Carl Zeiss Smt Gmbh

Valentin Bolsinger

Heiko Feldmann

Jozef Petrus Henricus Benschop

William Peter Van Drent

Sandro Hoffmann

Sandra Haschke

An EUV collector has a reflection surface with a basic mirror shape of a spherical section. A diffraction grating for EUV used light is applied to the reflection surface. The diffraction grating is designed so that the EUV used light, which emanates from a sphere center of the spherical section, is diffracted by the diffraction grating toward a collection region. The collection region is spatially spaced apart from the sphere center. This creates an EUV collector in which an effective separation between EUV used light, which is to be collected with the aid of the collector, and extraneous light having a wavelength that differs from a used light wavelength is made possible.

EUV collector

A reflective optical element (), in particular for an illumination optical unit of a projection exposure apparatus includes: a structured surface () that preferably forms a grating structure (), and a reflective coating () that is applied to the structured surface (). The reflective coating () covers the structured surface () discontinuously, and the reflective optical element () has at least one protective layer () that covers the structured surface () continuously. Also disclosed are an illumination optical unit () for a projection exposure apparatus () including at least one reflective optical element () of this type, to a projection exposure apparatus () including an illumination optical unit () of this type, and to a method for producing a protective layer () on a reflective optical element () of this type.

Reflective optical element, illumination optical unit, projection exposure apparatus, and method for producing a protective layer

An optical component has a diffraction structure for diffractively influencing a direction of emergence of light of at least one wavelength incident on the optical component. The diffraction structure includes at least two diffraction substructures superimposed in at least one portion of the optical component and having first positive diffraction structures and first negative diffraction structures. A first diffraction substructure has first positive diffraction structures and first negative diffraction structures arranged to have a symmetry following a first symmetry condition. A second diffraction substructure has second positive diffraction structures and second negative diffraction structures arranged to have a second symmetry condition differing from the first symmetry condition. This can result in an optical component for which a production of a diffraction structure with a diffraction effect for different target wavelengths and/or an improved diffraction effect for one and the same target wavelength is made more flexible.

Optical component

An optical diffraction component is configured to suppress at least one target wavelength by destructive interference. The optical diffraction component includes at least three diffraction structure levels that are assignable to at least two diffraction structure groups. A first of the diffraction structure groups is configured to suppress a first target wavelength &#x3bb;. A second of the diffraction structure groups is configured to suppress a second target wavelength &#x3bb;, where (&#x3bb;&#x2212;&#x3bb;)/(&#x3bb;+&#x3bb;)&#x3c;20%. A topography of the diffraction structure levels can be described as a superimposition of two binary diffraction structure groups. Boundary regions between adjacent surface sections of each of the binary diffraction structure groups have a linear course and are superimposed on one another at most along sections of the linear course.

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Aalen, Germany

Valentin Bolsinger