Nikon Corporation

Nikon Engineering Co., Ltd.

Tokyo Electron Limited

Kurita Water Industries Ltd.

Nikon Corooration

Hiroyuki Nagasaka

Soichi Owa

Takeshi Okuyama

Shigeru Hirukawa

Yasufumi Nishii

Kenichi Shiraishi

Hiroaki Takaiwa

Nobutaka Magome

Hirotaka Kohno

Yasugumi Nishii

Yoshihiko Kudo

Jiro Inoue

Yasuhiro Omura

Masahiro Nei

Motokatsu Imai

Takaya Okada

Tomoharu Fujiwara

Hitoshi Ishizawa

Ryuichi Hoshika

Taro Yamamoto

Osamu Hirakawa

Naomasa Shiraishi

Ryu Sugawara

Akihiro Miwa

Hiroshi Morita

Susumu Makinouchi

Katsushi Nakano

Takashi Aoki

Jun Ishikawa

Yoshiki Kida

Hiroto Tokoshima

Yuuki Ishii

Yasushi Yoda

Minoru Onda

A charged particle beam optical apparatus has a plurality of irradiation optical systems each of which irradiates an object with a charged particle beam and a first control apparatus configured to control a second irradiation optical system on the basis of an operation state of a first irradiation optical system.

Charged particle beam optical apparatus, exposure apparatus, exposure method, control apparatus, control method, information generation apparatus, information generation method and device manufacturing method

An exposure method sequentially exposes a plurality of shot areas of a substrate. The method includes: (i) holding the substrate on a substrate holder such that a gap is formed along an edge of the substrate; (ii) exposing one of the shot areas, located near a center of the substrate, through a liquid of a liquid immersion area which covers only a portion of a surface of the substrate, while moving the substrate at a first scanning speed; and (iii) exposing an other one of the shot areas through the liquid of the liquid immersion area, while moving the substrate at a second scanning speed lower than the first scanning speed. The other one of the shot areas is located near the edge of the substrate and the gap is included in the liquid immersion area during the exposure of the other one of the shot areas.

Exposure method and device manufacturing method having lower scanning speed to expose peripheral shot area

An exposure apparatus includes a substrate stage having a substrate holder to hold a substrate, a gap being formed between an edge of the held substrate and a surface surrounding the held substrate, and a controller that controls an exposure operation in which shot areas of the substrate are exposed sequentially and respectively with an image through liquid of a liquid immersion area which covers a portion of an upper surface of the substrate. The controller moves the substrate stage at a first speed to expose one of the shot areas to the image through the liquid, moves the substrate stage at a second speed, that is lower than the first speed, to expose another one of the shot areas to the image through the liquid, and during the exposing of the another one of the shot areas, the liquid immersion area is formed over a portion of the gap.

Exposure apparatus and device manufacturing method having lower scanning speed to expose peripheral shot area

Exposure apparatus exposes a substrate by irradiating the substrate with exposure light via a projection optical system and a liquid. The exposure apparatus is provided with a liquid immersion mechanism for supplying the liquid and recovering the liquid. The liquid immersion mechanism has an inclined surface, which is opposite to a surface of the substrate and is inclined with respect to the surface of the substrate, and a liquid recovering port of the liquid immersion mechanism is formed in the inclined surface. A flat portion is provided between the substrate and the projection optical system. A liquid immersion area can be maintained to be small.

Exposure apparatus, exposure method, and method for producing device

An exposure apparatus includes a projection optical system having a last optical element via which an exposure beam is projected to a projection area, and a liquid supply system having a first supply port and a second supply port via which an immersion liquid is supplied to form a liquid immersion area. The first supply port is arranged on one side of the projection area in a scanning direction, and the second supply port is arranged on the other side of the projection area in the scanning direction, the first and second supply ports facing downwardly. A plurality of shot areas of a substrate are successively exposed with the exposure beam through the liquid immersion area covering only a portion of an upper surface of the substrate.

An exposure apparatus (EX) is an apparatus which exposes a substrate (P) by irradiating exposure light (EL) onto the substrate (P) via a projection optical system (PL) and a liquid (). The exposure apparatus (EX) has a substrate table (PT) for holding the substrate (P), and a plate member () having a liquid repellent flat surface (A) is replaceably provided to the substrate table (PT) to prevent the liquid from remaining, maintaining excellent exposure accuracy.

Exposure apparatus, exposure method, method for producing device, and optical part

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.

Exposure apparatus and device manufacturing method

A liquid immersion exposure apparatus in which a substrate is exposed with an exposure beam, includes a projection optical system by which the substrate is exposed to the exposure beam, a first inlet disposed at a first position, which is capable of supplying a first liquid to a space adjacent to a bottom surface of the projection optical system, and a second inlet disposed at a second position which is different from the first position, the second inlet being capable of supplying a second liquid that is different from the first liquid to the space.

Exposure method, exposure apparatus, and method for producing device

A liquid immersion exposure apparatus includes a liquid-immersion-area-forming-member having an opening through which an exposure light is projected, the-liquid-immersion-area-forming-member having a first liquid supply inlet facing downward, a second liquid supply inlet provided opposite to an outer surface of the final optical element, and a first removal outlet facing downward. A liquid immersion area is formed on a portion of an upper surface of a substrate while performing a liquid supply via the first liquid supply inlet to a gap between the liquid-immersion-area-forming-member and the upper surface of the substrate, a liquid supply via the second liquid supply inlet to a gap between the liquid-immersion-area-forming-member and a final optical element of a projection system and a liquid removal via the first removal outlet from the gap between the liquid-immersion-area-forming-member and the upper surface of the substrate.

Exposure apparatus, exposure method, and device producing method

An immersion projection optical system having, for example, a catadioptric and off-axis structure, reduces the portion of an image space filled with liquid (immersion 5 liquid), The projection optical system, which projects a reduced image of a first plane onto a second plane through the liquid, includes a refractive optical element (Lp) arranged nearest to the second plane. The refractive optical element includes a light emitting surface (Lpb) shaped to be substantially symmetric with respect to two axial directions (XY&#xb7;axes) perpendicular to each other on the second plane. The light emitting surface has a central axis (Lpba) that substantially coincides with a central axis () of a circle () corresponding to a circumference of a light entering surface (Lpa) of the refractive optical element. The central axis of the light emitting surface is decentered in one of the two axial directions (Y&#x2dc;axis) from an optical axis (AX).

Projection optical system, exposure apparatus, and exposure method

An exposure apparatus exposes a substrate by projecting a pattern image onto the substrate through a liquid. The exposure apparatus includes a projection optical system by which the pattern image is projected onto the substrate, and a movable member which is movable relative to the projection optical system. A liquid-repellent member, at least a part of a surface of which is liquid-repellent, is provided detachably on the movable member, the liquid-repellent member being different from the substrate.

Exposure method, substrate stage, exposure apparatus, and device manufacturing method

An exposure apparatus includes a projection system having a final element that projects exposure light to an upper surface of a substrate through liquid between the final element and the substrate. A liquid confinement member has a recovery outlet, via which the liquid is removed along with gas, arranged such that the upper surface of the substrate faces the recovery outlet, and the recovery outlet surrounds a path of the exposure light. The liquid confinement member confines the liquid to an area smaller than an area of the upper surface of the substrate by removing the liquid via the recovery outlet from a gap between the liquid confinement member and the upper surface of the substrate. An anti-vibration system is disposed such that transmission of vibrations between the liquid confinement member and the projection system is limited.

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Kumagaya, Japan

Hiroyuki Nagasaka