Nikon Corporation

Saburo Kamiya

Akikazu Tanimoto

Naomasa Shiraishi

Yuji Kudo

Kenji Nishi

Michael R Sogard

Hideo Mizutani

Kazuaki Suzuki

Naoyuki Kobayashi

Bausan Yuan

Tetsuo Taniguchi

Leonard Wai Fung Kho

Alex Ka Tim Poon

Yasuhiro Hidaka

Masahiko Okumura

Yoshitomo Nagahashi

Akira Miyaji

Kiyoshi Uchikawa

Ikuo Hikima

Yosuke Shirata

Toru Kawaguchi

Hisashi Tazawa

Koichi Katsura

Process tools and methods are disclosed that involve interferometric and other measurements of movements and positions relative to a process position, such as movements and positions of a stage relative to a lithographic optical system. An exemplary apparatus includes a stage that places a workpiece relative to the tool, and that is movable in at least one direction relative to the tool. At least one first interferometer system is situated relative to the stage to determine stage position in a movement direction relative to the process position. A movement-measuring device determines displacement of the tool from the process position. Using data from the interferometer system and movement-measuring device a processor determines a position of the stage relative to the tool. The processor also corrects the determined position for displacement of the tool.

Interferometric position-measuring devices and methods

An exposure apparatus which transfers a pattern image formed on a mask on to a substrate through a projection optical system, comprising a substrate table which holds said substrate, a first sensor which measures a gap between said substrate surface held by said substrate table and a control target position, and a second sensor which measures a distance between said projection optical system and said substrate table in an optical axis direction and corrects the control target position of said first sensor.

Exposure apparatus and production method of device using the same

A measurement system () for measuring the position of a stage () along a first axis includes a first system () having a first beam source (A) that directs a first beam (H) on a first path that is parallel with a second axis and a first redirector (D) that redirects the first beam so that the redirected first beam (H) is on a first redirected path that is parallel with the first axis irrespective to the orientation of the first redirector (D) about a third axis. The measurement system () can include a shield () that protects the first beam (H) from environmental conditions.

System and method for measuring displacement of a stage

A stage device suitable for exposure apparatus used to produce semiconductor devices, is movable in an area wider than the measurement area of interferometer for position measurement, and is capable of measuring the position with high precision. When a movable stage moves from the position where the laser beams from laser interferometers are not applied into the measurement area of the laser interferometer, the position of reference mark is measured by a wafer alignment sensor, and the measurement value measured by the laser interferometer is corrected based on the results of the measurement by the wafer alignment sensor. When another movable stage enters the measurement area of the laser interferometer, the position of the reference mark is similarly measured by a wafer alignment sensor, and the measurement value measured by the laser interferometer is corrected based on the results of the measurement by the wafer alignment sensor.

Stage device and exposure apparatus

An air conditioner arranged in a machine chamber supplies gas for air conditioning into an exposure chamber via a supply path, and performs air conditioning of the exposure chamber. Then, the gas for air conditioning that has performed air conditioning returns to the machine chamber via an exhaust path. A chemical filter is provided in part of the exhaust path returning to the machine chamber from the exposure chamber. This filter securely removes contaminants that are introduced by outgassing and the like in an exposure apparatus main body and that are contained in the gas for air conditioning returning to the machine chamber from the exposure chamber. Accordingly, the inside of the exposure chamber can be kept chemically clean. Therefore, highly accurate exposure quantity control and thus highly accurate exposure can be performed for a long period of time, and high throughput can be maintained for a long period of time.

Exposure apparatus, device manufacturing method and environmental control method of exposure apparatus

Exposure apparatus and device production method in which position of reference plate provided on substrate stage is measured

An exposure apparatus for transferring a pattern on a reticle, through a projection optical system, onto a wafer having a photosensitive material coated thereon. The exposure apparatus includes a vacuum heat insulation panel which is applied to at least a part of the structure of the exposure apparatus so as to improve performance of temperature-control in the exposure apparatus.

Exposure apparatus

A projection exposure apparatus including an irradiation optical system including a light source and irradiating a mask with irradiation light beams, a projection optical system for projecting an image of a pattern of the mask on a substrate, a plurality of first fly-eye type optical integrators each having an emission side focal plane disposed on a Fourier transformed surface with respect to the pattern of the mask in the irradiation optical system or on a plane adjacent to the same and having a center located at a plurality of positions which are eccentric from the optical axis of the irradiation optical system, a plurality of second fly-eye type optical integrators each having an emission side focal plane disposed on a Fourier transformed plane with respect to the incidental end of each of a plurality of the first fly-eye type optical integrators or on a plane adjacent to the same and being disposed to correspond to a plurality of the first fly-eye type optical integrators, and a light divider for dividing and causing the irradiation light beams from the light source to be incident on each of a plurality of the second fly-eye type optical integrators.

Projection exposure apparatus

A projection exposure apparatus including an Irradiation optical system including a light source and irradiating a mask with irradiation light beams, a projection optical system for projecting an image of a pattern of the mask on a substrate, a plurality of first fly-eye type optical integrators each having an emission side focal plane disposed on a Fourier transformed surface with respect to the pattern of the mask in the irradiation optical system or on a plane adjacent to the same and having a center located at a plurality of positions which are eccentric from the optical axis of the irradiation optical system, a plurality of second fly-eye type optical integrators each having an emission side focal plane disposed on a Fourier transformed plane with respect to the incidental end of each of a plurality of the first fly-eye type optical integrators or on a plane adjacent to the same and being disposed to correspond to a plurality of the first fly-eye type optical integrators, and a light divider for dividing and causing the irradiation light beams from the light source to be incident on each of a plurality of the second fly-eye type optical integrators.

An exposure apparatus includes an exposure system which transfers a pattern of a mask onto a substrate; a chamber in which the exposure system is housed; an air-conditioner which is associated with the chamber and which air-conditions the chamber; and a noise eliminating device which is arranged between the exposure system and the air-conditioner and which eliminates at least a portion of the noise components near a resonant frequency of the exposure system from noise that is generated in the air-conditioner.

Methods to control the environment and exposure apparatus

To accurately correct the deformation component of a moving mirror on a wafer stage measure the curving data of the moving mirrors prior to the installation onto the wafer stage and store the data as a function of the distance from one end of the mirror. Then, measure the discrete curving error data of the moving mirrors after installation onto the wafer stage at every distance, d, using two laser interferometers arranged in parallel at a distance, d. Store the measurement results in the memory. Finally, a main controller creates a continuous curving error data of the moving mirror after installation onto the wafer stage based on the relationship between curving data and curving error data of the moving mirror before and after installation onto the above wafer stage to use it as the correction data.

Method and apparatus for correcting linearity errors of a moving mirror

A substrate holder is provided with two kinds of grooves (clearances) in the absorbing surface thereof. One kind of groove is made of a suitable depth so as to be able to quickly exhaust air and reduce pressure to thereby vacuum mount a substrate, and the other kind of groove is formed with a very small depth within such a range that there is no influence of dust being interposed between the holder and the substrate, in order to better the heat conduction between the substrate and the substrate holder. In addition, the area of the latter is made large as compared with the area of the former.

Substrate holder

An optical measuring apparatus includes an environmental chamber which has a blowing opening to which a temperature-controlled gas is supplied from an external device and an exhaust opening for exhausting the air outside the environmental chamber, a light-emitting unit for irradiating a light beam onto an object to be measured arranged in the environmental chamber, a light-receiving unit for receiving the light beam reflected by the object to be measured, and outputting a signal corresponding to a position of the object to be measured. A heat source is provided in the environmental chamber and forms an air layer having a temperature higher than the gas immediately after the gas is supplied from the blowing opening. There is provided a partitioning wall which is arranged between an optical path of the light beam and the heat source to divide a flow of the gas.

Optical measuring apparatus having a partitioning wall for dividing gas

A laser interferometer apparatus is designed such that the path of the laser beam of an interference refractometer to the path of the laser beam of a measuring interferometer is covered with a blast duct temperature-controlled atmospheric gas blown by a blower fan is directed through the interior of the blast duct toward the corner cube of a moving stage along the laser beam.

Growing community of inventors

Ageo, Japan

Saburo Kamiya