Imaging EUV optical unit for imaging an object field onto an image field

By incorporating a combination of NI and GI mirrors, the imaging EUV optical unit achieves a high total transmittance, addressing the challenge of limited exposure power and efficiency in existing systems.

JP2025519866APending Publication Date: 2025-06-26CARL ZEISS SMT GMBH
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Patent Information

Application Number
JP2024575180
Authority / Receiving Office
JP · JP
Patent Type
Applications
Current Assignee / Owner
Priority Date
2022-06-20
Filing Date
2023-06-12
Publication Date
2025-06-26

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

Existing imaging EUV optical units for projection exposure apparatuses face challenges in achieving high total transmittance, which limits exposure power and efficiency.

Method used

The use of at least two Normal Incidence (NI) mirrors and at least two Grazing Incidence (GI) mirrors in the imaging EUV optical unit design, resulting in a high total transmittance of over 10%, enabling increased EUV throughput and improved exposure power.

Benefits of technology

This configuration achieves a total transmittance of more than 11.8%, allowing for enhanced exposure power or reduced power supply requirements, while maintaining good imaging quality.

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Abstract

The imaging EUV optical unit (10) serves to image the object field (5) onto the image field (11). The optical unit includes a plurality of mirrors (M1 to M6) for guiding EUV imaging light (16) having a wavelength shorter than 30 nm along an imaging beam path from the object field (5) to the image field (11). The plurality of mirrors includes at least two NI mirrors (M5, M6) and at least two GI mirrors (M1 to M4). The total transmittance of the plurality of mirrors (M1 to M6) is greater than 10%. This results in an imaging EUV optical unit with improved usability for EUV projection exposure apparatuses.
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