Carl Zeiss Smt Gmbh

Carl-zeiss-smt Ag

Carl Zeiss Semiconductor Manufacturing Technologies Ag

Carl Zeiss Microscopy Gmbh

Carl Zeiss Ag

Rheinisch-westfalische Technische Hochschule Aachen

Alexander Epple

Aurelian Dodoc

Wilhelm Ulrich

Hans-Juergen Mann

Toralf Gruner

David R Shafer

Rudolf Von Buenau

Wolfgang Singer

Susanne Beder

Heiko Feldmann

Helmut Beierl

Hans-Juergen Rostalski

Karl-Heinz Schuster

Vladimir Kamenov

Thomas Schicketanz

Daniel Kraehmer

Johannes Wangler

Norbert Wabra

Sascha Bleidistel

Ralf Mueller

Jochen Weber

Olaf Rogalsky

Baerbel Schwaer

Reiner Garreis

Alexander Sohmer

Russell M Hudyma

Paul Graeupner

Olaf Conradi

Julian Kaller

Franz-Josef Stickel

Winfried M Kaiser

Jörg Schultz

Dieter Bader

Thomas Okon

Ari Kazi

Christa Müller, Legal Representative

Jean-Claude Perrin

Michael Totzeck

Hans-Jürgen Mann

Holger Muenz

Arif Kazi

Bernhard Kneer

J&ouml;rg Schultz

Frank Schillke

Joachim Wietzorrek

Andreas Dorsel

Joerg Schultz

Tilman Schwertner

Markus Degünther

Ralf Müller

Ella Mizkewicz

Vladimir Kamenow

Janosch Müller, Legal Representative

Jean Claude Perrin

Christa M&uuml;ller

Christian Brecher

Hans-Jürgen Rostalski

Marcel Fey

Sebastian Kehne

Daniel KRÄHMER

Rudolf Von BÜNAU

An optical arrangement having a center axis, an object side, an image side, and a catadioptric arrangement is provided. The catadioptric arrangement includes first and second partly reflective optical components, the first optical component including radially inner and radially outer regions, the inner region being configured to be transparent to light incident from the object side, and the outer region being configured to reflect light incident from the object side, the second optical component including a radially inner region and a radially outer region, the outer region being configured to be transparent to light incident from the object side, and the inner region being configured to be transparent to light incident from the object side and to reflect light incident from the image side. At least one further optical component with positive refractive power is arranged at the inner region of the second optical component on the object side.

Optical arrangement with an overview function for a catadioptric microscope objective

An immersion objective includes a correction group or correcting a spherical aberration. The displacement of the correction group along the optical axis leads to a substantially negligible defocus aberration.

Immersion objective

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.

Projection lens, projection exposure apparatus and projection exposure method

An optical zoom device for setting an imaging scale of an imaging device, which is configured for imaging an object on an image plane of an image recording device using a microscope objective, comprising an optical element arrangement is disclosed. The optical element arrangement includes an object-side zoom entrance for optical connection to an objective exit, in particular a collimated objective exit, of the microscope objective and includes an image-side zoom exit for optical connection to an image recording entrance of the image recording device. The optical element arrangement includes a tele arrangement designed according to the teleobjective principle, which includes a first optical element group with negative refractive power and a second optical element group with positive refractive power, assigned to the first optical element group for setting the imaging scale, wherein the first optical element group is arranged at the zoom exit and the second optical element group is arranged on the objective side of the first optical element group.

Optical imaging device and imaging method for microscopy

Microlithography projection objectives for imaging into an image plane a pattern arranged in an object plane are described with respect to suppressing false light in such projection objectives.

Microlithography projection objective

An imaging optical unit for imaging an object field in an image field is disclosed. The imaging optical unit has an obscured pupil. This pupil has a center, through which a chief ray of a central field point passes. The imaging optical unit furthermore has a plurality of imaging optical components. A gravity center of a contiguous pupil obscuration region of the imaging optical unit lies decentrally in the pupil of the imaging optical unit.

Imaging optical unit and projection exposure apparatus for projection lithography, having such imaging optical unit

An objective having a plurality of optical elements arranged to image a pattern from an object field to an image field at an image-side numerical aperture NA&#x3e;0.8 with electromagnetic radiation from a wavelength band around a wavelength &#x3bb; includes a number N of dioptric optical elements, each dioptric optical element i made from a transparent material having a normalized optical dispersion&#x394;(&#x3bb;)&#x2212;(&#x3bb;+1 pm)for a wavelength variation of 1 pm from a wavelength &#x3bb;. The objective satisfies the relation for any ray of an axial ray bundle originating from a field point on an optical axis in the object field, where sis a geometrical path length of a ray in an ith dioptric optical element having axial thickness dand the sum extends on all dioptric optical elements of the objective. Where A=0.2 or below, spherochromatism is sufficiently corrected.

Chromatically corrected objective with specifically structured and arranged dioptric optical elements and projection exposure apparatus including the same

A method of providing a catadioptric projection includes: providing a first partial objective for imaging an object field onto a first real intermediate image; providing a second partial objective for imaging the first real intermediate image onto a second real intermediate image, in which the second partial objective includes a concave mirror; providing a third partial objective for imaging the second intermediate image onto an image field, the third partial objective including an aperture stop; providing a first folding mirror and a second folding mirror; and providing an antireflection coating onto a surface of at least one lens that is directly adjacent to the concave mirror or that is separate from the concave mirror by a single lens, in which the antireflection coating is designed to have reflectivity of less than 0.2% for a wavelength between 150 nm and 250 nm and for an angle-of-incidence range between 0&#xb0; and 30&#xb0;.

Catadioptric projection objective

A projection objective configured to image an object field in an object plane into an image field in an image field plane includes a reflective unit, a first refractive unit, and a second refractive unit. An optical axis of the first refractive unit is parallel to but displaced from an optical axis of the second refractive unit. The reflective unit includes a first curved mirror and a second curved mirror. The second curved mirror is immediately downstream from the first curved mirror in a path of light from the object plane to the image plane. The projection objective is a microlithography projection objective.

Catadioptric projection objective with parallel, offset optical axes

A projection objective for microlithography for imaging an object field onto an image field includes: a first partial objective for imaging the object field onto a first real intermediate image; a second partial objective for imaging the first intermediate image onto a second real intermediate image; a third partial objective for imaging the second intermediate image onto the image field, the third partial objective including an aperture; and a first folding mirror for deflecting radiation toward a concave mirror and a second folding mirror for deflecting the radiation from the concave mirror toward the image plane; in which the projection objective is an immersion projection objective in which during operation an immersion liquid is situated between a last lens surface and an image plane, and at least one surface of at least one lens in the second partial objective has an antireflection coating including at least six layers.

A catadioptric projection objective has a first objective part, defining a first part of the optical axis and imaging an object field to form a first real intermediate image. It also has a second, catadioptric objective part forming a second real intermediate image using the radiation from the first objective part. The second objective part has a concave mirror and defines a second part of the optical axis. A third objective part images the second real intermediate image into the image plane and defines a third part of the optical axis. Folding mirrors deflect the radiation from the object plane towards the concave mirror; and deflect the radiation from the concave mirror towards the image plane. The first part of the optical axis defined by the first objective part is laterally offset from and aligned parallel with the third part of the optical axis.

Catadioptric projection objective with intermediate images

An imaging optical system has a plurality of mirrors which image an object field in an object plane into an image field in an image plane. The imaging optical system has a pupil obscuration. The last mirror in the beam path of the imaging light between the object field and the image field has a through-opening for the passage of the imaging light. A penultimate mirror of the imaging optical system in the beam path of the imaging light between the object field and the image field has no through-opening for the passage of the imaging light. The imaging optical system has precisely eight mirrors. The result is an imaging optical system which exhibits a favorable combination of small imaging errors, manageable production and good throughput.

Imaging optical system and projection exposure installation for microlithography including same

The disclosure relates to a method of manufacturing a projection objective, and a projection objective, such as a projection objective configured to be used in a microlithographic process. The method can include defining an initial design for the projection objective and optimizing the design using a merit function. The method can be used in the manufacturing of projection objectives which may be used in a microlithographic process of manufacturing miniaturized devices.

Method of manufacturing a projection objective and projection objective

Catadioptric projection objectives for microlithography include: a first partial objective for imaging an object field onto a first real intermediate image; a catadioptric partial objective having one concave mirror and a lens for imaging the first intermediate image onto a second real intermediate image; a third partial objective including an aperture stop and no more than four lenses between the aperture stop and an image field, the third partial objective for imaging the second intermediate image onto the image field; and a first folding mirror for deflecting the radiation from the object plane toward the concave mirror and a second folding mirror for deflecting the radiation from the concave mirror toward the image plane. The projection objective is an immersion projection objective. At least one surface of the lens in the catadioptric partial objective has an antireflection coating including at least six layers.

A projection exposure apparatus for projection lithography comprises a light source for generating illumination light. An illumination optical unit guides the light to an object field. A catadioptric projection optical unit with at least one curved mirror images an object in the object field onto a substrate in an image field. An object displacement drive- and a substrate displacement drive serve to displace the object and the substrate. A compensation device serves to compensate aberrations of the projection optical unit, which are caused by an arching of the object or the substrate. The compensation device comprises a wavelength manipulation device for manipulating a wavelength of the illumination light during the projection exposure. The result of this is a projection exposure apparatus in which the imaging quality of the projection optical unit is optimized, particularly taking into account a field curvature.

Projection exposure apparatus for projection lithography

Growing community of inventors

Aalen, Germany

Alexander Epple