Lithography system

In a lithography apparatus having a beam source;

• a chamber mounting said source;
• means for mounting a mask;
• means for mounting a substrate on an opposite side of such mask from said beam source;
• and means for aligning said substrate in parallelism and registration with said mask, the improvement comprising;
• means for positioning said mask loosely abutting an end of said chamber to effect a nominal seal and means for adjusting said mask in x, y and .theta. directions while said mask is positioned abutting said chamber and wherein said means for aligning includes image sensor means to sense at least three spaced-apart alignment targets within said chamber and whereby alignment one by one of a series of substrates with said mask may be performed without further disturbance or adjusting of said mounted mask.

A lithography system for a substrate printing sequence comprising:

• (a) a work station, said station including
• (i) a beam chamber,
• (ii) means for mounting a beam source at one end of said chamber,
• (iii) means for mounting a mask at a position adjacent an opposite end of said chamber,
• (iv) means for aligning the mask with respect to said beam source and said chamber while in said position,
• (b) means for mounting in position a semiconductor substrate in contact or spaced from said mask on a side of said mask opposite said source;
• (c) alignment sensing means mounted interiorly of said chamber for sensing alignment of said mask and said substrate;
• (d) means for adjusting said substrate mounting means in more than three degrees of freedom in said position;
• and
• (e) means for aligning the substrate and said mask.

In a lithography apparatus having a beam source;

• a chamber mounting said source;
• means for mounting a mask;
• means for mounting a substrate on an opposite side of such mask from said beam source;
• and means for aligning said substrate in parallelism and registration with said mask, the improvement comprising;
• means for positioning said mask loosely abutting an end of said chamber to effect a nominal seal and wherein said means for aligning includes image sensor means to sense at least three spaced-apart alignment targets within said chamber and whereby alignment one by one of a series of substrates with said mask may be performed without disturbance of said mounted mask;
• and further including means to eject said substrate from said substrate-mounting means and to reload said substrate-mounting means with a new substrate, and to align said new substrate without disturbance of said mask.

In a lithography apparatus having a beam source;

• a chamber mounting said source;
• means for mounting a mask;
• means for mounting a substrate on an opposite side of such mask from said beam source;
• and means for aligning said substrate in parallelism and registration with said mask, the improvement comprising;
• means for positioning said mask loosely abutting an end of said chamber to effect a nominal seal and wherein said means for aligning includes image sensor means to sense at least three spaced-apart alignment targets within said chamber and whereby alignment one by one of a series of substrates with said mask may be performed without disturbance of said mounted mask;
• and wherein said means for aligning includes an imaging camera;
• means for defining target patterns on said mask and substrate;
• compression optics for narrowing the span of images of said patterns striking said camera;
• and
• the improvement in said compression optics comprising a split mirror having angular disposed portions reflecting said images in a narrowed band within the imaging range of said camera.

In a lithography apparatus having a beam source;

• a chamber mounting said source;
• means for mounting a mask;
• means for mounting a substrate on an opposite side of such mask from said beam source;
• and means for aligning said substrate in parallelism and registration with said mask, the improvement comprising;
• means for positioning said mask loosely abutting an end of said chamber to effect a nominal seal and wherein said means for aligning includes image sensor means to sense at least three spaced-apart alignment targets within said chamber and whereby alignment one by one of a series of substrates with said mask may be performed without disturbance of said mounted mask;
• and further including transport means for transporting a substrate to said substrate-mounting means and in which each of said transport means comprises means to arcuately move said transport means to said respective mounting means.