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:
May. 01, 2018
Filed:
Jan. 22, 2014
Nikon Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Hidemi Kawai, Chiba, JP;
Douglas C. Watson, Campbell, CA (US);
NIKON CORPORATION, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An immersion lithography apparatus and method places an object for a cleanup process on a holder of a movable stage of the immersion lithography apparatus, a wafer being held on the holder of the stage and exposed during a liquid immersion lithography process. During the liquid immersion lithography process, device pattern projection is performed and a device pattern image is projected onto the wafer held on the holder to fabricate semiconductor devices. During the cleanup process, a liquid is supplied via a supply port from above the stage holding the object on the holder. During the cleanup process, the object is held on the holder in place of the wafer and the object is used without performing device pattern projection.