Management system, apparatus, and method, exposure apparatus, and control method therefor

A processing method for obtaining a condition of an alignment measurement by an exposure apparatus for exposing a substrate to light, said method comprising steps of:

• acquiring first data of a difference between a calculated position of an alignment mark of a sampled area on the substrate calculated based on a plurality of measured positions of a plurality of alignment marks of a plurality of sampled areas on the substrate and a measured position of the alignment mark with respect to each of the plurality of sampled areas, the difference being obtained by the exposure apparatus;
• acquiring second data of an overlay error of a pattern on the substrate with respect to each of the plurality of sampled areas, the pattern being formed by exposing the substrate to the light based on the calculated positions of the plurality of alignment marks by the exposure apparatus, the overlay error being obtained by an overlay inspection apparatus;
• a first calculation of calculating a measurement error of the measured position based on the first and second data with respect to each of the plurality of sampled areas;
• and
• a second calculation of calculating an offset to be used for the measured position as the condition of the alignment measurement based on a plurality of measurement errors obtained over a plurality of substrates through said first calculation step with respect to each of the plurality of sampled areas.

A processing method for obtaining a condition of an alignment measurement by an exposure apparatus for exposing a substrate to light, said method comprising steps of:

• acquiring first data of a difference between a calculated position of an alignment mark of a sampled area on the substrate calculated based on a plurality of measured positions of a plurality of alignment marks of a plurality of sampled areas on the substrate and the measured position of the alignment mark with respect to each of the plurality of sampled areas, the difference being obtained by the exposure apparatus;
• acquiring second data of an overlay error of a pattern on the substrate with respect to each of the plurality of sampled areas, the pattern being formed by exposing the substrate to the light based on the calculated positions of the plurality of alignment marks by the exposure apparatus, the overlay error being obtained by-an overlay inspection apparatus;
• estimating an alignment error to be obtained with respect to each of a plurality of subsets of the plurality of sampled areas based on the first and second data;
• and
• selecting, as the condition of the alignment measurement, a subset to be used for the alignment measurement from the plurality of subsets based on a plurality of alignment errors estimated in said estimating step.

A processing apparatus for obtaining a condition of an alignment measurement by an exposure apparatus for exposing a substrate to light, said apparatus comprising:

• a storage configured to store first data of a difference between a calculated position of an alignment mark of a sampled area on the substrate calculated based on a plurality of measured positions of a plurality of the alignment marks of a plurality of the sampled areas on the substrate and the measured position of the alignment mark with respect to each of the plurality of sampled areas, the difference being obtained by the exposure apparatus, and to store second data of an overlay error of a pattern on the substrate with respect to each of the plurality of sampled areas, the pattern being formed by exposing the substrate to the light based on the calculated positions of the plurality of alignment marks by the exposure apparatus, the overlay error being obtained by an overlay inspection apparatus;
• and
• a processor configured to calculate a measurement error of the measured position based on the first and second data with respect to each of the plurality of sampled areas, and to calculate an offset to be used for the measured position as the condition of the alignment measurement based on a plurality of calculated measurement errors obtained over a plurality of substrates with respect to each of the plurality of sampled areas.

A program for causing a computer to execute a processing method for obtaining a condition of an alignment measurement by an exposure apparatus for exposing a substrate to light, said method comprising steps of:

• acquiring first data of a difference between a calculated position of an alignment mark of a sampled area on the substrate calculated based on a plurality of measured positions of a plurality of alignment marks of a plurality of the sampled areas on the substrate and the measured position of the alignment mark with respect to each of the plurality of sampled areas, the difference being obtained by the exposure apparatus;
• acquiring second data of an overlay error of a pattern on the substrate with respect to each of the plurality of sampled areas, the pattern formed by exposing the substrate to the light based on the calculated positions of the plurality of alignment marks by the exposure apparatus, the overlay error being obtained by an overlay inspection apparatus;
• a first calculation of calculating a measurement error of the measured position based on the first and second data with respect to each of the plurality of sampled areas;
• and
• a second calculation of calculating an offset to be used for the measured position as the condition of the alignment measurement based on a plurality of measurement errors obtained over a plurality of substrates through said first calculation step with respect to each of the plurality of sampled areas.

A program for causing a computer to execute a processing method for obtaining a condition of an alignment measurement by an exposure apparatus for exposing a substrate to light, said method comprising steps of:

• acquiring first data of a difference between a calculated position of an alignment mark of a sampled area on the substrate calculated based on a plurality of measured positions of a plurality of alignment marks of a plurality of sampled areas on the substrate and the measured position of the alignment mark with respect to each of the plurality of sampled areas, the difference being obtained by the exposure apparatus;
• acquiring second data of an overlay error of a pattern on the substrate with respect to each of the plurality of sampled areas, the pattern being formed by exposing the substrate to the light based on the calculated positions of the plurality of alignment marks by the exposure apparatus, the overlay error being obtained by an overlay inspection apparatus;
• estimating an alignment error to be obtained with respect to each of a plurality of subsets of the plurality of sampled areas based on the first and second data;
• and
• selecting, as the condition of the alignment measurement, a subset to be used for the alignment measurement from the plurality of subsets based on a plurality of alignment errors estimated in said estimating step.

A processing method for obtaining a condition of an alignment measurement by an exposure apparatus for exposing a substrate to light, said method comprising steps of:

• acquiring first data of a difference between a calculated position of an alignment mark of a sampled area on the substrate calculated based on a plurality of measured positions of a plurality of alignment marks of a plurality of sampled areas on the substrate and the measured position of the alignment mark with respect to each of the plurality of sampled areas, the difference being obtained by the exposure apparatus;
• acquiring second data of an overlay error of a pattern on the substrate with respect to each of the plurality of sampled areas, the pattern being formed by exposing the substrate to the light based on the calculated positions of the plurality of alignment marks by the exposure apparatus, the overlay error being obtained by an overlay inspection apparatus;
• and
• obtaining the condition of the alignment measurement based on the first and second data.

A program for causing a computer to execute a processing method for obtaining a condition of an alignment measurement by an exposure apparatus for exposing a substrate to light, said method comprising steps of:

• acquiring first data of a difference between a calculated position of an alignment mark of a sampled area on the substrate calculated based on a plurality of measured positions of a plurality of alignment marks of a plurality of sampled areas on the substrate and the measured position of the alignment mark with respect to each of the plurality of sampled areas, the difference being obtained by the exposure apparatus;
• acquiring second data of an overlay error of a pattern on the substrate with respect to each of the plurality of sampled areas, the pattern being formed by exposing the substrate to the light based on the calculated positions of the plurality of alignment marks by the exposure apparatus, the overlay error being obtained by an overlay inspection apparatus;
• and
• obtaining the condition of the alignment measurement based on the first and second data.