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:
Mar. 25, 2003
Filed:
Mar. 02, 2001
Masato Takahashi, Kumagaya, JP;
Nobukazu Ito, Matudo, JP;
Nikon Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
Vibration isolators ( B, C) supporting a main column ( ) is mounted on a base plate (BP ), and vibration isolators ( B, C) supporting a stage supporting bed ( ) is mounted independently of the base plate (BP ) on a base plate (BP ) arranged on the floor (FD). Therefore, vibration traveling between the base plates (BP , BP ) is cut off, and the reaction force produced due to the movement (driving) of a wafer stage (WST) is not the cause of vibration of a projection optical system (PL) supported by the main column ( ). Accordingly, a positional shift of the pattern to be transferred or an image blur due to the vibration of the projection optical system (PL) can be effectively avoided, and the exposure accuracy can be improved. Furthermore, it is possible to increase the speed and size of the substrate stage (WST), therefore, the throughput can also be improved.