Patent ID: 8242467

Claim:
A lithography system in which an electronic image pattern is delivered to a charged particle exposure tool for projecting an image on a target surface, said exposure tool including a frame for elements constituting a charged particle projection column, and said exposure tool comprising a vacuum housing for housing said frame and particle column, and said lithography system comprising a control unit external to said vacuum housing for controlling exposure projections by means of control data, said control data being provided to a modulator for modulating charged particle beams generated in said exposure tool, said control data being provided via an optical interconnect conveying modulated light signals, said beam modulator thereto comprising an array of deflectors for modulating projection beams and light sensitive areas for receiving said control data, and said beam modulator at least partly extending in a charged particle projection space of said exposure tool, and being included in said element frame via a modulator holder, said control data finally being coupled in to said modulator using a free space optical interconnect for emitting modulated light beams to said light sensitive parts of said beam modulator, said optical interconnect further comprising an array of fibers coupled into said tool via a part of said vacuum housing, wherein an inner vacuum housing end part of said fibers is at its end mechanically secured to a light optics housing which in turn is secured to said modulator holder.