Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Michio Kohno

Akiyoshi Suzuki

Seiya Miura

Eiichi Murakami

Toshihiko Tsuji

Nobuhiro Kodachi

Hideki Ina

Makoto Torigoe

Minoru Yoshii

Seiji Takeuchi

Hiroshi Tanaka

Kyoichi Miyazaki

Takehiko Iwanaga

Katsutoshi Natsubori

An illumination optical system for Koehler-illuminating a target surface with light from a light source includes a light integrator for forming a secondary light source, the light integrator including plural elements formed directly onto a substrate; a condenser for condensing the light from the light integrator; and a shield for shielding the light that goes straight in interfaces among the plural elements from an effective illumination area on the illuminated surface.

Illumination optical system and exposure apparatus having the same

An illumination optical system for illuminating a reticle using light from a light source includes an illumination-light generating mechanism for generating a light amount distribution on a plane that has a substantially Fourier conversion relationship with the reticle while making variable a ratio of a light amount or area between a first area and a second area different from the first area, the first and second areas being on the plane, wherein light from the first area illuminates the reticle to resolve a desired pattern on the reticle, and light from the second area illuminates the reticle to restrain an auxiliary pattern on the reticle from resolving.

Illumination optical system and method, and exposure apparatus

An illumination optical system includes a luminous intensity distribution converting optical system for converting an illuminance distribution of a light source image into a luminous intensity distribution upon a predetermined plane, a light transmitting element having its light entrance surface disposed substantially in coincidence with the predetermined plane, and a light collecting optical system for defining an illumination region upon a surface to be illuminated, by use of light from the light transmitting element.

A light producing apparatus for irradiating a beam from a light source to a target to produce light having a wavelength different from the beam includes a first condensing optical system for condensing the beam from the light source, and an imaging optical system for imaging onto the target under a demagnification a condensing point of the beam by the first condensing optical system.

Illumination apparatus, projection exposure apparatus, and device fabricating method

Disclosed is an exposure method, an exposure apparatus and a device manufacturing method, in which transmission factors of almost all optical systems, including a projection optical system, can be measured during an exposure process, and in which the exposure amount is controlled on the basis of it. The exposure apparatus includes an illumination optical system for illuminating a pattern of a reticle with a laser beam from an excimer laser, and a projection lens system for projecting the pattern illuminated by the illumination optical system onto a wafer, to thereby expose the wafer with the reticle pattern, wherein reflection light or ghost light produced at a surface of a lens of the projection lens system is received by a sensor and, on the basis of the an output of the sensor, the transmission factor of the projection lens system is measured. The exposure amount is then controlled on the basis of the measurement.

Exposure method and device manufacturing method using the same

An exposure apparatus wherein a first object is illuminated with slit-like exposure light while the first object and a second object are scanningly moved at a speed ratio corresponding to a projection magnification of a projection optical system such that a pattern of the first object is projected onto the second object through the projection optical system. The apparatus includes an illuminating device for illuminating a mark provided on the first object side with light having the same wavelength as that of the exposure light, wherein light from the mark is incident on the projection optical system whereby a revolutionally asymmetric aberration of the projection optical system due to an exposure is corrected or reduced.

Exposure apparatus that illuminates a mark and causes light from the mark to be incident on a projection optical system

A method and apparatus for inspecting a surface state are used to examine first and second surfaces, e.g., two surfaces of a glass substrate on which a device pattern is formed, or one surface of a glass substrate and a pellicle for preventing attachment of foreign particles. When the first surface is illuminated from the first surface side while the second surface is illuminated from the second surface side, the first and second surfaces are illuminated with polarized light beams polarized in directions orthogonal to each other, respectively, and reflectively scattered light from the first surface is detected through an analyzer which intercepts the same polarized light as the polarized light illuminating the second surface. The S/N ratio of examination of the first surface is thereby improved.

Method and apparatus for inspecting a surface state

An inspection apparatus and method includes an illuminator for projecting a light beam onto a substrate having a predetermined pattern formed thereon and a sensor for sensing light from the substrate and photoelectrically converting the light to an electrical signal. The electrical signal has a pattern signal component representing light from the predetermined pattern and a foreign matter signal component representing light from foreign matter on the substrate in the event foreign matter is on the substrate and is sensed by the sensor. The apparatus also includes a converter for converting the electrical signal output by the sensor into a digital signal having a pattern signal component and a foreign matter signal omponent in the event the electrical signal output by the sensor has a foreign matter signal component. The apparatus also includes a processor for performing calculation processing on the digital signal for discriminating the digital foreign matter signal component from the digital pattern signal component in the event the digital signal has a foreign matter signal component.

Inspection apparatus, and exposure apparatus and device manufacturing

An inspection system inspecting an original with a pellicle, which system includes a light source for providing a light beam, a first detecting device for receiving light produced as a result of passage of the light beam through the pellicle, a second detecting device for receiving light produced as a result of non-passage of the light beam through the pellicle, and a processing system for determining information related to transmissivity of the pellicle, on the basis of outputs of the first and second detecting devices.

Inspection system for original with pellicle

A method and an apparatus for inspecting surface conditions of an object, on which a pattern is formed, by detecting scattered light generated by the surface of the object using a detection optical system. The method includes the steps of illuminating the surface of the object, providing first and second photodetectors on a pupil plane of the detection optical system, generating a first signal corresponding to the sum of the outputs of the first and second photodetectors, and a second signal corresponding to the difference between the outputs of the first and second photodetectors, and comparing the first signal with a first threshold value and the second signal with a second threshold value to obtain the logical product of the results of the comparisons for inspecting the surface of the object. The apparatus includes a detection optical system for detecting scattered light generated by the object illuminated by an illuminating device, first and second photodetectors provided at the pupil plane of the detection optical system, a device for comparing a signal corresponding to the sum of outputs of the first and second photodetectors with a first threshold value, and for comparing a signal corresponding to the difference between the outputs of the first and second photodetectors with a second threshold value, and a device for detecting the logical product of the results of the comparison by the comparison device.

Surface-condition inspection method and apparatus including a plurality

A surface state inspecting system includes a scanning optical system for scanning a surface to be inspected, with first light and simultaneously for scanning a diffraction grating with second light, wherein the first light and the second light have mutually different wavelengths and mutually different polarization directions, a light receiving optical system for receiving scattered light produced sidewardly from the surface and diffraction light produced sidewardly from the diffraction grating, and for superposing the received lights one upon another, and a photoelectric converting device for converting light from the light receiving optical system into an electric signal, wherein the scanning optical system and the light receiving optical system provide an optical system which is telecentric with respect to the surface to be inspected.

Surface state inspecting system including a scanning optical system for

A surface inspection device and method wherein an illumination system is arranged so that light from a laser diode is transformed into parallel light which is then directed through a half waveplate to a surface of a reticle to be inspected. A detecting system is arranged so that scattered light from a particle on the surface, for example, is collected by a lens array onto a sensor array. The direction of polarization of the parallel light defined by the half waveplate is made substantially parallel to a plane containing optical axes of the illumination system and the detecting system. Thus, even if an error occurs in the angle of incidence of the parallel light upon the reticle, a change in scattered light intensity due to interference between scattered light is kept small to assure accurate discrimination of the particle.

Surface inspecting device

A reticle is inspected for color center defects by using excimer laser used for pattern transfer to a wafer to cause fluoresence of the color centers.

Apparatus and method for inspecting a reticle for color centers

A surface state inspecting device includes an illumination system for illuminating a surface to be inspected, with a beam having non-uniform sectional intensity distribution, a uniforming system for substantially uniforming the sectional intensity distribution of the beam, and an inspecting portion for detecting scattered light from the surface to determine the state of the surface.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Michio Kohno