Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Keita Sakai

Kenichi Kobayashi

Toshiki Ito

Noriyasu Hasegawa

Hiroshi Maehara

Keiko Chiba

Hisashi Namba

Minoru Matsuda

Yoshimasa Araki

Hitoshi Nakano

Tatsuya Hayashi

Makoto Ogusu

Youji Kawasaki

Setsuo Yoshida

Nobuto Kawahara

Ken Katsuta

Masayuki Tanabe

Masahiro Kuri

Tomofumi Nishikawara

Shingo Ishida

An imprint apparatus includes: a movable housing unit; an ejection head provided in the housing unit and configured to eject an ejection material; a flexible member provided in the housing unit and separating the housing unit into a first storing space communicating with the ejection head and storing the ejection material and a second storing space storing hydraulic liquid; a first channel and a second channel communicating with the second storing space; a pressure control unit configured to control a pressure in the second storing space through the channels; and a bubble detection unit configured to detect bubbles in the channels.

Imprint apparatus and method of controlling imprint apparatus

Provided is an ejection apparatus including: an ejection head having an ejection opening for ejecting an ejection material in a liquid state; a storage container storing therein the ejection material and communicating with the ejection head; and a pressure control unit that maintains the pressure inside the storage container at a negative pressure. The pressure control unit generates a first pressure in the storage container in a normal operation, the first pressure being capable of forming a meniscus of the ejection material in the ejection opening. The pressure control unit drops the pressure inside the storage container to at least the first pressure in a case where the pressure inside the storage container reaches a predetermined pressure above the first pressure.

Ejection apparatus and imprint apparatus

A determination method for determining a pattern of a mold is disclosed. The pattern of the mold is used in imprint processing of forming a pattern on imprint material by performing the steps of pressing the imprint material on a substrate against the pattern of the mold in an atmosphere containing condensable gas to be liquefied due to compression, curing the imprint material, and releasing the mold from the imprint material. A processor calculates a shrinkage amount of the pattern on the imprint material. The pattern on the imprint material shrinks by desorbing condensate liquid, which is produced through liquefaction of the condensable gas between the imprint material and the pattern of the mold in the pressing step and which is dissolved in the imprint material, from the imprint material after completion of the pressing step.

Method for determining pattern of mold for imprint, imprint method, and apparatus

An exposure apparatus that includes a projection optical system, and exposes a substrate to light via the projection optical system and a liquid that is supplied between the projection optical system and the substrate. A plurality of recovery ports recover the liquid supplied between the projection optical system and the substrate, and are discretely arranged between vertices on each side of a polygon and at each of the vertices of the polygon. A chamber, connected to the plurality of recovery ports, receives the liquid. A pump attracts the liquid via the plurality of recovery ports and the chamber. A pressure difference between the pump and each of the recovery ports positioned at the vertices, among the plurality of recovery ports, is less than a pressure difference between the pump and each of the recovery ports positioned between the vertices, among the plurality of recovery ports.

Exposure apparatus, and method of manufacturing a device

A method of manufacturing calcium fluoride single crystal includes cooling the calcium fluoride single crystal with variable cooling rates so that throughout a temperature range in the cooling step, maximum shear stress inside the calcium fluoride single crystal caused by thermal stress is approximately equal to or smaller than critical resolved shear stress (&#x3c4;) of the calcium fluoride single crystal in a &#x3c;1 1 0&#x3e; direction on a {0 0 1} plane of the calcium fluoride single crystal, and is maintained to be an approximately constant ratio, and adding strontium fluoride when growing the single crystal before the cooling step.

Method of manufacturing a calcium fluoride single crystal

An exposure apparatus has a projection optical system configured to project an image of a reticle pattern onto a substrate, and exposes the substrate via liquid supplied to a space between the substrate and the projection optical system. The exposure apparatus includes an oxygen removal unit configured to reduce dissolved oxygen in the liquid by bringing the liquid into contact with a gas other than oxygen, and a degassing unit configured to reduce a dissolved gas in the liquid.

Exposure apparatus, exposure method, and exposure system

At least one exemplary embodiment is directed to an exposure apparatus configured to expose a substrate through a liquid comprising a projection optical and a nozzle unit. The nozzle unit has a liquid recovery port recovering the liquid and a liquid supply port arranged between a final lens and the liquid recovery port and supplying the liquid. A static contact angle of an outer-side second portion of the nozzle unit surface than the liquid recovery port with respect to the liquid is larger than that of an inner-side first portion of the nozzle unit surface than the liquid recovery port by 20&#xb0; or more. A sliding angle of the second portion with respect to the liquid is 20&#xb0; or less.

Immersion exposure apparatus

At least one exemplary embodiment is directed to an exposure apparatus for exposing a substrate. The exposure apparatus includes a movable substrate stage, a projection optical system configured to project light from an original and including a final optical element, and a nozzle member provided around the final optical element and including an opposing surface opposing the substrate. The substrate is exposed via liquid filled between a final surface of the projection optical system and the substrate, the projection optical system, and the original. The opposing surface includes a supply port, a first recovery port provided farther from an optical axis of the final optical element than the supply port, and a first portion and a second portion provided between the supply port and the first recovery port. The distance between the first portion and the substrate is longer than the distance between the supply port and the substrate.

Exposure apparatus and device manufacturing method

A method for manufacturing calcium fluoride single crystal includes the step of cooling the calcium fluoride single crystal so that maximum shear stress inside the calcium fluoride single crystal caused by thermal stress is approximately equal to or smaller than critical resolved shear stress (&#x3c4;) in a &#x3c;1 1 0&#x3e; direction of on a {0 0 1} plane of the calcium fluoride single crystal.

Method of manufacturing single crystal calcium fluoride

There is provided a photosensitive resin having at least three moieties in the backbone chain, two moieties of which moieties are an alicyclic group moiety and a sulfonyl moiety. The photosensitive resin has a superior solubility in solvents and a superior dry-etching resistance, and enables easy fabrication of highly integrated semiconductor devices.

Photosensitive resin, resist composition using the photosensitive resin, pattern formation method using the resist composition, device produced by the pattern formation method, and exposure method

Patterning method, and method for manufacturing semiconductor device

Provided is a photosensitive resin with high sensitivity to exposure light. The photosensitive resin comprises a vinyl monomer moiety having an alicyclic group in a side chain thereof, and a sulfonyl moiety.

Photosensitive resin, resist based on the photosensitive resin, exposure apparatus and exposure method using the resist, and semiconductor device obtained by the exposure method

A method of manufacturing semiconductor devices includes a coating step for coating a substrate using a resist solution including a base resin and a low-oxygen or oxygen-free solvent in which oxygen is removed by nitrogen bubbling, a heating step for heating the substrate coated with the resist, an exposing step for exposing the substrate with radiation to transfer a pattern, and a developing step for developing the exposed substrate. The coating step, the heating step, the exposing step and the developing step are performed under an environment controlled in a low-oxygen or oxygen-free state.

Method of manufacturing semiconductor devices by performing coating,

A diffractive optical element for diffracting non-collimated light includes a base surface and a periodic structure formed on the base surface and having a plurality of diffractive surfaces and a plurality of boundary surfaces. The boundary surfaces are separated into plural zones, and in each zone, the boundary surface is placed substantially parallel to a main portion of a light beam impinging on that zone.

Diffractive optical element and optical instrument having the same

A resist solution for photolithography includes a base resin and an oxygen-free or low-oxygen solvent, wherein an oxygen volume in 1 ml of the solution is 0.05 cm.sup.3 or less under atmospheric pressure.

Growing community of inventors

Utsunomiya, Japan

Keita Sakai