Surface position detection apparatus, exposure apparatus, and exposure method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9927713-B2
Application number	US-201615358837-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 22, 2016
Priority date	Jul 8, 2005
Publication date	Mar 27, 2018
Grant date	Mar 27, 2018

Abstract

A surface position detection apparatus capable of highly precisely detecting the surface position of a surface to be detected without substantially being affected by relative positional displacement due to a polarization component occurring in a light flux having passed through a reflective surface. In the apparatus, a projection system has a projection side prism member having first reflective surfaces, and a light receiving system has a light receiving prism member having second reflective surfaces arranged in correspondence with the projection side prism member. The surface position detection apparatus further has a member for compensating relative positional displacement due to a polarization component of a light flux having passed through the first and second reflective surfaces.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An exposure apparatus which exposes a substrate to exposure light, the apparatus comprising:
a holder which holds the substrate; and
a position detection apparatus which detects a position of a surface of the substrate held by the holder, with respect to a direction intersecting the surface, on the basis of a light receiving result of a light beam which is guided to the surface in a diagonal direction relative to the surface and is reflected by the surface,
the position detection apparatus comprising:
a first reflection member which reflects the light beam, the first reflection member being arranged in an optical path of the light beam on an incidence side relative to the surface of the substrate held by the holder;
a second reflection member which reflects the light beam from the surface, the second reflection member being arranged in the optical path of the light beam on a reflection side relative to the surface of the substrate held by the holder; and
a phase member arranged in the optical path of the light beam between the first reflection member and the second reflection member, the phase member rotating a polarization direction of the light beam from the first reflection member so as to convert a polarization direction of a first polarization component of the light beam from a first direction to a second direction perpendicular to the first direction.

2. The exposure apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the phase member rotates the polarization direction of the light beam so as to convert a polarization direction of a second polarization component of the light beam from the second direction into the first direction.

3. The exposure apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the phase member comprises a half-wave plate or an optical rotation element.

4. The exposure apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first and second reflection members comprises a prism member arranged such that the light beam is reflected within the prism member.

5. The exposure apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the prism member is arranged such that the light beam is totally reflected within the prism member.

6. The exposure apparatus according to claim 1 , comprising a first optical system arranged in the optical path on the incidence side relative to the surface and a second optical system arranged in the optical path on the reflection side relative to the surface, wherein
the first reflection member is arranged in the optical path on an exit side relative to the first optical system, and the second reflection member is arranged in the optical path on an incidence side relative to the second optical system.

7. The exposure apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein each of the first optical system and the second optical system is arranged such that a position which is optically conjugate to the surface of the substrate held by the holder is formed.

8. The exposure apparatus according to claim 6 , comprising a patterned surface on which a predetermined pattern is formed, wherein
the first optical system is arranged so as to form a primary image of the predetermined pattern onto the surface of the substrate held by the holder with the light beam arriving from the predetermined pattern, and
the second optical system is arranged so as to form a secondary image of the predetermined pattern with the light beam arriving from the surface on which the primary image is formed.

9. The exposure apparatus according to claim 8 , comprising a detection unit which receives the light beam arriving from the secondary image and detects a lateral displacement of the secondary image on the basis of a beam receiving result.

10. The exposure apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein each of the first optical system and the second optical system is a both-sides telecentric optical system.

11. The exposure apparatus according to claim 1 , comprising a driving unit which drives the holder on the basis of a detection result obtained by the surface position detection apparatus to change at least one of a position of the substrate held by the holder with respect to a direction crossing the substrate and an inclination of the substrate held by the holder.

12. The exposure apparatus according to claim 1 , comprising:
a projection optical system which projects the exposure light to form a pattern image onto the surface of the substrate held by the holder, and
a driving unit which drives the holder on the basis of a detection result obtained by the surface position detection apparatus to change at least one of a position of the substrate held by the holder with respect to a direction parallel to an optical axis of the projection optical system and an inclination of the substrate held by the holder with respect to the optical axis.

13. The exposure apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein the driving unit drives the holder such that the surface of the substrate is located within a focal depth of the projection optical system.

14. A surface position detection method which detects a position of a surface of a substrate, with respect to a direction intersecting the surface, on the basis of a light receiving result of a light beam which is guided to the surface in a diagonal direction relative to the surface and is reflected by the surface, the method comprising:
reflecting the light beam by a first reflection member arranged in an optical path of the light beam on an incidence side relative to the surface of the substrate;
reflecting the light beam from the surface by a second reflection member arranged in the optical path of the light beam on a reflection side relative to the surface of the substrate; and
rotating a polarization direction of the light beam by a phase member arranged in the optical path of the light beam between the first reflection member and the second reflection member so as to convert a polarization direction of a first polarization component of the light beam from a first direction to a second direction perpendicular to the first direction.

15. The surface position detection method according to claim 14 , further comprising rotating the polarization direction of the light beam by the phase member so as to convert a polarization direction of a second polarization component of the light beam from the second direction into the first direction.

16. The surface position detection method according to claim 14 , wherein the phase member comprises a half-wave plate or an optical rotation element.

17. The surface position detection method according to claim 14 , wherein at least one of the first and second reflection members comprises a prism member, and the light beam is reflected within the prism member.

18. The surface position detection method according to claim 17 , wherein the light beam is totally reflected within the prism member.

19. The surface position detection method according to claim 14 , comprising:
forming a first position which is optically conjugate to the surface of the substrate by a first optical system arranged in the optical path on the incidence side relative to the surface; and
forming a second position which is optically conjugate to the surface of the substrate by a second optical systems arranged in the optical path on the reflection side relative to the surface, wherein
the first reflection member reflects the light beam in the optical path on an exit side relative to the first optical system, and
the second reflection member reflects the light beam in the optical path on an incidenc

Assignees

• Nikon Corp

Inventors

• Hidaka Yasuhiro
• Nagayama Tadashi

Classifications

• G03F9/7026

  Focusing · CPC title

• G03F9/7065

  Production of alignment light, e.g. light source, control of coherence, polarization, pulse length, wavelength · CPC title

• G03F9/7088 Primary

  Alignment mark detection, e.g. TTR, TTL, off-axis detection, array detector, video detection · CPC title

• G03F9/7034 Primary

  Leveling · CPC title

• Y10T29/49124

  On flat or curved insulated base, e.g., printed circuit, etc. · CPC title