US5227626A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Lithography apparatus using scanning tunneling microscopy
Assignee: Olympus Corp
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Filing: 1992-01-30
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Granted: 1993-07-13
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Expires: 2012-01-30
Abstract
Abstract A lithography apparatus is provided with an SXM base, which has a plurality of cantilevers movably supporting probes at their free ends, respectively. The SXM base is secured to a mirror base by a support arm via inchworm devices, such that it faces a silicon wafer placed on a wafer stage. The silicon wafer has an alignment pattern formed thereon, while the SXM base has a reference alignment pattern formed thereon which is similar to the alignment pattern. A voltage is applied to the probes at a predetermined point of time under the control of a controller while a gas containing a film-forming material is being supplied onto the wafer, whereby the film-forming material is adsorbed in a desired portion of the surface of the wafer.
Inventors
- 👤 Takao Okada
- 👤 Hiroshi Kajimura
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-24 18:17
CPC Classifications
H; H10; H10P; H10P72/00; H10P72/04; H10P72/0451; H10P72/0468; H10P72/0474; G; G03; G03F; G03F7/00; G03F7/20; G03F7/2049; H01; H01J; H01J37/00; H01J37/30; H01J37/317; H01J37/3174; H10P72/0428; H10P72/50; H10P72/53; G01; G01Q; G01Q80/00; G11; G11B; G11B9/00; G11B9/12; G11B9/14; H01J2237/00; H01J2237/20; H01J2237/202; H01J2237/20221; H01J2237/20235; H01J2237/30; H01J2237/317; H01J2237/3175; H01J2237/31776; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S977/00; Y10S977/84; Y10S977/849; Y10S977/855; Y10S977/857; Y10S977/86; Y10S977/868
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 18
Claim 1
Independent Claim
135 words
A lithography apparatus for forming a pattern on a semi-finished wafer which has both a wafer alignment pattern and an IC pattern thereon, said lithography apparatus comprising: a wafer stage for holding the wafer; an SXM base having a plurality of cantilevers, each cantilever having a pointed probe at a free end thereof and each probe being movable at least in a two-dimensional direction, and said SXM base further having a reference alignment pattern for aligning itself with the wafer; alignment means for aligning the wafer and the SXM base with each other by optically detecting the wafer alignment pattern and the reference alignment pattern; means for moving the SXM base relative to the wafer stage in a three-dimensional directional; and pattern-forming means for causing the probes to form a fine pattern on the wafer.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
135 words
A lithography apparatus for forming a pattern on a semi-finished wafer which has both a wafer alignment pattern and an IC pattern thereon, said lithography apparatus comprising: a wafer stage for holding the wafer; an SXM base having a plurality of cantilevers, each cantilever having a pointed probe at a free end thereof and each probe being movable at least in a two-dimensional direction, and said SXM base further having a reference alignment pattern for aligning itself with the wafer; alignment means for aligning the wafer and the SXM base with each other by optically detecting the wafer alignment pattern and the reference alignment pattern; means for moving the SXM base relative to the wafer stage in a three-dimensional directional; and pattern-forming means for causing the probes to form a fine pattern on the wafer.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
97 words
The lithography apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the alignment means comprises: a light source; means for dividing a ligh beam emitted from the light sources into two beams; means for emitting one of the beams to the wafer alignment pattern; means for emitting the other of the beams to the reference alignment pattern; means for forming an image from beams reflected from the wafer alignment pattern and the reference alignment pattern, respectively; and means for comparing the position of the image of the wafer alignment pattern with that of the image of the reference alignment pattern.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
27 words
The lithography apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pattern-forming means comprises means for applying a voltage to the STM probe at a predetermined point of time.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
25 words
The lithography apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the pattern-forming means further comprises means for supplying the wafer with a gas containing a pattern-forming material.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
59 words
The lithography apparatus of claim 1, further comprising controller means for controlling said evaluating means and said pattern-forming means to cause the probes to stop movement at predetermined timings and apply a voltage in synchronism with said predetermined timings, so as to thereby effect one of forming and evaluating a local circuit pattern at positions where the probes stop.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
32 words
The lithography apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for conveying the wafer between the lithography apparatus and a semiconductor station for executing a semiconductor device fabrication process, without using probes.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
19 words
The lithography apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising evaluating means for evaluating a pattern formed on the wafer.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
38 words
The lithography apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said evaluating means comprises: means for producing a potential difference between the probes and the wafer; and means for detecting a tunnel current flowing between the probes and the wafer.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
23 words
The lithography apparatus of claim 1, further comprising parallelism-maintaining means for maintaining the wafer and the SXM base in parallel to each other.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
33 words
The lithography apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said parallelism-maintaining means comprises means for monitoring a tunnel current flowing through those probes which are located at a peripheral portion of the SXM base.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
49 words
A lithography method comprising: a photolithography step of optically forming a fine pattern on a wafer; and an SXM lithography step of modifying the fine pattern formed in said photolithography step by forming a further fine pattern on the wafer using a pointed probe held by an SXM base.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
49 words
A lithography method comprising: a photolithography step of optically forming a fine pattern on a wafer; and an SXM lithography step of modifying the fine pattern formed in said photolithography step by forming a further fine pattern on the wafer using a pointed probe held by an SXM base.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
34 words
The lithography method according to claim 11, further comprising an evaluation step of evaluating the fine patterns formed on the wafer in at least one of the photolithography step and the SXM lithography step.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
50 words
The lithography method according to claim 11, further comprising an optical alignment step of optically detecting two alignment patterns respectively formed on the wafer and the SXM base, and aligning the two alignment patterns with each other such that the wafer and the SXM base are aligned with each other.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
47 words
The lithography method according to claim 13, further comprising an optical detection step of detecting a predetermined portion of the fine pattern formed in the photolithography step using the probe of the SXM base, to investigate a precise positional relationship between the SXM base and the wafer.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
27 words
The lithography method according to claim 14, wherein said predetermined portion is a contact hole in the fine pattern formed on the wafer in a photolithography step.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
28 words
The lithography method the claim 14, wherein said predetermined portion is an input/output electrode pattern formed in the fine pattern formed on the wafer in the photolithography step.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1996-07-12 | 1997-01-11 | 1997-07-13 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2000-07-12 | 2001-01-11 | 2001-07-13 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2004-07-12 | 2005-01-11 | 2005-07-13 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |