US-12617145-B2 - Imprint device, imprint method, and method for manufacturing article

US12617145B2US 12617145 B2US12617145 B2US 12617145B2US-12617145-B2

Abstract

An imprint apparatus performing imprint processing for molding an imprint material on a substrate using a mold includes a shape correction mechanism configured to correct a shape of the mold using a plurality of contact portions for applying a force to side surfaces of the mold, a detection unit configured to detect contact states of the plurality of contact portions, and a control unit configured to perform a stabilizing operation of moving the mold toward a stable position by adjusting drive timings of the plurality of contact portions in accordance with an output of the detection unit.

Inventors

Naoki Murasato

Assignees

CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20240328
Priority Date: 20230410

Claims (11)

1 . An imprint apparatus performing imprint processing for molding an imprint material on a substrate using a mold, the imprint apparatus comprising: a shape correction mechanism configured to correct a shape of the mold using a plurality of contact portions for applying forces to side surfaces of the mold; and at least one processor or circuit configured to function as: a detection unit configured to detect contact states of the plurality of contact portions by measuring positional deviation of the mold resulting from the contact portions contacting the side surfaces of the mold, using one or more mold sensors that measure a movement of the side surfaces of the mold; and a control unit configured to perform a stabilizing operation of moving the mold toward a stable position by adjusting drive timings of the plurality of contact portions, based on the measured positional deviation, in accordance with an output of the detection unit, wherein the adjusting of the drive timings includes advancing or delaying contact timing of respective contact portions in accordance with a direction of the positional deviation to reduce movement of the mold in each direction.
2 . The imprint apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit performs the stabilizing operation at least before imprint processing.
3 . The imprint apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit adjusts the drive timings of the plurality of contact portions while feeding back outputs of the detection unit.
4 . The imprint apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the detection unit detects the contact states by measuring positions of marks provided in the mold.
5 . The imprint apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit controls drive forces of the plurality of contact portions so as to adjust an error of the detection unit.
6 . The imprint apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a holding unit configured to hold the mold in an imprint head, wherein the control unit performs the stabilizing operation in a state in which the mold is not held in the imprint head by the holding unit.
7 . The imprint apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the control unit performs the stabilizing operation in a state in which the mold is not held in the imprint head by the holding unit, and then performs the stabilizing operation in a state in which the mold is held in the imprint head by the holding unit.
8 . The imprint apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising: a memory configured to store parameters related to adjustment of the drive timings of the plurality of contact portions when the stabilizing operation is performed by the control unit.
9 . The imprint apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein the memory stores the parameters related to adjustment of the drive timings of the plurality of contact portions for each of the molds when the stabilizing operation is performed by the control unit, and performs the next stabilizing operation using the stored parameters when the mold is used.
10 . An imprint method for performing imprint processing for molding an imprint material on a substrate using a mold, the imprint method comprising: correcting a mold shape using a plurality of contact portions for applying a force to side surfaces of the mold; detecting contact states of the plurality of contact portions by measuring positional deviation of the mold resulting from the contact portions contacting the side surfaces of the mold, using one or more mold sensors that measure a movement of the side surfaces of the mold; and performing a stabilizing operation of moving the mold toward a stable position by adjusting drive timings of the plurality of contact portions, based on the measured positional deviation, in accordance with an output of the detection, wherein the adjusting of the drive timings includes advancing or delaying contact timing of respective contact portions in accordance with a direction of the positional deviation to reduce movement of the mold in each direction.
11 . A method for manufacturing an article using an imprint method for performing imprint processing for molding an imprint material on a substrate using a mold, wherein the imprint method includes: correcting a mold shape using a plurality of contact portions for applying a force to side surfaces of the mold; detecting contact states of the plurality of contact portions by measuring positional deviation of the mold resulting from the contact portions contacting the side surfaces of the mold, using one or more mold sensors that measure a movement of the side surfaces of the mold; and performing a stabilizing operation of moving the mold toward a stable position by adjusting drive timings of the plurality of contact portions, based on the measured positional deviation, in accordance with an output of the detection, wherein the adjusting of the drive timings includes advancing or delaying contact timing of respective contact portions in accordance with a direction of the positional deviation to reduce movement of the mold in each direction, and wherein the method for manufacturing the article comprises: forming a pattern on the substrate using the imprint method; and processing the substrate having the pattern formed thereon in the forming.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an imprint apparatus, an imprint method, a method for manufacturing an article, and the like. Description of the Related Art In imprint apparatuses for manufacturing semiconductor devices or the like, a pattern is formed by pressing a mold having a pattern formed thereon onto a substrate coated with an imprint material (for example, a photocurable resin) and curing the imprint material with ultraviolet light. At this time, regarding the mold and the silicon substrate, the mold and the silicon substrate are positionally aligned based on alignment marks before imprinting and during imprinting. A mold shape correction unit for correcting the shape of the mold is also driven and controlled so as to correct the shape of the mold during an alignment step. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2010-267973 discloses a balance between forces applied to a mold during operation of respective actuators in an actuator system in which the size of a pattern can be changed by applying forces to side surfaces of the mold. In addition, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2017-79242 discloses a method for preventing positional deviation of a mold during an imprint sequence. However, in both the patent documents, adjustment of an initial position of a mold with respect to an imprint head when mounting the mold is not taken into consideration so that the position of the mold may deviate during an imprint cycle. For this reason, it takes time for a step of aligning the mold and a substrate, resulting in decrease in productivity. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to an aspect of the present invention, an imprint apparatus performing imprint processing for molding an imprint material on a substrate using a mold includes a shape correction mechanism configured to correct a shape of the mold using a plurality of contact portions for applying a force to side surfaces of the mold; and at least one processor or circuit configured to function as: a detection unit configured to detect contact states of the plurality of contact portions, and a control unit configured to perform a stabilizing operation of moving the mold toward a stable position by adjusting drive timings of the plurality of contact portions in accordance with an output of the detection unit. Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments with reference to the attached drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a view showing an example of a constitution of an imprint apparatus according to First Embodiment. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an imprint head 200 according to First Embodiment. FIG. 3 is a view of the imprint head shown in FIG. 2 viewed in a bottom surface direction. FIGS. 4A and 4B are views of movement of a mold viewed in the bottom surface direction when positional deviation of the mold has occurred. FIG. 5A is an explanatory flowchart of a control flow of a drive source according to First Embodiment, and FIG. 5B is a view showing an example of force change in load cells. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing flow of an imprint method according to First Embodiment. FIG. 7 is a view showing an example of the imprint head 200 and a conveyance hand 14 according to First Embodiment. FIGS. 8A and 8B are explanatory views of an example of change in output values of mold position sensors according to First Embodiment. FIGS. 9A and 9B are explanatory views of an example of change in forces of the load cells according to Second Embodiment. FIG. 10 is a view showing an example of the imprint head 200 and a conveyance hand 15 according to Third Embodiment. DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, favorable modes of the present invention will be described using Embodiments. In each diagram, the same reference signs are applied to the same members or elements, and duplicate description will be omitted or simplified. First Embodiment FIG. 1 is a view showing an example of a constitution of an imprint apparatus according to First Embodiment. An imprint apparatus 100 of First Embodiment sequentially forms patterns in a plurality of shot regions on a substrate by repeating imprint processing for molding an imprint material on the substrate using a mold. That is, by pressing a pattern of a mold 4 onto an imprint material consisting of a photocurable composition (also referred to as an imprint resist or a photocurable resin) supplied to a surface of a substrate 1, an element pattern corresponding to the mold pattern is formed on the imprint material on the surface of the substrate. In a substrate stage 2, by moving the substrate 1 in an XY direction and a rotation direction within an XY plane, an imprint region at an arbitrary position on the substrate 1 can be moved to a location under the mold. In the substrate stage 2, a displacement sensor 2a for detecting a mov