Nikon Corporation

The University of Tokyo

Asahi Kasei Kabushiki Kaisha

Kazuya Ota

Hideo Mizutani

Nobutaka Magome

Kenji Nishi

Masahiko Yasuda

Kouichiro Komatsu

Shinji Mizutani

Koichiro Komatsu

Jiro Inoue

Kouichirou Komatsu

Takashi Mori

Akikazu Tanimoto

Hideki Komatsuda

Tsuneyuki Hagiwara

Susumu Makinouchi

Takanori Ichiki

Masaharu Kawakubo

Shigeru Hagiwara

Shigeru Nakayama

Daishi Tanaka

Akira Nakabayashi

Kuno Suzuki

Hiroki Okamoto

Shin-ichi Takagi

Hidoe Mizutani

Hideyuki Miyajima

A reticle protection device capable of keeping a reticle therein is provided with an inner pod capable of keeping the reticle therein; an outer pod capable of keeping the inner pod therein; an electroconductive movable contact portion provided on at least one of the inner pod and the outer pod and being capable of coining into contact with an electroconductive film of the reticle; and a leaf spring for achieving electric conduction of the contact portion to at least one of the inner pod and the outer pod. The reticle is kept in the inner pod and the inner pod is kept in the outer pod, thereby enabling stable grounding of the reticle.

Mask protection device, exposure apparatus, and method for manufacturing device

A particle detection method in which particles in a sample are detected includes: a mounting step of mounting, on a stage portion, a fluid device including a channel through which the particles can move; an irradiation step of irradiating the channel with illumination light; and a detection step of detecting scattered light generated from the particles by irradiation with the illumination light. In the irradiation step, the illumination light is converged such as to enter the channel by passing through, among side surfaces of the channel, only the first side surface that faces an illumination light incident direction.

Particle detection method, particle detection device and particle detection system

A reticle protection device capable of keeping a reticle therein is provided with an inner pod capable of keeping the reticle therein; an outer pod capable of keeping the inner pod therein; an electroconductive movable contact portion provided on at least one of the inner pod and the outer pod and being capable of coming into contact with an electroconductive film of the reticle; and a leaf spring for achieving electric conduction of the contact portion to at least one of the inner pod and the outer pod. The reticle is kept in the inner pod and the inner pod is kept in the outer pod, thereby enabling stable grounding of the reticle.

A photocatalyst composition which comprises (A) modified photocatalyst particles, the modified photocatalyst particles (A) being prepared by subjecting particles of a photocatalyst to a modification treatment with at least one modifier compound selected from the group consisting of different compounds each of which independently comprises at least one structural unit selected from the group consisting of a triorganosilane unit, a monooxydiorganosilane unit and a dioxyorganosilane unit; and (B) a binder component comprising a phenyl group-containing silicone optionally containing an alkyl group. A film formed using the above-mentioned photocatalyst composition, a functional composite comprising a substrate and the above-mentioned film formed on the substrate, and a shaped article produced by shaping the above-mentioned photocatalyst composition.

Photocatalyst composition

A scanning exposure apparatus includes a projection system, a stage system, a first detector and a control system. The stage system has first and second stages, each of which is movable independently in a plane while holding a substrate. The first detector detects focusing information of a vicinity of an outer circumference of the substrate during a detecting operation. The control system controls the stage system to perform the detecting operation with the first stage, while performing a first exposure operation on the substrate held by the second stage. After the first exposure operation, a second exposure operation for the substrate held on the first stage is performed, in which a shot area in the vicinity of the outer circumference of the substrate is exposed by moving the first stage while adjusting a position of the substrate surface held by the first stage using the detected focusing information.

Exposure apparatus and method

When a mask is irradiated obliquely with light from a lighting system, the light reflected from the mask is projected onto a wafer through a projection optical system, and the pattern of the mask is transferred to the wafer. If the magnification of the projection optical system changes because of a vertical movement of the mask, a control unit detects the projection position of the mask pattern image on a stage by an aerial image sensor and also detects a mark on the aerial image sensor by a mark detector so as to determine the baseline of the mark detector. Thus, the positional shift of the projection position of the mask pattern image on the wafer due to the change in magnification is corrected to sufficiently restrict or prevent alignment inaccuracy associated with the change in magnification.

Exposure method and apparatus, method of making exposure apparatus, device and device manufacturing method

An exposure apparatus and method displace first and second object holders over a base surface that extends in X- and Y-directions. The first object holder can be displaced from a third area to a second area by using a first displacement unit. The second object holder can be displaced from a first area to the second area by using a second displacement unit. The second area is located between the first and third areas. The first and second object holders are alternately coupled to the second displacement unit, such that the first object holder can be displaced from the second area to the first area using the second displacement unit. The first and second object holders also are alternately coupled to the first displacement unit, such that the second object holder can be displaced from the second area to the third area using the first displacement unit. After completion of an exposure operation for a second object on the second object holder in the first area, the second object is moved from the first area to the third area via the second area, and then a first object to be exposed on the first object holder is transferred from the third area to the first area via the second area.

Exposure apparatus and an exposure method

A method for performing optical adjustments of an exposure apparatus is based on an exposure apparatus having a light source for generating illumination light for exposure, and illumination optics for irradiating a mask with the illumination light generated from the exposure light source so as to imprint a mask pattern on a substrate base. The apparatus uses a wide bandwidth light source for the exposure light source that produces exposure light and non-exposure light having wavelengths different from those in the exposure light, and optical adjustments for optical components in at least a portion of the illumination optics are performed by using non-exposure light

Apparatus and method for pattern exposure and method for adjusting the apparatus

On sequentially transferring patterns formed on a mask onto a plurality of divided areas on a substrate, when a new divided area on the substrate exposed, the substrate is moved from the exposure position of the preceding divided area to the exposure position of the new divided area in consideration of thermal expansion of the substrate at this stage. Thereafter, the mask pattern is transferred onto the predetermined divided area. With this process, exposure is performed with the respective shot areas arranged on the substrate at a desired interval in a cooled state after exposure. This makes it possible to improve the overlay accuracy with respect to the subsequent layer while performing exposure with high overlay accuracy with respect to the preceding layer.

Method and apparatus for exposure, and device manufacturing method

Prior to an exposure process in which a pattern formed on a mask is transferred by exposure onto photo-sensitized substrates, the temperature of the mask and/or the temperature of the photosensitized substrate is/are adjusted to an equilibrium temperatures which would be established during an exposure process, so that any inconvenience may be avoided, which may otherwise arise due to temperature changes with time in the environment of the exposure apparatus. Further, in a waiting interval during which no control sequence for exposure of a substrate is performed, a substrate stage for carrying a substrate is caused to wait at a position in the exposure apparatus at which stability against heat is obtained, so that any adverse effects may be minimized, which could occur due to changes in the temperature gradients prevailing in the exposure apparatus.

Exposure method and exposure apparatus

An exposure method according to the present invention includes a first step of forming on a substrate an alignment mark including a concave and convex pattern; a second step of forming a coat over said alignment mark and the other area on said substrate; a third step of flattening said coat; and a fourth step of applying a photosensitive material on said coat flattened by said third step and projecting a mask pattern thereto. The alignment mark is formed by said concave and convex pattern arranged with a pitch which is smaller than the predetermined value between adjacent convex portions having a width of not less than a predetermined value.

Micro devices manufacturing method utilizing concave and convex alignment mark patterns

Laser light emitted from a high output laser light source is condensed by a condenser lens to form a condensed point. Xenon (Xe) gas or the like as a target is injected from a nozzle to the condensed point to generate Extreme Ultra Violate (EUV) light, and then the generated EUV light is condensed by a condenser mirror. A transmission filter having a predetermined transmittance with respect to the EUV light is disposed between the condenser mirror and a reflecting mirror, and scattering particles mixed in the EUV light are adsorbed by the transmission filter. The EUV light passing through the transmission filter is deviated by the reflecting mirror, a illuminance distribution of the EUV light is uniformalized by fly eye mirrors, thereafter the EUV light is condensed by another condenser mirror, and then exposure is effected using the condensed EUV light as an exposure beam.

Two stages (WS WS ) holding wafers can independently move between a positional information measuring section (PIS) under an alignment system ( ) and an exposing section (EPS) under a projection optical system (PI). The wafer exchange and alignment are performed on the stage (WS ), during which wafer (W ) is exposed on the stage (WS ). A position of each shot area of wafer (WS ) is obtained as a relative position with respect to a reference mark formed on the stage WS in the section (PIS). Relative positional information can be used for the alignment with respect to an exposure pattern when the wafer (WS ) is moved to the section (EPS) to be exposed. Therefore, it is not necessary that a stage position is observed continuously in moving the stage. Exposure operations are performed in parallel by the two wafer stages (WS ) and (WS ) so as to improve the throughput.

Micro devices manufacturing method and apparatus therefor

Two stages (WS ), (WS ) holding wafers can independently move between a positional information measuring section (PIS) under an alignment system ( ) and an exposing section (EPS) under a projection optical system (PL). The wafer exchange and alignment are performed on the stage (WS ), during which wafer (W ) is exposed on the stage (WS ). A position of each shot area of wafer (WS ) is obtained as a relative position with respect to a reference mark formed on the stage (WS ) in the section (PIS). Relative positional information can be used for the alignment with respect to an exposure pattern when the wafer (WS ) is moved to the section (EPS) to be exposed. Therefore, it is not necessary that a stage position is observed continuously in moving the stage. Exposure operations are performed in parallel by the two wafer stages (WS ) and (WS ) so as to improve the throughput.

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Tokyo, Japan

Kazuya Ota