Abstract:
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system for reducing lithographic errors caused by immersion liquid. SOLUTION: A lithography apparatus comprises an illumination system so constituted as to control a radiation beam, a support so constituted as to support a pattern forming device which imparts patterns on a crosssection of the radiation beam to form a patternized radiation beam, a substrate table so constituted as to hold a substrate, a projection system so constituted as to project the patternized radiation beam on the target of the substrate, a liquid supply system so constituted as to fill at least part of a space between a final element of the projection system and the substrate with the liquid, a sealing member so disposed as to substantially enclose the liquid inside the space between the final element of the projection system and the substrate, and an element for controlling and/or compensate evaporation of the immersion liquid from the substrate. COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI
Abstract:
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid feed system that can supply immersion liquid at a very stable flow rate with the minimum pressure fluctuation to a space between the last element and the substrate of a projection lens in an immersion liquid lithography equipment. SOLUTION: In the immersion liquid lithography equipment, immersion liquid is supplied through a flow rate limiter from a tank. Liquid held in the tank is maintained at a substantially fixed height above the flow rate limiter, by which stable liquid flow is assured. COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI
Abstract:
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system that reduces lithography errors caused by immersion liquid.SOLUTION: A lithographic apparatus comprises: an illumination system configured to adjust a radiation beam; a support body configured to support a pattern forming device capable of imparting a pattern to the radiation beam in a cross section of the radiation beam to form a pattern formed radiation beam; a substrate table configured to hold a substrate; a projection system configured to project the pattern formed radiation beam onto a target portion of the substrate; a liquid supply system configured to fill at least a part of space between a final element of the projection system and the substrate with liquid; a seal member arranged to substantially contain the liquid within the space between the final element of the projection system and the substrate; and elements to control and/or compensate for evaporation of the immersion liquid from the substrate.
Abstract:
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a lithographic apparatus and a device manufacturing method utilizing a continuous light beam in combination with pixel grid imaging. SOLUTION: A continuous source of radiation such as a lamp, for example, is used in conjugation with pixel grid imaging. In one embodiment, an individually-controllable element is operated at a frequency of at least about 50 kHz. To compensate for the distortion of an exposed spot, a point spread function is adjusted to be shorter in a scanning direction. COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT
Abstract:
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus and a method of reducing contamination of an immersion liquid in a lithographic apparatus when a closing surface is used to confine liquid in a liquid supply system. SOLUTION: To avoid or reduce particulate contamination caused by the closing surface colliding with the liquid supply system, the closing surface is maintained at a distance away from the liquid supply system such that there is no collision between the closing surface and the liquid supply system, but the liquid is nonetheless confined. COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT
Abstract:
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve at least one of problems which are caused at a joint portion of patterns formed by using an array of a large number of individually controllable elements, or to substantially solve the one of the problems. SOLUTION: A device manufacturing method includes a process that a pattern is given to an array of a plurality of individually controllable elements so as to modulate a radiation beam, and the modulated radiation beam is projected to a substrate. The patterns given to the plurality of individually controllable elements are set so that the modulated radiation beam includes the background radiation of a predetermined magnitude. The predetermined magnitude of the background radiation depends on a position of the array of the individually controllable elements. COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT
Abstract:
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid supply system capable of supplying immersion liquid with an extremely stable flow rate and minimum pressure fluctuation into a space between a last element of a projection lens and a substrate in an immersion liquid lithographic apparatus. SOLUTION: In an immersion liquid lithographic apparatus, immersion liquid is supplied from a tank through a flow rate limiter. Liquid preserved in the tank is maintained virtually at a fixed height above the flow rate limiter, thereby, a stable liquid flow is assured. COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT
Abstract:
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a calculating method for controlling an individually controllable element array in a maskless lithography. SOLUTION: A lithographic apparatus is provided with: an illumination optical system IL; an individually controllable element array PD; a projection system PS; and a control system CS. The illumination optical system is configured so as to adjust a radiation beam B. The individual controllable element array modulates the cross section of the radiation beam. The projection optical system is configured so as to project the modulated radiation beam onto a target of a substrate. The control system is disposed so as to transmit a control signal for controlling the individually controllable element array, so that a desired pattern is projected onto the substrate. The control system calculates the control signal using a band limit base function or a combination of a plurality of band limit base functions. COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT
Abstract:
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a lithographic apparatus and a device manufacturing method utilizing a continuous light beam in combination with pixel grid imaging. SOLUTION: A continuous source of radiation, for example a lamp, is used in conjugation with pixel grid imaging. In one example, the individually controllable elements operate at a frequency of at least about 50 kHz. To compensate for any distortion of an exposed spot, a point spread function is adjusted to be shorter in a scanning direction. COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT
Abstract:
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus and method for efficiently implementing maskless lithography. SOLUTION: The apparatus and method comprise a projection system, a patterning device, a low-pass filter, and a data manipulation device. The projection system projects a beam of radiation onto the substrate as an array of sub-beams of radiation. The patterning device modulates the sub-beams of radiation to substantially produce a requested dose pattern on the substrate. The low-pass filter operates on pattern data derived from the requested dose pattern in order to form a frequency-clipped target dose pattern that comprises only spatial frequency components below a selected threshold frequency. The data manipulation device produces a control signal comprising spot exposure intensities to be produced by the patterning device, based on a direct algebraic least-squares fit of the spot exposure intensities to the frequency-clipped target dose pattern. COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT