Low numerical aperture alignment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12585205-B2
Application number	US-202218061737-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 5, 2022
Priority date	Apr 4, 2022
Publication date	Mar 24, 2026
Grant date	Mar 24, 2026

Abstract

Disclosed herein are examples of a photolithography machine with fast alignment. The machine may include a stage to hold and move a substrate and a projection system to project images on a plurality of exposure regions of the substrate. The machine may also include an alignment system positioned adjacent to the projection system. The alignment system may include a plurality of microscope cameras with a fixed focus, each microscope camera configured to detect a respective fiducial in a respective exposure region of the substrate.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1 . A photolithography machine with fast alignment, comprising:
a stage to hold and move a substrate; a projection system to project images on a plurality of exposure regions of the substrate; and an alignment system positioned adjacent to the projection system, the alignment system including a plurality of microscope cameras with a fixed focus, each microscope camera comprising a single microscope objective to provide a single fixed focus position and each microscope camera configured to detect a respective fiducial in a respective exposure region of the substrate, wherein each of the plurality of microscope cameras is configured to detect fiducials at different heights relative to between the stage and the plurality of microscope cameras using the respective fixed focus.

2 . The photolithography machine of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of microscope cameras has a numerical aperture equal to or less than 0.15.

3 . The photolithography machine of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of microscope cameras include a CMOS image sensor.

4 . The photolithography machine of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of microscope cameras include an infrared sensor.

5 . The photolithography machine of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of microscope cameras includes four microscope cameras arranged in a rectangular formation.

6 . The photolithography machine of claim 1 , further comprising at least one air bearing and at least one magnet to position the plurality of microscope cameras.

7 . The photolithography machine of claim 1 , further comprising:
a processor to receive images from the plurality of microscope cameras, to determine locations of the fiducials based on the images, and to determine alignment correction information.

8 . The photolithography machine of claim 7 , wherein the processor uses a machine vision and edge detection algorithm to determine the locations of the fiducials.

9 . The photolithography machine of claim 7 , wherein the stage is configured to be moved based on the locations of the fiducials.

10 . The photolithography machine of claim 7 , wherein at least one component of the projection system is adjusted based on the alignment correction information.

11 . A method to photolithograph a substrate, the method comprising:
loading the substrate on a stage of a photolithography machine; positioning the stage such that an alignment system of the photolithography machine is opposite a first exposure region of the substrate, wherein the alignment system includes a plurality of microscope cameras having a fixed focus, each microscope camera comprising a single microscope objective to provide a single fixed focus position, wherein each microscope camera is configured to detect fiducials at different heights relative to between the stage and the plurality of microscope cameras using the respective fixed focus; capturing a first set of images using the plurality of microscope cameras of the first exposure region, each image including a respective fiducial associated with the first exposure region; determining alignment correction information for the first exposure region based on the first set of images; and projecting images on the first exposure region based on the alignment correction information.

12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
positioning the stage such that the alignment system of the photolithography machine is opposite a second exposure region of the substrate; capturing a second set of images using the plurality of microscope cameras of the second exposure region, each image including a respective fiducial associated with the second exposure region; determining alignment correction information for second exposure regions based on the second set of images; and projecting images on the second exposure region based on the alignment correction information.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the second set of images are captured after the first set of images are captured, and wherein the images on the first exposure region are projected after projecting images on the second exposure region.

14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
aligning a projection system of the photolithography machine above the second exposure region based on the alignment correction information associated with the second exposure region; and aligning the projection system of the photolithography machine above the first exposure region based on the alignment correction information associated with the first exposure region.

15 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the fiducials are located on a top surface of the substrate.

16 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the fiducials are located on a bottom surface or intermediate layer of the substrate.

17 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
executing a machine vision and edge detection algorithm to determine locations of the fiducials in the first exposure region.

18 . An alignment system for a photolithography machine, comprising:
a supporting structure positioned adjacent to a projection system of the photolithography machine; and a plurality of microscope cameras coupled to the supporting structure having a fixed focus, each microscope camera comprising a single microscope objective to provide a single fixed focus position and each microscope camera configured to detect a respective fiducial in a respective exposure region of a substrate, wherein each of the plurality of microscope cameras is configured to detect fiducials at different heights relative to between the stage and the plurality of microscope cameras using the respective fixed focus.

19 . The alignment system of claim 18 , wherein at least one of the plurality of microscope cameras has a numerical aperture equal to or less than 0.15.

20 . The alignment system of claim 18 , wherein each of the plurality of microscope cameras include a CMOS image sensor.

21 . The photolithography machine of claim 1 ,
wherein the alignment system is configured to capture fiducial images of a plurality of regions and generate alignment information for each region of the plurality of regions based on the fiducial images, and wherein the projection system is configured to project the images on each region of the plurality of regions based on the respective alignment information after all fiducial images of the plurality of regions are captured.

Assignees

• Onto Innovation Inc

Inventors

• Donaher J Casey

Classifications

• G06T7/13

  Edge detection · CPC title

• G06T2207/30204

  Marker · CPC title

• G06T2207/10048

  Infrared image · CPC title

• G06T2207/10056

  Microscopic image · CPC title

• G06T7/337

  involving reference images or patches · CPC title