Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US20090201476?ie=ISO-8859-1&dq=5,666,293
Timestamp: 2015-08-02 10:38:46
Document Index: 458068083

Matched Legal Cases: ['art. 23', 'art. 24', 'art.\n25', 'art.\n26', 'art.\n27', 'art.\n30', 'art. 32', 'art.\n33', 'art.\n34', 'art.\n35', 'art.\n37', 'art.\n38', 'art.\n39', 'art. 47']

Patent US20090201476 - Lithographic projection apparatus and device manufacturing method - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inAdvanced Patent SearchPatentsA lithographic projection apparatus is disclosed where at least part of a space between a projection system of the apparatus and a substrate is filled with a liquid by a liquid supply system. The projection system is separated into two separate physical parts. With substantially no direct connection...http://www.google.com/patents/US20090201476?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US20090201476 - Lithographic projection apparatus and device manufacturing methodAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS20090201476 A1Publication typeApplicationApplication numberUS 12/340,237Publication dateAug 13, 2009Filing dateDec 19, 2008Priority dateJul 28, 2003Also published asEP1503244A1, US7483118, US8218125, US8964163, US20050030498, US20130057841, US20150160567Publication number12340237, 340237, US 2009/0201476 A1, US 2009/201476 A1, US 20090201476 A1, US 20090201476A1, US 2009201476 A1, US 2009201476A1, US-A1-20090201476, US-A1-2009201476, US2009/0201476A1, US2009/201476A1, US20090201476 A1, US20090201476A1, US2009201476 A1, US2009201476A1InventorsJohannes Catharinus Hubertus MulkensOriginal AssigneeAsml Netherlands B.V.Export CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManNon-Patent Citations (1), Classifications (10), Legal Events (2) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetLithographic projection apparatus and device manufacturing method
US 20090201476 A1Abstract
a first part having an optical element, the optical element arranged to contact liquid in use, and
a second part having an optical element;
a substrate table configured to hold a substrate and move the substrate relative to the optical element of the first part; a liquid supply system configured to provide liquid in a region between the projection system and the substrate table; and a sensor configured to measure a positional relationship between the first part and the second part and/or between the optical element of the first part and the optical element of the second part. 23. The lithographic apparatus of claim 22, further comprising:
a first member configured to support the first part; and a second different member configured to support the second part. 24. The lithographic apparatus of claim 23, further comprising a frame supporting the first part and the second part.
25. The lithographic apparatus of claim 22, wherein an image of a pattern formed on the substrate is controlled by adjusting the positioning between the first part and the second part.
26. The lithographic apparatus of claim 22, further comprising an actuator configured to change the relative position between the first part and the second part.
27. The lithographic apparatus of claim 22, wherein the actuator is configured to change the relative position between the first part and the second part based on the measured positional relationship.
28. The lithographic apparatus of claim 27, wherein the first part includes the actuator.
29. The lithographic apparatus of claim 27, wherein the actuator is coupled between the second part and a frame supporting the first part and the second part.
30. The lithographic apparatus of claim 27, wherein the actuator is configured to adjust in at least two degrees of freedom the relative position between the first part and the second part.
a substrate table configured to hold a substrate and move the substrate relative to the optical element of the first part; and a liquid immersion system configured to maintain liquid in a region between the projection system and the substrate table, wherein the second part is isolated from the first part such that substantially no vibrations are transmitted between the first part and the second part. 32. The lithographic apparatus of claim 31, wherein an image of a pattern formed on a substrate is controlled by adjusting the positioning between the first part and the second part.
33. The lithographic apparatus of claim 31, further comprising a frame supporting the first part and the second part.
34. The lithographic apparatus of claim 31, further comprising a sensor configured to measure a positional relationship between the first part and the second part.
35. The lithographic apparatus of claim 34, further comprising an actuator configured to change the relative position between the first part and the second part based on the measured positional relationship.
36. The lithographic apparatus of claim 35, wherein the actuator is coupled between the first part and a frame supporting the first part.
37. The lithographic apparatus of claim 35, wherein the actuator is coupled between the second part and a frame supporting the second part.
38. The lithographic apparatus of claim 35; wherein the actuator is configured to adjust in at least two degrees of freedom the relative position between the first part and the second part.
39. The lithographic apparatus of claim 35, wherein the liquid immersion system configured to maintain liquid in only a part of the substrate during exposure.
a projection system configured to project patterned radiation onto a substrate, the projection system having a final optical element located adjacent a substrate support; a substrate support configured to hold the substrate and move the substrate relative to the final optical element; and a liquid supply system configured to provide liquid in a region between the final optical element and the substrate support, wherein the final optical element is movable relative to the substrate support. 41. The lithographic apparatus of claim 40, wherein the projection system has a further optical element and the further optical element is isolated from the final optical element such that substantially no vibrations are transmitted between the final optical element and the further optical element.
42. The lithographic apparatus of claim 40, wherein a surface of the final optical element comes into contact with the liquid during exposure of the substrate.
43. The lithographic apparatus of claim 40, further comprising an actuator configured to change the position of the final optical element.
44. The lithographic apparatus of claim 40, wherein the final optical element is configured for angular movement about an axis.
45. The lithographic apparatus of claim 40, wherein the projection system has a further optical element and a relative position between the final optical element and the further optical element is changeable.
a substrate table configured to hold a substrate and move the substrate relative to the optical element of the first part; a liquid supply system configured to provide liquid in a region between the projection system and the substrate table; and an actuator configured to change the relative position between the first part and the second part. 47. The lithographic apparatus of claim 46, wherein the actuator is configured to adjust in at least two degrees of freedom the relative position between the first part and the second part.
A programmable mirror array. One example of such a device is a matrix-addressable surface having a viscoelastic control layer and a reflective surface. The basic principle behind such an apparatus is that (for example) addressed areas of the reflective surface reflect incident light as diffracted light, whereas unaddressed areas reflect incident light as undiffracted light. Using an appropriate filter, the undiffracted light can be filtered out of the reflected beam, leaving only the diffracted light behind; in this manner, the beam becomes patterned according to the addressing pattern of the matrix-addressable surface. An alternative embodiment of a programmable mirror array employs a matrix arrangement of tiny mirrors, each of which can be individually tilted about an axis by applying a suitable localized electric field, or by employing piezoelectric actuation means. Once again, the mirrors are matrix-addressable, such that addressed mirrors will reflect an incoming radiation beam in a different direction to unaddressed mirrors; in this manner, the reflected beam is patterned according to the addressing pattern of the matrix-addressable mirrors. The required matrix addressing can be performed using suitable electronic means. In both of the situations described hereabove, the patterning device can comprise one or more programmable mirror arrays. More information on mirror arrays as here referred to can be gleaned, for example, from U.S. patents U.S. Pat. No. 5,296,891 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,523,193, and PCT patent applications WO 98/38597 and WO 98/33096, which are incorporated herein by reference. In the case of a programmable mirror array, the support structure may be embodied as a frame or table, for example, which may be fixed or movable as required.
A programmable LCD array. An example of such a construction is given in U.S. patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,229,872, which is incorporated herein by reference. As above, the support structure in this case may be embodied as a frame or table, for example, which may be fixed or movable as required.
Lithographic projection apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs). In such a case, the patterning device may generate a circuit pattern corresponding to an individual layer of the IC, and this pattern can be imaged onto a target portion (e.g. comprising one or more dies) on a substrate (silicon wafer) that has been coated with a layer of radiation-sensitive material (resist). In general, a single wafer will contain a whole network of adjacent target portions that are successively irradiated via the projection system, one at a time. In current apparatus, employing patterning by a mask on a mask table, a distinction can be made between two different types of machine. In one type of lithographic projection apparatus, each target portion is irradiated by exposing the entire mask pattern onto the target portion at one time; such an apparatus is commonly referred to as a stepper. In an alternative apparatus—commonly referred to as a step-and-scan apparatus—each target portion is irradiated by progressively scanning the mask pattern under the projection beam in a given reference direction (the “scanning” direction) while synchronously scanning the substrate table parallel or anti-parallel to this direction; since, in general, the projection system will have a magnification factor M (generally <1), the speed V at which the substrate table is scanned will be a factor M times that at which the mask table is scanned. More information with regard to lithographic devices as here described can be gleaned, for example, from U.S. patent U.S. Pat. No. 6,046,792, incorporated herein by reference.
Further, the lithographic apparatus may be of a type having two or more substrate tables (and/or two or more mask tables). In such “multiple stage” devices the additional tables may be used in parallel, or preparatory steps may be carried out on one or more tables while one or more other tables are being used for exposures. Dual stage lithographic apparatus are described, for example, in U.S. patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,969,441 and PCT patent application WO 98/40791, incorporated herein by reference.
However, submersing the substrate or substrate and substrate table in a bath of liquid (see for example U.S. patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,509,852, hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference) means that there is a large body of liquid that must be accelerated during a scanning exposure. This requires additional or more powerful motors and turbulence in the liquid may lead to undesirable and unpredictable effects.
One of the solutions proposed is for a liquid supply system to provide liquid in a localized area between the final element of the projection system and the substrate (the substrate generally has a larger surface area than the final element of the projection system). One way which has been proposed to arrange for this is disclosed in PCT patent application WO 99/49504, hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference. As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, liquid is supplied by at least one inlet IN onto the substrate, preferably along the direction of movement of the final element relative to the substrate, and is removed by at least one outlet OUT after having passed under the projection system. That is, as the substrate is scanned beneath the element in a −X direction, liquid is supplied at the +X side of the element and taken up at the −X side. FIG. 2 shows the arrangement schematically in which liquid is supplied via inlet IN and is taken up on the other side of the element by outlet OUT which is connected to a low pressure source. In the illustration of FIG. 2 the liquid is supplied along the direction of movement of the final element relative to the substrate, though this does not need to be the case. Various orientations and numbers of in- and out-lets positioned around the final element are possible, one example is illustrated in FIG. 3 in which four sets of an inlet with an outlet on either side are provided in a regular pattern around the final element. There are other ways of putting the localized area solution into effect, see for example United States patent application U.S. Ser. No. 10/705,783.
an illumination system arranged to condition a radiation beam; a support structure configured to hold a patterning device, the patterning device being capable of imparting the radiation beam with a pattern; a substrate table configured to hold a substrate; a projection system arranged to project the patterned radiation beam onto a target portion of the substrate, the projection system comprising two separate physical parts that are decoupled, wherein each part comprises an optical element of the projection system; and a liquid supply system configured to at least partly fill a space between the projection system and the substrate, with a liquid. By separating a projection system into two separate parts which are decoupled, i.e. there is no direct mechanical connection between them, any forces coupled through the liquid primarily act only on a second part of the two parts of the projection system. The first part of the two parts of the projection system is isolated from the second part and substantially no force coupled through the liquid is exerted upon it. Therefore, any vibrations arising because of coupled forces through the liquid primarily affect only the second part of the projection system. Thus, vibration sensitive optical elements may be placed in the relatively vibration free first part of the projection system to improve the quality of the projected image.
a sensor configured to establish a position between a first optical element in the first part of the projection system and a second optical element in the second part of the projection system; an actuator configured to vary the position between the first and second optical elements; and a controller configured to control the actuator on the basis of output from the sensor to maintain a predetermined position between the first and second optical elements. For design reasons, it may not always be possible to separate a projection system between lens elements having a large curvature radius, or at the aperture of a telecentric lens system. If a projection system is split at an arbitrary location, it is likely that it will be intolerant to variations in the separation of the elements, for example, in the beam direction i.e. the optical axis which is perpendicular to the substrate. This construction allows a predetermined position between two lens elements, one in the first part and one in the second part, to be maintained. The apparatus can also be applied when a lens system is split between lenses having a large curvature radius, or at the aperture location of a telecentric lens system to further improve the accuracy of their alignment. In an embodiment, the position is a distance in the direction substantially parallel to the direction of the optical axis of the projection system.
an actuator configured to vary the position between the first and second parts; and a controller configured to control the actuator to maintain a predetermined relative positioning between the first and second parts. This may allow a relative position between the first and second parts of the projection system to be maintained, and reduce a likelihood of misalignment between the two parts reducing the image quality. The controller may use feedforward or feedback control.
providing a liquid to a space between a substrate on a substrate table of a lithographic apparatus and a first part of a projection system of the lithographic apparatus, a second part of the projection system substantially decoupled from the first part; and projecting a patterned beam of radiation, using the first and second parts of the projection system, through the liquid onto a target portion of a substrate. Transmission of vibrations to a first part of a projection system may be substantially reduced or eliminated by mechanical isolation between the first part and a second part of the projection system.
establishing a position between a first optical element in the first part of the projection system and a second optical element in the second part of the projection system; and adjusting the position of the first optical element, the second optical element, or both such that the established position is maintained at a predetermined position. By establishing a position and adjusting the position of optical elements in the first and second parts of the projection system of a lithographic apparatus, the position between the two optical elements may be maintained at a predetermined value. This method may allow the projection system to be split at an arbitrary position, and maintain the correct separation between optical elements in the first and second parts of the projection system. In an embodiment, the position is a distance in the direction substantially parallel to the direction of the optical axis of the projection system.
Non-Patent CitationsReference1 *DD 221,563 Pforr translation. 04-1985.* Cited by examinerClassifications U.S. Classification355/53International ClassificationG03B27/42, G03F7/20, H01L21/027Cooperative ClassificationG03F7/70341, G03F7/70258, G03F7/709European ClassificationG03F7/70P6F, G03F7/70F10, G03F7/70F24Legal EventsDateCodeEventDescriptionDec 19, 2008ASAssignmentOwner name: ASML NETHERLANDS B.V., NETHERLANDSFree format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:MULKENS, JOHANNES CATHARINUS HUBERTUS;REEL/FRAME:022010/0138Effective date: 20041014Oct 30, 2012CCCertificate of correctionRotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services