Asml Netherlands B.v.

Asml Holding N.v.

Imec Vzw

Asml Netherlands B.v. & Asml Holding N.v.

Sebastianus Adrianus Goorden

Simon Reinald Huisman

Duygu Akbulut

Nitesh Pandey

Alessandro Polo

Simon Gijsbert Josephus Mathijssen

Arie Jeffrey Den Boef

Irwan Dani Setija

Arjan Johannes Anton Beukman

Filippo Alpeggiani

Guilherme Brondani Torri

Luc Roger Simonne Haspeslagh

Kaustuve Bhattacharyya

Henricus Petrus Maria Pellemans

Armand Eugene Albert Koolen

Teunis Willem Tukker

Veronique Rochus

Johannes Antonius Gerardus Akkermans

Zili Zhou

Jin Lian

Stefan Michiel Witte

Johannes Matheus Marie De Wit

Tamer Mohamed Tawfik Ahmed Mohamed Elazhary

Sergei Sokolov

Paulus Clemens Maria Planken

Stephen Edward

Hao Zhang

Alessandro Antoncecchi

Maurits Van Der Schaar

Patricius Aloysius Jacobus Tinnemans

Justin Lloyd Kreuzer

Hans Van Der Laan

Stephen Roux

Henricus Wilhelmus Maria Van Buel

Markus Gerardus Martinus Maria Van Kraaij

Haico Victor Kok

David Ferdinand Vles

Maxim Pisarenco

Jim Vincent Overkamp

Gerbrand Van Der Zouw

Ralph Brinkhof

Igor Matheus Petronella Aarts

Christopher John Mason

Krishanu Shome

Bastiaan Onne Fagginger Auer

Olger Victor Zwier

William Peter Van Drent

Nitish Kumar

Victor Emanuel Calado

Ties Wouter Van Der Woord

Hilko Dirk Bos

Kjeld Sijbrand Eduard Eikema

Manouk Rijpstra

Yuxiang Lin

Janneke Ravensbergen

Alexander Ludwig Klein

Edgar Alberto Osorio Oliveros

Irit Tzemah

Leendert Jan Karssemeijer

Hui Quan Lim

Jonas Mertes

Halil Gökay Yeǧen

S M Masudur Rahman Al Arif

Alexandre Halbach

Simon Reinaid Huisman

Vu Quang Tran

Halil Gökay Yegen Yegen

A micromirror array comprises a substrate, a plurality of mirrors for reflecting incident light and, for each mirror of the plurality of mirrors, at least one multilayer piezoelectric actuator for displacing the mirror, wherein the at least one multilayer piezoelectric actuator is connected to the substrate, and wherein the at least one multilayer piezoelectric actuator comprises a plurality of piezoelectric layers of piezoelectric material interleaved with a plurality of electrode layers to form a stack of layers. Also disclosed is a method of forming such a micromirror array. The micromirror array may be used in a programmable illuminator. The programmable illuminator may be used in a lithographic apparatus and/or in an inspection and/or metrology apparatus.

High force low voltage piezoelectric micromirror actuator

Disclosed is an illumination arrangement for spectrally shaping a broadband illumination beam to obtain a spectrally shaped illumination beam. The illumination arrangement comprises a beam dispersing element for dispersing the broadband illumination beam and a spatial light modulator for spatially modulating the broadband illumination beam subsequent to being dispersed. The illumination arrangement further comprises at least one of a beam expanding element for expanding said broadband illumination beam in at least one direction, located between an input of the illumination arrangement and the spatial light modulator; and a lens array, each lens of which for directing a respective wavelength band of the broadband illumination beam subsequent to being dispersed onto a respective region of the spatial light modulator.

Illumination apparatus and associated metrology and lithographic apparatuses

A dark field metrology device includes an objective lens arrangement and a zeroth order block to block zeroth order radiation. The objective lens arrangement directs illumination onto a specimen to be measured and collects scattered radiation from the specimen, the scattered radiation including zeroth order radiation and higher order diffracted radiation. The dark field metrology device is operable to perform an illumination scan to scan illumination over at least two different subsets of the maximum range of illumination angles; and simultaneously perform a detection scan which scans the zeroth order block and/or the scattered radiation with respect to each other over a corresponding subset of the maximum range of detection angles during at least part of the illumination scan.

Dark field microscope

A method includes irradiating a target structure with sequential illumination shots, directing scattered beams from the target structure towards an imaging detector, generating a detection signal using the imaging detector, and determining a property of the target structure based on at least the detection signal. An integration time for each illumination shot of the sequential illumination shots is selected so to reduce a low frequency error.

Lithographic apparatus, metrology systems, and methods thereof

Disclosed is a metrology system comprising: a pre-alignment metrology tool operable to measure a plurality of targets on a substrate to obtain measurement data; and a processing unit. The processing unit is operable to: process said measurement data to determine for each target at least one position distribution which describes variation of said position value over at least part of said target; and determine a measurement correction from said at least one position distribution which corrects for within-target variation in each of said targets, said measurement correction for correcting measurements performed by an alignment sensor.

Metrology system and lithographic system

A micromirror array comprises a substrate, a plurality of minors for reflecting incident light and, for each mirror () of the plurality of minors, at least one piezoelectric actuator () for displacing the minor, wherein the at least one piezoelectric actuator is connected to the substrate. The micromirror array further comprises one or more pillars () connecting the minor to the at least one piezoelectric actuator. Also disclosed is a method of forming such a micromirror array. The micromirror array may be used in a programmable illuminator. The programmable illuminator may be used in a lithographic apparatus and/or in an inspection apparatus.

Micromirror arrays

Disclosed is a substrate and associated patterning device. The substrate comprises at least one target arrangement suitable for metrology of a lithographic process, the target arrangement comprising at least one pair of similar target regions which are arranged such that the target arrangement is, or at least the target regions for measurement in a single direction together are, centrosymmetric. A metrology method is also disclosed for measuring the substrate. A metrology method is also disclosed comprising which comprises measuring such a target arrangement and determining a value for a parameter of interest from the scattered radiation, while correcting for distortion of the metrology apparatus used.

Substrate comprising a target arrangement, and associated at least one patterning device, lithographic method and metrology method

A micromirror array includes a substrate, a plurality of mirrors for reflecting incident radiation, and for each mirror of the plurality of mirrors, a respective post connecting the substrate to the respective mirror. The micromirror array further includes, for each mirror of the plurality of mirrors, one or more electrostatic actuators connected to the substrate for applying force to the respective post to displace the respective post relative to the substrate, thereby displacing the respective mirror. Also disclosed is a method of forming such a micromirror array. The micromirror array may be used in a programmable illuminator. The programmable illuminator may be used in a lithographic apparatus and/or in an inspection apparatus.

A method for a metrology process, the method includes obtaining first measurement data relating to a first set of measurement conditions and determining a first measurement recipe based on the first measurement data. At least one performance indicator is determined from one or more components of the first measurement data obtained from a component analysis or statistical decomposition. Alternatively, at least one performance indicator is determined from a comparison of one or more first measurement values relating to the first measurement recipe and one or more second measurement values relating to a second measurement recipe, where second measurement recipe is different to the first measurement data and relates a second set of measurement conditions, the second set of measurement conditions being different to the first set of measurement conditions.

Metrology method and associated metrology and lithographic apparatuses

Disclosed is a method of metrology such as alignment metrology. The method comprises obtaining pupil plane measurement dataset at a pupil plane relating to scattered radiation resultant from a measurement of a structure. The method comprises determining a measurement value or correction therefor using the pupil plane measurement dataset and a sensor term relating to sensor optics used to perform said measurement.

Metrology method and lithographic apparatuses

A sensor is disclosed, wherein a transducer generates acoustic waves, which are received by a lens assembly. The lens assembly transmits and directs at least a part of the acoustic waves to a target. The lens assembly then receives at least a part of acoustic waves, after interaction with the target. The sensor further comprises an optical detector that comprises at least one optically reflective member located at a surface of the lens assembly, which surface is arranged opposite to a surface of the lens assembly which faces a focal plane of the lens assembly, wherein the at least one optically reflective member is mechanically displaced in response to the acoustic waves, which are received and transmitted by the lens assembly.

Apparatus and methods for determining the position of a target structure on a substrate

Disclosed is a method of metrology comprising using measurement illumination to measure a target, said measurement illumination comprising a plurality of illumination conditions. The method comprises performing a first measurement capture with a first subset of said plurality of illumination conditions, e.g., each comprising a positive weighting, to obtain a first parameter value and performing a second measurement capture with a second subset of said plurality of illumination conditions, e.g., each comprising a negative weighting, to obtain a second parameter value. An optimized parameter value is determined as a weighted combination of at least the first parameter value and the second parameter value.

Disclosed is a method for determining a stage position or correction therefor in a lithographic process. The method comprises obtaining transmission data describing the transmission of alignment radiation onto the substrate; obtaining position data relating to a stage position of said stage and/or a sensor position of said sensor. A weighting is determined for the position data based on said transmission data. The position based on said transmission data, position data and weighting.

Alignment method

An apparatus for measuring a position of a mark on a substrate, the apparatus comprising: an illumination system configured to condition at least one radiation beam to form a plurality of illumination spots spatially distributed in series such that during scanning of the substrate the plurality of illumination spots are incident on the mark sequentially, and a projection system configured to project radiation diffracted by the mark from the substrate, the diffracted radiation being produced by diffraction of the plurality of illumination spots by the mark; wherein the projection system is further configured to modulate the diffracted radiation and project the modulated radiation onto a detecting system configured to produce signals corresponding to each of the plurality of illumination spots, the signals being combined to determine the position of the mark.

Apparatus and method for measuring a position of a mark

Growing community of inventors

Eindhoven, Netherlands

Sebastianus Adrianus Goorden