JPH04293224A - Aligner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain an aligner capable of simple alingment and effective exposure treatment in a short time without necessitating complicated driving mechanism or the like. CONSTITUTION:An aligner 1 is equipped with a substrate retainer 3 on the upper surface of which a semiconductor wafer 2 is mounted. Above the retainer 3, a light irradiation mechanism 4 is installed, in which a light irradiation surface 5 arranged so as to face the semiconductor wafer 2 is formed in a ring type having a linear part corresponding with an orientation flat, so as to conform with the shape of the semiconductor wafer 2. The light irradiation surface 5 is constituted of many optical fibers 7 arranged in a frame body 6, which fibers are bundled and led out as far as the vicinity of a light source 8.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[Object of the invention]

0002

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an exposure apparatus.

0003

[Prior Art] Generally, fine circuit patterns of semiconductor devices are formed on a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer by photolithography technology using a photoresist. For example, the photoresist film may be scraped off during transportation of the semiconductor wafer and become dust and be scattered around. Therefore,
Conventionally, a photoresist film on the peripheral edge of a semiconductor wafer or the like is removed in advance.

That is, after coating a semiconductor wafer with a photoresist using, for example, a spin coating device, the periphery of the semiconductor wafer is selectively irradiated with light from a light source, and the semiconductor wafer is coated in a subsequent development process. The photoresist film on the periphery is developed and removed.

Examples of devices that expose only the peripheral edge of a semiconductor wafer include an exposure device that irradiates a beam of light onto the peripheral edge of the semiconductor wafer while rotating it, and a mask that covers areas other than the peripheral edge of the semiconductor wafer. Exposure apparatuses and the like that irradiate light from a light source through a light source are known. Such exposure apparatuses are disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 58-159535, 61-73330, 61-79227,
This is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 137320/1983.

[0006]

However, semiconductor wafers generally have a so-called orientation flat formed by cutting out a portion of the periphery in a straight line. For this reason, among the above-mentioned conventional exposure apparatuses, for example, an exposure apparatus that irradiates a beam-shaped light onto the peripheral edge of a semiconductor wafer while rotating the semiconductor wafer rotates the semiconductor wafer and performs exposure on the circumference, for example. The light irradiation section must be moved linearly along the orientation flat to expose the orientation flat, which poses a problem in that the drive mechanism becomes complicated. Further, such alignment is difficult, and there is also the problem that it takes time to set up the apparatus, for example, when exposing semiconductor wafers of different diameters.

[0007] Furthermore, in an exposure apparatus that irradiates light from a light source through a mask that covers areas other than the peripheral edge of a semiconductor wafer, most of the light irradiated from the light source is blocked by the mask.
There is a problem in that the light involved in actual exposure is only a small portion of the light emitted from the light source, resulting in poor efficiency.

The present invention has been made in response to such conventional circumstances, and does not require a complicated drive mechanism, and
It is an object of the present invention to provide an exposure apparatus that can be easily aligned and can perform exposure processing efficiently in a short time.

[Configuration of the invention]

0010

[Means for Solving the Problems] That is, the exposure apparatus of the present invention is an exposure apparatus that performs exposure by selectively irradiating the peripheral edge of a substrate to be exposed with light from a light source. A light irradiation mechanism is provided in which a large number of optical fibers are arranged in a ring according to the shape of the exposure area of the area.

[0011]

[Function] In the exposure apparatus of the present invention having the above configuration, a light irradiation mechanism in which a large number of optical fibers are arranged in a ring according to the shape of the exposure area at the peripheral edge of the exposed substrate is attached to the exposed substrate provided on the substrate support. The light from the light source is guided by the optical fiber of this light irradiation mechanism and irradiated all at once onto the peripheral edge of the exposed substrate.

[0012] Therefore, for example, there is no need for a complicated drive mechanism for irradiating the orientation flat portion, and the exposure area of the peripheral portion and the light irradiation mechanism can be easily aligned. Furthermore, by guiding the light from the light source to the exposure section through an optical fiber, the light can be used efficiently. Therefore, exposure processing can be performed efficiently in a short time.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an exposure apparatus for exposing the peripheral edge of a semiconductor wafer will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the exposure apparatus 1 includes a substrate support section 3 on which a semiconductor wafer 2, which is a substrate to be exposed, is placed. 4 are provided.

As shown in FIG. 2, the semiconductor wafer 2 is formed in the shape of a disk, and an orientation flat 2a is provided at the end of the disk so as to be cut out in a straight line. The light irradiation mechanism 4 has a light irradiation surface 5 disposed so as to face the semiconductor wafer 2, which forms an arcuate portion and a straight portion corresponding to the orientation flat 2a in accordance with the shape of the exposure area at the peripheral edge of the semiconductor wafer 2. and the width is e.g. 2
It is formed into an annular shape of about mm. This light irradiation surface 5 is constituted by a large number of optical fibers 7 having a diameter of, for example, several microns to several tens of microns, arranged in a frame 6. These optical fibers 7 are bundled into one or more, and the other end is , are led out to the vicinity of the light source 8.

Note that the substrate support section 3 or the light irradiation mechanism 4
is equipped with a vertical movement mechanism (not shown), etc., and is configured to be able to change the interval between them. This is done in order to provide an interval for loading and unloading the semiconductor wafer 2 on the substrate support part 3, and to maintain a desired interval between the surface of the semiconductor wafer 2 and the light irradiation surface 5 of the light irradiation mechanism 4 during exposure. This is for setting.

In the exposure apparatus 1 of this embodiment having the above configuration,
The substrate support 3 is lowered or the light irradiation mechanism 4 is raised in advance to provide a predetermined distance between the substrate support 3 and the light irradiation mechanism 4. In this state, the semiconductor wafer 2 with a photoresist film formed on its surface using, for example, a spin coating device is automatically transported or manually operated so that the exposed area of the semiconductor wafer 2 and the light irradiation area of the light irradiation mechanism 4 coincide with each other. The semiconductor wafer 2 is positioned in advance and placed on the substrate support 3 as shown in FIG.

After that, the substrate support 3 is raised or the light irradiation mechanism 4 is lowered, a desired exposure interval is set between the substrate support 3 and the light irradiation mechanism 4, and, for example, a shutter mechanism (not shown) is opened or closed. As a result, the light from the light source 8 is introduced into the optical fiber 7, guided by the optical fiber 7, and irradiated from the light irradiation surface 5 onto the peripheral edge of the semiconductor wafer 2 for a predetermined period of time to perform exposure processing.

At this time, if the photoresist film on the surface of the semiconductor wafer 2 is irradiated with sudden strong light, peeling of the photoresist film is likely to occur, so for example, if the intensity of the irradiated light is gradually increased, Peeling of the photoresist film can be prevented. Such control of the intensity of the irradiated light can be achieved, for example, by providing an aperture mechanism between the light source 8 and the optical fiber 7 and controlling the aperture area thereof, by controlling the electric power supplied to the light source 8, etc. can.

When the exposure process is completed, the substrate support 3 is lowered or the light irradiation mechanism 4 is raised, a predetermined distance is provided between the substrate support 3 and the light irradiation mechanism 4, and the substrate support 3 is lowered. The semiconductor wafer 2 on which the above exposure process has been completed is unloaded.

As described above, in the exposure apparatus 1 of this embodiment,
The light from the light source 8 is guided by the light irradiation mechanism 4 in which a large number of optical fibers 7 are arranged, and is selectively irradiated all at once toward the peripheral edge of the semiconductor wafer 2 provided on the substrate support section 3 .

Therefore, for example, there is no need for a complicated drive mechanism for irradiating the orientation flat portion 2a of the semiconductor wafer 2, and since there is no drive mechanism for rotation or horizontal movement, the semiconductor wafer 2 and Positioning with the light irradiation mechanism 4 can be easily performed. Also,
By guiding the light from the light source 8 to the exposed portion through the optical fiber 7, the light from the light source 8 can be used more efficiently than, for example, a conventional exposure apparatus using a mask or the like. Therefore, exposure processing can be performed efficiently in a short time.

FIG. 3 shows the configuration of main parts of an exposure apparatus according to another embodiment. In this embodiment, in order to accommodate semiconductor wafers 2 of different diameters, a light irradiation surface 5a for, for example, 8 inches is used.
, a 6-inch light irradiation surface 5b, and a 5-inch light irradiation surface 5c are arranged concentrically. In this way, the light irradiation surface 5a corresponds to the semiconductor wafer 2 of each diameter.
, 5b, and 5c are provided and are switched to irradiate light, it is possible to quickly respond to semiconductor wafers 2 having different diameters.

[0024]

As explained above, according to the exposure apparatus of the present invention, the exposure area and the light irradiation mechanism can be easily aligned without requiring a complicated drive mechanism, etc.
Exposure processing can be performed efficiently in a short time.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a longitudinal cross-sectional configuration of an exposure apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a planar configuration of the exposure apparatus in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a main part configuration of an exposure apparatus according to another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Exposure device 2 Semiconductor wafer 3 Board support part 4 Light irradiation mechanism 5 Light irradiation surface 6 Frame body 7 Optical fiber 8 Light source

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An exposure apparatus that performs exposure by irradiating a peripheral portion of a substrate to be exposed with light from a light source, wherein a large number of optical fibers are arranged in a ring shape according to the shape of an exposure area of the peripheral portion of the substrate to be exposed. An exposure apparatus characterized by being provided with a light irradiation mechanism.