# US 2021/0276231 A1 · Determination method, imprint method, imprint apparatus, article manufacturing method and non-transitory storage medium > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2021/0276231 A1 - Document ID: US20210276231A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 17/166,928 - Filed: 2021-02-03 - Published: 2021-09-09 - Earliest claimed: 2020-03-06 - Assignees: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha - Applicants: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha - Inventors: Takahiro Sato - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20210276231A1 ## CPC - B29C 43/56: Compression moulding under special conditions, e.g. vacuum - G03F 7/0002: {Lithographic processes using patterning methods other than those involving the exposure to radiation, e.g. by stamping} - H10D 64/01326: {Aspects related to lithography, isolation or planarisation of the conductor} - B29C 2043/563: {combined with mechanical pressure, i.e. mould plates, rams, stampers} - B29C: SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING (making preforms B29B11/00; making laminated products by combining previously unconnected layers which become one product whose layers will remain together B32B37/00 - B32B41/00) - 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) - H10D: INORGANIC ELECTRIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES ## Abstract The present invention provides a determination method of determining a drop pattern indicating a layout of droplets of an imprint material to be arranged on a substrate and used in an imprint apparatus which forms a pattern of the imprint material on the substrate by using a mold, the method including obtaining a contact start position at which the mold comes first into contact with the imprint material in a partial shot region on the substrate based on a posture of the mold, and determining a drop pattern in the partial shot region so as to arrange droplets of the imprint material at a plurality of positions respectively located along a plurality of different radiation directions from the contact start position, with the obtained contact start position serving as a starting point. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A determination method of determining a drop pattern indicating a layout of droplets of an imprint material to be arranged on a substrate and used in an imprint apparatus which forms a pattern of the imprint material on the substrate by using a mold, the method comprising: specifying a partial shot region of the plurality of shot regions which has a smaller area than a pattern region of the mold based on a layout of a plurality of shot regions on the substrate; determining a posture of the mold when the mold is brought into contact with the imprint material arranged in the partial shot region specified in the specifying; obtaining a contact start position at which the mold comes first into contact with the imprint material in the partial shot region based on the posture of the mold determined in the determining the posture; and determining the drop pattern in the partial shot region so as to arrange droplets of the imprint material at a plurality of positions respectively, located along a plurality of different radiation directions from the contact start position, with the contact start position obtained in the obtaining serving as a starting point. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1 wherein in the determining the drop pattern, the drop pattern in the partial shot region is determined such that in each of a plurality of local regions located in radiation directions from the contact start position, a line density of the imprint material on lines on which a plurality of droplets of the imprint material are present and which are parallel to directions orthogonal to the radiation directions is lower than a line density of the imprint material on lines on which a plurality of droplets of the imprint material are present and which are parallel to the radiation directions. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein in the determining the drop pattern, the drop pattern in the partial shot region is determined based on a shape of the mold and a shape of the substrate when the mold is brought into contact with the imprint material arranged in the partial shot region. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein in the determining the drop pattern, the drop pattern in the partial shot region is determined based on information indicating, in a time-series manner, enlargement of a contact region between the imprint material and the pattern region after the mold is brought into contact with the imprint material arranged in the partial shot region when the contact region is enlarged over the entire partial shot region. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The method according to claim 4, further comprising, before the determining the drop pattern, obtaining the information by observing enlargement of the contact region upon actually bringing the mold into contact with the imprint material tentatively arranged in the partial shot region. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein in the determining the posture, a posture of the mold is determined so as to prevent the mold from coming into contact with an outermost region of the partial shot region on which the imprint material is not arranged. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The method according to claim 6, wherein in the determining the posture, a posture of the mold is determined based on a shape of the mold and a shape of the substrate when the mold is brought into contact with the imprint material arranged in the partial shot region. ### Claim 8 An imprint method of forming a pattern of an imprint material on a substrate by using a mold, the method comprising: determining a drop pattern indicating a layout of droplets of the imprint material to be arranged on the substrate; arranging droplets of the imprint material on the substrate in accordance with the drop pattern determined in the determining the drop pattern; wherein determining the drop pattern specifying a partial shot region of the plurality of shot regions which has a smaller area than a pattern region of the mold based on a layout of a plurality of shot regions on the substrate; determining a posture of the mold when the mold is brought into contact with the imprint material arranged in the partial shot region specified in the specifying; obtaining a contact start position at which the mold comes first into contact with the imprint material in the partial shot region based on the posture of the mold determined in the determining the posture; and determining the drop pattern in the partial shot region so as to arrange droplets of the imprint material at a plurality of positions respectively located along a plurality of different radiation directions from the contact start position, with the contact start position obtained in the obtaining serving, as a starting point. ### Claim 9 An imprint apparatus which forms a pattern of an imprint material on a substrate by using a mold, the apparatus comprising: a control unit configured to perform processing of determining a drop pattern indicating a layout of droplets of the imprint material to be arranged on the substrate; and an arranging unit configured to arrange droplets of the imprint material on the substrate based on the drop pattern determined in the processing, wherein the processing includes specifying a partial shot region of a plurality of shot regions on the substrate which has a smaller area than thee pattern region of the mold based on a layout of the plurality of shot regions, determining a posture of the mold when the mold is brought into contact with the imprint material arranged in the specified partial shot region, obtaining a contact start position at which the mold comes first into contact with the imprint material in the partial shot region based on the determined posture of the mold, and determining the drop pattern in the partial shot region so as to arrange droplets of the imprint material at a plurality of positions respectively located in a plurality of different radiation directions from the obtained contact start position, with the contact start position serving as a starting point. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) An article manufacturing method comprising: forming a pattern on a substrate using an imprint apparatus defined in claim 9; processing the substrate on which the pattern is formed in the forming; and manufacturing an article from the processed substrate. ### Claim 11 A non-transitory storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute a determination method of determining a drop pattern indicating a layout of droplets of an imprint material to be arranged on a substrate and used in an imprint apparatus which forms a pattern of the imprint material on the substrate by using a mold, the method comprising: specifying a partial shot region of the plurality of shot regions which has a smaller area than a pattern region of the mold based on a layout of a plurality of shot regions on the substrate; determining a posture of the mold when the mold is brought into contact with the imprint material arranged in the partial shot region specified in the specifying; obtaining a contact start position at which the mold comes first into contact with the imprint material in the partial shot region based on the posture of the mold determined in the determining the posture; and determining the drop pattern in the partial shot region so as to arrange droplets of the imprint material at a plurality of positions respectively located along a plurality of different radiation directions from the contact start position, with the contact start position obtained in the obtaining serving as a starting point.