Abstract: Foreign material on a surface of a substrate is processed to form a non-solid by-product by providing a gaseous reactant in the vicinity of the foreign material and delivering a beam of radiation to aid the gaseous reactant to react with the foreign material to form the non-solid by-product.In another aspect, radiation for cleaning a surface of a substrate is provided by a laser configured to deliver an original beam of ultraviolet radiation, and optics (e.g., a pair of orthogonal cylindrical mirrors) for shaping the beam to have a cross-section in the form of a line having a width smaller than any dimension of a cross-section of the original beam and a length at least ten times larger than any dimension of the original beam.

Abstract: A method of cleaning a substrate surface, the cleaning being done photoreactively without damaging the surface. A laser beam of UV radiation is delivered at an acute angle to the surface of the substrate, the beam striking the surface at a long and narrow reaction region. The beam and the substrate are moved relative to one another to cause the beam to sweep the surface. While the beam is sweeping the surface, a flow of a reactant gas is provided at the reaction region so that the gas is excited by the UV laser beam. The acute angle of the beam is of a value such that foreign material is removed without essentially damaging the surface of the substrate or leaving a residue that would inhibit further processing of the substrate surface.

Abstract: A high resolution, deep UV beam delivery system for exposing a surface, directly or through a mask, for the purpose of photolithography, surface cleaning, microstructuring, pattern microimaging, surface modification or the like, the delivery system including a deep UV radiation source for generating a beam of narrow wavelength deep ultraviolet radiation along a path, a first optical system in the path for homogenizing and shaping the deep UV energy in the path; and a second optical system in the path for directing radiation energy onto the surface of a substrate to be processed, the second optical system including large area mirror structure having a numerical aperture of at least 0.3 and a modular compensation assembly of refractive elements disposed between said large area mirror structure and said substrate and corresponding to the wavelength of the radiation source for compensating (reducing) image curvature introduced into the system by the large area mirror structure.

Abstract: In the microlithographic projection system disclosed herein, a reticle whose image is to be projected is illuminated with light having an essentially uniform intensity distribution over the reticle and angular distribution which is annularly concentrated. The annular concentration is produced by a phase grating interposed between the light source and a kaleidoscope which generates multiple overlapping images of this light source. The grating employs an array of elements of differing transmission phasings which suppresses zero order transmission and concentrates incident energy in an annularly diverging beam array.

Abstract: The method of exposure control disclosed herein is particularly applicable to the pulsed laser illumination of photosensitive resists. The relative illuminating energy provided by successive laser pulses is measured and the successive measurements are accumulated. When the accumulated value appraoches the desired exposure level within a preselected difference, an attenuator is inserted in the optical path between the laser and the resist thereby to reduce the exposing energy provided by each pulse to a value below the acceptable deviation. The exposure is terminated when the accumulated value effectively reaches the desired exposure level.