105 is not tilted, the control unit 106 may employ the position of the mold releasing region calculated by the control unit 106 and the position of the substrate driving unit 105 measured by the detector 107a.

On the other hand, if the substrate driving unit 105 is tilted, the position of the mold releasing region in the horizontal direction, which is calculated by the control unit 106, and the position of the substrate driving unit 105 in the horizontal direction, which is measured by the detector 107a, have different values. In this case, in this embodiment, the substrate driving unit 105 (at least one of the substrate driving unit 105 and the mold driving unit 104) is controlled based on the position of the mold releasing region calculated by the control unit 106. With this, in the mold releasing step, the positional relationship between the mold 101 and the substrate 102 in the horizontal direction can be maintained at the positional relationship between the mold 101 and the substrate 102 in the horizontal direction in the curing step. In this manner, if the relative position between the mold driving unit 104 and the substrate driving unit 105 in the horizontal direction in the mold releasing step is not changed from that in the curing step, a force in the horizontal direction does not act between the cured imprint material 103 on the substrate and the mold 101 in the mold releasing step. Hence, mold releasing defects such as damage of the pattern of the cured imprint material 103 on the substrate and damage of the pattern of the mold 101 can be sufficiently reduced (suppressed).

As has been described above, in this embodiment, the tilt of the substrate driving unit 105 generated in the mold releasing step is converted into the positional shift between the mold 101 and the substrate 102 in the horizontal direction, and at least one of the mold driving unit 104 and the substrate driving unit 105 is controlled based on the positional shift. More specifically, driving of at least one of the mold driving unit 104 and the substrate driving unit 105 is controlled such that the positional relationship between the mold 101 and the substrate 102 (mold releasing region) in the horizontal direction in the mold releasing step is maintained at the positional relationship between the mold 101 and the substrate 102 in the horizontal direction in the curing step. With this, it is possible to implement the imprint apparatus 1 advantageous in reducing defects generated upon releasing the mold 101 from the cured imprint material 103 on the substrate, that is, mold releasing defects.

Second Embodiment

In this embodiment, a case will be described in which a detector 107c is used to implement an imprint apparatus 1 advantageous in reducing mold releasing defects. In this embodiment, also in a mold releasing step, as in a contact step, a control unit 106 obtains the positional shift between a mold 101 and a substrate 102 in the horizontal direction from the detection result of the detector 107c, and controls a mold driving unit 104 and a substrate driving unit 105 based on the positional shift.

In order to align the mold 101 and the substrate 102, in general, a plurality of alignment marks (a plurality of first marks) are provided in the mold 101, and a plurality of alignment marks (a plurality of second marks) are provided in the substrate 102. The plurality of alignment marks (the plurality of first marks and the plurality of second marks) provided in the mold 101 and the substrate 102, respectively, are provided so as to correspond to each other, and can be detected by the detector 107c.

FIG. 3A is a view showing the mold 101 viewed from above in a state in which the mold 101 is in contact with an imprint material 103 on the substrate (contact step). In the contact step, the entire region of the mold 101 is in contact with the imprint material 103 on the substrate, and the entire region of the mold 101 is a region 201 which is in contact with the imprint material 103. In this case, the detector 107c can detect all of alignment marks 202 provided in the mold 101 (and the shot region on the substrate 102). Accordingly, in the contact step, the positional shift between the mold 101 and the substrate 102 in the horizontal direction is obtained from the detection results of all the alignment marks 202, and driving of at least one of the mold driving unit 104 and the substrate driving unit 105 is controlled based on the positional shift. Hence, in the contact step, the mold 101 and the substrate 102 can be aligned with high accuracy.

FIG. 3B is a view showing the mold 101 viewed from above in a state in which the mold 101 is being released from the cured imprint material 103 on the substrate, more specifically, in the early stage of the mold releasing step. As the mold releasing step proceeds, the region 201 where the mold 101 is in contact with the cured imprint material 103 on the substrate gradually decreases. Therefore, the alignment marks 202 include alignment marks 202A existing in the region 201, and alignment marks 202B existing in a region 203 where the mold 101 is not in contact with the cured imprint material 103 on the substrate. Since each alignment mark 202B existing in the region 203 is the alignment mark located in the region released from the cured imprint material 103 on the substrate, it is detected as an abnormal value (error) even if it is detected by the detector 107c. In general, the alignment mark is often work in a complete shape. Hence, if at least a part of the alignment mark exists in the region released from the cured imprint material on the substrate, the alignment mark is highly likely to be detected as an abnormal value.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the detection result of the alignment mark 202B existing in the region 203 is not employed in alignment between the mold 101 and the substrate 102. In other words, only the detection results of the alignment marks 202A, among the alignment marks 202 detected by the detector 107c in the mold releasing step, existing in the region 201 where the mold 101 is in contact with the cured imprint material 103 on the substrate are employed. More specifically, in the mold releasing step, the positional shift between the mold 101 and the substrate 102 in the horizontal direction is obtained from the detection results of the alignment marks 202A, and driving of at least one of the mold driving unit 104 and the substrate driving unit 105 is controlled based on the positional shift. With this, it is possible to perform alignment between the mold 101 and the substrate 102 based on a criteria similar to that in the contact step. Accordingly, the positional relationship between the mold 101 and the substrate 102 in the horizontal direction in the mold releasing step can be maintained at the positional relationship between the mold 101 and the substrate 102 in the horizontal direction in the curing step. Note that the alignment marks 202A existing in the region