Method of driving mask stage and method of mask alignment

A method of driving a mask stage using an exposure device having said mask stage which mounts a mask formed with a predetermined pattern and is movable in a predetermined scan direction, a movable mirror which is arranged on said mask stage and has a reflection surface substantially parallel to the scan direction, measurement means for measuring a coordinate position, in a direction perpendicular to the scan direction, of said mask stage by radiating a measurement beam onto said movable mirror, a substrate stage which mounts a photosensitive substrate and is movable in a direction substantially parallel to the scan direction, an illumination system for illuminating a predetermined area on the mask with illumination light, and a projection optical system for projecting the pattern on the mask onto the photosensitive substrate,

• said exposure device for sequentially exposing the pattern on the mask onto the photosensitive substrate while synchronously scanning said mask stage and said substrate stage in the scan direction with respect to an optical axis of said projection optical system, comprising the steps of:
• the first step of placing the mask on said mask stage;
• the second step of calculating a curved amount of said movable mirror by measuring the coordinate position, in the direction perpendicular to the scan direction, of said mask stage by said measurement means while scanning said mask stage in the scan direction;
• and
• the third step of moving said mask stage in the direction perpendicular to the scan direction to correct the curved amount of said movable mirror calculated in the second step when said mask stage is scanned in the scan direction with respect to the optical axis;
• wherein the mask has a measurement mark, and
• the second step includes the step of scanning said mask stage while the measurement mark is aligned to a reference position, and calculating the curved amount of said movable mirror on the basis of the coordinate position, in the direction perpendicular to the scan direction, of said mask stage measured by said measurement means.

A method of aligning a mask with respect to a coordinate system on the side of a mask stage as pre-processing for exposing a pattern on the mask onto a photosensitive substrate using an exposure device having said mask stage which mounts the mask formed with a predetermined pattern and is movable in a predetermined scan direction, a substrate stage which mounts the photosensitive substrate and is movable in a direction substantially parallel to the scan direction, an illumination system for illuminating a predetermined illumination area on the mask with illumination light, a projection optical system for projecting the pattern on the mask onto the photosensitive substrate, and observation means for observing a mark on the mask, the exposure device for sequentially exposing the pattern on the mask onto the photosensitive substrate while synchronously scanning said mask stage and said substrate stage in the scan direction with respect to an optical axis of said projection optical system, comprising:

• the first step of placing, as the mask, a mask formed with a first alignment mark having two linear patterns which cross each other, on said mask stage;
• the second step of moving the two linear patterns in a direction to cross each other on the first alignment mark on the mask relative to an observation area of said observation means in a direction which is transverse to each of the two linear patterns;
• the third step of calculating a coordinate position, in the coordinate system on the side of said mask stage, of a crossing point of the two linear patterns of the first alignment mark by processing image data obtained by said observation means;
• and
• the fourth step of aligning the mask to the coordinate system on the side of said mask stage on the basis of the coordinate position of the crossing point of the two linear patterns of the first alignment mark.

A method of aligning a mask with respect to a coordinate system on the side of a mask stage as pre-processing for exposing a pattern on the mask onto a photosensitive substrate using an exposure device having said mask stage which mounts the mask formed with a predetermined pattern and is movable in a predetermined scan direction, a substrate stage which mounts the photosensitive substrate and is movable in a direction substantially parallel to the scan direction, an illumination system for illuminating a predetermined illumination area on the mask with illumination light, and a projection optical system for projecting the pattern on the mask onto the photosensitive substrate, said exposure device for sequentially exposing the pattern on the mask onto the photosensitive substrate while synchronously scanning said mask stage and said substrate stage in the scan direction with respect to an optical axis of said projection optical system, comprising:

• the first step of placing, as the mask, a mask formed with an alignment mark, on said mask stage;
• and
• the second step of calculating a rotational angle of the mask with respect to the coordinate system on the side of said mask stage by calculating a coordinate position of said alignment mark, and when the rotational angle calculated in the second step exceeds a predetermined allowable value, said method further comprising:
• the third step of unloading the mask from said mask stage;
• the fourth step of rotating said mask stage by a predetermined rotational angle in a direction of the rotational angle calculated in the second step;
• and
• the fifth stage of placing the mask on said mask stage again, and rotating said mask stage in a direction opposite to the rotational direction in the forth step.

A method of aligning a mask with respect to a coordinate system on the side of a mask stage as pre-processing for exposing a pattern on the mask onto a photosensitive substrate using an exposure device having said mask stage which mounts the mask formed with a predetermined pattern and is movable in a predetermined scan direction, a substrate stage which mounts the photosensitive substrate and is movable in a direction substantially parallel to the scan direction, an illumination system for illuminating a predetermined illumination area on the mask with illumination light, and a projection optical system for projecting the pattern on the mask onto the photosensitive substrate, said exposure device for sequentially exposing the pattern on the mask onto the photosensitive substrate while synchronously scanning said mask stage and said substrate stage in the scan direction with respect to an optical axis of said projection optical system, comprising:

• the first step of placing, as the mask, a mask formed with an alignment mark, on said mask stage;
• and
• the second step of calculating a rotational angle of the mask with respect to the coordinate system on the side of said mask stage by calculating a coordinate position of said alignment mark, and when the rotational angle calculated in the second step exceeds a predetermined allowable value, said method further comprising:
• the third step of rotating said mask stage in a direction opposite to the rotational angle calculated in the second step;
• the fourth step of unloading the mask from said mask stage;
• and
• the fifth step of rotating said mask stage in a direction opposite to the rotational direction in the third step, and placing the mask on said mask stage again.

An exposing apparatus synchronously moving a mask stage carrying a mask having a predetermined pattern and a mark for a measurement and a substrate stage carrying a substrate, to form the pattern image onto said substrate, comprising:

• a position measuring system for measuring a position of said mask stage along a direction substantially perpendicular to a movement direction;
• a mark detecting system for measuring a position of said mark;
• and
• a control system for obtaining a positional deviation of said mask stage along the direction substantially perpendicular to the movement direction based on the result of the measurement of said mark detecting system and the result of the measurement of said position measuring system, and for correcting the positional deviation, and for synchronously moving said mask stage and said substrate stage.

A method of making a scanning exposure apparatus in which an exposure beam and an object are moved relatively in a predetermined direction during a scanning exposure, the method comprising:

• providing a supporting member which is movable in the predetermined direction while supporting the object;
• providing a reflection surface which is substantially parallel to the predetermined direction on the supporting member and which is used for obtaining positional information of the supporting member;
• and
• providing a measuring system which detects information relating to a curvature of the reflection surface.

A scanning exposure apparatus in which an exposure beam and an object are moved relatively in a predetermined direction during a scanning exposure, the apparatus comprising:

• a supporting member which is movable in the predetermined direction while supporting the object;
• a reflection surface which is substantially parallel to the predetermined direction on the supporting member and which is used for obtaining positional information of the supporting member;
• and
• a measuring system which detects information relating to a curvature of the reflection surface.

A method of making a scanning exposure apparatus in which an exposure beam and an object are moved relatively in a predetermined direction during a scanning exposure, the method comprising:

• providing a supporting member which is movable in the predetermined direction while supporting the object;
• providing a reflection surface which is formed on the supporting member and which is used for obtaining positional information of the supporting member during the scanning exposure;
• and
• providing a control system, functionally associated with the supporting member, which controls a movement of the supporting member based on information relating to a curvature of the reflection surface.

A scanning exposure apparatus in which an exposure beam and an object are moved relatively in a predetermined direction during a scanning exposure, the apparatus comprising:

• a supporting member which is movable in the predetermined direction while supporting the object;
• a reflection surface which is formed on the supporting member and which is used for obtaining positional information of the supporting member during the scanning exposure;
• and
• a control system, functionally associated with the supporting member which controls a movement of the supporting member based on information relating to a curvature of the reflection surface.

A scanning exposure method in which an object is moved relative to an exposure beam during a scanning exposure, the method comprising:

• moving a stage in a moving direction prior to the scanning exposure, the object being supported on the stage, a reflection surface being formed on the stage to obtain positional information of the stage and the reflection surface being substantially parallel to the moving direction;
• measuring positional information of the stage in a direction crossing the moving direction by applying a measuring beam of an interferometer to the reflection surface, during the movement of the stage prior to the scanning exposure;
• and
• controlling, during the scanning exposure, movement of the stage based on the measured positional information.

A scanning exposure method in which a mask and a substrate are moved synchronously relative to an exposure beam during a scanning exposure, the method comprising:

• moving a stage in a moving direction prior to the scanning exposure, the mask being supported on the stage, a reflection surface being formed on the stage to obtain positional information of the stage and the reflection surface being substantially parallel to the moving direction;
• measuring positional information of the stage in a direction crossing the moving direction by applying a measuring beam of an interferometer to the reflection surface, during the movement of the stage prior to the scanning exposure;
• and
• adjusting, during the scanning exposure, positional relationship between the mask and the substrate based on the measured positional information.

A microdevice manufacturing method including an exposure process in which a mask and a substrate are moved in respective scanning directions relative to an exposure beam during a scanning exposure in order to form a device pattern on the substrate, the method comprising:

• moving a stage in the scanning direction of the mask prior to the scanning exposure, the mask being supported on the stage, a reflection surface being formed on the stage, and the reflection surface being substantially parallel to the scanning direction of the mask;
• measuring positional information of the stage in a direction crossing the scanning direction by applying a measuring beam of an interferometer to the reflection surface, during the movement of the stage prior to the scanning exposure;
• and
• adjusting, during the scanning exposure, positional relationship between the mask and the substrate based on the measured positional information.

A scanning exposure method in which an object is moved relative to an exposure beam in a scanning direction during an exposure, the method comprising:

• during the exposure, moving the object in the scanning direction by using a first driving mechanism;
• during the exposure, measuring position of the object by applying a measuring beam of an interferometer to a reflection surface which is substantially parallel to the scanning direction, the reflection surface being moved in the scanning direction relative to the measuring beam;
• and
• during the exposure, moving the object in a non-scanning direction perpendicular to the scanning direction by using a second driving mechanism in order to compensate for a curvature of said reflection surface.

A scanning exposure method in which a mask and a substrate are moved in respective scanning directions relative to an exposure beam during an exposure, the method comprising:

• during the exposure, moving the mask in the scanning direction by using a first driving mechanism;
• during the exposure, measuring position of the mask by applying a measuring beam of an interferometer to a reflection surface extending substantially parallel to the scanning direction, the reflection surface being moved in the scanning direction relative to the measuring beam;
• and
• during the exposure, moving the mask by using a second driving mechanism in order to compensate for a curvature of said reflection surface.

A microdevice manufacturing method including an exposure process in which a mask and a substrate are moved in respective scanning directions relative to an exposure beam during a scanning exposure in order to form a device pattern on the substrate, the method comprising:

• during the exposure, moving the mask in the scanning direction by using a first driving mechanism;
• during the exposure, measuring position of the mask by applying a measuring beam of an interferometer to a reflection surface extending substantially parallel to the scanning direction, the reflection surface being moved in the scanning direction relative to the measuring beam;
• and
• during the exposure, moving the mask by using a second driving mechanism in order to compensate for a curvature of said reflection surface.

A method of making a scanning exposure device that is operative for exposing a pattern on a mask onto a sensitive substrate, comprising:

• providing a mask stage that is movable in a predetermined scan direction and on which a mask formed with a predetermined pattern is mountable;
• providing a movable mirror that is arranged on said mask stage and that has a reflection surface substantially parallel to the scan direction, said reflections surface having an undesirable curvature;
• providing a measurement system to measure a position, in a direction perpendicular to the scan direction, of said mask stage by radiating a measurement beam onto said reflection surface;
• providing a substrate state on which a sensitive substrate is mountable;
• and
• providing a driver to move said mask stage in a direction perpendicular to the scan direction in accordance with said undesirable curvature of said reflection surface so as to reduce an undesirable effect on a pattern exposed onto the sensitive substrate, when said mask stage is scanned in the scan direction for an exposure.