Actuator, tilt control device, positioning device, processing device, device manufacturing method

Abstract

To provide an actuator and the like that can improve smoothness of drive.SOLUTION: An actuator 3 comprises: a stationary part 5; a movable part 6; a driving part (coil 54 and permanent magnet 65) that drives the movable part 6 with respect to the stationary part 5 along a driving direction (Z-axis direction); a guide part 52 that extends in the driving direction in the stationary part 5, and guides the driving of the movable part 6 carried out by the driving part along the driving direction; and a gas supply part 55 that supplies gas between the movable part 6 and the guide part 52. The guide part 52 is located at the center of the movable part 6 when viewed in the driving direction (when viewed in the Z-axis direction). The driving part annularly surrounds the guide part 52 when viewed in the driving direction.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This invention relates to actuators and the like. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a linear motor. The magnets and coils constituting the drive unit move relative to each other. [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 4664142 [Overview of the project] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0004] In Patent Document 1, the Z-axis guide and the Z-axis actuator are physically separated, which may hinder smooth operation when driving the linear motor.

[0005] This invention has been made in view of these circumstances, and one of its objectives is to provide an actuator and the like that can improve the smoothness of the drive. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] To solve the above problems, an actuator according to one aspect of the present invention comprises a fixed part, a movable part, a drive unit that drives the movable part relative to the fixed part in the driving direction, a guide part that extends in the driving direction from the fixed part and guides the driving of the movable part by the drive unit in the driving direction, and a gas supply unit that supplies gas between the movable part and the guide part. The guide part is located in the center of the movable part when viewed in the driving direction.

[0007] According to this embodiment, the smoothness of the drive by the drive unit can be enhanced by supplying gas between the movable part and the guide part.

[0008] Another aspect of the present invention is a tilt control device. This device comprises a plurality of actuators that control the tilt of a driven body by driving a plurality of driven points on the driven body. Each actuator comprises a fixed part, a movable part located at the driven point, a drive part that drives the movable part together with the driven point with respect to the fixed part in the driving direction, and a guide part that extends in the driving direction from the fixed part and guides the driving of the movable part and the driven point by the drive part in the driving direction. The guide part is located in the center of the movable part when viewed in the driving direction.

[0009] According to this embodiment, the tilt of the driven object can be appropriately controlled by multiple actuators.

[0010] Yet another aspect of the present invention is a positioning device. This device positions a table, which is a driven object whose tilt is controlled by the tilt control device described above.

[0011] Yet another aspect of the present invention is a processing apparatus. This apparatus processes an object to be processed, which is placed on a table positioned by the positioning device described above.

[0012] Yet another aspect of the present invention is a device manufacturing method. This method manufactures a device through processing of a workpiece using the above-described processing apparatus.

[0013] Furthermore, any combination of the above components, as well as methods, apparatus, systems, recording media, computer programs, etc., derived from these representations, are also included in the present invention. [Effects of the Invention]

[0014] According to the present invention, the smoothness of the drive can be improved. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0015] [Figure 1] This is a schematic plan view showing the stage equipment. [Figure 2] This is a perspective view showing a tilt control device. [Figure 3] It is a perspective cross-sectional view showing an actuator. [Figure 4] A modified example of the actuator is shown. MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0016] Hereinafter, modes for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter also referred to as embodiments) will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the description and / or the drawings, the same or equivalent constituent elements, members, processes, and the like are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant descriptions are omitted. The scales and shapes of the respective parts shown in the drawings are set for convenience for the sake of simplification of description, and are not to be construed as limiting unless otherwise specified. The embodiments are illustrative and do not limit the scope of the present invention in any way. Not all features and combinations thereof described in the embodiments are necessarily essential to the present invention.

[0017] FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically showing a stage apparatus 100 as a positioning apparatus or driving apparatus to which an actuator and a tilt control apparatus according to the present invention can be applied. The stage apparatus 100 is an XY stage that positions a table, which serves as a driven body on which an object to be processed such as a semiconductor wafer is placed, in the X-axis direction (left-right direction in FIG. 1) and the Y-axis direction (up-down direction in FIG. 1). The stage apparatus 100 includes a pair of Y stages 120 extending in the Y-axis direction to drive the table in the Y-axis direction, an X stage 130 integrated with the table extending in the X-axis direction to drive the table in the X-axis direction, and a surface plate 140. The pair of Y stages 120 are connected to both ends of the X stage 130 in the X-axis direction via sliders 124. The Y stage 120 and the X stage 130 form an H shape in a top view.

[0018] In the configuration of the stage apparatus 100, at least the table, the Y stage 120, and the X stage 130 may be housed in a vacuum chamber whose interior is maintained in a vacuum state. As used herein, the term "vacuum" refers to the state of a space filled with a gas at a pressure lower than normal atmospheric pressure. According to pressure ranges, vacuum is classified into low vacuum (100 kPa to 100 Pa), medium vacuum (100 Pa to 0.1 Pa), high vacuum (0.1 Pa to 10 -5 Pa), ultra-high vacuum (10 -5 Pa to 10 -8 Pa), extreme high vacuum (10 -8 Pa or lower), and the like. The stage apparatus 100 of the present embodiment may be used in a vacuum environment of any of the above classifications. Further, the stage apparatus 100 of the present embodiment may be used in a non-vacuum environment that does not fall under any of the above classifications.

[0019] The X stage 130 and the Y stage 120 are provided with linear motors 2X and 2Y, respectively. The linear driving force in the X-axis direction or Y-axis direction generated by each linear motor 2X, 2Y linearly drives a table as a driven member in the X-axis direction or Y-axis direction. The linear motor 2X responsible for linear driving in the X-axis direction includes an armature 2 that constitutes a stator and a track in the X-axis direction, and a mover 20 that can move in the X-axis direction along the armature 2. A table as a driven member is fixed to this mover 20 and moves integrally therewith. The pair of linear motors 2Y responsible for linear driving in the Y-axis direction each include an armature 2 that constitutes a stator and a track in the Y-axis direction, and a mover 20 that can move in the Y-axis direction along the armature 2. A slider 124 is fixed to this mover 20 and moves integrally therewith. Here, since the pair of sliders 124 are connected to both ends of the armature 2 of the linear motor 2X, the pair of linear motors 2Y linearly drive the armature 2 of the linear motor 2X together with the pair of sliders 124 in the Y-axis direction. Further, since the table is disposed on the armature 2 (track) of the linear motor 2X, the pair of linear motors 2Y linearly drive the table in the Y-axis direction.

[0020] As described above, the stage device 100 of this embodiment (a positioning device powered by a linear motor), which can achieve high-precision positioning or driving regardless of whether it is in a vacuum or non-vacuum environment, is suitable for applications such as positioning or driving a table on which semiconductor wafers or the like, which are not to be processed, are placed as the driven object in semiconductor manufacturing equipment such as exposure equipment, ion implantation equipment, heat treatment equipment, ashing equipment, sputtering equipment, dicing equipment, inspection equipment, and cleaning equipment, as well as device manufacturing equipment such as FPD (Flat Panel Display) manufacturing equipment. The processing equipment to which the stage device 100 of this embodiment can be applied may be any equipment that positions any workpiece for processing using the stage device 100 or a positioning device, for example, any manufacturing equipment, any processing equipment (e.g., machine tools), or any inspection equipment.

[0021] Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the tilt control device 4 according to the present invention. The tilt control device 4 is installed between the upper surface (plane in the +Z axis direction) of the X stage 130 (not shown) and the lower surface (plane in the -Z axis direction) of the table (not shown), and controls the tilt of the table as the driven object. The tilt control device 4 comprises a fixed plate 41, three substantially identical actuators 3A, 3B, and 3C (hereinafter collectively referred to as actuator 3), and a movable plate 42.

[0022] The fixed plate 41, which is rectangular in shape when viewed from above (Z-axis direction), has its lower surface attached to the upper surface of the X-stage 130. Three actuators 3A, 3B, and 3C are also positioned on the upper surface of the fixed plate 41, forming an approximately equilateral triangle when viewed from above. Each actuator 3 will be described later. The lower surface of the movable plate 42 is attached to the upper surfaces of the three actuators 3A, 3B, and 3C. The movable plate 42 is approximately equilateral in shape when viewed from above, with the three actuators 3A, 3B, and 3C located at its three vertices. Each vertex of the movable plate 42 becomes a driven point that is driven along the Z-axis direction by the corresponding actuator 3.

[0023] A lower surface of a table, which is a driven body, is attached to an upper surface of the movable plate 42. Accordingly, the table is driven integrally with the movable plate 42 by the three actuators 3A, 3B, and 3C. In other words, the table and the movable plate 42 constitute a single driven body that is an object to be driven by the three actuators 3A, 3B, and 3C.

[0024] The three actuators 3A, 3B, and 3C control the inclination of the driven body (the table and the movable plate 42) by driving three driven portions (three vertices of the movable plate 42) on the driven body along the Z-axis direction. The inclination in the present embodiment refers to an angle θ formed between a normal line to the upper surface of the movable plate 42 serving as the driven body and the +Z-axis direction (typically, the vertical direction). As schematically illustrated in FIG. 2, the inclination θ includes an inclination (or rotation) θ about the X-axis x and an inclination (or rotation) θ about the Y-axis y and is decomposed into these two components.

[0025] In addition to such two-axis rotational driving (θ x ,θ y ), the three actuators 3A, 3B, and 3C can translationally drive the entire movable plate 42 and the entire table in the Z-axis direction. This translational driving amount is represented as Z. As described above, in the inclination control device 4 according to the present embodiment, three parameters (θ x ,θ y ,Z) are controlled by the three actuators 3A, 3B, and 3C. Note that two actuators 3 are sufficient to achieve only inclination control via two-axis rotational driving (θ x ,θ y ) without performing translational driving in the Z-axis direction. In this case, any one of the three actuators 3A, 3B, and 3C illustrated in FIG. 2 may be replaced with a support base that only supports one vertex of the movable plate 42 from below.

[0026] Figure 3 is a perspective cross-sectional view showing the actuator 3 according to the present invention. The actuator 3 comprises a fixed part 5 and a movable part 6 that are relatively movable along the Z-axis direction as the driving direction. The movable part 6 is located at the driven point on the driven body (for example, the vertex of the movable plate 42 in Figure 2).

[0027] The base portion 51 of the fixed portion 5 is mounted on the fixed plate 41 of the tilt control device 4. The upper surface of the base portion 51 is provided with an axial or cylindrical guide portion 52 extending in the +Z direction toward the movable portion 6 above. Also on the upper surface of the base portion 51 is a cylindrical motor mounting portion 53 extending in the +Z direction toward the movable portion 6 above, which surrounds the guide portion 52 in an annular or ring-like manner when viewed in the driving direction (view in the Z direction). When viewed in the driving direction, the circular guide portion 52 and the ring-shaped motor mounting portion 53 are arranged concentrically. On the outer circumference of the motor mounting portion 53 when viewed in the driving direction, one or more coils 54 constituting a motor such as a voice coil motor as the drive unit are provided.

[0028] The movable part 6, which has a roughly cylindrical outer shape, has a roughly disc-shaped top portion 61 when viewed in the driving direction. A cylindrical bearing portion 62 is provided on the lower surface of the top portion 61, extending in the -Z direction toward the fixed part 5 below. When viewed in the driving direction, the annular bearing portion 62 surrounds the circular guide portion 52 with virtually no gap. One or more bearings 63 are provided on the inner circumference side of the bearing portion 62, facing the guide portion 52 when viewed in the driving direction. The bearings 63 that surround the guide portion 52 with virtually no gap when viewed in the driving direction support the axial guide portion 52 when the movable part 6 is driven relative to the fixed part 5 along the Z-axis direction. It is preferable that the bearings 63 support the guide portion 52 in a manner that does not hinder relative movement between them along the Z-axis direction. For example, the bearings 63 are configured as rolling bearings having multiple rolling elements such as balls that can rotate freely on the contact surface or sliding surface with the guide portion 52.

[0029] On the lower surface of the top portion 61, a cylindrical motor mounting portion 64 is provided that extends in the -Z direction toward the lower fixed portion 5, surrounding the bearing portion 62 in an annular or circular manner when viewed in the driving direction. When viewed in the driving direction, the relatively small annular bearing portion 62 and the relatively large annular motor mounting portion 64 are arranged concentrically. Furthermore, when viewed in the driving direction, the circular guide portion 52 of the fixed portion 5 is arranged concentrically within the annular bearing portion 62, and the annular motor mounting portion 53 of the fixed portion 5 is arranged concentrically between the annular motor mounting portion 64 and the bearing portion 62. In other words, when viewed in the driving direction, the guide portion 52, bearing portion 62, motor mounting portion 53, and motor mounting portion 64, which are arranged in order from the inner circumference side, are all arranged concentrically.

[0030] On the inner circumference of the motor mounting section 64, facing one or more coils 54 in a view in the driving direction, one or more permanent magnets 65 are provided, which together constitute a motor such as a voice coil motor with the coils 54. In this way, the drive unit such as a voice coil motor, which is composed of the coils 54 in the fixed section 5 and the permanent magnets 65 in the movable section 6, drives the movable section 6 along the driving direction (Z direction) relative to the fixed section 5. Specifically, the magnetic field generated by the drive current flowing through the coils 54 exerts a linear power in the Z direction on the permanent magnets 65. Note that to configure a similar drive unit, the coils 54 may be provided in the movable section 6 and the permanent magnets 65 may be provided in the fixed section 5.

[0031] When the drive unit drives the movable part 6, the guide part 52, located in the center of the movable part 6 when viewed in the driving direction, guides the drive of the movable part 6 along that driving direction. Since the central axis of the movable part 6 and the axial guide part 52 are approximately coincident, the drive unit can stably drive the movable part 6 while effectively maintaining the posture and balance of the movable part 6 with the guide part 52. In addition, the drive unit (coil 54 and permanent magnet 65) surrounds the guide part 52 in an annular shape when viewed in the driving direction, so that the generation of unnecessary power in the circumferential and radial directions can be effectively suppressed, and the movable part 6 can be driven linearly with high precision along the Z-axis direction.

[0032] Figure 4 shows a modified example of the actuator 3 in Figure 3. In this modified example, a gas supply unit 55, which constitutes a non-contact bearing, is provided instead of the contact-type bearing 63 such as a rolling bearing in Figure 3. The gas supply unit 55 supplies gas such as compressed air between the inner circumferential surface of the bearing portion 62 in the movable portion 6 and the outer circumferential surface of the guide portion 52 in the fixed portion 5. Due to the gas supplied by the gas supply unit 55, the movable portion 6 (bearing portion 62) can move smoothly with substantially no contact with the guide portion 52, even while being guided in the Z-axis direction by the guide portion 52.

[0033] As schematically shown in Figure 4, it is preferable that the gas supplied by the gas supply unit 55 between the bearing unit 62 and the guide unit 52 is supplied through an air supply passage 56 provided inside the fixed unit 5 (base unit 51 and guide unit 52). Furthermore, for actuators 3 used in a vacuum environment, it is preferable to employ an airtight structure that prevents the gas supplied by the gas supply unit 55 between the bearing unit 62 and the guide unit 52 from leaking outside the actuator 3. In addition, it is preferable to provide an exhaust passage inside the fixed unit 5, similar to the air supply passage 56, for exhausting the gas supplied by the gas supply unit 55 between the bearing unit 62 and the guide unit 52 to the atmosphere or the like.

[0034] The present invention has been described above based on embodiments. Various modifications are possible for each component and each combination of processes in the exemplary embodiments, and it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that such modifications are included within the scope of the present invention.

[0035] The configuration, operation, and function of each device and method described in the embodiments can be realized by hardware resources or software resources, or by the cooperation of hardware resources and software resources. Hardware resources include, for example, processors, ROMs, RAMs, and various integrated circuits. Software resources include, for example, operating systems and application programs. [Explanation of symbols]

[0036] 3 Actuator, 4 Tilt control device, 5 Fixed part, 6 Movable part, 42 Movable plate, 51 Base, 52 Guide part, 53 Motor mounting part, 54 Coil, 55 Gas supply part, 56 Air supply passage, 61 Top part, 62 Bearing part, 63 Bearing, 64 Motor mounting part, 65 Permanent magnet, 100 Stage device, 120 Y-stage, 130 X-stage.

Claims

1. The fixing part, Movable parts and A drive unit that drives the movable part in the driving direction relative to the fixed part, The fixed portion includes a guide portion that extends in the driving direction and guides the driving of the movable portion by the drive portion along the driving direction, A gas supply unit that supplies gas between the movable part and the guide part, Equipped with, The guide portion is located in the center of the movable portion when viewed in the driving direction. The movable part comprises a cylindrical bearing portion that surrounds the guide portion and forms a bearing, and a cylindrical movable part motor mounting portion that surrounds the bearing portion. The fixed portion includes a cylindrical fixed portion motor mounting portion located between the bearing portion and the movable portion motor mounting portion. The drive unit is composed of a coil provided in one of the movable motor mounting section and the fixed motor mounting section, and a permanent magnet provided in the other of the movable motor mounting section and the fixed motor mounting section. The gas supply unit supplies gas between the bearing unit and the guide unit. Actuator.

2. The actuator according to claim 1, wherein the drive unit surrounds the guide unit in an annular shape when viewed in the driving direction.

3. The system includes multiple actuators that control the tilt of a driven object by driving multiple driven points on the driven object, Each of the aforementioned actuators is The fixing part, The movable part located at the driven location, A drive unit that drives the movable part together with the driven part with respect to the fixed part in the driving direction, The fixed portion includes a guide portion that extends in the driving direction and guides the driving of the movable portion and the driven portion by the drive portion along the driving direction, Equipped with, The guide portion is located in the center of the movable portion when viewed in the driving direction. The movable part comprises a cylindrical bearing portion that surrounds the guide portion and forms a bearing, and a cylindrical movable part motor mounting portion that surrounds the bearing portion. The fixed portion includes a cylindrical fixed portion motor mounting portion located between the bearing portion and the movable portion motor mounting portion. The drive unit is composed of a coil provided in one of the movable motor mounting section and the fixed motor mounting section, and a permanent magnet provided in the other of the movable motor mounting section and the fixed motor mounting section. Tilt control device.

4. The tilt control device according to claim 3, wherein each actuator is provided with a gas supply unit that supplies gas between the bearing portion and the guide portion.

5. The tilt control device according to claim 3, wherein the drive unit surrounds the guide unit in an annular shape when viewed in the driving direction.

6. The tilt control device according to claim 3, comprising at least three actuators.

7. A positioning device for positioning a table, which is a driven body, whose tilt is controlled by a tilt control device according to any one of claims 3 to 6.

8. A processing apparatus for processing an object to be processed, which is placed on the table positioned by the positioning device described in claim 7.

9. A device manufacturing method for manufacturing a device through processing of an object to be processed by the processing apparatus described in claim 8.

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