Patent ID: 7710543

Claim:
A scanning exposure apparatus comprising: a stage unit configured to support a reticle and to be movable in a scanning direction; an illumination unit configured to illuminate the reticle; a projection optical system configured to project a pattern of the reticle onto the substrate; a stage unit configured to support a substrate and to be movable in the scanning direction and a direction perpendicular to both the scanning direction and an optical axis of the projection optical system; a detector configured to detect a surface position of the substrate by irradiating a surface of the substrate with light and to receive light reflected by the surface of the substrate; and a controller configured: (i) to execute a first measurement that causes the detector to detect the surface position with respect to each of a first plurality of measurement points in a shot on the substrate, and to execute a second measurement that causes the detector to detect the surface position with respect to each of a second plurality of measurement points in the shot, the second plurality of measurement points being obtained by shifting the first plurality of measurement points in the shot by a predetermined amount in a predetermined direction; and (ii) to select measurement points to be used for subsequent measurement using the detector from the first plurality of measurement points, based on a change in the detected surface positions of two measurement points corresponding to each other in the first and second plurality of measurement points.