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:
Aug. 31, 2004
Filed:
Nov. 27, 2001
Nikon Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An air conditioner arranged in a machine chamber supplies gas for air conditioning into an exposure chamber via a supply path, and performs air conditioning of the exposure chamber. Then, the gas for air conditioning that has performed air conditioning returns to the machine chamber via an exhaust path. A chemical filter is provided in part of the exhaust path returning to the machine chamber from the exposure chamber. This filter securely removes contaminants that are introduced by outgassing and the like in an exposure apparatus main body and that are contained in the gas for air conditioning returning to the machine chamber from the exposure chamber. Accordingly, the inside of the exposure chamber can be kept chemically clean. Therefore, highly accurate exposure quantity control and thus highly accurate exposure can be performed for a long period of time, and high throughput can be maintained for a long period of time.