Carl Zeiss Smt Gmbh

Carl-zeiss-smt Ag

Carl Zeiss Sms Ltd.

Matthias Manger

Ulrich Mueller

Michael Arnz

Gerd Klose

Florian Baumer

Markus Raab

Hubert Holderer

Lars Stoppe

Christoph Husemann

Markus Holz

Joachim Stuehler

Uwe Schellhorn

Daniel Runde

Oswald Gromer

Juergen Baier

Matus Kalisky

Joachim Welker

Andreas Raba

Armin Rauthe-Schoech

Joerg Lichtenthaeler

André Orthen

Wilhelm Ulrich

Karl-Heinz Schuster

Bernhard Gellrich

Ulrich Wegmann

Rolf Freimann

Daniel Kraehmer

Michael Layh

Thomas Korb

Johannes Lippert

Bernd Doerband

Stefan Schulte

Albrecht Hof

Michel Aliman

Walter Pauls

Markus Goeppert

Alexander Vogler

Lars Berger

Bernd Dörband

Christoph Petri

Mohammad Awad

Alexander Huebel

Christian Hettich

Dietmar Neugebauer

Armin Bich

Gordon Doering

Frank Riepenhausen

Steffen Bezold

Matthias Kaes

Andreas Koeniger

Helmut Issler

Alfred Gatzweiler

Claudius Weimann

Mirko Buechsenschuetz

Arian Kriesch

Ulrich Vogl

Pavel Alexeev

An optical assembly for semiconductor lithography comprises an optical element and an actuator for deforming the optical element. The actuator is constructed from at least three sections, which include at least first and second group of sections that are controllable in each case via a controller are present. The first group serves for coarse actuation, and the second group serves for fine actuation. The controller is configured to control the groups independently of one another and the sections of a group jointly. The controller is furthermore configured to variably set the number of sections controlled jointly per group. Furthermore, the disclosure relates to a projection exposure apparatus equipped with the assembly, and to a method for controlling the optical assembly.

Optical assembly, method for controlling an optical assembly, and projection exposure apparatus

A projection exposure apparatus comprises an optical element. The optical element comprises a main body and an actuator for deforming an optically effective surface formed on the main body. The actuator is in a recess in the rear side of the main body.

Projection exposure apparatus for semiconductor lithography

A drive device includes: a drive unit configured to apply a drive voltage to a capacitive actuator to set a position of a capacitive actuator; a source controllable by an excitation signal and coupled to the first node to feed a time-dependent AC current signal into the first node so that an AC voltage arises at the capacitive actuator due to a superposition of the drive voltage and an AC voltage corresponding to a product of the AC current signal and an impedance of the capacitive actuator; a filter unit connected configured to filter an output signal of the capacitive actuator; and a determining unit configured to determine an impedance behaviour of the capacitive actuator depending on the filtered output signal, the determining unit configured to output the excitation signal to drive the source.

Drive device, optical system and lithography apparatus

An optical system comprises at least one mirror having a mirror body and a mirror surface, and at least one actuator device coupled to the mirror body and serving for deforming the mirror surface. The actuator device comprises at least one electrostrictive actuator element for generating a mechanical stress in the mirror body for deforming the mirror surface depending on an electrical drive voltage, and at least one electrostrictive sensor element for outputting a sensor signal depending on a deformation of the sensor element. The at least one sensor element is arranged directly adjacent to the actuator element and/or is arranged in such a way that it is configured at least partly for transferring the mechanical stress generated by the actuator element to the mirror body.

Optical system and lithography apparatus

A metrology system includes a first beam analysis system for analyzing at least one first measurement beam that was coupled from the excitation laser beam before a reflection on the target material and a second beam analysis system for analyzing at least one second measurement beam that was coupled from the excitation laser beam after a reflection on the target material. Each of the first beam analysis system and the second beam analysis system has at least one wavefront sensor system.

Metrology system and method for measuring an excitation laser beam in an EUV plasma source

An apparatus includes a light intensity sensor arrangement, a focusing unit for focusing the light beam at a specified location on the light intensity sensor arrangement, and an adjustment unit which adjusts a relative position of the intensity centroid of the light beam in relation to a specified location on the light intensity sensor arrangement when there is a change in the beam angle present upon entry in the apparatus. The adjustment unit is configured to keep the relative position of the intensity centroid of the light beam in relation to the specified location on the light intensity sensor arrangement constant up to a specified maximum deviation. The maximum deviation corresponds to half the mean beam diameter upon incidence on the light intensity sensor arrangement.

Device and method for measuring the beam angle of a light beam guided by a beam guiding optical unit

A method for producing a reflecting optical element for a projection exposure apparatus (). The element has a substrate () with a substrate surface (), a protection layer () and a layer partial system () suitable for the EUV wavelength range. The method includes: (a) measuring the substrate surface (), (b) irradiating the substrate () with electrons (), and (c) tempering the substrate (). Furthermore, an associated reflective optical element for the EUV wavelength range, a projection lens with a mirror () as reflective optical element, and a projection exposure apparatus () including such a projection lens.

Method for producing a reflecting optical element of a projection exposure apparatus and reflecting optical element for a projection exposure apparatus, projection lens and projection exposure apparatus

A measuring assembly for the frequency-based determination of the position of a component, in particular in an optical system for microlithography, includes at least one optical resonator, which has a stationary first resonator mirror, a movable measurement target assigned to the component, and a stationary second resonator mirror. The second resonator mirror is formed by an inverting mirror (), which reflects back on itself a measurement beam coming from the measurement target.

Measuring assembly for the frequency-based determination of the position of a component

A beam propagation camera has at least one beam-splitting optical arrangement () configured to split a beam, which is incident on the beam-splitting optical arrangement along an optical axis (OA) of the beam propagation camera, into a multiplicity of sub-beams, and a sensor arrangement () configured to detect the sub-beams. The beam-splitting optical arrangement has a diffractive structure () configured such that at least two of the sub-beams are spatially separated from one another on the sensor arrangement and have respective foci longitudinally offset from one another along the optical axis.

Beam propagation camera and method for light beam analysis

A method and an apparatus for beam analysis in an optical system are disclosed, wherein a plurality of beam parameters of a beam propagating along an optical axis are ascertained. The method includes: splitting the beam into a plurality of partial beams which have a focus offset in the longitudinal direction in relation to the optical axis; recording a measurement image produced by these partial beams; carrying out a forward simulation of the beam in the optical system on the basis of estimated initial values for the beam parameters in order to obtain a simulated image; and calculating a set of values for the beam parameters on the basis of the comparison between the simulated image and the measurement image.

Method and device for beam analysis

The disclosure relates to a method for producing an illumination system for an EUV apparatus in and to an illumination system for an EUV apparatus.

Method for producing an illumination system for an EUV projection exposure system, and illumination system

A system and a method for analyzing a light beam guided by a beam guiding optical unit. The system has a graduated neutral density filter arrangement (), which is arranged in a far field plane of the beam guiding optical unit and has at least one graduated neutral density filter () having a spatially varying transmission, and a light intensity sensor arrangement having at least one light intensity sensor (), which is arranged in a near field plane of the beam guiding optical unit and is configured to measure (), for each graduated neutral density filter () of the graduated neutral density filter arrangement (), a light intensity transmitted by each graduated neutral density filter.

System and method for analyzing a light beam guided by a beam guiding optical unit

A projection exposure system () for microlithography. The system includes projection optics () configured to image mask structures into a substrate plane (), an input diffraction element () which is configured to convert irradiated measurement radiation () into at least two test waves () directed onto the projection optics () with differing propagation directions, a detection diffraction element () which is disposed in the optical path of the test waves () after the latter have passed through the projection optics () and is configured to produce a detection beam () from the test waves () which has a mixture of radiation portions of both test waves (), a photo detector () disposed in the optical path of the detection beam () which is configured to record the radiation intensity of the detection beam (), time resolved, and an evaluation unit which is configured to determine the lateral imaging stability of the projection optics () from the radiation intensity recorded.

Projection exposure system for microlithography and method of monitoring a lateral imaging stability

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Aalen-Unterkochen, Germany

Matthias Manger