1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lithographic apparatus and a method of manufacturing an article.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, it is becoming more common that a semiconductor device is mounted by adopting flip-chip implementation. A process of manufacturing a semiconductor device that is mounted by using flip-chip implementation includes a process of forming a solder ball on a device. As one method of forming a solder ball, plating is available. To form a solder ball by plating, it is necessary to bring a conductive film formed on a wafer (also sometimes called a substrate) and the electrode of a plating device into contact with each other to electrically connect them to each other. To meet this requirement, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2-51254 proposes a method of peeling off a portion, to be brought into contact with the electrode, of a resist film formed on the conductive film. If the resist used is a negative resist, it is only necessary to prevent light on the wafer peripheral portion during exposure. To do this, U.S. Pat. No. 6,680,774 proposes a method of locating a light-shielding plate on the wafer.
Also, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-286062 discloses an imprint apparatus which irradiates a resist on a wafer that is in contact with a mold with ultraviolet rays to transfer the pattern of the mold onto the resist. To define an irradiation region corresponding to each shot region in the wafer peripheral portion, the imprint apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-286062 includes driving units which drive, in the x and y directions, four light-shielding plates having arcs corresponding to the contours of the wafer in the first to fourth quadrants, respectively.
However, the method of placing a light-shielding plate on the wafer, described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,680,774, generates dust as the light-shielding plate is loaded/unloaded, so dirt may adhere onto the wafer, leading to a defect of a semiconductor device. Also, the four light-shielding plates described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-286062 generate dust upon being driven at a position immediately above the wafer, and require a total of eight driving units for driving them in the x and y directions.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds