Abstract: A projector includes a cooler cooling a cooling target based on transformation of refrigerant into gas. A refrigerant generator of the cooler includes a moisture absorbing and releasing member, a first blower, a heat exchanger, a heater, a second blower, a first circulation duct through which the air sent to the moisture absorbing and releasing member from the heat exchanger passes, and a second circulation duct through which the air sent to the heat exchanger from the moisture absorbing and releasing member passes. The second circulation duct includes a second opening disposed in a position where the second opening and a first opening of the first circulation duct sandwich the moisture absorbing and releasing member in a predetermined direction. An opening area of the second opening is smaller than an opening area of the first opening. When viewed along the predetermined direction, the entire second opening overlaps the first opening.

Abstract: An illumination optical unit for EUV projection lithography serves for obliquely illuminating an illumination field, in which an object field of a downstream imaging catoptric optical unit and a reflective object to be imaged can be arranged. A pupil generating device of the illumination optical unit is embodied so that an illumination pupil results, which brings about a dependency of an imaging telecentricity against a structure variable of the object to be imaged. This dependency is such that a dependency of the imaging telecentricity against the structure variable of the object to be imaged on account of interaction of the oblique illumination with structures of the object to be imaged is at least partly compensated for. An optical system for EUV projection lithography also has an imaging catoptric optical unit alongside an illumination optical unit and can additionally have a wavefront manipulation device.

Abstract: Systems and methods that include providing for measuring a first topographical height of a substrate at a first coordinate on the substrate and measuring a second topographical height of the substrate at a second coordinate on the substrate are provided. The measured first and second topographical heights may be provided as a wafer map. An exposure process is then performed on the substrate using the wafer map. The exposure process can include using a first focal point when exposing the first coordinate on the substrate and using a second focal plane when exposing the second coordinate on the substrate. The first focal point is determined using the first topographical height and the second focal point is determined using the second topographical height.

Abstract: An extreme ultraviolet light generation apparatus includes: a chamber having an internal space in which a laser beam is condensed and plasma generation occurs at a focusing position of the laser beam; a condensing mirror configured to condense extreme ultraviolet light generated through the plasma generation; and a magnetic field generation unit configured to generate a magnetic field. The condensing mirror includes a substrate, a reflective layer, and a protective layer. The protective layer includes a first protective layer disposed in a first region, and a second protective layer disposed in a second region. A material of the first protective layer is less dense than a material of the second protective layer. The material of the second protective layer has a transmittance for the extreme ultraviolet light higher than that of the material of the first protective layer.

Abstract: A refractive projection lens for imaging a pattern in an object plane of the projection lens into an image plane of the projection lens via electromagnetic radiation of a mercury vapor lamp includes a multiplicity of lens elements are arranged along an optical axis between the object and image planes. The lens elements image a pattern in the object plane into the image plane with a reducing imaging scale. The lens elements include first lens elements made of a first material with a relatively low Abbe number and a second lens elements made of a second material with a higher Abbe number relative to the first material.

Abstract: An optical assembly includes a first optical waveguide, a first in-coupler coupled with the first optical waveguide and a projector configured to project image light toward a first side of the first optical waveguide. The optical assembly also includes a first scanning reflector optically coupled with the projector and disposed on a second side of the first optical waveguide that is opposite to the first side. The projector is configured to project image light. The first scanning reflector is configured to receive the image light and to redirect the image light across a first range of directions. The first in-coupler is configured to redirect a first portion of the image light so that the first portion of the image light undergoes total internal reflection inside the first optical waveguide.

Abstract: A circuit pattern is quickly created or changed by exposing the circuit pattern on a board without using a photo mask on which the circuit pattern is formed. There is provided a circuit pattern manufacturing apparatus including a forming unit that forms a circuit pattern by irradiating, with a light beam, a circuit pattern forming sheet including an insulating sheet base material layer and a mixture layer made of a mixture containing a conductive material and a photo-curing resin. The forming unit includes, as an optical engine, a housing, a laser diode, a prism mirror, an inclined mirror, a bottom mirror, and a driving mirror.

Abstract: An optical device includes a range of angularly selective reflectors are contained within an optical waveguide substrate and substantially optimized according to their reflector order within the sequence of reflectors. This configuration of reflectors ensures that the required angular information is passed through to the correct reflector within the sequence. The angular response in addition reduces or eliminates formation of secondary images carried to successive reflectors, resulting in undesired artefacts.

Abstract: A dynamic brightness adjusting method is used for adjusting output brightness of an image projected by a projector. The method controls a lighting component of the projector to emit light in an adjustable lighting power, and controls a light limiting device disposed in front of the lighting component to allow the light to pass through in an adjustable light-passing rate. In an embodiment, the method adjusts the lighting power and the light-passing rate at the same time. In another embodiment, according to a brightness range in which a nominal maximum brightness value relative to an input image is located, the method fixes the lighting power and adjusts the light-passing rate according to the fixed lighting power and the nominal maximum brightness value, or fixes the light-passing rate and adjusts the lighting power according to the fixed light-passing rate and the nominal maximum brightness value.

Abstract: An extreme ultraviolet light generation device includes: a target supply unit including a nozzle through which a target substance in a liquid form is output into a chamber; a piezoelectric element configured to vibrate the nozzle under a droplet connection condition to regularly generate a droplet of the target substance; and a control unit configured to perform search processing of changing a drive condition of the piezoelectric element to search for a drive condition of the piezoelectric element corresponding to the droplet connection condition and configured to set a drive condition of the piezoelectric element used for generation of extreme ultraviolet light based on a result of the search processing. The control unit preliminarily drives the piezoelectric element before performing the search processing and starts the search processing after performing the preliminary drive.

Abstract: Exhaust of gas in the processing chamber is started by a gas exhaust section, and supply of an inert gas into the processing chamber is started by a gas supply section after a predetermined time length has elapsed since the exhaust of gas is started. Alternatively, the gas in the processing chamber in which a substrate is stored is exhausted by the gas exhaust section, the inert gas is supplied into the processing chamber by the gas supply section, and the pressure in a light emitter that has a light-transmitting plate is allowed to match or be close to the pressure in the processing chamber. The substrate in the processing chamber is irradiated with vacuum ultraviolet rays by the light emitter with an oxygen concentration in the gas in the processing chamber lowered to a predetermined concentration. Thus, the substrate is exposed.

Abstract: An extreme ultraviolet light generation apparatus that generates plasma by irradiating a target substance with a pulse laser beam and generates extreme ultraviolet light from the plasma includes: a droplet detection unit configured to detect a droplet passing through a predetermined position between a target supply unit and a plasma generation region; and a control unit configured to control a laser apparatus configured to output the pulse laser beam. The control unit performs control to determine whether there is a defective droplet based on a droplet detection signal obtained from the droplet detection unit and to stop, when it is determined that there is a defective droplet, irradiation of the defective droplet determined to be defective, a preceding droplet output one droplet before the defective droplet, and a following droplet output one droplet after the defective droplet with the pulse laser beam.

Abstract: A dark-field inspection system may include an illumination source to generate an illumination beam, illumination optics configured to direct the illumination beam to a sample at an off-axis angle along an illumination direction, collection optics to collect scattered light from the sample in response to the illumination beam in a dark-field mode, a polarization rotator located at a pupil plane of the one or more collection optics, where the polarization rotator provides a spatially-varying polarization rotation angle selected to rotate light scattered from a surface of the sample to a selected polarization angle, a polarizer aligned to reject light polarized along the selected polarization angle to reject the light scattered from a surface of the sample, and a detector to generate a dark-field image of the sample based on scattered light from the sample passed by the polarizer.

Abstract: A dark field inspection system may include an illumination source to generate an illumination beam, one or more illumination optics to direct the illumination beam to a sample at an off-axis angle along an illumination direction, a detector, one or more collection optics to generate a dark-field image of the sample on the detector based on light collected from the sample in response to the illumination beam, and a radial polarizer located at a pupil plane of the one or more collection optics, where the radial polarizer rejects light with radial polarization with respect to an apex point in the pupil plane corresponding to specular reflection of the illumination beam from the sample.

Abstract: An ultraviolet (UV) light source is provided. The device uses a high-uniformity diode array. A lens unit of collimated illumination lenses is used. A light source of UV light-emitting diode (UVLED) array is formed and passes through the lens unit to uniformly distribute the light source and obtain a collimated light. The present invention comprises a light source of UVLED array; a collimated illumination lens unit; and a substrate. The construction is simple. The present invention can be applied in the lithography of a semiconductor. The lithography forms contact lines of widths not greater than 3 microns (?m); soft-contact lines of widths of 3˜30 ?m; and short-spaced lines of widths of 30˜200 ?m. The present invention avoids the mask from contact wear-out for multiple uses, and further reduces the replacement rate.

Abstract: Provided is an observation optical system used for observing an image displayed on an image display surface. The observation optical system includes, in order from an observation surface side to the image display surface side, a first lens having a positive refractive power, and a second lens having a positive refractive power. The first lens is a Fresnel lens, and a focal length f1 of the first lens and a focal length f2 of the second lens are each appropriately set.

Abstract: A projector includes a laser light source apparatus, a fluorescence light source apparatus, a first integrator, a second integrator, a superimposing lens that laser light and fluorescence enter, a light modulator on which the laser light and the fluorescence having exited out of the superimposing lens are incident and which includes a plurality of pixels each formed of a plurality of sub-pixels, a microlens array including a plurality of microlenses provided in correspondence with the plurality of pixels, and a projection optical apparatus that projects light outputted from the light modulator. The first integrator includes a first multi-lens array including a plurality of first lenslets. The second integrator includes a second multi-lens array including a plurality of second lenslets. A lens division number of the first multi-lens array is greater than a lens division number of the second multi-lens array.

Abstract: A projection display device includes: a light source that emits a first laser light for displaying a projection and a second laser light for inspection; a scanning drive mirror that reflects the first laser light and the second laser light emitted from the light source, and uses the first laser light and the second laser light in scanning; a light diffusion unit that allows the first laser light used in the scanning by the scanning drive mirror to be transmitted through the light diffusion unit and diffuses the first laser light; a light selection unit that allows the first laser light to be transmitted through the light selection unit and reflects the second laser light at a position on an emission surface of the light diffusion unit; and a light detection unit that detects the second laser light reflected by the light selection unit.

Abstract: The disclosure provides a method and a projection device for focal length calibration. The projection device includes a distance sensor, a projection lens, and a controller. The method includes: defining, by the distance sensor, a detection area on a projection surface; dividing, by the controller, the detection area into a plurality of reference areas; detecting, by the distance sensor, a reference distance between the projection device and each reference area; finding, by the controller, at least one first area and at least one second area in the reference areas; and performing, by the controller, a focusing operation of the projection lens only based on the reference distance of each second area.

Abstract: A method is described for determining a degree of damage to hair, which includes: registering light which is radiated by the hair sample while a hair sample is illuminated with light; based on the registered light, determining first regions of the hair sample which reflect the light with higher interference, and second regions of the hair sample which reflect the light with lower interference; and determining a degree of damage to the hair sample based on the extents of the first regions and of the second regions.