mold comes into contact with the resin droplets.

[0031] The control unit 6 determines the position (disposition) of the resin 9 to be supplied onto the substrate, the amount of each droplet of the resin, or both, based on the information acquired in S301 and S302. At a position where the surface height of the substrate is lower than the surroundings, the contact between the supplied resin and the mold may be insufficient. Therefore, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, the position of the resin droplet is determined so that the resin droplet is not supplied to a position where the surface height of the substrate in the outer peripheral region including the edge of the substrate is lower than the inner region on the substrate center side from the outer peripheral region. Also, when imprinting the partial region 101, the mold 7 may be deformed in a convex shape toward the substrate in order to sufficiently fill the pattern portion 7a with the resin 9. In that case, when filling the pattern portion 7a with the resin 9 is completed, the load applied to the mold 7 is released and the deformation is returned to the original state. At that time, since there may be a position where the supplied resin does not contact the mold 7, it is determined that the resin 9 is to be disposed at a position where the mold 7 contacts the resin 9 at least when the mold is not deformed in a convex shape.

[0032] The control unit 6 may also determine whether or not the resin adheres to the mold when the mold is separated from the resin after the mold and the resin droplets come into contact in a certain region. For example, a process of determining whether or not the resin adheres to the mold when the mold and the resin droplets come into contact in a partial region and then the mold is separated from the resin is executed. Then, it is determined that the resin droplets are not to be placed at the positions where it is determined that the resin adheres to the mold, and it is determined that the resin droplets are to be placed at the positions where it is determined that the resin does not adhere to the mold. Also, for example, a process of determining whether or not the resin contacts the mold when the pattern region of the mold is deformed convexly toward the substrate to bring the resin and the mold in the partial region into contact and then the deformation of the mold is returned to its original state is executed. Then, it is determined that the resin droplets are not to be placed at the positions where it is determined that the resin does not contact the mold, and it is determined that the resin droplets are to be placed at the positions where it is determined that the resin contacts the mold.

[0033] Thereafter, the imprint process is completed through a supplying step S304 of supplying resin 9 onto substrate 10, an imprinting step S305 of bringing mold 7 and resin 9 into contact with each other, a curing step S306 of curing resin 9, and a releasing step S307 of separating mold 7 and resin 9.

[0034] Although the above describes the bending of the outer periphery of substrate 10 due to the suction pressure for holding substrate 10, a similar flowchart can also be used in the case of bending of the substrate due to a step on the outer periphery of substrate 10 or the shape of substrate chuck 14.

[0035] According to this embodiment, when the shot region 101 is imprinted, the resin 9' remaining in the mold 7 can be reduced, and defects occurring when the next shot region is imprinted can be reduced.

[0036] [Second embodiment] Next, an imprinting apparatus and an imprinting method according to the second embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, the same contents as those in the first embodiment will not be described, and only the differences from the first embodiment will be described. In the first embodiment, the arrangement of the resin 9 and the like are determined according to the height of the substrate surface, whereas in the second embodiment, the surface shape is modified according to the shape of the substrate surface so as to reduce pattern defects.

[0037] 8 shows a flowchart for performing imprint processing according to the second embodiment. An example will be described in which the shot area to be imprint processed is the partial area 101, but the same can be applied to the complete area 100.

[0038] First, the shape (height) of the surface of the partial region of the substrate 10 is measured while the substrate 10 is held by the substrate chuck (S401). Next, the control unit 6 determines the deformation amount of the partial region of the substrate 10 from the shape of the partial region of the substrate 10 (S402). When imprinting the partial region 101, the mold 7 may be deformed into a convex shape in order to fill the pattern portion 7a with the resin 9. In this case, when filling the pattern portion 7a with the resin 9 is completed, the load applied to the mold 7 is released to return the deformation to its original state. At that time, since there is a possibility that a position where the supplied resin and the mold 7 are not in contact with each other may occur, the substrate is deformed so that the mold 7 can maintain contact with the resin 9 at least in a state where the mold is not deformed into a convex shape. The control unit 6 determines the deformation amount of the partial region of the substrate 10 based on the measurement data of the height of the substrate surface. Next, the resin 9 is supplied onto the shot region of the substrate 10 (S403).

[0039] Next, the substrate 10 is deformed based on the determined deformation amount (S404). For example, based on the measurement data of the height of the substrate surface, the shape of the substrate surface in the partial region is changed so that the resin and the mold are maintained in contact when the mold is returned to its original state after the resin on the substrate is brought into contact with the mold in a deformed state. As a means for deforming the substrate 10 (substrate deformation unit), there is a means for deforming the substrate 10 by gas pressure by providing a gas supply and exhaust mechanism on the outer periphery of the substrate chuck 14. Alternatively, there is a means for deforming the substrate 10 by providing a support unit that can be driven up and down on the substrate chuck 14 and driving the support unit up and down. The deformation amount relative to the gas pressure and the deformation amount relative to the driving distance of the support unit may be measured in advance. In addition, it may be measured whether the deformation amount is a predetermined amount, and if the deformation amount is not the predetermined amount, it may be adjusted each time. In that case, the order of S403 and S404 may be reversed. The subsequent steps are the same as those in the first embodiment, but it is necessary to return the deformation of the substrate 10 to its original state before the demolding step S408 (S407). For example, if the partial region of the substrate 10 is deformed by gas pressure, the holding force between the substrate 10 and the substrate chuck 14 may decrease in the demolding step S408 unless the substrate 10 is returned to its original state.

[0040] Although the above description is directed to bending of a partial region of the substrate 10, a similar flow chart can also be used when the substrate 10 has a step on its outer periphery.

[0041] According to the above embodiment, it is possible to reduce the amount of resin 9' remaining on the mold 7 during imprinting, and thus to reduce defects in the pattern.

[0042] Moreover, the first embodiment and the second embodiment can be used in combination. For example, after measuring the shape of the substrate surface, the substrate 10 is deformed, the arrangement of the resin 9 is determined, and then the imprinting process is performed, whereby the resin 9' remaining in the mold 7 can be further reduced, and defects that occur when imprinting the shot area of ​​the substrate 10 can be reduced.

[0043] [Third embodiment] (Production method of the article) The pattern of the cured product formed using the imprinting apparatus is used permanently on at least a part of various articles, or temporarily when manufacturing various articles. The articles include electric circuit elements, optical elements, MEMS, recording elements, sensors, molds, etc. Examples of the electric circuit elements include volatile or non-volatile semiconductor memories such as DRAM, SRAM, flash memory, and MRAM, and semiconductor elements such as LSI, CCD, image sensors, and FPGAs. Examples of the molds include molds for imprinting.

[0044] The pattern of the cured product is used as it is as at least a part of a constituent member of the above-mentioned article, or is used temporarily as a resist pattern. After etching or ion implantation is performed in a processing step of the substrate, the resist pattern is removed.

[0045] Next, a specific method for manufacturing an article will be described. As shown in Fig. 9(a), a substrate 1z such as a silicon wafer on which a workpiece 2z such as an insulator is formed is prepared, and then a photocurable material 3z is applied to the surface of the workpiece 2z by an inkjet method or the like. Here, a state in which a plurality of droplets of the photocurable material 3z are applied onto the substrate is shown. The arrangement and amount of the droplets of the photocurable material 3z can be determined by the method described in the first embodiment above.

[0046] As shown in FIG. 9(b), the mold 4z for imprinting is placed with the side on which the concave-convex pattern is formed facing the photocurable material 3z on the substrate. As shown in FIG. 9(c), the substrate 1z to which the photocurable material 3z has been applied is brought into contact with the mold 4z, and pressure is applied. The photocurable material 3z fills the gap between the mold 4z and the workpiece 2z. At this time, the substrate 1z can be deformed by the deformation amount determined in the second embodiment. Then, when light is irradiated through the mold 4z as the curing energy, the photocurable material 3z is cured.

[0047] 9(d), after the photocurable material 3z is cured, the mold 4z and the substrate 1z are separated, and a pattern of the cured product of the photocurable material 3z is formed on the substrate 1z. In this cured product pattern, the concave portions of the mold correspond to the convex portions of the cured product, and the concave portions of the mold correspond to the convex portions of the cured product, that is, the concave-convex pattern of the mold 4z is transferred to the imprint material 3z.

[0048] As shown in FIG. 9(e), when etching is performed using the pattern of the cured material as an etching-resistant pattern, the portion of the surface of the workpiece 2z where there is no cured material or where only a thin portion remains is removed, forming a groove 5z. As shown in FIG. 9(f), when the pattern of the cured material is removed, an article having grooves 5z formed on the surface of the workpiece 2z can be obtained. Here, the pattern of the cured material is removed, but it may be used as an interlayer insulating film included in a semiconductor element or the like, that is, a component of an article, without being removed after processing. Other processes include dicing, bonding, packaging, and the like. According to this manufacturing method, an article of higher quality than the conventional one can be manufactured.

[0049] Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various modifications and changes are possible within the scope of the gist of the present invention.

[0050] The present invention can also be realized by a process in which a program for implementing one or more of the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or device via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or device read and execute the program. The present invention can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., ASIC) for implementing one or more of the functions.

[0051] The disclosure of this specification includes the following imprint apparatus, article manufacturing method, determination method, and program.

[0052] (Item 1) An imprinting apparatus for performing an imprinting process in which an imprinting material on a substrate is brought into contact with a mold to form a pattern in the imprinting material, A holder for holding the substrate; a supply unit that supplies droplets of the imprint material onto a substrate in a partial area that includes an edge of the substrate and that contacts a portion of a pattern area of ​​the mold during the imprint process; a processing unit that determines a position or an amount of droplets of the imprint material to be supplied to the partial region based on measurement data of a surface height of the partial region in a state in which the holding unit holds the substrate, The supply unit supplies droplets of the imprint material to the partial region based on the determined position or amount of the droplets of the imprint material; The imprinting apparatus is characterized in that the imprinting material supplied to the partial region is brought into contact with the mold to form a pattern in the imprinting material.

[0053] (Item 2) The imprint apparatus described in item 1, characterized in that the control unit determines the position or amount of droplets of imprint material to be supplied to the partial region based on measurement data of the surface height of the partial region and the height of the droplets of imprint material after being supplied onto the substrate.

[0054] (Item 3) The imprinting apparatus described in item 2, characterized in that the height of the droplet of imprinting material is calculated based on the time from when the droplet of imprinting material reaches the surface of the substrate to when the mold contacts the droplet of imprinting material.

[0055] (Item 4) the partial region includes an outer periphery region including an edge of the substrate, and an inner region located closer to the center of the substrate than the outer periphery region; The imprinting apparatus described in any one of items 1 to 3, characterized in that the position of the droplets of imprinting material is determined so as not to supply the droplets of imprinting material to a position in the outer circumferential region where the surface height of the substrate is lower than that of the inner region.

[0056] (Item 5) 5. The imprint apparatus according to any one of items 1 to 4, further comprising a measuring unit that measures the height of the surface in the partial region while the substrate is held by the holding unit.

[0057] (Item 6) 6. The imprint apparatus according to any one of items 1 to 5, wherein the information on the height of the surface in the partial region includes information on the shape of the surface in the partial region.

[0058] (Item 7) 3. The imprinting apparatus according to item 2, wherein the information on the height of the droplets of the imprinting material includes information on the shape of the droplets of the imprinting material.

[0059] (Item 8) An imprinting apparatus for performing an imprinting process in which an imprinting material on a substrate is brought into contact with a mold to form a pattern in the imprinting material, A holder for holding the substrate; a supply unit that supplies droplets of the imprint material onto a substrate in a partial area that includes an edge of the substrate and that contacts a portion of a pattern area of ​​the mold during the imprint process; a mold deformation unit that deforms a pattern area of ​​the mold into a convex shape toward the substrate; the holding unit has a substrate deformation unit that changes a shape of a surface of the substrate in the partial region, Based on measurement data of the height of the surface of the partial region in a state in which the substrate is held by the holder, the mold is deformed by the mold deformation unit, the mold is brought into contact with the imprint material on the substrate, and then the deformation of the mold is returned to its original state so that the contact between the imprint material and the mold is maintained; An imprint apparatus, characterized in that the substrate deformation unit changes a shape of the surface of the substrate in the partial region.

[0060] (Item 9) forming a pattern in a partial area including an edge of a substrate and contacting a portion of a pattern area of ​​a mold in an imprint process, using the imprint apparatus according to any one of items 1 to 8; and manufacturing an article by processing the substrate on which the pattern is formed.

[0061] (Item 10) 1. A method for determining a position or an amount of droplets of imprint material to be supplied onto a substrate for an imprint process in which an imprint material is supplied onto a substrate and a mold is brought into contact with the imprint material on the substrate to form a pattern in the imprint material, comprising: acquiring measurement data of a surface height in a partial region including an edge of the substrate and contacting a portion of a pattern region of the mold during the imprint process, the measurement data being obtained while the substrate is held by a holding unit; and determining a position or an amount of a droplet of imprint material to be supplied to the partial region based on measurement data of the surface height of the partial region.

[0062] (Item 11) a step of determining whether or not the imprint material adheres to the mold when the mold is separated from the imprint material after the droplet of the imprint material comes into contact with the mold in the partial region, determining not to place droplets of imprint material at positions where it has been determined that the imprint material will adhere to the mold; By determining that droplets of imprinting material are to be placed at positions where it is determined that the imprinting material will not adhere to the mold, 11. The method according to item 10, further comprising determining a position of a droplet of imprint material to be supplied to the partial region.

[0063] (Item 12) a step of deforming a pattern region of the mold into a convex shape toward the substrate, bringing the imprint material in the partial region into contact with the mold, and then determining whether or not the imprint material comes into contact with the mold when the deformation of the mold is returned to its original state; determining that the droplets of the imprint material will not be placed at positions where it is determined that the imprint material will not come into contact with the mold; By determining that a droplet of the imprinting material is to be placed at a position where the imprinting material is determined to contact the mold, 11. The method according to item 10, further comprising determining a position of a droplet of imprint material to be supplied to the partial region.

[0064] (Item 13) 13. A program for causing a computer to execute the determination method according to any one of items 10 to 12.

Claims

1. 1. An imprinting apparatus for performing an imprinting process by bringing an imprinting material on a substrate into contact with a mold to form a pattern in the imprinting material, a holder for holding the substrate; a supply unit that supplies droplets of the imprint material onto a substrate in a partial area that includes an edge of the substrate and that comes into contact with a portion of a pattern area of ​​the mold during the imprint process; a processing unit that determines at least one of a position and an amount of droplets of imprint material to be supplied to the partial region based on measurement data of a surface height of the partial region in a state in which the holding unit holds the substrate, the supply unit supplies droplets of the imprint material to the partial region based on the positions and amounts of the droplets of the imprint material determined by the processing unit; The imprinting apparatus is characterized in that the imprinting material supplied to the partial region is brought into contact with the mold to form a pattern in the imprinting material.

2. The imprinting apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the processing unit determines at least one of the position and amount of droplets of imprinting material to be supplied to the partial area based on measurement data of the surface height of the partial area and the height of the droplets of imprinting material after being supplied onto the substrate.

3. The imprinting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the height of the droplet of imprinting material is calculated based on the time from when the droplet of imprinting material reaches the surface of the substrate to when the mold comes into contact with the droplet of imprinting material.

4. the partial region includes an outer periphery region including an edge of the substrate and an inner region located closer to the center of the substrate than the outer periphery region; The imprint apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit determines the position of the droplets of imprint material so as not to supply the droplets of imprint material to a position in the outer circumferential region where the surface height of the substrate is lower than that of the inner region.

5. The imprint apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a measurement unit that measures the height of the surface of the partial region while the substrate is held by the holding unit.

6. The imprint apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the information about the height of the surface in the partial region includes information about the shape of the surface in the partial region.

7. The imprinting apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the information on the height of the droplets of the imprinting material includes information on the shape of the droplets of the imprinting material.

8. 1. An imprinting apparatus for performing an imprinting process by bringing an imprinting material on a substrate into contact with a mold to form a pattern in the imprinting material, a holder for holding the substrate; a supply unit that supplies droplets of the imprint material onto a substrate in a partial area that includes an edge of the substrate and that comes into contact with a portion of a pattern area of ​​the mold during the imprint process; a mold deformation unit that deforms a pattern area of ​​the mold into a convex shape toward the substrate; the holding unit has a substrate deforming unit that changes the shape of the surface of the substrate in the partial region, An imprinting apparatus characterized in that the substrate deformation unit changes the shape of the surface of the substrate in the partial region based on measurement data of the surface height of the partial region when the holding unit holds the substrate, so that contact between the imprinting material and the mold is maintained when the mold deformation unit deforms the mold and brings the mold into contact with the imprinting material on the substrate, and then returns the mold to its original shape.

9. forming a pattern in a partial area including an edge of a substrate, the partial area contacting a part of a pattern area of ​​a mold in an imprint process, using the imprint apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8; and manufacturing an article by processing the substrate on which the pattern is formed.

10. 1. A method for determining at least one of a position and an amount of droplets of imprint material to be supplied onto a substrate for an imprint process in which an imprint material is supplied onto a substrate and a mold is brought into contact with the imprint material on the substrate to form a pattern in the imprint material, the method comprising: acquiring measurement data of the surface height of a partial region that includes an edge of the substrate and that comes into contact with a portion of a pattern region of the mold during the imprint process, while the substrate is held by a holder; and determining at least one of the position and the amount of droplets of imprint material to be supplied to the partial region based on measurement data of the surface height of the partial region.

11. a step of determining whether or not the imprint material adheres to the mold when the mold is separated from the imprint material after the droplet of the imprint material comes into contact with the mold in the partial region, The determination method according to claim 10, characterized in that the positions of the droplets of imprint material to be supplied to the partial region are determined by deciding not to place droplets of imprint material at positions where it is determined that the imprint material will adhere to the mold, and by deciding to place droplets of imprint material at positions where it is determined that the imprint material will not adhere to the mold.

12. a step of deforming a pattern area of ​​the mold into a convex shape toward the substrate, bringing the imprint material in the partial area into contact with the mold, and then determining whether or not the imprint material comes into contact with the mold when the deformation of the mold is returned to its original state; The determination method according to claim 10, characterized in that the positions of the droplets of imprint material to be supplied to the partial region are determined by deciding not to place droplets of imprint material at positions where it is determined that the imprint material will not contact the mold, and by deciding to place droplets of imprint material at positions where it is determined that the imprint material will contact the mold.

13. A program for causing a computer to execute the determination method according to any one of claims 10 to 12.

Images