Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. An X-ray projection-exposure apparatus, comprising: an X-ray source that produces an X-ray illumination beam;  an X-ray illumination-optical system that receives the illumination beam from the X-ray source and directs the illumination beam onto a pattern-defining mask, wherein X-ray light reflected from an illuminated patterned area on the mask is a patterned beam;  a mask stage for holding the mask;  an X-ray projection-optical system that receives and directs the patterned beam so as to form an image on a resist-coated wafer of the illuminated patterned area, the projection-optical system comprising a respective optical column having a center axis, a radius (R) relative to the center axis, and an exposure-image field that is situated off-axis relative to the center axis;  a wafer stage for holding the wafer; and  a mark-position-detection system for detecting a position of a mark defined on either the wafer or wafer stage, the mark-position-detection system comprising a respective optical column having a radius (r) and a detection center that is displaced from the center axis of the projection-optical system by a distance greater than (R+r). 2. The X-ray projection-exposure apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the mark-position-detection system irradiates, on the mark, detection light that is visible, infrared, or ultraviolet and detects detection light that is reflected, scattered, or diffracted from the mark. claim 1 3. The X-ray projection-exposure apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the mark-position-detection system comprises (i) an optical system having a focal position, and (ii) a device for changing the focal position in response to a change in refractive index between the optical system and the mark. claim 1 4. An X-ray projection-exposure apparatus, comprising: an X-ray source that produces an X-ray illumination beam;  an X-ray illumination-optical system that receives the illumination beam from the X-ray source and directs the illumination beam onto a pattern-defining mask, wherein X-ray light reflected from an illuminated patterned area on the mask is a patterned beam;  a mask stage for holding the mask;  an X-ray projection-optical system that receives and directs the patterned beam so as to form an image on a resist-coated wafer of the illuminated patterned area, the projection-optical system comprising a respective optical column having a center axis, a radius (R) relative to the center axis, and an exposure-image field having a center that is situated off-axis relative to the center axis on an image plane;  a wafer stage for holding the wafer; and  a mark-position-detection system for detecting a position of a mark defined on either the wafer or wafer stage, the mark-position-detection system comprising a respective optical column having a radius (r) and a detection center,  wherein with respect to an x-y coordinate system, defined on the image plane by x- and y-axes having an origin at a point of intersection of the center axis with the image plane, the center of the exposure-image field is situated in a region (x less than 0), and the detection center is situated in a region (xxe2x89xa60) and is displaced from the center axis of the projection-optical system by a distance greater than (R+r). 5. The X-ray projection-exposure apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the detection center is situated either on the x-axis or on a line, parallel to the y-axis, passing through the center of the exposure-image field. claim 4 6. The X-ray projection-exposure apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the mark-position-detection system irradiates, on the mark, detection light that is visible, infrared, or ultraviolet and detects detection light that is reflected, scattered, or diffracted from the mark. claim 4 7. The X-ray projection-exposure apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the mark-position-detection system comprises (i) an optical system having a focal position, and (ii) a device for changing the focal position in response to a change in refractive index between the optical system and the mark. claim 4 8. A method for performing X-ray projection-exposure of a pattern, defined by a mask held on a mask stage, onto a wafer held on a wafer stage, the method comprising: irradiating a beam of X-rays from an X-ray source onto a patterned region of the mask to form a patterned beam carrying an image of the irradiated region of the mask;  using an X-ray projection-optical system having a center axis and an image plane, and of which a respective optical column has a radius (R), projecting the image onto an exposure-image field in the image plane on a resist-coated wafer such that the exposure-image field is displaced laterally from the center axis;  using a mark-position-detection system of which a respective optical column has a radius (r), detecting a position of a mark, defined either on the wafer or on the wafer stage, at a detection center of the mark-position-detection system, the detection center being displaced from the center axis by a distance greater than (R+r); and  in response to a detection signal produced by the mark-position-detection system, driving the wafer stage so as to form a projection image of the pattern at a desired location on the resist-coated wafer. 9. The method of  claim 8 , wherein, with respect to an x-y coordinate system defined on the image plane by x- and y-axes having an origin at a point of intersection of the center axis with the image plane, situating the center of the exposure-image field in a region (x less than 0) and situating the detection center in a region (xxe2x89xa60). claim 8 10. The method of  claim 9 , further comprising: claim 9 measuring a distance between the origin of the x-y coordinate system and the center of the exposure-image field; and  driving the wafer stage a distance determined from the measured distance. 11. The method of  claim 9 , wherein the detection center is situated either on the x-axis or on a line, parallel to the y-axis, passing through the center of the exposure-image field. claim 9