Immersion Exposure Substrate Movement Control

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Solution Overview

Problem

Immersion exposure apparatuses face exposure failures due to the state of the immersion space, leading to defective device generation during microdevice manufacturing.

Innovation Solution

An information calculation method and apparatus that calculates liquid information and movement information to control the substrate's movement, ensuring the immersion space conditions are met to prevent exposure failures, and a method to adjust the movement path to maintain immersion space contact only until a second shot region is exposed after the first shot region.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If the substrate is moved through the immersion space during exposure, then exposure of multiple shot regions is enabled, but liquid remaining on the substrate causes exposure failures

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveexposure throughputVSAvoidexposure quality

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary detection of liquid remaining on the substrate before completing the exposure process. By detecting liquid presence in advance and adjusting the movement path accordingly, the system prevents exposure failures while maintaining continuous operation, thus resolving the contradiction between productivity and reliability

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system implements feedback control by detecting the state of liquid on the substrate during movement and dynamically adjusting the movement path based on detection results. This closed-loop control ensures exposure quality is maintained while preserving high throughput

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

2Productivity

If the substrate moves quickly through the immersion space, then exposure time is reduced and productivity increases, but exposure failures occur due to liquid state changes

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveexposure speedVSAvoidexposure accuracy

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The system dynamically adjusts the movement path of the substrate based on real-time detection of liquid state. Rather than using a fixed high-speed path, the system adapts the trajectory to maintain optimal immersion conditions, thereby preserving exposure accuracy while maintaining high productivity through efficient path optimization

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

3Reliability

If the movement path is extended to ensure proper immersion space contact, then exposure quality improves, but exposure time increases and productivity decreases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveexposure reliabilityVSAvoidexposure cycle time

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system changes the parameters of the movement path dynamically based on detected liquid state. By adjusting path length, speed, and trajectory in response to real-time conditions, the system achieves optimal balance between exposure reliability and cycle time, avoiding both excessive immersion contact and insufficient coverage

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentUS11360394B2Information calculation method, exposure apparatus, exposure method, device manufacturing method, program, and recording medium

Publication Date: 2022.06.14 NIKON CORP

AI summary

An information calculation method includes: calculating liquid information regarding a liquid on an object, which faces an optical member that emits exposure light, when moving the object; and calculating region information indicating a region, in which the liquid information satisfies predetermined conditions, on the object.