Patent ID: 7446853

Claim:
An exposure method comprising: forming a resist film on a substrate, the resist film having first and second exposure fields arranged in a column direction; mounting the substrate on a scanning exposure tool in order to project a design pattern on the first and second exposure fields, the exposure tool comprising: an optical pattern image generating unit which generates an optical pattern image corresponding to a part of the design pattern; an optical projection unit which projects the optical pattern image onto an exposure slit region on the resist film which is smaller than the first and second exposure fields; a substrate stage which moves the substrate; and a liquid immersion medium fluid film forming unit which forms a liquid immersion medium fluid film having a flow between a local region on the resist film and the optical projection unit; forming the liquid immersion medium fluid film by using the liquid immersion medium fluid film forming unit; and projecting the design pattern onto the first or second exposure fields by varying the optical pattern image generated at the optical pattern image generating unit while moving the substrate in a direction parallel to the column direction, wherein: the projection of the design pattern onto the first and second exposure fields is continuously carried out without changing a moving direction of the substrate and a direction of the flow of the liquid immersion medium fluid film; and the optical pattern image generating unit comprises an optical illumination unit which irradiates an exposure light onto a photomask having the design pattern formed thereon, and a photomask stage which moves the photomask horizontally with respect to an optical axis of the exposure light, the method further comprising: returning the photomask to a position at the time of starting the projection of the design pattern onto the first exposure fields in a state in which the optical pattern image is not projected onto the resist film during a period from a termination of the projection of the design pattern onto the first exposure fields to a start of the projection of the design pattern onto the second exposure fields, wherein the substrate moves a distance of substantially integer multiples of a width of the first and second exposure fields in the column direction during a period from a termination of the projection of the design pattern onto the first exposure fields to a start of the projection of the design pattern onto the second exposure fields.