Liquid ejection device, liquid ejection method, forming device, and method for manufacturing an article

Abstract

To cause a droplet to land at a desired position even if a liquid discharge operation is performed on a substrate while driving a substrate stage at high speed and high acceleration.SOLUTION: A liquid discharge device acquires a landing position of a droplet discharged onto a substrate from a nozzle of a discharge part, while scanning a substrate stage holding a substrate at a constant speed, and scans the substrate stage so that the substrate stage is located at a predetermined timing at a target position that is determined based on the amount of deviation between the acquired landing position of the droplet and a target landing position of the droplet.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a liquid ejection device, a liquid ejection method, a forming device, and a method for manufacturing an article.

Background Art

[0002] With the increasing demand for miniaturization in semiconductor devices, MEMS, etc., in addition to conventional photolithography technology, an imprint technology capable of forming fine patterns (structures) on the order of several nanometers on a substrate has attracted attention. The imprint technology is a microfabrication technology in which an uncured imprint material is supplied onto a substrate, and the imprint material and a mold are brought into contact with each other (imprinting step) to form a pattern of the imprint material corresponding to the fine uneven pattern formed on the mold on the substrate.

[0003] In such a supply process of the imprint material onto the substrate, a discharge device that supplies the droplet-shaped imprint material from a nozzle (discharge port) using an inkjet method can be used. Specifically, it is performed while reciprocally scanning and driving a substrate stage so that the shot area on the substrate faces the discharge port surface of the dispenser. In such a state, the imprint material (liquid) is discharged from the discharge port to place droplets on the substrate.

[0004] In order to form an accurate uneven pattern on the substrate, it is necessary to land the droplets of the imprint material at desired positions. Specifically, it is necessary to keep the landing error of each droplet landing within the shot area within 1 μm to several μm. If the imprint process is performed in a state where the landing error of the imprint material exceeds the allowable value and lands, there is a concern that the imprint material may protrude outside the mold area in the imprinting step, and the protruding imprint material may cause problems as foreign matter. Alternatively, it is also conceivable that the imprint material does not spread over the entire imprint area in the imprinting step, resulting in unfilled defects.

[0005] In Patent Document 1, when moving a workpiece on which a plurality of reference marks are formed at the same pitch along the scanning direction, an imaging image of the workpiece after droplets are ejected at the droplet ejection position is acquired at a preset imaging period. And a method of correcting the relative position between the workpiece and the droplet ejection head at the droplet ejection position based on the imaging image including the reference mark is disclosed.

Prior Art Document

Patent Document

[0006]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0007] By the way, in order to improve the apparatus throughput of an imprint apparatus, it is required that the scanning drive of the substrate stage be performed at an even higher speed and higher acceleration. However, when driving the substrate stage at such a high speed and high acceleration, the imprint apparatus structure including the dispenser vibrates, which causes a positional deviation between the ejection port of the imprint material and the substrate. In Patent Document 1, although overall positional deviation correction for each workpiece can be performed, positional deviation correction for each landing within the workpiece cannot be performed.

[0008] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a configuration capable of landing droplets at a desired position even when a liquid ejection operation is performed on a substrate while driving the substrate stage at a high speed and high acceleration.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0009] To achieve the above object, the liquid ejection apparatus of the present invention includes a substrate stage that holds a substrate, and a Having a plurality of nozzles discharge unit that discharges droplets, and the substrate stage In a specific directionA control unit that controls the ejection of the droplets from the ejection unit while moving, and a position acquisition unit that acquires the landing position of the droplets ejected onto the substrate. The control unit is based on the deviation amount between the landing position of the droplets acquired in advance by the position acquisition unit and the target landing position of the droplets, and controls the movement of the substrate stage so as to be positioned. Each And a position acquisition unit that acquires the landing position of the droplets, and the control unit is based on the deviation amount between the landing position of the droplets acquired in advance by the position acquisition unit and the target landing position of the droplets, and controls the movement of the substrate stage so as to be positioned. Ejected from a specific nozzle The Each Landing position of the droplets and To a predetermined The Each Droplets Corresponding to And the target landing position, and based on the deviation amount, For each droplet in the specific direction Controls the movement of the substrate stage so as to be positioned. Each droplet , To the target landing position It is characterized in that the movement of the substrate stage is controlled so as to be positioned.

Advantages of the Invention

[0010] According to the present invention, even if a liquid ejection operation is performed on a substrate in a state where the substrate stage is driven at high speed and high acceleration, a configuration capable of landing droplets at a desired position can be provided.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0011]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0012] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In each figure, the same members are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant descriptions are omitted.

[0013] <First Embodiment> In this embodiment, an imprint apparatus will be described as an example of a molding apparatus. The imprint apparatus according to this embodiment is a lithography apparatus that discharges (supplies) an uncured liquid imprint material (liquid) or ink onto a substrate and forms (transfers) a pattern on the substrate. Note that the liquid discharge apparatus of the present invention is not limited to an imprint apparatus, and is widely applicable to apparatuses having a mechanism for discharging droplets, including industrial apparatuses such as manufacturing apparatuses for semiconductor devices and liquid crystal display devices, and consumer products such as printers.

[0014] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of an imprint apparatus 100 including a liquid discharge apparatus according to this embodiment. The imprint apparatus 100 is used for manufacturing a semiconductor device or the like as an article, and forms a pattern of the imprint material 8 on the substrate 4 by bringing the uncured curable composition, that is, the imprint material 8 applied on the substrate 4 (on the object) into contact with the mold 1. Note that the imprint apparatus 100 employs, as an example, a photocuring method for curing the imprint material 8 by irradiation with ultraviolet light. The present invention is also applicable to an imprint apparatus that cures the imprint material by other energy (for example, heat). In the following figures, the Z-axis is taken in the vertical direction (vertical direction), and the X-axis and the Y-axis perpendicular to each other are taken in a plane perpendicular to the Z-axis. The imprint apparatus 100 includes a light irradiation unit 7, a mold holding mechanism 2, a substrate stage 6, a dispenser 11, and a control unit 20. The amounts of rotation in the X direction, the Y direction, and the rotational direction in the XY plane of the substrate stage 6 can be measured by the position sensor 13. Further, FIG. 1 has a transport mechanism (not shown) for transporting the substrate 4 to the substrate stage 6.

[0015] The light irradiation unit 7 is a curing unit that adjusts the ultraviolet light emitted from a light source (not shown) into light (ultraviolet light 9) suitable for curing the imprint material 8, passes through the mold 1, and irradiates the imprint material 8. Here, as the light source, for example, a mercury lamp that generates i-line or g-line can be used. However, the light source is not limited to ultraviolet light, as long as it emits light with a wavelength that can pass through the mold 1 and cure the imprint material 8. In the case of adopting a thermal curing method, as the curing means, instead of the light irradiation unit 7, for example, heating means for curing the curable composition may be installed in the vicinity of the substrate stage 6.

[0016] The mold (die) 1 is rectangular and has a three-dimensionally formed fine concavo-convex pattern at the center of the surface facing the substrate 4. The material of the mold 1 is a material that can transmit ultraviolet light, such as quartz.

[0017] The mold holding mechanism (die holding unit) 2 is supported by the structure 3. Although not shown, it includes a mold chuck that holds the mold 1 and a mold driving mechanism that supports and moves the mold chuck. The mold chuck holds the mold 1 by attracting the outer peripheral region of the irradiation surface of the ultraviolet light 9 in the mold 1 by vacuum adsorption force or electrostatic force. The mold driving mechanism moves the mold 1 (mold chuck) in the Z-axis direction to bring the mold 1 into contact with or separate it from the imprint material 8 on the substrate 4. Note that the contact and separation operations during the imprint process may be realized by driving the substrate stage 6 to move the substrate 4 in the Z-axis direction, or both the mold 1 and the substrate 4 may be relatively moved.

[0018] The substrate 4 is a substrate (object) to be processed made of, for example, single crystal silicon. In the case of manufacturing applications for articles other than semiconductor devices, as the material of the substrate, for example, optical glass such as quartz can be used for optical elements, and GaN, SiC, etc. can be used for light-emitting elements.

[0019] The substrate stage (substrate holding unit) 6 holds the substrate 4 and is movable on the stage base plate 5 within the XY plane. When the mold 1 comes into contact with the imprint material 8 on the substrate 4, alignment between the mold 1 and the substrate 4 is performed. When applying the imprint material 8 onto the substrate, stage drive control is carried out so that it is located at a predetermined target position at a predetermined timing.

[0020] The imaging unit 10 is configured (arranged) to include the pattern area of the mold 1 held by the mold chuck within the field of view, and images at least one of the mold 1 and the substrate 4 to acquire an image. The imaging unit 10 can be used as a camera (spread camera) for observing the contact state between the mold 1 and the imprint material on the substrate 4 during the imprint process. Also, the imaging unit 10 can be used as a position acquisition unit that acquires the landing position of the droplets on the substrate by acquiring the droplets formed by the imprint material 8 discharged onto the substrate 4 as image information and performing image processing on the acquired image.

[0021] The dispenser 11 applies (discharges droplets of) the uncured imprint material 8 in a desired coating pattern onto a preset shot area (pattern formation area) on the substrate 4. Specifically, the dispenser 11 is provided with a plurality of nozzles 31 that discharge the uncured imprint material 8 in a droplet form and apply it onto the substrate 1. Each nozzle 31 is provided with a portion that forms an area where ink exists and a discharge energy generating element that generates discharge energy for discharging the ink within the area from an opening (discharge port). By driving and controlling each of these discharge energy generating elements, droplets are discharged from each nozzle.

[0022] When the imprint material 8 is filled between the mold 1 and the substrate 4, it is required to have fluidity and be a solid that maintains its shape after molding. In particular, in this embodiment, the imprint material 8 is an ultraviolet curable resin (photo-curable resin) that has the property of curing when receiving ultraviolet light 9. However, depending on various conditions such as the manufacturing process of the article, a thermosetting resin, a thermoplastic resin, or the like may be used instead of the photo-curable resin.

[0023] The control unit (control means) 20 can control the operations and corrections of each component of the imprint apparatus 100. The control unit 20 is composed of, for example, a computer including a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, and various arithmetic processes are performed by the CPU. The control unit 20 is connected to each component of the imprint apparatus 100 via a line, and controls each component according to a program stored in the ROM. In this embodiment, the control unit 20 controls the operation of the substrate stage 6 based on the landing position of the droplets on the acquired substrate. Note that the control unit 20 may be integrally configured with other parts of the imprint apparatus 100, or may be configured separately from other parts of the imprint apparatus 100. Also, it may be configured to include a plurality of computers instead of one computer, and an ASIC or the like.

[0024] (Imprinting Process) Next, with reference to FIG. 2, an article manufacturing method will be described in which a pattern is formed on a substrate by the imprint apparatus 100, the substrate on which the pattern is formed is processed, and an article is manufactured from the processed substrate.

[0025] First, as shown in FIG. 2(a), a substrate 1z such as a silicon wafer having a workpiece 2z such as an insulator formed on its surface is prepared, and subsequently, an imprint material 3z is discharged onto the surface of the workpiece 2z. Here, a state in which a plurality of droplet-shaped imprint materials 3z are applied onto the substrate is shown.

[0026] At this time, the control unit 20 controls a substrate transfer mechanism (not shown) to place and fix the substrate 4 on the substrate stage 6, and then moves the substrate stage 6 to the application position of the dispenser 11. Next, the control unit 20 controls the nozzle 31 of the dispenser 11 and the substrate stage 6, and executes a discharge process (coating process) of discharging a predetermined amount of droplets of the imprint material 8 onto the substrate 4 while moving the substrate stage 6.

[0027] Next, as shown in FIG. 2(b), the imprint mold 4z is opposed with the side on which the concavo-convex pattern is formed facing the imprint material 3z on the substrate. At this time, the control unit 20 moves the substrate 4 so that the portion where the droplets of the imprint material 8 are applied faces the concavo-convex pattern of the mold 1.

[0028] Next, as shown in FIG. 2(c), the substrate 1z to which the imprint material 3z is applied is brought into contact with the mold 4z and pressure is applied. The imprint material 3z is filled in the gap between the mold 4z and the workpiece 2z. When light is irradiated through the mold 4z as curing energy in this state, the imprint material 3z cures.

[0029] At this time, as a pressing process, the control unit 20 drives the mold drive mechanism to bring the mold 1 close to the imprint material 8 on the substrate 4. In this state, an alignment scope (not shown) detects the alignment mark on the mold 1 and the alignment mark on the substrate 4, and the substrate stage 6 moves based on the detection result to perform superposition and adjust the relative position of both. Further, the control unit 20 drives the mold drive mechanism to move so as to narrow the distance between the mold 1 and the substrate 4, and brings the imprint material 8 on the substrate 4 into contact with the concavo-convex pattern of the mold 1 (contact process). Thereby, the imprint material 8 closely adheres to the concave and convex portions of the pattern of the mold 1. Further, the control unit 20 drives the light irradiation unit 7 as a curing process. The ultraviolet rays emitted from the light irradiation unit 7 pass through an optical element or the like and are irradiated onto the upper surface of the mold 1. The ultraviolet rays irradiated on the mold 1 pass through the light-transmissive mold 1 and are irradiated onto the imprint material 8. Thereby, the imprint material 8 cures (curing process).

[0030] Next, as shown in FIG. 2(d), after the imprint material 3z is cured and then the mold 4z and the substrate 1z are separated, a pattern of the cured product of the imprint material 3z is formed on the substrate 1z (release step). The pattern of this cured product has a shape in which the concave portion of the mold corresponds to the convex portion of the cured product and the convex portion of the mold corresponds to the concave portion of the cured product, indicating that the concavo-convex pattern of the mold 4z has been transferred to the imprint material 3z.

[0031] At this time, the control unit 20 drives the mold drive mechanism to raise the mold chuck and performs a separation step of separating the mold 1 from the cured imprint material 8. Through the above processing, the imprint processing in the imprint apparatus is completed. The substrate 4 on which the imprint processing has been completed is carried out from the substrate stage 6 by a transport mechanism (not shown).

[0032] When the substrate 4 on which the imprint processing has been completed is etched using the pattern of the cured product as an etching mask as shown in FIG. 2(e), the portion of the surface of the workpiece 2z where no cured product remains or where a thin cured product remains is removed, forming a groove 5z. As shown in FIG. 2(f), when the pattern of the cured product is removed, an article with a groove 5z formed on the surface of the workpiece 2z can be obtained. Here, the pattern of the cured product is removed, but it may not be removed after processing and may be used, for example, as a film for interlayer insulation included in a semiconductor element or the like, that is, as a component of the article.

[0033] The method for manufacturing an article includes a step of forming a pattern on an imprint material supplied (coated) onto a substrate using the above-described imprint apparatus (imprint method), and a step of processing the substrate on which the pattern has been formed in such a step. Further, such a manufacturing method includes other well-known steps (oxidation, film formation, vapor deposition, doping, planarization, etching, resist stripping, dicing, bonding, packaging, etc.).

[0034] Next, the coating process in this embodiment will be described in more detail. As shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of rectangular shot regions 21 are set at predetermined positions on the substrate 4. In the imprint apparatus 100, a coating process, a contact process, a curing process, and a release process are sequentially performed on these shot regions 21. By repeating these processes for all the shot regions, the entire imprint process of the substrate 4 is completed.

[0035] In the coating process, the substrate stage 6 is scanned and driven so that the shot region 21 to be processed is positioned at a position facing the nozzle 31, and at the same time, the imprint material 8 is discharged from the nozzle 31, whereby the imprint material can be applied to the desired shot region 21.

[0036] FIG. 4 shows a state in which droplets of the imprint material 8 are discharged onto the shot region 21. In the example of FIG. 4, a simple state is shown in which the dispenser 11 having 14 nozzles arranged in a column in the Y direction is used, and the imprint material 8 is discharged 10 times (n = 10) at predetermined time intervals while the stage 6 is scanned and driven in the -X direction. That is, a state in which droplets 1, 2, 3 ··· n are discharged onto the substrate is shown.

[0037] In an actual imprint apparatus 100, for example, the dispenser 11 having several hundred nozzles arranged in a column is used, and the imprint material 8 is discharged several hundred times while the substrate stage 6 is scanned and driven. That is, an array of several hundred × several hundred imprint materials 8 is applied in the shot region in each of the X direction and the Y direction.

[0038] In order to form an accurate pattern on the shot region 21, it is necessary to keep the landing error of each imprint material 8 in the shot region within 1 μm to several μm. If the landing error is larger than such an allowable range, there is a possibility that the imprint material 8 may protrude outside the mold 1 during pressing and foreign matter may be generated, or the imprint material 8 may not spread over the entire surface of the shot region, resulting in the occurrence of unfilled defects.

[0039] On the other hand, the scanning drive of the substrate stage 6 is performed at high speed and high acceleration in order to improve the apparatus throughput. When the substrate stage 6 is scanned at such high speed and high acceleration, the apparatus structure including the dispenser 11 vibrates, and a displacement occurs between the discharge part of the dispenser 11 and the shot area 21. In particular, when the substrate stage 6 is scanned and driven in the X direction, it is known that large vibrations occur in the apparatus structure in the X direction. When droplets of the imprint material 8 are discharged from the dispenser 11 in such a state, an X-direction landing error as shown in FIG. 5 occurs in each of the droplets 1, 2, 3,..., n of the imprint material. FIG. 5 is a diagram created by acquiring the positions of the droplets discharged onto the substrate by the imaging unit 10 or the like, and shows the amount of deviation (landing error) from the landing target position. The horizontal axis of FIG. 5 indicates the discharge order, and the vertical axis plots the amount of deviation of each droplet from the landing target position.

[0040] Therefore, in order to prevent the generation of foreign matter and the occurrence of unfilled defects due to the displacement of the landing position of the droplets as described above, it is required to perform control so that the deviation from the landing target position is reduced. In the present embodiment, the amount of deviation is obtained in advance by acquiring the target position of the imprint material when the discharge operation is performed under predetermined conditions, and the landing position is corrected by controlling the substrate stage during the imprint process based on the result.

[0041] Although the example of FIG. 5 shows the landing error in the X direction, in order to scan and drive the desired shot area 21 at a position facing the dispenser 11, it is also necessary to drive the substrate stage 6 in the Y direction at the same time. Therefore, vibrations also occur in the apparatus structure in the Y direction, and similarly, landing errors also occur in the Y direction.

[0042] Using the flowchart of FIG. 6, the process performed in advance to correct such a landing position will be described. The process for correcting such a landing position can be performed using a test substrate or the like at a timing different from that of actual imprint processing. Note that even if it is not performed on a test substrate, the landing errors of a plurality of imprint processes performed immediately before may be measured and reflected in the next imprint process. The process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6 is realized by the control unit 20 controlling each component of the imprint apparatus 100.

[0043] In step S601, the control unit 20 drives and controls the substrate stage 6 so that a predetermined position on the test substrate is directly below the nozzle 31 of the dispenser 11, as in the case of imprint processing. Then, while moving the substrate stage 6 at a constant speed, a discharge process is performed in which a plurality of times (n times) droplets of a predetermined amount of the imprint material 8 are discharged from the nozzle 31 onto the substrate 4 at a predetermined time interval.

[0044] In step S602, the control unit 20 acquires, as image information, the droplets of the imprint material on the test substrate by the imaging unit 10, and acquires the landing position of the droplets on the test substrate by performing image processing on the acquired image. Further, from the acquired landing position and the target landing position, the deviation amount (landing error) of the landing position of each droplet is acquired. Specifically, the landing error ΔDx[i] in the X direction and the landing error ΔDy[i] in the Y direction of each droplet i = 1, 2, 3,..., n of the imprint material 8 within the shot region 21 are obtained. Note that it is not necessarily required to acquire the landing errors of all n droplets discharged, and it is sufficient to acquire the errors of the landing droplets at appropriate distance intervals. Note that the landing position in step S602 may be measured by a measuring device outside the imprint apparatus 100, and the result may be acquired by the imprint apparatus 100 to obtain the deviation amount of the landing position.

[0045] In step S603, the control unit 20 determines a drive correction amount during the scanning drive of the substrate stage 6 based on the deviation amount (landing error) of the landing position of each droplet acquired in step S602. The substrate stage 6 is subjected to stage drive control so as to be positioned at a predetermined target position at a predetermined timing. The drive correction amount is a correction amount used to correct the target position at which the substrate stage 6 should be positioned at a predetermined timing.

[0046] Then, in step S604, the control unit 20 corrects the target position at which the substrate stage 6 should be positioned at a predetermined timing based on the correction amount, and stores the corrected target position in a storage means or the like as a new target position.

[0047] For example, if the correction amount of the target position in the X direction of the substrate stage 6 for each droplet i = 1, 2, 3,..., n is represented as ΔPx[i], and the correction amount of the target position in the Y direction of the substrate stage 6 is represented as ΔPy[i], these correction amounts of the target positions can use the landing error as it is. That is, as shown in FIG. 7(a), ΔDx[i]=ΔPx[i] and ΔDy[i]=ΔPy[i].

[0048] Then, during the ejection process of the imprint process, by controlling (drive control) the substrate stage 6 so as to be positioned at the corrected target position at a predetermined timing, the landing position of the droplet can be corrected to an optimal position. Note that by correcting the target position located at a predetermined timing, the speed and acceleration of the substrate stage 6 are adjusted, but the deviation of the landing position caused by this influence is so small that it can be ignored.

[0049] Note that if the landing error is used as it is for the correction amount of the target position, it is conceivable that the position correction of the substrate stage 6 may be excessive or insufficient. In that case, as shown in FIG. 6(b), appropriate proportional constants Kx and Ky may be obtained in advance, and the correction amount of the target position of the substrate stage 6 may be obtained using the proportional constants. That is, it may be determined by ΔPx[i]=Kx*ΔDx[i] and ΔPy[i]=Ky*ΔDy[i].

[0050] Also, as shown in FIG. 6(c), a digital filter may be applied to the data series of the values of the landing errors ΔDx[i] and ΔDy[i] (i = 1, 2, 3,..., n), and the correction amounts ΔPx[i] or ΔPy[i] (i = 1, 2, 3,..., n) may be determined. As the digital filter, for example, a low-pass filter, a band-pass filter, etc. can be applied.

[0051] Note that in this embodiment, the control has been described considering the landing errors in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction. However, the landing error in the rotation direction within the XY plane may be obtained, and correction in the rotation direction may be performed. That is, the corrected target position corrects at least one position among the scanning direction (X-axis direction) of the substrate stage, the intersection direction (Y-axis direction) intersecting the scanning direction within the driving plane of the substrate stage, and the rotation direction within the driving plane of the substrate stage.

[0052] Also, when the landing error varies depending on the position of the shot region 21, correction amounts may be obtained for each shot region, and the substrate stage 6 may be driven and controlled with the corresponding correction amount for each shot region.

[0053] <Second Embodiment> In the first embodiment, an example in which the imprint material is applied while the substrate stage 6 is scanned once (one-way) has been described. In this embodiment, an example in which the substrate stage 6 is scanned a plurality of times (for example, one-way and return) with respect to the shot region 21 to apply the imprint material will be described. Here, the parts different from the first embodiment will be described, and the same parts will be omitted from the description.

[0054] In step S601 of the flowchart of FIG. 6, the control unit 20 first applies the imprint material 8 to half of the region of the shot region 21 by driving the scan in the one-way direction, and then changes the Y position. Then, the imprint material 8 is applied to the remaining region of the shot region 21 by driving the scan in the return direction, and the imprint material 8 is applied to the entire surface of the shot region 21.

[0055] In step S602, the control unit 20 acquires, as image information, the droplets of the imprint material on the test substrate from which the droplets have been ejected by the imaging unit 10, and obtains the landing positions of the droplets on the substrate by performing image processing on the acquired image. Further, based on the acquired landing positions and the target landing positions, the amount of deviation (landing error) of the landing positions of the respective droplets is obtained. At this time, since the landing error is different between the forward scanning drive and the return scanning drive, the amount of deviation of the landing position of the droplet ejected by the forward scanning drive and the amount of deviation of the landing position of the droplet ejected by the return scanning drive are respectively obtained.

[0056] In step S603, the control unit 20 determines, for each of the forward path and the return path, the correction amount (drive correction amount) of the target position during the scanning drive of the substrate stage 6 based on the amount of deviation (landing error) of the landing positions of the respective droplets acquired in step S602.

[0057] Then, also in this embodiment, during the imprint process, the substrate stage 6 is driven so as to be positioned at a predetermined timing at the corrected target position. Thereby, even when the imprint material is ejected by reciprocating scanning, the landing position of the droplet can be corrected to an optimal position.

[0058] In the embodiment described above, the description has been made using an imprint apparatus (molding apparatus) provided with a droplet ejection device. As another embodiment, a droplet ejection device to which the present invention is applied may be provided separately from the imprint apparatus, and the substrate coated with the imprint material may be subjected to an imprint process by the imprint apparatus.

[0059] Furthermore, the present invention can also be applied to a flattening apparatus (molding apparatus for flattening) that provides a flattening layer made of a cured product of a curable composition on a substrate by curing a member (flattening member) having no pattern in contact with the curable composition.

Description of Reference Numerals

[0060] 6 Substrate stage 11 Dispenser 20 Control unit 100 Imprinting device

Claims

1. a substrate stage for holding a substrate; a discharge unit having a plurality of nozzles for discharging droplets; a control unit configured to control the discharge unit to discharge the droplets while moving the substrate stage in a specific direction; and a position acquisition unit configured to acquire landing positions of the droplets discharged onto the substrate, wherein the control unit controls the movement of the substrate stage such that each droplet is positioned at the target landing position based on a deviation amount of each droplet in the specific direction between the landing position of each droplet discharged from a specific nozzle acquired in advance by the position acquisition unit and the target landing position corresponding to each droplet determined in advance. A liquid discharge device characterized by this.

2. The droplets whose landing positions are acquired by the position acquisition unit are droplets discharged from the discharge unit at predetermined time intervals while moving the substrate stage at a constant speed with respect to the substrate held by the substrate stage. The liquid discharge device according to claim 1, characterized by this.

3. having storage means for storing the target landing position; The control unit controls the movement of the substrate stage based on the target landing position stored in the storage means. The liquid discharge device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by this.

4. The discharge unit discharges the droplets when the substrate stage is reciprocating; The control unit determines the target landing position for each of the forward and return paths of the substrate stage. The liquid discharge device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized by this.

5. There are a plurality of shot regions on the substrate; The control unit acquires the deviation amount for each of the plurality of shot regions. The liquid discharge device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized by this.

6. The control unit determines the target landing position based on the deviation amount between the landing position of each droplet and the target landing position corresponding to each droplet, and a predetermined proportional constant. The liquid ejection device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. The target landing position corrects at least one of the position in the moving direction of the substrate stage, the position in the intersecting direction intersecting the moving direction in the driving plane of the substrate stage, and the rotation around the direction orthogonal to the driving plane of the substrate stage. The liquid ejection device according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. The position acquisition unit acquires the landing position of each droplet measured by a measuring device outside the liquid ejection device. The liquid ejection device according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

9. The liquid ejection device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, A mold holding unit that holds a mold, A curing unit that cures the curable composition, and has The ejection unit included in the liquid ejection device ejects droplets of the curable composition. A film forming apparatus characterized by that.

10. A forming step of forming a film on a substrate using the film forming apparatus according to claim 9, A processing step of processing the substrate formed in the forming step, A method for manufacturing an article, characterized by manufacturing an article from the substrate processed in the processing step.

11. An ejection step of ejecting droplets from an ejection unit having a plurality of nozzles while moving a substrate stage that holds a substrate in a specific direction, A position acquisition step of acquiring the landing position of each droplet ejected onto the substrate in the ejection step, A moving step of moving the substrate stage so that each droplet is located at the target landing position based on the amount of deviation of each droplet in the specific direction between the landing position of each droplet acquired in advance in the position acquisition step and the target landing position corresponding to each droplet; A liquid ejection method characterized by having .

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