Abstract: An immersion lithographic apparatus is disclosed which includes a liquid supply system having an inlet configured to supply a liquid to a space between a projection system of the lithographic apparatus and a substrate and an outlet configured to remove at least part of the liquid, the liquid supply system configured to rotate the inlet, the outlet, or both, about an axis substantially perpendicular to an exposure plane of the substrate.

Abstract: A lithographic apparatus includes an illumination system configured to condition a radiation beam; a support configured to support a patterning device, the patterning device being capable of imparting the radiation beam with a pattern in its cross-section to form a patterned radiation beam; a substrate table configured to hold a substrate; a projection system configured to project the patterned radiation beam onto a target portion of the substrate; and a robot configured to transfer an exchangeable object to and from a support region, the robot including an arm and an end effector, the end effector including a first and second carrier configured to carry respective exchangeable objects, and the end effector being rotatably connected to the arm of the robot around a rotation axis which extends substantially parallel to the support region.

Abstract: In a scanning immersion lithographic apparatus, immersion liquid is supplied on one side of the space between the projection system and the substrate and drained on the other side so that the flow of liquid is substantially perpendicular to the scan direction.

Abstract: A lithographic apparatus having an illumination system for providing a projection beam of radiation; an article support member for supporting an article to be placed in a beam path of the projection beam of radiation on the article support; and a clamp for providing a clamping pressure for clamping the article against the article support during projection. The article support member includes a section that is trimmed for locally adjusting a clamping pressure.

Abstract: A process for the determination of focal plane deviation uniquely due to the scanning dynamics associated with a photolithographic scanner is described. A series of lithographic exposures is performed on a resist coated silicon wafer using a photolithographic scanner. The lithographic exposures produce an array of focusing fiducials that are displaced relative to each other in a unique way. The resulting measurements are fed into a computer algorithm that calculates the dynamic scanning field curvature in an absolute sense in the presence of wafer height variation and other wafer/reticle stage irregularities. The dynamic scan field curvature can be used to improve lithographic modeling, overlay modeling, and advanced process control techniques related to scanner stage dynamics.

Abstract: A system and method are used to manufacture a device using at least one exposure step. Each exposure step projects a patterned beam of radiation onto a substrate. The patterned beam includes a plurality of pixels. Each pixel delivers a radiation dose no greater than a predetermined normal maximum dose to the target portion in the exposure step and/or at least one selected pixel delivers an increased radiation dose, greater than the normal maximum dose. The increased dose may be delivered to compensate for the effect of a defective element at a known position in the array on a pixel adjacent a selected pixel or compensate for underexposure of the target portion at the location of a selected pixel resulting from exposure of that location to a pixel affected by a known defective element in another exposure step.

Abstract: An apparatus for forming a pattern has a scanning-time setter, a time-error detector, a scanning-time corrector, a pulse data selector, and a control pulse signal generator. The scanning-time setter sets a “fine-section scanning-time” as a pass-time of the beam for each section of a series of fine sections. The time-error detector successively detects a time-error between the set fine-section scanning-time and an actually detected fine-section scanning-time for each fine section. The scanning-time corrector successively corrects the set fine-section scanning-time for each fine section on the basis of the time-error to successively generate a corrected fine-section scanning-time. The pulse data selector successively selects a set of pulse data, corresponding to the corrected fine-section scanning-time, from a series of sets of pulse data. The control-pulse signal generator successively generates a sequence of control-pulse signals in accordance with a selected set of pulse data.

Abstract: A lithographic apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus includes an illumination system for conditioning a beam of radiation, and an article support for supporting a substantially flat article to be placed in the beam of radiation. The article support includes a plurality of supporting protrusions for supporting the article, and at least one protective member located near a boundary of the supporting protrusions for protecting at least a boundary portion of the supporting protrusions during release of the article. The apparatus also includes a releasing device for releasing said article from said article support.

Abstract: In a lithographic projection apparatus, a measuring system configured to measure the position of the projection system relative to a reference frame includes sensors rigidly mounted in relation to counterpart sensors of a measuring system measuring the substrate table position. An angular encoder which sends light from a target down two optical paths having opposite sensitivities to tilt is used to measure rotation of the projection system about its optical axis.

Abstract: A method of optimizing a process for use with a plurality of lithography systems.

Abstract: An EUV lithography system achieves high-resolution printing without the use of photomasks, projection optics, multilayer mirrors, or an extremely high-power EUV source. The system comprises a xenon laser-produced-plasma (LPP) illumination source (requiring 93 W hemispherical EUV emission in the wavelength range 10–12 nm), all-ruthenium optics (grazing-incidence mirrors and microlenses) and spatial light modulators comprising MEMS-actuated microshutters. Two 300-mm wafers are simultaneously exposed with a single 10 kHz LPP source to achieve a throughput of 6 wafers per hour, per LPP source. The illumination is focused by the microlens arrays onto diffraction-limited (42-nm FWHM) spots on the wafer plane, and the spots are intensity-modulated by the microshutters as they are raster-scanned across the wafer surface to create a digitally synthesized exposure image.

Abstract: A sensor is used to detect luminescent radiation that is radiated from a reflector as a result of state changes induced by a beam of radiation being incident on an area of the reflector. The intensity of the luminescent radiation at particular wavelengths can be used to determine the intensity of the beam of radiation.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a lithographic apparatus including a projection system configured to project a patterned radiation beam onto a target portion of a substrate held on a substrate support, the patterned beam of radiation being patterned with a patterning device held by a patterning device support.

Abstract: A lithographic production process according to one embodiment comprises an input section, pre-imaging processes, measurement of a substrate, exposure of the substrate, post-imaging processes, and output. A controller controls the time spent processing in the scanner based on an input of the rate at which substrates arrive from the pre-imaging processes. This control allows the scanner to optimize the accuracy of devices produced by selectively varying the duration of processes in the scanner.

Abstract: An in-situ apparatus for high resolution imaging in lithographic steppers and scanners (machines) is described. It comprises a multiple field in-situ imaging objective that images the source directly onto the machine reticle or objective plane. The image on the wafer side of the machine is then recorded electronically or in photo resist. Alternative embodiments create source images at locations before or beyond the wafer plane that can be more conveniently recorded with sensors embedded in the wafer stage chuck.

Abstract: A photomask positioning apparatus comprises a positioning device having a base, one end of which comprises a bended fixed portion connected to a bottom of the containing space and the other of which is away from the fixed portion comprises a bended positioning portion such that a photomask can be positioned between the positioning portion set at the two sides of the containing space.

Abstract: A transport unit transfers a substrate between a chamber enclosing a substrate table and a processing unit that process a substrate before and after exposure in a substantially contaminant free environment to minimize the exposure of the resist on the substrate to the contaminants.

Abstract: A stage device including a base plate which includes a reference surface, a stage which can move along the reference surface, a mass body which can move with respect to the base plate or a structure of the base plate, and a control unit which drives and controls the mass body so as to cancel a reaction force in a translational direction generated during a movement of the stage and an offset load about a horizontal axis, and to reduce a rotational reaction force about a vertical axis. The control unit includes a mass body model control unit which generates a virtual control target value of the mass body to cancel the rotational reaction force about the horizontal axis generated during the movement of the stage, on the basis of target position information of the stage, and a mass body model based on the virtual control target value. The control unit drives and controls the mass body by using virtual positional information of the mass body model as an actual mass body control target value.

Abstract: An exposure apparatus having an exposure mode that transfers a pattern on a reticle onto an object, and a standby mode that waits for exposure includes an optical system for introducing the exposure light to the object in the exposure mode, and a mechanism for allowing the exposure light to enter the reticle and/or the optical system in the standby mode, and for preventing the exposure light from entering the object in the standby mode.

Abstract: The invention automates determination of the quantity of a index matching liquid.