JPH0311612A - Exposure apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention inspects a reticle for foreign objects and projects light onto the reticle to illuminate a resist film on a semiconductor wafer.
The present invention relates to an exposure apparatus that exposes a C pattern.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, this type of exposure equipment has been used to fabricate various circuit patterns or insulating film patterns on semiconductor wafers (hereinafter simply referred to as wafers), and the resolution of this equipment determines the fineness of the IC pattern. I get ignored. However, since this exposure apparatus is an optical apparatus, its resolution is limited, and various improvements have been attempted in terms of efficient operation and precision control of the apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an example of a normal exposure apparatus.

The exposure device placed in the storage room equipped with the air conditioner 7 is
An exposure apparatus main body 1 that projects an ultraviolet light onto a reticle to expose an IC pattern on a resist film of a semiconductor wafer, a foreign matter inspection device 2 that inspects whether or not foreign matter is attached to a reticle with a pattern mask, and a reticle It is composed of a single-row transport mechanism 4 for transporting images along a transport path 5, various parts, and a sequencer (not shown) that controls the operation of the exposure apparatus main body.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation sequence of a conventional exposure apparatus. The operation sequence of conventional exposure equipment is
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, it is confirmed that one used reticle is loaded in the exposure apparatus main body 1, and [:5TART] is started. Next, in [Foreign Matter Inspection Parameter Settings], parameters such as the reticle name, foreign matter inspection area, inspection result determination method, and number of foreign matter inspections are set.

Next, in [Used reticle unloading], the used reticle in the exposure apparatus main body 1 is removed from the exposure apparatus main body 1 by the reticle transport mechanism 4, and another reticle is removed from the exposure apparatus main body 1 by the reticle transport mechanism 4. One sheet is taken out and loaded into the reticle foreign object inspection section 2. Next, the reticle is inspected for foreign substances by [Executing Foreign Matter Inspection].

Next, if the reticle inspection result is Yes, the reticle is taken out from the reticle inspection section 3 using [Reticle Load], and the reticle is loaded into the exposure apparatus main body 1 using the reticle transporter [4]. If the test result is N.

If so, use [Reticle Unload] to remove the reticle from the inspection section 2, store it in the reticle storage section 3, and stop the apparatus.

Next, if the reticle inspection result is Yes, the reticle is precisely positioned in [Execute reticle positioning]. Next, set the exposure conditions in [Exposure work parameter settings]. Then, [execution of exposure work] is performed to expose the wafer to light to complete the work.

By performing such a series of operations, one IC pattern was formed on -2 wafers. Furthermore, there are cases where several patterns are exposed on the same wafer in a layered manner, but in any case, a sequencer is used to control the exposure operation so that the exposure operation is performed after the reticle inspection operation.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional exposure apparatus, the reticle foreign matter inspection and exposure work are performed in series for each reticle, so the reticle foreign matter inspection work takes up time during the exposure work. The downside is that it takes time.

The purpose of the present invention is to eliminate such drawbacks and to
An object of the present invention is to provide an exposure device that requires short exposure work time.

[Means to solve the problem]

The exposure apparatus of the present invention includes an exposure apparatus main body into which a reticle and a semiconductor wafer are loaded and which projects ultraviolet light onto the reticle and exposes the semiconductor wafer, and a reticle foreign matter inspection section which loads the reticle and inspects the reticle for foreign matter. , an exposure apparatus equipped with a storage section that stores a large number of reticles, a programmable sequencer that sequentially performs the exposure operation and the foreign object inspection operation in parallel, and a programmable sequencer that connects the exposure apparatus main body, the reticle foreign object inspection section, and the reticle storage section to each other. and a double-row conveyance mechanism for conveying the reticle.

C Example] Next, the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing the sequence operation of the second embodiment of the present invention. Although not shown in the drawings, this exposure apparatus includes a programmable sequencer that controls each part and the exposure operation and reticle foreign object inspection operation of the exposure apparatus main body, and connects each of the exposure apparatus main body, reticle foreign object inspection section, and reticle storage section. A double-row reticle transport mechanism is provided to prevent reticles from interfering with each other when moving in and out between these parts and the exposure apparatus main body.

Next, the operation of this exposure apparatus will be explained. [5TART] starts from the point where the already inspected reticle is loaded into the main body of the exposure apparatus. First, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, in [Selection], it is selected whether or not to process the exposure work and the reticle foreign object inspection in parallel. If no, the third
The same operation sequence as the conventional example shown in the figure will be followed. If Yes, that is, if parallel operation is to be performed, first set various conditions for inspection using 5-[Foreign object inspection parameters]. At the same time, various conditions for exposure are set using [exposure work parameters].

Next, the inspected reticle is directly subjected to the [Execute Exposure Work] operation to complete the exposure work. At the same time, the reticle newly loaded into the reticle foreign matter inspection section 2 is inspected by [execution of foreign matter inspection]. At this time, since the inspection work is completed faster than the exposure work, the reticle is left loaded in the reticle foreign object inspection section 2 for the time being in [reticle standby].

Next, when the exposure work is completed, the used reticle is removed from the exposure apparatus main body 1 in [Execute reticle exchange], and the reticle that has been inspected as described above is loaded. Exposure work is started again with [Execute Exposure Work], another reticle is loaded into the reticle foreign matter inspection section 2, and inspection is performed. At this point, if the reticle shows No (same meaning as defective) in [Result Judgment], go to [Reticle Unload] and go to the reticle foreign object inspection section 2.
The reticle is ejected from the Furthermore, [with or without reticle]
Then, the reticle storage unit 3 is checked to see if there is a reticle with the same registration number. If Yes, the device is temporarily stopped and it is investigated whether the selection of the reticle was a mistake. If no, remove the foreign object from the reticle and try again.
Reload the reticle into the foreign object inspection section 2.

In this way, by performing the exposure operation of the exposure apparatus and the reticle foreign object inspection operation in parallel, there is an advantage that the total cycle of the exposure apparatus can be shortened.

There is also the advantage that a fully automatic or semi-automatic exposure apparatus can be obtained at low cost by combining a series of these cycles with a reticle conveyance mechanism and a program sequencer provided in reverse rows.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the present invention can reduce the time required to inspect a reticle by providing a return transport mechanism and a programmer full sequencer that cooperate with each part, and operating in parallel with the exposure operation and the reticle foreign object inspection operation. . Therefore,
This has the effect of providing an exposure apparatus that can significantly shorten exposure work time.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a sequence operation of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of an example of a conventional exposure apparatus, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation sequence of a conventional exposure apparatus. 1... Exposure device main body, 2... Reticle storage section, 3...
・・Reticle inspection section, 4・・Reticle transport mechanism, 5・・
-Transportation route, 6...Accommodation room, 7...Air conditioning section.

Claims (1)

[Claims] It houses an exposure apparatus main body into which a reticle and a semiconductor wafer are loaded and which projects ultraviolet light onto the reticle to expose the semiconductor wafer, a reticle foreign object inspection section which loads the reticle and inspects the reticle for foreign objects, and a large number of reticles. an exposure apparatus comprising a storage section; a programmable sequencer that sequentially performs the exposure operation and the foreign object inspection operation in parallel; and a programmable sequencer that connects the exposure apparatus main body, the reticle foreign object inspection section, and the reticle storage section to each other and transports the reticle. 1. An exposure apparatus comprising a column conveyance mechanism.