Patent ID: 7298453

Claim:
A method for exposing a radiation-sensitive material of a microlithographic substrate to a selected radiation, the radiation-sensitive material having a layer of photoresist material with an outer surface and an inner surface, the method comprising: directing a radiation beam along a radiation path through a reticle toward the microlithographic substrate, the beam having a beam width at the microlithographic substrate; and forming an image on the microlithographic substrate and the layer of photoresist material with the beam while simultaneously moving the reticle along a reticle path generally normal to the radiation path and moving the microlithographic substrate relative to the radiation path along a substrate path, the substrate path having a first component generally parallel to the radiation path and a second component generally perpendicular to the radiation path, wherein the microlithographic substrate moves generally parallel to and generally perpendicular to the radiation path toward and away from the reticle in a manner correlated with the width of the beam and the motion of the reticle while the reticle moves along the reticle path, and wherein forming an image on the layer of photoresist material includes impinging a focal plane of the radiation beam passing through the reticle on the photoresist material, the focal plane being movable between a first position at or proximate to the outer surface of the photoresist material and a second position at or proximate to the inner surface of the photoresist material.