Imprint Recipe Device for Semiconductor Wafer Precision
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Solution Overview
Problem
The nanoimprint method for semiconductor manufacturing requires creating an imprint recipe that accounts for various information such as droplet positions, substrate shape, and distortion, which is time-consuming due to the need for precise application of imprint material to avoid deficiency or excess.
Innovation Solution
An imprint recipe creating device that includes units for creating inside-standard-shot information, first inside-wafer-surface information, first correction information, second correction information, and second inside-wafer-surface information, utilizing filling amount, residual film thickness, shot position, unevenness, and post-process information to optimize droplet positions and correct unevenness and processing size variations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If the imprint recipe is created by considering each shot individually with detailed information about droplet positions, substrate shape, and distortion, then the manufacturing precision is improved, but the time required to create the imprint recipe increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the wafer surface into multiple shot areas and processes each shot area independently to create shot area information. This segmentation allows parallel processing of different regions, reducing overall recipe creation time while maintaining precision for each individual shot area through localized correction values.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent pre-calculates correction values for substrate shape and distortion before creating the final imprint recipe. By performing these corrections in advance and storing them as lookup tables or correction maps, the system avoids time-consuming calculations during recipe generation, thus reducing creation time while preserving manufacturing precision.
2Productivity
If the imprint recipe is created quickly without detailed consideration of substrate unevenness and distortion, then the productivity is improved, but the manufacturing precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different correction values to different regions of the wafer based on local substrate characteristics. By creating shot area-specific correction information that accounts for local unevenness and distortion, the system maintains high manufacturing precision across the entire wafer surface while enabling fast recipe generation through pre-computed regional corrections.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates correction maps and lookup tables that store pre-computed correction information for different shot areas. These correction copies can be quickly referenced during recipe generation without re-calculating substrate distortion effects, thus improving productivity while maintaining the precision required for accurate pattern formation.
3Manufacturing precision
If comprehensive correction information for substrate unevenness and processing size variations is incorporated, then the manufacturing precision is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the correction process into distinct modules: substrate shape correction, distortion correction, and shot area correction. Each module handles a specific aspect of the correction independently, making the overall complex system more manageable and easier to implement while achieving comprehensive correction for high manufacturing precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces correction maps and lookup tables as intermediary data structures between the substrate characterization measurements and the final imprint recipe. These intermediaries store pre-processed correction information, simplifying the relationship between complex substrate variations and the relatively simple inkjet droplet placement commands, thus reducing system complexity while maintaining precision.
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 reduces the time required to create an imprint recipe by synthesizing information across the wafer surface, ensuring accurate and efficient application of imprint material, thereby improving mass productivity in semiconductor manufacturing.
Implementation Method 1
The imprint material is applied to the substrate by ink-jetting with reference to each one shot based on an imprint recipe
Implementation Method 2
a template having unevenness (concave-convex) corresponding to a pattern desired to be formed on a substrate is pressed to an imprint material which has been applied to the surface of the substrate to be transferred and has photo curability, and held until the imprint material permeates inside the unevenness pattern
Implementation Method 3
Thereafter, application of light is performed, to cure the imprint material, and the template is released from the imprint material, to obtain a desired pattern
Data Source
AI summary
Certain embodiments provide an imprint recipe creating device comprising first to fifth creation units. The first creation unit creates inside-standard-shot information by use of filling amount information and residual film thickness information. The second creation unit creates first inside-substrate-surface information by use of shot position information, edge information, and the inside-standard-shot information. The third creation unit creates first correction information by use of unevenness information indicating unevenness in a substrate and unevenness distribution information indicating variations in depth of the unevenness inside the substrate surface. The fourth creation unit creates second correction information by use of post-process information indicating the variations in processing size. The fifth creation unit synthesizes the first inside-substrate-surface information, the first correction information and the second correction information, to create second inside-substrate-surface information.