JP7562001B2 - Scanning method for lithography system and lithography system - Patents.com - Google Patents

Description

This application claims priority to Chinese patent applications with application numbers 2021100196106 and 2021200380453, filed on January 7, 2021, and the above-mentioned Chinese patent applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
The present invention relates to the field of lithography technology, and in particular to a scanning method for a lithography system and a lithography system.

Lithography refers to the technique of using optical replication to print a pattern onto a photosensitive recording material, and then using etching techniques to transfer the pattern onto a wafer to create electronic circuits.

Compared with conventional projection lithography, DMD (Digital Micromirror Device) maskless lithography technology is basically similar in its exposure imaging method, but differs in that it uses a digital DMD instead of a conventional mask, and is therefore considered a new technology derived from conventional optical lithography technology. Its main principle is to input the required lithography pattern into the DMD chip by software via a computer, change the rotation angle of the micromirror of the DMD chip according to the distribution of black and white pixels in the image, irradiate the DMD chip with a collimated light source, form a light image that matches the required pattern, and project it onto the surface of the substrate, and control the movement of the sample stage to realize the creation of a large-area fine structure. Compared with conventional lithography equipment, DMD maskless lithography equipment does not require a mask, which saves production costs and cycles.

However, in existing configurations, in order to increase the scanning resolution of the DMD, the micromirrors in the DMD are usually offset, but this requires replacing the DMD with one with different parameters when the resolution needs to be changed, which is costly.

The object of the present invention is to provide a scanning method for a lithography system and a lithography system that solves the problem that in existing systems, when a change in resolution is required, a DMD with different parameters must be replaced, which is costly.

The object of the present invention is achieved by employing the following technical aspects.
In a first aspect, there is provided a scanning method applied to a lithography system, the lithography system including a bed, a stage, and a digital micromirror device (DMD), the DMD being mounted on the bed, the stage being for mounting a lithography object, the method comprising:
A scanning method for a lithography system is provided, which includes controlling and moving a moving body including at least one of the DMD, the machine base, and the stage so that relative motion in a first direction and a second direction occurs simultaneously between the DMD and the lithography object.

By providing a scanning method applicable to a lithography system, the scanning method includes controlling and moving a moving body including at least one of the DMD, the machine base, and the stage so that relative motion in a first direction and a second direction occurs simultaneously between the DMD and the lithography object, that is, by controlling and moving the moving body so that tilting of the DMD and the lithography object is realized, the problem of the need to replace the DMD with a different parameter when a resolution change is required in the existing system, which is costly, is avoided, and the effect of being able to easily and quickly adjust the resolution by adjusting the motion speed of the moving body is achieved.

In some embodiments, the DMD includes a plurality of micromirrors, each of which is rectangular in shape, a length of a first side of the micromirror is denoted as m, a length of a second side of the micromirror is denoted as n, a target length is denoted as p, and an acute included angle between a direction of relative motion between the DMD and the lithography object and the first direction is denoted as θ, and the method further includes determining θ according to m, n, and p.

In some embodiments, the relationship between p and θ satisfies p = (n x tan θ + m) x cos θ.

By calculating θ and then controlling the moving body to move according to the calculated θ, it was possible to accurately control the resolution of the DMD scan.

In some embodiments, the DMD and the lithographic object have a relative velocity in a first direction _V1 and a relative velocity in a second direction _V2 , and the method further includes determining _V1 and _V2 according to θ.

In some embodiments, V ₂ /V ₁ =tan θ.

By further determining the relative motion speed of the moving body in the first direction and the relative motion speed of the moving body in the second direction according to the calculated θ, it is possible to control the scanning resolution of the DMD by controlling the motion speed of the moving body, and this has the effect of reducing the cost of adjusting the scanning resolution of the DMD.

In some embodiments, the DMD is fixedly installed on the machine base, and controlling the moving body to move includes controlling the machine base to move it in a first direction and a second direction simultaneously, or controlling the stage to move it in a first direction and a second direction simultaneously, or controlling the machine base to move it in the first direction and simultaneously controlling the stage to move it in the second direction, or controlling the machine base to move it in the second direction and simultaneously controlling the stage to move it in the first direction.

By using multiple control methods to control the motion of the moving body as described above, it is possible to select an appropriate method according to different application scenarios, improving the flexibility of actual scanning and expanding the range of applications.

In some embodiments, the DMD is non-fixedly installed on the machine base, and controlling the moving body to move includes controlling the machine base to move in a first direction and simultaneously controlling the DMD to move in a second direction, or controlling the machine base to move in a second direction and simultaneously controlling the DMD to move in the first direction.

By using multiple control methods to control the motion of the moving body as described above, it is possible to select an appropriate method according to different application scenarios, improving the flexibility of actual scanning and expanding the range of applications.

In some embodiments, the DMD is non-fixedly installed on the machine base, and controlling the moving body to move includes controlling the stage to move in a first direction and simultaneously controlling the DMD to move in a second direction, or controlling the stage to move in a second direction and simultaneously controlling the DMD to move in the first direction.

By using multiple control methods to control the motion of the moving body as described above, it is possible to select an appropriate method according to different application scenarios, improving the flexibility of actual scanning and expanding the range of applications.

In some embodiments, the DMD includes k DMDs stacked in the height direction, where k is an integer greater than 1.

By stacking k DMDs in the height direction, DMD scanning accuracy during scanning was achieved.

In some embodiments, the method further includes obtaining evaluation parameters for at least two lithography configuration aspects, the evaluation parameters including at least one of hardware configuration parameters, process cost, and labor, and recommending a lithography configuration according to the evaluation parameters for each lithography configuration aspect.

By calculating evaluation parameters for multiple lithography configuration aspects and then recommending lithography configuration aspects according to the calculated evaluation parameters, it is possible to provide advice to the user and help the user select an aspect that is suitable for his or her own usage needs.

In some embodiments, obtaining the evaluation parameters of the at least two lithography configuration aspects includes, for each of the at least two lithography configuration aspects, inputting the configuration parameters of the lithography configuration aspect into a target neural network and setting the output of the target neural network as the evaluation parameters of the lithography configuration aspect, the target neural network being a network pre-trained according to the configuration parameters of a sample lithography configuration aspect and the evaluation parameters of each of the sample lithography configuration aspects.

By using a trained target neural network to obtain evaluation parameters, it was possible to improve the accuracy and efficiency of obtaining evaluation parameters.

In some embodiments, the method further includes setting an angle between a plane in which the DMD is located and a plane in which the lithography object is located to a predetermined angle γ.

By setting the angle between the plane on which the DMD is located and the plane on which the lithography object is located at a predetermined angle, the problem of having to replace the DMD with one with different parameters when it becomes necessary to change the resolution in the existing configuration, which is costly, is avoided, and the effect is achieved that the resolution can be easily and quickly adjusted by adjusting the angle between the plane on which the DMD is located and the plane on which the lithography object is located.

In a second aspect, a lithography system is provided that includes a digital micromirror device (DMD), a machine stand for mounting the DMD, a stage for mounting a lithography object, a memory for storing one or more program instructions, and a processor capable of reading the one or more program instructions, the processor loading and executing the one or more program instructions to realize any of the above methods.

In a third aspect, a lithography system is provided that includes a machine base, a stage, and a digital micromirror device (DMD), the DMD is placed on the machine base, the stage is for placing a lithography object, and an angle between a plane on which the DMD is located and a plane on which the lithography object is located is a predetermined angle γ.

By setting the angle between the plane on which the DMD is located and the plane on which the lithography object is located at a predetermined angle, the problem of having to replace the DMD with one with different parameters when it becomes necessary to change the resolution in the existing configuration, which is costly, is avoided, and the effect is achieved that the resolution can be easily and quickly adjusted by adjusting the angle between the plane on which the DMD is located and the plane on which the lithography object is located.

In some embodiments, the DMD includes a plurality of micromirrors, each of which is rectangular in shape, a length of a first side of the micromirror is denoted as m, a length of a second side of the micromirror is denoted as n, a target length is denoted as p, and the predetermined angle γ is determined by m, n, and p.

In some embodiments, the DMD includes k DMDs stacked in the height direction, where k is an integer greater than 1.

By stacking k DMDs in the height direction, DMD scanning accuracy during scanning was achieved.

In some embodiments, k=2.

In some embodiments, the DMD and the lithography object move relative to each other in a first direction and a second direction.

By controlling the DMD and the lithography object to move relative to each other in the first and second directions, the problem of the need to replace the DMD with one with different parameters when it becomes necessary to change the resolution in the existing system, which is costly, is avoided, and the effect is achieved that the resolution can be easily and quickly adjusted by adjusting the speed of movement of the moving body.

In some embodiments, the DMD is fixedly mounted on the platform, and the platform moves in the first direction and the second direction simultaneously, or the stage moves in the first direction and the second direction simultaneously, or the platform moves in the first direction while the stage moves in the second direction, or the platform moves in the second direction while the stage moves in the first direction.

By using the multiple control methods described above to realize relative movement between the DMD and the lithography object in the first and second directions, it is possible to appropriately select the method according to different application scenarios, thereby improving the flexibility of actual scanning and expanding the range of applications.

In some embodiments, the DMD is non-fixedly mounted on the platform, and the platform moves in the first direction while the DMD moves in the second direction, or the platform moves in the second direction while the DMD moves in the first direction.

By using the multiple control methods described above to realize relative movement between the DMD and the lithography object in the first and second directions, it is possible to appropriately select the method according to different application scenarios, thereby improving the flexibility of actual scanning and expanding the range of applications.

In some embodiments, the DMD is non-fixedly mounted on the platform and the stage moves in the first direction while the DMD moves in the second direction, or the stage moves in the second direction while the DMD moves in the first direction.

By using the multiple control methods described above to realize relative movement between the DMD and the lithography object in the first and second directions, it is possible to appropriately select the method according to different application scenarios, thereby improving the flexibility of actual scanning and expanding the range of applications.

In some embodiments, the DMD includes a plurality of micromirrors, each of which is rectangular in shape, the length of a first side of the micromirror is denoted as m, the length of a second side of the micromirror is denoted as n, a target length is denoted as p, and an acute included angle θ between the direction of relative motion between the DMD and the lithography object and the first direction is determined by m, n, p, and γ.

By calculating θ and then controlling the moving body to move according to the calculated θ, it was possible to accurately control the resolution of the DMD scan.

The present invention will now be further described in conjunction with the drawings and examples.
1 is a system schematic diagram of a lithography system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a structural schematic diagram of a DMD according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a schematic diagram of another possible structure of a lithography system according to an embodiment of the present invention; 4 is a method flow diagram of a scanning method for a lithography system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a scanning schematic diagram of a lithography system during scanning according to an embodiment of the present invention; 4 is another scanning schematic diagram of a lithography system during scanning according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a system schematic diagram of another lithography system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention will be further described below in conjunction with the drawings and specific embodiments. Please note that the embodiments and technical features described below can be combined in any way to form new embodiments, provided that there is no contradiction between them.

To make the explanation easier, we will first provide a brief introduction to the implementation environment of this application.

Referring to FIG. 1 or FIG. 7, the lithography system according to the present application includes a machine base 11, a stage 12, and a DMD 13, the DMD 13 is installed on the machine base 11, and the stage 12 is for installing a lithography object 100. The machine base 11 and the stage 12 can both be controlled by a robot arm to realize their movements. The machine base 11 can be controlled to move to realize the movement of the DMD 13 associated with the machine base 11, and similarly, the stage 12 can be controlled to move to realize the movement of the lithography object 100 corresponding thereto. In the above, only an example of controlling and moving the machine base 11 and the stage 12 has been described, but in actual implementation, the DMD 13 in the machine base 11 may be directly controlled by a robot arm to realize its movement, and similarly, the lithography object 100 may be directly connected to a robot arm, and the lithography object 100 may be moved by controlling the robot arm to realize its movement.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 7, the lithography system may further include other devices, such as a DMD controller 14, a stage controller 15, and an image generator 16. Among them, the light emitted from the light source is sent to the lithography object 100 after being processed by the DMD 13, and the DMD controller 14 is for controlling the DMD 13, and controlling the DMD 13 here includes controlling the machine base 11 on which the DMD 13 is placed, or, if the DMD 13 is movable, the DMD controller 14 is used to control both the machine base 11 on which the DMD 13 is placed and the DMD 13, and similarly, the stage controller 15 is for controlling the stage 12. The image generator 16 is for generating an image according to the scanning of the DMD 13, and after generating the image, it may be sent to other devices for processing, which will not be repeated here.

The DMD 13 includes a number of micromirrors 131, each of which has a rectangular shape. The DMD 13 consisting of a number of micromirrors 131 has a rectangular shape with a larger dimension. For example, see FIG. 2, which shows one possible structural schematic diagram of the DMD 13. In actual implementation, the number of micromirrors 131 in the DMD 13 can be set according to actual needs, and can be, for example, a 3×5 micromirror matrix, or a 5×8 micromirror matrix, but this embodiment is not limited thereto.

An example will be described in which the robot arm that controls the machine base 11 is a drag chain 17, and reference is made to Figure 3, which shows a schematic diagram of the structure of one possible lithography system.

Referring to FIG. 4, a method flow chart of a scanning method for a lithography system according to one embodiment of the present application is shown, the method being applied to the lithography system shown in FIG. 1, and as shown in FIG. 4, the method includes the following step 401:

Step 401 is to control and move a moving body including at least one of the DMD 13, the machine base 11, and the stage 12 so that relative motion in a first direction and a second direction occurs simultaneously between the DMD 13 and the lithography object 100.

In actual implementation, during the lithography scan of the DMD 13, the DMD 13 scans one stripe along the first direction, then the DMD 13 steps one DMD dimension along the second direction, then scans one stripe along the opposite direction to the first direction, then steps one DMD dimension along the opposite direction to the second direction, and continues scanning, repeating this process until all scans are completed. That is, in this embodiment, the first direction is the main scanning direction of the scan of the DMD 13, the second direction is the sub-scanning direction of the scan of the DMD 13, and the sub-scanning direction may be the stepping direction of the DMD 13. Below, unless otherwise specified, an example will be described in which the first direction is the main scanning direction and the second direction is the sub-scanning direction.

In some embodiments, in order to accurately control the motion of the moving body, before this step, an included angle θ between the direction of relative motion between the DMD 13 and the lithography object 100 and the first direction is determined, where θ is an acute angle. Referring to FIG. 5, one possible schematic diagram is shown in the figure. The step of determining the included angle θ includes the following steps:
determining θ according to m, n, and p, where m is the length of a first side of the micromirror 131 on the DMD 13, n is the length of a second side of the micromirror 131 on the DMD 13, and p is the target length.

In some embodiments, the relationship between p and θ satisfies p = (n x tan θ + m) x cos θ.

Once θ is determined, it is possible to determine the moving speed _V1 of the moving body in the first direction and the moving speed _V2 of the relative movement in the second direction according to θ. With _V1 and _V2 determined, _V2 / _V1 =tan θ.

Once _V1 and _V2 are determined, the moving body can be controlled to move, and in some embodiments, this step (i.e., controlling the moving body to move) may include the following possible implementations:
As a first implementation method, when the DMD 13 is fixedly installed on the machine base 11, this step is
Controlling the machine base 11 to move in the first direction and the second direction simultaneously; or
Controlling the stage 12 to move in the first and second directions simultaneously; or
Controlling the machine base 11 to move in a first direction and simultaneously controlling the stage 12 to move in a second direction; or
The method includes controlling the machine base 11 to move in the second direction and simultaneously controlling the stage 12 to move in the first direction.

As a second implementation method, when the DMD 13 is not fixedly installed on the machine base 11, this step is
Controlling the machine base 11 to move in a first direction and simultaneously controlling the DMD 13 to move in a second direction; or
The method includes controlling the machine base 11 to move in a second direction and simultaneously controlling the DMD 13 to move in a first direction.

As a third implementation method, when the DMD 13 is not fixedly installed on the machine base 11, this step is
Controlling the stage 12 to move in a first direction and simultaneously controlling the DMD 13 to move in a second direction; or
The method includes controlling the movement of the stage 12 in a second direction and simultaneously controlling the movement of the DMD 13 in a first direction.

Although the above describes an example of controlling the motion body to move using the above control method, more realization methods may be included in the actual implementation. In short, it is sufficient to satisfy _V2 / _V1 =tan θ, and the present embodiment does not limit the specific motion method.

Referring to Figure 6, a schematic diagram of the lithography scan of the DMD 13 after the moving body has moved is shown.

In the above scanning method, if it is necessary to adjust the scanning resolution, it can be achieved by adjusting the θ angle, that is, by adjusting the ratio value of _V2 to _V1 , and this embodiment will not be described further here.

Referring to Table 1, it shows how the value of p and the value of (p-m) change with changes in θ when m = 10.8 microns and n = 6 microns.

Referring to Table 2, it shows how the value of p and the value of (p-m) change with changes in θ when m = 10.8 microns and n = 1 micron.

As can be seen, when the values of m, n, and θ are different, the magnitude relationship between p and m changes, and while there are cases where p is greater than m, there are also cases where p is less than or equal to m. In other words, when using the method according to this embodiment, the target length may be smaller than the length of the first side of the micromirror 131.

In summary, by providing a scanning method applicable to a lithography system, the scanning method includes controlling and moving a moving body including at least one of the DMD 13, the machine base 11, and the stage 12 so that relative motion in a first direction and a second direction occurs simultaneously between the DMD 13 and the lithography object 100, that is, by controlling and moving the moving body so that tilting of the DMD 13 and the lithography object 100 is realized, the problem of the need to replace the DMD 13 with a different parameter when a change in resolution is required in the existing system, which is costly, is avoided, and the effect of being able to easily and quickly adjust the resolution by adjusting the motion speed of the moving body is achieved.

By using multiple control methods to control the motion of the moving body as described above, it is possible to select an appropriate method according to different application scenarios, improving the flexibility of actual scanning and expanding the range of applications.

In the above embodiment, there may be one DMD 13, or k DMDs 13 may be included that are stacked in the height direction, where k is an integer greater than 1. The height direction is the installation direction of the lithography object 100 and the DMD 13, that is, the DMD 13 is above the lithography object 100, and when k DMDs 13 are included, the k DMDs 13 may be stacked in the same direction. In a normal case, k is 2, and the width of the overlapping portion after the two DMDs 13 are stacked is determined according to the width of each DMD 13 and the width of the lithography object 100, and the overlapping width may differ depending on different application scenes, but this embodiment is not limited thereto.

By stacking k DMDs 13 and then scanning with the stacked DMDs 13, the scanning accuracy of the DMDs 13 is improved.

In addition, in practical use, the lithography system may be configured in various ways to achieve similar lithography effects, and in this embodiment, the above method may further include the following two steps.
A first step is to obtain evaluation parameters of at least two lithography configuration aspects, the evaluation parameters including at least one of a hardware configuration parameter, a process cost, and an amount of labor;
In some embodiments, the lithography configuration aspects may include multiple configuration parameters, and the evaluation parameters of each lithography configuration aspect may be determined according to the corresponding relationship between the configuration parameters and the evaluation parameters, where the corresponding relationship between the configuration parameters and the evaluation parameters may be a pre-established correspondence relationship based on big data.

As another possible implementation, the evaluation parameters of each lithography configuration aspect may be obtained via a neural network. In this case, this step includes:
For each of the at least two lithography configuration aspects, the method may include inputting configuration parameters of the lithography configuration aspect into a target neural network and setting the output of the target neural network as evaluation parameters of the lithography configuration aspect, wherein the target neural network is a network pre-trained according to the configuration parameters of a sample lithography configuration aspect and the evaluation parameters of each of the sample lithography configuration aspects.

The configuration parameters of the lithography configuration aspect may include at least one of the number of DMDs 13, the accuracy of the DMDs 13, and the dimensions of the DMDs 13.

The second step is to recommend a lithography configuration according to the evaluation parameters of each lithography configuration aspect.

Once the evaluation parameters for each aspect are obtained, it is possible to recommend a lithography configuration according to the evaluation parameters. In some embodiments, the user may set his/her usage needs before using the lithography system, and the lithography system may recommend according to the set usage needs. For example, if the user requires the highest resolution, it is possible to recommend the lithography configuration aspect with the highest resolution according to the evaluation parameters for each aspect, and further, for example, if the user requires the lowest cost, it is possible to recommend the lithography configuration aspect with the lowest cost according to the evaluation parameters for each aspect, which will not be repeated here.

Referring to FIG. 7, in some embodiments, the method may further include setting the angle between a plane in which the DMD 13 is located and a plane in which the lithography object 100 is located to a predetermined angle γ.

By setting the angle between the plane on which the DMD 13 is located and the plane on which the lithography object 100 is located at a predetermined angle, the problem of having to replace the DMD 13 with one having different parameters when it becomes necessary to change the resolution in the existing configuration, which is costly, is avoided, and the effect of being able to easily and quickly adjust the resolution by adjusting the angle between the plane on which the DMD 13 is located and the plane on which the lithography object 100 is located is achieved.

In some embodiments, the DMD 13 may include a plurality of micromirrors 131, each of which is rectangular in shape, the length of a first side of the micromirror 131 is denoted as m, the length of a second side of the micromirror 131 is denoted as n, a target length is denoted as p, and the predetermined angle γ is determined by m, n, and p.

In some embodiments, the DMD 13 may include k DMDs 13 stacked in the height direction, where k is an integer greater than 1.

In some embodiments, k=2.

In some embodiments, the DMD 13 and the lithography object 100 may move relative to each other in a first direction and a second direction.

In some embodiments, the DMD 13 may be fixedly mounted on the machine base 11, and the machine base 11 moves in the first direction and the second direction simultaneously, or the stage 12 moves in the first direction and the second direction simultaneously, or the machine base 11 moves in the first direction and the stage 12 moves in the second direction simultaneously, or the machine base 11 moves in the second direction and the stage 12 moves in the first direction simultaneously.

In some embodiments, the DMD 13 may be non-fixedly mounted on the machine base 11, and the machine base 11 moves in the first direction while the DMD 13 moves in the second direction, or the machine base 11 moves in the second direction while the DMD 13 moves in the first direction.

In some embodiments, the DMD 13 may be non-fixedly mounted on the machine base 11, and the stage 12 moves in the first direction while the DMD 13 moves in the second direction, or the stage 12 moves in the second direction while the DMD 13 moves in the first direction.

With reference to FIG. 1 or FIG. 7, the present application provides a lithography system including a digital micromirror 131 device DMD 13, a machine stand 11 for mounting the DMD 13, a stage 12 for mounting a lithography object 100, a memory for storing one or more program instructions, and a processor capable of reading the one or more program instructions, the processor loading and executing the one or more program instructions to realize any of the above methods.

In some embodiments, the processor is configured to control and move a moving body including at least one of the DMD 13, the machine base 11, and the stage 12 so that relative motion occurs simultaneously between the DMD 13 and the lithography object 100 in a first direction and a second direction.

In some embodiments, the DMD 13 includes a plurality of micromirrors 131, each of which is rectangular in shape, a length of a first side of the micromirror 131 is denoted as m, a length of a second side of the micromirror 131 is denoted as n, a target length is denoted as p, an acute included angle between a direction of relative motion between the DMD 13 and the lithography object 100 and the first direction is denoted as θ, and the processor is further configured to determine θ according to m, n, and p.

In some embodiments, the relationship between p and θ satisfies p = (n x tan θ + m) x cos θ.

In some embodiments, the DMD 13 and the lithographic object 100 have a relative velocity in a first direction _V1 and a relative velocity in a second direction _V2 , and the processor is further configured to determine _V1 and _V2 according to θ.

In some embodiments, V ₂ /V ₁ =tan θ.

In some embodiments, the DMD 13 is fixedly mounted on the platform 11, and the processor is further configured to control the platform 11 to move simultaneously in a first direction and a second direction, or to control the stage 12 to move simultaneously in a first direction and a second direction, or to control the platform 11 to move in the first direction and at the same time control the stage 12 to move in the second direction, or to control the platform 11 to move in the second direction and at the same time control the stage 12 to move in the first direction.

In some embodiments, the DMD 13 is non-fixedly mounted on the platform 11, and the processor is further configured to control the platform 11 to move in a first direction while simultaneously controlling the DMD 13 to move in a second direction, or to control the platform 11 to move in a second direction while simultaneously controlling the DMD 13 to move in the first direction.

In some embodiments, the DMD 13 is non-fixedly mounted on the platform 11, and the processor is further configured to control the stage 12 to move in a first direction while simultaneously controlling the DMD 13 to move in a second direction, or to control the stage 12 to move in a second direction while simultaneously controlling the DMD 13 to move in a first direction.

In some embodiments, the DMD 13 includes k DMDs 13 stacked in the height direction, where k is an integer greater than 1.

In some embodiments, the processor is further configured to obtain evaluation parameters for at least two lithography configuration aspects, the evaluation parameters including at least one of hardware configuration parameters, process cost, and labor hours, and to recommend a lithography configuration according to the evaluation parameters for each lithography configuration aspect.

In some embodiments, the processor is further configured to, for each of the at least two lithography configuration aspects, input configuration parameters of the lithography configuration aspect to a target neural network and set the output of the target neural network as evaluation parameters of the lithography configuration aspect, the target neural network being a network pre-trained according to the configuration parameters of a sample lithography configuration aspect and the evaluation parameters of each sample lithography configuration aspect.

In some embodiments, the processor is further configured to set the angle between the plane in which the DMD 13 is located and the plane in which the lithography object 100 is located to a predetermined angle γ.

In some embodiments, the DMD 13 includes a plurality of micromirrors 131, each of which is rectangular in shape, the length of a first side of the micromirror 131 is denoted as m, the length of a second side of the micromirror 131 is denoted as n, a target length is denoted as p, and the predetermined angle γ is determined by m, n, and p.

In some embodiments, the DMD 13 includes a plurality of micromirrors 131, each of which is rectangular in shape, the length of a first side of the micromirror 131 is denoted as m, the length of a second side of the micromirror 131 is denoted as n, the target length is denoted as p, and the acute included angle θ between the direction of relative motion between the DMD 13 and the lithography object 100 and the first direction is determined by m, n, p, and γ.

Referring to FIG. 7, an embodiment of the present application further provides a lithography system including a machine base 11, a stage 12, and a digital micromirror device DMD 13, the DMD 13 being placed on the machine base 11, the stage 12 being for placing a lithography object 100, and an angle between a plane on which the DMD 13 is located and a plane on which the lithography object 100 is located is a predetermined angle γ.

An example will be described in which the robot arm that controls the machine base 11 is a drag chain 17, and reference is made to Figure 3, which shows a schematic diagram of the structure of one possible lithography system.

In the above lithography system, the angle between the plane on which the DMD 13 is located and the plane on which the lithography object 100 is located is a predetermined angle γ. γ is a preset angle, and γ can be set to different values according to actual needs, which will not be repeated here.

The DMD 13 includes a number of micromirrors 131, each of which has a rectangular shape. The DMD 13 consisting of a number of micromirrors 131 has a rectangular shape with a larger dimension. For example, see FIG. 2, which shows one possible structural schematic diagram of the DMD 13. In actual implementation, the number of micromirrors 131 in the DMD 13 can be set according to actual needs, and can be, for example, a 3×5 micromirror matrix, or a 5×8 micromirror matrix, but this embodiment is not limited thereto.

The length of the first side of the micromirror 131 is denoted as m, the length of the second side of the micromirror 131 is denoted as n, the target length is denoted as p, and the predetermined angle γ is determined by m, n, and p, but the present application does not limit the specific correspondence.

After the angle between the plane on which the DMD 13 is located and the plane on which the lithography object 100 is located is set to a predetermined angle, the angle and position of the light source may be adjusted according to actual application needs, but this embodiment is not limited thereto.

In the above embodiment, there may be one DMD 13, or k DMDs 13 may be included that are stacked in the height direction, where k is an integer greater than 1. The height direction is the installation direction of the lithography object 100 and the DMD 13, that is, the DMD 13 is above the lithography object 100, and when k DMDs 13 are included, the k DMDs 13 may be stacked in the same direction. In a normal case, k is 2, and the width of the overlapping portion after the two DMDs 13 are stacked is determined according to the width of each DMD 13 and the width of the lithography object 100, and the overlapping width may differ depending on different application scenes, but this embodiment is not limited thereto.

By stacking k DMDs 13 and then scanning with the stacked DMDs 13, the scanning accuracy of the DMDs 13 is improved.

In actual implementation, during the lithography scan of the DMD 13, the DMD 13 scans one stripe along the first direction, then the DMD 13 steps along the second direction by the dimension of one DMD 13, then scans one stripe along the opposite direction to the first direction, then steps along the opposite direction to the second direction by the dimension of one DMD 13, and continues scanning, repeating this process until all scans are completed. That is, in this embodiment, the first direction is the main scanning direction of the scan of the DMD 13, the second direction is the sub-scanning direction of the scan of the DMD 13, and the sub-scanning direction may be the stepping direction of the DMD 13. Below, unless otherwise specified, an example will be described in which the first direction is the main scanning direction and the second direction is the sub-scanning direction.

In the above embodiment, the DMD 13 and the lithography object 100 move relatively in a first direction and a second direction, and the manner of the relative movement may include several possible implementation manners.
As a first implementation method, when the DMD 13 is fixedly installed on the machine base 11, the motion method is as follows:
The machine base 11 moves in the first direction and the second direction simultaneously; or
the stage 12 moves in the first direction and the second direction simultaneously; or
The machine base 11 moves in the first direction and the stage 12 moves in the second direction at the same time; or
The machine base 11 moves in the second direction and the stage 12 moves in the first direction at the same time.

As a second implementation method, when the DMD 13 is not fixedly installed on the machine base 11, the relative motion method is as follows:
The machine base 11 moves in the first direction and the DMD 13 moves in the second direction at the same time; or
The machine base 11 moves in the second direction, and the DMD 13 moves in the first direction at the same time.

As a third implementation method, when the DMD 13 is not fixedly installed on the machine base 11, the relative motion method is as follows:
The stage 12 moves in the first direction while the DMD 13 moves in the second direction, or
The stage 12 moves in the second direction while the DMD 13 moves in the first direction.

The above describes only examples of controlling and moving the moving body using the above control method, but in actual implementation, many more implementation methods may be included. This embodiment does not limit the specific movement method.

In one possible embodiment, the acute included angle θ between the relative motion direction between the DMD 13 and the lithography object 100 and the first direction is determined by the m, the n, the p and the γ. Then, when θ is determined, it is possible to determine the motion speed _V1 of the moving body in the first direction and the motion speed _V2 of the relative motion in the second direction according to the determination, and refer to Figure 5, which shows one possible lithography scanning manner. For the determined _V1 and _V2 , _V2 / _V1 =tan θ.

Also, referring to FIG. 6, a schematic diagram of the lithography scan of the DMD 13 after relative motion between the DMD 13 and the lithography object 100 occurs is shown.

In summary, a lithography system is provided that includes a machine base 11, a stage 12, and a digital micromirror device (DMD) 13, the DMD 13 is placed on the machine base 11, the stage 12 is for placing a lithography object 100, and the angle between the plane on which the DMD 13 is located and the plane on which the lithography object 100 is located is a predetermined angle γ. This avoids the problem of the need to replace the DMD 13 with one having different parameters when a change in resolution is required in the existing system, which is costly, and achieves the effect of being able to easily and quickly adjust the resolution by adjusting the angle between the plane on which the DMD 13 is located and the plane on which the lithography object 100 is located.

In addition, in order to achieve the same lithography effect during practical use, the lithography system may be configured in various ways, and in this embodiment, the lithography system may further achieve the following functions:
A first function is to obtain evaluation parameters of at least two lithography configuration aspects, the evaluation parameters including at least one of a hardware configuration parameter, a process cost, and an amount of labor;
Optionally, the lithography configuration aspects may include multiple configuration parameters, and the evaluation parameters of each lithography configuration aspect may be determined according to the corresponding relationship between the configuration parameters and the evaluation parameters, where the corresponding relationship between the configuration parameters and the evaluation parameters may be a pre-established correspondence relationship based on big data.

As another possible implementation, the evaluation parameters of each lithography configuration aspect may be obtained via a neural network. In this case, this step includes:
For each of the at least two lithography configuration aspects, the method may include inputting configuration parameters of the lithography configuration aspect into a target neural network and setting the output of the target neural network as evaluation parameters of the lithography configuration aspect, wherein the target neural network is a network pre-trained according to the configuration parameters of a sample lithography configuration aspect and the evaluation parameters of each of the sample lithography configuration aspects.

The configuration parameters of the lithography configuration aspect may include at least one of the number of DMDs 13, the accuracy of the DMDs 13, and the dimensions of the DMDs 13.

The second function is to recommend lithography configurations according to the evaluation parameters of each lithography configuration aspect.

Once the evaluation parameters for each aspect are obtained, it is possible to recommend a lithography configuration according to the evaluation parameters. Optionally, the user may set his/her usage needs before using the lithography system, and the lithography system may recommend according to the set usage needs. For example, if the user requires the highest resolution, it is possible to recommend the lithography configuration aspect with the highest resolution according to the evaluation parameters for each aspect, and further, for example, if the user requires the lowest cost, it is possible to recommend the lithography configuration aspect with the lowest cost according to the evaluation parameters for each aspect, which will not be repeated here.

The present invention has been described from the perspectives of purpose, effect, inventive step, novelty, etc., and the practical inventive step it possesses satisfies the functional improvement and use requirements that are emphasized in the Patent Law. The above description and drawings of the present invention are merely preferred embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention. Therefore, anything similar or identical to the structure, device, features, etc. of the present invention, that is, equivalent replacements and modifications made in accordance with the scope of the claims of the present invention, are all deemed to be included within the scope of the claims of the present invention.

Claims (9)

1. A scanning method applied to a lithography system, the lithography system including a bed, a stage, and a digital micromirror device (DMD), the DMD being placed on the bed, the stage being for placing a lithography object, the method comprising:
and controlling and moving a moving body including at least one of the DMD, the platform, and the stage so that relative motions in a first direction and a second direction occur simultaneously between the DMD and the lithography object ;
the DMD includes a plurality of micromirrors, each of the micromirrors having a rectangular shape; a length of a first side of the micromirror is denoted as m, a length of a second side of the micromirror is denoted as n, a target length is denoted as p, and an acute included angle between a direction of relative motion between the DMD and the lithography object and the first direction is denoted as θ;
The method comprises:
The method of scanning a lithography system further comprising determining θ according to m, n, and p . The relationship between p and θ is
The method of claim 1 , wherein p=(n×tan θ+m)×cos θ. the DMD and the lithographic object have a relative velocity in a first direction of _V1 and a relative velocity in a second direction of _V2 ;
The method comprises:
The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining V ₁ and V ₂ according to θ. The method of claim 3 , wherein _V2 / _V1 =tan θ. The DMD is fixedly installed on the machine base,
The control of the movement body to move includes:
Controlling the machine to move in a first direction and a second direction simultaneously; or
Controlling the stage to move in a first direction and a second direction simultaneously; or
Controlling the carriage to move in a first direction and simultaneously controlling the stage to move in a second direction; or
2. The method of claim 1, comprising controlling the carriage to move in a second direction simultaneously with controlling the stage to move in a first direction. The DMD is non-fixedly installed on the machine base,
The control of the movement body to move includes:
Controlling the frame to move in a first direction and simultaneously controlling the DMD to move in a second direction; or
10. The method of claim 1, comprising controlling the carriage to move in a second direction simultaneously with controlling the DMD to move in a first direction. The DMD is non-fixedly installed on the machine base,
The control of the movement body to move includes:
Controlling the stage to move in a first direction and simultaneously controlling the DMD to move in a second direction; or
The method of claim 1 , comprising controlling the stage to move in a second direction simultaneously with controlling the DMD to move in a first direction. 1. A scanning method applied to a lithography system, the lithography system including a bed, a stage, and a digital micromirror device (DMD), the DMD being placed on the bed, the stage being for placing a lithography object, the method comprising:
and controlling and moving a moving body including at least one of the DMD, the platform, and the stage so that relative motions in a first direction and a second direction occur simultaneously between the DMD and the lithography object;
The method of scanning a lithography system further comprising: setting an angle between a plane in which the DMD is located and a plane in which the lithography object is located at a predetermined angle γ. 1. A lithography system comprising:
A digital micromirror device DMD;
a machine stand for mounting the DMD;
a stage for mounting a lithography object;
a memory for storing one or more program instructions;
A processor for loading and executing said one or more program instructions to implement the method of any one of claims 1 to 8 .