Imprint Apparatus Partial Surface Shape Measurement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing imprint techniques face challenges in maintaining high accuracy of mold and substrate alignment due to level differences on semiconductor substrates, leading to positional deviations and reduced productivity due to time-consuming methods for acquiring nanotopography information and correction values.
Innovation Solution
An imprint apparatus with a measurement unit to assess partial surface shapes of substrates, a control unit to calculate correction amounts for positional deviations, and a shape correction unit to correct the substrate or mold, allowing for efficient alignment without requiring extensive data acquisition for each substrate.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If nanotopography information of the entire substrate is acquired to correct positional deviations, then alignment accuracy between mold and substrate is improved, but measurement time is significantly extended
Solution Approach 1:
The substrate measurement area is segmented into multiple regions, with only the shot region containing the target pattern being measured in detail. Other regions are either excluded from measurement or measured with reduced precision, allowing alignment correction to be achieved without measuring the entire substrate surface.
Solution Approach 2:
Measurement resources are concentrated on the local shot region where the target pattern is located, rather than uniformly measuring the entire substrate. This localised measurement approach provides sufficient data for alignment correction while minimizing total measurement time.
2Manufacturing precision
If shape information of substrate and mold is individually acquired to correct relative positional deviations, then alignment accuracy is improved, but process complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The measurement process extracts only the essential information needed for alignment correction from the shot region, rather than acquiring complete shape information of both substrate and mold. This selective information extraction reduces process complexity while maintaining correction effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of individually measuring and processing complete shape information of substrate and mold, the system uses mark-based copying methods to obtain relative positional relationship data, simplifying the information acquisition process while achieving the same alignment correction goal.
3Manufacturing precision
If correction values are calculated for each substrate based on complete nanotopography data, then alignment accuracy is improved, but productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The correction calculation is segmented to use only data from the relevant shot region rather than processing complete nanotopography data of the entire substrate. This reduces calculation complexity and time while maintaining the accuracy needed for effective alignment correction.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs partial measurement and calculation actions - measuring only the necessary shot region and calculating correction values based on this limited but sufficient data - rather than performing complete substrate measurement and full-data processing, achieving productivity improvement without sacrificing correction effectiveness.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach improves alignment accuracy between the mold and substrate while maintaining productivity by measuring and correcting positional deviations based on partial surface data, reducing the need for extensive nanotopography information and minimizing the impact of substrate irregularities.
Implementation Method 1
a measurement unit for measuring a partial surface shape of a predetermined partial shot region of the substrate
Implementation Method 2
a shape correction unit for correcting a shape of at least one of the substrate and the mold based on the correction amount
Data Source
AI summary
An imprint apparatus which is advantageous in improving the accuracy of alignment of a mold and a substrate without reducing productivity is provided.An imprint apparatus that forms a pattern in an imprint material positioned on a substrate by bringing the imprint material and a mold into contact with each other includes a measurement unit which measures a partial surface shape of a predetermined partial shot region of the substrate, a control unit which acquires a correction amount for relative positional deviations of the substrate and the mold which occur while the imprint material and the mold are brought into contact with each other, on the basis of the partial surface shape of the predetermined partial shot region which is measured by the measurement unit, and a shape correction unit which corrects a shape of at least one of the substrate and the mold on the basis of the correction amount, and the control unit acquires the correction amount for the other shot regions of the substrate on the basis of the partial surface shape of the predetermined partial shot region which is measured by the measurement unit.