Lithographic Printing System Placement Corrections
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Solution Overview
Problem
Lithographic technologies face challenges in compensating for displacements and deformations in workpieces, particularly in rotor arm scanning systems, which require new data path components and engineering solutions to maintain high throughput and accuracy.
Innovation Solution
The method compensates for displacements by adjusting timing delays in the scanning direction and using resampling or interpolation in the transverse direction, employing a 1D SLM with rasterized data and alignment distortion maps to correct for distortions, allowing for efficient data handling and high-resolution microlithography.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If rotor arm scanning system is used to achieve high throughput, then productivity is improved, but manufacturing precision deteriorates due to displacements and deformations in workpiece
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary measurements of workpiece displacements and deformations before the scanning process, stores this information in a lookup table, and then applies pre-calculated timing adjustments and resampling corrections during scanning. This preliminary action enables real-time compensation without slowing down the high-speed rotor arm scanning process.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback mechanisms where displacement measurements from sensors are continuously fed back to adjust the scanning parameters. The measured displacements and deformations are used to dynamically modify timing delays and resampling operations, creating a closed-loop control system that maintains precision despite high-speed scanning.
2Manufacturing precision
If timing adjustments are made to compensate for scan direction displacements, then manufacturing precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces complex mechanical adjustment mechanisms with computational methods. Instead of physically adjusting the scanning system to compensate for displacements, the patent uses timing adjustments, resampling operations, and interpolation algorithms to achieve the same correction effect, thereby reducing mechanical complexity while improving precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces intermediary computational components including lookup tables, timing adjustment modules, and resampling engines that act as mediators between the scanning system and the workpiece. These intermediaries process and correct displacement data without requiring direct modification of the scanning hardware, managing complexity through software-based solutions.
3Manufacturing precision
If resampling and interpolation methods are used to compensate for transverse direction displacements, then manufacturing precision is improved, but loss of time increases
Solution Approach 1:
Resampling and interpolation correction data are pre-calculated and stored in lookup tables before the scanning process begins. During the actual high-speed scanning, the system simply retrieves and applies these pre-computed corrections rather than performing complex real-time calculations, thereby maintaining precision while minimizing processing time loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies resampling and interpolation selectively to only the affected transverse direction displacements rather than processing the entire dataset. By focusing computational resources only on the necessary corrections and using efficient interpolation algorithms, the system achieves high precision with minimal time penalty.
Data Source
AI summary
The technology disclosed relates to methods and devices that compensate for displacements in a pattern or deformations of a workpiece. In particular, this relates to using timing to compensate for displacements along a first axis along the scanning direction while using resampling, interpolation or a similar method to compensate for displacements along a second axis that is substantially orthogonal to the first axis. The scanning direction may be an actual direction of movement of the scanning head or it may be a direction perpendicular to an orientation of an image projected onto a workpiece.