Nikon Corporation

Other

Noritsugu Hanazaki

Tomoyuki Watanabe

Masamitsu Yanagihara

Hideji Goto

Masaichi Murakami

Akinori Shirato

Norimi Takemura

A protective apparatus that protects a predetermined area of the front surface of a mask substrate, provided with a pellicle frame that is disposed on at least a portion of the circumference of the predetermined area and bonded to the front surface of the mask substrate, and a pellicle that is mounted on the pellicle frame so as to cover an opening portion that is formed by the pellicle frame in a manner facing the predetermined area; in which the pellicle frame includes a first side portion and a second side portion, and a third side portion and a fourth side portion that are disposed at different positions along the predetermined area, and in relation to the normal direction of the front surface of the mask substrate, the rigidity of the first side portion and the second side portion is lower than the rigidity of the third side portion and the fourth side portion.

Protective apparatus, mask, mask fabricating method and conveying apparatus, and exposure apparatus

A protective apparatus protects a predetermined area on a surface of a substrate. The protective apparatus includes: a frame portion that includes a pair of flexible portions which are disposed along a first direction and oppose each other, and is connected to the surface of the substrate to surround the predetermined area; and a thin film portion that is stretched across the frame portion to oppose the predetermined area and closes an opening portion formed by the frame portion. An end surface of the flexible portion on the thin film portion side has a curved shape which is concave toward a connecting portion with the substrate.

Protective apparatus, mask, mask forming apparatus, mask forming method, exposure apparatus, device fabricating method, and foreign matter detecting apparatus

The present invention has an objective to prevent images of particles from being transferred onto a photosensitive substrate, so in order to achieve such an objective, an exposure device of the present invention, which has an illumination optical system for illuminating a reticle having a pattern with a beam from an illumination source so that the pattern is formed on the substrate on exposure to light, is equipped with illuminating area setting means, which are arranged at two locations within the illumination optical system so as to set an illuminating area of the beam illuminating the reticle, and an optical system which places the illuminating area setting means being conjugate to the reticle.

Exposure device, beam shape setting device and illuminating area setting device

An exposure apparatus has a field stop, disposed in a position conjugate to the reticle, for regulating an illumination area on the reticle. The field stop is constructed of two aperture members including light shielding portions, rectangular first and second apertures and light reducing portions formed at sides of these apertures. The exposure apparatus also has a drive system for shifting a position of the light reducing portion. and relatively moving the two aperture members during the projection.

Exposure apparatus and field stop thereof

An exposure apparatus has a field stop, disposed in a position conjugate to a reticle, for regulating an illumination area on the reticle. The field stop is constructed of two aperture members including light shielding portions, rectangular first and second apertures and light reducing portions formed at sides of these apertures. The exposure apparatus also has a drive system for shifting positions of light reducing portions and relatively moving the two aperture members during the projection.

Growing community of inventors

Funabashi, Japan

Noritsugu Hanazaki