Patents by Inventor Akinori Shirato

Akinori Shirato has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20180275533
    Abstract: In an exposure apparatus, on a substrate holder, a plurality of grating areas is arranged mutually apart in the X-axis direction, and a plurality of heads that irradiates a measurement beam with respect to the grating area and can move in the Y-axis direction is arranged outside of the substrate holder. A control system controls movement of the substrate holder in at least directions of three degrees of freedom within an XY plane, based on measurement information of at least three heads of the plurality of heads facing the grating area and measurement information of a measurement device that measures position information of the plurality of heads. The measurement beam of each of the plurality of heads, during the movement of substrate holder in the X-axis direction, moves off of one of the plurality of grating areas and switches to another adjacent grating area.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 29, 2016
    Publication date: September 27, 2018
    Applicant: NIKON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Akinori SHIRATO, Takashi SHIBUYA
  • Patent number: 10048600
    Abstract: Provided is a substrate stage apparatus that is provided with: a substrate holder that can be moved in a plane including an X-axis and a Y-axis; a head unit that can be moved synchronously with the substrate holder along the Y-axis; an encoder system for measuring substrate position, the system including a scale disposed on the substrate holder, and heads disposed on the head unit, and acquiring the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction position information of the substrate holder on the basis of the output of the heads; an encoder system for measuring head-unit position, the system acquiring the Y-axis direction position information of the head unit; and a position control system that controls the position of the substrate holder within the XY plane on the basis of the output of the encoder system for measuring substrate position and the encoder system for measuring head-unit position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2018
    Assignee: NIKON CORPORATION
    Inventor: Akinori Shirato
  • Publication number: 20170108716
    Abstract: Provided is a substrate stage apparatus that is provided with: a substrate holder that can be moved in a plane including an X-axis and a Y-axis; a head unit that can be moved synchronously with the substrate holder along the Y-axis; an encoder system for measuring substrate position, the system including a scale disposed on the substrate holder, and heads disposed on the head unit, and acquiring the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction position information of the substrate holder on the basis of the output of the heads; an encoder system for measuring head-unit position, the system acquiring the Y-axis direction position information of the head unit; and a position control system that controls the position of the substrate holder within the XY plane on the basis of the output of the encoder system for measuring substrate position and the encoder system for measuring head-unit position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 30, 2015
    Publication date: April 20, 2017
    Applicant: NIKON CORPORATION
    Inventor: Akinori SHIRATO
  • Patent number: 8349525
    Abstract: A protective apparatus that protects a predetermined area of the front surface of a mask substrate, provided with a pellicle frame that is disposed on at least a portion of the circumference of the predetermined area and bonded to the front surface of the mask substrate, and a pellicle that is mounted on the pellicle frame so as to cover an opening portion that is formed by the pellicle frame in a manner facing the predetermined area; in which the pellicle frame includes a first side portion and a second side portion, and a third side portion and a fourth side portion that are disposed at different positions along the predetermined area, and in relation to the normal direction of the front surface of the mask substrate, the rigidity of the first side portion and the second side portion is lower than the rigidity of the third side portion and the fourth side portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2013
    Assignee: Nikon Corporation
    Inventors: Noritsugu Hanazaki, Akinori Shirato
  • Publication number: 20100323302
    Abstract: A protective apparatus that protects a predetermined area of the front surface of a mask substrate, provided with a pellicle frame that is disposed on at least a portion of the circumference of the predetermined area and bonded to the front surface of the mask substrate, and a pellicle that is mounted on the pellicle frame so as to cover an opening portion that is formed by the pellicle frame in a manner facing the predetermined area; in which the pellicle frame includes a first side portion and a second side portion, and a third side portion and a fourth side portion that are disposed at different positions along the predetermined area, and in relation to the normal direction of the front surface of the mask substrate, the rigidity of the first side portion and the second side portion is lower than the rigidity of the third side portion and the fourth side portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 23, 2010
    Publication date: December 23, 2010
    Inventors: Noritsugu HANAZAKI, Akinori Shirato
  • Patent number: 6366341
    Abstract: At the time of transferring the pattern image of a mask onto a substrate, an exposure apparatus overlays peripheral portions of exposure areas with respect to a pattern image, which has previously been transferred onto the substrate, with each other, and transfers a predetermined pattern onto the substrate. This exposure apparatus comprises a dose adjusting device capable of adjusting the dose of exposure light at the overlying portion, a shape measuring unit for measuring the shape of the pattern image of the overlying portion formed on the substrate, and a control section for controlling the dose adjusting device based on the result of measurement by the shape measuring unit in such a way that the shape of the pattern image of the overlying portion formed on the substrate becomes an intended shape.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2002
    Assignee: Nikon Corporation
    Inventors: Akinori Shirato, Kazuhiko Hori, Toshio Matsuura