Scanning exposure apparatus and method

A scanning exposure apparatus for projecting a mask pattern on a mask onto a substrate, comprising:

• a movable mask stage for holding the mask;
• a movable substrate stage for holding the substrate, the substrate stage moving in synchronization with the mask stage movement;
• an illumination system directing an exposing radiation flux toward the mask to illuminate a portion of the mask pattern;
• a projection optical system receiving the exposing radiation that has passed through the mask to project the image of the mask pattern onto the substrate with a predetermined projection ratio;
• a mask position detector outputting first signals indicating the position of the mask stage in a first two-dimensional plane as a first vector quantity;
• a substrate position detector outputting second signals indicating the position of the substrate stage in a second two-dimensional plane as a second vector quantity;
• a calculation unit applying a transfer matrix in accordance with the projection ratio of the projection optical system and the rotational angle of the mask relative to the substrate, the calculation unit processing the first signals and the second signals to subtract one of the first and second vector signals from a vector obtained by multiplying the transfer matrix by the other one of the first and second vector signals to derive an error vector representing a relative positional deviation between the mask and the substrate, the calculation unit further processing data indicating patterning errors in the existing pattern on the substrate to derive a calibration vector;
• and
• a controller controlling the position of the mask stage relative to the substrate stage in accordance with the error vector and the calibration vector, the controller adjusting only one of the mask stage movement and the substrate stage movement in order to offset the error vector representing the relative positional deviation between the mask and the substrate.

A method of aligning a mask with a substrate during scanning exposure operation of an scanning exposure apparatus, the method comprising the steps of:

• moving in a first predetermined direction a mask stage holding the mask;
• moving in a second predetermined direction in synchronization with the mask stage movement a substrate stage holding the substrate;
• during the step of moving the substrate stage, directing an exposing radiation flux toward the mask to illuminate a portion of a mask pattern on the mask, the exposing radiation flux thereafter entering a projection optical system to project the mask pattern onto the substrate with a predetermined projection ratio;
• outputting first signals indicating the position of the mask stage during the step of moving the substrate stage;
• outputting second signals indicating the position of the substrate stage during the step of moving the substrate stage;
• processing the first signals and the second signals in accordance with the projection ratio of the projection optical system to derive a relative positional deviation between the mask stage and the substrate stage during the step of moving the substrate stage;
• and
• during the step of moving the substrate stage, controlling the mask stage movement and the substrate stage movement to eliminate the relative positional deviation derived in the step of processing, wherein only one of the mask stage movement and the substrate stage movement is adjusted in order to offset the relative positional deviation.

A scanning exposure apparatus for projecting a mask pattern on a mask onto a substrate, comprising:

• a movable mask stage for holding the mask;
• a movable substrate stage for holding the substrate, the substrate stage moving in synchronization with the mask stage movement;
• an illumination system directing an exposing radiation that has passed through the mask to project the image of the mask pattern onto the substrate;
• a mask position detector outputting first signals indicating the position of the mask stage in a first two-dimensional plane;
• a substrate position detector outputting second signals indicating the position of the substrate stage in a second two-dimensional plane;
• a calculation unit applying a transfer matrix in accordance with the rotational angle of the mask relative to the substrate, the first signals, and the second signals to derive an error vector representing a relative positional deviation between the mask stage and the substrate stage;
• and
• a controller that controls the mask movement and the substrate movement based on said error vector, wherein only one of the mask movement and the substrate movement is adjusted in order to offset the error vector.

A scanning exposure apparatus for synchronously moving a mask and a substrate with respect to an exposing radiation flux to transfer an image of a mask pattern onto a substrate by scanning operation, the scanning exposure apparatus comprising:

• a movable mask stage for holding the mask;
• a movable substrate stage for holding the substrate;
• and
• a control unit coupled to the mask stage and the substrate stage, the control unit controlling a relative position between the mask stage and the substrate stage during synchronous movements of the mask and the substrate in accordance with first vector information to shape the image of the mask pattern that is being transferred onto the substrate as a result of the scanning operation to be consistent with an existing circuit pattern on the substrate.

A method for manufacturing a scanning exposure apparatus for synchronously moving a mask and a substrate with respect to an exposing radiation flux to transfer a pattern on a mask onto a substrate by scanning operation, the method comprising:

• providing a movable mask stage for holding the mask;
• providing a movable substrate stage for holding the substrate;
• and
• providing a control unit coupled to the mask stage and the substrate stage, the control unit controlling a relative position between the mask stage and the substrate stage during synchronous movements of the mask stage and the substrate stage in accordance with first vector information to shape the image of the mask pattern that is being transferred onto the substrate as a result of the scanning operation to be consistent with an existing circuit pattern on the substrate.