Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Ken-ichiro Shinoda

Akiyoshi Suzuki

Mitsuru Hiura

Takafumi Miyaharu

Takahiro Matsumoto

Shunsuke Ota

Toshiki Iwai

Kazuhiro Sato

Tomoaki Kawakami

Masahiro Tamura

Tooru Kawashima

An imprint apparatus for forming a pattern of an imprint material on a substrate using a mold having a mesa including a pattern region where a pattern and a mark are formed. The apparatus includes an alignment optical system which includes an illumination system configured to illuminate the mark with illumination light and a detecting system configured to detect an image of the mark illuminated by the illumination system. The illumination system includes a limiter configured to limit incidence of the illumination light to a side of the mesa, a ridge line of the mesa, and an outer region of the side.

Imprint apparatus

An imprint apparatus includes a mold holder for holding a mold, a substrate holder for holding a substrate, a dispenser for arranging imprint material on the substrate, and a scope for capturing an image of a mark. The substrate holder includes a reference plate having a reference mark whose image is captured by the scope, the dispenser is arranged in a first direction when viewed from the mold holder, and the reference plate is arranged between a virtual straight line which is parallel to a second direction perpendicular to the first direction when viewed from the mold holder and passes through a center of the substrate holder, and an edge of the substrate holder located in the first direction when viewed from the virtual straight line.

Imprint apparatus, imprint method, and article manufacturing method

The present invention provides an illumination apparatus which performs oblique illumination, the apparatus including a first optical element formed with an array of a plurality of optical components each configured to generate a point light source, and a second optical element configured to receive light from the first optical element and form an illumination region, with a power thereof in one direction being different from a power thereof in a direction perpendicular to the one direction, wherein at least one of the first optical element and the second optical element has a rotation angle about an optical axis thereof so as to perform compensate for distortion of the illumination region by the oblique illumination.

Illumination apparatus, optical apparatus, imprint apparatus, projection apparatus, and method of manufacturing article

An imprint apparatus which forms a pattern of an imprint material in a region to be processed on a substrate by using a mold includes an observing unit configured to include a light source which emits first light and a receiving unit which receives the first light which is emitted from the light source, is reflected by the region to be processed, and passes through the mold; a deforming unit configured to thermally deform the region to be processed by illumination with second light; and a combining member which combines the first light of the light source and the second light from the deforming unit and guides the first light and the second light to the region to be processed.

Imprint apparatus and method for producing article

An apparatus for bringing a mold having a pattern region and a first mark into contact with an imprint material on a substrate having a second mark, includes a deforming mechanism configured to deform the mold such that a portion of the mold where the first mark is formed protrudes toward the substrate, a driving mechanism configured to adjust a distance between the mold and the substrate, and a detecting unit configured to detect, after the driving mechanism starts an operation of reducing the distance, the first mark and the second mark in a state in which the portion of the mold and the imprint material on the substrate are in contact with each other but a whole of the pattern region is not in contact with the imprint material.

Imprint apparatus and article manufacturing method

The present invention provides an imprint apparatus which forms a pattern on an imprint material on a substrate by using a mold, including a first optical member interposed between an illumination optical system and a detection optical system, and a mold, and configured to guide a first light from the illumination optical system and a second light from the detection optical system to the mold, and a second optical member interposed between the first optical member and the detection optical system, and configured to transmit the second light which is reflected by a mark formed on the mold or a mark formed on the substrate and travels toward the detection optical system through the first optical member, and block the first light which travels toward the detection optical system through the first optical member.

Imprint apparatus and method of manufacturing article

An imprint apparatus cures an imprint material, while a pattern formed on a mold is kept in contact with the imprint material, thereby transferring the pattern onto the imprint material. The apparatus includes a measurement unit which performs, in parallel, alignment measurement in which a relative position between the mold and a shot region on the substrate, to which the pattern is to be transferred, is measured so as to align the mold and the shot region, and overlay measurement in which a relative position between a first pattern already formed in another shot region on the substrate using the mold, and a second pattern underlying the first patter is measured.

Imprint apparatus including alignment and overlay measurement

The present invention provides an imprint apparatus including a control unit configured to perform detection process, wherein the detection process includes first process in which a detection optical system is caused to detect a mold-side mark in a state in which a substrate state is positioned such that a reference mark is located outside the field of view of the detection optical system, and second process in which the detection optical system is caused to detect the reference mark in a state in which the mold stage is positioned such that the mold-side mark is out of focus with respect to the detection optical system, and the substrate stage is positioned such that the reference mark is located inside the field of view of the detection optical system.

Imprint apparatus, imprint method and method of manufacturing an article

The present invention provides an exposure apparatus comprising an illumination optical system configured to illuminate a reticle with a light beam from a light source, and a projection optical system configured to project a pattern of the reticle onto a substrate, the illumination optical system including a light amount adjusting unit configured to adjust an amount of the light beam, a polarization adjusting unit configured to adjust a polarization state of the light beam, and a beam splitter configured to split the incident light beam into two light beams, wherein the light amount adjusting unit, the polarization adjusting unit, and the beam splitter are set in an order from the light source side.

Exposure apparatus and device fabrication method

An adjustment method for adjusting an illumination condition in illuminating an original plate using an illumination optical system and projecting an image of a pattern formed on the original plate onto a substrate through a projection optical system includes measuring a polarization state of light that has passed through the illumination optical system, the original plate, and the projection optical system in a state where the original plate is located on an object plane of the projection optical system, and adjusting the polarization state based on the measured polarization state.

Adjustment method, exposure method, device manufacturing method, and exposure apparatus

An exposure apparatus for exposing a pattern of a reticle onto an object to be exposed, via a projection optical system, utilizing exposure light, includes an optical element for determining a shape of an effective light source on a predetermined surface that substantially has a Fourier transformation relationship with the reticle, a detector for detecting the shape of the effective light source and a light intensity on the object, and a corrector for correcting a variance of performance of the projection optical system, and a controller for controlling the corrector based on a detection result of the detector.

Exposure apparatus and method

Disclosed is an exposure apparatus and method, and a device manufacturing method using the same. An exposure apparatus according to one preferred form of the invention includes an illumination optical system for illuminating an original with light from a light source, and a projection optical system for projecting a pattern of the original onto a substrate, wherein the illumination optical system includes an optical integrator for forming a secondary light source by use of light from the light source and a condenser optical system for directing light from the optical integrator to the original, and wherein the projection optical system includes an optical element such as a lens, made of a glass material of quartz and being disposed adjacent a pupil plane of the projection optical system.

Exposure apparatus and exposure method, and device manufacturing method using the same

At least one exemplary embodiment is directed to an exposure apparatus which includes an illumination optical system configured to irradiate a mask with light from a light source, and a projecting optical system configured to project a pattern image of the mask onto a substrate. The illumination optical system provides a first light intensity which can be altered by an optical unit forming a second light intensity. The second light intensity can be further altered by an optical unit changing the dimension of the second light intensity forming a third light intensity, where the third light intensity can be used in the lithographic process for forming devices.

Exposure apparatus and method for manufacturing device using the exposure apparatus

An optical system includes an internal reflection type optical member for changing a direction of advancement of an approximately linearly polarized light on the basis of total reflection and a depolarizing member for dissolving linear polarization of light emitted from the optical member.

Growing community of inventors

Utsunomiya, Japan

Ken-ichiro Shinoda