Imprint Apparatus Detector Calibration for Overlay Accuracy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing imprint apparatuses face challenges in achieving high overlay accuracy due to individual differences among detectors, such as wavelength and light amount variations, and assembly errors, which affect the precision of relative positional shifts between substrate and mold marks.
Innovation Solution
An imprint apparatus equipped with multiple detectors and a controller that repeatedly detects the relative position between substrate and mold marks during the curing process, calibrating detection processing operations to minimize alignment errors and achieve consistent results across all detectors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple detectors are used for alignment detection, then detection coverage and reliability are improved, but individual differences among detectors cause unacceptable differences in detection results
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where detection results from multiple detectors are used to calculate overlay accuracy, and this information is fed back to adjust and calibrate the detectors. The controller calculates overlay accuracy based on detection results from multiple detectors and uses this feedback to improve subsequent detections, thereby reducing individual differences and improving overall measurement precision while maintaining the reliability benefits of multiple detectors.
2Device complexity
If detectors operate independently without calibration, then device complexity is reduced, but assembly errors and individual differences lead to inconsistent detection results
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by performing calibration of detectors before actual alignment detection. The controller calculates overlay accuracy using detection results from multiple detectors and uses this information to adjust and calibrate the detectors in advance. This preliminary calibration ensures that detectors are properly aligned and calibrated before real measurement, reducing the impact of assembly errors and individual differences without requiring complex real-time adjustments during the actual detection process.
Data Source
AI summary
An imprint apparatus brings an imprint material on a substrate including a first mark into contact with a mold including a second mark and cures the imprint material, thereby forming a cured product of the imprint material on the substrate. The apparatus includes a plurality of detectors used for alignment detection, and a controller configured to obtain a plurality of pieces of relative position information by detecting a relative position between the first mark and the second mark a plurality of times using the plurality of detectors in a state in which the imprint material is cured and a positional relationship between the substrate and the mold is maintained, and to calibrate, based on the plurality of pieces of relative position information, a plurality of detection processing operations each performed using each of the plurality of detectors.