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Exposure apparatus and method for manufacturing device

a manufacturing device and exposure apparatus technology, applied in the direction of microlithography exposure apparatus, printers, instruments, etc., can solve the problems of insufficient focus margin during exposure operation, surface undulation, pattern image projected onto the substrate deterioration, etc., to prevent the deterioration of the pattern image projected onto the substrate, suppress the scattering of liquid, and improve the movement accuracy of the substrate stage

Inactive Publication Date: 2006-02-16
NIKON CORP
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention aims to provide an exposure apparatus and device manufacturing method that can suppress the scattering of liquid and prevent deterioration of pattern image projected onto a substrate. The invention achieves this by using a substrate moving device that is movable while holding the substrate above the projection optical system and a liquid immersion unit that fills at least a portion of the space between the projection optical system and the substrate. This configuration prevents the need for pipings and the like for supplying and recovering the liquid, which can improve the movement accuracy of the substrate stage.

Problems solved by technology

When the depth of focus δ becomes too narrow, it becomes difficult to make the substrate surface coincide with the image plane of the projection optical system, and thus there occurs the possibility that the focus margin during the exposure operation will be insufficient.
By the way, with the above-mentioned related art, there are problems as described below.
In the case of such a configuration, when the substrate stage is moved, there arises not only the possibility that the liquid surface undulates and the liquid scatters, but also the possibility that the pattern image projected onto the substrate deteriorates due to the undulation of the liquid.
In addition, pipings for supplying and recovering the liquid need to be connected to the substrate stage, which may adversely affect the movement accuracy of the stage.

Method used

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  • Exposure apparatus and method for manufacturing device
  • Exposure apparatus and method for manufacturing device
  • Exposure apparatus and method for manufacturing device

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Embodiment Construction

[0022] Now, referring to the drawings, an exposure apparatus of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is an outline configuration drawing showing a first embodiment of an exposure apparatus of the present invention.

[0023] Referring to FIG. 1, an exposure apparatus EX is provided with a mask stage MST that holds a mask M, a substrate stage PST that holds a substrate P, an illumination optical system IL that illuminates the mask M held by the mask stage MST with exposure light EL, a projection optical system PL that projects a pattern image of the mask M illuminated with the exposure light EL onto the substrate P held by the substrate stage PST, and a controller CONT that controls the overall operation of the exposure apparatus EX. The projection optical system PL is configured to form an image plane thereabove. The mask stage MST that holds the mask M is disposed under the projection optical system PL, and on the other hand, the substrate stage PST that holds the substrate...

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Abstract

An exposure apparatus wherein an image of a pattern is projected onto a substrate via a projection optical system to expose the substrate, includes: a substrate moving device that is movable while holding the substrate above the projection optical system; and a liquid immersion unit that fills at least a portion of the space between the projection optical system and the substrate with a liquid, wherein the image of the pattern is projected onto the substrate via the projection optical system and the liquid.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This is a Divisional of Application No. 11 / 239,402, filed Sep. 30, 2005, which is a Continuation Application of International Application No. PCT / JP2004 / 004969, filed Apr. 6, 2004, which claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-103145, filed Apr. 7, 2003. The content of the aforementioned application is incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] The present invention relates to an exposure apparatus and a device manufacturing method in which an image of a pattern is projection-exposed onto a substrate via a projection optical system and, in particular, to a liquid immersion type exposure apparatus. [0004] 2. Description of Related Art [0005] Semiconductor devices and liquid crystal display devices are manufactured through the so-called photolithography technique, by which a pattern formed on a mask is transferred onto a photosensitive substrate. The exposure apparat...

Claims

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Application Information

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Patent Type & Authority Applications(United States)
IPC IPC(8): G03B27/42G03F7/20
CPCG03F7/70341G03B27/42
Inventor HARA
Owner NIKON CORP
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