Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US9817319B2/en
Timestamp: 2019-05-27 08:04:44
Document Index: 362677715

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 100146764', 'Application No. 2004800238885', 'Application No. 16207513', 'Application No. 17156010', 'Application No. 15158998', 'Application No. 2011', 'Application No. 2004800238885', 'Application No. 200810092257', 'Application No. 05741209', 'Application No. 2006', 'Application No. 10', 'Application No. 2012', 'Application No. 2008', 'Application No. 093126654', 'Application No. 2006', 'Application No. 2010', 'Application No. 04778426', 'Application No. 2013', 'Application No. 2008']

US9817319B2 - Apparatus and method for providing fluid for immersion lithography - Google Patents
US9817319B2
US9817319B2 US15/394,016 US201615394016A US9817319B2 US 9817319 B2 US9817319 B2 US 9817319B2 US 201615394016 A US201615394016 A US 201615394016A US 9817319 B2 US9817319 B2 US 9817319B2
US15/394,016
US20170108784A1 (en
2014-10-21 Priority to US14/519,573 priority patent/US9547243B2/en
2016-12-29 Priority to US15/394,016 priority patent/US9817319B2/en
2016-12-29 Application filed by Nikon Corp filed Critical Nikon Corp
2017-04-20 Publication of US20170108784A1 publication Critical patent/US20170108784A1/en
2017-11-14 Publication of US9817319B2 publication Critical patent/US9817319B2/en
A liquid immersion lithography apparatus includes a projection system having a final optical element and a nozzle member having a first opening disposed on a first side of the final optical element and from which an immersion liquid is supplied, a second opening disposed on a second side of the final optical element and from which the immersion liquid is recovered, and a liquid recovery portion disposed to surround a path of an exposure beam and from which the immersion liquid is recovered. A tank is fluidicly connected to the liquid recovery portion of the nozzle member. During exposure of a substrate to the exposure beam, an upper surface of the substrate faces the liquid recovery portion, and the immersion liquid is supplied from the first opening while performing liquid recovery from the second opening and the liquid recovery portion.
This is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/519,573 filed Oct. 21, 2014 (now U.S. Pat. No. 9,547,243), which in turn is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/944,281 filed Jul. 17, 2013 (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,896,807), which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/461,243 filed Aug. 5, 2009 (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,520,187), which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/790,233 filed Apr. 24, 2007 (now abandoned), which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/362,833 filed Feb. 28, 2006 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,292,313), which is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/US2004/022915 filed Jul. 16, 2004, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/500,312 filed Sep. 3, 2003, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/541,329 filed Feb. 2, 2004. The disclosures of these applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
a nozzle member having
a downward-facing surface,
an aperture extending through and surrounded by the downward-facing surface and through which an exposure beam is projected,
a first opening which is disposed on a first side of the final optical element and from which an immersion liquid is supplied,
a second opening which is disposed on a second side of the final optical element and from which the immersion liquid is recovered, and
a liquid recovery portion which is disposed such that the liquid recovery portion surrounds a path of the exposure beam from the projection system and from which the immersion liquid is recovered;
a tank fluidicly connected to the liquid recovery portion of the nozzle member, wherein
during exposure of a substrate to the exposure beam, an upper surface of the substrate faces the liquid recovery portion, and
during the exposure, the immersion liquid is supplied from the first opening while performing liquid recovery from the second opening and the liquid recovery portion, the liquid recovery from the second opening being performed not via the liquid recovery portion.
2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a vacuum regulator to control a pressure in the tank.
3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the vacuum regulator is connected to an upper portion of the tank.
a recovery flow line via which the tank and the liquid recovery portion of the nozzle member are connected, and
a flow regulator disposed in the recovery flow line to adjust a liquid flow from the liquid recovery portion to the tank.
a switching device disposed in the recovery flow line, by which the recovery flow line is closed.
a valve disposed in the recovery flow line, by which the recovery flow line is closed.
7. The apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a recovery flow line via which the tank and the liquid recovery portion of the nozzle member are connected, wherein the recovery flow line is connected to an upper portion of the tank.
8. The apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a pressure sensor to measure the pressure for recovering the immersion liquid.
9. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the vacuum regulator is controlled based on a sensor signal from the pressure sensor.
10. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the immersion liquid covers only a portion of the upper surface of the substrate during the exposure of the substrate.
11. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the immersion liquid is recovered through the liquid recovery portion from the upper surface of the substrate, such that the immersion liquid covers only a portion of the upper surface of the substrate during the exposure of the substrate.
13. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the flow regulator includes a valve.
16. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a recovery flow line via which the tank and the liquid recovery portion of the nozzle member are connected, wherein the recovery flow line is connected to an upper portion of the tank.
17. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the immersion liquid covers only a portion of the upper surface of the substrate during the exposure of the substrate.
18. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the immersion liquid is recovered through the liquid recovery portion from the upper surface of the substrate, such that the immersion liquid covers only a portion of the upper surface of the substrate during the exposure of the substrate.
forming a liquid immersion area on an upper surface of a substrate with a nozzle member by
supplying an immersion liquid via a first opening of the nozzle member, the first opening disposed on a first side of a final optical element of a projection system,
recovering the supplied immersion liquid via a second opening of the nozzle member, the second opening disposed on a second side of the final optical element, and
recovering the supplied immersion liquid via a liquid recovery portion of the nozzle member, the liquid recovery portion disposed such that the liquid recovery portion surrounds a path of an exposure beam from the projection system;
collecting the recovered immersion liquid in a tank fluidicly connected to the liquid recovery portion of the nozzle member, and
exposing the upper surface of the substrate on which the liquid immersion area is formed to an exposure beam projected through an aperture that extends through and is surrounded by a downward-facing surface of the nozzle member, through the final optical element and through the liquid immersion area while the upper surface of the substrate faces the liquid recovery portion, wherein
during the exposing, the immersion liquid is supplied from the first opening while performing liquid recovery from the second opening and the liquid recovery portion, the liquid recovery from the second opening being performed not via the liquid recovery portion.
21. The method according to claim 20, wherein a pressure in the tank is controlled with a vacuum regulator.
22. The method according to claim 21, wherein the vacuum regulator is connected to an upper portion of the tank.
a liquid flow from the liquid recovery portion to the tank is adjusted by a flow regulator disposed in a recovery flow line via which the tank and the liquid recovery portion of the nozzle member are connected.
a recovery flow line via which the tank and the liquid recovery portion of the nozzle member are connected includes a switching device by which the recovery flow line is closed.
a recovery flow line via which the tank and the liquid recovery portion of the nozzle member are connected includes a valve by which the recovery flow line is closed.
26. The method according to claim 21, wherein a recovery flow line via which the tank and the liquid recovery portion of the nozzle member are connected, is connected to an upper portion of the tank.
27. The method according to claim 21, wherein the pressure for recovering the immersion liquid is measured by a pressure sensor.
28. The method according to claim 27, wherein the vacuum regulator is controlled based on a sensor signal from the pressure sensor.
29. The method according to claim 21, wherein the immersion liquid covers only a portion of the upper surface of the substrate during the exposing of the substrate.
30. The method according to claim 21, wherein the immersion liquid is recovered through the liquid recovery portion from the upper surface of the substrate, such that the immersion liquid covers only a portion of the upper surface of the substrate during the exposing of the substrate.
31. The method according to claim 20, wherein:
32. The method according to claim 31, wherein the flow regulator includes a valve.
35. The method according to claim 20, wherein a recovery flow line via which the tank and the liquid recovery portion of the nozzle member are connected, is connected to an upper portion of the tank.
36. The method according to claim 20, wherein the immersion liquid covers only a portion of the upper surface of the substrate during the exposing of the substrate.
37. The method according to claim 20, wherein the immersion liquid is recovered through the liquid recovery portion from the upper surface of the substrate, such that the immersion liquid covers only a portion of the upper surface of the substrate during the exposing of the substrate.
exposing a substrate using the method according to claim 20; and
US15/394,016 2003-09-03 2016-12-29 Apparatus and method for providing fluid for immersion lithography Active US9817319B2 (en)
US15/786,758 Division US10203610B2 (en) 2003-09-03 2017-10-18 Apparatus and method for providing fluid for immersion lithography
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US9547243B2 (en) * 2003-09-03 2017-01-17 Nikon Corporation Apparatus and method for providing fluid for immersion lithography
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KR101745223B1 (en) 2017-06-08 Environmental system including a transport region for an immersion lithography apparatus