Abstract: A photolithography method includes producing, from an optical source, a pulsed light beam; and scanning the pulsed light beam across a substrate of a lithography exposure apparatus to expose the substrate with the pulsed light beam including exposing each sub-area of the substrate with the pulsed light beam. A sub-area is a portion of a total area of the substrate. For each sub-area of the substrate, a lithography performance parameter associated with the sub-area of the substrate is received; the received lithography performance parameter is analyzed, and, based on the analysis, a first spectral feature of the pulsed light beam is modified and a second spectral feature of the pulsed light beam is maintained.

Abstract: An illumination system of a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus includes a light source to produce projection light beam, and a first and a second diffractive optical element between the light source and a pupil plane of the illumination system. The diffractive effect produced by each diffractive optical element depends on the position of a light field that is irradiated by the projection light on the diffractive optical elements. A displacement mechanism changes the mutual spatial arrangement of the diffractive optical elements. In at least one of the mutual spatial arrangements, which can be obtained with the help of the displacement mechanism, the light field extends both over the first and the second diffractive optical element. This makes it possible to produce in a simple manner continuously variable illumination settings.

Abstract: An illumination optical unit for EUV projection lithography serves to illuminate an object field with illumination light. A transmission optical unit images field facets in a manner superposed on one another into the object field via illumination channels, which each have assigned to them one of the field facets and one pupil facet of a pupil facet mirror. The superposition optical unit has at least two mirrors for grazing incidence, downstream of the pupil facet mirror. The mirrors for grazing incidence produce an illumination angle bandwidth of an illumination light overall beam, composed of the illumination channels, in the object field. The bandwith is smaller for a plane of incidence parallel to the object displacement direction than for a plane perpendicular thereto. The result can be an illumination optical unit, by which a projection optical unit can be adapted to a configuration of an EUV light source for the illumination light.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for measuring thermo-mechanically induced reticle distortion or other distortion in a lithography device enables detecting distortion at the nanometer level in situ. The techniques described use relatively simple optical detectors and data acquisition electronics that are capable of monitoring the distortion in real time, during operation of the lithography equipment. Time-varying anisotropic distortion of a reticle can be measured by directing slit patterns of light having different orientations to the reticle and detecting reflected, transmitted or diffracted light from the reticle. In one example, corresponding segments of successive time measurements of secondary light signals are compared as the reticle scans a substrate at a reticle stage speed of about 1 m/s to detect temporal offsets and other features that correspond to spatial distortion.

Abstract: The present invention provides a lithography apparatus which performs a process of forming a pattern on a substrate, the apparatus comprising a processing device configured to perform the process, an actuator configured to exert an action to the processing device, a detector configured to detect vibrations of a support for supporting the processing device, and a controller configured to control the actuator, wherein the controller is configured to perform an estimation of vibration transferred from the processing device to the detector, and control the actuator based on vibration obtained by the estimation and vibration detected by the detector.

Abstract: A lithographic projection apparatus includes a projection system and a liquid confinement member extending along a boundary of a space under the projection system. The liquid confinement member has (i) a first opening facing downwardly via which a liquid is removed from a gap to be formed under the liquid confinement member, and (ii) a second opening facing downwardly via which fluid is removed from the gap to be formed under the liquid confinement member, the second opening being located radially outward of the first opening with respect to the space. The liquid in the space covers a portion of an upper surface of a substrate and the substrate is exposed through the liquid in the space.

Abstract: A device manufacturing method forms a liquid immersion area under a projection system via which an exposure light is projected, while supplying a liquid via a liquid supply inlet of a liquid retaining member and collecting the supplied liquid along with a gas via a liquid recovery outlet of the liquid retaining member. The liquid retaining member surrounds a tip portion of the projection system, which has a last optical element having a surface. The liquid retaining member has a surface opposite to the surface of the last optical element with a gap between the surfaces. A substrate is exposed with the exposure light through the liquid of the liquid immersion area, while moving the substrate below and relative to the projection system and the liquid retaining member. One of the liquid and the gas is separated from the other which have been collected via the liquid recovery outlet.

Abstract: An illumination optical unit for projection lithography illuminates an illumination field, in which an object field of a downstream imaging optical unit and an object to be illuminated are arrangeable, with illumination light of an EUV light source. The illumination optical unit includes two facet mirrors for reflecting, overlaid guidance of partial beams of a beam of the EUV illumination light via exactly one facet of one of the two facet mirrors in each case. The facet mirror is a distance from a pupil plane of the illumination optical unit. Individual mirrors of the other facet mirror, which is arranged in, or in the vicinity of, a field plane that is conjugate to the object field, may be grouped into individual mirror groups which are tiltable together.

Abstract: An illumination system of a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus includes a light source operated in a pulsed manner and a DMD (digital mirror device) or another array of optical elements, which are digitally switchable between two switching positions.

Abstract: An exposure apparatus has a substrate holding member, a first supporting member, a second supporting member, and a driving system. The first supporting member supports the substrate holding member from below. The second supporting member supports the first supporting member from below such that the first supporting member and the second supporting member are capable of moving relative to each other. The driving system moves the substrate holding member, the first supporting member and the second supporting member. The driving system includes a first driving device and a second driving device, the first driving device moving the substrate holding member and the first supporting member in a direction along a predetermined axis, and the second driving device moving the second supporting member in the direction along the predetermined axis.

Abstract: An illumination system of a micro-lithographic projection exposure apparatus is provided, which is configured to illuminate a mask positioned in a mask plane. The system includes a pupil shaping optical subsystem and illuminator optics that illuminate a beam deflecting component. For determining a property of the beam deflecting component, an intensity distribution in a system pupil surface of the illumination system is determined. Then the property of the beam deflecting component is determined such that the intensity distribution produced by the pupil shaping subsystem in the system pupil surface approximates the intensity distribution determined before. At least one of the following aberrations are taken into account in this determination: (i) an aberration produced by the illuminator optics; (ii) an aberration produced by the pupil shaping optical subsystem; (iii) an aberration produced by an optical element arranged between the system pupil surface and the mask plane.

Abstract: Implementations described herein relate to apparatus for post exposure processing. More specifically, implementations described herein relate to field-guided post exposure process chambers and cool down/development chambers used on process platforms. In one implementation, a plurality of post exposure process chamber and cool/down development chamber pairs are positioned on a process platform in a stacked arrangement and utilize a shared plumbing module. In another implementation, a plurality of post exposure process chamber and cool down/development chambers are positioned on a process platform in a linear arrangement and each of the chambers utilize an individually dedicated plumbing module.

Abstract: According to one embodiment, an alignment method includes calculating a position gap of a predetermined point in a device area of a wafer based on a stress applied to the device area, and correcting an exposure condition in a lithography process of the device area based on the position gap of the predetermined point.

Abstract: An exposure apparatus exposes a substrate to light passing through liquid, and includes a stage that holds the substrate. The stage includes a substrate holder including a support member that supports a rear surface of the substrate and a first circumferential wall surrounding the support member. A second circumferential wall surrounds the substrate holder and forms a first groove between the second circumferential wall and the substrate holder, and a second groove on an outer side thereof. A plate member surrounds the substrate on the support member, and a recovery passage recovers liquid flowing from a liquid supply system to a gap between the plate member and the substrate. The second circumferential wall is under the gap so that part of an upper surface of the second circumferential wall faces the substrate rear surface and another part of the upper surface faces a rear surface of the plate member.

Abstract: A vacuum linear feed-through (20), e.g., for an EUV lithography system, includes: a vacuum diaphragm bellows (21), which has a first end (21a) attaching a component and a second end (21b), opposite the first end, attaching to a vacuum housing, and an actuator device (27) generating a linear reciprocating motion of the bellows. The feed-through has at least one first shield (30, 30?), connected to the bellows at the first end, and at least one second shield (31, 31?), connected to the bellows at the second end. The first and second shield annularly surround the bellows, and the first and second shield overlap in the longitudinal direction of the bellows (21). At least one first shield and at least one second shield are formed of a permanently magnetic material, and/or the feed-through has a voltage-generating device (33) generating an electric field (E) between the first shield and the second shield.

Abstract: A system for generating a lithographic image contains a alight source that emits a diverging light beam and a reflective concave curvilinear surface onto which the diverging light beam falls and which reflects the diverging beam in the form of a converging beam. A digital hologram, which is coded in accordance with the initial lithographic image either preliminarily or dynamically with the use of a spatial light modulator, is placed into the converging beam between the reflective surface and the image-receiving object. The image of an initial lithographic image formed on the image-receiving object is subsequently used in the processes of microlithography.

Abstract: A method of determining focus of a lithographic apparatus has the following steps. Using the lithographic process to produce first and second structures on the substrate, the first structure has features which have a profile that has an asymmetry that depends on the focus and an exposure perturbation, such as dose or aberration. The second structure has features which have a profile that is differently sensitive to focus than the first structure and which is differently sensitive to exposure perturbation than the first structure. Scatterometer signals are used to determine a focus value used to produce the first structure. This may be done using the second scatterometer signal, and/or recorded exposure perturbation settings used in the lithographic process, to select a calibration curve for use in determining the focus value using the first scatterometer signal or by using a model with parameters related to the first and second scatterometer signals.

Abstract: A lithographic apparatus comprising an object table which carries an object. The lithographic apparatus may further comprise at least one sensor as part of a measurement system to measure a characteristic of the object table, the environment surrounding the lithographic apparatus or another component of the lithographic apparatus. The measured characteristic may be used to estimate the deformation of the object due to varying loads during operation of the lithographic apparatus, for example varying loads induced by a two-phase flow in a channel formed within the object table. Additionally, or alternatively, the lithographic apparatus comprises a predictor to estimate the deformation of the object based on a model. The positioning of the object table carrying the object can be controlled based on the estimated deformation.

Abstract: The present disclosure concerns a photolithography apparatus (100) and method for controlling relative image size (S1/S0) of a projected substrate pattern (W). A projection system (10) is arranged for projecting an image of a mask pattern (M) as the substrate pattern (W) onto a substrate (6), wherein the projection system (10) comprises an adjustment lens (13) moveable in a range (Xmin,Xmax) encompassing a central position (X0) for controlling a relative image size (S1/S0). The projection system (10) is arranged to project the mask pattern (M) onto the adjustment lens (13) such that, when the adjustment lens (13) is positioned at the central position (X0), an apparent mask pattern (M?) from a point of view of the adjustment lens (13) appears to be at a distance (2*F) from the adjustment lens (13) that is twice a focal length (F) of the adjustment lens (13).

Abstract: An illumination optical unit for EUV projection lithography includes a field facet mirror and a pupil facet mirror. A correction control device, which is used for the controlled displacement of at least some field facets that are usable as correction field facets, which are signal connected to displacement actuators, is embodied so that a correction displacement path for the correction field facets is so large that a respective correction illumination channel is cut off at the margin by the correction pupil facet so that the illumination light partial beam is not transferred in the entirety thereof from the correction pupil facet into the object field.