A method for producing an individualization zone of a microelectronic chip having a first and a second electrical track level and an interconnection level including vias, includes providing the first level and a dielectric layer, forming an etching mask on the dielectric layer, randomly depositing particles on the etching mask, and forming a lithographic layer having opening patterns. The mask layer is etched through opening patterns to form mask openings, then the dielectric layer is etched through the mask openings, so as to obtain functional via openings and degraded via openings. The via openings are filled so as to form the vias of the interconnection level, the vias including functional vias at the functional openings and malfunctional vias at the degraded openings.

Provided is a stripping method capable of stripping a resist while suppressing the time and cost of processing required for stripping, while giving sufficient consideration to the load on the environment. The resist stripping method is a method for stripping a resist film-formed on a substrate, including: a pretreatment step of exposing the resist to a heated steam in a predetermined temperature range for a predetermined time; and a stripping step of stripping the resist exposed to the heated steam in the pretreatment step by using a resist stripping liquid, wherein the predetermined temperature range and the predetermined time are set according to the resist.

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes: forming a pattern formation material layer on a substrate; forming a photoresist on the pattern formation material layer; exposing and developing the photoresist to form a photoresist pattern; performing a first deionized water cleaning on the photoresist pattern; cleaning the photoresist pattern with a cleaning solution including a surfactant; and performing a second deionized water cleaning on the photoresist pattern.

An etching processing system includes a memory, and a processor coupled to the memory and configured to predict etching quality of a substrate by inputting image data of the substrate into a trained model trained by using training data in which image data of substrates captured by an imaging device arranged on a transfer path of the substrates and information for predicting etching quality of the substrates are associated with each other.

Provided is a technique that, when heat-treating a substrate including an exposed resist film formed on a surface of the substrate and exhibiting a change in solubility of an exposed portion or an unexposed portion in a liquid developer by reacting with water and being heated, is capable of promoting the change in the solubility. For this purpose, a heat treatment apparatus includes: a stage 23 on which the substrate W is placed and heated; a lifting mechanism 26 configured to relatively raise and lower the substrate W between a first position at which the substrate is placed on the stage 23 and a second position spaced apart from the stage; and a gas supply 33 configured to supply a first gas having a humidity higher than that of an atmosphere in which the stage 23 is provided, to the substrate W located at the second position before moving to the first position.

An embodiment etching tool includes an etch chamber for plasma etching a first wafer to be processed; a transfer chamber coupled to the etch chamber; a first run path between the transfer chamber and the etch chamber, the first run path including a path for moving the first wafer to be processed from the transfer chamber to the etch chamber, where the etching tool is configured to dry develop the first wafer to be processed before etching a hard mask on the first wafer in the etch chamber.

The present invention provides a measurement apparatus that measures a position of an object, comprising: a detector configured to irradiate a measurement target point of the object with light having a plurality of wavelengths, and detect a position of the measurement target point based on the light reflected by the measurement target point; and a processor configured to determine the position of the object based on a detection result of the detector, wherein the detection result includes an error represented by a waveform in which an amplitude cyclically changes in accordance with a distance between the detector and the object, and wherein the processor is configured to cause the detector to detect the position of the measurement target point at the distance at which the amplitude in the waveform of the error falls within an allowable range.

Provided are an overlay correction method for effectively correcting an overlay due to degradation of a wafer table, and an exposure method and a semiconductor device manufacturing method, which include the overlay correction method, wherein the overlay correction method includes acquiring leveling data regarding a wafer, converting the leveling data into overlay data, splitting a shot into sub-shots via shot size split, extracting a model for each sub-shot from the overlay data, and correcting an overlay parameter of exposure equipment on the basis of the model for each sub-shot, wherein the correction of the overlay parameter is applied in real time to an exposure process for the wafer in a feedforward method.

Method of manufacturing a nanoimprint lithography replica includes depositing a first resist layer over a substrate and selectively exposing the first resist layer to a first actinic radiation. The selectively exposed first resist layer is developed to form a pattern in the first resist layer. The pattern in the first resist layer is extended into the substrate to form a mold in the substrate. The first resist layer is removed from the substrate. A second resist layer deposited over a replica blank. The second resist layer is contacted with the mold. The second resist layer is exposed to a second actinic radiation. The mold and the exposed second resist layer are separated. A pattern is formed in the exposed second resist layer. The pattern in the second resist layer is extended into the replica blank, and the second resist layer is removed from the replica blank to form a replica.

An embodiment etching tool includes an etch chamber for plasma etching a first wafer to be processed; a transfer chamber coupled to the etch chamber; a first run path between the transfer chamber and the etch chamber, the first run path including a path for moving the first wafer to be processed from the transfer chamber to the etch chamber, where the etching tool is configured to dry develop the first wafer to be processed before etching a hard mask on the first wafer in the etch chamber.