Asml Netherlands B.v.

Carl Zeiss Smt Gmbh

Luigi Scaccabarozzi

Vadim Yevgenyevich Banine

Arie Jeffrey Den Boef

Andrei Mikhailovich Yakunin

Florian Didier Albin Dhalluin

Han-Kwang Nienhuys

Pieter-Jan Van Zwol

Mária Péter

Jozef Petrus Henricus Benschop

Willem Joan Van Der Zande

Pedro Julian Rizo Diago

Erik Roelof Loopstra

Johannes Hubertus Josephina Moors

Sander Frederik Wuister

Dirk Heinrich Ehm

Christian Wagner

Richard Joseph Bruls

Andrey Alexandrovich Nikipelov

James Norman Wiley

Derk Servatius Gertruda Brouns

Laurentius Cornelius De Winter

Arjen Boogaard

Carlo Cornelis Maria Luijten

Jacques Cor Johan Van Der Donck

Marcel Johannus Elisabeth Hubertus Muitjens

Nicolaas Aldegonda Jan Maria Van Aerle

Hendrik Antony Johannes Neerhof

Maarten Van Kampen

Arthur Winfried Eduardus Minnaert

Alexey Sergeevich Kuznetsov

Almut Czap

Nikolay Nikolaevich Iosad

Alexander Marinus Arnoldus Huijberts

Arnoldus Jan Storm

Paulus Albertus Maria Gasseling

Jens Arno Steinhoff

Juan Diego Arias Espinoza

Maria Isabel Catalina Caballero

Kurstat Bal

Marijn Sandtke

Jetske Karina Stortelder

Mona Nagel

Vitalii Ivanov

Adrianus Johannes Maria Van Dijk

Yuri Vainer

Nicolaas Arnoldus Lammers

Hans Joerg Mallmann

Mária PÉTER

A membrane transmissive to EUV radiation, which may be used as a pellicle or spectral filter in a lithographic apparatus. The membrane has one or more high doped regions wherein the membrane is doped with a dopant concentration greater than 10cm, and one or more regions with low (or no) doping. The membrane may have a main substrate having low doping and one or more additional layers, wherein the high doped regions are within some or all of the additional layers.

Membranes for use within a lithographic apparatus and a lithographic apparatus comprising such a membrane

Disclosed is a suppression filter having a profile defining at least two reflective surface levels, each reflected surface level being separated by a separation distance. The separation distance is such that the reflective suppression filter is operable to substantially prevent specular reflection of radiation at a first wavelength and at a second wavelength incident on said reflective suppression filter. Also disclosed is a radiation collector, radiation source and lithographic apparatus comprising such a suppression filter, and to a method of determining a separation distance between at least two reflective surface levels of a suppression filter.

Suppression filter, radiation collector and radiation source for a lithographic apparatus; method of determining a separation distance between at least two reflective surface levels of a suppression filter

A membrane transmissive to EUV radiation, which may be used as a pellicle or spectral filter in a lithographic apparatus. The membrane includes one or more high doped regions wherein the membrane is doped with a dopant concentration greater than 10cm, and one or more regions with low (or no) doping. The membrane may have a main substrate having low doping and one or more additional layers, wherein the high doped regions are comprised within some or all of the additional layers.

The present invention is concerned with an apparatus for shielding a reticle for EUV lithography. The apparatus comprises a pellicle, and at least one actuator in communication with the pellicle, the actuator being configured to induce, in use, movement of the pellicle with respect to a reticle.

Lithographic apparatus

There is disclosed a lithographic apparatus provided with a spectral purity filter which may be provided in one or more of the following locations: (a) in the illumination system, (b) adjacent the patterning device, either a static location in the radiation beam or fixed for movement with the patterning device, (c) in the projection system, and (d) adjacent the substrate table. The spectral purity filter is preferably a membrane formed of polysilicon, a multilayer material, a carbon nanotube material or graphene. The membrane may be provided with a protective capping layer, and/or a thin metal transparent layer.

Lithographic apparatus and method of manufacturing a device

A lithographic projection apparatus includes a laser cleaning device. The laser cleaning device is constructed and arranged to clean a surface. The laser cleaning device includes a laser source constructed and arranged to generate radiation, and an optical element constructed and arranged to focus the radiation in a focal point in order to generate a cleaning plasma in a background gas above the surface. The laser cleaning device is further provided with a gas supply constructed and arranged to generate a jet of protection gas at a location near the plasma.

Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method

An EUV lithography reticle is inspected to detect contaminant particles. The inspection apparatus comprises illumination optics with primary radiation. An imaging optical system with plural branches is arranged to form and detect a plurality of images, each branch having an image sensor and forming its image with a different portion of radiation received from the illuminated article. A processor combines information from the detected images to report on the presence and location of contaminant particles. In one or more branches the primary radiation is filtered out, so that the detected image is formed using only secondary radiation emitted by contaminant material in response to the primary radiation. In a dark field imaging branch using the scattered primary radiation, a spatial filter blocks spatial frequency components associated with periodic features of the article under inspection, to allow detection of particles which cannot be detected by secondary radiation.

Methods and apparatus for inspection of articles, EUV lithography reticles, lithography apparatus and method of manufacturing devices

A contaminant trap is used in an EUV radiation source apparatus. An EUV radiation beam is generated and focused through a low pressure gaseous atmosphere into a virtual source point. The EUV radiation creates a plasma in the low pressure hydrogen atmosphere through which it passes. A contaminant trap including electrodes is located in or around radiation beam as it approaches the virtual source point. A DC biasing source is connected to the electrodes to create an electric field oriented to deflect out of the beam path contaminant particles that have been negatively charged by the plasma. Additional RF electrodes and/or an ionizer enhance the plasma to increase the charging of the particles. The deflecting electrodes can be operated with RF bias for a short time, to ensure dissipation of the enhanced plasma.

Radiation source apparatus, lithographic apparatus, method of generating and delivering radiation and method for manufacturing a device

Methods and systems for inspection of an object include the use of spectroscopic techniques for the detection of unwanted particles on an object's surface, based on the different responses of the unwanted particles as compared with the object to be inspected due to their different materials. Time resolved spectroscopy and/or energy resolved spectroscopy of secondary photon emission from the surface of the object can be used to obtain Raman and photoluminescence spectra. The objects to be inspected can for example be a patterning device as used in a lithographic process, for example a reticle, in which case the presence of metal, metal oxide or organic particles can be detected, for example. The methods and apparatus are highly sensitive, for example, being able to detect small particles (sub 100 nm, particularly sub 50 nm) on the patterned side of an EUV reticle.

Object inspection systems and methods

In an aspect, an inspection method for detecting the presence or absence of a defect on an object, the object comprising a recess having a physical depth, is disclosed. The method includes directing radiation at the object, the radiation having a wavelength that is substantially equal to twice an optical depth of the recess, detecting radiation that is re-directed by the object or a defect on the object, and determining the presence or absence of a defect from the re-directed radiation.

Inspection method and apparatus

An optical assembly is mounted in a projection exposure apparatus () for EUV microlithography and includes at least one vacuum chamber (), at least one optical element () arranged in the vacuum chamber (), the optical element () having an optical surface () arranged to be impinged upon by a useful beam bundle () of the projection exposure apparatus (), and a cleaning device () configured to clean the optical surface (). The cleaning device () is configured to perform particle cleaning of the optical surface () at a gas pressure within the vacuum chamber () which is higher than a vacuum pressure (p) for performing an exposure operation with the projection exposure apparatus (). As a result, optical elements having respective optical surfaces arranged to be impinged upon by a useful beam bundle can be cleaned reliably of foreign particles.

Particle cleaning of optical elements for microlithography

A detector detects radiation from a mask to form an image, but the focal plane of the image is in front of the mask. Any particles arranged on the mask will be in focus. However, the pattern on the mask will be out of focus. It is therefore possible to detect the existence and location of particles on a mask having an arbitrary pattern. The depth of field of the detector is small and the focal plane is no further from the surface of the patterning device than two times the depth of field.

Method of detecting a particle and a lithographic apparatus

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Valkenswaard, Netherlands

Luigi Scaccabarozzi