Imprint apparatus and article manufacturing method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10768525-B2
Application number	US-201715422498-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 2, 2017
Priority date	Feb 12, 2016
Publication date	Sep 8, 2020
Grant date	Sep 8, 2020

Abstract

An imprint apparatus forms a pattern by curing a radical polymerizable imprint material by irradiating the imprint material with light in a state in which a mold is brought into contact with the imprint material. The apparatus includes an irradiator configured to irradiate the imprint material with light, and a controller configured to control the irradiator. Letting I c be an illuminance of the light with which the imprint material is irradiated, t c be a time during which the imprint material is irradiated with the light, k be a coefficient, and PD be a target degree of photopolymerization of the imprint material subjected to irradiation with the light, the controller determines the irradiation time in accordance with: PD=k×(√I c )×t c .

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for curing a material by irradiating the material with light in a state in which a mold is in contact with the material, photochemical reaction velocity of the material being proportional to a square root of an illuminance of the light with which the material is irradiated, the apparatus comprising:
an irradiator configured to irradiate the material with light for curing the material;
a controller configured to control the irradiator; and
an interface configured to acquire a target value regarding a polymerization degree of the material,
wherein the controller determines that whether or not the material is cured such that a degree of polymerization of the material falls within a predetermined range of the target value, and
wherein the controller determines the irradiation time during which the material is irradiated with the light from the irradiator based on the square root of the illuminance of the light from the irradiator, with which the material is irradiated, and the target value in a case that the controller determines that the material is not cured such that the degree of the polymerization of the material falls within the predetermined range.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the controller determines the irradiation time during which the material is irradiated with the light from the irradiator by dividing the target value by the square root of the illuminance.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein letting Ic be the illuminance of the light from the irradiator, with which the material is irradiated, tc be the irradiation time during which the material is irradiated with the light, k be a coefficient, and PD be the target value regarding the polymerization degree of the material subjected to irradiation with the light, the controller determines the irradiation time in accordance with:
PD= k ×(√ I c )× tc.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3 , further comprising an illuminance detector configured to detect the illuminance of the light with which the irradiator irradiates the material,
wherein letting Ic be the illuminance detected by the illuminance detector, the controller determines the irradiation time in accordance with:
PD= k ×(√ I c )× tc.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a supply configured to supply the material on a substrate;
a driving mechanism configured to change a relative distance between the material and the mold;
a separation force detector configured to detect a separation force required to separate the mold from the material; and
an illuminance detector configured to detect the illuminance of the light with which the irradiator irradiates the material,
wherein the irradiator irradiates the material with the light such that the material is cured, in a state in which the relative distance is set by the driving mechanism so as to bring the mold into contact with the material supplied on the substrate, and then the relative distance is changed by the driving mechanism so as to separate the mold from the material, and
wherein the controller is configured to cause the illumination detector to detect the illuminance of the light and to determine the irradiation time based on square root of the illuminance detected by the illuminance detector in case that the separation force while the relative distance is changed by the driving mechanism so as to separate the mold from the piece of the material falls outside an allowable range.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a supply configured to supply the material on the substrate;
a driving mechanism configured to change a relative distance between the material and a mold;
a separation force detector configured to detect a separation force required to separate the mold from the material; and
an illuminance detector configured to detect the illuminance of the light with which the irradiator irradiates the material,
wherein the irradiator irradiates the material with the light such that the material is cured, in a state in which the relative distance is set by the driving mechanism so as to bring the mold into contact with the material supplied on the substrate, and then the relative distance is changed by the driving mechanism so as to separate the mold from the material, and
wherein the controller is configured to cause the illumination detector to detect illuminance of the light and to determine the irradiation time based on square root of the illuminance detected by the illuminance detector in case that a product of (a) the separation force while the relative distance is changed by the driving mechanism so as to separate the mold from the piece of the material and (b) a time during which the separation force acts on the mold falls outside an allowable range.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
an illuminance detector configured to detect the illuminance of the light with which the irradiator irradiates the material,
wherein the controller is configured to cause the illuminance detector to detect the illuminance and to determine the irradiation time based on square root of the illuminance of detected by the illuminance detector in case that a defect density in a pattern obtained by curing the material falls outside an allowable range.

8. An article manufacturing method comprising:
forming a pattern on a substrate by using the apparatus as defined in claim 1 and processing the substrate on which the pattern is formed,
wherein the article is obtained from the processed substrate.

9. An apparatus for curing a radical polymerizable material by irradiating the material with light in a state in which a mold is in contact with the material, comprising:
an irradiator configured to irradiate the material with light for curing the material; and
a controller configured to control the irradiator; and
an interface configured to acquire a target value regarding a polymerization degree of the material,
wherein the controller determines that whether or not the material is cured such that a degree of polymerization of the material falls within a predetermined range of the target value, and
wherein the controller determines the irradiation time during which the material is irradiated with the light from the irradiator based on a square root of the illuminance of the light from the irradiator, with which the material is irradiated, and the target value in a case that the controller determines that the material is not cured such that the degree of the polymerization of the material falls within the predetermined range.

10. The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the controller determines the irradiation time during which the material is irradiated with the light from the irradiator by dividing the target value by the square root of the illuminance.

11. The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein letting Ic be the illuminance of the light from the irradiator, with which the material is irradiated, tc be the irradiation time during which the material is irradiated with the light, k be a coefficient, and PD be the target value regarding the polymerization degree of the material subjected to irradiation with the light, the controller determines the irradiation time in accordance with:
PD= k ×(√I c )× tc.

12. The apparatus according to claim 11 , further comprising an illuminance detector configured to detect the illuminance of the light with which the irradiator irradiates the material,
wherein letting Ic be the illuminance detected by the illuminance detector, the controller determines the irradiation time in accordance with:
PD= k ×(√I

Assignees

• Canon Kk

Inventors

• Iimura Akiko
• Ito Toshiki

Classifications

• G03F7/70825

  Mounting of individual elements, e.g. mounts, holders or supports (workpiece or mask holders G03F7/707) · CPC title

• G03F7/70125

  Use of illumination settings tailored to particular mask patterns (details of setting means G03F7/70091) · CPC title

• G03F7/2004

  characterised by the use of a particular light source, e.g. fluorescent lamps or deep UV light · CPC title

• G03F7/0002 Primary

  Lithographic processes using patterning methods other than those involving the exposure to radiation, e.g. by stamping · CPC title