Disclosed is target arrangement comprising a first target region having at least a first pitch and at least a second pitch a second target region having at least a third pitch, wherein a portion of the first target region having a second pitch overlaps with a portion of the second target region.

Disclosed is a substrate, associated patterning device and a method for measuring a position of the substrate. The method comprises performing an alignment scan of an alignment mark to obtain simultaneously: a first measurement signal detected in a first measurement channel and a second measurement signal detected in a second measurement channel. The first and second measurement signals are processed by subtracting a first direction component of the first measurement signal from a first direction component of the second measurement signal to obtain a first processed signal, the first direction components relating to said first direction. The position of an alignment mark is determined with respect to the first direction from the first processed signal.

A semiconductor device capable of improving the quality of a pixel region, an electronic apparatus including the semiconductor device, and a method for manufacturing the semiconductor device are to be provided. The present technology provides a semiconductor device that includes: a first substrate in which a pixel region including a pixel having a photoelectric conversion unit is formed; and a second substrate in which a logic circuit that processes a signal output from the pixel region is formed, the first substrate and the second substrate being stacked. In the semiconductor device, at least one of marks including a mark to be used in an exposure process during the manufacture of the semiconductor device and/or a mark to be used in an inspection process for the semiconductor device is formed in a first region that is a region between a first scribe region that is a peripheral portion of the first substrate and the pixel region and/or in a second region that is a region between a second scribe region that is a peripheral portion of the second substrate and a region corresponding to the pixel region in the second substrate.

A calibration system includes a plate, a fixed alignment mark, and a variable diffraction grating. The plate is adjacent to a wafer alignment mark disposed on a wafer. The fixed alignment mark is disposed on the plate and is configured to act as a reference mark for an initial calibration of the calibration system. The variable diffraction grating is disposed on the plate and includes a plurality of unit cells configured to form a plurality of variable alignment marks. The variable diffraction grating is configured to calibrate a shift-between-orders of one of the variable alignment marks and the fixed alignment mark.

The present invention provides a measurement apparatus for measuring a position of a first pattern and a position of a second pattern provided in a target object, the apparatus including an image capturing unit including a plurality of pixels which detect light from the first pattern and light from the second pattern, and configured to form an image capturing region used to capture the first pattern and the second pattern by the plurality of pixels, and a control unit configured to adjust the image capturing unit such that a relative ratio of an intensity of a detection signal of the first pattern generated based on an output from a first image capturing region and an intensity of a detection signal of the second pattern generated based on an output from a second image capturing region falls within an allowable range.

An apparatus and system for determining alignment of a substrate in which a periodic alignment mark is illuminated with spatially coherent radiation which is then provided to a compact integrated optical device to create self images of the alignment mark which may be manipulated (e.g., mirrored, polarized) and combined to obtain information on the position of the mark and distortions within the mark. Also disclosed is a system for determining alignment of a substrate in which a periodic alignment mark is illuminated with spatially coherent radiation which is then provided to an optical fiber arrangement to obtain information such as the position of the mark and distortions within the mark.

A calibration system includes a plate, a fixed alignment mark, and a variable diffraction grating. The plate is adjacent to a wafer alignment mark disposed on a wafer. The fixed alignment mark is disposed on the plate and is configured to act as a reference mark for an initial calibration of the calibration system. The variable diffraction grating is disposed on the plate and includes a plurality of unit cells configured to form a plurality of variable alignment marks. The variable diffraction grating is configured to calibrate a shift-between-orders of one of the variable alignment marks and the fixed alignment mark.

An alignment mark includes a first alignment marker located on a first surface of a substrate and a second alignment marker located on a second surface of the substrate. The second alignment marker is arranged to be matched with the first alignment marker, and capable of representing a process variation between the second alignment marker and the first alignment marker.

The reflectance of a low-reflectance alignment mark is increased by coating the alignment mark with a high-reflectance film layer. This improves the strength of the light signal and reduces variation in the light signal.

According to one embodiment, a pattern forming method includes forming a resist film including a first core material pattern and a second core material pattern, on a first film laminated on a substrate; forming a second film at least on sidewalls of the first and second core material patterns; removing the first core material pattern while not removing the second core material pattern and the second film; and processing the first film by using, as a mask, the second core material pattern and the second film.