TWI809111B - Exposure device and height adjustment method - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention can accurately adjust the height of the light irradiation part. The pinion is rotated by driving the rotary driving part, and the supporting part provided with the rack meshed with the pinion is moved in the height direction. In addition, a current flows through the coil of the electromagnet included in the permanent magnet and the electromagnet, and the permanent electromagnet attracts the supporting part so that the sliding surface on the side of the supporting part is in close contact with the sliding surface on the side of the column, and by supporting The friction force between the sliding surface on the side of the head and the sliding surface on the column side is used to fix the supporting part.

Description

Exposure device and height adjustment method

The invention relates to an exposure device and a height adjustment method.

Patent Document 1 discloses a drawing device in which a ball screw is engaged with one end of a holding plate, and a drawing head is moved up and down within a predetermined range by a servo motor connected to the ball screw.

[Prior Art Literature]

[Patent Document]

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-320943

However, in the invention described in Patent Document 1, since the ball screw is used for the movement of the drawing head, a random walk error (unevenness of the advancing speed of the female screw member relative to the lead screw 1 before rotation) occurs, and there is a problem that the drawing head cannot be moved. The problem of moving correctly.

The present invention was made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an exposure device and a height adjustment method that can accurately adjust the height of an optical device that irradiates light.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the exposure apparatus of the present invention includes, for example, a substrate holding unit that The mounting substrate; the frame body, which includes a substantially rod-shaped support part formed of a magnetic material, and the support part is arranged so that the long side direction becomes a substantially horizontal direction, and the long side direction is substantially vertically arranged Rod-shaped columns at both ends of the above-mentioned supporting part, and a supporting part-side sliding surface is formed on the above-mentioned supporting part, and on the above-mentioned column, the column-side sliding surface is formed at a position facing the above-mentioned supporting part-side sliding surface; the moving mechanism, It moves the support part in the vertical direction, and includes a rack provided on the support part, a pinion gear rotatably provided on the column and engaged with the rack, and a rotary drive that rotates the pinion gear. an optical device, which is provided on the above-mentioned supporting part and irradiates light to the above-mentioned substrate; a permanent electromagnet, which is provided on the above-mentioned post and includes a permanent magnet and an electromagnet; and a control part, which drives the above-mentioned rotary driving part so that the above-mentioned supporting part move, and a current flows through the coil of the electromagnet to attract the above-mentioned support part to the above-mentioned permanent magnet; The frictional force between the sliding surface on the side of the supporting part and the sliding surface on the side of the column fixes the supporting part to the column.

According to the exposure apparatus of the present invention, the rotation drive unit is driven to rotate the pinion, and the support unit provided with the rack meshing with the pinion is moved in the height direction. Also, by passing current through the coil of the electromagnet of the permanent electromagnet including the permanent magnet and the electromagnet, the permanent electromagnet attracts the supporting part, so that the sliding surface on the side of the supporting part is in close contact with the sliding surface on the side of the column. The friction force between the side sliding surface and the column side sliding surface fixes the supporting part. Thereby, the height adjustment of the optical device can be accurately performed. In addition, since the permanent electromagnet is used for the adsorption of the support part, the energization time is short, and the deformation and expansion of the support part due to heat do not occur, so the height adjustment of the optical device can be accurately performed.

Here, a measurement unit may be provided, which is provided on the above-mentioned support part, and includes a scale arranged substantially along the vertical direction, and a head which reads the value of the above-mentioned scale and outputs position information; and when the above-mentioned support part moves , the above-mentioned permanent electromagnet absorbs the above-mentioned support part with the second adsorption force which is weaker than the first adsorption force when the above-mentioned moving mechanism does not move the above-mentioned support part, and the above-mentioned measuring part continuously measures the height of the above-mentioned support part, and The support portion-side sliding surface slides along the column-side sliding surface. borrow Here, the support portion does not incline when the support portion-side sliding surface and the column-side sliding surface are brought into close contact, so measurement errors in the measurement portion caused by the inclination of the support portion can be eliminated.

Here, the second adsorption force may be about 20% to about 30% of the first adsorption force. Thereby, the difference between the measurement result of the measurement part when the support part is adsorbed by the second adsorption force and the measurement result of the measurement part when the support part is adsorbed by the first adsorption force is minimized.

Here, a substantially thin-plate-shaped guide member provided between the above-mentioned supporting part and the above-mentioned optical device, and a driving part provided on the above-mentioned frame and moving the above-mentioned optical device in the vertical direction may be provided; the above-mentioned supporting part has a substantially a horizontally arranged plate-shaped portion, and a circular hole penetrating in a substantially vertical direction is formed in the plate-shaped portion, and the above-mentioned guide member is generally in the shape of a circular plate in plan view, and is provided on the above-mentioned plate-shaped portion so as to cover the circular hole, A mounting hole is formed approximately in the center of the guide member, the mounting hole is arranged in a substantially concentric circle with the circular hole, and the optical device is inserted into the mounting hole so that the optical axis coincides with the center of the mounting hole And it is fixed to the above-mentioned guide member. Thereby, the vibration of the optical axis when the drive unit moves the optical device in the height direction can be reduced to a few nm or less.

Here, a moving part that moves the substrate holding part in the scanning direction, and a measuring part that is provided on the supporting part and measures a distance to the substrate may be provided, and the control part moves the moving part via the moving part. The substrate holding part moves in the above-mentioned scanning direction, and measures the distance to the above-mentioned substrate through the above-mentioned measuring part while passing through the above-mentioned measuring part, obtains a median value from the maximum value and minimum value of the distance to the substrate, and calculates based on the median value. Show the driving amount of the above-mentioned driving part. Thereby, even if the height of the substrate changes, the focal point of the optical device can always be focused on the substrate.

Here, the optical device may include an AF processing unit having an AF light source for irradiating downward light and an AF sensor into which reflected light enters, and the control unit operates the AF processing unit while operating the AF processing unit. The supporting part is moved, and when the optical device is located at a position determined to be in focus, the sliding surface on the supporting part side is brought into close contact with the sliding surface on the column side. Thereby, even if the height of the substrate changes, the focal point of the optical device can always be focused on the substrate.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the height adjustment method of the present invention uses the following device to adjust the height of the above-mentioned supporting part. The above-mentioned device includes, for example: a substrate holding part, which places the substrate; A rod-shaped support part and a support part provided in such a manner that the longitudinal direction becomes a substantially horizontal direction, and rod-shaped columns respectively provided at both ends of the above-mentioned support part in such a manner that the long-side direction becomes a substantially vertical direction, and on the above-mentioned support The supporting portion side sliding surface is formed in the above-mentioned column, and the column-side sliding surface is formed at a position facing the above-mentioned supporting portion-side sliding surface; The rack provided on the above-mentioned support part in the direction, the pinion gear rotatably provided on the above-mentioned column and meshed with the above-mentioned rack, and the rotation drive part that rotates the above-mentioned pinion gear; the measuring part, which is provided on the above-mentioned support part ; an optical device, which is installed on the above-mentioned supporting part and irradiates light to the above-mentioned substrate; and a permanent electromagnet, which is installed on the above-mentioned column and includes a permanent magnet and an electromagnet; the above-mentioned height adjustment method is characterized in that it includes: a coil on the above-mentioned electromagnet A step in which the above-mentioned supporting part is attracted to the above-mentioned permanent electromagnet with the second adsorption force by passing a medium current, and the above-mentioned supporting part-side sliding surface is brought into contact with the above-mentioned post-side sliding surface; while using the above-mentioned measuring part to measure the Height, while driving the above-mentioned rotary driving part to rotate the above-mentioned pinion, the step of moving the above-mentioned support part in the height direction; 1. A step of adhering to the permanent electromagnet by the suction force, bringing the sliding surface on the side of the supporting part into close contact with the sliding surface on the side of the column, and fixing the supporting part to the column. Thereby, when the support part is adsorbed by the second adsorption force and when the support part is adsorbed by the first adsorption force, the support part does not incline, so the measurement error of the measurement part caused by the inclination of the support part can be eliminated.

According to the present invention, the height adjustment of the light irradiation part can be accurately performed.

1: Exposure device

11:Fixed

11a: upper surface

12: plate-shaped part

12a: upper surface

13, 14: track

15: frame

15a: Support Department

15c: column

20: Mask holding part

20a: upper surface

21, 22, 23: strip mirror

30(30a~30g): Light irradiation part

31(31a~31g):DMD

32(32a~32g): objective lens

33(33a~33g): light source part

34(34a~34g): AF processing part

35 (35a~35g): cylindrical part

36(36a~36g): Flange

37(37a~37g), 38(38a~38g): Installation part

39(39a~39g): drive unit

40: Determination Department

41, 42: Position measurement unit

41a, 42a: ruler

41b, 42b: detection head

50, 51 (51a, 51b, 51c), 52 (52a, 52g): laser interferometer

55a, 55b, 55c, 56a, 56g: mirror

60: Reading Department

61 (61a, 61d, 61g): measurement department

70, 70A: guide member

74, 74A: mounting holes

75, 76, 77, 78: holes

79A, 79B, 79C, 79D: shear holes

79Aa, 79Ba, 79Ca, 79Da: end regions

81, 82: drive unit

85, 86: screw

151: Bottom plate

152, 154: side panels

152a~152i, 154a~154i: hole

153: Support board

155a~155g, 156a~156g: round hole

156h: screw hole

157a~157g: round hole

158: convex part

159: Partition wall

160: Elastic member

161: Mobile Mechanism

161a: Rack

161b: Pinion

161c: convex part

161d, 161e: sliding surface

161f: Rotary drive unit

162: Positioning component

162a: concave part

163: permanent electromagnet

163a: permanent magnet

163b: Electromagnet

163c: Adjustment dial

164: Measurement Department

164a: Ruler

164b: detection head

201:CPU

201a: Control Department

202: RAM

203:ROM

204: input and output interface

205: communication interface

206: Media interface

211: Input and output device

212: Network

213: storage medium

331: light source

332: lens

333: fly eye lens

334, 335: lens

336: Mirror

341: Light source for AF

342: Collimating lens

343: Cylindrical lens for AF

344, 345: five 稜鏡

346: lens

347, 348: sensor

371: screw hole

372: hollow part

381: screw hole

391:Piezoelectric element

392: link

393: convex part

394: slot

395: Installation department

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing an exposure apparatus 1 according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing how the measuring unit 40 and the laser interferometer 50 measure the position of the mask holding unit 20 .

FIG. 3 is a perspective view schematically showing the support portion 15a of the frame body 15, viewed from the back side (+x side).

FIG. 4 is a perspective view schematically showing the support portion 15a of the frame body 15, viewed from the front side (-x side).

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing the frame body 15 cut along the plane C of FIG. 3 .

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of main parts schematically showing the light irradiation unit 30a.

FIG. 7 is a schematic side view showing the drive unit 39a.

(A) of FIG. 8 is a figure which shows the outline of the guide member 70, (B) is a figure which shows the outline of 70 A of guide members.

(A) of FIG. 9 shows the positional relationship between the base plate 151 and the guide member 70 when the guide member 70 is installed on the base plate 151, and (B) shows the support plate 153 and the guide member when the guide member 70A is installed on the support plate 153. The positional relationship of 70A.

FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of an installation structure in which the light irradiation unit 30 a is installed on the support plate 153 .

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a state in which the light irradiation unit 30 a is attached to the frame body 15 .

(A) of FIG. 12 shows the state where the light irradiation part 30a does not move (stroke center), (B) shows the state where the light irradiation part 30a moves to the lower side (stroke lower end), and (C) shows the light irradiation part 30a moves to the upper side. The state (stroke upper end).

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the exposure apparatus 1 .

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the flow of the height adjustment process of the exposure apparatus 1 .

Fig. 15 is an example of the measurement results in step S20.

Fig. 16 is a diagram schematically showing the situation when the supporting part 15a is moved up and down, (A) is the situation of the suction supporting part 15a (this embodiment), (B) and (C) are the situations of not suctioning the supporting part 15a.

Hereinafter, an embodiment applied to an exposure device for forming a photomask by irradiating light such as a laser while moving a photosensitive substrate (such as a glass substrate) held in a substantially horizontal direction in a scanning direction is taken as an example, referring to the drawings. , the present invention will be described in detail. In each figure, the same symbol is attached|subjected to the same element, and the description of the overlapping part is abbreviate|omitted.

As the photosensitive substrate, for example, quartz glass having a very small coefficient of thermal expansion (for example, about 5.5×10 ^-7 /K) is used. The photomask produced by the exposure apparatus is used for manufacturing the exposure mask of the board|substrate for liquid crystal display devices, for example. A photomask is one or a plurality of transfer patterns for an imaging device formed on a large substantially rectangular-shaped substrate (for example, 1400mm×1220mm) with one side exceeding, for example, 1m. Hereinafter, the term "mask M" is used as a concept including the photosensitive substrate before processing, during processing, and after processing.

However, the exposure apparatus of this invention is not limited to a mask manufacturing apparatus. The exposure device of the present invention includes the concept of a device that irradiates various types of light (including laser, UV, polarized light, etc.) while moving the substrate held in a substantially horizontal direction in the scanning direction. Also, the optical device of the present invention is not limited to the light irradiation section that irradiates light to the photosensitive substrate.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing an exposure apparatus 1 according to a first embodiment. The exposure device 1 mainly includes: a fixed plate 11, a plate-shaped part 12, rails 13, 14, a frame body 15, a mask holding part 20, a light irradiation part 30, a measuring part 40 (see FIG. 2), a laser interferometer 50 ( Refer to FIG. 2 ), and the measurement unit 61 (61a, 61d, 61g). In addition, in FIG. 1, illustration of a part of a structure is abbreviate|omitted. In addition, the exposure apparatus 1 is maintained at a constant temperature by a temperature adjustment unit (not shown) covering the entire apparatus.

The fixed plate 11 is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped (slab-shaped) member, for example, formed of rock (such as granite) or a casting with low expansion rate (such as a nickel-based alloy). The fixed plate 11 has an upper surface 11 a substantially horizontal to the upper side (+z side) (substantially parallel to the xy plane).

The fixed plate 11 is placed on a plurality of vibration-isolating tables (not shown) placed on an installation surface (for example, a floor). Thereby, the fixed plate 11 is placed on the installation surface via the vibration-isolating table. Since the devibration table is already known, a detailed description is omitted. Also, a devibration table is not required. A loader (not shown) for setting the mask M on the mask holding portion 20 is provided on the +x side of the surface plate 11 .

The rail 13 is an elongated plate-shaped member made of ceramics, and is fixed to the upper surface 11 a of the fixed plate 11 so that the longitudinal direction is along the scanning direction (x direction). The heights (positions in the z direction) of the three rails 13 are approximately the same, and the upper surfaces are formed with high precision and high flatness.

The end of the rail 13 on the loader side (+x side) is arranged at the end of the upper surface 11a, and the end of the rail 13 on the anti-loader side (-x side) is arranged on the inner side than the end of the upper surface 11a .

The plate portion 12 is placed on the rail 13 . The plate-shaped part 12 is a substantially plate-shaped member made of ceramics, and has a generally rectangular shape as a whole. On the lower surface (the surface on the −z side) of the plate-shaped portion 12, a guide portion (not shown) is provided such that the longitudinal direction is along the x direction. Thereby, the moving direction of the plate-shaped part 12 is adjusted so that the plate-shaped part 12 may not move beyond the x direction.

A track 14 is disposed on the upper surface 12 a of the plate portion 12 . The rail 14 is fixed such that the longitudinal direction is along the y direction. The rails 14 have approximately the same height, and the upper surface is formed with high precision and high flatness.

The mask holding portion 20 has a substantially rectangular planar shape and is formed of low-expansion ceramics having a coefficient of thermal expansion of about 0.5 to 1×10 ⁻⁷ /K. Thereby, deformation of the mask holding part 20 can be prevented. In addition, the mask holding portion 20 may also be formed using ultra-low expansion glass ceramics having a thermal expansion coefficient of about 5×10 ⁻⁸ /K. In this case, even if an uncontrollable temperature change occurs, deformation of the mask holding portion 20 can be reliably prevented. In addition, the mask holding part 20 can also be formed with the material which expands and contracts similarly to the mask M.

The mask holder 20 is placed on the rail 14 . In other words, the mask holding part 20 is provided on the upper surface 11 a via the plate-shaped part 12 and the rails 13 and 14 .

On the lower surface of the mask holding part 20, guides are set in such a way that the long side direction is along the y direction. guide (not shown). Thereby, the moving direction of the mask holding part 20 is restricted so that the mask holding part 20, that is, the plate-shaped part 12 does not move beyond the y direction.

Thus, the mask holding part 20 (plate part 12) is provided movably along the rail 13 in the x direction, and the mask holding part 20 is movably provided along the rail 14 in the y direction.

The mask holder 20 has a substantially horizontal upper surface 20a. A mask M (not shown) is placed on the upper surface 20a. Moreover, the strip mirrors 21, 22, 23 are provided in the upper surface 20a (refer FIG. 2).

The exposure apparatus 1 has drive parts 81 and 82 (refer FIG. 13) which are not shown in figure. The drive units 81 and 82 are, for example, linear motors. The driving unit 81 moves the mask holding unit 20 (plate-shaped part 12 ) in the x direction along the rail 13 , and the driving unit 82 moves the mask holding unit 20 in the y direction along the rail 14 . Various well-known methods can be used as a method for the drive units 81 and 82 to move the plate-shaped portion 12 or the mask holding portion 20 .

A frame body 15 is set on the fixing plate 11 . The frame body 15 is formed of a magnetic material, such as a low-expansion casting (such as a nickel-based alloy). The frame body 15 includes a support portion 15a and two columns 15c supporting the support portion 15a at both ends. The frame body 15 holds the light irradiation section 30 above the mask holding section 20 (in the +z direction). The light irradiation part 30 is attached to the support part 15a. The frame body 15 will be described in detail later.

The light irradiation unit 30 irradiates the mask M with light (laser light in this embodiment). The light irradiation parts 30 are provided along the y direction at regular intervals (for example, every about 200 mm). In this embodiment, seven light irradiation parts 30a, light, light irradiation part 30b, light irradiation part 30c, light irradiation part 30d, light irradiation part 30e, light irradiation part 30f, and light irradiation part 30g are included. The moving mechanism 161 (described later in detail) is such that the focal positions of the light-irradiating parts 30a-30g are focused on the upper surface of the mask M, so that the light-irradiating parts 30a-30g are in the vertical direction (z direction) to move up. In addition, the driving unit 39 (39a (see FIG. 6) to 30g, which will be described in detail later) makes the light irradiation units 30a to 30g at a distance of about 30 μm (micrometers) in order to perform fine adjustment of the focus position of the light irradiation units 30a to 30g. Move slightly in the z direction within the range. The light irradiation unit 30 will be described in detail later.

In the light irradiation parts 30a-30g, the reading part which is not shown in figure is respectively provided. read department read The pattern formed on the mask M.

The measurement unit 40 (see FIG. 2 ) is, for example, a linear encoder, and the laser interferometer 50 for measuring the position of the mask holding unit 20 includes laser interferometers 51 and 52 (not shown in FIG. 1 , see FIG. 2 ). A laser interferometer 51 is installed on a column provided on the -y side of the frame body 15 . Also, a laser interferometer 52 (not shown in FIG. 1 ) is provided on the +x side of the fixed plate 11 .

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing how the measurement unit 40 and the laser interferometer 50 measure the position of the mask holding unit 20 . In addition, in FIG. 2, only a part of rails 13 and 14 are shown in figure. In addition, in FIG. 2, only the light irradiation parts 30a and 30g are shown in figure, and illustration of light and light irradiation parts 30b-30f is abbreviate|omitted.

The measurement unit 40 includes position measurement units 41 and 42 . The position measurement units 41, 42 include scales 41a, 42a and detection heads 41b, 42b, respectively.

The scale 41a is provided on the +y-side end surface of the +y-side rail 13 and the -y-side end surface of the -y-side rail 13 . The detection head 41b is provided on the +y-side and -y-side end surfaces of the plate-like portion 12 (not shown in FIG. 2 ). In FIG. 2 , illustration of the scale 41 a and the detection head 41 b on the +y side is omitted.

The scale 42a is provided on the +x side end surface of the +x side rail 14 and the -x side end surface of the -x side rail 13 . The detection head 42b is provided on the +x side and -x side end surfaces of the mask holding part 20 . In FIG. 2 , illustration of the scale 42 a and the detection head 42 b on the -x side is omitted.

The scales 41a and 42a are, for example, laser holographic scales, and memories are formed at a pitch of 0.512 μm (micrometer). The detection heads 41b, 42b irradiate light (such as laser light) to obtain the light reflected by the scales 41a, 42a. The signal generated by this is divided into 512 equal parts to obtain 1nm, and the signal generated thereby is divided into 1024 equal parts to obtain 0.5nm. The position measuring units 41 and 42 are already known, and therefore detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In the light irradiation part 30a, the mirror 55a which has the reflection surface substantially parallel to the xz plane is provided. Mirrors 55b and 55c having reflective surfaces substantially parallel to the xz plane are provided in the light irradiation portion 30g. The mirrors 55a, 55b, and 55c are installed so that the positions in the x direction do not overlap.

In the light irradiation part 30a, the mirror 56a which has the reflection surface substantially parallel to the yz plane is provided. In the light irradiation part 30g, the mirror 56g which has the reflection surface substantially parallel to the yz plane is provided.

The laser interferometers 51 and 52 irradiate four laser beams. The laser interferometer 51 includes laser interferometers 51a, 51b, and 51c. The laser interferometer 52 includes laser interferometers 52a, 52g.

In FIG. 2, the path of the laser light is represented by a chain line of two dots. Two of the lights irradiated by the laser interferometers 51a, 51b, and 51c are reflected by the strip mirror 23, and the reflected light is received by the laser interferometers 51a, 51b, and 51c.

The remaining two of the lights irradiated by the laser interferometer 51a are reflected by the mirror 55a, and the reflected light is received by the laser interferometer 51a. The other two of the light irradiated by the laser interferometer 51b are reflected by the mirror 55b, and the reflected light is received by the laser interferometer 51b. The other two of the light irradiated by the laser interferometer 51c are reflected by the mirror 55c, and the reflected light is received by the laser interferometer 51c.

The laser interferometers 51a to 51c measure the position of the strip mirror 23 based on the positions of the mirrors 55a to 55c respectively to measure the positional relationship in the y direction between the light irradiation parts 30a and 30g and the mask holding part 20 .

Two of the lights irradiated by the laser interferometer 52a are reflected by the strip mirror 22, and the reflected light is received by the laser interferometer 52a. Two of the lights irradiated by the laser interferometer 52g are reflected by the strip mirror 21, and the reflected light is received by the laser interferometer 52g.

The remaining two of the lights irradiated by the laser interferometer 52a are reflected by the mirror 56a, and the reflected light is received by the laser interferometer 52a. The remaining two of the lights irradiated by the laser interferometer 52g are reflected by the mirror 56g, and the reflected light is received by the laser interferometer 52g.

The laser interferometers 52a, 52g respectively measure the positions of the strip mirrors 21, 22 based on the positions of the mirrors 56a, 56g, and measure the positional relationship between the light irradiation parts 30a~30g and the mask holding part 20 in the x direction .

In this embodiment, no mirror is provided on the light irradiation parts 30b to 30f, and a laser interferometer for measuring the position of the mirror is not provided. The reason for this is to make the light irradiation portions 30a to 30g within the range of about 30 μm. The vibration of the optical axis when moving in the z direction within the range is as small as several nanometers or less (details will be described later), based on the positions of the light irradiation parts 30a and 30g, the positions of the light irradiation parts 30b~30f are obtained by interpolation . Thereby, the size of the device can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced.

Next, the housing 15 will be described. 3 and 4 are perspective views schematically showing the support portion 15 a of the frame body 15 . FIG. 3 is a view seen from the back side (-x side), and FIG. 4 is a view seen from the front side (+x side). 3 and 4 illustrate the supporting portion 15a and the post 15c with a slight separation for the sake of explanation, but actually, the supporting portion 15a and the post 15c are adjacent to each other.

The support portion 15a is substantially rod-shaped with a substantially rectangular cross-sectional shape, and has a hollow inside. The support part 15a is arrange|positioned so that a longitudinal direction may become a substantially horizontal direction (here, y direction). The pillars 15c are respectively provided at both ends of the supporting part 15a.

The supporting portion 15 a mainly includes: a bottom plate 151 , a supporting plate 153 , side plates 152 , 154 disposed on both sides of the bottom plate 151 and the supporting plate 153 , and a partition wall 159 . The bottom plate 151 and the support plate 153 are arranged approximately horizontally, and the side plates 152 and 154 are arranged approximately vertically.

In this embodiment, the plate thickness of base plate 151, support plate 153 and side plates 152, 154 is about 15 mm ~ 20 mm, and the length (W1 among Fig. 9) of the y direction of base plate 151, support plate 153 and side plates 152, 154 is about 2.2m.

Circular holes 155 a to 155 g and 156 a to 156 g are respectively formed on the bottom plate 151 and the support plate 153 along the y direction. The round holes 155a~155g, 156a~156g are holes which penetrate the bottom plate 151 and the support plate 153 in the substantially vertical direction respectively, and are substantially circular in plan view. When viewed from above, the positions of the centers of the circular holes 155a-155g are approximately the same as the positions of the centers of the circular holes 156a-156g.

On the round holes 155a~155g, 156a~156g, guide members 70, 70A (described in detail later) are provided to cover the round holes 155a~155g, 156a~156g, respectively, and light irradiation is arranged on the guide members 70, 70A. Parts 30a~30g. In other words, the light irradiation sections 30 a to 30 g are provided on the housing 15 via the guide members 70 and 70A. Regarding the mounting structure for mounting the light irradiation parts 30a to 30g on the frame body 15, the following The article details.

In addition, circular holes 157 a to 157 g are formed adjacent to circular holes 155 a to 155 g on bottom plate 151 . The lens barrel of the reading unit (not shown) is inserted into the circular holes 157a~157g.

Holes 152 a - 152 i , 154 a - 154 i are respectively formed on the side plates 152 , 154 . The holes 152a-152g, 154a-154g are provided so that the positions in the y direction overlap with the circular holes 155a-155g, 156a-156g, respectively. The holes 152a to 152g and 154a to 154g are used to attach the reading unit 60 to the circular holes 157a to 157g. The holes 152h and 152i are respectively arranged on both sides of the holes 152a-152g, and the holes 154h and 154i are respectively arranged on both sides of the holes 154a-154g. The frame body 15 is a casting, and the holes 152a to 152i and 154a to 154i are used as casting holes for discharging casting sand to form an internal space during casting.

The inside of the support portion 15a is hollow, and a partition wall 159 is provided inside the support portion 15a as reinforcement. The partition wall 159 is a plate-shaped member, and its end faces are in contact with the bottom plate 151 , the support plate 153 , and the side plates 152 and 154 . Thereby, at the position where the partition wall 159 is provided, the cavity inside the support portion 15a disappears, and vibration or deformation (bending, torsion, etc.) of the support portion 15a is prevented.

The housing 15 includes a movement mechanism 161 that moves the support portion 15a in the z direction along the column 15c. The moving mechanism 161 moves the supporting part 15a within a range of about 10 mm in the z direction. The moving mechanism 161 of this embodiment includes: a rack 161a provided along the z direction on an end surface substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the supporting portion 15a; a pinion 161b rotatably provided on the column 15c; and 161f of rotation drive parts which rotate the pinion gear 161b (refer FIG. 13). The rack 161a is provided substantially at the center of the end surface substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the support portion 15a, and is fixed to the convex portion 158 protruding outward from the side of the support portion 15a by using a screw or the like (not shown). The pinion 161b is rotatably provided on the post 15c, and engages with the rack 161a.

Two permanent electromagnets 163 are installed on the column 15c. The two permanent electromagnets 163 are installed on the column 15c, and are arranged near both ends in the longitudinal direction of the support part 15a. The permanent electromagnet 163 is arranged along the side plate 154 adjacent to the end surface provided with the rack 161a.

The permanent electromagnet 163 is a permanent electromagnet comprising a permanent magnet 163a (referring to FIG. 13 ) and an electromagnet 163b (referring to FIG. 13 ). Only when magnetizing and demagnetizing, current flows through the coil of the electromagnet 163b to carry out built-in Opening and closing of the permanent magnet 163a. The low-expansion alloy used in the frame body 15 can be moved by the permanent electromagnet 163 because it is a magnetic material. The permanent electromagnet 163 only needs to be energized for a short time (for example, about 0.2 seconds) when it is switched on and off, so it basically does not generate heat. Also, the magnetic force of the permanent magnet of the permanent electromagnet 163 does not change after it is turned on.

Moreover, the permanent electromagnet 163 has the adjustment dial 163c (refer FIG. 13). The adjustment dial 163c is for adjusting the current flowing in the coil of the electromagnet 163b, and is configured to adjust the current in 10 steps of 1 to 10, for example. In this embodiment, when the value of the adjustment dial 163c is "10", the adsorption force of the permanent electromagnet 163 to adsorb the support part 15a becomes the first adsorption force (described in detail later), and the value of the adjustment dial 163c is "10". 2" or "3" (about 20% to about 30% of the current value when the value of the adjustment dial 163c is "10"), the adsorption force of the permanent electromagnet 163 adsorption support part 15a becomes the second adsorption force (rear detailed in the text). Since the current value is proportional to the magnetic flux density and the attraction force, the magnetic flux density and the attraction force of the permanent electromagnet 163 are changed by adjusting the adjustment dial 163c.

The measuring part 164 is provided on the support part 15a. The measurement part 164 includes: a scale 164a (see FIG. 5 ) provided substantially along the vertical direction, and a detection head 164b (see FIG. 5 ) that reads the value of the scale 164a and outputs position information. The scale 164a is the same as the scales 41a and 42a, and is, for example, a laser holographic scale. Like the detection heads 41b and 42b, the detection head 164b irradiates light (for example, laser light), obtains the light reflected by the scale 164a, and obtains positional information based on the signal generated by this. The scale 164a is disposed on the side plate 152 opposite to the side plate 154 .

Moreover, on the side plate 152, the measuring part 61 (61a, 61d, 61g) which measures the distance to the mask M is provided. The measurement units 61a, 61d, and 61g are displacement sensors that detect the height of an object (mask M here) based on, for example, laser light emitted by the sensor. The measurement unit 61a is provided adjacent to the light irradiation unit 30a, the measurement unit 61d is provided adjacent to the light irradiation unit 30d, and the measurement unit 61g is adjacent to the light irradiation unit 30a. 30g adjacent to the installation.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a case where the frame body 15 is cut along the plane C of FIG. 3 . A convex portion 161c is formed on the post 15c. The surface on the +x side of the convex portion 161c is a sliding surface 161d, which is subjected to grinding processing, that is, scraping processing to reduce frictional resistance.

The surface on the -x side of the support portion 15a is the sliding surface 161e. The sliding surface 161e is provided at a position facing the sliding surface 161d. The sliding surface 161e is subjected to scraping in the same manner as the sliding surface 161d. Between the sliding surface 161e and the sliding surface 161d, there is an oil film of about several μm by lubricating oil stagnant in the micro unevenness of the sliding surfaces 161d, 161e. In this embodiment, as the lubricating oil, mineral oil having a low liquid viscosity at room temperature is used.

By rotating the pinion gear 161b provided on the column 15c, the support part 15a to which the rack 161a is fixed moves up and down. When the moving mechanism 161 moves the supporting portion 15a up and down, the sliding surface 161d and the sliding surface 161e slide smoothly due to the oil film formed between the sliding surface 161d and the sliding surface 161e.

When the rack 161a is viewed along the y direction, the teeth of the rack 161a are located on the centerline c of the support portion 15a in the x direction. In other words, the teeth of the rack 161a are located on a line passing through the center of gravity of the support portion 15a and substantially parallel to the z direction. Therefore, no moment is generated when the pinion gear 161b rotates and moves the rack 161a (support portion 15a) up and down.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a sliding surface 161d for scraping is also formed on the column 15c on the side where the rack 161a and the pinion 161b are not provided. Then, a sliding surface 161e (see FIG. 5 ) subjected to scraping processing is formed on the support portion 15a so as to be in contact with the sliding surface.

At the end of the supporting portion 15a, an elastic member 160 is provided along the post 15c. In FIGS. 3 and 4, only the elastic member 160 provided at the end on the -y side is shown, and the illustration of the elastic member 160 provided at the end on the +y side is omitted. As shown in FIG. 5 , the elastic member 160 is disposed on the lower side of the supporting portion 15a. A positioning member 162 is provided between the elastic member 160 and the support portion 15a. By inserting the elastic member 160 into the concave portion 162a formed on the bottom surface of the positioning member 162, the position in the xy direction of the elastic member 160 is determined, and along with the supporting portion 15a moves up and down, and the elastic member 160 becomes stretchable. In this way, the elastic members 160 disposed at both ends of the supporting portion 15a support the weight of the supporting portion 15a. The supporting part 15a is about 660kg~700kg, and the elastic member 160 can support about 600kg.

The weight of the supporting portion 15a that cannot be supported by the elastic member 160 is supported by the frictional force between the sliding surface 161d and the sliding surface 161e. The permanent electromagnet 163 is installed on the post 15c, and attracts the supporting part 15a by passing a current through the coil of the electromagnet 163b (see FIG. 13).

When the moving mechanism 161 does not move the supporting portion 15a up and down along the post 15c, the supporting portion 15a is attracted by the permanent electromagnet 163 with the first adsorption force, and the supporting portion 15a, that is, the rack 161a and the sliding surface 161e are directed toward the figure. 5. Moving in the left direction (see the arrow in FIG. 5 ), the sliding surface 161d is in close contact with the sliding surface 161e. The first adsorption force is about 12000N, and the magnetic flux density of the permanent electromagnet 163 when the permanent electromagnet 163 adsorbs the support portion 15a with the first adsorption force is about 0.3T (Tesla). In addition, when the permanent electromagnet 163 adsorbs the supporting portion 15a with the first adsorption force, the surface pressure generated between the sliding surface 161d and the sliding surface 161e is about 0.8 MPa.

By increasing the surface pressure generated between the sliding surface 161d and the sliding surface 161e as described above, the sliding surface 161d and the sliding surface 161e are brought into close contact (strong compression), and the oil film formed between the sliding surface 161d and the sliding surface 161e is eliminated. . As a result, friction occurs between the sliding surface 161d and the sliding surface 161e.

If the coefficient of friction between the sliding surface 161d and the sliding surface 161e when the oil film is removed is 0.1~0.2, and the adsorption force of the permanent electromagnet 163 is set to 1500kg, a weight of 150kg can be supported by the friction between the sliding surface 161d and the sliding surface 161e . There are two sliding surfaces on both sides of the supporting part 15a, so the weight ta (approximately 60kg~100kg) of the supporting part 15a that cannot be supported by the elastic member 160 can be supported by frictional force. As mentioned above, when the moving mechanism 161 does not move the support part 15a up and down, the support part 15a is supported so that the position of the height direction (z direction) of the support part 15a does not change.

When the moving mechanism 161 moves the support part 15a up and down along the column 15c, the permanent electromagnet 163 attracts the support part 15a with a weak force (second attraction force). The suction force (second suction force) when the support part 15a is moved up and down is weaker than the suction force (first suction force) when the support part 15a is not moved up and down. This implementation In the form, the second adsorption force is about 20% to about 30% of the first adsorption force. The second adsorption force is about 2400 to about 3600N, and the magnetic flux density of the permanent electromagnet 163 when the permanent electromagnet 163 adsorbs the supporting part 15a with the first adsorption force is about 0.06 to about 0.09T. In addition, when the permanent electromagnet 163 adsorbs the supporting portion 15a with the second adsorption force, the surface pressure generated between the sliding surface 161d and the sliding surface 161e is about 0.16~0.24MPa.

When the permanent electromagnet 163 adsorbs the support portion 15a with the second adsorption force, the sliding surface 161d comes into contact with the sliding surface 161e. At this time, the sliding surface 161d is not in close contact with the sliding surface 161e, and the oil film formed between the sliding surface 161d and the sliding surface 161e is not removed.

Since the sliding surface 161d is in contact with the sliding surface 161e, when the supporting part 15a moves up and down, the supporting part 15a does not incline with respect to the column 15c. In terms of the restriction on the arrangement position, the permanent electromagnet 163 and the measuring part 164 are arranged on the opposite side with the moving mechanism 161 sandwiched between them. Therefore, the measurement result of the measuring part 164 is also stable, and the supporting part 15a can be moved up and down correctly.

Here, the reason why the second adsorption force is desirably about 20% to about 30% of the first adsorption force will be described. Tables 1 and 2 are tables showing the torque of the rotation drive unit 161f (here, the motor) when the magnetizing force of the permanent electromagnet 163 is changed. Tables 1 and 2 show the results of experiments using different motors. Tables 1 and 2 are obtained by driving the rotary drive part 161f to rotate the pinion gear 161b to move the support part 15a in the height direction, and measuring the torque of the rotary drive part 161f at this time. The values of each unit are torque ( N‧m).

The attraction force is proportional to the magnetic flux density of the permanent electromagnet 163 , that is, the voltage applied to the permanent electromagnet 163 . The attraction forces in Tables 1 and 2 are obtained based on the ratio of the voltage applied to the permanent electromagnet 163 and the voltage applied to the permanent electromagnet 163 when the magnetic flux density of the permanent electromagnet 163 reaches the maximum. In addition, 0% of the adsorption force indicates a demagnetized state.

As shown in Tables 1 and 2, the torque of the rotary drive part 161f when the adsorption force is 18.5% and 24% and the torque of the rotary drive part 161f in the demagnetized state are basically unchanged. That is, if the second adsorption force is about 24% or less of the first adsorption force, the oil film formed between the sliding surface 161d and the sliding surface 161e is not removed, and no friction occurs between the sliding surface 161d and the sliding surface 161e.

On the other hand, the torque of the rotary drive part 161f when the adsorption force is 39% is about several times the torque of the rotary drive part 161f in the demagnetized state, and is larger than the torque of the rotary drive part 161f in the demagnetized state. for different. It can be seen that when the adsorption force is 39%, the oil film formed between the sliding surface 161d and the sliding surface 161e is removed, and friction occurs between the sliding surface 161d and the sliding surface 161e.

Based on the above, from the point of view of not generating friction between the sliding surface 161d and the sliding surface 161e, it is not appropriate to set the second adsorption force at about 39% of the first adsorption force, and it is desirable to set the second adsorption force at About 30% or less of the first adsorption force.

However, when the second adsorption force is less than about 20% of the first adsorption force, the second adsorption force When the state in which the support portion 15a is attracted by the force changes to the state in which the support portion 15a is attracted by the first force of attraction, the measurement result of the measurement unit 164 changes. It can be seen from this that when the second suction force is less than about 20% of the first suction force, the sliding surface 161d does not contact the sliding surface 161e, and when the support portion 15a moves up and down, the support portion 15a is inclined relative to the column 15c. . From the above, it is desirable to set the second adsorption force to approximately 20% to approximately 30% of the first adsorption force.

Next, the light irradiation unit 30 will be described. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of main parts schematically showing the light irradiation unit 30a. The light irradiation part 30a mainly includes a DMD 31a, an objective lens 32a, a light source part 33a, an AF processing part 34a, a cylindrical part 35a, a flange 36a, mounting parts 37a, 38a, and a driving part 39a. Light irradiation part 30b~light irradiation part 30g respectively includes: DMD 31b~31g, objective lens 32b~32g, light source part 33b~33g, AF processing part 34b~34g, cylindrical part 35b~35g, flange 36b~36g, mounting part 37b~37g, 38b~38g, and drive parts 39b~39g. Since the light irradiation part 30b - the light irradiation part 30g have the same structure as the light irradiation part 30a, description is abbreviate|omitted.

DMD 31a is a digital mirror device (Digital Mirror Device, DMD), which can irradiate planar laser light. The DMD 31a has a plurality of movable micromirrors (not shown), and irradiates light of one pixel from one micromirror. The size of the micromirrors is about 10 μm, and they are arranged two-dimensionally. The DMD 31a is irradiated with light from a light source unit 33a (details will be described later), and the light is reflected by each micromirror. The micromirror can rotate around an axis approximately parallel to its diagonal, and can be switched on (reflecting light toward the mask M) and off (not reflecting light toward the mask M). The DMD 31a is already known, and thus detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The objective lens 32a makes the laser light reflected by each micromirror of the DMD 31a form an image on the surface of the mask M. When drawing, light is irradiated from the light irradiation part 30a - the light irradiation part 30g respectively, and this light forms an image on the mask M, and a pattern is drawn on the mask M by this light.

The light source unit 33 a mainly includes a light source 331 , a lens 332 , a fly-eye lens 333 , lenses 334 , 335 , and a mirror 336 . The light source 331 is, for example, a laser diode, and the light emitted from the light source 331 is introduced into the lens 332 through an optical fiber or the like.

The light system is introduced from the lens 332 into the fly-eye lens 333 . The fly-eye lens 333 is a two-dimensional arrangement of a plurality of lenses (not shown), and a plurality of point light sources are produced in the fly-eye lens 333 . The light passing through the fly-eye lens 333 becomes parallel light through lenses 334 and 335 (for example, condenser lenses), and is reflected toward the DMD 31 a by the mirror 336 .

The AF processing part 34a focuses the focus of the light irradiated on the mask M on the mask M, and mainly includes: AF light source 341, collimator lens 342, AF cylindrical lens 343, five beams 344, 345, lens 346, and AF sensors 347, 348. The light irradiated by the AF light source 341 becomes parallel light by the collimator lens 342 , and becomes linear light by the AF cylindrical lens 343 , and is reflected by the light beam 344 to be imaged on the surface of the mask M. The light reflected by the mask M is reflected by the lens 345 , condensed by the lens 346 and enters the AF sensors 347 and 348 . The pentacles 344, 345 bend light at a bend angle of about 97 degrees. In addition, although mirrors can also be used instead of the five-colored mirrors 344 and 345, since the angular deviation of the mirrors will cause focus blur, it is ideal to use five-starred mirrors. The AF processing unit 34a performs autofocus processing, that is, obtains a focus position based on the results of light received by the AF sensors 347 and 348 . In addition, since the above-mentioned autofocus processing using the optical lever type is already known, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The light irradiation part 30a has the substantially cylindrical-shaped cylindrical part 35a in which the optical system (including the objective lens 32a) was provided. A flange 36a is provided at the upper end of the cylindrical portion 35a. The flange 36a holds the lens 332, the fly-eye lens 333, and the lenses 334, 335 on the upper side. Therefore, the center of gravity of the light irradiation part 30a deviates to the left direction in FIG. 6 with respect to the optical axis ax.

Moreover, attachment parts 37a, 38a are provided in the cylindrical part 35a. The mounting parts 37 a and 38 a are used for mounting the frame body 15 . The mounting part 37a is provided near the flange 36a, and the mounting part 38a is provided near the lower end of the cylindrical part 35a. A hollow portion 372 having a larger diameter than the outer diameter of the mounting portion 38a is formed on the mounting portion 37a. Thereby, the cylindrical part 35a can be pulled out upwards. In addition, in FIG. 6 , the illustration of the screw holes 371 and 381 (described later in detail) formed in the mounting portions 37 a and 38 a is omitted.

The mounting part 37a (that is, the light irradiation part 30a) is moved in the vertical direction (z) by the driving part 39a. direction) to move up. FIG. 7 is a schematic side view showing the drive unit 39a. The drive unit 39 a mainly includes a piezoelectric element 391 and a connection unit 392 .

The piezoelectric element 391 is a solid actuator (piezoelectric element) that generates displacement by applying a voltage. A non-displaced portion (for example, the lower end) of the piezoelectric element 391 is provided on the supporting portion 15 a of the frame body 15 via the mounting portion 395 (see FIG. 11 ). When a voltage is applied to the piezoelectric element 391, the piezoelectric element 391 expands, and the upper end of the piezoelectric element 391 moves upward. The dotted line in FIG. 7 shows the state where the piezoelectric element 391 is shortened, and the solid line in FIG. 7 shows the state where the piezoelectric element 391 is extended.

The connecting portion 392 is a substantially cylindrical member whose lower end is screwed into the piezoelectric element 391 . The connecting portion 392 moves up and down as the piezoelectric element 391 expands and contracts.

On the upper end of the connecting portion 392, a convex portion 393 with a circular arc-shaped front end is provided. The front end of the convex portion 393 abuts against the lower side of the mounting portion 37a (see FIG. 6 ). Therefore, when the piezoelectric element 391 expands, the light irradiation part 30a moves in the +z direction, and when the piezoelectric element 391 shortens, the light irradiation part 30a moves in the -z direction.

A plurality of grooves 394 are formed on the side of the connecting portion 392 . The groove 394 is formed to cut obliquely downward as it approaches the central axis. Therefore, even if the piezoelectric element 391 is bent and elongated (refer to the chain line of two dots in FIG. 7 ), the connecting portion 392 is also partially deformed in the groove 394, so that the convex portion 393 does not move in the horizontal direction, but only moves in the vertical direction.

Next, the attachment structure which attaches the light irradiation part 30a-30g to the frame body 15 is demonstrated. In the installation structure of the present embodiment, the guide member 70 is installed on the bottom plate 151, the guide member 70A is installed on the support plate 153, and the light irradiation parts 30a~30g are installed on the guide members 70, 70A, whereby the light irradiation parts 30a~30g 30g is installed on the frame body 15 . That is, the guide members 70 and 70A are provided between the light irradiation part 30a and the frame body 15 (here, the support plate 153).

First, the guide members 70 and 70A will be described. The guide members 70 and 70A are substantially thin plate-shaped members provided between the support portion 15 a (base plate 151 , support plate 153 ) and the light irradiation portion 30 .

(A) of FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the outline of the guide member 70, and (B) of FIG. 8 shows A schematic diagram of the guide member 70A. The diameter of the guide member 70 is different from that of the guide member 70A.

The guide members 70 and 70A are substantially thin plate-shaped, and have a substantially circular plate shape in plan view. The guide members 70 and 70A are formed of metal with a thickness of about 0.5 to 1 mm. In this embodiment, the guide member 70 is about 0.5 mm, and the guide member 70A is about 1 mm. Metals such as stainless steel and phosphor bronze can be used, but more homogeneous phosphor bronze is ideal. In addition, about 0.5 to 1 mm in the present invention means that an error of about 0.5 mm or less is included with respect to about 0.5 to 1 mm.

Attachment holes 74, 74A are formed substantially in the center of the guide members 70, 70A. In addition, in the guide members 70 and 70A, a plurality of holes 77 are formed along the outer periphery, and a plurality of holes 78 are formed along the attachment holes 74 and 74A.

In the guide member 70 , in order to facilitate the deformation of the guide member 70 , a plurality of substantially arc-shaped shear holes 79A and 79B are respectively formed. The shear holes 79A and 79B are arranged at equal intervals along the circumferential direction. The radius of the shear hole 79A is smaller than the radius of the shear hole 79B, and the shear hole 79B is disposed outside the shear hole 79A. In addition, the positions in the circumferential direction of the end region 79Aa including the end of the shear hole 79A substantially coincide with that of the end region 79Ba including the end of the shear hole 79B. In addition, end regions 79Aa, 79Ba exist at both ends of the shear holes 79A, 79B, respectively.

In the guide member 70A, in order to make the guide member 70A easy to deform, a plurality of substantially arc-shaped shear holes 79C and 79D are respectively formed. The shear holes 79C and 79D are arranged at equal intervals along the circumferential direction. The radius of the shear hole 79C is smaller than the radius of the shear hole 79D, and the shear hole 79D is disposed outside the shear hole 79C. In addition, the positions in the circumferential direction of the end region 79Ca including the end of the shear hole 79C substantially coincide with that of the end region 79Da including the end of the shear hole 79D. In addition, end regions 79Ca, 79Da exist at both ends of the shear holes 79C, 79D, respectively.

In this embodiment, the number of each of the shear holes 79A, 79B, 79C, and 79D is four, but the positions and numbers of the shear holes 79A, 79B, 79C, and 79D are not limited thereto.

The positions in the circumferential direction of the end region 79Aa and the end region 79Ba are approximately the same, and the weight The positions of the stacks are evenly arranged (for example, every about 45 degrees) in the circumferential direction. In addition, the positions of the end region 79Ca and the end region 79Da in the circumferential direction substantially match each other, and the overlapping positions are arranged equally (for example, every about 45 degrees) in the circumferential direction. Therefore, if a line extending radially in the radial direction is drawn from the center point of the guide members 70 and 70A, the line must pass through at least one of the cutting holes 79A to 79D. Therefore, the amount of deformation of the guide members 70 and 70A is substantially constant regardless of the location in the circumferential direction. Also, by arranging the shear holes 79A to 79D as described above, even if a thin plate having a thickness of about 1 mm is used for the guide members 70 and 70A, the guide members 70 and 70A follow the diameter of the cylindrical portion 35a of about 30 μm. Move up and down to expand and contract.

(A) of Figure 9 shows the positional relationship between the base plate 151 and the guide member 70 when the guide member 70 is installed on the base plate 151, and (B) of Figure 9 shows the support plate 153 and the guide when the guide member 70A is installed on the support plate 153. The positional relationship of the member 70A.

Seven guide members 70 are provided on the bottom plate 151 so as to cover the circular holes 155a to 155g. Seven guide members 70A are provided on the support plate 153 so as to cover the circular holes 156a to 156g. The attachment holes 74 and 74A are arranged substantially concentrically with the round holes 155a to 155g and 156a to 156g.

The guide member 70 and the circular holes 155 a to 155 g are equally arranged at the central portion of the bottom plate 151 , and the guide member 70A and the circular holes 156 a to 156 g are equally arranged at the central portion of the support plate 153 . The intervals between the adjacent round holes 155a~155g (ie, the guide member 70) and the interval W2 between the adjacent round holes 156a~156g (ie, the guide member 70A) are substantially the same as the intervals between the light irradiation parts 30a~30g.

On the guide members 70, 70A provided in the circular holes 155a, 156a, the cylindrical portion 35 of the light irradiation portion 30a is provided. On the guide members 70, 70A provided in the circular holes 155b, 156b, the light, the light irradiation part 30b is provided. Similarly, on the guide members 70, 70A provided in the circular holes 155c-155g, 156c-156g, the light irradiation parts 30c-30g are respectively provided.

The round hole 155a and the round hole 156a are formed so that their positions overlap in plan view. Similarly, the circular holes 155b to 155g and the circular holes 156b to 156g are formed so that their respective positions overlap when viewed from above.

Next, the attachment of the light irradiation part 30a is demonstrated. Figure 10 is the light irradiation part 30a An exploded perspective view of the installation structure installed on the support plate 153. In addition, the installation structure of installing the light irradiation parts 30b~30g on the base plate 151 and the installation structure of the light and the light irradiation parts 30b~30g on the support plate 153 are similar to the installation of the light irradiation part 30a on the base plate 151. Since the structures are the same, explanations are omitted.

The guide member 70A is provided on the support plate 153 so as to cover the circular hole 156a. By inserting the screw 85 into the hole 77 and screwing the screw 85 into the screw hole 156 h formed on the support plate 153 , the guide member 70A is fixed on the support plate 153 .

The light irradiation part 30a (that is, the cylindrical part 35a) is provided in the guide member 70A via the attachment part 37a. By inserting the screw 86 into the hole 78 and screwing the screw 86 into the screw hole 371, the guide member 70A is fixed to the mounting portion 37a. Thereby, the light irradiation part 30a is inserted into the attachment hole 74A, and is fixed to the guide member 70A so that the optical axis may substantially coincide with the center of the attachment hole 74A.

Fig. 11 is a diagram schematically showing a state in which the light irradiation unit 30a is attached to the frame body 15 (here, the support unit 15a). In FIG. 11, it shows the state which cut with the plane which passes the center of the mounting hole 74 and the holes 75,76. In Fig. 11, a cross section of a part of constituent elements is shown. In addition, in FIG. 11, illustration of fastening members, such as the screw rod 85,86, and the hole provided with these is abbreviate|omitted.

The cylindrical portion 35a is inserted into the mounting holes 74, 74A of the guide members 70, 70A. The guide member 70 and the attachment portion 38a are fixed in a state where the attachment portion 38a is located above the guide member 70 and the portion of the tubular portion 35a that is lower than the attachment portion 38a is located below the guide member 70 . In addition, the guide member 70A and the attachment portion 37a are fixed in a state where the attachment portion 37a is located above the guide member 70A, and the portion below the attachment portion 37a of the cylindrical portion 35a is located below the guide member 70A.

In addition, when attaching the guide member 70,70A to the frame body 15 and the light irradiation part 30, you may use a squeeze ring. By using a squeeze ring, deformation of the guide members 70, 70A can be prevented.

Since the center of the circular hole 155a and the center of the circular hole 156a are substantially coincident in a plan view, the light irradiation part 30a is attached to the support part 15a so that the optical axis ax becomes a substantially vertical direction.

The cutout hole 79A is for the light irradiated downward from the light source 341 for AF and the upper surface of the mask M. The reflected light can pass through and coincide with the positions of the AF light source 341 and the AF sensors 347 and 348 in the horizontal direction, respectively. In other words, the position of the cutout hole 79A overlaps with the positions of the AF light source 341 and the AF sensors 347 and 348 in plan view.

The driving part 39a is provided on the support part 15a via the mounting part 395, and pushes up the mounting part 37a to move in the vertical direction. The center of gravity G of the light irradiation part 30a is located near the position where the driving part 39a pushes up the mounting part 37a. Therefore, the drive part 39a pushes up the light irradiation part 30a in the vicinity of the center of gravity G. As shown in FIG. Thereby, the vertical movement of the light irradiation part 30a is stabilized.

(A) of FIG. 12 shows the state where the light irradiation part 30a does not move (center of the stroke), (B) shows the state where the light irradiation part 30a moves downward (lower end of the stroke), and (C) shows the state where the light irradiation part 30a moves upward. The state (stroke upper end).

The guide members 70, 70A are fixed to the cylindrical portion 35a via the mounting portions 37a, 38a (not shown in FIG. 12 ). Therefore, if the cylindrical portion 35a moves up and down by the driving portion 39a, the guide member 70 will follow accordingly. , 70A deformation.

The amount of movement of the cylindrical portion 35a by the driving portion 39a is about 40 μm (±about 20 μm). Since the guide members 70 and 70A are made of thin metal, the guide members 70 and 70A expand and contract (elastically deform) as the cylindrical portion 35a of about 40 μm moves up and down. Since the guide members 70 and 70A are substantially circular in plan view, the amount of deformation of the guide members 70 and 70A is substantially constant regardless of the location, and the cylindrical portion 35a does not move in the xy direction.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the exposure apparatus 1 . Exposure device 1 comprises: CPU (Central Processing Unit, central processing unit) 201, RAM (Random Access Memory, random access memory) 202, ROM (Read Only Memory, read-only memory) 203, input-output interface (I/O F) 204, communication interface (I/F) 205, and media interface (I/F) 206, these systems are connected with light irradiation part 30, position measuring part 41, 42, laser interferometer 51, 52, measuring part 61 , driving parts 81, 82, rotating driving part 161f, permanent electromagnet 163, measuring part 164, piezoelectric element 391, etc. are interconnected catch.

The CPU 201 operates based on the programs stored in the RAM 202 and the ROM 203, and controls each part. In the CPU 201, signals are input from the position measuring units 41, 42, the laser interferometers 51, 52, the measuring unit 61, the measuring unit 164, and the like. Signals output from the CPU 201 are output to the light irradiation unit 30, the drive units 81, 82, the rotation drive unit 161f, the permanent electromagnet 163, the piezoelectric element 391, and the like.

RAM 202 is a volatile memory. The ROM 203 is a non-volatile memory storing various control programs and the like. The CPU 201 operates based on the programs stored in the RAM 202 and the ROM 203, and controls each part. Also, the ROM 203 stores an activation program executed by the CPU 201 when the exposure apparatus 1 is activated, a program dependent on the hardware of the exposure apparatus 1 , drawing data for the mask M, and the like. Also, the RAM 202 stores programs executed by the CPU 201, data used by the CPU 201, and the like.

The CPU 201 controls an input/output device 211 such as a keyboard or a mouse through the input/output interface 204 . The communication interface 205 receives data from other machines via the network 212 and sends it to the CPU 201 , and sends the data generated by the CPU 201 to other machines via the network 212 .

The media interface 206 reads the programs or data stored in the storage medium 213 and stores them in the RAM 202 . In addition, the storage medium 213 is IC card, SD card, DVD etc., for example.

In addition, the program which realizes each function is read from the storage medium 213, for example, is installed in the exposure apparatus 1 via RAM202, and is executed by CPU201.

The CPU 201 has a function of a control unit 201a that controls each unit of the exposure apparatus 1 based on an input signal. The control unit 201a is constructed by the CPU 201 executing a predetermined program that has been read. The control part 201a drives the rotation drive part 161f, and moves the support part 15a in z direction. Moreover, the control part 201a flows electric current through the coil of the electromagnet 163b, and attracts the support part 15a by the 1st attraction|suction force or the 2nd attraction|suction force. The processing performed by the control unit 201a will be described in detail later.

The configuration of the exposure apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 13 is to describe the features of this embodiment, and to describe the main configuration, and does not exclude, for example, configurations that are included in general information processing devices. The components of the exposure apparatus 1 can be further classified into a plurality of components according to the processing content, and one component can perform processing of a plurality of components.

The operation of the exposure apparatus 1 configured as described above will be described. The following processes are mainly performed by the main control unit 201a.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the flow of the height adjustment process of the exposure apparatus 1 . The control unit 201a sets the mask M on the mask holding unit 20 using a loader (not shown) (step S10). Then, the control part 201a moves the mask holding part 20 via the drive part 81,82, and adjusts the position of the mask M (step S12). In addition, the processing of steps S10 and S12 is already known, so description is omitted.

Next, the control part 201a moves the support part 15a in the height direction, and moves the position of the height direction of the support part 15a to the origin position (step S14). The so-called origin position is obtained according to the height of the mask holding part 20 (stored in advance) and the standard of the mask M provided. When these components are at the standard value, the focus of the light irradiation part 30 is located at Mask the position on M. In addition, the position of the support part 15a in the x direction in step S14 is a center position (x center).

Here, the process of moving the support part 15a in the height direction by the control part 201a is demonstrated. First, the control unit 201a passes current through the coil of the electromagnet 163b. Since the electric current is adjusted by the adjustment dial 163c, the permanent electromagnet 163 attracts the supporting part 15a with the second attraction force. Then, the control part 201a drives the rotation drive part 161f, rotates the pinion gear 161b, and moves the rack 161a, ie, the support part 15a, in the height direction. At this time, the control part 201a continuously acquires the measurement result of the measurement part 164, and drives the rotation drive part 161f until the measurement result of the measurement part 164 becomes a target value.

Since the permanent electromagnet 163 adsorbs the support portion 15a with the second adsorption force, the sliding surface 161d contacts the sliding surface 161e, but the oil film formed between the sliding surface 161d and the sliding surface 161e is not removed. Therefore, when the support portion 15a moves in the z direction, the sliding surface 161e slides along the sliding surface 161d. In this way, when the support part 15a moves in the z direction, the support part 15a does not incline with respect to the column 15c, so the measurement result of the measurement part 164 is stable.

So far (steps S10 to S14 ) is a preparation stage for height adjustment of the light irradiation unit 30 . Next, the control unit 201a measures the height of the mask M by the measuring units 61a and 61g while moving the mask holding unit 20 in the x direction via the drive units 81 and 82 (step S20). Then, the control unit 201a calculates the movement amount in the height direction of the light irradiation unit 30 (the driving amount of the driving unit 39a and the moving amount of the support unit 15a) based on the measurement result in step S20 (step S22). Hereinafter, the processing of step S22 will be described in detail.

Fig. 15 is an example of the measurement results in step S20. Here, the measurement results in the measurement unit 61a are exemplified, and the obtained values are values for the light irradiation unit 30a. The control part 201a obtains the center position (thickness center) of the lowest value (BOTTOM) and the highest value (PEAK) of a measurement result using mathematical formula (1).

[Expression 1] (PEAK+BOTTOM)/2=thickness center......(1)

In addition, the control unit 201a calculates the difference between the measurement result of the center position (x center) in the x direction and the thickness center as PZT-OFS. PZT-OFS is when the position of the support part 15a in the x direction is at the x center, and the piezoelectric element 391 is at the stroke center, and the piezoelectricity of the support part 15a is adjusted so that the focus position of the light irradiation part 30 becomes the thickness center. The driving amount of the element 391. PZT-OFS is a positive value when the measurement result is larger than the thickness center, and a negative value when the measurement result is smaller than the thickness center.

In addition, in this embodiment, in step S14, the support part 15a is moved with the x-center, and the PZT-OFS is obtained based on the measurement result of the x-center in step S22, but it is also possible to make the support part 15a Moving to the -x terminal, PZT-OFS is obtained based on the measurement result of the -x terminal in step S22. That is, the x center in steps S14 and S22 is an example, and the position in the x direction is not limited to the x center.

The control unit 201a calculates a value obtained by adding a value (here, 20 μm) for disposing the piezoelectric element 391 at the stroke center to the PZT-OFS as the vertical movement amount of the light irradiation unit 30 . In addition, the value of 20 μm varies depending on the type of the piezoelectric element 391 .

In step S20, the measuring units 61a and 61g are used for measurement, so according to the measurement result The amount of movement in the height direction of the light irradiation parts 30a and 30g is obtained. In step S22, the control part 201a calculates the movement amount (thickness) of the light irradiation part 30b-30f by interpolation based on the movement amount of the height direction of the light irradiation part 30a, 30g obtained directly from the measurement result. Center and PZT-OFS).

Return to the description of FIG. 14 . The control unit 201a drives the piezoelectric element 391 from the lower end position using the value calculated in step S22 (a value of 20 μm added to PZT-OFS) for each of the piezoelectric elements 391 provided on the light irradiation portions 30a to 30g. (step S24).

Next, the control unit 201a drives the rotation driving unit 161f to support each of the light irradiation units 30a to 30g while confirming whether the focus of the light irradiated to the mask M via the AF processing unit 34 is focused on the mask M. The portion 15a moves in the height direction (step S26).

In step S14, since the supporting part 15a is attracted by the second attracting force, the permanent electromagnet 163 continues to attract the supporting part 15a by the second attracting force. Therefore, in step S26, the sliding surface 161d also contacts the sliding surface 161e, and the sliding surface 161e slides along the sliding surface 161d.

The AF processing unit 34 continuously obtains how much the focus position needs to be moved, and the control unit 201 a continuously obtains the result. The control unit 201a continuously acquires the measurement results of the measurement unit 164, and drives the rotation drive unit 161f to move the support unit 15a in the height direction by the moving distance calculated by the AF processing unit 34.

In step S24, the piezoelectric element 391 is driven from the lower end position to add a value of 20 μm to the PZT-OFS. Therefore, as a result of the movement of the support part 15a in step S26, when the piezoelectric element 391 is located at the center of the stroke, it is irradiated with light. The light irradiated by the portion 30 is focused on the center of the thickness. Thereby, even if the height of the mask M changes, the focus of the light irradiation part 30 can always be focused on the mask M by the movement of the piezoelectric element 391 .

Then, the control unit 201a determines whether or not the light irradiated by the light irradiation unit 30 via the AF processing unit 34 is focused on the mask M (step S28). Since the light irradiation part 30 moves in steps S24 and S26, the light irradiated by the light irradiation part 30 is usually focused on the mask M in step S28. Assuming that the light irradiation unit 30 is not located at the position determined to be in focus (NO in step S28), the control unit 201a returns the process to Go to step S26.

When the light irradiation part 30 is located at the position judged to be focused (YES in step S28), the control part 201a flows a current through the coil of the electromagnet 163b, and the support part 15a is attracted to the permanent electromagnet by the first adsorption force. 163, the sliding surface 161d is brought into close contact with the sliding surface 161e (step S30). As a result, friction occurs between the sliding surface 161d and the sliding surface 161e, and the support portion 15a is fixed to the post 15c by the frictional force.

In step S14, since the permanent electromagnet 163 is attracted to the supporting part 15a with the second attraction force, the permanent electromagnet 163 continues to attract the support part 15a with the second attraction force before step S30. If the value of the adjustment dial 163c is moved to "10" in this state, the current value flowing in the coil of the electromagnet 163b increases, and the attraction force of the permanent electromagnet 163 changes from the second attraction force to the first attraction force . In the nature of the permanent electromagnet 163, the adsorption force can be increased from the second adsorption force to the first adsorption force (but the adsorption force cannot be decreased from the first adsorption force to the second adsorption force).

之測量結果均不改變。 In this embodiment, when the support portion 15a moves, the sliding surface 161d abuts against the sliding surface 161e, and the sliding surface 161d slides along the sliding surface 161e. The sliding surface 161d is in close contact with the sliding surface 161e, and the supporting portion 15a is not inclined. Therefore, regardless of whether the supporting part 15a moves or does not move, the measuring part 164

The measurement results are not changed.

As shown in, for example, (B) and (C) of FIG. When moving upwards (refer to the hollow arrows in (B) and (C) of FIG. thick arrow), the measurement result of the measurement unit 164 changes. Even if the inclination of the sliding surface 161d at this time is a small angle of less than 1 degree, or the gap between the sliding surface 161d and the sliding surface 161e is as small as about a few μm, the supporting part 15a is large, and the measuring part 164 must be provided In terms of the restriction on the surface opposite to the surface on which the permanent electromagnet 163 is provided, a non-negligible error occurs in the measurement result of the measuring unit 164 . In contrast, if (A) shown in Figure 16 As shown (in this embodiment), the support portion 15a is moved in the height direction while the sliding surface 161d is brought into contact with the sliding surface 161e, and the support portion 15a is not inclined when the sliding surface 161d is brought into close contact with the sliding surface 161e. No matter whether the supporting part 15a moves or not, the measurement result of the measuring part 164 does not change. As described above, in this embodiment, the error caused by the inclination of the support portion 15a can be eliminated.

When the height of the supporting part 15a is fixed (step S30), the control part 201a creates an AF map showing that the mask holding part 20 is moved in the x direction and the y direction via the driving parts 81 and 82, while the Use each of the AF processing parts 34a~34g to focus the light irradiated by the light irradiating parts 30a~30g on the mask M, and how far it needs to move; and confirm whether the driving amount of the piezoelectric element 391 exceeds ±20 μm (step S32). The creation of the AF chart is already known, so the description will be omitted.

Assuming that the driving amount of the piezoelectric element 391 exceeds ±20 μm, the control unit 201 a moves the supporting portion 15 a in a direction in which the driving amount of the piezoelectric element 391 exceeds ±20 μm.

Thereby, the processing shown in FIG. 14 ends. In addition, the process shown in FIG. 14 is an example, and the order of a process and the content of a process are not limited to this.

Then, drawing processing not shown is performed. The control unit 201 a moves the mask holding unit 20 in the x direction and the y direction based on the measurement results of the position measurement units 41 and 42 . The control unit 201 a moves the mask holding unit 20 and irradiates light from the light irradiation unit 30 when the mask M passes under the light irradiation unit 30 to perform drawing processing. The drawing process is performed several hours after the mask M is placed on the mask holding unit 20, so the control unit 201a has enough time to perform the process of step S32.

According to this embodiment, since the supporting part 15a provided with the light irradiation part 30 is moved up and down by using the moving mechanism 161 including the rack 161a and the pinion 161b, random walk error does not occur unlike the case of using a ball screw. Therefore, the height adjustment of the light irradiation part can be accurately performed.

Also, according to the present embodiment, the permanent electromagnet 163 is used to adsorb the supporting portion 15a with the first adsorption force, and the sliding surface 161d and the sliding surface 161e are brought into close contact to discharge the oil film between the sliding surface 161d and the sliding surface 161e. The frictional force generated between the sliding surface 161d and the sliding surface 161e keeps the supporting part 15a. Also, the permanent electromagnet 163 is used to adsorb the supporting part 15a with the second suction force (the second suction force<the first suction force), and the supporting part 15a is moved up and down in a state where the sliding surface 161d and the sliding surface 161e are in contact with each other. Therefore, when the supporting part 15a moves or does not move, the measurement result of the measuring part 164 does not change, and the error caused by the inclination of the supporting part 15a can be eliminated.

Also, according to this embodiment, since the permanent electromagnet 163 is used, the energization time is short, and deformation, expansion, etc. of the supporting portion 15a due to heat do not occur. Therefore, the height adjustment of the support part 15a, that is, the light irradiation part can be accurately performed.

Above, the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings, but the specific configuration is not limited to the embodiments, and design changes and the like within the scope of the present invention are also included. Those having ordinary knowledge in the field to which the present invention pertains can appropriately change, add, convert, etc. each element of the embodiment.

In addition, in the present invention, the term "approximately" not only refers to the case of being strictly the same, but also includes the concept of error or deformation to the extent that the identity is not lost. For example, the term "approximately horizontal" is not limited to being strictly horizontal, for example, it is a concept including an error of about several degrees. Also, for example, when only the cases of being parallel and perpendicular are expressed, not only the cases of strictly parallel and perpendicular, but also the cases of substantially parallel and substantially perpendicular are included. In addition, the term "nearby" in the present invention means an area including a range (arbitrarily determined) in the vicinity of the reference position. For example, in the case of being referred to as the vicinity of A, it is an area located in the vicinity of A, which means the concept that A may or may not be included.

15‧‧‧frame

15a‧‧‧Support Department

15c‧‧‧column

158‧‧‧convex part

160‧‧‧Elastic member

161‧‧‧Moving mechanism

161a‧‧‧Rack

161b‧‧‧pinion

161c‧‧‧convex part

161d, 161e‧‧‧Sliding surface

162‧‧‧Positioning components

162a‧‧‧Concave

163‧‧‧Permanent electromagnet

164‧‧‧Measurement Department

164a‧‧‧ruler

164b‧‧‧Detecting head

c‧‧‧central line

Claims (9)

An exposure device, characterized in that: a substrate holding part, which places the substrate; The frame includes a substantially rod-shaped support part formed of a magnetic material, the support part is provided so that the longitudinal direction becomes a substantially horizontal direction, and the support part is provided so that the longitudinal direction becomes a substantially vertical direction Rod-shaped columns at both ends, and a support portion-side sliding surface is formed on the above-mentioned support portion, and on the above-mentioned column, the column-side sliding surface is formed at a position facing the above-mentioned support portion-side sliding surface; A movement mechanism that moves the supporting portion in the vertical direction, and includes: a rack provided on the supporting portion, a pinion gear rotatably provided on the column and engaged with the rack, and the pinion gear The rotary drive part of the rotation; an optical device provided on the support portion and irradiating light to the substrate; A permanent electromagnet, which is disposed on the above-mentioned column and includes a permanent magnet and an electromagnet; and a control unit that drives the rotation drive unit to move the support unit, and flows current through the coil of the electromagnet to attract the support unit to the permanent magnet; The permanent electromagnet attracts the supporting part so that the sliding surface on the supporting part side is in close contact with the sliding surface on the column side, and the supporting part is fixed to the sliding surface by the frictional force between the sliding surface on the supporting part side and the sliding surface on the column side. above column. The exposure device as described in claim 1, which has: The measurement part is installed on the above-mentioned support part, and it includes a scale arranged roughly along the vertical direction, and a head that reads the value of the above-mentioned scale and outputs position information; When the above-mentioned supporting part is moved, the above-mentioned permanent electromagnet absorbs the above-mentioned supporting part with the second adsorption force which is weaker than the first adsorption force when the above-mentioned moving mechanism does not move the above-mentioned supporting part, and the above-mentioned measuring part continuously measures the above-mentioned The height of the supporting part, and the sliding surface on the side of the supporting part slides along the sliding surface on the side of the column. The exposure device as described in claim 2, wherein The second adsorption force is about 20% to about 30% of the first adsorption force. The exposure device as described in any one of claims 1 to 3, which has: a substantially thin plate-shaped guide member provided between the support portion and the optical device; and a drive unit, which is provided in the frame and moves the optical device in a vertical direction; The above-mentioned supporting part has a plate-shaped part arranged substantially horizontally, A circular hole penetrating in the substantially vertical direction is formed in the above-mentioned plate-like portion, The guide member is generally in the shape of a disc in plan view, and is provided on the plate-shaped portion so as to cover the circular hole. A mounting hole is formed approximately in the center of the guide member, The mounting holes and the circular holes are arranged substantially concentrically, The optical device is inserted into the mounting hole and fixed to the guide member so that the optical axis substantially coincides with the center of the mounting hole. The exposure device as described in claim 4, which has: a moving part that moves the above-mentioned substrate holding part in a scanning direction; and a measurement unit provided on the support unit, and measures the distance to the substrate; The control unit moves the substrate holding unit in the scanning direction via the moving unit and measures the distance to the substrate via the measurement unit, and calculates the distance from the maximum and minimum values of the distance to the substrate. A median value is obtained, and based on the median value, the driving amount of the driving unit is obtained. The exposure device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein The above-mentioned optical device includes an AF processing unit having an AF light source for irradiating downward light, and an AF sensor into which reflected light enters; The control unit moves the support unit while operating the AF processing unit, and brings the support unit side sliding surface into close contact with the column side sliding surface when the optical device is at a position determined to be in focus. The exposure device as described in Claim 4, wherein The above-mentioned optical device includes an AF processing unit having an AF light source for irradiating downward light, and an AF sensor into which reflected light enters; The control unit moves the support unit while operating the AF processing unit, and brings the support unit side sliding surface into close contact with the column side sliding surface when the optical device is at a position determined to be in focus. The exposure device as described in claim 5, wherein The optical device includes an AF processing unit having an AF light source for irradiating downward light, and an AF sensor into which reflected light enters; The control unit moves the support unit while operating the AF processing unit, and brings the support unit side sliding surface into close contact with the column side sliding surface when the optical device is at a position determined to be in focus. A height adjustment method, which uses the following device to adjust the height of the supporting part, and the above device includes: a substrate holding part, which places the substrate; The frame body includes the above-mentioned substantially rod-shaped support part formed of a magnetic material, and the support part is provided in such a manner that the longitudinal direction becomes a substantially horizontal direction, and the support part is disposed on the above-mentioned support so that the longitudinal direction becomes a substantially vertical direction. rod-shaped columns at both ends of the part, and a support part-side sliding surface is formed on the above-mentioned support part, and on the above-mentioned column, the column-side sliding surface is formed at a position facing the above-mentioned support part-side sliding surface; A movement mechanism that moves the support portion in the vertical direction, and includes: a rack provided on the support portion substantially along the vertical direction, and a pinion gear rotatably provided on the column and engaged with the rack , and a rotary drive unit that rotates the above-mentioned pinion; a measurement unit, which is installed in the above-mentioned support unit; an optical device provided on the support portion and irradiating light to the substrate; and A permanent electromagnet, which is arranged on the above-mentioned column and includes a permanent magnet and an electromagnet; The above-mentioned height adjustment method is characterized in that it includes: A step of passing a current through the coil of the electromagnet, causing the support part to be attracted to the permanent electromagnet by the second adsorption force, and making the sliding surface on the side of the supporting part contact the sliding surface on the side of the column; a step of measuring the height of the supporting part by the measuring part, driving the rotating driving part to rotate the pinion gear, and moving the supporting part in the height direction; and A current is passed through the above-mentioned coil, so that the above-mentioned supporting part is attracted to the above-mentioned permanent electromagnet by the first attractive force stronger than the above-mentioned second attractive force, and the above-mentioned supporting part-side sliding surface is closely contacted with the above-mentioned post-side sliding surface to support the above-mentioned The step of fixing the part to the above-mentioned column.