Patent ID: 7884922
Filing Date: 2011-02-08
Classification: G03F

Abstract:
1. An illumination system for a microlithography projection exposure apparatus for illuminating an illumination field with light from an assigned light source, the illumination system comprising: a pupil shaping unit comprising a plurality of optical elements, wherein the plurality of optical elements comprises at least one refractive optical element, and the optical elements receive light from the assigned light source and generate a light bundle with a basic light distribution in a pupil plane of the illumination system; and an array of individual adjustable optical elements selected from the group consisting of: (i) individual mirrors, (ii) individual reflective diffractive optical elements, (iii) individual transmissive diffractive optical elements, (iv) individual reflective acousto-optical elements, and (v) individual transmissive acousto-optical elements, wherein the array is arranged in or in proximity to the pupil plane of the illumination system, or in or in proximity to a plane of the illumination system that is optically conjugate to the pupil plane of the illumination system.