# US 10,871,718 B2 · Exposure apparatus, method for controlling the same and article manufacturing method

> Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt

- Number: US 10,871,718 B2
- Document ID: US10871718B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 16/725,593
- Filed: 2019-12-23
- Published: 2020-07-09
- Granted: 2020-12-22
- Earliest claimed: 2019-01-08
- Assignees: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
- Applicants: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
- Inventors: Akihisa Kaga; Kazushi Mizumoto
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10871718B2

## CPC

- G03F 7/70641: {Focus}
- G03F 9/7026: {Focusing}
- G03F 7/2026: {for the removal of unwanted material, e.g. image or background correction}
- G03F 7/70141: {Illumination system adjustment, e.g. adjustments during exposure or alignment during assembly of illumination system}
- G03F 7/70258: {Projection system adjustments, e.g. adjustments during exposure or alignment during assembly of projection system}
- G03F 7/70591: {Testing optical components}
- G03F 7/70725: {control}
- G03F: PHOTOMECHANICAL PRODUCTION OF TEXTURED OR PATTERNED SURFACES, e.g. FOR PRINTING, FOR PROCESSING OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; MATERIALS THEREFOR; ORIGINALS THEREFOR; APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED THEREFOR; (phototypographic composing devices B41B; photosensitive materials or processes for photographic purposes G03C; electrophotography, sensitive layers or processes therefor G03G)

## Abstract

An exposure apparatus includes a projection optical system configured to project a pattern of a mask onto a substrate, a substrate stage configured to hold and move the substrate, and a controller configured to control exposure of the substrate held by the substrate stage, wherein the controller obtains an amount of deviation of an image of the pattern projected onto the substrate with respect to the pattern of the mask based on telecentricity information, which is information on telecentricity for respective image heights of the projection optical system, and height information, which is information on the height of a surface of the substrate, and corrects deviation of the image based on the obtained amount of deviation to expose the substrate.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An exposure apparatus operable to expose a substrate, the apparatus comprising:
a projection optical system configured to project a pattern of a mask onto the substrate;
a substrate stage configured to hold and move the substrate; and
a controller configured to control exposure of the substrate held by the substrate stage,
wherein the controller is configured to:
obtain telecentricity information, which is information on telecentricity for respective image heights of the projection optical system, and obtain height information, which is information on a height of a pattern formed on the substrate in advance,
determine a defocus amount from a difference between a best focus position in an optical axis direction of the projection optical system and the height of the pattern formed on the substrate in advance indicated by the obtained height information,
determine an amount of deviation of an image of the pattern projected onto the substrate with respect to the pattern of the mask based on the determined defocus amount and the telecentricity for respective image heights, and
correct, during the exposure of the substrate, the deviation of the image for each shot region based on the determined amount of deviation.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The exposure apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
the amount of deviation is determined by:
S=DF·cos θ
where S denotes the amount of deviation, DF denotes the defocus amount, and θ denotes the telecentricity.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The exposure apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a resolution of the height of the pattern formed on the substrate in advance included in the height information is higher than a resolution of focus driving of the substrate stage.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The exposure apparatus according to claim 1, comprising
a height measurement device for measuring the height of the pattern formed on the substrate,
wherein the controller is configured to obtain the height information from a result of a measurement using the height measurement device.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The exposure apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to obtain the height information based on design information of the substrate.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The exposure apparatus according to claim 1, comprising
a telecentricity measurement device configured to measure a telecentricity for each image height of the projection optical system,
wherein the controller is configured to obtain the telecentricity information from a result of measurement using the telecentricity measurement device.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The exposure apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to obtain the telecentricity information based on design information of the projection optical system.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The exposure apparatus according to claim 1, comprising
a mask stage configured to hold the mask; and
an illumination optical system configured to illuminate the mask when held by the mask stage,
wherein the controller is configured to correct the deviation of the image by performing at least one of driving of the substrate stage, driving of the mask stage, driving of an optical element of the projection optical system, driving of an optical element of the illumination optical system, and adjusting a pulsed oscillation frequency of a light source of the illumination optical system so as to reduce the determined amount of deviation during the exposure on a shot region of the substrate.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

A method of manufacturing an article, comprising
exposing a substrate using an exposure apparatus according to claim 1;
developing the exposed substrate; and
manufacturing the article from the developed substrate.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The exposure apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the height information includes information of a level difference of the pattern formed on the substrate in advance.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The exposure apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to correct, during the exposure of the substrate, the deviation of the image for each shot region by using the determined amount of deviation as a higher-order component of an aberration of the projection optical system.

### Claim 12

A method for controlling an exposure apparatus that projects a pattern of a mask onto a substrate through a projection optical system and exposes the substrate, the method comprising:
obtaining telecentricity information, which is information on telecentricity for respective image heights of the projection optical system;
obtaining height information, which is information on a height of a pattern formed on the substrate in advance;
determining a defocus amount from a difference between a best focus position in an optical axis direction of the projection optical system and the height of the pattern formed on the substrate in advance indicated by the obtained height information;
determining an amount of deviation of an image of the pattern projected onto the substrate with respect to the pattern of the mask based on the determined defocus amount and the telecentricity for respective image heights; and
correcting, during the exposure of the substrate, the deviation of the image for each shot region based on the determined amount of deviation.