Surface-position setting apparatus

Claim 2

A surface positioning apparatus comprising: first detection means for projecting a light beam to a predetermined measurement point in a predetermined area on a substrate and sensing a light beam reflected by said substrate to produce a first signal representing a deviation of a surface of said predetermined area from a predetermined reference plane; second detection means for obliquely projecting a light beam to a substantially entire surface of said predetermined area and sensing a light beam reflected by said substrate to produce a second signal representing a tilt of the surface of said predetermined area relative to said reference plane; means for setting the surface of said predetermined area to a predetermined tilt position relative to said reference plane in accordance with said second signal; means for calculating a tilt of the surface of said predetermined area relative to said reference plane in accordance with said first signal produced by said first detection means at each of a plurality of predetermined measurement points in said predetermined area set in said predetermined tilt position; and means for correcting the tilt of the surface of said predetermined area set by said setting means in accordance with the calculated tilt.

Claim 3

A surface positioning apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said correction means includes offset means for imparting an offset corresponding to the calculated tilt to at least one of said second detection means and said setting means.

Claim 4

A surface positioning apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said surface positioning apparatus is provided in a projection exposure apparatus for projecting and focusing an image of a pattern formed on a mask to a photo-sensitive substrate through a projection optical system, and said setting means tilts at least one of said focusing plane and said photo-sensitive substrate by using the focusing plane of said projection optical system as said reference plane.

Claim 5

A surface positioning apparatus according to claim 3 wherein said projection exposure apparatus includes a stage for holding said photo-sensitive substrate and tilting said photo-sensitive substrate with respect to a plane normal to an optical axis of said projection optical system, and said stage includes a reference member for measuring at least one of the tilt of the focusing plane of said projection optical system and the curvature in he mount position of said mask.

Claim 6

A surface positioning apparatus comprising: first detection means for projecting a light beam to a predetermined measurement point in a shot area on a substrate and sensing a light beam reflected by said substrate to produce a first signal representing a deviation of a surface of said shot area from a predetermined reference plane; second detection means for obliquely projecting a light beam to a substantially entire surface of said shot area and sensing a light beam reflected by said substrate to produce a second signal representing a tilt of the surface of said shot area relative to said reference plane; means for setting the surface of said shot area to a predetermined tilt position relative to said reference plane in accordance with said second signal; means for calculating a tilt of the surface of a specified shot area on the substrate relative to said reference plane in accordance with said first signal produced by said first detection means at each of a plurality of predetermined measurement points in said specified shot area set in said predetermined tilt position; at least three of a plurality of shot areas arranged on said substrate being selected as said specified area; and means for statistically processing the tilts calculated for the at least three specified shot areas to calculate residual tilt at each of all shot areas on said substrate and correcting the tilts of the surfaces of said shot areas set by said setting means in accordance with the calculated residual tilt.

Claim 7

A surface positioning apparatus comprising: first detection means for projecting a light beam to a predetermined measurement point in a shot area on a substrate and sensing a light beam reflected by said substrate to produce a first signal representing a deviation of a surface of said shot area from a predetermined reference plane; second detection means for obliquely projecting a light beam to a substantially entire surface of said shot area and sensing a light beam reflected by said substrate to produce a second signal representing a tilt of the surface of said shot area relative to said reference plane; means for setting the surface of said shot area to a predetermined tilt position relative to said reference plane in accordance with said second signal; means for calculating a tilt of the surface of a specified shot area on the substrate relative to said reference plane in accordance with said first signal produced by said first detection means at each of a plurality of predetermined measurement points in said specified shot area set in said predetermined tilt position; at least three of a plurality of shot areas arranged on said substrate being selected as said specified area; and means for statistically processing the tilts calculated for the at least three specified shot areas to calculate residual tilt at each of all shot areas on said substrate and correcting the tilts of the surfaces of said shot areas set by said setting means in accordance with the calculated residual tilt.

Claim 8

A surface positioning apparatus according to claim 5 wherein said correction means includes offset means for imparting an offset corresponding to the calculated residual tilt to at least one of said second detection means and said setting means.

Claim 9

A surface positioning apparatus according to claim 5 wherein said surface positioning apparatus is provided in an projection exposure apparatus for projecting and focusing an image of a pattern formed on a mask to a photo-sensitive substrate through a projection optical system, and said setting means tilts at least one of said focusing plane and said photo-sensitive substrate by using the focusing plane of said projection optical system as said reference plane.

Claim 10

A surface positioning apparatus according to claim 7 wherein said projection exposure apparatus includes a stage for holding said photo-sensitive substrate and tilting said photo-sensitive substrate with respect to a plane normal to an optical axis of said projection optical system, and said stage includes a reference member for measuring at least one of the tilt of the focusing plane of said projection optical system and the curvature in the mount position of said mask.

Claim 11

A surface positioning apparatus comprising: a first detector for projecting a light beam to a predetermined measurement point in a partial area on a wafer, sensing a light beam reflected by the wafer and producing a first signal representing a deviation of a surface of the partial area to a predetermined reference plane; a second detector for projecting a collimated light beam to a substantially entire surface of the partial area, sensing a light beam reflected by the wafer and producing a second signal representing a tilt of the partial area to the reference plane; a drive member for tilting the wafer in accordance with the second signal; said drive member setting the surface of the partial area in a predetermined tilt position to the reference plane; a computer for calculating the tilt of the surface of the partial area to the reference plane based on the first signal produced by said first detector at each of a plurality of measurement points in a specified partial area on the wafer set in the predetermined tilt position; at least three partial areas arranged on the wafer being selected as the specified partial area; and correction means for statistically processing the calculated tilt in each of the at least three specified partial areas to calculate a residual tilt in each of all partial areas on the wafer and correcting the tilt on the surface of the partial area established by said drive member based on the calculated residual tilts.

Claim 12

A surface positioning apparatus comprising: a first detector for projecting a light beam to a predetermined measurement point in a partial area on a wafer, sensing a light beam reflected by the wafer and producing a first signal representing a deviation of a surface of the partial area to a predetermined reference plane; a second detector for projecting a collimated light beam to a substantially entire surface of the partial area, sensing a light beam reflected by the wafer and producing a second signal representing a tilt of the partial area to the reference plane; a drive member for tilting the wafer in accordance with the second signal; said drive member setting the surface of the partial area in a predetermined tilt position to the reference plane; a computer for calculating the tilt of the surface of the partial area to the reference plane based on the first signal produced by said first detector at each of a plurality of measurement points in a specified partial area on the wafer set in the predetermined tilt position; at least three partial areas arranged on the wafer being selected as the specified partial area; and correction means for statistically processing the calculated tilt in each of the at least three specified partial areas to calculate a residual tilt in each of all partial areas on the wafer and correcting the tilt on the surface of the partial area established by said drive member based on the calculated residual tilts.

Claim 13

A surface positioning apparatus according to claim 9 wherein said computer calculates an average plane of the specified partial area based on the first signal and determines a distance between the surface of the specified partial area at the predetermined measurement point and the average plane, and said surface positioning apparatus further comprises a member for moving the wafer relative to the reference plane based on the first signal produced from said first detector and the determined distance in order to bring the surface of the partial area on the wafer coincident to the reference plane.

Claim 16

A method for positioning according to claim 11 wherein said second step including the sub-steps of: calculating an average plane of the specified partial area based on the first signal from said first detector; and determining the tilt of the average plane relative to the reference plane.

Claim 17

A method for positioning according to claim 12 wherein said second step includes a step of determining a distance between the surface in the specified partial area and the average plane, said method further comprising: a fifth step of relatively moving the wafer to the reference plane based on the first signal from said first detector and the determined distance.

Claim 18

A method for positioning according to claim 11 wherein said second step includes sub-steps of: relatively moving the wafer to the reference plane based on the first signal from said first detector such that a deviation of the surface of the specified partial area to the reference plane becomes zero at the predetermined measurement point; calculating an average plane of the specified partial area based on the first signal produced from said first detector at each of the measurement points other than the predetermined measurement point in the specified partial area; and determining the tilt of the average plane relative to the reference plane.

Claim 19

A method for positioning according to claim 14 further comprising: a fifth step of relatively moving the wafer to the reference plane for each partial area based on the distance between the surface in the specified partial area and the average plane at the predetermined measurement point and the first signal from said first detector.