The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 17, 1997
Filed:
Dec. 06, 1994
Kinya Kato, Yokohama, JP;
Kazuaki Saiki, Setagaya, JP;
Masami Seki, Shiki, JP;
Masaki Kato, Yokohama, JP;
Nikon Corporation, , JP;
Abstract
An exposure apparatus and an exposure method which minimize defocusing of the transferred pattern even with a large-sized mask. When the exposure apparatus is used which transfers the pattern formed on a first substrate through a substantially real-size projection optical system onto a second substrate, the positions of the mask and the substrate are detected, and based on the information on the positions the distance between the mask and the substrate is controlled to be substantially constant. According to the present invention, defocusing of the transferred pattern may be substantially avoided by detecting positions of the mask and the plate by making use of, e.g., an obliquely incident light focus detection optical system, and controlling the distance therebetween to be held constant or at a predetermined distance.