Apparatus and process for vacuum-holding an object

Claim 2

A process for holding an object on an object holding unit the temperature of which is controlled, said process comprising: a first holding step of holding the object on the object holding unit in a first position, said object holding unit being set to a first predetermined temperature; a process strain measuring step of measuring a process strain of the object held on the object holding unit in the first position; a detecting step of detecting whether or not the measured process strain falls within a tolerance; a hold releasing step of releasing the hold of the object held on the object holding unit when the measured process strain falls out of the tolerance; a temperature setting step of setting the temperature of the released object to a second predetermined temperature in a second position based on the measured process strain, the second position being different from the first position; and a second holding step of holding the object on the object holding unit, the temperature of the object being set to the second predetermined temperature.

Claim 3

A process according to claim 1, wherein the first position is an exposure position in which the object is located in the vicinity of a mask.

Claim 4

A process according to claim 1, wherein the first predetermined temperature is an exposure atmosphere temperature.

Claim 5

A process according to claim 1, wherein the object is also set to the first predetermined temperature in said first holding step.

Claim 6

A process according to claim 1, wherein the strain process ΔL is obtained by measuring an interval L 1 between alignment marks formed on the object and calculating (L 1 -L 0 )/L 0 where L 0 is a regular interval.

Claim 7

A process according to claim 5, wherein the second predetermined temperature is obtained by T R +ΔL/α where T R is an exposure atmosphere temperature and α is a coefficient of linear expansion of the object.

Claim 8

A process according to claim 1, wherein the object is set to the second predetermined temperature by a temperature adjusting unit different from the object holding unit after the object is moved from the object holding unit to the temperature adjusting unit.

Claim 9

A process according to claim 7, wherein the temperature adjusting unit comprises a temperature adjusting plate.

Claim 10

A process according to claim 7, wherein the temperature adjusting unit comprises a hand for transferring the object from an object cassette to a delivery position in which the object is handed between the hand and the object holding unit.

Claim 11

A process according to claim 7, wherein the temperature adjusting unit comprises an orientation flat unit for adjusting the orientation of the object which is disposed between an object cassette and the object holding unit.

Claim 12

A process according to claim 1, wherein the object holding unit is set to the second predetermined temperature in said second holding step.

Claim 13

A process according to claim 1, wherein the object is a wafer to which a pattern formed on a mask is to be transferred by a proximity method.

Claim 14

A process according to claim 1, wherein the object is a substrate of a liquid crystal display.

Claim 15

A process for holding an object on an object holding unit the temperature of which is controlled, said process comprising: a first holding step of holding the object on the object holding unit in a first position, said object holding unit being set to a first predetermined temperature; a process strain measuring step of measuring a process strain of the object held on the object holding unit in the first position; a detecting step of detecting whether or not the measured process strain falls within a tolerance; a temperature setting step of setting the temperature of the object to a second predetermined temperature in a second position based on the measured process strain by the object holding unit when the measured process strain falls out of the tolerance, the second position being different from the first position and the object being held on the object holding unit; a hold releasing step of releasing the hold of the object held on the object holding unit; and a second holding step of holding the object on the object holding unit, the temperature of the object being set to the second predetermined temperature while the object holding unit is set to the first predetermined temperature.

Claim 16

A process for holding an object on an object holding unit the temperature of which is controlled, said process comprising: a first holding step of holding the object on the object holding unit in a first position, said object holding unit being set to a first predetermined temperature; a process strain measuring step of measuring a process strain of the object held on the object holding unit in the first position; a detecting step of detecting whether or not the measured process strain falls within a tolerance; a temperature setting step of setting the temperature of the object to a second predetermined temperature in a second position based on the measured process strain by the object holding unit when the measured process strain falls out of the tolerance, the second position being different from the first position and the object being held on the object holding unit; a hold releasing step of releasing the hold of the object held on the object holding unit; and a second holding step of holding the object on the object holding unit, the temperature of the object being set to the second predetermined temperature while the object holding unit is set to the first predetermined temperature.

Claim 17

A process according to claim 14, wherein the strain process ΔL is obtained by measuring an interval L 1 between alignment marks formed on the object and calculating (L 1 -L 0 )/L 0 where L 0 is a regular interval.

Claim 18

A process according to claim 15, wherein the second predetermined temperature is obtained by T R +ΔL/(α-α C ) where T R is an exposure atmosphere temperature, α is a coefficient of linear expansion of the object and α C is a coefficient of linear expansion of the object holding unit.

Claim 19

A process according to claim 14, wherein the first position is an exposure position in which the object is located in the vicinity of a mask.

Claim 20

A process according to claim 14, wherein the first predetermined temperature is an exposure atmosphere temperature.

Claim 21

A process according to claim 14, wherein the object is also set to the first predetermined temperature in said first holding step.

Claim 22

A process for holding an object on an object holding unit the temperature of which is controlled, said process comprising: a process strain estimating step of estimating a common process strain of a group of objects; a detecting step of detecting whether or not the estimated process strain falls within a tolerance; a temperature setting step of setting the temperature of the objects to a first predetermined temperature contained in an object cassette based on the estimated process strain; and a holding step of taking out the object from the object cassette and holding the object on the object holding unit, the temperature of the object being set to the first predetermined temperature and the object holding unit being set to a second predetermined temperature.

Claim 23

A process for holding an object on an object holding unit the temperature of which is controlled, said process comprising: a process strain estimating step of estimating a common process strain of a group of objects; a detecting step of detecting whether or not the estimated process strain falls within a tolerance; a temperature setting step of setting the temperature of the objects to a first predetermined temperature contained in an object cassette based on the estimated process strain; and a holding step of taking out the object from the object cassette and holding the object on the object holding unit, the temperature of the object being set to the first predetermined temperature and the object holding unit being set to a second predetermined temperature.

Claim 24

A process according to claim 20, wherein said process strain estimating step comprises a first holding step of holding one of the objects on the object holding unit in a first position, said object holding unit being set to the second predetermined temperature and the first position being different from a position of the object cassette, and a process strain measuring step of measuring a process strain of the one object held on the object holding unit in the first position.

Claim 25

A process according to claim 20, wherein the second predetermined temperature is an exposure atmosphere temperature.

Claim 26

A process according to claim 21, wherein the first position is an exposure position in which the object is located in the vicinity of a mask.

Claim 27

A process according to claim 21, wherein the one object is also set to the second predetermined temperature in said first holding step.

Claim 28

A process according to claim 21, wherein the process strain ΔL is obtained by measuring an interval L 1 between alignment marks formed on the one object and calculating (L 1 -L 0 )/L 0 where L 0 is a regular interval.

Claim 29

A process according to claim 25, wherein the first predetermined temperature is obtained by T R +ΔL/α where T R is an exposure atmosphere temperature and α is a coefficient of linear expansion of the one object.