Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. An exposure apparatus for exposing an object to radiation via a mask, said apparatus comprising:a radiation generating unit to generate radiation; anda wavelength selecting unit for selecting a wavelength of the radiation to be generated by said radiation generating unit to expose the object to the radiation having the selected wavelength via the mask,wherein said wavelength selecting unit acquires information on the mask, and selects the wavelength based on information on the wavelength contained in the acquired information. 2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said wavelength selecting unit selects a combination of a plurality of different wavelengths based on the acquired information. 3. A semiconductor device manufacturing method comprising steps of installing manufacturing apparatuses for various processes including an exposure apparatus defined in claim 1 in a semiconductor manufacturing factory, and manufacturing a semiconductor device in a plurality of processes by using the manufacturing apparatuses. 4. The method according to claim 3, further comprising steps of connecting the manufacturing apparatuses by a local area network, and communicating information about at least one of the manufacturing apparatuses between the local area network and an external network of the semiconductor manufacturing factory. 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein maintenance information of the manufacturing apparatus is acquired by data communication by accessing a database provided by a vendor or user of the exposure apparatus via the external network, or production is managed by data communication via the external network with a semiconductor manufacturing factory other than the semiconductor manufacturing factory. 6. A semiconductor manufacturing factory comprising manufacturing apparatuses for various processes including an exposure apparatus defined in claim 1, a local area network for connecting said manufacturing apparatuses, and a gateway for allowing the local area network to access an external network of said factory, wherein information about at least one of said manufacturing apparatuses is communicated by connection to the external network. 7. A maintenance method for an exposure apparatus defined in claim 1 that is installed in a semiconductor manufacturing factory, comprising steps of causing a vendor or user of the exposure apparatus to provide a maintenance database connected to an external network of the semiconductor manufacturing factory, authenticating access from the semiconductor manufacturing factory to the maintenance database via the external network, and transmitting maintenance information accumulated in the maintenance database to the semiconductor manufacturing factory via the external network. 8. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus further comprises a display, a network interface, and a computer for executing communication software and enables communicating maintenance information of the exposure apparatus via a computer network. 9. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the communication software is connected to an external network of a factory where the exposure apparatus is installed, provides on said display a user interface for accessing a maintenance database provided by a vendor or user of the exposure apparatus, and enables obtaining information from the database via the external network.