Asml Netherlands B.v.

U.S. Philips Corporation

Peter Hanzen Wardenier

Peter Ten Berge

Richard Johannes Franciscus Van Haren

Everhardus Cornelis Mos

Erik Jensen

Maurits Van Der Schaar

Kaustuve Bhattacharyya

Jen-Shiang Wang

Leonardus Henricus Marie Verstappen

Guangqing Chen

David Frans Simon Deckers

Panagiotis Pieter Bintevinos

Pieter Jacob Mathias Hendrik Knelissen

Lotte Marloes Willems

Johannes Catharinus Hubertus Mulkens

Wim Tjibbo Tel

Frank Staals

Hans Van Der Laan

Hakki Ergün Cekli

Michael Kubis

Martin Ebert

Daan Maurits Slotboom

Andreas Fuchs

Johannes H Den Boef

Jeroen Snelten

Johannes Wilhelmus De Klerk

Bernardo Kastrup

Wolfgang Helmut Henke

Wilhelmus R Mens

Jean-Pierre Agnes Henricus Marie Vaessen

Amandev Singh

Hilko Dirk Bos

Stephen Peter Morgan

Gerardus W Boeijen

Stephen Morgan

Joungchel Lee

Maxime D'Alfonso

A method including performing a simulation to evaluate a plurality of metrology targets and/or a plurality of metrology recipes used to measure a metrology target, identifying one or more metrology targets and/or metrology recipes from the evaluated plurality of metrology targets and/or metrology recipes, receiving measurement data of the one or more identified metrology targets and/or metrology recipes, and using the measurement data to tune a metrology target parameter or metrology recipe parameter.

Method and apparatus for inspection and metrology

A method including: obtaining information regarding a patterning error in a patterning process involving a patterning device; determining a nonlinearity over a period of time introduced by modifying the patterning error by a modification apparatus according to the patterning error information; and determining a patterning error offset for use with the modification apparatus based on the determined nonlinearity.

Method and apparatus to reduce effects of nonlinear behavior

A method including: obtaining error information indicative of accuracy of positioning a pattern formed on a layer on a substrate relative to a target position, wherein the pattern has been formed by irradiating the layer with a radiation beam patterned by a patterning device; and producing modification information including a map of positional shifts across the patterning device so as to increase the accuracy of positioning the pattern formed using the patterning device modified according to the modification information, the modification information based on the error information, wherein the error information is independent of any other layer on the substrate.

Method and system for increasing accuracy of pattern positioning

A method including obtaining a measurement and/or simulation result of a pattern after being processed by an etch tool of a patterning system, determining a patterning error due to an etch loading effect based on the measurement and/or simulation result, and creating, by a computer system, modification information for modifying a patterning device and/or for adjusting a modification apparatus upstream in the patterning system from the etch tool based on the patterning error, wherein the patterning error is converted to a correctable error and/or reduced to a certain range, when the patterning device is modified according to the modification information and/or the modification apparatus is adjusted according to the modification information.

Method and apparatus to correct for patterning process error

A method including: determining first error information based on a first measurement and/or simulation result pertaining to a first patterning device in a patterning system; determining second error information based on a second measurement and/or simulation result pertaining to a second patterning device in the patterning system; determining a difference between the first error information and the second error information; and creating modification information for the first patterning device and/or the second patterning device based on the difference between the first error information and the second error information, wherein the difference between the first error information and the second error information is reduced to within a certain range after the first patterning device and/or the second patterning device is modified according to the modification information.

A method including modeling high resolution patterning error information of a patterning process involving a patterning device in a patterning system using an error mathematical model, modeling a correction of the patterning error that can be made by a patterning device modification tool using a correction mathematical model, the correction mathematical model having substantially the same resolution as the error mathematical model, and determining modification information for modifying the patterning device using the patterning device modification tool by applying the correction mathematical model to the patterning error information modeled by the error mathematical model.

Disclosed is a method of determining a correction for measured values of radiation diffracted from a target comprising a plurality of periodic structures, subsequent to measurement of the target using measurement radiation defining a measurement field. The correction acts to correct for measurement field location dependence in the measured values. The method comprises performing a first and second measurements of the periodic structures; and determining a correction from said first measurement and said second measurement. The first measurement is performed with said target being in a normal measurement location with respect to the measurement field. The second measurement is performed with the periodic structure in a shifted location with respect to the measurement field, said shifted location comprising the location of another of said periodic structures when said target is in said normal measurement location with respect to the measurement field.

Method of metrology, inspection apparatus, lithographic system and device manufacturing method

A scatterometer is used in a dark-field imaging mode to measure asymmetry-related parameters such as overlay. Measurements of small grating targets are made using identical optical paths, with the target in two orientations to obtain separate measurements of +1 and &#x2212;1 diffraction orders. In this way, intensity scaling differences (tool asymmetry) are avoided. However, additive intensity defects due to stray radiation (ghosts) in the optical system cannot be avoided. Additive intensity issues strongly depend on the ratio between 0th and 1st order diffraction and are therefore strongly substrate (process) dependent. Calibration measurements are made on a few representative target gratings having biases. The calibration measurements are made, using not only different substrate rotations but also complementary apertures. Corrections are calculated and applied to correct asymmetry, to reduce error caused by stray radiation.

Method of measuring asymmetry, inspection apparatus, lithographic system and device manufacturing method

A method that includes conditioning a radiation beam, imparting the radiation beam with a pattern to form a patterned radiation beam by a reticle having a pattern image area and a reticle mark, and projecting the patterned radiation beam onto a target portion of a substrate by a projection system. The method further includes illuminating the reticle mark by the radiation beam for generating an aerial image of the reticle, projecting the aerial image on an image sensor, collecting image data from the image sensor, obtaining from the image data positional parameters of the aerial image, and correcting any deviation of the positional parameters from a required position of the aerial image by compensating an illumination induced thermal expansion of the reticle by an estimated correction of magnification settings of the projection system, the estimated correction being calculated from a prediction of the temporal thermal expansion of the reticle.

Correction method for non-uniform reticle heating in a lithographic apparatus

A lithographic apparatus wherein a dipole illumination mode used for printing a line pattern, is arranged to provide quadrupole illumination. Radiation emanating from the two additional poles and passing the mask pattern without being affected by diffraction is prevented from reaching the wafer by a radiation blocking aperture disposed in the projection system. Astigmatism aberration due to lens heating associated with the dipole illumination mode is reduced by lens heating associated with the additional poles of the quadrupole illumination mode.

Lithographic projection apparatus and a device manufacturing method

Magnetic resonance includes predetermined frequency and which is connected, via a connection circuit (14), to a transmission and/or receiving device (11, 13) for RF signals, said connection circuit comprising a coaxial cable (41) having a central conductor (45) and a conductor sheath (47) which coaxially encloses the central conductor. Over at least a part of its length the coaxial cable (41) is enclosed, by a tubular conductor (49) having first and second ends (51, 53), a dielectric (50) being present between the conductor sheath (47) and the tubular conductor. The tubular conductor (49) has an electrical length equal to one quarter of the wavelength in the dielectric (50) of electromagnetic radiation of the predetermined frequency. The first end (51) of the tubular conductor (49) is directly electrically connected to the conductor sheath (47) and the second end (53) is connected to the conductor sheath via a capacitor (57). As a result, the physical length (1) of the tubular conductor (49) can be substantially shorter than its electrical length.

Magnetic resonance apparatus

A magnetic resonance apparatus includes an RF coil tuned to a predetermined frequency and which is connected, via a connection circuit, to a transmission and/or receiving device for RF signals. A connection circuit is provided in order to increase the bandwidth of the RF coil without imposing restrictions on the design and the construction of the coil. Therefore, viewed from the RF, the connection circuit successively includes the following elements:

Magnetic resonance apparatus having a wideband matching network

A known magnetic resonance device (1) operates with a coil array (c1 to cn) which serves as a detection coil whereby magnetic resonance signals are detected so as to form partial images of a sub-volume of an object (5) to be measured. A signal processing unit (9) forms an overall image from the partial images. Because the known device utilizes separate detection and signal acquisition channels, it is comparatively expensive and complex. In accordance with the invention, a simpler and less expensive magnetic resonance device (1) is obtained in that the device comprises a signal combination device (28) which shifts frequency ranges (s1 to sn) of individual coil elements in the coil array in respect of frequency and which forms, from the shifted frequency ranges (o1 to on) a sum signal (sm) in which the frequency ranges are separated from one another. As a result, many common circuits can be saved, without leading to a loss of flexibility of the device (1), so that the advantages of fully separated channels are retained.

Magnetic resonance device and signal combination device

In a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus comprising an array consisting of several rf coil elements, a bandpass filter is coupled to corresponding individual coils of the array, the outputs of the bandpass filters being connected to form a signal summing device. As a result, a substantial part of the imaging is sequentially performed, so that the construction of the image processing device may be simpler and the risk of image artefacts is reduced. The array forms a linear series of surface coils, a common axis of which coincides with the measurement gradient field direction.

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Eindhoven, Netherlands

Peter Hanzen Wardenier