Light irradiation device and method for patterning self assembled monolayer

Abstract

Disclosed herein a vacuum ultra violet light source device that is capable of suppressing an amount of ozone generation when the vacuum ultra violet light is emitted into an atmosphere containing oxygen, a light irradiation device incorporating the vacuum ultra violet light device, and a method of patterning a self-assembled monolayer employing the light irradiation device. The light irradiation device is configured to irradiate a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) formed on a workpiece with light containing vacuum ultra violet light through a mask M on which a prescribed pattern is formed so as to perform a patterning process of the SAM. The light containing the vacuum ultra violet light to be irradiated onto the SAM is light that is pulsed light and has a duty ratio of light emission equal to or greater than 0.00001 and equal to or less than 0.01.

Claims

1. A light irradiation device comprising: a mask arranged to be apart from a workpiece on which a self-assembled monolayer is formed, the mask having a prescribed pattern being formed on the mask; a light source for irradiating the workpiece with light containing vacuum ultra violet light through the mask; and a gas introduction unit having an inlet port and an outlet port for introducing gas containing oxygen between the mask and the workpiece so as to form a gas layer containing oxygen between the mask and the workpiece, the light containing the vacuum ultra violet light being pulsed light and having a duty ratio of light emission equal to or greater than 0.00001 and equal to or less than 0.01.

2. The light irradiation device according to claim 1, wherein the duty ratio of the light emission is equal to or greater than 0.0001 and equal to or less than 0.001.

3. The light irradiation device according to claim 2, further comprising: a flash lamp including an arc tube made of a vacuum ultra violet light permeable material; and a pair of electrodes arranged in the arc tube and configured to face each other; and a power feeder unit configured to feed power to the flash lamp.

4. The light irradiation device according to claim 3, wherein the flash lamp has an inter-electrode distance between the pair of electrodes equal to or less than 12.5 mm, and encloses gas containing xenon gas in the arc tube.

5. The light irradiation device according to claim 2, further comprising: an enclosure member configured to enclose a light path of the light from the vacuum ultra violet light source device to the mask; and a second inlet port for introducing inert gas into the enclosure member and a second outlet port for exhausting the inert gas from the enclosure member so as to purge inside the enclosure member.

6. The light irradiation device according to claim 1, further comprising: a flash lamp including an arc tube made of a vacuum ultra violet light permeable material; and a pair of electrodes arranged in the arc tube and configured to face each other; and a power feeder unit configured to feed power to the flash lamp.

7. The light irradiation device according to claim 6, wherein the flash lamp has an inter-electrode distance between the pair of electrodes equal to or less than 12.5 mm, and encloses gas containing xenon gas in the arc tube.

8. The light irradiation device according to claim 7, further comprising: an enclosure member configured to enclose a light path of the light from the vacuum ultra violet light source device to the mask; and a second inlet port for introducing inert gas into the enclosure member and a second outlet port for exhausting the inert gas from the enclosure member so as to purge inside the enclosure member.

9. The light irradiation device according to claim 6, further comprising: an enclosure member configured to enclose a light path of the light from the vacuum ultra violet light source device to the mask; and a second inlet port for introducing inert gas into the enclosure member and a second outlet port for exhausting the inert gas from the enclosure member so as to purge inside the enclosure member.

10. The light irradiation device according to claim 1, further comprising: an enclosure member configured to enclose a light path of the light from the vacuum ultra violet light source device to the mask; and a second inlet port for introducing inert gas into the enclosure member and a second outlet port for exhausting the inert gas from the enclosure member so as to purge inside the enclosure member.

11. A method of patterning a self-assembled monolayer, comprising: irradiating a self-assembled monolayer formed on a workpiece with light containing vacuum ultra violet light through a mask on which a prescribed pattern is formed, the light containing the ultra violet light being pulsed light and having a duty ratio of light emission equal to or greater than 0.00001 and equal to or less than 0.01; generating active oxygen from the oxygen contained in gas between the mask and the workpiece by irradiating the self-assembled monolayer with the light containing vacuum ultra violet light; and using the active oxygen, oxidizing and decomposing a region of the self-assembled monolayer irradiated by the light containing the vacuum ultra violet light so as to remove the region of the self-assembled monolayer from the workpiece.

12. The method of patterning the self-assembled monolayer according to claim 11, wherein the method irradiates the self-assembled monolayer with light that has the duty ratio of the light emission equal to or greater than 0.001 and equal to or less than 0.001 as the light containing the vacuum ultra violet light.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a spectral distribution of light emitted from an excimer lamp.

(2) FIG. 2 is a view illustrating a spectral distribution of light emitted from a VUV-SFL.

(3) FIG. 3 is a view illustrating an exemplary configuration of the VUV-SFL.

(4) FIG. 4 is a view illustrating a change in an angle of contact of a SAM when the SAM is irradiated with light from the excimer lamp.

(5) FIG. 5 is a view illustrating a change in an angle of contact of the SAM when the SAM is irradiated with light from the VUV-SFL.

(6) FIG. 6 is a view illustrating an exemplary experimental system for measuring an ozone concentration.

(7) FIG. 7 is a view illustrating a difference in the amount of ozone generation between the excimer lamp and the VUV-SFL.

(8) FIG. 8 is a view illustrating a definition of a duty ratio.

(9) FIG. 9 is a view illustrating a relationship between the duty ratio and the ozone concentration.

(10) FIG. 10 is a view illustrating an exemplary configuration of a light irradiation device.

(11) FIG. 11 is a view illustrating a method for patterning the SAM.

(12) FIG. 12 is a view illustrating an example of the ozone etching.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

(13) Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with referring to the accompanying drawings.

(14) The inventor(s) of the present invention have conducted an experiment for measuring an ozone concentration as described below in order to investigate an amount of ozone generation generated with the oxygen molecule in a processing atmosphere such as the atmospheric air absorbing the vacuum ultra violet light (i.e., VUV light).

(15) More particularly, an excimer lamp that emits the VUV light having the center wavelength of 172 nm and a VUV flash lamp that has a higher light intensity in the VUV region (that is, a VUV short arc flash lamp: hereinafter referred to as VUV-SFL) were both used, and an amount of ozone generation from both lamps were investigated, respectively, when an integrated irradiance level of the VUV light from both of lamps into the air were assumed to be identical to each other.

(16) As an excimer light irradiation unit radiating the excimer light, Min-Excimer SUS713, manufactured by USHIO DENKI KABUSHIKI KAISHA (USHIO Inc.), was used. The light emitting length of the lamp is 100 mm, and the frequency of the power supply for supplying power to the lamp is 140 kHz. FIG. 1 shows the spectral distribution of the light emitted from this type of excimer lamp. It should be noted that, in FIG. 1, the horizontal axis denotes the wavelength [nm] and the vertical axis denotes the relative intensity of light [%].

(17) On the other hand, as the VUV-SFL, a certain flash lamp was used in which the inter-electrode distance between a pair of electrodes arranged in an arc tube, which is made of a vacuum ultra violet light permeable material (such as a quartz glass tube or the like), is equal to or less than 12.5 mm, and a gas containing a xenon gas is enclosed in the arc tube at the enclosing gas pressure of 3 atm. FIG. 2 shows the spectral distribution of the light radiated from this type of VUV-SFL. It should be note that, in FIG. 2, the horizontal axis denotes the wavelength [nm] and the vertical axis denotes the spectral radiant intensity [J/cm.sup.2].

(18) Hereinafter, an exemplary configuration of the VUV-SFL will be described below.

(19) FIG. 3 shows an exemplary configuration of a double-ended type short arc flash lamp as an example of the VUV-SFL.

(20) As shown in FIG. 3, the VUV-SFL 11 is provided with an arc tube 111a. At both ends of the arc tube 111a, a first sealing tube 111b and a second sealing tube 111c are consecutively connected, respectively. Also, a sealing glass tube 112 is inserted into the second sealing tube 111c, and both of the sealing glass tube 112 and the second sealing tube 111c are welded to each other.

(21) Inside the arc tube 111a, a pair of electrodes (namely, a first main electrode 113a and a second main electrode 113b) are arranged to be opposed to each other. A lead 114a extending from the first main electrode 113a is supported and sealed with respect to the first sealing tube 111b by a stepped connection (step jointed) glass or the like, and is introduced (lead out) outwardly towards the outside thereof.

(22) Also, a pair of starting auxiliary electrodes 115a and 115b are arranged between the main electrodes 113a and 113b in the arc tube 111a. An internal lead 116a of the starting auxiliary electrode 115a is electrically connected to an external lead 117a of the starting auxiliary electrode 115a through a metal foil 118a in the welded region between the second sealing tube 111c and the sealing glass tube 112. Likewise, an internal lead 116b of the starting auxiliary electrode 115b is electrically connected to an external lead 117b of the starting auxiliary electrode 115b through a metal foil 118b in the welded region between the second sealing tube 111c and the sealing glass tube 112.

(23) In addition, a supporter 119 is provided between the pair of internal leads 116a and 116b. The supporter 119 is configured to position the starting auxiliary electrodes 115a and 115b.

(24) The leads 114a and 114b, and the external leads 117a and 117b are connected to a power feeder unit 15, respectively. The power feeder unit 15 includes a capacitor, which is not shown, which stores prescribed energy. The power feeder unit 15 applies high voltage between the pair of electrodes 113a and 113b by charging the capacitor. Also, in this state, the power feeder unit 15 supplies a high voltage pulse between the pair of starting auxiliary electrodes 115a and 115b as trigger voltage. As a result, the power feeder unit 15 allows an arc discharge between the pair of electrodes 113a and 113b to occur so as to generate a flash discharge in the arc tube 111a. In this way, pulsed light is emitted outside the arc tube 111a.

(25) In this regard, as the VUV-SFL to be used for the experiment for measuring the ozone concentration, the certain VUV-SFL is used in which the inter-electrode distance between the pair of electrodes 113a and 113b, as shown in FIG. 3, is equal to or less than 12.5 mm and a gas containing the xenon gas is enclosed in the arc tube 111a at the enclosing gas pressure of 3 atm. With this configuration, the VUV-SFL is capable of emitting light that has a sufficiently short light emitting length to the extent that the VUV-SFL can be assumed to be a point light source and that contains the VUV light with the sufficiently higher light intensity.

(26) It should be noted that, as the VUV-SFL emitting the VUV light with higher light intensity, applicable one is a VUV-SFL in which the inter-electrode distance between the electrodes is equal to or less than 12.5 mm, the gas containing the xenon gas is enclosed in the arc tube, and the enclosing gas pressure is between 2 atm and 8 atm.

(27) As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the excimer lamp and the VUV-SFL have different spectral distribution each other. Since the light that contributes the patterning of the SAM is the VUV light having a wavelength region equal to or less than 200 nm, it is required to confirm the difference in the amount of ozone generation in the experiment for measuring the ozone concentration by equalizing the light irradiation (irradiance) amount in such wavelength region between the excimer lamp and the VUV-SFL.

(28) In this regard, however, the light emitted from the VUV-SFL inevitably contains a wavelength component above and beyond the wavelength of 200 nm, as shown in FIG. 2, while the excimer lamp solely emits the light equal to or less than 200 nm, as shown in FIG. 1. For this reason, when using the VUV-SFL, it is impossible to simply measure the illuminance (irradiance) of the light having the wavelength equal to or less than 200 nm only.

(29) To cope with this circumstance, the inventors of the present invention have focused attention on the fact that an angle of contact (contact angle) of the SAM changes when the SAM is irradiated with the VUV light having the wavelength region equal to or less than 200 nm. Accordingly, the inventors of the present invention have assumed that the percentage of the irradiation amount of the VUV light of the excimer lamp in the light irradiation amount of the whole excimer lamp from when the SAM starts to be irradiated with the light until when the change in the contact angle of the SAM becomes stable is equal to the irradiation amount of the VUV-SFL from when the SAM starts to be irradiated with the light until when the change in the contact angle of the SAM becomes stable. Then, under this assumption, the illuminance of the light having the wavelength equal to or less than 200 nm of the VUV-SFL has been calculated. Hereinafter, the above mentioned procedure will be described in detail.

(30) FIG. 4 is a view showing the change in the contact angle of the SAM when the SAM is irradiated with the excimer light using the excimer lamp such that the illuminance on the surface of the SAM on the workpiece (substrate) becomes 8.25 mW/cm.sup.2 in the atmospheric air. It should be noted that the SAM used here was 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluoro octyl trimethoxy silane (FAS13, manufactured by Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Ltd.). As shown in FIG. 4, the change in the contact angle of the SAM became stable by irradiating the SAM with the light for 75 seconds. More particularly, the contact angle of the SAM changed from 58 degrees to 42 degrees and then became substantially stable.

(31) On the other hand, FIG. 5 is a view showing the change in the contact angle of the SAM on the workpiece when the SAM is irradiated with the pulsed light from the VUV-SFL. A charging energy of the capacitor with the capacity of 20 F, which was charged at 600 V, (that is, 2010.sup.6600.sup.2=3.6 J) was input to the VUV-SFL, and the charged VUV-SFL was lit up at 10 Hz. As shown in FIG. 5, the change in the contact angle of the SAM became stable by irradiating the SAM with the light for 120 seconds. More particularly, the contact angle of the SAM changed from 58 degrees to 33 degrees, and then became substantially stable.

(32) It should be noted that, as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, even when the contact angles of the SAM when the light irradiation starts are identical to each other between the excimer lamp and the VUV-SFL, the measure of the contact angle when the change in the contact angle becomes stable still differs between the case in which the SAM is irradiated with the VUV-SFL light and the case in which the SAM is irradiated with the excimer lamp light. The reason of such difference is, as apparent from the spectral distributions in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the light emitted from the VUV-SFL contains a larger amount of a wavelength component having a wavelength equal to or less than 200 nm (VUV), which has greater energy than the light emitted from the excimer lamp. Thus, it is assumed that the irradiation with the VUV-SFL light onto the SAM has more promoted the decomposition of the SAM with the VUV irradiation.

(33) As described above, the elapsed time until the change in the contact angle of the SAM becomes stable is 120 seconds in the case of the VUV-SFL, and is 75 seconds in the case of the excimer lamp. As a result, it can be assumed that the irradiation amount of the VUV light having the wavelength equal to or less than 200 nm when the SAM is irradiated with the VUV-SFL light for 120 seconds is equal to the irradiation amount of the VUV light when the SAM is irradiated with the excimer lamp light for 75 seconds.

(34) The total irradiation amount of the excimer lamp until the change in the contact angle of the SAM becomes stable is: 75 s8.25 mW/cm.sup.2=618.25 mJ/cm.sup.2. That means that the illuminance of the VUV-SFL light having the wavelength equal to or less than 200 nm onto the SAM is, when being converted into the illuminance of the excimer lamp, equivalent to: 75 s/120 s8.25 mW/cm.sup.2=5.16 mW/cm.sup.2.

(35) In other words, when the above mentioned VUV-SFL is lit up with the input energy of 3.6 J at 10 Hz, it can be assumed that, with the excimer lamp being lit up at the illuminance of 5.16 mW/cm.sup.2, the irradiation amount per unit time of the VUV light having the wavelength equal to or less than 200 nm from both light sources become equal to each other.

(36) Under the above mentioned observation, in the experiment for measuring the ozone concentration, the experiment conducted was to measure the concentration of ozone generated when the VUV-SFL with the 3.6 J input is lit up at 10 Hz and the concentration of ozone generated when the excimer lamp having the center wavelength of 172 nm is lit up at the lighting frequency of 140 kHz, of which illuminance was adjusted to be 5.16 mW/cm.sup.2, and to compare both ozone concentrations.

(37) FIG. 6 shows an exemplary configuration of an experimental system used for the experiment for measuring the ozone concentration.

(38) A lamp 41 is the above mentioned excimer lamp, or alternatively, the VUV-SFL. The lamp 41 is accommodated within a lamp housing (or lamp house) 42, and the light emitted from the lamp 41 is radiated to outside from a window 43 having the VUV light permeability, which is provided in the lamp housing 42.

(39) Also, a flow cell 44, which is also made of a VUV light permeable material, is arranged at a light emitting (output) side of the lamp 41. Inside the flow cell 44, an air is introduced from an open end 45 formed at one end of the flow cell 44. The other end of the flow cell 44 is connected to an ozone meter 46. The thickness of the flow cell 44 is, for example, 1 mm, and the cross sectional area thereof is, for example, 3 mm24 mm, as shown in FIG. 6.

(40) As the ozone meter 46, EG-2001 RAH035, manufactured by Ebara Jitsugyo Co., Ltd., was used. The gas suction amount of the ozone meter 46 is 1.5 liters/min.

(41) On the light irradiation surface of the flow cell 44, an aluminum foil having an aperture 47a of 1 cm1 cm square was provided as a mask 47. In other words, the irradiation area of the VUV light onto the air flowing in the flow cell 44 becomes 1 cm.sup.2. The gap length D from the window 43 of the lamp housing 42 to a surface of the mask M is, for example, 2.5 mm.

(42) It should be noted that FIG. 6 is depicted in an exaggerated manner simply for making the understanding easier, and the magnitude relationship does not necessarily reflect an actual experimental system.

(43) In the above mentioned experimental system, as mentioned above, the concentration of ozone generated when the VUV-SFL with the input of 3.6 J is lit up at 10 Hz and also the concentration of ozone generated when the excimer lamp having the center wavelength of 172 nm is lit up at the lighting frequency of 140 kHz, of which illuminance on the surface of the flow cell is adjusted to be 5.16 mW/cm.sup.2, were measured, respectively. FIG. 7 shows an experimental result thereof.

(44) In FIG. 7, a solid line depicts a measurement result of the ozone concentration of the VUV-SFL, and a dashed line depicts a measurement result of the ozone concentration of the excimer lamp.

(45) As shown in FIG. 7, the ozone concentration when 3 minutes elapsed after the VUV-SFL and the excimer lamp were lit up were 0.64 ppm and 4.78 ppm, respectively. In this way, although the excimer lamp and the VUV-SFL were lit up, respectively, such that the irradiation amount in the VUV regions become identical to each other, still it is observed that the VUV-SFL with the pulsed lighting has a smaller ozone concentration than the excimer lamp. In other words, it is turned out that the VUV-SFL with the pulsed lighting has the smaller amount of ozone generation in the lighting in the atmospheric air.

(46) It should be noted that, in the case in which the excimer lamp is lit up, the reason why the ozone concentration reaches a peak after approximately 30 seconds from the lighting being started, and then gradually decreases is considered as follows. The temperature of the lamp increases after 30 seconds from the lighting being started, the temperature of the enclosed gas in the bulb of the excimer lamp also increases, and the self-absorption of the excimer light by the enclosed gas accordingly increases. As a result, it is considered that the amount of VUV light emission from the excimer lamp gradually decreases.

(47) As the lighting frequency of the excimer lamp used here is 140 kHz, as shown in FIG. 8, the light emitting interval of the excimer lamp is 710.sup.6 seconds. It should be noted that, in FIG. 8, the horizontal axis denotes time, and the vertical axis denotes a light output (in arbitrary units). Also, the light emission pulse width tp is approximately 2 s with FWHM (full width at half maximum).

(48) Accordingly, a duty ratio of the light emission of the excimer lamp (=light emission pulse width tp/light emission interval T) becomes: 210.sup.6/710.sup.6=0.29 (29%).

(49) On the other hand, as the lighting frequency of the VUV-SFL is 10 Hz, the light emission interval of the VUV-SFL is 0.1 seconds. Also, the light emission pulse width is approximately 10 s with FWHM. Accordingly, a duty ratio of the light emission of the VUV-SFL becomes: 110.sup.5/0.1=110.sup.4 (0.01%)

(50) As described above, the duty ratio of the light emission significantly differs between the excimer lamp and the VUV-SFL. In light of the above mentioned observation, it can be assumed that such the fact that the duty of the light emission significantly differs between the excimer lamp and the VUV-SFL is contributory to the smaller ozone concentration when the VUV-SFL is lit up compared to the excimer lamp being lit up although the excimer lamp and the VUV-SFL are both lit up such that the light irradiation amount in the VUV regions become identical to each other.

(51) In other words, it is assumed that, when the duty ratio of the light emission is smaller, the ozone generation reaction is less likely to occur by three-body (triple) collision among oxygen atom in the excited state O (.sup.1D: excited state), oxygen molecule, and an ambient medium (such as nitrogen molecule or the like).

(52) In order to verify the above mentioned hypothesis, by use of a plurality of lamps that have different duty ratio from the above mentioned lamps (namely, the excimer lamp and the VUV-SFL), the amounts of ozone generation (concentration) were investigated, respectively. it should be noted that the above mentioned excimer lamp is referred to as a lamp A, and the VUV-SFL is referred to as a lamp D.

(53) Other lamps of which ozone generation amount are newly investigated when emitting light are a lamp B and a lamp C, which will be described below.

(54) Namely, the lamp B is an excimer lamp emitting the VUV light having the enter wavelength of 172 nm, and the spectral distribution thereof is identical to the spectral distribution of the lamp A as shown in FIG. 1. The lighting frequency of the lamp B is set to 20 kHz, and the light emission pulse width is set to approximately 2 s with FWHM.

(55) As the light emission interval of the lamp B is 510.sup.5 seconds, the duty ratio of the light emission of the lamp B is: 210.sup.6/510.sup.5=0.04 (4%).

(56) Likewise, the lamp C is a VUV-SFL emitting the VUV light having the wavelength equal to or less than 200 nm, and the spectral distribution thereof is identical to the spectral distribution of the lamp D as shown in FIG. 2. The lighting frequency of the lamp Cis set to 100 Hz, and the light emission pulse width is set to approximately 10 s with FWHM.

(57) As the light emission interval of the lamp C is 0.01 seconds, the duty ratio of the light emission of the lamp C is: 110.sup.6/0.01=0.001 (0.1%).

(58) It should be noted that, here, an input energy to the lamp B and the lamp C were adjusted, respectively, such that the irradiation amounts of the VUV light of the lamp B and the lamp C become identical to the irradiation amounts of the VUV light of the lamp A and the lamp D, respectively.

(59) By measuring the ozone concentration being generated when 3 minutes elapsed after the lamps A to D were lit up, the following results as shown in Table 1 were obtained.

(60) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Light Pulse Oscillating Emission Ozone Width Frequency Interval Concentration Lamp [s] [Hz] [s] Duty [ppm] A: (Excimer 2 140000 7 10.sup.6 0.29 4.78 Lamp) B: (Excimer 2 20000 5 10.sup.5 0.04 4.43 Lamp) C: 10 100 0.01 0.001 2.43 (VUV-SFL) D: 10 10 0.1 0.0001 0.64 (VUV-SFL)

(61) It should be noted that the measurement point of the ozone concentration was set to be after 3 minutes elapsed because the lighting operation of the lamps A to D become substantially stable when 3 minutes elapses after the lamps are lit up, respectively.

(62) FIG. 9 is a view showing the relationship between the light emission duty ratio and the ozone concentration based on the results shown in the above Table 1.

(63) As apparent from FIG. 9, in the case in which the pulsed light containing the light in the VUV region is radiated in the atmospheric air, assuming the irradiation amount in the VUV region into the air is identical to one another, it is turned out that the amount of ozone generation becomes smaller as the duty ratio of the light emission becomes smaller.

(64) In addition, by use of the lamps A to D, respectively, the patterning of the SAM (namely, FAS13 manufactured by Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Ltd.) was performed in the atmospheric air, respectively. As a result, in the case in which the lamp A and the lamp B are used, respectively, it was observed that the so-called ozone etching OE, such as an enlarged etching width or a partial defect of the SAM or the like, has been generated to the extent being not negligible, as shown in, for example, FIG. 12, due to the oxidative decomposition reaction between the ozone generated and the SAM. Accordingly, a satisfactory patterning failed to be attained.

(65) On the other hand, in the case in which the lamp C and the lamp D are used, respectively, it was observed that a satisfactory patterning was successfully attained, as shown in, for example, FIG. 11, due to the smaller oxidative decomposition reaction between the ozone generated and the SAM, as the concentration of ozone generated is relatively smaller.

(66) Yet furthermore, in investigating the relationship between the ozone concentration generated and the patterning accuracy, it was confirmed that the deformation of the patterning due to the ozone etching becomes considerable if the ozone concentration generated is equal to or greater than 4 ppm.

(67) As shown in FIG. 9, when the duty ratio of the light emission is equal to or less than 0.01, then it is possible to reduce the ozone concentration generated to be less than 4 ppm with an absolute accuracy. In other words, when the SAM undergoes the patterning by use of the VUV light, it is possible to attain the patterning with the higher accuracy by using a light source that emits the pulsed light and has the duty ratio of the light emission equal to or less than 0.01, as the lamp C and the lamp D (namely, the VUV-SFL).

(68) As a result, when the SAM film undergoes the patterning by use of the VUV light, the present embodiment employs a flash lamp that emits the pulsed light and has the duty ratio of the light emission equal to or less than 0.01 and greater than 0. More particularly, the above mentioned duty ratio of the light emission is to be set to equal to or greater than 0.00001 and equal to or less than 0.01. When the duty ratio becomes smaller, then it is required to increase an output per one light emission, because the number of light emission per unit time decreases. In other words, the input power to the lamp is required to be larger so that the power feeder unit, which includes a capacitor (now shown) storing the prescribed energy, is required to increase in size. In this regard, the reason why the lower limit of the duty ratio is set to 0.00001 is because, when the duty ratio becomes below 0.00001, the above mentioned power feeder unit 15 becomes too large to be practically used in order to increase the light output per one light emission.

(69) More preferably, the duty ratio of the light emission is set to equal to or greater than 0.0001 and equal to or less than 0.001. With the duty ratio being set so, it is possible to sufficiently reduce the ozone concentration generated to the extent being practically no problem under the lighting condition that is relatively easily feasible, such as the above mentioned lamp C and the lamp D.

(70) FIG. 10 is a view showing an exemplary configuration of a light irradiation device configured to pattern the SAM by use of the VUV light.

(71) The light irradiation device 100 includes a vacuum ultra violet light source device 10 which radiates the VUV light. The vacuum ultra violet light source device 10 includes a flash lamp 11, a paraboloid mirror 12, a lamp housing 13, and a window 14 provided in the lamp housing 13.

(72) The flash lamp 11 is a VUV-SFL which has, for example, a configuration shown in FIG. 3. More particularly, the flash lamp 11 includes an arc tube 111a which is made of the vacuum ultra violet light permeable material, and a pair of electrodes 113a and 113b arranged in the arc tube 111a and facing (opposing) each other. The inter-electrode distance between the electrodes of the pair of electrodes 113a and 113b is equal to or less than 12.5 mm, and a gas containing a xenon gas is enclosed in the arc tube 111a at the enclosing gas pressure of 3 atm.

(73) It should be noted that, although not in particular illustrated in the drawings, the vacuum ultra violet light source device 10 includes a power feeder unit that has the similar configuration to the power feeder unit 15 as shown in FIG. 3.

(74) The flash lamp 11 is drive controlled by a controller 31 such that the flash lamp 11 emits pulsed light having the duty ratio equal to or greater than 0.00001 and equal to or less than 0.01 (for example, 0.001 here). In other words, the controller 31 drive controls the power feeder unit of the vacuum ultra violet light source device 10, inputs to the flash lamp 11 the charging energy of the capacitor with the capacity of 20 F (3.6 J), which is charged at 600 V so as to light up the flash lamp 11 at 10 Htz.

(75) The VUV light emitted from the flash lamp 11 is reflected by the paraboloid mirror 12 to become parallel light, and emits (outputs) from the window 14 provided in the lamp housing 13. The window 14 is formed with, for example, a synthetic quartz (synthetic silica) having a higher light permeability with respect to the VUV light. Alternatively, the window 14 may be formed with, for example, a sapphire glass, calcium fluoride, or magnesium fluoride or the like that has a higher light permeability with shorter wavelength than the quartz.

(76) The window 14 is assembled with the lamp housing 13 in an air tight manner. Inside the lamp housing 13, an inert gas such as a nitrogen (N.sub.2) gas or the like is introduced from a gas inlet (installation) port 13a provided in the lamp housing 13, and oxygen is purged by the inert gas. This is because otherwise the VUV light considerably undergoes the absorption and attenuation by oxygen. By purging inside the lamp housing 13 by the inert gas such as N.sub.2 gas or the like, it is possible to prevent the absorption and attenuation of the VUV light by oxygen from occurring. Furthermore, the inert gas introduced inside the lamp housing 13 cools the flash lamp 11 or the paraboloid mirror 12, and then is exhausted from an exhaust outlet port 13b provided in the lamp housing 13.

(77) It should be noted that inside the lamp housing 13 may be alternatively, for example, vacuum.

(78) The VUV light emitted from the vacuum ultra violet light source device 10 is incident to the mask M. The mask M is configured by, for example, vapor depositing (evaporating) metal such as chrome or the like on a transparent substrate such as glass or the like, and etching the vapor deposited metal to form a pattern (irradiation pattern). A workpiece W is irradiated with the VUV light through the mask M.

(79) At the light emitting side of the vacuum ultra violet light source device 10, an enclosure (enclosing) member 21 is provided that encloses a light path through which the light emitted from the vacuum ultra violet light source device 10 and incident to the mask M advances. The mask M is being suction held by a mask stage 22 fixed to the enclosure member 21 while the mask M is kept horizontal.

(80) Inside the window 14, the enclosure member 21, the mask stage 22 of the vacuum ultra violet light source device 10, and the mask M is a closed (enclosed) space. The enclosure member 21 is provided with a gas inlet port 21a. Inside the enclosure member 21, which becomes the closed space, the inert gas such as N.sub.2 gas is introduced from the gas inlet port 21a, and oxygen is pursed by the inert gas inside the enclosure member 21. This is due to the same reason as the reason why oxygen is purged by the inert gas inside the lamp housing 13. Furthermore, the inert gas introduced inside the enclosure member 21 is then exhausted from an exhaust port 21b provided in the enclosure member 21.

(81) It should be noted that inside the enclosure member 21 may be alternatively, for example, vacuum.

(82) The workpiece W is mounted on the work stage 23, and being suction held (chucked) by, for example, a vacuum chuck mechanism. On the workpiece W, the SAM film (SAM) is formed, and arranged to be distant from the mask M by approximately 100 m. Yet furthermore, between the work W and the mask M, an air layer is formed.

(83) More particularly, at the light emitting (output) side of the mask M, the enclosure member 24 is provided that encloses a light path through which the light that transmits the mask M and is irradiated onto the workpiece W. Between the workpiece W and the mask M, an air is introduced from the air inlet port 24a which is formed in the enclosure member 24. The air introduced from the air inlet port 24a is then exhausted from an exhaust port 24b. It should be noted that between the mask M and the workpiece W is not limited to be the air layer but may be sufficient as long as a gas layer containing oxygen is formed.

(84) It should be also noted that the work stage 23 is configured to be movable in the X, Y, Z and directions (that is, the horizontal direction, the anteroposterior direction, the vertical direction, and the rotational direction about the Z axis in FIG. 10) by a stage moving mechanism 32. The stage moving mechanism 32 is drive controlled by the controller 31.

(85) More particularly, the VUV light irradiation process onto the workpiece W is performed as the followings.

(86) First, the controller 31 drive controls the vacuum chuck mechanism or the like to hold the mask M, which is set to the prescribed position on the mask stage 22 by the vacuum suction. Next, the controller 31 lowers the work stage 23 by the stage moving mechanism 32 to cause the workpiece W to be mounted on the work stage 23. Subsequently, the controller 31 uplifts the work stage 23 by the stage moving mechanism 32 to be cause the workpiece W to be set (positioned) at the prescribed irradiation position of the VUV light. Next, the controller 31 moves the work stage 23 by the stage moving mechanism 32 in the X, Y, and directions to perform the position adjustment (that is, alignment) between the mask M and the workpiece W. In other words, the controller 31 causes an alignment mark marked on the mask M and an alignment mark marked on the workpiece W to coincide with each other.

(87) After the alignment between the mask M and the workpiece W is finished, the vacuum ultra violet light source device 10 irradiates the mask M with the VUV light, which is parallel light, to perform the light patterning process of the SAM onto the workpiece W. Subsequently, after the light patterning process is finished, the controller 31 lowers the work stage 23 by the stage moving mechanism 32, stops supplying the vacuum to the work stage 23 to cause the workpiece W, which is already irradiated, to be removable from the work stage 23.

(88) As described above, the light irradiation device 100 according to the present embodiment prepares the mask M on which the pattern is formed, arranges the mask M and the workpiece W to be proximate to each other in parallel, and radiate the VUV light, which is the parallel light, only onto a portion on the workpiece W of which characteristic is desired to be changed. In this way, the light patterning process is performed with respect to the workpiece W.

(89) At this moment, the light irradiation device 100 irradiates the workpiece W with the VUV light in the atmosphere containing oxygen such as an atmospheric air. For this reason, when the SAM is irradiated with the VUV light, oxygen in the vicinity of the surface of the SAM becomes active (radical) oxygen due to the VUV irradiation. Thus, it is possible to perform the oxidative decomposition reaction of the SAM film with the active oxygen as well as the direct decomposition of the SAM film by the VUV light. As a result, it makes it possible to improve the patterning rate as compared to the case in which the oxidative decomposition reaction due to the active oxygen is not performed, such as the VUV irradiation onto the SAM film in the inert gas atmosphere that does not contain oxygen.

(90) Yet furthermore, the vacuum ultra violet light source device 10 emits, as the VUV light to be radiated onto the workpiece W, light that is the pulsed light and having the duty ratio of the light emission equal to or less than 0.01. With the light source device 10 being so configured, it makes it possible to suppress the generation amount of ozone generated by absorbing the VUV light with the oxygen molecule in the atmospheric air. In particular, by setting the duty ratio of the light emission to be equal to or greater than 0.0001 and equal to or less than 0.001, it makes it possible to sufficiently reduce the ozone concentration generated to the extent being practically no problem. As a result, it makes it possible to suppress the deformation of the patterning due to the ozone etching so as to attain the satisfactory patterning.

(91) Yet furthermore, the flash lamp 11 is applied (employed) as the light source that emits light that is the pulsed light and has the duty ratio of the light emission equal to or less than 0.01, it makes it possible to appropriately emit the VUV light that satisfies the above mentioned condition.

(92) Yet furthermore, as the flash lamp 11, a certain flash lamp is applied that has the light emission length (that is, inter-electrode distance) equal to or less than 12.5 mm and encloses a gas containing xenon gas in the arc tube. In this way, by using the light source that can be assumed as the substantially point light source, it makes it possible to perform the lithographic exposure that has less sneaking of the light. As a result, it makes it possible to attain the finer patterning in the pattern line width.

Modification to Embodiments

(93) In the above mentioned embodiments, when the illuminance distribution of the VUV light irradiated onto the workpiece W is required to be uniformed, the light irradiation device 100 may be configured as the followings.

(94) In the vacuum ultra violet light source device 10, the paraboloid mirror 12 is configured to be an elliptical light condenser mirror, and the light emitting part of the flash lamp 11 is arranged at a first focal point of the elliptical light condenser mirror. In addition, an integrator is arranged at a second focal point at which the light emitted from the window 14 is condensed, and the light from the integrator is converted into the parallel light by a collimator lens or a collimator mirror to be radiated onto the mask M.

(95) It should be noted that the integrator and the collimator lens or the collimator mirror are on the light path on which the light that is emitted from the vacuum ultra violet light source device 10 and radiated onto the workpiece W advances. For this reason, those components are required to be made of a material that has a sufficiently high light permeability in the VUV region, and are accommodated inside the enclosure member 21.

(96) While certain embodiments have been described above, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. The novel apparatuses and methods thereof described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms. Furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and modifications in the form of the apparatuses and methods thereof described herein may be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and gist of the present invention.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

(97) According to a vacuum ultra violet light source device of the present invention, it makes it possible suppress the amount of ozone generated when the vacuum ultra violet light is emitted in an atmosphere containing oxygen such as an atmospheric air. Thus, the vacuum ultra violet light source device of the present invention is useful. In addition, according to a light irradiation device incorporating the vacuum ultra violet light source device, in the patterning process of the SAM in the atmosphere containing oxygen, it makes it possible to suppress the undesired ozone etching due to the oxidative decomposition reaction of the SAM with the ozone generated so as to attain the satisfactory and desirable patterning. Thus, the light irradiation device of the present invention is also useful.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

(98) 10 Vacuum Ultra Violet Light Source Device 11 Flash Lamp (VUV-SFL) 12 Paraboloid Mirror 13 Lamp Housing 14 Window 15 Power Feeder Unit 21 Enclosure Member 21a Gas Inlet Port 21b Exhaust Port 22 Mask Stage 23 Work Stage 24 Enclosure Member 24a Air Inlet Port 24b Exhaust Port 31 Controller 32 Stage Moving Mechanism 41 Lamp 42 Lamp Housing 43 Window 44 Flow Cell 45 Open End 46 Ozone Meter 47 Mask 47a Aperture 111a Arc Tube 111b First Sealing Tube 111c Second Sealing Tube 112 Glass Tube for Sealing 113a First Main Electrode 113b Second Main Electrode 114a Lead 114b Lead 115a and 115b Starting Auxiliary Electrodes 116a and 116b Internal Leads 117a and 117b External Leads 118a and 118b Metal Foils 119 Supporter M Mask SAM Self-assembled Monolayer (SAM film) W Workpiece