Nikon Corporation

Nippon Kogaku K.k.

Other

Nobutaka Magome

Naomasa Shiraishi

Hideo Mizutani

Shigeru Hirukawa

Naoyuki Kobayashi

Hiroyuki Nagasaka

Kazuya Ota

Hiroaki Takaiwa

Soichi Owa

Yoshihiko Kudo

Jiro Inoue

Kenichi Shiraishi

Yutaka Ichihara

Masahiro Nei

Yasufumi Nishii

Hirotaka Kohno

Motokatsu Imai

Hiroki Tateno

Kouichiro Komatsu

Yasuyuki Sakakibara

Kenji Nishi

Akihiro Goto

Tomoharu Fujiwara

Hiroshi Shirasu

Toshio Matsuura

Osamu Furukawa

Masaharu Kawakubo

Yuji Shiba

Susumu Makinouchi

Masahiko Yasuda

Koichiro Komatsu

Shinji Mizutani

Masami Ebi

Takashi Genma

Hisatsune Kadota

Dai Arai

Kyoichi Suwa

Bausan Yuan

Tetsuo Taniguchi

Hiroshi Onoda

Yasuaki Tanaka

Takashi Gemma

Issey Tanaka

Yutaka Iizuka

Nobuyuki Irie

Ting-Chien Teng

Toru Kiuchi

Takashi Nagata

Hiroki Okamoto

Kouichirou Komatsu

Hiromitsu Iwata

Yoshichika Iwamoto

Junichi Morino

Kazuya Ohta

Shuji Kunimatsu

Tomonari Inaba

Fluid synthesis system and corresponding method for synthesis of slurry containing abrasive particles. The system and method are configured to substantially segregate the abrasive particles passing through the filter, used at the filtering step of the process, from the sticky components that clog such filter prior to the filtering step of the synthesis process to achieve a sustaining filtration of the slurry as a result of which the filter remains substantially unclogged for the whole predetermined duration of the filtering process.

Fluid synthesis system

A mark forming method includes: forming recessed portion on a mark formation area of a substrate; coating the recessed portion with a polymer layer containing a block copolymer, allowing the polymer layer in the recessed portion to form a self-assembled area; selectively removing a portion of the self-assembled area; and forming a positioning mark by using the self-assembled area from which the portion thereof has been removed.

Mark, method for forming same, and exposure apparatus

A liquid immersion exposure apparatus includes a projection system, a liquid supply inlet, a first liquid collection outlet, and a separator fluidically connected to the first liquid collection outlet, the separator separating one of liquid and gas, which have been collected via the first liquid collection outlet, from the other. A stage which holds a substrate has a second liquid collection outlet that collects a portion of the liquid supplied from the liquid supply inlet which comes from a gap between an upper surface of the substrate and an upper surface of the stage.

Exposure apparatus, method for producing device, and method for controlling exposure apparatus

A mark forming method includes: forming recessed portion on a mark formation area of a substrate; coating the recessed portion with a polymer layer containing a block copolymer; allowing the polymer layer in the recessed portion to form a self-assembled area; selectively removing a portion of the self-assembled area; and forming a positioning mark by using the self-assembled area from which the portion thereof has been removed.

An exposure apparatus exposes a substrate by projecting a pattern image onto the substrate through a liquid. The exposure apparatus includes a projection optical system by which the pattern image is projected onto the substrate, and a movable member which is movable relative to the projection optical system. A liquid-repellent member, at least a part of a surface of which is liquid-repellent, is provided detachably on the movable member, the liquid-repellent member being different from the substrate.

Exposure method, substrate stage, exposure apparatus, and device manufacturing method

A liquid immersion exposure apparatus includes a projection system, a liquid supply inlet, a liquid collection outlet, a separator fluidically connected to the liquid collection outlet, the separator separating one of liquid and gas, which have been collected via the liquid collection outlet, from the other, a first flow-meter which measures an amount of the liquid collected via the liquid collection outlet, and a second flow-meter which measures an amount of liquid to be supplied via the liquid supply inlet.

A liquid immersion exposure apparatus includes a projection system, a liquid supply inlet, a liquid collection outlet, a separator fluidically connected to the liquid collection outlet, the separator separating one of liquid and gas, which have been collected via the liquid collection outlet from the other, and a flow-meter configured to measure an amount of the liquid collected via the liquid collection outlet.

A liquid immersion exposure apparatus includes a movable member having a substrate holder and a surface disposed adjacent to the substrate holder, the surface capable of positioning under a projection optical system. A liquid immersion system has a supply path and a recovery path. The liquid immersion system supplies the liquid to a space between the projection optical system and the surface via the supply path and recovers the supplied liquid of a liquid immersion area formed under the projection optical system via the recovery path. A controller stops a supply of the liquid to the space under the projection optical system by the liquid immersion system on receipt of a signal indicating the occurrence of an abnormality. The abnormality causes a possibility of leakage due to at least a part of the supplied liquid not being recovered via the recovery path and outflowing from the liquid immersion area.

An exposure apparatus (EX) exposes a substrate (P) by projecting an image of a pattern on the substrate (P) via a projection optical system (PL) and a liquid (). The exposure device (EX) has a liquid supply mechanism () which supplies the liquid () between the projection optical system (PL) and the substrate (P). The liquid feeding mechanism () stops the supply of the liquid () when abnormality is detected. This suppresses influence to devices and members in the periphery of the substrate caused by leakage of the liquid forming a liquid immersion area, thereby realizing satisfactory exposure processing.

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Kumagaya, Japan

Nobutaka Magome