Patterns are created on substrates for a variety of applications, such as during the manufacture of optical and magnetic data storage media, semiconductor integrated circuits (ICs), biomedical devices, etc. Depending upon the processing involved, a substrate may be subjected to multiple steps using different types of equipment.
These and other forms of processing may involve mounting the substrate in a recording system such as but not limited to an electron beam recorder (EBR), a laser beam recorder (LBR), etc. In a rotatable type recording system, the substrate is rotated by a support mechanism (sometimes characterized as a “turntable”) about a central axis and subjected to a recording beam that writes a recorded pattern to the substrate. In a raster type recording system, the substrate is mounted to a support mechanism (sometimes characterized as a “fixed reference table”) and held in a stationary position as a recording beam is advanced across the substrate to write a recorded pattern. The recorded pattern can take the form of any number of linear or circumferentially arranged features including data bits, semiconductor elements, bar codes, images, holograms, three dimensional (3D) structures, etc.
The formation of multi-layer features may require the substrate to be mounted in the recording system, or in other recording systems, multiple successive times to generate features in different layers of the substrate. The substrate may be removed between successive passes for other processing (e.g., metallization, cleaning, chemical or physical vapor deposition, etc.), requiring the substrate to be re-mounted each time a new recording pass is applied.
It can be seen that multi-layer processing requires adequate registration (alignment) of the substrate with a known reference point such that newly written features align with previously recorded features on the substrate. Alignment techniques of the existing art are often inadequate to achieve the requisite registration of the substrate. This is because the relative angular and translational positions of the substrate and the support mechanism will tend to be different for each mounting of the substrate, so the exact centering of the substrate on the support mechanism will tend to be offset for each mounting of the substrate.
Accordingly, various embodiments of the present disclosure are generally directed to an apparatus and method for aligning a rotatable substrate to a support mechanism to write a feature to the substrate, and a substrate so configured.
In some embodiments, the substrate is provided with a circumferentially extending timing pattern with spaced apart first and second timing marks disposed on opposing sides of a center point of the timing pattern and an identification (ID) field that stores a unique identifier value associated with the substrate.
Upon mounting of the substrate to a support mechanism that rotates the substrate about a central axis that is offset from the center point, a control circuit generates a compensation value to compensate for the offset using the first and second timing marks and outputs a process instruction to authorize processing of the substrate using the unique identifier value. In some cases, the unique identifier value is used as a lookup to a computerized database.
Various embodiments of the present disclosure are generally directed to an apparatus and method for aligning a substrate. As explained below, some embodiments generally involve forming a circumferentially extending timing pattern on a substrate, with the timing pattern nominally extending about a center point of the substrate. The substrate is mounted to a support mechanism having a central axis or other external reference point. The central axis is offset from the center point of the substrate as a result of an alignment error during the mounting of the substrate.
The offset between the support mechanism reference point and the center point of the substrate is determined using a detector that detects the timing pattern. In some embodiments, the substrate is rotated and aspects of the timing pattern, as detected by the detector, are used to identify the center point of the substrate. In other embodiments, the substrate is maintained in a nominally stationary position and a raster scanner or similar mechanism scans the substrate to locate the timing pattern.
In some embodiments, the offset is expressed as translational offset in terms of the respective reference point and center point, and/or angular (rotational) offset of the substrate with respect to the support mechanism. The translational and/or angular offset values can be used to generate compensation values which are applied to adjust the location of a recording (write) beam that impinges the substrate to write features to the substrate. Multiple related embodiments are presented, and each will be discussed in turn.
The system 100 includes a support mechanism 102, referred to herein generally as a turntable. The turntable 102 is rotated about a central axis 104 by a motor 106 controlled by a servo control circuit 108. The turntable 102 is rotated about the axis 104 in accordance with a selected velocity profile, which may include constant angular velocity (CAV) rotation and/or constant linear velocity (CLV) rotation.
A substrate 110 is mounted to the turntable 102 for rotation thereby about the central axis 104. In some cases, the substrate 110 may be merely placed on the turntable 102 and adhesive forces (e.g., Van de Walls forces, etc.) may be sufficient to retain the substrate in a mounted relation to the turntable. In other cases, mechanical or other attachment mechanisms, such as a vacuum chuck, etc., may be employed to secure the substrate to the turntable. Regardless, it is contemplated that the substrate is rigidly secured to the turntable and will be rotated therewith during operation of the motor 106.
The substrate 110 can take any number of suitable forms depending on the application. In some cases, the substrate is disc-shaped although such is not necessarily required since the substrate can take substantially any form including rectilinear, irregular, etc. The substrate may be a single layer or multi-layer element.
In some embodiments, the substrate represents a master disc for an optical data recording disc from which a population of nominally identical replicated discs (replicas) are subsequently formed, so that the system 100 is used to expose a layer of the substrate to record features thereto that will ultimately be incorporated into the replicas.
In other embodiments, the substrate may take the form of a semiconductor wafer on which one or more integrated circuits are formed, a magnetic recording disc, a biomedical device, any other form of element to which features are recorded by the recording system 100, or any other form of element to which any type of processing is applied, whether the substrate is rotated or not, provided that the substrate can be at least temporarily rotated (or contrawise, a detection mechanism can be rotated or otherwise translated relative to the substrate) in order to assess the relative location of the substrate, as explained below.
A signal generator circuit 112 is adapted to provide a recording signal to a write transducer (W) 114. In some cases, the recording signal may be a modulation signal such as an extended frequency modulation (EFM) signal with time varying transitions corresponding to boundaries of features to be written to the substrate. The write transducer 114 may take the form of an electron beam generator, a laser diode, a magnetic writer, an emitter, or other mechanism(s) capable of generating energy that impinges the substrate.
In some cases, the modulation signal may provide on-off modulation so that the write beam selectively exposes a selected layer of the substrate 110 (such as a resist or mask layer) when the write transducer 114 is “on.” In other cases, power modulation may be supplied so that the recording signal adjusts an applied power of the write beam to different energy levels to write the various features to the substrate. In still other embodiments, deposition processing, such as chemical vapor deposition (CVD) or physical vapor deposition (PVD) techniques may be applied to the substrate. Substantially any form of write beam exposure can be used and indeed, as noted above, such is not necessarily required.
The embodiment of
A local memory 120 is accessible by the servo control circuit 108 (also referred to as a control circuit) and stores a data structure such as in the form of a look up table 122. As explained below, various parameters may be stored in the table 122 for use by the control circuit. For example, the timing patterns written to the substrate may include identification (ID) values or other multi-bit values that are detected by the detector and passed to the control circuit, which compares with entries in the table 122 to ensure a correct substrate is being processed.
It is contemplated although not necessarily required that the pattern 200 be written by a recording system such as 100 in
It will be appreciated that the “center point A” 202 may or may not necessarily correspond to the exact center of the substrate 110. Instead, the center point A nominally corresponds to the center of the pattern 200 and thus represents a mathematical point on the substrate that may, or may not, be separately identified by a feature or other mark on the substrate. In one embodiment, the substrate 110 is mounted to the turntable 102 in
Once mounted, the substrate 110 is rotated by the turntable 102 about the central axis 104 and the substrate will, based on the construction of the system 100, necessarily rotate about the central axis as well. By maintaining the write beam at a fixed radial distance from the central axis 104 (which may correspond to the radial distance of the detector 118 from the central axis 104), the write transducer 114 can be used to inscribe the timing pattern 200 so as to be nominally centered about point A, as represented in
Broken line path 204 represents the subsequent location of the timing pattern 200 after the substrate 110 has been removed from the turntable 102, processed using some sort of suitable processing (e.g., metallization, cleaning, chemical or physical vapor deposition, etc.) on other equipment, and returned for re-mounting on the turntable 102. The geometric center of the timing pattern 204 is represented at 206 by point B.
The translational distance between points A and B in
Once the substrate 110 is remounted to the turntable 102 in
Referring to
Depending on the detection resolution of the detector 118 and the width of the timing pattern 204, it is contemplated that at these respective points the detector will “observe” the pattern moving across the “field of view” of the detector in a first direction at point C, and moving in the opposite direction at point D. Both the angular and radial locations of these points can be easily determined with reference to the angular position of the turntable (as provided by the servo circuit 108) and the radial position of the detector. The full eccentricity of the pattern may be within the field of view of the detector, so that the cross-over points can be understood as the midpoints of such relative movement and easily ascertained.
Referring again to
Once the amount of offset between points A and B is known, suitable compensation values can be applied. In some embodiments, the eccentricity of the substrate based on the translation from point A to point B can be fed forward as an RRO compensation signal to the actuator 116. In this way, a subsequently recorded feature (or portion thereof) can be aligned with a previously written feature that was written to the substrate 110 while the substrate was rotated about point A (202).
The actual form of the timing pattern can vary depending on the requirements of a given application. In some embodiments, the timing pattern may take the form of a circumferentially extending pattern 400 of nominally uniform width, as represented in
In other embodiments, the timing pattern may take the form of an offset pattern 406 as in
A variety of different forms and locations of the timing patterns are envisioned and can be used consonant with the foregoing discussion. In some cases, a moveable reader is used that tracks the eccentric timing pattern and, based on correction signals applied to maintain the reader over the timing pattern, the eccentricity of the substrate is calculated and compensated. In other cases, multiple readers are used such that a first reader may track the timing pattern to detect angular position and a second reader may track cross-over points to detect translational position. A servo type reader may oscillate slightly to detect and track the pattern. These and other alternative arrangements will readily occur to the skilled artisan in view of the present disclosure.
With reference again to
In some embodiments, the radial extent of the timing mark 412 can be sized to accommodate the largest amount of radial offset that may be experienced by the remounting of the substrate. For example, if the maximum offset is expected to be about 10 nanometers, nm, then the timing mark 412 may be sized to extend at least ±5 nm from the timing pattern 400. In this way, the fixed reader 118 (
In still further embodiments, a fixed position optical pickup need not necessarily be used. With reference again to
A circumferentially extending timing pattern is formed on the substrate at step 506. This timing pattern may correspond to the pattern 200 in
At step 508, the substrate is removed from the turntable and a second level of processing is applied to the substrate at step 510. This processing can take any variety of forms, including but not limited to washing, etching, exposure, metallization, deposition, etc. The substrate is re-mounted to the turntable at step 512, which as discussed above may include translational and/or angular offsets with respect to the previous position of the substrate on the turntable.
The timing pattern is thereafter detected at step 514 during rotation of the substrate (via the turntable) to characterize the rotational offset of the substrate. As desired, the detected rotational offset is used as a compensation value during the application of a third level of processing to the substrate at step 516. This third level of processing can include the writing of a second series of features to the substrate, including features that overlay or otherwise combine with the first series of features to form combined features. While only two mountings of the substrate are represented in
In practice, some misalignment of the respective patterns may arise as a result of misalignment of the substrate during the second installation as compared to the first in accordance with conventional alignment techniques. Combined pattern 608 shows the effects of rotational offset, and combined pattern 610 shows the effects of translational offset. It is contemplated that the use of the routine of
The respective features 902, 906 and 910 may be written during successively applied first, second and third passes. The substrate may be removed and remounted to an underlying turntable or other support mechanism (see
In one embodiment, the substrate 900 is characterized as a recording substrate that is recorded and etched using three passes. For the first pass, the respective layers 904, 908 and 912 are deposited as a layer of recording resist and a write beam selectively exposes the resist in the locations of features 902.
After exposure, the substrate is removed and the resist is developed and used as an etching mask to etch down to the preselected Depth 1. The resist development can be either positive or negative, so that the resist that is removed to become the etching mask can either be those portions that were exposed during recording, or those portions that were not exposed during recording. It is contemplated that timing information such as pattern ID, sequence number, etc. are written, developed and etched into the recording substrate 900 for subsequent recovery by the recording apparatus.
After etching, a new layer of resist is placed on the surface of the recording substrate 900, and the substrate is remounted on the recording turntable. The recording system then records the data associated with the second pass. Optionally, the substrate or pattern ID and sequence number will be read prior to the beginning of recording to ensure the proper pattern is being recorded according to the design. Alignment compensation is also carried out as discussed above to ensure proper location of the second write operation. After exposure, the resist is developed and used as an etching mask to etch into the recording substrate down to the preselected Depth 2. The same process is repeated for the third pass, resulting in the finally formed features as shown in
Any suitable coordinate system can be used to write the features to a given substrate, including angular coordinates, polar coordinates, XY coordinates, etc. It will be noted that detection of the use of the system as embodied herein can be readily determined by a skilled artisan through examination of a finished substrate, based on the characteristics of the features written thereto, as well as the relative alignment of the features with respect to the timing pattern.
In some embodiments, the substrate is configured as a biosciences substrate to facilitate various biomedical operations as a “lab on disc” or “lab on chip” type device. The finished substrate may be subjected to a partitioning (e.g., cutting) operation to cut the processed substrate into individual elements (e.g., pipettes, microfluidic channel networks, etc.), or the finished device may be retained as a rotatable disc (e.g., centrifuge devices, etc.).
These and other devices can be characterized as three-dimensional (3D) structures with internal passageways and other features to carry out various laboratory and other biomedical operations. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that such devices can be printed using XY CAD files and stepper lithography techniques where each “line” of features is printed at a time in a raster fashion. Because of the settle time required to dampen mechanical vibration at the end of each advancement of the write beam carriage, the printing of even a rudimentary pattern can take an extended period of time, such as on the order of hours or even days.
By contrast, the various embodiments disclosed herein can readily accept any number of inputs, including conventional XY CAD files, and print each layer during rotation of the underlying substrate. Coordinate conversion techniques to facilitate such writing (either as a continuous spiral or discrete rings) can be easily carried out using existing so-called “pit-art” writing methods in which XY designs are transferred to a rotating substrate over multiple passes and radial advancements of the write beam.
As before, the use of timing patterns can allow precise realignment of the write beam with respect to the new position of the substrate each time the substrate is remounted to a turntable or other support mechanism.
As depicted in
As depicted in
In some embodiments, the data zone 1012 is formatted in accordance with an existing optical disc standard (e.g., CD-ROM, DVD, BD, etc.) so that the data stored therein are recoverable using existing reader technology. The data zone may be pre-recorded or recordable. While the data zone is shown to be located adjacent the outermost diameter (OD) of the disc 1000, the data zone may be located elsewhere, such as adjacent the innermost diameter (ID) or in a medial location of the disc surface. Placement of the data zone on the side opposite the network is contemplated, but not necessarily required. Other forms of indicia can be supplied for the data zone such as machine readable bar codes, human readable alphanumeric characters, etc.
Multiple data zones may be used. For example, if the top surface of the disc has sufficient room to accommodate a plurality of different networks to carry out different respective assays, an associated number of different data zones may be provisioned on the bottom surface for each of these networks. Alternatively, a single, combined data zone could be used to store data for these different multiple networks.
The microfluidic network 1102 extends into the assay layer 1104 as a sequence of different recesses that extend different depths into the assay layer. The top layer 1104 may form a top surface for these various features. A fill/vent aperture 1112 can be arranged to extend through the thickness of the top layer 1104 as shown.
The data storage layer 1110 may be formed in the bottom layer 1106. In some embodiments, the top layer 1104, bottom layer 1106 and assay layer 1108 may be formed as separate substrates which are then bonded together to form a unitary substrate. In other embodiments, appropriate processing, such as injection molding, is applied to form a single substrate with features on opposing sides.
Step 1202 represents a data authoring operation in which the control information to be stored to the disc is created and encoded in a form suitable for recording. A master generation step 1204 involves using a laser beam recorder (LBR), electron beam recorder (EBR) or similar equipment to form a master disc with the encoded control information.
A stamper generation step 1206 prepares a corresponding series of stampers suitable for disc replication. It will be noted that the foregoing steps can be carried out regardless whether the data zone is pre-recorded (embossed pits/lands) or recordable (data recordable layer); if the latter, the stamper may have wiggle pre-groove information to predefine the locations for the data to be subsequently written to the disc. Stampers may be formed using suitable metallization processing to form various recessed features.
The steps involved in forming the network portion of the discs includes a network layout step 1208, and a mold generation step 1210. The mold generation provides the necessary molding features to form the various recesses that make up the network.
Once the molds/stampers are available, both are combined for use in an injection molding process at 1212 whereby a suitable molten material (e.g., plastic) is injected into the mold and cooled to provide single substrates with network features on one side and data features on the opposing side. Final assembly post processing may include the attachment of cover layers, the writing of the control information (if necessary), packaging, etc. as denoted at 1214. Such final assembly may include the partitioning (e.g., cutting) of the substrate into individual elements for use.
As can be seen from
The marks M1 and M3 serve to define a first reference line 1312. In some embodiments, the line 1312 aligns with the leading edges of marks M1 and M3, assuming counterclockwise rotation of the substrate with respect to a fixed position detector as discussed above. The marks M2 and M4 define a second reference line 1314, which also aligns with the leading edges of the respective marks.
The second reference line 1314 is skewed with respect to the first reference line 1312 by an acute angle A, which represents the angle between marks M1 and M2. A supplementary angle B extends between marks M2 and M3, so that A+B=180 degrees. Any suitable respective angles between lines 1312 and 1314 can be used so long as the first and second lines 1312, 1314 intersect. Suitable values for the angle A can include, but are not limited to, about 20 degrees up to about 160 degrees. An angle A of nominally 45 degrees is depicted. The reference lines 1312, 1314 are also referred to herein as timing mark axes.
The lines 1312, 1314 intersect at the center point 1302. By calculating the locations of these lines, the point at which they intersect can be accurately determined as the center of the substrate. The manner in which the respective lines can be calculated will be discussed below. While four marks and two corresponding lines are shown, any plural respective numbers of marks and lines can be used to define the center point.
Circle 1316 lies within the respective marks M1 through M4, and represents an area to which features may be written concurrently with the writing of the timing marks M1 through M4. In this way, as discussed above subsequently written features can be aligned with the initially written features. It is not necessarily required that the timing marks be written outside the area to which features are written provided the scanning system can reliably and accurately detect the various marks during subsequent substrate alignment operations.
The pattern 1400 includes a fifth timing mark M5, denoted at 1416. The fifth mark M5 serves as an index (angular) reference and is separated from the nearest adjacent mark M1 by angle C. The angle C can be any suitable value sufficient to enable accurate identification of each of the remaining marks M through M4. In the embodiment of
Curve 1500 shows the readback pulses that are obtained over more than a full revolution of the substrate. Corresponding timing intervals T1, T2, T3 and T4 are shown as the elapsed times between the detection of respective leading edges of the pulses. Other intervals can be defined such as times between trailing edges, times between adjacent edges, pulse midpoints, PW50 values, etc. Similar timing values T1 through T5 are provided for pulses M1 through M5 for curve 1502. While the pulses are rectangular, other detected shapes can be used based on both the nature of the timing patterns and the construction and response of the detector (sensor).
In
The skilled artisan will recognize that such symmetry would only exist if (discounting system noise and other effects) the substrate is perfectly aligned with the central axis of the underlying turntable. Should the substrate be offset with respect to the turntable, the timing intervals would not be symmetric; for example, if the substrate were shifted to the right as depicted in
The offset of the substrate can be derived in relation to these individual timing intervals by plotting the respective reference lines shown in
The circuit 1600 includes an edge detector circuit 1602 which detects selected edges of the respective pulses M1 through M4 (or M5) from
In some embodiments, the circuit 1606 performs a polar to xy coordinate conversion based on the relative timing obtained from the timing circuit 1604. Referring again to
Based on these respective locations about an imaginary circle of selected radius, a conversion can be made to convert these values to xy coordinates in an xy plane space. From there, it is a relatively straightforward process to plot the line 1312 between M1 and M3 and to plot the line 1314 between M2 and M4 using the well known linear formula:
y=mx+b (1)
where x and y are the coordinates in the xy space, m is the slope and b is the y intercept. The point at which both lines cross (the intercept) easily follows, and can again be expressed in real xy coordinates with the xy coordinate of the reference point, or central axis, as the origin point (0,0) or some other suitable value in the xy space.
This provides a displacement value that can be used as the translational offset based on the distance between the center of the substrate (e.g., point 1302) and the central axis 104 (or other external reference). Rotational offset can be obtained through reliance upon the index mark (e.g., M1 in
Once the translational and rotational offsets are known, these values can be used to generate compensation values to allow adjustments in the subsequent xy or rotational writing of subsequent features to the substrate in the manner discussed above.
Thus far, the various embodiments discussed above have been directed to recording systems that rotate the substrate to write the features and to write the timing pattern, as well as rotate the substrate in order to subsequently detect the timing pattern using a nominally stationary read sensor. While these embodiments are operative, such limitations are not necessarily limiting.
The system 1700 is generally similar to the rotatable recording system 100 of
A substrate 1710 is supported by the support structure 1702. The substrate may be merely placed on the structure or may be mechanically affixed thereto as required. It is desirable that the substrate not move relative to the underlying substrate during a given processing cycle.
The system 1700 further includes a signal generator circuit 1712 that operates in a manner similar to the circuit 112 in
At this point it will be noted that the use of so-called “pit art” is well known in the optical disc recording industry, wherein xy coordinate images are converted to polar coordinates and transferred to a disc surface in either xy or polar format. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that similar processing is employed to detect the timing patterns (e.g., 1300, 1400, etc.) using polar coordinates and performing a conversion into the xy space to detect the center point of the substrate, and then adjust the locations of the subsequently written features accordingly.
It will be apparent that timing marks such 1300 and 1400 in
The respective timing marks M1 through M4 comprise localized dots or points, in contrast to the elongated timing marks of
A first rotational pass of the read sensor 118 (see
The first pass 2006 detects a first end of the M1 timing mark identified as point A, and detects a first end of the M2 timing mark as point B. The second pass 2008 subsequently detects a second end of the M2 timing mark as point C, and detects a second end of the M2 timing mark as point D. Any number of intermediate edges along the respective marks can be detected as well, as can the distal ends of the marks.
A center point 2010 of the substrate can be detected by extrapolating line 2012 from detection points A, C and by extrapolating line 2014 from detection points B, D. The point at which these respective lines intersect define the location of the center point 2010, as before. From this, appropriate translational and angular offset compensation values can be determined for features written within feature area 2016. Indexing can be easily determined due to the irregular occurrence of the two marks M1, M2 over each complete revolution of the substrate.
From
An offset detection routine 2100 is set forth by
As shown by step 2102, a circumferentially timing pattern formed of a number of timing marks are written to a substrate. The timing marks define at least two intersecting lines, as well as a rotational index location on the medium. As desired, other features may be written to the substrate during this step as well. In this way, the timing pattern provides a reference for the relative locations of these features.
At step 2104, the substrate is scanned to detect the locations of the respective timing marks, either using a position or timing reference. A timing reference may be suitable for a rotational scan, as indicated by step 2106, and a positional reference may be suitable for a raster (stepwise) scan, as indicated by step 2108. In either case, locations of the respective timing marks are identified by the scan, whether the read sensor is maintained stationary and the substrate rotates adjacent thereto, or the read sensor is advanced in stepwise fashion (including an xy, polar, spiral or other search strategy trajectory) relative to a stationary substrate. Multiple revolutions or scans may be used to detect the timing marks of the pattern.
At least two intersecting lines are calculated from the detected locations of the timing marks, as indicated at step 2110. The point at which the lines intersect is determined as the center point of the substrate (e.g., 1302, 1402, 2010). If more than two lines are calculated, an interpolation operation can be used to locate the center point between the intersection points to enhance accuracy, as necessary.
As shown at step 2112, an external reference (e.g., 104, 1704 in
It will be understood that the substrate is mounted to a suitable support mechanism at an initial alignment and it is this initial alignment that is memorialized by the timing pattern written at step 2102. This initial alignment is subsequently tracked and reestablished during subsequent mountings of the substrate, such as at step 2104.
While not expressly shown in the routine of
As before, the pattern 2200 is formed of four (4) timing marks M1, M2, M3 and M4, numerically denoted at 2202, 2204, 2206 and 2208. The timing marks, also sometimes referred to as spokes, are nominally 90 degrees apart (e.g., angle A=90 degrees). The illustrated arrangement is merely exemplary and not limiting as other angles, relative spacings and total numbers of marks may be used. The marks are shown to be aligned along respective intersecting lines 2210 (aligned along an x-axis or x-direction) and 2212 (aligned along a y-axis or y-direction). The center of the pattern is denoted at center point 2214.
The timing marks M1, M2, M3 and M4 extend inwardly from an outermost radius RO to an innermost radius RI. The outermost radius RO of each mark is at a precisely fixed radius of selected magnitude, as indicated by broken circle 2216. The innermost radius RI is at a second nominally fixed radius of lesser magnitude, as indicated by broken circle 2218. Recording area (RA) 2220 is disposed within the inner radius RI and represents an area to which various features discussed above may be formed.
At step 2304, the outermost portion of each of the marks M1-M4 is written while the writer element is maintained at the initial fixed radius. Various control circuits discussed above can be used to precisely locate the outermost portions at the same nominal radius RO.
At step 2306, inner portions of the timing marks M1-M4 are stitched together over several subsequent passes by incrementally advancing the position of the writer inwardly. This writing continues until the innermost radius RI is reached, after which the mark write process is completed. Any number of passes can be used to provide the marks with the desired respective radial lengths.
While operable to form timing marks, the foregoing process has been found to have a number of limitations due to various mechanical tolerances and offsets that are inherently involved in the formation of such marks. The outermost radius RO can be formed with a high level of precision through the simple expedient of initiating rotation of the underlying substrate, moving the write element 2402 to the desired radius, allowing any resonances or other vibrations to dampen, and using a closed loop timing/clock circuit to write the first segment 2404A to each timing mark in turn. Thus, the outermost edges of the first segments 2404A can be precisely aligned at the desired outermost radius RO.
As the transducer is moved inwardly, small, yet significant, errors may arise in the locations of the remaining segments 2404. These errors will affect the placements of the remaining segments, so that the overall marks may not be perfectly straight will or may not point exactly toward the center point 2214 (see
A reader element (R) is denoted at block 2516. Path 2518 shows a spiral path taken by the reader 2516 relative to the substrate as the substrate is rotated at a constant rotational velocity and the reader is advanced inwardly at a constant linear (radial) velocity. One “track pitch” in radial distance is crossed by the reader over each revolution of the substrate. This distance, referred to as TP, is exaggerated in
The reader 2516 is initially located outside (beyond) the outermost radius RO. As the substrate is rotated and the reader 2516 begins moving inwardly, a first timing mark will eventually be detected by the reader (in this case, timing mark M4 in
The reader is activated and radially advanced inwardly at a constant velocity at step 2604. At some point, based on the misalignment of the substrate, the initial position of the reader and the track pitch (TP) covered by the reader over each revolution, the reader will eventually detect the outermost radius of a first mark, step 2606. A count is initiated at step 2608 to count the total number of detections (crossovers) of the first mark that occur during subsequent rotations.
Each of the remaining marks are subsequently detected during subsequent rotations and corresponding counts are initiated for each of these marks as well at step 2610. Finally, at a suitable rotation in which all of the marks are detected, the offset of the substrate is determined based on differences among the various counts, step 2612.
Four (4) marks are used in the table denoted as M1 (Y1), M2 (X1), M3 (Y2) and M4 (X2). These marks are radially arranged as shown in
Data for fourteen (14) consecutive rotations are stored in the table, although data may be collected for as few or as many rotations as desired, including counts that show passage of the reader past the innermost radius RI of the respective marks. Rotations are identified with respect to base rotation N, representing the rotation during which the first mark was detected (in this case, mark M3/Y2). Individual counts of mark detections are accumulated in the table for each subsequent rotation.
Once one or more rotations have been identified that cross all of the timing marks, the translational offsets in the x and y axis directions can be determined as follows:
XOFFSET=(X2−X1)(TP)/2 (2)
and
YOFFSET=(Y2−Y1)(TP)/2 (3)
where XOFFSET represents the offset of the center point (e.g., 2514 in
Using the data from track rotation N+7 in the count table from
XOFFSET=(X2−X1)(TP)/2=(7−6)(0.3)/2=0.15 μm (4)
and
YOFFSET=(Y2−Y1)(TP)/2=(4−8)(0.3)/2=−0.60 μm (5)
In other words, the center point of the substrate is 0.15 μm away from the rotational center of the substrate in the x-axis direction, and −0.60 μm away from the rotational center of the substrate in the y-axis direction. These offsets can be used to adjust the final location of the subsequently written features in a manner discussed above. It will be noted that the same results from equation (4) and (5) are obtained for any track along which all four timing marks were crossed in the count table of
An advantage of the approach of
Table I provides various dimensions for timing marks in one embodiment:
In the example of Table I, each mark is approximately 2500 revolutions in length. Other respective dimensions may be used as desired. As noted above, it is not necessary to scan the entire length of each mark, although additional encoded information can be supplied such as by using marks of different respective lengths. While the foregoing embodiments contemplate beginning at a point beyond the outermost radius RO, this is merely exemplary and not required. In other embodiments, each of the timing marks may have a fixed radius at the innermost radius RI, and the reader is swept outwardly away from the center of the substrate to detect the respective timing marks.
The addition of the fifth mark M5 can be used to determine the rotational offset of the substrate with respect to the axis of rotation in a number of ways, such as by determining the timing intervals between the respective marks as discussed above. It will be noted that the timing pattern 2800 in
A mark detect circuit 2902 obtains an output read signal from the read element (detector) during advancement of the read element across the pattern using a spiral read path as in
The foregoing embodiments have utilized four or more timing marks in the respective timing patterns. This is illustrative but not necessarily limiting.
The respective offset determination circuits 2900 of
Moreover, sweeping the reader element inwardly and counting mark detections can be used to identify the longer mark M2, since at some point the reader will have moved inside the innermost radius of M1 but will still detect M2 for a number of successive rotations. Rotational (angular) offset of the substrate can be determined by detecting the angular difference between M2 and the rotational reference of the system, as discussed above.
The various techniques of the respective circuits 1600 and 2900 can be readily applied to the three timing marks M1-M3 to determine the offset associated with center point 3108. Once the relative locations of the axes 3112, 3114 and 3118 (e.g., the equilateral triangle) are known, a simple geometric conversion can be used to locate the center point 3108, with each of the timing mark axes having components of both x-axis and y-axis offset. An index point can be added to enable identification of rotational offset, such as by adding a fourth mark or elongating one of the existing marks.
A fourth embodiment will now be described that can be incorporated into and used with any of the preceding examples. As was discussed above with reference to
This fourth embodiment generally involves incorporating into a timing pattern one or more substrate ID fields to provide the associated substrate with a unique substrate identifier value that uniquely identifies the substrate to the system. Other processing information can be incorporated into, or appended to, the substrate ID fields as well.
By acquiring the timing pattern from the substrate, the pattern writing system can identify which substrate has been mounted and ensure that the proper features (patterns) are written to the substrate. The database can be maintained as a data structure in a memory which provides associated processing information for each of a population of substrates, including for different processing steps. The retrieved unique substrate ID value can be used as a lookup input value into the database.
If a matching entry is present, the substrate can be authenticated as an authorized substrate, and the contents of the entry can be used to generate a process instruction to remaining portions of the system to proceed with authenticated processing. This enhances automation and may help reduce human based errors during the processing of multi-layer pattern features.
In some cases, the entries in the database may list various parameters associated with the substrate, a history of various processing steps that have been applied, a list of future processing steps that have not been applied yet and still remain to be applied, etc. During initial processing, the substrate ID values may be read into the system to generate new entries for each substrate at the beginning of the process, and the entries can be accessed and updated as the substrates subsequently pass through the process.
In this scheme, if no matching entry is present in the database for a substrate that is about to be subjected to a processing step that is not the initial step in the sequence, an exception condition can be declared and further processing of that particular substrate can be denied as unauthorized. Possible causes could include the loading of the wrong substrate for this point in the operation, the selection of the wrong processing steps to be applied, and so on. The exception condition can be addressed by attending personnel to correct the problem.
It is contemplated in some embodiments that the contents of the substrate ID field will just be the unique serial number type ID value, so that processing history and other information regarding the substrate will be maintained in the database. However, in other embodiments additional information can be written to the substrate ID field as the substrate flows through the process and is subjected to subsequent processing steps.
The pattern 3200 in
As before, the actual printing/processing space for the wafer is within a feature boundary line 3220. An outer boundary line 3222 represents an outer alignment radius of the respective marks M1-M5. The offset and orientation of the wafer after a mounting operation can be carried out as described above through the successive detection of the marks M1-M5.
The timing pattern 3200 further includes a pair of offset substrate (wafer) ID fields 3230 arranged in accordance with some embodiments. The fields 3230 are nominally centered on opposing sides of the timing pattern center point 3202 and between mark pairs M1/M2 and M3/M4. Other arrangements can be used. In an alternative embodiment, only a single ID field 3230 is included in the timing pattern 3200. In other embodiments, one or more of the ID fields 3230 are located immediately abutting an existing timing mark. In yet another embodiment, the ID field 3230(s) can be used to identify a once-per-rev index point. While the ID fields 3230 are shown in
It is contemplated that the ID fields 3230 will be formatted as a radially extending barcode, such as exemplified at 3400 in
The bars may be parallel or may project radially inwardly to form a wedge shape. Other machine readable formats can be used, such as a series of elongated marks or pits/lands (see e.g.,
It is contemplated that the unique substrate ID value is selected and written to the wafer during the initial formation of the remaining portions of the timing pattern (e.g., during the writing of marks M1-M5). Values may be stitched together in the manner described above for the generation of the timing marks so that the contents of the wafer ID field 3230 can be repetitively read over multiple passes of the reader transducer (e.g., transducer 118,
Upon mounting the wafer to the turntable, a reader 3502 detects and acquires the timing pattern from the rotating wafer. The reader extracts and forwards the timing pattern to a process control circuit 3504. The process control circuit 3504 may take the form of a hardware circuit or a programmable processor which executes programming instructions (e.g., firmware, software) stored in a local memory location. The transferred information from the reader includes a digital sequence corresponding to the unique substrate ID value, and timing pulses corresponding to the detected timing marks M1-M5.
With regard to the recovered timing marks (e.g., M1-M5), the process control circuit 3504 determines an amount of offset distance (including radial and/or angular offset) from which one or more compensation values are generated and used during the writing of features to the wafer. This is carried out as discussed above.
With regard to the recovered unique substrate ID value, the process control circuit 3504 accesses a database 3506 in memory 3508 and retrieves lookup data from the database to ensure that the wafer is an authorized wafer and to identify the appropriate processing that should be applied. From this, the control circuit issues one or more process instructions to a remaining portion of the system to authorize the writing of features to the wafer. The specific features to be written may be selected based on such process instructions.
The substrate parameter fields 3606 can store any number of parameters for the various substrates, such as type, dimensions, date codes, manufacturing and source information, application type, etc. The history fields 3608 can provide a summary of history information associated with prior processing that has been applied to each substrate. The next feature set fields 3610 can indicate the next features to be applied to the associated substrate (e.g., a field, set of commands, etc.) during the current mounting of the substrate.
As depicted in
In this way, the control circuit 3504 operates to use the unique substrate ID value from the recovered timing pattern to determine which features should be written to the substrate, and uses the timing marks from the recovered timing pattern to position the written features to compensate for offset errors in the location of the substrate on the turntable or other support structure.
It will now be appreciated that the various embodiments presented herein can be adapted for a wide variety of different applications, including but not limited to optical discs, magnetic recording discs, semiconductors, biomedical (e.g., lab on disc) devices, other forms of 3D structures, etc. Similarly, while the alignment processing has been applied in the context of processing that employs application of a write beam to the substrate, it will be appreciated that this is also merely exemplary and is not necessarily limiting in that any number of different forms of processing can be applied to the substrates as desired once the translational and/or angular offsets of the substrate are identified.
The present application is a continuation-in-part of copending U.S. Utility application Ser. No. 15/470,584 filed Mar. 27, 2017, which in turn is a continuation-in-part of copending U.S. Utility application Ser. No. 15/081,191 filed Mar. 25, 2016 and now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,627,179, which in turn makes a claim of domestic priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/138,776 filed Mar. 26, 2015, the contents of each being hereby incorporated herein by reference.
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Child | 15917043 | US | |
Parent | 15081191 | Mar 2016 | US |
Child | 15470584 | US |