Imprint Apparatus Gas Supply Control for Unfilled Defects
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional imprint techniques face challenges in maintaining the concentration of a gas with high solubility and diffusibility between a mold and a substrate during continuous imprint processes, leading to unfilled defects and reduced productivity due to delays or errors in the imprint process.
Innovation Solution
An imprint apparatus with a control unit that manages gas supply between the mold and substrate to maintain a reference amount of gas concentration by performing first and second gas supply operations, adjusting the position of the substrate and mold to ensure efficient filling of the pattern with the imprint material.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If gas supply is performed continuously during imprint process, then gas concentration between mold and substrate is maintained, but productivity decreases due to process delays and errors
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit performs preliminary gas supply before the imprint process for each shot region to ensure the gas concentration is already at the required level when the mold contacts the substrate. This prevents the need for continuous gas supply during the entire process, maintaining reliability while improving productivity by eliminating delays.
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit monitors the imprint process for each shot region and adjusts gas supply based on process status. When a shot region is successfully processed, the system reduces or stops gas supply for that region, preventing waste and maintaining productivity while ensuring adequate gas concentration where needed.
2Manufacturing precision
If gas supply timing is delayed due to process errors, then unfilled defects occur on substrate, but increasing filling time reduces productivity
Solution Approach 1:
Gas supply is initiated in advance before the mold contacts the substrate for each shot region, ensuring that the gas is already present in the gap when filling occurs. This eliminates the need to extend filling time to compensate for delays, maintaining both precision and productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system automatically detects process delays or errors and adjusts gas supply timing independently for each shot region. The control unit monitors whether the previous shot region was successfully processed and autonomously determines the appropriate gas supply strategy for the next region, ensuring pattern quality without requiring manual intervention or extended processing time.
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
The apparatus enhances productivity by effectively suppressing unfilled defects and ensuring high gas concentration, thereby improving the filling properties and mold release efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
a gas having high solubility, high diffusibility, or both characteristics
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides an imprint apparatus for performing an imprint process of forming a pattern of an imprint material in a plurality of shot regions on a substrate using a mold, including a control unit configured to perform a first operation of, while driving the substrate such that a target shot region in the plurality of shot regions is located at a first position facing the mold, supplying a gas such that an amount of the gas between the mold and the target shot region becomes a reference amount, and a second operation of, after the first operation, if an error that it is estimated that the amount of the gas supplied between the mold and the target shot region does not reach the reference amount is generated, performing a process corresponding to the error.