Exposure apparatus, exposure method, and method for producing device

Abstract

An exposure apparatus exposes a substrate by projecting an image of a predetermined pattern through a liquid onto the substrate. The exposure apparatus includes a projection optical system which performs the projection, and a liquid supply mechanism which supplies the liquid onto the substrate to form a liquid immersion area on a part of the substrate. The liquid supply mechanism supplies the liquid onto the substrate simultaneously from a plurality of positions which are apart, in a plurality of different directions, from the projection area. The exposure apparatus is capable of forming the liquid immersion area stably and recovering the liquid satisfactorily. It is possible to perform the exposure process accurately while avoiding the outflow of the liquid to the surroundings.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to an exposure device, an exposure method, and a device manufacturing method for exposing a pattern on a substrate in a state where a liquid immersion region is formed between a projection optical system and the substrate. Background technique [0002] Semiconductor devices and liquid crystal display devices are manufactured by a method called photolithography in which a pattern formed on a mask is transferred to a photosensitive substrate. The exposure apparatus used in this photolithography process has a mask stage that supports the mask and a substrate stage that supports the substrate, and moves the mask stage and the substrate stage sequentially while projecting the pattern of the mask through the projection optical system. Devices transferred onto substrates. In recent years, in order to cope with the further high integration of device patterns, further high resolution of the projection optical system is desired. T...

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Problems solved by technology

However, it is clearly known that liquid vibration occurs between the projection optical system and the substrate (the so-called water hammer phenomenon), or vibration occurs between the liquid supply device itself (supply pipe and supply nozzle, etc.), causing the problem of deterioration of the pattern image. In addition, because the structure is such that the liquid flows from a single direction relative to the projected area, it is also There is a problem that the liquid immersion area cannot be sufficiently formed between the projection optical system and the substrate

[0008] In addition, in the above-mentioned prior art, since the recovery unit for recovering the liquid recovers the liquid only on the downstream side of the flowing liquid in the moving direction of the above-mentioned substrate, there is also a problem that the liquid cannot be recovered sufficiently.

If the liquid cannot be recovered sufficiently, the liquid will remain on the substrate, and exposure blur may occur due to the remaining liquid.

In addition, if the liquid cannot be completely recovered, the remaining liquid will splash on the surrounding mechanical parts, causing abnormalities such as rusting.

Furthermore, if the liquid remains or splashes, the change in the environment (humidity, etc.) where the substrate is placed will cause changes in the refractive index on the optical path of the detection light of the optical interferometer used in stage position measurement, etc. There is a danger that the desired pattern transfer accuracy cannot be obtained

[0009] In addition, when the liquid on the substrate is recovered with the liquid recovery nozzle, vibration may occur between the liquid recovery device itself (recovery pipe, recovery nozzle, etc.)

If this vibration is transmitted to the projection optical system, the substrate stage, or the optical components of the interferometer used to measure the position of the substrate stage, it may not be possible to form a circuit pattern on the substrate with high precision.

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