US 11,908,711 B2
Planarization process, planarization system and method of manufacturing an article
Steven C. Shackleton, Austin, TX (US); Seth J. Bamesberger, Austin, TX (US); and Masaki Saito, Austin, TX (US)
Assigned to Canon Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo (JP)
Filed by CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA, Tokyo (JP)
Filed on Sep. 30, 2020, as Appl. No. 17/039,650.
Prior Publication US 2022/0102167 A1, Mar. 31, 2022
Int. Cl. H01L 21/67 (2006.01)
CPC H01L 21/6715 (2013.01) [H01L 21/67092 (2013.01); H01L 21/67115 (2013.01); H01L 21/67288 (2013.01)] 7 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of planarizing a substrate comprising:
dispensing a formable material onto the substrate;
contacting, at a planarizing station at a first location, a superstrate held by a superstrate chuck with the formable material on the substrate, thereby forming a multilayer structure including the superstrate, a film of the formable material, and the substrate;
releasing the superstrate from the superstrate chuck;
moving the multilayer structure from the planarizing station to a curing station located at a second location away from the first location, the curing station including an array of light-emitting diodes;
after the multilayer structure leaves the planarizing station and before the multilayer structure arrives at the curing station, detecting particles between the superstrate and the substrate of the multilayer structure using a detector;
after detecting the particles and before the multilayer structure arrives at the curing station, removing the particles using a particle removal device, wherein the particle removal device is a vacuum or an electrostatic tool; and
curing the film of the formable material by exposing the film of the formable material to light emitted from the array of light-emitting diodes,
after the curing, moving the multilayer structure from the curing station to the planarizing station, the detector is operated again to detect further particles and removing the further particles using the particle removal device;
wherein the planarizing station, the curing station, the detector, and the particle removal device are contained within a common housing and the multilayer structure travels linearly along a rail between the planarizing station and the curing station within the common housing.