Nikon Corporation

International Business Machines Corporation

Sumitomo Electric Industries, Limited

Soichi Owa

Hiroyuki Nagasaka

Kenichi Shiraishi

Shigeru Hirukawa

Naoyuki Kobayashi

Tomoharu Fujiwara

Yasuhiro Omura

Tomoko Ohtsuki

Akikazu Tanimoto

Yoji Watanabe

Katsushi Nakano

Yasushi Mizuno

Naomasa Shiraishi

Nobutaka Magome

Yoshihiko Kudo

Yasugumi Nishii

Junji Suzuki

Masahiro Nei

Yasufumi Nishii

Jiro Inoue

Hiroaki Takaiwa

Hirotaka Kohno

Motokatsu Imai

Kazuya Okamoto

Takashi Aoki

Masato Shibuya

Hiroshi Ooki

Shunji Watanabe

Kazuhiro Kido

Hidemitsu Toba

Issey Tanaka

Paul Derek Coon

Ryu Sugawara

Akihiro Miwa

Motoki Kakui

Yoichi Taira

Osamu Tanitsu

Hiroyuki Kondo

Dai Arai

Hirohisa Tanaka

Akira Tokuhisa

Masaki Harada

Masahiro Takagi

Noriaki Kandaka

Toshihiko Ozawa

Toshikazu Umatate

Masaaki Doi

Katsura Otaki

Kiyoshi Kumata

Hitoshi Takeuchi

Satoru S Kano

Shunsuke Niisaka

Niichi Atsumi

Tomoko Ohthuki

Tadayosi Kokubo

In a drive method for a spatial light modulator, out of a first boundary region and a second boundary region arranged adjacently in a Y-direction and extending in an X-direction, mirror elements arranged at a first pitch not resolved by a projection optical system, in the X-direction in the first boundary region are set in the phase 0, and the other mirror elements therein are set in the phase &#x3c0;; mirror elements arranged at a second pitch not resolved by the projection optical system, in the X-direction in the second boundary region are set in the phase &#x3c0;, and the other mirror elements therein are set in the phase 0.

Drive method for spatial light modulator, method for generating pattern for exposure, and exposure method and apparatus

An exposure apparatus for transferring a pattern from a reticle to a workpiece, a pellicle being positioned near the reticle, includes a heat transfer frame, an illuminator, and a temperature controller. The heat transfer frame is configured to be positioned near the pellicle, the heat transfer frame defining a beam aperture. The illuminator directs a beam through the beam aperture and the pellicle at the reticle. The temperature controller controls the temperature of the heat transfer frame to control the temperature of the pellicle. The illuminator can direct the beam from a beam source, such as an EUV beam source. Additionally, the temperature controller can cryogenically cool the heat transfer frame.

Temperature controlled heat transfer frame for pellicle

An optical member to be arranged in an optical path of a light, includes an optical medium made of an insulator or a semiconductor; a first element provided at a first position in the optical medium and made of a first electric conductor having a width approximately same as or smaller than a wavelength of the light, the first position being a position in the optical path; and a second element provided at a second position, in the optical medium, different from the first position, and made of a second electric conductor having a width approximately same as or smaller than the wavelength of the light, the second position being a position in the optical path.

Optical material, optical element and method for manufacturing same

A mirror array device, and related exposure apparatus and manufacturing method, for driving a spatial light modulator that includes: setting, in an array of mirror elements, mirror elements in a first state for turning incident light into reflected light with the same phase as that of the incident light or with a phase different by a first phase from that of the incident light and mirror elements in a second state for turning incident light into reflected light with a phase different approximately 180&#xb0; from the first phase to an arrangement with a first phase distribution; and setting, in the array of mirror elements, the first mirror elements and the second mirror elements to an arrangement with a second phase distribution which is an inversion of the first phase distribution.

Spatial light modulator, method of driving same, and exposure method and apparatus

A spatial light modulator includes a first reflective surface which reflects incident light and is movable between a first position and a second position, the first and the second positions being located along a first axis, a second reflective surface which reflects the incident light, is arranged at a position where the second reflective surface is adjacent to the first reflective surface in a direction along a second axis crossing the first axis, and is movable between a third position and a fourth position, the third and the fourth positions being located along a direction parallel to the first axis, and a reflective part which reflects the incident light and is arranged between the first reflective surface and the second reflective surface in the direction along the second axis, wherein a distance between the first position and the reflective part, defined in the direction parallel to the first axis, is configured to attenuate light reflected at the reflective part by using light reflected at the first reflective surface, and a distance between the second position and the reflective part, defined in the direction parallel to the first axis, is configured to attenuate the light reflected at the reflective part by using the light reflected at the first reflective surface.

Spatial light modulator, exposure apparatus, and method for manufacturing device

A method of driving a spatial light modulator includes: setting, in an array of mirror elements, mirror elements in a first state for turning incident light into reflected light with the same phase as that of the incident light or with a phase different by a first phase from that of the incident light and mirror elements in a second state for turning incident light into reflected light with a phase different approximately 180&#xb0; from the first phase to an arrangement with a first phase distribution; and setting, in the array of mirror elements, the first mirror elements and the second mirror elements to an arrangement with a second phase distribution which is an inversion of the first phase distribution.

An exposure method for exposing a mask pattern, which includes plural types of patterns, with a high throughput and optimal illumination conditions for each type of pattern. The method includes guiding light from a first spatial light modulator illuminated with pulse lights of illumination light to a second spatial light modulator and exposing a wafer with light from the second spatial light modulator, accompanied by: controlling a conversion state of the second spatial light modulator including a plurality of second mirror elements; and controlling a conversion state of the first spatial light modulator including a plurality of first mirror elements to control intensity distribution of the illumination light on a predetermined plane between the first spatial light modulator and the second spatial light modulator.

Controller for optical device, exposure method and apparatus, and method for manufacturing device

A spatial light modulator has a plurality of mirror elements each of which is controllable into a first state in which the mirror element reflects incident light with a change in a phase thereof by a first phase and a second state in which the mirror element reflects the incident light with a change in the phase thereof by a second phase 180&#xb0; different from the first phase; and a boundary portion arranged between the mirror elements, which changes the phase of the incident light by a third phase substantially (90&#xb0;+k&#xb7;180&#xb0;) (where k is an integer) different from the first phase. In projecting a pattern with the use of the spatial light modulator, an error caused in the pattern can be reduced even if the light quantity of light passing a gap region between the optical elements in the spatial light modulator is large.

An exposure apparatus exposes a substrate by irradiating exposure light on the substrate through liquid. The exposure apparatus has a substrate holder for holding the substrate, a substrate stage capable of moving the substrate held by the substrate holder, and a temperature adjusting system for adjusting the temperature of the substrate holder. The temperature of the substrate is controlled so that there is no difference in temperature between the substrate and the liquid, thereby preventing a reduction in exposure accuracy resulting from variation in temperature of the liquid.

Exposure apparatus, exposure method, and method for producing device

An optical material which has a relative permeability different from 1 to light having a wavelength in, for example, the infrared region or shorter than the infrared region and which is stable in structure, and a liquid and a solid (optical element) using the optical material. The optical material is a powder used as a component of a liquid or solid to which an illuminating light is irradiated, and includes a large number of resonating elements which constitute the powder and each of which is formed of a conductor having a width approximately same as or smaller than a wavelength of the illumination light, and a protective film which is formed of a disc-shaped insulator, wherein an entire surface of each of the split-rind resonators is covered by the protective film.

Optical material, optical element, and method for manufacturing same

An exposure apparatus exposes a substrate by projecting a pattern image onto the substrate through a liquid. The exposure apparatus includes a projection optical system by which the pattern image is projected onto the substrate, and a movable member which is movable relative to the projection optical system. A liquid-repellent member, at least a part of a surface of which is liquid-repellent, is provided detachably on the movable member, the liquid-repellent member being different from the substrate.

Exposure method, substrate stage, exposure apparatus, and device manufacturing method

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Kumagaya, Japan

Soichi Owa