Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US7830493?oq=7%2C249%2C099
Timestamp: 2018-03-18 22:39:18
Document Index: 641990855

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application No. 60', 'Application No. 05251565', 'Application No. 2006', 'Application No. 2005', 'Application No. 10', 'Application No. 10']

US7830493B2 - System and method for compensating for radiation induced thermal distortions in a substrate or projection system - Google Patents
US7830493B2
US7830493B2 US11257399 US25739905A US7830493B2 US 7830493 B2 US7830493 B2 US 7830493B2 US 11257399 US11257399 US 11257399 US 25739905 A US25739905 A US 25739905A US 7830493 B2 US7830493 B2 US 7830493B2
US11257399
US20070076180A1 (en )
A system and method are used to compensate for thermal effect on a lithographic apparatus. The system comprises a patterning device, a projection system, a substrate position controller, and a substrate-position-based expansion-compensator. The patterning device modulates a radiation beam. The projection system projects the modulated radiation beam onto a target portion of a substrate. The substrate position controller moves the substrate relative to the projection system sequentially through a plurality of exposure positions. The substrate-position-based expansion-compensator interacts with the substrate position controller to modify the exposure positions in order at least partially to compensate for thermally-induced geometrical changes of at least one of the substrate and projection system.
This application claims benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/722,950, filed Oct. 4, 2005, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
In one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a lithographic apparatus comprising a patterning device, a projection system, a substrate position controller, and a substrate-position-based expansion-compensator. The patterning device modulates a radiation beam. The projection system projects the modulated radiation beam onto a target portion of a substrate. The substrate position controller moves the substrate relative to the projection system sequentially through a plurality of exposure positions. The substrate-position-based expansion-compensator interacts with the substrate position controller to modify the exposure positions in order at least partially to compensate for thermally-induced geometrical changes of at least one of the substrate and projection system.
The distortion measuring device 520 can be used offline to generate calibration data to link thermally-induced distortions with the desired dose pattern. For example, the distortion of the whole or a portion of the substrate W and/or projection system PS and/or projected image can be measured at one or various positions as a “calibration pattern” with particular properties is formed on a substrate W. The procedure can be repeated for a range of “calibration patterns” with different properties. Several possible approaches exist for how best to use the resulting calibration data to determine the expected thermal effects of an actual desired dose pattern. One approach would be to identify the calibrated pattern that has characteristics closest to that of the desired dose pattern and use the corresponding calibration data as the basis for estimating thermally-induced distortions. Alternatively or additionally, the desired dose pattern can be mathematically “decomposed” or “expanded” into a number of calibration patterns (here used as basis functions) that are weighted so that their sum best represents the requested dose pattern. The calibration data associated with each of the calibration patterns forming the desired dose pattern are then combined according to the appropriate weightings in order to estimate the thermally-induced distortions. This approach can be more computationally intensive than the former method, but can achieve a closer fit to the real thermal effects. The use of calibration data based on calibration patterns that are similar (or which can be combined to produce something similar), but not identical to the desired dose pattern allows a high degree of correction at reasonable cost. This can be because it is not necessary to carry out a calibration run each time the pattern to be formed on the substrate is changed.
In one example, components of the thermal distortion parallel to the X-axis can be more conveniently dealt with by adapting the pattern imparted by the patterning device PD. This can even be achieved inline (i.e., in “real time” during exposure) for corrections parallel to the X-axis, as may not be necessary to consider the dose from remote parts of the pattern in the same way as for distortion components parallel to Y. This can mean that the amount of data to be considered when calculating an expected distortion (along X) is much smaller and can be made more easily available to the relevant components of the datapath 555 (e.g., it can all be held in a buffer long enough for the calculations to be completed). For corrections along Y, a greater amount of data has to be processed, which can make the process more onerous and expensive.
The “Y-axis” referred to above is to be understood as any axis parallel to a predominant scanning direction. A Y coordinate can be defined relative to a number of possible origins, which can be fixed relative to different reference frames. For example, that of the projection system PS or substrate W. For example, the Y coordinate can be measured from a point on the substrate W that is exposed first (for a given scan), or from one edge of the exposure slit (which represents an area beneath the projection system PS which can be exposed at a given time).
In the case where an array of individually controllable elements is used as a patterning device PD, the pattern to be formed on the substrate W can be built up from an array of spot exposures, the intensity or dose associated with each of the spot exposures being modulated to define the desired dose pattern. The array of individually controllable elements is controlled by a control signal provided by the “datapath” hardware 555 (also referred to as the “data processing system,” which derives the control signal by converting a representation of a desired dose pattern provided by the user). Normally, the center positions of the array of spot exposures are arranged to form a uniform grid (for example, with square or hexagonal symmetry) on the substrate W as it moves under the projection system PS. As explained below, the grid actually formed can become distorted relative to the imaged grid due to thermal contraction as the substrate W cools after exposure.
As mentioned above, the center positions of an array of spot exposures that are imaged when the substrate W is in a partially heated state will constitute a “distorted grid” once the substrate W has cooled. The requested dose pattern, however, can be defined relative to an “undistorted grid,” which corresponds to the center positions of the array of spot exposures in the theoretical situation where the substrate W does not change shape (this is the case when expressed as an “uncompensated control signal” by data manipulation device 510, for example). The interpolation algorithm acts to determine, for each of the positions in the distorted grid, what exposure dose is required to reproduce the requested dose pattern defined relative to the undistorted grid.
US11257399 2005-10-04 2005-10-25 System and method for compensating for radiation induced thermal distortions in a substrate or projection system Active 2028-01-28 US7830493B2 (en)
US72295005 true 2005-10-04 2005-10-04
US11257399 US7830493B2 (en) 2005-10-04 2005-10-25 System and method for compensating for radiation induced thermal distortions in a substrate or projection system
KR20060097120A KR100829199B1 (en) 2005-10-04 2006-10-02 System and method for compensating for radiation induced thermal distortions
JP2006272435A JP4584224B2 (en) 2005-10-04 2006-10-04 System and method for compensating for thermal distortion induced by radiation
CN 200610142140 CN1945441B (en) 2005-10-04 2006-10-08 System and method for compensating for radiation induced thermal distortions
US20070076180A1 true US20070076180A1 (en) 2007-04-05
US7830493B2 true US7830493B2 (en) 2010-11-09
ID=37901559
US11257399 Active 2028-01-28 US7830493B2 (en) 2005-10-04 2005-10-25 System and method for compensating for radiation induced thermal distortions in a substrate or projection system
US (1) US7830493B2 (en)
JP (1) JP4584224B2 (en)
KR (1) KR100829199B1 (en)
CN (1) CN1945441B (en)
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CN1945441A (en) 2007-04-11 application
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Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:TINNEMANS, PATRICIUS ALOYSIUS JACOBUS;VENEMA, WILLEM JURRIANUS;ZAAL, KOEN JACOBUS JOHANNES MARIA;REEL/FRAME:017149/0156;SIGNING DATES FROM 20060123 TO 20060125