This application claims priority to German Patent Application No. 10 2007 043 803.8, filed on Sep. 13, 2007, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The present invention relates to a means for determining the spatial position of at least one moving element of a coordinate measuring machine. In particular, at least one laser interferometer directs a measurement beam to the moving element.
The invention further relates to a method for determining the spatial position of at least one moving element of a coordinate measuring machine.
A coordinate measuring device is well-known from prior art. See, for example, the lecture script “Pattern Placement Metrology for Mask Making” by Dr. Carola Bläsing. The lecture was given on the occasion of the Semicon conference, Education Program, in Geneva on Mar. 31, 1998, wherein the coordinate measuring machine was described in detail. The structure of a coordinate measuring machine, as known, for example, from prior art, will be explained in more detail in the following description associated with
German patent application DE 10 2005 052758 describes a substrate holding means to be used in a position measuring device for determining the position of a substrate carried by the substrate holding means. The determination of the position of the substrate holding means is effected by means of a laser interferometer system. The substrate holding means is provided in a movable table construction, wherein the table construction is provided with at least one fixedly associated table mirror for reflecting the at least one laser beam of the laser interferometer system. However, the system suggested therein does not allow determining tilts of the measurement objective and/or tilts or rotations of the measurement table.
It is an object of the invention to provide a means allowing the determination of the measurement errors caused by the spatial rotation of the measurement table and/or the tilt of the measurement objective during the determination of the position of structures on a substrate, as well as allowing the correction of the measurement values corresponding to the tilt or rotation.
This object is achieved by a means for determining the spatial position of at least a first moving element and of at least a second moving element of a coordinate measuring machine, comprising: a measurement table of the coordinate measuring machine arranged to be movable in one plane in a X-coordinate direction and in a Y-coordinate direction, wherein the measurement table is the first moving element; a measurement objective arranged to be movable in a Z-coordinate direction, wherein the second moving element is the measurement objective; at least one reflecting surface formed on a surface of the measurement table; at least one reflecting surface provided on the measurement objective; and at least one laser interferometer for directing a measurement beam at the least one reflecting surface of the measurement table to determine a rotation of the measurement table around the X-coordinate direction or around the Y-coordinate direction or around the Z-coordinate direction and for directing a measurement beam at the least one reflecting surface of the measurement objective for determining a rotation of the measurement objective around an axis parallel to the X-coordinate direction and/or parallel to the Y-coordinate direction.
It is further an object of the invention to provide a method with which the rotation of the position of the measurement table and/or the tilt of the measurement objective may be determined, and that the measurement values of positions of structures on the substrate are corrected correspondingly based on the determined tilt and/or rotation.
This object is achieved by a method for determining the spatial position of at least one first moving element and at least one second moving element of a coordinate measuring machine, wherein a measurement table is the first moving element which is moved in a plane in a X-coordinate direction and in a Y-coordinate direction and a measurement objective is the second moving element wherein the measurement objective is arranged to be movable in the Z-coordinate direction, comprising the steps of:
It is advantageous if, for determining the spatial position (the position in the X-coordinate direction, the Y-coordinate direction and the Z-coordinate direction) of at least one moving element of a coordinate measuring machine, at least one of the laser interferometers directs a further measurement beam to the moving element. In this way, the spatial position of this moving element may be determined. The further measurement beam allows determining a rotation of the moving element around an X-coordinate direction or around a Y-coordinate direction or around a Z-coordinate direction.
The moving element is a measurement table of the coordinate measuring machine arranged to be movable in one plane in the X-coordinate direction and in the Y-coordinate direction. The measurement table has at least one reflecting surface onto which the at least one laser interferometer directs the measurement beam and the further measurement beam. The measurement table is provided with a first reflecting surface perpendicular to the Y-coordinate direction and a second reflecting surface perpendicular to the X-coordinate direction.
In order to determine the rotation of the measurement table around an axis parallel to the X-coordinate direction, the measurement beam and the further measurement beam of the laser interferometer are directed to the reflecting surface parallel to the X-coordinate direction such that the measurement beam and the further measurement beam are separate from each other in the Z-coordinate direction. In order to determine the rotation of the measurement table around an axis parallel to the Y-coordinate direction, the measurement beam and the further measurement beam of a laser interferometer are directed to the reflecting surface parallel to the Y-coordinate direction such that the measurement beam and the further measurement beam are separate from each other in the Z-coordinate direction.
In order to determine the rotation of the measurement table around an axis parallel to the Z-coordinate direction, the measurement beam and the further measurement beam of a laser interferometer are directed to a reflecting surface parallel to the X-coordinate direction and/or to a reflecting surface parallel to the Y-coordinate direction such that the measurement beam and the further measurement beam are separate from each other in the X-coordinate direction and/or in the Y-coordinate direction.
The moving element may further be a measurement objective of the coordinate measuring machine. The measurement objective is arranged to be movable in the Z-coordinate direction and provided with at least one reflecting surface. The measurement beam emitted by the at least one laser interferometer and a further measurement beam are directed to the reflecting surface of the measurement objective. The measurement objective is provided with a reflecting surface parallel to the X-coordinate direction. The measurement objective may also be provided with a second reflecting surface parallel to the Y-coordinate direction. In order to determine the rotation of the measurement objective around an axis parallel to the X-coordinate direction, the measurement beam and the further measurement beam of a laser interferometer are directed to the reflecting surface parallel to the X-coordinate direction such that the measurement beam and the further measurement beam are separate from each other in the Z-coordinate direction. Similarly, in order to determine the rotation of the measurement objective around an axis parallel to the Y-coordinate direction, the measurement beam and the further measurement beam of the laser interferometer are directed to the reflecting surface parallel to the Y-coordinate direction such that the measurement beam and the further measurement beam are separate from each other in the Z-coordinate direction.
The means further has associated therewith a computer with a memory recording the calculation of the rotation of the measurement table in the X-coordinate direction and/or around the Y-coordinate direction and/or around the Z-coordinate direction and/or recording the calculation of the rotation of the measurement objective around the X-coordinate direction and/or around the Y-coordinate direction. The positions of structures on a substrate determined by the coordinate measuring machine are corrected with respect to the data regarding the rotation of the measurement table around the X-coordinate direction and/or around the Y-coordinate direction and/or around the Z-coordinate direction and/or with respect to the rotation of the measurement objective around the X-coordinate direction and/or around the Y-coordinate direction.
The means allows determining the spatial position of the measurement table relative to the spatial position of the measurement objective. At least one differential interferometer is provided for determining the position of the measurement table relative to the measurement objective. It is advantageous if a reference beam of the differential interferometer impinges on the at least one reflecting surface on the measurement objective, which may be arranged at the level of the main plane on the object side, although this must not necessarily be the case. The measurement light beam of the differential interferometer reaches the reflecting surface provided on the measurement table at the level of the object plane of the measurement objective.
The inventive method for determining the spatial position of at least one moving element of a coordinate measuring machine includes several steps. In a first step, a measurement beam is directed to the at least one moving element of the coordinate measuring machine by at least one laser interferometer. A further measurement beam is directed to the moving element by the at least one laser interferometer to determine a rotation of the moving element around an X-coordinate direction or around a Y-coordinate direction or around a Z-coordinate direction.
Further advantageous embodiments of the invention may be found in the dependent claims.
The above and other features of the invention including various novel details of construction and combinations of parts, and other advantages, will now be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the claims. It will be understood that the particular method and device embodying the invention are shown by way of illustration and not as a limitation of the invention. The principles and features of this invention may be employed in various and numerous embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention.
In the accompanying drawings, reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the different views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale; emphasis has instead been placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. Of the drawings:
A coordinate measuring device 1 of the type shown in
The position of the measurement table 20 is measured and determined by means of at least one laser interferometer 24. For this purpose, the laser interferometer 24 emits a measurement light beam 23. Also, the measurement microscope 9 is connected to a displacing means in the Z-coordinate direction so that the measurement objective 9 may be focused on the surface of the substrate 2. The position of the measurement objective 9 may, for example, be measured with a glass scale (not shown). The block 25 is further positioned on legs 26 with an anti-vibration arrangement. This vibration damping is supposed to maximally reduce or eliminate all potential building vibrations and natural vibrations of the coordinate measuring device 1.
The tilt of the measurement table 20 around the Y-coordinate direction is given by:
And the tilt around the Z-coordinate direction is given by:
And the tilt of the measurement objective 9 around the Y-coordinate axis is given by:
The description of the invention given above allows determining and measuring rotations and tilts of individual elements of a coordinate measuring machine. The moving elements of the coordinate measuring machine 1 are essentially the measurement table 20 and the measurement objective 9. In order to determine the rotation or the tilt of the measurement objective 9 and the measurement table 20, additional measurement axes or measurement beams determining the rotation around the X-coordinate direction and/or the Y-coordinate direction and/or the Z-coordinate direction are added to a differential interferometer measuring the relative position of the measurement table 20 with respect to the measurement objective 9. This additional angle information permits correcting the measured values of the differential interferometer. A typical error in this context is the Abbe error. Although it may be avoided in the coordinate measuring machine 1 by arranging the measurement beam of the differential interferometer at the level of the structures on the substrate, mechanical tolerances always cause the measurement beam to be located outside this plane. This error may be mathematically corrected by the additional angle measurement and the determination of the deviation of the measurement beam from the plane of the structures 3 on the substrate 2. The position error caused by tilting the objective may be corrected in a similar way. For this purpose, the rotation of the measurement objective 9 around the X-coordinate direction and the Y-coordinate direction must be determined. If the imaging properties of the objective are known (by measuring or known from the optics calculation), a formula for correcting the error may be established.
The correction for the tilt of the measurement table 20 is given by:
x
corr
=Δy sin(αZ)+Δz sin(αY)≅ΔyαZ+ΔzαY
y
corr
=Δx sin(αZ)+Δzx sin(αX)≅ΔxαZ+ΔzαX
Δx represents the x-offset of the laser beam 23my in the interferometer of the Y-direction, Δzx represents the distance between the laser beam 23m and the mask surface, Δy represents the y-offset of the laser beam 23mx of the interferometer of the X-direction, and Δzy represents the distance between the laser beam (23m) and the mask surface. The angles αx, αy and αz are obtained from the measurements of the interferometers.
The parameters Δx, Δy, Δzx and Δzy are all zero as far as the construction of the machine is concerned. However, due to production tolerances, a value other than zero is obtained in the real machine for all these parameters. For example, an error in mask thickness directly results in a change of the parameters Δzx and Δzy. If the deviation of the mask thickness from its nominal value is known, it may immediately be used for the correction of the measured values in the above equation.
The parameters will therefore generally be determined in a measurement. For this purpose, a function
x
corr
=d
1 sin(αZ)+d2 sin(αY)
y
corr
=d
3 sin(αZ)+d4 sin(αX)
or
x
corr
=d
1αZ+d2αY
y
corr
=d
3αZ+d4zαX
may, for example, be fitted to the measurement data. The general case of a fit function is given by:
The functions f, g, h represent a trigonometric function (sin, cos, tan, . . . ). The parameters dij are adapted to the data of a calibration measurement. It is possible that, during a measurement, the parameters dij are again adapted to the actual measurement situation. For example, the deviation of the mask thickness from its nominal value may additionally be taken into account in these parameters.
Given the position of the reference mirror and the tilt of the mirror around the Y-axis, the correction regarding the current position measurement is calculated by:
y1 represents the distance between the laser beam 23to and the mask, y2 represents the distance between the laser beam 23r and the mask, and yH represents the distance between the main plane H on the object side and the mask. These values are known from the construction of the machine or the objective, or they may be measured. The laser beam 23m impinges on the mirror on the measurement table 20 at the level of the mask surface.
In the case of a very small tilt angle βY, this formula may also be simplified:
using the relation tan(βY)≈βY for small angles βY. Correspondingly, the correction for the Y-measurement values may be obtained as follows:
The parameters of the equation may also be determined from measured values. For this purpose, a function of the above type is fitted to the measurement data of a calibration measurement.
Correction values for the positions of structures on a substrate determined by the coordinate measuring machine 1 may be determined with respect to the data regarding the rotation of the measurement table around the X-coordinate direction and/or around the Y-coordinate direction and/or around the Z-coordinate direction and/or with respect to the data of the rotation of the measurement objective around the X-coordinate direction and/or around the Y-coordinate direction. These correction values are determined from a linear equation of the following type:
x
corr
=c
1
β+c
2
x
reference or
x
corr
=c
1 tan(β)+c2xreference or
x
corr
=c
1
f(β)+c2xreference
The constants c1 and c2 may be calculated from machine parameters or may be fitted to measurement data. The function f is a trigonometric function (sin, cos, tan, . . . ). Polynomials of a higher degree may also be used in β or xreference.
While this invention has been particularly shown and described with references to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention encompassed by the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
10 2007 043 803.8 | Sep 2007 | DE | national |