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.

Date of Patent:
Mar. 20, 2018

Filed:

Sep. 28, 2015
Applicant:

Asml Netherlands B.v., Veldhoven, NL;

Inventors:

Amandev Singh, Eindhoven, NL;

Henricus Petrus Maria Pellemans, Veldhoven, NL;

Assignee:

ASML Netherlands B.V., Veldhoven, NL;

Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G01B 9/00 (2006.01); G03F 7/20 (2006.01); G03F 9/00 (2006.01); G02B 21/24 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
G03F 7/70641 (2013.01); G03F 7/70616 (2013.01); G03F 9/7026 (2013.01); G02B 21/245 (2013.01);
Abstract

An inspection apparatus () includes a focus monitoring arrangement ('). Focusing radiation () comprises radiation having a first wavelength and radiation having a second wavelength. Reference radiation and focusing radiation at each wavelength are provided with at least one relative frequency shift so that the interfering radiation detected in the detection system includes a time-varying component having a characteristic frequency. A focus detection system () comprises one or more lock-in detectors (). Operating the lock-in detectors with reference to both the first and second characteristic frequencies allows the arrangement to select which of the first and second focusing radiation is used to determine whether the optical system is in focus. Good quality signals can be obtained from targets of different structure.


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