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:
Jul. 23, 2013
Filed:
Mar. 09, 2009
Applicants:
Hidemi Kawai, Palo Alto, CA (US);
W. Thomas Novak, Hillsborough, CA (US);
Inventors:
Hidemi Kawai, Palo Alto, CA (US);
W. Thomas Novak, Hillsborough, CA (US);
Assignee:
Nikon Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G03B 27/52 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
Abstract
An immersion lithography apparatus and cleanup method used for the immersion lithography apparatus in which an immersion liquid is supplied to a gap between an optical element of a projection optics and a workpiece during an immersion lithography process. A surface of an object, which is different from the workpiece, is provided below the optical element, a supply port and a recovery port. During a cleanup process, a cleaning liquid is supplied onto the object such that the cleaning liquid covers only a portion of the surface of the object.