Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Shin Matsui

Yutaka Tanaka

Shinichi Hara

Shigeru Terashima

Nobutoshi Mizusawa

Yuji Chiba

Takayuki Hasegawa

Masato Muraki

Masahiko Okunuki

Ryuichi Ebinuma

Akira Miyake

Hiroshi Kurosawa

Kazunori Iwamoto

Mitsuji Marumo

Shunichi Uzawa

Takao Kariya

Kotaro Akutsu

Shinji Ohishi

Eiji Osanai

Tadayuki Kubo

A processing apparatus includes a sealed vacuum chamber which contains a processing portion; a pressure controlling system which keeps the internal pressure of the sealed vacuum chamber constant at a predetermined level by exhausting the ambient gas in the sealed vacuum chamber; and an ambient gas recirculating system which recirculates the ambient gas exhausted from the sealed vacuum chamber back into the sealed vacuum chamber; wherein the ambient as recirculated by the ambient gas recirculating system is blown into the sealed vacuum chamber so that a gas flow is generated in a predetermined direction along the processing portion.

Exposure apparatus with tanks storing helium gas and method of manufacturing device using exposure apparatus

A holding system, provided on a movable stage, for holding an object from above, against gravity. The holding system includes at least one holding portion adapted to be in contact with the object, to hold the object from above, and at least one attracting portion for attracting a limited portion of the object upwardly, without contact thereto.

Holding system, exposure apparatus, and device manufacturing method

A holding system for holding an object from above, against gravity. The holding system includes at least one holding portion adapted to be in contact with the object, to hold the object from above, at least one attracting portion for attracting a limited portion of the object upwardly, without contact thereto, and a gap measuring unit for measuring a gap between the object and the at least one attracting portion. The attraction force of the attracting portion is controlled on the basis of the measurement made by the gap measuring unit.

A substrate holding device includes a base member capable of removably holding a plate having a contact member to come into contact with a substrate, and a sensor that identifies an identification sign provided on the plate.

Substrate holding device, semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and device manufacturing method

Processing apparatus, measuring apparatus, and device manufacturing method

An electron beam exposure apparatus which exposes a substrate with a predetermined pattern using one or a plurality of electron beams. The apparatus includes a substrate stage on which a substrate is mounted, a transfer stage which drives the substrate stage on an X-Y plane, an electromagnetic actuator which drives the substrate stage in a rotation direction about a Z-axis with respect to the transfer stage, and a measuring system which measures a position of the substrate stage in the rotation direction about the Z-axis using a measuring beam along a direction perpendicular to the plurality of electron beams.

Electron beam exposure apparatus and semiconductor device manufacturing method

A substrate holding device includes a base member capable of removably holding a plate having a contact member to come into contact with a substrate. The base member flatten-corrects the plate by suctioning the plate. The substrate holding device further includes a first attracting mechanism that attracts the substrate onto the plate in a status such that the plate is held on the base member, and a second attraction mechanism that attracts the plate onto the base member.

A processing apparatus includes a sealed vacuum chamber which contains a processing portion; a pressure controlling system which keeps the internal pressure of the sealed vacuum chamber constant at a predetermined level by exhausting the ambient gas in the sealed vacuum chamber; and an ambient gas recirculating system which recirculates the ambient gas exhausted from the sealed vacuum chamber back into the sealed vacuum chamber; wherein the ambient gas recirculated by the ambient gas recirculating system is blown into the sealed vacuum chamber so that a gas flow is generated in a predetermined direction along the processing portion.

Processing apparatus with pressure control and gas recirculation system

A stage system includes a first stage movable along a reference plane, containing a vertical direction, and in the vertical direction or in a first direction close to the vertical direction, a second stage movable in a second direction intersecting with the first direction and relative to the first stage, a first driving mechanism for moving the first stage in the first direction, a second driving mechanism for moving the second stage in the second direction, a countermass movable in the first direction, and a third driving mechanism for moving the countermass in a direction opposite to the first direction.

Stage system and exposure apparatus with the same

A positioning stage system includes a first stage movable at least in one of a rotational direction and a tilt direction, a second stage movable at least in X and Y directions, a measurement mirror system fixed to the second stage, a reference mirror system disposed on the first stage, and a measuring system for measuring displacement of the measurement mirror system in the X or Y direction, while using the reference mirror system as a positional reference, wherein the reference mirror system is arranged so that laser light incident on the reference mirror system is reflected in the same direction as the incidence direction, substantially constantly.

Positioning stage system and position measuring method

An electron beam exposure apparatus for projecting an image formed by electron beams onto a wafer via a reduction electron optical system, irradiates collimated electron beams toward an aperture board having an arcuated aperture sandwiched between two arcs having, as the center, the axis of the reduction electron optical system, and exposes the wafer with electron beams having an arcuated sectional shape that have been transmitted through the aperture.

Electron beam exposure apparatus

An electron beam exposure apparatus, which illuminates a mask with light emitted by a light source, photoelectrically converts the light patterned by the mask using a photoelectric converter, and exposes an object to be exposed with a patterned electron beam emitted by the photoelectric converter. The apparatus includes an electron optical system for imaging the electron beam emitted by the photoelectric converter onto the object, an axial shifter for shifting an optical center of the electron optical system in a direction perpendicular to an optical axis, an axial deflector for deflecting the electron beam that propagates in the electron optical system, a region limiter for limiting a region of the mask to be projected onto the object via the photoelectric converter and the electron optical system to a partial region of the mask, and a scan controller for scanning the object with the region-limited electron beam by changing the partial region to be limited while controlling the axial shifter and axial deflector.

A substrate holding device includes a vacuum supplying device for supplying a vacuum to a holding surface to hold a substrate, a hollow member surrounding at least a portion of the holding surface and movable between a position in which the holding member protrudes from the holding surface and a position in which the hollow member does not protrude from the holding surface, and a moving mechanism for relatively moving between the hollow member and the holding surface.

Substrate holding device and exposing apparatus using the same

An exposure apparatus for exposing a wafer to a mask with radiation light to thereby transfer a pattern of the mask onto the wafer, includes a light emitting portion for emitting the radiation light, a stepper major assembly having a wafer stage portion for holding the wafer and being supported by a supporting system separate from the light emitting portion, an alignment measuring portion for alignment measurement for the wafer and the mask and being supported by a supporting system separate from the stepper major assembly, and a correcting system for correcting attitude of the alignment measuring portion with respect to an optical axis of the radiation light.

Growing community of inventors

Urawa, Japan

Shin Matsui