Entries |
Document | Title | Date |
20080204693 | Substrate Support Method - The present invention includes a method for supporting a substrate that features a chuck body having a body surface with a pin extending therefrom having a contact surface lying in a plane, with the pin being movably coupled to the chuck body to move with respect to the plane. To that end, the method includes disposing the substrate upon two spaced-apart bodies; and moving one of the two spaced-apart bodies away from the substrate. | 08-28-2008 |
20080218726 | Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method - Lithographic Apparatus and Device Manufacturing Method In a lithographic projection apparatus, a structure surrounds a space between the projection system and a substrate table of the lithographic projection apparatus. Gas is used between the structure and the surface of the substrate to contain liquid in the space. | 09-11-2008 |
20080225261 | EXPOSURE APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - An exposure apparatus is configured so that a wafer carrier robot can deliver a wafer to a wafer holder held by a holder carrier robot or can carry out a wafer from the wafer holder held by the holder carrier robot, under a reduced-pressure environment. According to the apparatus, even if it takes a relatively long time to replace the wafer on the wafer holder used inside the reduced pressure space, by performing the wafer exchange operation and a predetermined operation (the exposure apparatus main section operation) using the stage on which the wafer holder holding the wafer is mounted concurrently, the influence that the wafer exchange time has on the throughput can be suppressed. | 09-18-2008 |
20080278705 | STAGE ASSEMBLY WITH MEASUREMENT SYSTEM INITIALIZATION, VIBRATION COMPENSATION, LOW TRANSMISSIBILITY, AND LIGHTWEIGHT FINE STAGE - A stage assembly ( | 11-13-2008 |
20080285004 | Monolithic, Non-Contact Six Degree-of-Freedom Stage Apparatus - Methods and apparatus for controlling a stage assembly in up to six degrees of freedom using actuators which each allow for forces to be generated in a horizontal direction and a vertical direction are disclosed. According to one aspect of the present invention, a stage apparatus includes a stage assembly and a first stator arrangement. The stage assembly includes a first magnet arrangement of an actuator assembly, and the first stator arrangement is part of the actuator assembly. The first magnet arrangement cooperates with the first stator arrangement to allow the stage assembly to move relative to a first horizontal axis as well as a vertical axis. | 11-20-2008 |
20080285005 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MEASURING AND MAPPING A SIDEFORCE FOR A MOVER | 11-20-2008 |
20080297758 | Lithographic support structure - The invention relates to a transfer apparatus for transferring an object (W). the transfer apparatus comprises a gripper ( | 12-04-2008 |
20080309909 | HOLDING APPARATUS, EXPOSURE APPARATUS, EXPOSURE METHOD, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A holding apparatus is provided with a holding member that has a holding surface that holds a substrate on which a pattern is to be formed, a plurality of first electrode members that are provided on the holding member and that generate electrostatic force in accordance with supplied voltage in order to attract the substrate to the holding surface, and a power supply device that is able to supply voltage to the first electrode members. The first electrode members are positioned in accordance with pattern information. | 12-18-2008 |
20080309910 | Vibration isolating apparatus, control method for vibration isolating apparatus, and exposure apparatus - An active vibration isolating apparatus can perform vibration isolation with high precision and fast response speed using a gas damper. A vibration isolating apparatus comprises an air damper that uses air supplied from a compressed air source to support a structure on an installation surface; a servo valve that controls the flow rate of the air that is supplied from the compressed air source to the air damper; a position sensor that measures a position provided to the structure by the air damper; and a vibration isolating block control system that controls the flow rate of the air at the servo valve based on the measurement value of the position sensor. | 12-18-2008 |
20080309911 | Stage system and lithographic apparatus comprising such a stage system - A stage system for a lithographic apparatus includes a stage, an over-determined number of actuators arranged to act on the stage, and an electric power supply configured to provide a current to the actuators, wherein the current is supplied to a coil associated with a first actuator of the actuators and to a coil associated with a second actuator of the actuators. | 12-18-2008 |
20080316460 | Control system, lithographic projection apparatus, method of controlling a support structure, and a computer program product - A control system is provided for controlling a support structure in a lithographic apparatus. The control system includes a first measurement system arranged to measure the position of a substrate supported by the support structure, the position being measured in a first coordinate system. The control system further includes a second measurement system for measuring the position of the support structure in a second coordinate system, the first measurement system having a presumed position in the second coordinate system. The control system further comprises a controller configured to control the position of the support structure based on measurements by the second measurement system, to convert the measured position of the substrate into a converted position of the support structure in the second coordinate system, to position the support structure based on the converted position, to receive a position error signal indicative of a difference between the presumed position and an actual position of the first measurement system in the second coordinate system, and to position the support structure in a manner dependent upon the position error signal. | 12-25-2008 |
20090009746 | Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method - A lithographic apparatus is disclosed that includes a utility substrate storage configured to hold a utility substrate, and a utility substrate scheduling unit configured to schedule the loading of a utility substrate in a flow of substrates in the lithographic apparatus. | 01-08-2009 |
20090015816 | Exposure method, substrate stage, exposure apparatus, and device manufacturing method - An exposure apparatus exposes a substrate by projecting a pattern image onto the substrate through a liquid. The exposure apparatus includes a projection optical system by which the pattern image is projected onto the substrate, and a movable member which is movable relative to the projection optical system. A liquid-repellent member, at least a part of a surface of which is liquid-repellent, is provided detachably on the movable member, the liquid-repellent member being different from the substrate. | 01-15-2009 |
20090027648 | Method of reducing noise in an original signal, and signal processing device therefor - In a method and apparatus for reducing noise in an original signal which contains a linear time varying signal and the noise, the original signal is differentiated to obtain a differentiated original signal. The differentiated original signal is Fourier transformed to obtain power spectral densities of the differentiated original signal. A noise frequency is detected in a power spectral density spectrum of the obtained power spectral densities of the differentiated original signal. For the noise frequency, a corresponding noise component is determined. The noise component is subtracted from the original signal to obtain a noise reduced original signal. | 01-29-2009 |
20090033905 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - An immersion lithographic apparatus includes a liquid supply system member configured to contain a liquid in a space between a projection system of the lithographic apparatus and the substrate and a liquid supply system member compensator arranged to compensate an interaction between the liquid supply system member and substrate table. | 02-05-2009 |
20090033906 | STAGE APPARATUS, EXPOSURE APPARATUS, STAGE CONTROL METHOD, EXPOSURE METHOD, AND DEVICE FABRICATING METHOD - A stage apparatus includes a mover having a holding part that holds a substrate, and a first mechanism and a control apparatus. The mover is capable of moving between a first position and a second position. At the first position, the substrate is held by the holding part, and, at the second position, the substrate is released from the holding part. The first mechanism can adjust a gap between the substrate and the holding part. The control apparatus simultaneously executes the movement of the mover between the first position and the second position, and with the adjustment of the gap by the first mechanism. | 02-05-2009 |
20090040499 | EXPOSURE APPARATUS AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING DEVICE - This invention provides a positioning apparatus which can safely stop a movable body irrespective of its driving status. This invention relates to a positioning apparatus which positions a movable body ( | 02-12-2009 |
20090051892 | MOVABLE BODY DRIVE METHOD AND MOVABLE BODY DRIVE SYSTEM, PATTERN FORMATION METHOD AND APPARATUS, EXPOSURE METHOD AND APPARATUS, DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD, MEASURING METHOD, AND POSITION MEASUREMENT SYSTEM - By moving a wafer stage while monitoring an XY position of a wafer stage WST using an interferometer system, and scanning a Y scale in an X-axis direction and a Y-axis direction using a surface position sensor, an XY setting position of the surface position sensor is measured. Based on information of the setting position obtained, by measuring a position coordinate of the wafer stage in a perpendicular direction with respect to an XY plane and a tilt direction, the wafer stage is driven in a stable manner and with high precision. | 02-26-2009 |
20090051893 | MOVABLE BODY DRIVE METHOD AND MOVABLE BODY DRIVE SYSTEM, PATTERN FORMATION METHOD AND APPARATUS, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A controller uses two Z heads, which are positioned above a reflection surface installed on the ±X ends of the upper surface of a wafer table, to measure the height and tilt of the wafer table. The Z head to be used is switched according to XY positions of the wafer table. On the switching of the heads, the controller applies a coordinate linkage method to set an initial value of the Z head which is to be newly used. Accordingly, although the Z head to be used is sequentially switched according the XY position of the wafer table, measurement results of the height and the tilt of the wafer table are stored before and after the switching, and it becomes possible to drive the wafer table with high precision. | 02-26-2009 |
20090051894 | MOVABLE BODY DRIVE METHOD AND MOVABLE BODY DRIVE SYSTEM, PATTERN FORMATION METHOD AND APPARATUS, EXPOSURE METHOD AND APPARATUS, DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD, AND MEASURING METHOD - A wafer stage is moved while monitoring a position using an X interferometer and a Y interferometer, and a Z position of a Y scale arranged on the wafer stage upper surface is measured using a surface position sensor. In this case, for example, from a difference of measurement results of two surface position sensors, tilt of the Y scale in the Y-axis direction is obtained. By measuring the tilt of the entire surface of a pair of Y scales, two-dimensional unevenness data of the scales are made. By correcting the measurement results of the position surface sensor using the unevenness data, and then using the corrected measurement results, it becomes possible to drive wafer stage WST two-dimensionally with high precision. | 02-26-2009 |
20090051895 | MOVABLE BODY DRIVE METHOD AND MOVABLE BODY DRIVE SYSTEM, PATTERN FORMATION METHOD AND APPARATUS, DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD, AND PROCESSING SYSTEM - A position of a stage in a perpendicular direction with respect to a movement plane and a tilt direction is measured, using a surface position sensor and a Z interferometer. And, the stage is driven in a stable manner and also with high precision, by appropriately switching between three control modes; servo control using a measurement result of the surface position sensor (a first control mode), servo control using a measurement result of the Z interferometer (a second control mode), and servo control using measurement results of both measurement systems (a third control mode), or by appropriately switching between two control modes out of the three control modes. | 02-26-2009 |
20090059198 | MOVABLE BODY DRIVE METHOD AND MOVABLE BODY DRIVE SYSTEM, PATTERN FORMATION METHOD AND APPARATUS, EXPOSURE METHOD AND APPARATUS, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A controller uses two Z heads, which are positioned above a reflection surface installed on the ±X ends of the upper surf ace of a table, to measure the height and tilt of the table. According to the XY position of the table, the Z heads to be used are switched from ZsR and ZsL to ZsR′ and ZsL. On the switching of the heads, the controller applies a coordinate linkage method to set an initial value of the Z heads which are to be newly used. Accordingly, although the Z heads to be used are sequentially switched according the XY position of the table, measurement results of the height and the tilt of the table are stored before and after the switching, and it becomes possible to drive the table with high precision. | 03-05-2009 |
20090066928 | ALIGNMENT APPARATUS, EXPOSURE APPARATUS, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD USING EXPOSURE APPARATUS - An alignment apparatus includes driving means having a movable element and a stator, a measurement unit which measures a position of a moving member moved by the driving means using measurement light, and a discharging unit to discharge gas existing in an optical path of the measurement light. The discharging unit is provided to the stator. | 03-12-2009 |
20090109419 | Supporting plate, stage device, exposure apparatus, and exposure method - An exposure apparatus and method exposes, using an optical member, a pattern of a mask onto a substrate that is located on a substrate stage which is movable over a supporting plate. A liquid is provided between the optical member and the substrate, Fluid is sprayed toward the supporting plate to remove liquid from the supporting plate. | 04-30-2009 |
20090141259 | Exposure Apparatus - An exposure apparatus, which forms a latent image pattern on a substrate using an exposure beam, includes a first structure which supports a projection unit which projects an exposure beam onto a substrate, a first supporting leg which includes a first actuator and supports the first structure, a first state detector which detects a state of the first structure, a second structure which supports a substrate stage which aligns the substrate, a second supporting leg which includes a second actuator and supports the second structure, a second state detector which detects a state of the second structure, and a control unit which controls, on the basis of a signal from the first state detector and a signal from the second state detector, the first actuator and the second actuator so as to synchronize the first structure and the second structure with each other. | 06-04-2009 |
20090147236 | Servo Control System, Lithographic Apparatus and Control Method - A servo control system to control a position of an object supported by a movable support includes a first measurement system to measure a position of the movable support, a comparative device to provide an error signal based on the comparison between a measured movable support position and a desired movable support position, a controller unit to provide a control signal based on the error signal, and an actuator configured to actuate the movable support based on the control signal. The servo control system further includes a slip compensation device to compensate a slip between the object and the movable support, the slip compensation device including a second measurement system to measure an object position with respect to the movable support, and an addition device to add a slip compensation signal to the measured movable support position or the error signal based on the measured object position. | 06-11-2009 |
20090147237 | Spatial Phase Feature Location - Methods for locating an alignment mark on a substrate are described. Generally, the substrate includes one or more locator marks adjacent to a substrate alignment mark. Locator marks provide the relative location of the substrate alignment mark such that the substrate alignment mark may be used in aligning a substrate with a template within a lithographic system with a reduced magnitude of relative displacement. | 06-11-2009 |
20090153832 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR ISOLATING VIBRATIONS IN A LITHOGRAPHY MACHINE USING TWO ACTIVE CONTROL UNITS - An apparatus and method effectively isolate vibrations in a lithography machine. The apparatus and method include a first control for actively reducing the vibrations in a first frequency range and a second control for actively reducing the vibrations in a second frequency range. The first control further includes a first actuator such as a force actuator and a static reference object with which relatively low-frequency vibrations are reduced. The second control further includes a second actuator such as a Piezo actuator and an air spring in which relatively high-frequency vibrations are reduced. The apparatus and method are applied to substantially prevent the vibrations on the floor from traveling to the mask stage in one embodiment. | 06-18-2009 |
20090180095 | Method of Placing a Substrate, Method of Transferring a Substrate, Support System and Lithographic Projection Apparatus - A method is provided for placing a substrate onto a surface of a substrate holder, the surface having a plurality of burls. First substrate placement data is calculated. This data enables placement of the substrate at a certain position with respect to a position of the plurality of burls on the surface of the substrate holder. Then, the substrate is placed at the certain position in accordance with the substrate placement data. The certain position may be based on the position at which placement would result in a minimized overlay error or may be based on the position at which placement would result in minimized substrate deformation. | 07-16-2009 |
20090180096 | Environmental system including vacuum scavenge for an immersion lithography apparatus - A liquid containment system is used for a liquid immersion lithography apparatus in which a substrate is exposed through liquid between an optical member of a projection system and the substrate. The liquid containment system includes a liquid containment member which confines the liquid, the liquid containment member including a removing inlet which removes the liquid from a gap between the liquid confinement member and the substrate. The liquid containment system also includes an actuator by which the liquid containment member is moved. | 07-16-2009 |
20090195767 | EXPOSURE APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - An exposure apparatus comprises a component configured to project a pattern of an original onto a substrate, a structure configured to support the component, a support configured to support the structure, a gas spring which is located between the structure and the support and configured to support the structure, and a stopper accommodated in an internal space of the gas spring so as to prevent the structure from moving relative to the support in excess of an allowable level. | 08-06-2009 |
20090201484 | Utilities supply member connection apparatus, stage apparatus, projection optical system support apparatus and exposure apparatus - A connection apparatus for a utilities supply member, comprises: a holding part ( | 08-13-2009 |
20090207399 | Lithographic method - A method of calibrating a front to backside alignment capable lithographic apparatus. The method includes attaching a substrate having a plurality of alignment marks to a carrier, the substrate being arranged such that the alignment marks face towards the carrier; reducing the thickness of the substrate; using an alignment system of the apparatus to measure the positions of images of alignment marks formed by optics in a substrate table of the apparatus; projecting a pattern onto the substrate, the position of the pattern being determined according to the measured positions of the alignment marks; measuring the positions of the projected pattern and the alignment marks provided on the opposite side of the substrate, the position of the alignment marks provided on the opposite side of the substrate being measured by the alignment system directing radiation through the substrate; and comparing the measured positions in order to determine an overlay error. | 08-20-2009 |
20090213357 | Exposure apparatus and device manufacturing method - An exposure apparatus equipped with a measurement stage that is provided with various measuring instruments disposed in a relationship wherein measurement accuracy is not lowered, and a device manufacturing method using the exposure apparatus are provided. An exposure apparatus according to the present invention is equipped with a measurement stage provided independent of a wafer stage that holds a wafer, On a measurement table (MTB) held on the upper face of this measurement stage, a reference plate ( | 08-27-2009 |
20090237637 | METHOD FOR COARSE WAFER ALIGNMENT IN A LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS - A method for alignment of a substrate, in which the substrate includes a mark in a scribe lane, and the scribe lane extends along a longitudinal direction as a first direction. The mark has a periodic structure in the first direction. The method includes providing an illumination beam for scanning the mark in a direction perpendicular to a direction of the mark's periodic structure along a first scan path across the mark, scanning the spot of the illumination beam along a second scan path across the mark, the second scan path being parallel to the first scan path, wherein the second scan path is shifted relative to the first scan path over a first shift that corresponds to a fraction of the repeating distance of the periodic structure. | 09-24-2009 |
20090237638 | EXPOSURE APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - An exposure apparatus for exposing a substrate through liquid includes a stage for holding and moving the substrate. The stage includes a holding section for holding the substrate and a supporting section disposed around the holding section. The supporting section includes a recovery port including a gap between the substrate held by the holding section and the supporting section, the recovery port for recovering the liquid, a space for storing the liquid recovered through the recovery port, a liquid recovery mechanism for draining the liquid that has collected in a lower part of the space, and a sloshing reduction member disposed in the space, the sloshing reduction member for reducing sloshing of the liquid. | 09-24-2009 |
20090251678 | STAGE UNIT, EXPOSURE APPARATUS, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A stage unit includes the following elements. A stator includes a first coil array in which first coils extending in the x direction are arranged in the y direction, a second coil array in which second coils extending in the x direction are arranged in the y direction and which is located next to the first coil array in the x direction, and a third coil array in which third coils extending in the y direction are arranged in the x direction and which covers the first and second coil arrays. A movable member moves above the stator. A controller controls driving of the movable member by allowing current amplifiers to supply current to the coils included in the first, second, and third coil arrays. A switch is capable of connecting the first coil to the second coil. | 10-08-2009 |
20090251679 | Exposure method and exposure apparatus, stage unit, and device manufacturing method having two substrate stages with one stage temporarily positioned below the other stage - By an exposure method including a process where in parallel with an exposure operation performed on a wafer on one of the wafer stages, the other wafer stage is temporarily positioned under the one wafer stage in order to interchange both wafer stages, a part of the interchange operation (exchange operation) of both stages according to a procedure of temporarily positioning the other wafer stage under the one wafer stage can be performed in parallel with the exposure operation of the wafer on the one wafer stage. Accordingly, the interchange can be performed in a shorter period of time than when the interchange operation begins from the point where the exposure operation of the wafer on the one wafer stage has been completed. | 10-08-2009 |
20090262325 | Positioning System, Lithographic Apparatus and Device Manufacturing Method - A positioning system to position a table within a base frame of a lithographic apparatus, the positioning system including first and second actuators and a controller. The first actuator exerting an actuation force on the table. The first actuator being connected to a balance mass constructed and arranged to absorb a reaction force of the first actuator. The controller and second actuator constructed and arranged to exert a compensation force and/or torque to compensate a torque caused by the actuation force exerted by the first actuator on the balance mass. | 10-22-2009 |
20090262326 | Stage System Calibration Method, Stage System and Lithographic Apparatus Comprising Such Stage System - A calibration method to calibrate an encoder position measurement system of a stage, the encoder position measurement system including an encoder grid and at least two sensor heads cooperating with the encoder grid, each sensor head providing a sensor head output signal showing a position sensitivity in a horizontal and a vertical direction, the method including a) moving the stage such that the sensor heads are moved with respect to the encoder grid, or vice versa; b) during the moving, measuring the position of the stage with respect to the encoder grid by the two sensor heads; c) determining a vertical position data map from the sensor head output signals of the dual sensor heads; d) calculating a horizontal position data map from the vertical position data map; and e) calibrating the encoder position measurement system applying the calculated horizontal position data map. | 10-22-2009 |
20090268190 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A lithographic apparatus includes a bearing configured to support a first part with respect to a second part of the apparatus in a first direction such that the first part is moveable in a second direction relative to the second part. The bearing passively supports the first part in three degrees of freedom. The first part is coupled to at least one permanent magnet, and the second part is coupled to at least two permanent magnets. The permanent magnet of the first part is positioned substantially between the permanent magnets of the second part. A field orientation of the permanent magnets is substantially parallel to the first direction and the permanent magnet of the first part has a substantially opposite polarity to at least one of the magnets of the second part. | 10-29-2009 |
20090268191 | PLANAR MOTOR, POSITIONING APPARATUS, EXPOSURE APPARATUS, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A planar motor includes a stator in which a plurality of convex portions each containing a magnetic material are arranged, and a movable element which faces the stator. The movable element has a plurality of coils, and moves in at least the x direction by controlling electric currents flowing through the plurality of coils. Each convex portion of the stator has different dimensions in the y direction at least at two positions on a straight line along the x direction. | 10-29-2009 |
20090279067 | Stage System and Lithographic Apparatus Comprising Such Stage System - A stage system includes a movable stage, at least two encoder heads each constructed to provide an encoder signal representative of a position of the movable stage with respect to an encoder target structure, and a controller to control a position of the stage. The controller is provided with the encoder signals of each of the encoder heads. The controller is arranged to apply a weighting function to the encoder signals and to derive a position of the stage from the weighted encoder signals. | 11-12-2009 |
20090284730 | Substrate Handler, Lithographic Apparatus and Device Manufacturing Method - An apparatus, method, and system is provided to condition a substrate. The apparatus can include a substrate handler, an array of diodes, and a projection system. The substrate handler can include a conditioning device, a float device, and a displacing device. The array of diodes can be configured to provide a patterned radiation beam, where the projection system projects the patterned radiation beam onto a target portion of a conditioned substrate. | 11-19-2009 |
20090290137 | SUPPORT STRUCTURE, LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND METHOD - A support structure for supporting an exchangeable object in a lithographic exposure apparatus includes a first support structure part and a second support structure part, the first support structure part being arranged to support the object, and the second support structure part being arranged to, at least in part, support the first support structure part. At least one of the first support structure part and the second support structure part has an open-box structure. The first support structure part and the second support structure part are configured to be attached to one another in such a way that the first support structure part and the second support structure together form a closed-box structure. | 11-26-2009 |
20090290138 | PULSE MOTOR, POSITIONING APPARATUS, EXPOSURE APPARATUS, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A pulse motor includes a first element in which a plurality of convex portions are arranged cyclically, and a second element disposed to face the first element. The plurality of convex portions include first and second convex portions. The first convex portion forms a part of a first magnetic circuit including a portion passing a magnetic flux along a first direction. The second convex portion forms a part of a second magnetic circuit including a portion passing a magnetic flux along a second direction. The second element includes first and second coils to apply a magnetic flux to the first and second magnetic circuit. A time duration in which the movable element moves includes a time duration in which a timing at which a current flowing through the first coil is maximum and a timing at which a current flowing through the second coil is maximum appear alternately. | 11-26-2009 |
20090290139 | SUBSTRATE TABLE, SENSOR AND METHOD - A sensor for measuring a patterned beam of radiation in a lithographic exposure apparatus includes a receiving part for receiving the patterned beam of radiation and a processing part arranged to receive at least a part of the patterned radiation beam via the receiving part. The receiving part of the sensor is integrated in a substrate table for holding a substrate. | 11-26-2009 |
20090290140 | Deactivating device and method for lithographic plate - A device as well as method for deactivating without developing an exposed lithographic printing plate is disclosed. The device comprises a structure for providing a deactivating agent that is capable of deactivating without developing the plate. The plate comprises on a substrate a photosensitive layer capable of hardening upon exposure to a radiation, and becoming incapable of or having reduced rate of hardening after contacting with a deactivating agent. The deactivated plate is safe or has better stability at room lighting, and can be handled under room lighting before and during development. The development can be on press with ink and/or fountain solution or off press with a liquid developer. | 11-26-2009 |
20090296067 | Stage drive method and stage unit, exposure apparatus, and device manufacturing method - When a transition from a first state where one stage is positioned at a first area directly below projection optical system to which liquid is supplied to a state where the other stage is positioned at the first area, both stages are simultaneously driven while a state where both stages are close together in the X-axis direction is maintained. Therefore, it becomes possible to make a transition from the first state to the second state in a state where liquid is supplied in the space between the projection optical system and the specific stage directly under the projection optical system. Accordingly, the time from the completion of exposure operation on one stage side until the exposure operation begins on the other stage side can be reduced, which allows processing with high throughput. Further, because the liquid can constantly exist on the image plane side of the projection optical system, generation of water marks on optical members of the projection optical system on the image plane side is prevented. | 12-03-2009 |
20090296068 | SUBSTRATE TABLE, LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A table is disclosed in which an opening is provided for the provision of immersion fluid onto a top surface of the table. In an embodiment, there are two such openings. The first of the openings surrounds a substrate support of the table and the second of the openings extends around an outer edge of the table. | 12-03-2009 |
20090310114 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS, COMPOSITE MATERIAL AND MANUFACTURING METHOD - A lithographic apparatus includes an illumination system configured to condition a radiation beam and a support constructed to support a patterning device. The patterning device may be capable of imparting the radiation beam with a pattern in its cross-section to form a patterned radiation beam. The lithographic apparatus further includes a substrate table constructed to hold a substrate and a projection system configured to project the patterned radiation beam onto a target portion of the substrate. The lithographic apparatus may be provided with a composite material wherein a layer of carbon fiber and a layer of titanium is provided within the composite. | 12-17-2009 |
20090316133 | MOVING BODY APPARATUS AND EXPOSURE APPARATUS - When a wafer stage WST accelerates and decelerates on a base, a torque that acts on a wafer drive system including the base and the like is cancelled out by a torque that acts on the wafer drive system by driving a counter of a coutermass device along a linear guide in the Z-axis direction at a predetermined acceleration. Thereby, the torque that acts upon the wafer drive system is cancelled and the exposure apparatus can expose the wafer with good accuracy. | 12-24-2009 |
20090323045 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND A METHOD OF OPERATING THE LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS - A Lithographic Apparatus and a Method of Operating the Lithographic Apparatus A lithographic projection apparatus is disclosed that includes a substrate table, a positioner, a projection system and a fluid handling system. The substrate table is constructed and arranged to hold a substrate, the substrate having an edge feature. The projection system is configured to project a patterned beam of radiation onto the substrate. The fluid handling system is constructed and arranged to supply a liquid flow to a space between the projection system and the substrate table and to at least partly confine the liquid to the space. The positioner is configured to position the substrate on the substrate table so that the edge feature lies downstream of the substrate in the liquid flow. | 12-31-2009 |
20100007867 | Lithographic Apparatus and Calibration Method - In an embodiment, a stage system calibration method includes moving the stage relative to an encoder grid in response to a setpoint signal and measuring a position of the stage by a sensor head cooperating with the encoder grid. The position of the stage is controlled by a stage controller. A signal representative of a difference between the setpoint signal and the position of the stage as measured by the sensor head is registered. The stage system is calibrated from the registered signal representative of the difference. | 01-14-2010 |
20100007868 | Substrate Support System Having a Plurality of Contact Lands - The present invention includes a substrate support system having a chuck body. The chuck body includes a body surface with a pin extending therefrom having a contact surface lying in a plane. The pin may be movably coupled to the chuck body to move with respect to the plane. The pin may also include a cross-member having multiple contact lands. | 01-14-2010 |
20100026980 | PROCESSING APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A processing apparatus of the present invention processes for a wafer | 02-04-2010 |
20100033705 | Multi Nozzle Proximity Sensor Employing Common Sensing and Nozzle Shaping - A fluid proximity sensor having one or more measurement nozzles and a reference nozzle coupled to a common chamber. Diaphragms coupled to the measurement nozzles can be sensed by optical, capacitive or inductive means so as to detect changes in pressure. In addition, the number of pressure detectors can be minimized through the use of control valves to selectively couple the nozzles to the detectors, while maintaining the required high level of topographic sensitivity. Further, the measurement nozzle dimensions can be adjusted to optimize proximity measurements in response to accuracy, speed and similar requirements. | 02-11-2010 |
20100045959 | PHOTOLITHOGRAPHY APPARATUS WITH LEVELING ELEMENT AND METHOD FOR LEVELING A WAFER - A method for leveling a wafer in a photolithography apparatus is disclosed, including inputting a wafer into the photolithography apparatus to be supported by a chuck, using at least three image capture devices to capture images of corresponding alignment marks on the wafer; and leveling the wafer according to the clarity of the images of the corresponding alignment marks on the wafer captured by the image capture device. | 02-25-2010 |
20100045960 | MAGNETIC LEVITATION WAFER STAGE, AND METHOD OF USING THE STAGE IN AN EXPOSURE APPARATUS - A magnetic levitation wafer stage is used to align a wafer in an exposure apparatus of photolithographic equipment. The wafer stage includes a base, a table supported on the base and whose entire top surface exhibits magnetism of a single polarity, and motors for moving the table in the X and Y directions relative to the base. Alternatively, the wafer stage includes a wafer table having a main body and a number of electromagnets disposed in an upper portion of the main body, and electronics that selectively supply current in either direction through coils of the electromagnets respectively and independently of one another. In the exposure process, the bottom surface of the substrate is provided with a magnetic substance such that the substrate exhibits magnetism of a given polarity. The substrate is delivered to and set on the table of the stage. There, the substrate is levitated by a magnetic force of repulsion between the substrate and the table. The substrate can be moved horizontally while the substrate remains levitated above the table of the stage. | 02-25-2010 |
20100053585 | Exposure Apparatus and Image Forming Apparatus Provided with the Same - An exposure apparatus which exposes an object includes an exposure member which has a plurality of blinking sections and which is elongated in a predetermined longitudinal direction; a support frame which supports the exposure member; a holder which supports the support frame to be movable relative to the holder; and a pressing member which is provided between the holder and the support frame and which presses the support frame in a direction away from the holder. Accordingly, the exposure apparatus can suppress the deformation of the exposure member. | 03-04-2010 |
20100053586 | Displacement Measurement Systems, Lithographic Apparatus, and Device Manufacturing Method - A displacement measurement system configured to provide measurement of the relative displacement of two components in six degrees of freedom with improved consistency and without requiring excessive space. | 03-04-2010 |
20100060877 | Stage unit, exposure apparatus, and exposure method - A power usage supply unit that supplies power usage to a stage which moves on a movement surface has a first axis section, first support sections, a second axis section, and a second support section. The first axis section is movably supported by the first support section in a direction of the first axis and around the first axis, and the second axis section is movably supported by the second support section in a direction of the second axis and around the second axis. And, by employing a mechanism in which the power usage supply unit has at least four degrees of freedom, the power usage supply unit does not interfere with the movement of a stage even when the stage moves in the first and second axis directions and in the rotational direction of each axis, therefore, decrease in position controllability of the stage caused by dragging a tube can be completely avoided. | 03-11-2010 |
20100066992 | Stage apparatus, exposure apparatus, and device fabricating method - The invention provides a stage apparatus that has a fixed part, which has a prescribed movement surface, and a first movable body, which is capable of moving along the movement surface in a plurality of directions that includes a first direction. The stage apparatus comprises: a substage that, in synchrony with the movement of the first movable body, moves in the first direction with respect to the movement surface; a first measuring apparatus, at least part of which is provided to the substage, that detects information related to the relative position between the substage and the movement surface in the first direction; and a second measuring apparatus at least part of which is provided to the substage, that detects information related to the relative position between the substage and the first movable body in a second direction, which are substantially orthogonal to the first direction and follow along the movement surface. | 03-18-2010 |
20100073661 | Stage apparatus, exposure apparatus and device manufacturing method - An exposure apparatus comprises a stage main body having a mounting surface, and a correcting mechanism that corrects a shape of the mounting surface. | 03-25-2010 |
20100073662 | STAGE APPARATUS, EXPOSURE APPARATUS, AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING DEVICE - A stage apparatus comprises plural stages movable across plural areas, movable bodies which are provided in one-to-one correspondence with the plural stages and are movable across the plural areas, plural lines which connect each of the plural stages to a corresponding one of the plural movable bodies, a driving unit which drives the plural movable bodies, and a controller which controls the driving by the driving unit. The controller controls the driving unit with the movable body moving in synch with movement of the stage during inter-area movement in which the stage moves across two of the plural areas, and stops the driving of the movable body by the driving unit or controls the driving unit with the movable body remaining at a specific target position during intra-area movement in which a process is performed on the stage while the stage moves within one of the plural areas. | 03-25-2010 |
20100079742 | SUBSTRATE HOLDING APPARATUS, MASK, SUBSTRATE PROCESSING APPARATUS, AND IMAGE DISPLAY DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - An apparatus comprises a carrier including a permanent electromagnet and configured to hold a mask containing a magnetic material and a substrate by magnetically attracting the mask via the substrate, and a sensor unit configured to sense a state of the carrier using a magnetic sensor for sensing a magnetic field from the permanent electromagnet, the permanent electromagnet including a variable-polarity magnet, a coil which generates a magnetic field for changing the polarity of the variable-polarity magnet, and a fixed-polarity magnet having fixed polarity, a state of the carrier is set in one of a first state in which the mask and the substrate are held by a magnetic field generated by the variable-polarity magnet and the fixed-polarity magnet, and a second state in which the mask and the substrate are not held, by controlling the polarity of the variable-polarity magnet by the magnetic field generated by the coil. | 04-01-2010 |
20100085552 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND LORENTZ ACTUATOR - A lithographic apparatus includes an actuator for producing a force in a first direction between a first and a second part including a first magnet assembly and a second magnet assembly each attached opposite to each other to the first part of the apparatus, the first magnet assembly including a first main magnet system and a first subsidiary magnet system, and the second magnet assembly including a second main magnet system and a second subsidiary magnet system, the first and second main magnet system defining a space between them in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. The actuator includes a coil attached to the second part. The distance between at least a part of the first subsidiary magnet system and at least a part of the second subsidiary magnet system is smaller than the minimum distance between the first main magnet system and the second main magnet system. | 04-08-2010 |
20100085553 | Lithographic Apparatus and Device Manufacturing Method Utilizing a Substrate Handler - A substrate handler is provided. The substrate handler includes a support surface configured to carry a substrate and a pre-conditioning unit configured to pre-condition the substrate. The substrate handler is configured to move the substrate relative to a substrate table. | 04-08-2010 |
20100091261 | OPERATING VALVE, EXPOSURE APPARATUS, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - An operating valve of the present invention is a differential pressure operating valve | 04-15-2010 |
20100091262 | POSITIONING SYSTEM, METHOD, AND LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS - A lithographic apparatus includes a positioner configured to position a first part of the apparatus relative to a second part of the apparatus, the positioner including a motor having a motor position dependent motor constant defining a relation between a motor input and a motor output, and a control system to drive the motor, the control system including a set-point generator to provide a reference signal based on a desired position of the first part relative to the second part, and a controller to provide a drive signal to the motor based on the reference signal, wherein the controller includes a compensator which is configured to at least partially compensate the drive signal for the motor position dependent motor constant. The invention further relates to a positioner, a method to optimize the positioning system, and a method to derive a motor position dependent motor constant. | 04-15-2010 |
20100097595 | EXPOSURE APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - An apparatus includes a stage configured to move a substrate, an optical system configured to project an image of a pattern on an original onto the substrate, an alignment detection system configured to detect an image of an alignment mark formed on the substrate and measure a position of the alignment mark, and a focus detection system having an index mark and configured to measure a height of the substrate by projecting an image of the index mark onto the substrate. The stage includes an alignment measurement mark and a focus measurement mark that has a positional relationship with the alignment measurement mark. The alignment detection system measures a position of the alignment measurement mark. The focus detection system measures a position of the image of the index mark by projecting the image of the index mark onto the focus measurement mark. | 04-22-2010 |
20100110408 | CALIBRATION METHOD AND LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS FOR CALIBRATING AN OPTIMUM TAKE OVER HEIGHT OF A SUBSTRATE - A calibration method for calibrating an optimum take over height of a substrate in a lithographic apparatus between a substrate table and an ejector element moveable to load and unload the substrate from the substrate table, the method including clamping the substrate on one of the substrate table and ejector element; moving the ejector element between an unloaded state wherein the substrate is supported by the substrate table and a loaded state wherein the substrate is at least partly supported by the ejector element; determining a reference height of the ejector element at me moment that me weight of me substrate is at least partly taken over between the substrate table and the ejector element; and determining the optimum take over height for the ejector element from the determined reference height. | 05-06-2010 |
20100110409 | Separation in an Imprint Lithography Process - Systems, methods, and processes for separating a template from a substrate retained on an air cavity chuck during an imprint lithography process. Generally, vacuum level provided by air cavity chuck may be controlled during conforming of polymerizable material between the template and the substrate and during separation of the template and the substrate. | 05-06-2010 |
20100110410 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A seal between a table and a component in a lithographic apparatus is disclosed. The seal bridges a gap between the component and the table when the component is in a position relative to the table. The component is moveable, in use, relative to the table and in an embodiment is attached to the table. The seal may be integral with the component or the table. | 05-06-2010 |
20100118289 | MEMBER USED IN IMMERSION EXPOSURE APPARATUS AND IMMERSION EXPOSURE APPARATUS - A member of an immersion exposure apparatus for exposing an image of a pattern of an original on a substrate via a liquid, and configured to be in contact with the liquid, includes a base portion, and a plurality of protruded portions provided on the base portion, wherein a contact angle θ of a material of a surface of the protruded portions before the protruded portions are exposed with light from a light source is larger than 90 degrees with respect to the liquid, and wherein, a value obtained by dividing a sum of a surface area of a face of the base portion on which the plurality of protruded portions are provided and the surface area of the plurality of protruded portions, by an area of the face of the base portion on which the plurality of protruded portions are provided, is r, r>1/|cos θ| is satisfied. | 05-13-2010 |
20100123890 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND CONTROL SYSTEM - A control system to control a position quantity of a movable object in dependency of signals provided by a sensor representing an actual position quantity of the moveable object, the control system being configured to provide a drive signal to an actuator which is able to apply forces to the moveable object, the control system including a set-point generator to provide a reference signal; a subtractor to provide an error signal, the error signal being the difference between the reference signal and the signals provided by the sensor; a control unit to provide a drive signal to the actuator in dependency of the error signal, wherein the control unit comprises a nonlinear controller to improve a low-frequency disturbance suppression, and wherein the control unit further includes a compensator to at least partially compensate the deterioration of the high-frequency behavior caused by the nonlinear controller. | 05-20-2010 |
20100128241 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS PROVIDED WITH A SWAP BRIDGE - A lithographic apparatus includes two stages that are each configured to hold a substrate, wherein each stage is provided with a short stroke module to move a table with a substrate and a long stroke module to move the short stroke module of that stage. The lithographic apparatus includes a swap bridge to couple the stages, and wherein, in use, in a first configuration, the stages are moveable with respect to each other, and wherein, in use, in a second configuration, the stages are coupled via the swap bridge to make a joint movement. | 05-27-2010 |
20100128242 | Bonding Silicon Silicon Carbide to Glass Ceramics - A wafer chuck for use in a lithographic apparatus, which includes a low-thermal expansion glass ceramic substrate, a silicon silicon carbide layer, and a bonding layer comprising silicate having a strength of at least about 5 megapascals, the bonding layer attaching the silicon silicon carbide layer to the substrate is described. Also, a method of forming a wafer chuck for use in a lithographic apparatus, which includes coating a portion of one or both of a low-thermal expansion glass ceramic substrate and a silicon silicon carbide layer with a bonding solution, and contacting the substrate and the silicon silicon carbide layer to bond the substrate and the silicon silicon carbide layer together is described. | 05-27-2010 |
20100134778 | CALIBRATION METHOD FOR A LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS - Method to calibrate a substrate table position in a lithographic apparatus includes providing a substrate on the substrate table with a two dimensional arrangement of patterns; positioning the substrate table with a positioning system; measuring positions of the substrate table in at least two dimensions with a position measurement system; reading out the arrangement of patterns as a function of the measured positions of the substrate table with a pattern read out system to obtain pattern read out results; deriving position errors as a function of the measured positions of the substrate table compared with the pattern read out results; calibrating the positioning system using the position errors, the calibrating including determining drift influences of the positioning system, correcting the position errors as a function of the corresponding two dimensional position of the substrate table with the determined drift influences, and calibrating the positioning system with the corrected position errors. | 06-03-2010 |
20100134779 | POSITION MEASUREMENT METHOD, POSITION CONTROL METHOD, MEASUREMENT METHOD, LOADING METHOD, EXPOSURE METHOD AND EXPOSURE APPARATUS, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A part of a plate of a predetermined shape detachably mounted on a moving body is detected by an alignment system while the position of the moving body is measured by a measurement unit that sets a movement coordinate system of the movement body, and based on the detection results and the measurement results of the measurement unit corresponding to the detection results, position information of an outer periphery edge of the plate is obtained. Therefore, even if there are no alignment marks on the moving body for position measurement, the position of the plate, or in other words, the position of the moving body can be controlled on the movement coordinate system set by the measurement unit, based on the position information of the outer periphery edge of the plate. | 06-03-2010 |
20100141923 | STAGE APPARATUS AND ALIGNER - There is provided a stage apparatus at low cost by constituting a counter mass constituting a movable portion of the stage apparatus at low cost. | 06-10-2010 |
20100141924 | Substrate holder, stage apparatus, and exposure apparatus with first support part provided in a suction space and second support part - An object of the invention is to hold a substrate with satisfactory flatness, even at a circumferential edge part that surrounds a suction space. The invention is equipped with a circumferential edge part that surrounds a suction space, and a first support part that is provided in the suction space and that supports a substrate. Furthermore, the invention is equipped with a second support part that extends from the circumferential edge part to the first support part and that supports the substrate. | 06-10-2010 |
20100149513 | Fluid pressure compensation for immersion litography lens - An immersion lithography system compensates for displacement of the final optical element of the optical assembly caused by the immersion fluid. The system includes an optical assembly to project an image defined by a reticle onto a wafer. The optical assembly includes a final optical element spaced from the wafer by a gap. An immersion element supplies an immersion fluid into the gap and recovers any immersion fluid that escapes the gap. A fluid compensation system applies a force to the final optical element of the optical assembly to compensate for pressure variations of the immersion fluid. | 06-17-2010 |
20100149514 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A porous member is used in a liquid removal system of an immersion lithographic projection apparatus to smooth uneven flows. A pressure differential across the porous member may be maintained at below the bubble point of the porous member so that a single-phase liquid flow is obtained. Alternatively, the porous member may be used to reduce unevenness in a two-phase flow. | 06-17-2010 |
20100157272 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD - A method includes providing a controller to control a speed of a substrate table in a scan direction, the controller including a first input to receive a first signal representative of a first time period of a movement of the substrate table in a step direction, a second input to receive a second signal representative of a distance in the scan direction to be covered by the substrate table during a scan movement thereof, and a third input to receive a third signal representative of an acceleration of the substrate table. The controller includes an output to provide an output signal to control the speed of the substrate table in the scan direction. The method includes calculating the speed of the substrate table in the scan direction from the first, second and third signal, and compensating the output signal for the calculated speed of the substrate table. | 06-24-2010 |
20100157273 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A lithographic apparatus includes an illumination system configured to condition a radiation beam; a support constructed to support a patterning device, the patterning device being capable of imparting the radiation beam with a pattern in its cross-section to form a patterned radiation beam; a substrate table including a substrate holder constructed to hold a substrate; and a projection system configured to project the patterned radiation beam onto a target portion of the substrate, wherein the substrate table is constructed and arranged to reduce or eliminate slip and hysteresis in position and orientation between the substrate table and the substrate holder. | 06-24-2010 |
20100157274 | EXPOSURE APPARATUS, EXPOSURE METHOD, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - An exposure apparatus is equipped with a fine movement stage that can hold a liquid with a projection optical system when the stage is at a position facing an outgoing surface of the projection optical system, and a blade that comes into proximity within a predetermined distance of the fine movement stage when the fine movement stage is holding the liquid with the projection optical system, and moves along with the fine movement stage while maintaining the proximity state, and then holds the liquid with the projection optical system after the movement. Accordingly, a plurality of stages will not have to be placed right under the projection optical system interchangeably, which can suppress an increase in footprint of the exposure apparatus. | 06-24-2010 |
20100157275 | EXPOSURE APPARATUS, EXPOSURE METHOD, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - When a wafer on a fine movement stage supported by a coarse movement stage is exposed via a projection optical system with an illumination light at an exposure station, a position of the fine movement stage within an XY plane is measured with good precision by a measurement system. Further, when an alignment to a wafer on a fine movement stage supported by a coarse movement stage is performed at a measurement station, a position of the fine movement stage within an XY plane is measured with good precision by a measurement system. | 06-24-2010 |
20100157276 | EXPOSURE APPARATUS, EXPOSURE METHOD, DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD, AND CARRIER METHOD - An exposure apparatus is equipped with a coarse movement stage which can move along an XY plane and includes a first section and a second section that can come close to and separate from each other, a fine movement stage which holds wafer W and is supported relatively movable at least within the XY plane by the coarse movement stage, and a drive system which drives the fine movement stage supported by the coarse movement stage independently or integrally with the coarse movement stage. Further, the exposure apparatus is equipped with a relay stage which can deliver the fine movement stage to/from the coarse movement stage. | 06-24-2010 |
20100177295 | EXPOSURE METHOD AND EXPOSURE APPARATUS, STAGE UNIT, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD HAVING TWO SUBSTRATE STAGES WITH ONE STAGE TEMPORARILY POSITIONED BELOW OTHER STAGE - By an exposure method including a process where in parallel with an exposure operation performed on a wafer on one of the wafer stages, the other wafer stage is temporarily positioned under the one wafer stage in order to interchange both wafer stages, a part of the interchange operation (exchange operation) of both stages according to a procedure of temporarily positioning the other wafer stage under the one wafer stage can be performed in parallel with the exposure operation of the wafer on the one wafer stage. Accordingly, the interchange can be performed in a shorter period of time than when the interchange operation begins from the point where the exposure operation of the wafer on the one wafer stage has been completed. | 07-15-2010 |
20100182584 | Stage drive method and stage unit, exposure apparatus, and device manufacturing method - When a transition from a first state where one stage is positioned at a first area directly below projection optical system to which liquid is supplied to a state where the other stage-is positioned at the first area, both stages are simultaneously driven while a state where both stages are close together in the X-axis direction is maintained. Therefore, it becomes possible to make a transition from the first state to the second state in a state where liquid is supplied in the space between the projection optical system and the specific stage directly under the projection optical system. Accordingly, the time from the completion of exposure operation on one stage side until the exposure operation begins on the other stage side can be reduced, which allows processing with high throughput. Further, because the liquid can constantly exist on the image plane side of the projection optical system, generation of water marks on optical members of the projection optical system on the image plane side is prevented. | 07-22-2010 |
20100182585 | CONTROL SYSTEM, LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND A METHOD TO CONTROL A POSITION QUANTITY OF A CONTROL LOCATION OF A MOVABLE OBJECT - A control system configured to position a control location of a movable object in two or more degrees of freedom with respect to another object, including a set-point generator, a position quantity measurement system, a controller including a single input-single output controller for each degree of freedom to control a position quantity of the control location, each controller providing a control signal in logical coordinates on the basis of the error signal; and a gain scheduling device to provide centre-of-gravity control signals in centre-of gravity coordinates on the basis of the control signals, wherein the gain scheduling device includes a static and a dynamic relationship between logical coordinates and centre-of-gravity coordinates of the movable object. | 07-22-2010 |
20100188647 | Control systems and methods applying iterative feedback tuning for feed-forward and synchronization control of microlithography stages and the like - Stage assemblies and control methods are disclosed. An exemplary assembly includes a first stage and first and second controllers. The first controller feedback-controls the first stage according to a respective parameter vector. The second controller controls the first stage by feed-forward control, according to a respective parameter vector. The controllers perform iterative feedback tuning IFT, including minimization of a cost-function of the parameter vectors from the first and second controllers. The second controller receives data including first-stage trajectory, and the first controller receives data including first-stage following-error. A suitable application of the assembly is in a microlithography system or other high-precision system. | 07-29-2010 |
20100195080 | Clamping Device And Object Loading Method - The present invention relates to a c lamping device configured to clamp an object ( | 08-05-2010 |
20100195081 | Reticle Support that Reduces Reticle Slippage - A system and method substantially eliminate reticle slip during the movement of a reticle stage. The system includes a mask holding system, a mask force device, and a support transport device. The mask holding system includes a support device and a holding device where the holding device releasably couples a mask, e.g., a patterning device such as a reticle having a pattern, to the support device. The mask force device is releasably connected to the mask in order to provide an accelerating force to the mask, such that a projection optic in a lithographic apparatus may accurately project a pattern imparted by the patterning device onto a target portion of the substrate by using a radiation beam. The support transport device is coupled to and moves the mask support device concurrently with the mask force device. | 08-05-2010 |
20100195082 | Device, System, And Method For Multidirectional Ultraviolet Lithography - A system according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises a movable stage having a top surface. A photosensitive material may be deposited on the top surface and a mask may be placed on the photosensitive material. A vessel, having a top portion, one or more flexible sides, and a transparent base, is configured to be placed adjacent to the mask. The base is configured to be movable relative to the top portion of the vessel. In this way, the movable stage, photosensitive material, and mask may move in conjunction with the base of the vessel. | 08-05-2010 |
20100201965 | Method and System for Improved Overlay Correction - A method for improving alignment in a photolithography machine is provided. The method comprises identifying first empirical alignment data that has been determined from use of a target photomask within at least one non-target tool, and identifying second empirical alignment data that has been determined from use of a non-target photomask within a target tool. The method continues by identifying third empirical alignment data that has been determined from use of a non-target photomask within at least one non-target tool, and calculating from the first, second, and third empirical alignment data a predicted alignment data for the target photomask with the target tool. The method then proceeds by aligning the target photomask within the target tool using the predicted alignment data, exposing a pattern from the target photomask onto the wafer in the target tool, and further processing the exposed wafer. | 08-12-2010 |
20100208226 | Holographic exposure apparatuses - A holographic exposure apparatus may include an object to be exposed, a holographic mask on which a pattern to be transferred onto the object is formed, a stage to support the mask, and a gap adjustment unit disposed between the mask and stage in order to move the mask relative to the stage. A holographic exposure apparatus also may include an object to be exposed, a mask spaced apart from the object, a holder that holds the mask, and a stage on which the holder is movably mounted such that a gap between the mask and object is adjusted. In addition, a holographic exposure apparatus may include a stage, a prism supported by the stage, a mask spaced apart from the prism and supported by the stage, and a gap adjustment unit disposed between the mask and stage in order to move the mask relative to the prism. | 08-19-2010 |
20100208227 | DUAL-STAGE SWITCHING SYSTEM FOR LITHOGRAPHIC MACHINE - A dual-stage switching system for lithographic machine includes a wafer stage to be operated in an exposure station and another wafer stage to be operated in a pre-processing station. The two wafer stages are provided on a base, with four 2-DOF driving units capable of moving along X direction and Y direction being provided along the edge of the base, and the wafer stages being disposed in a space surrounded by the four 2-DOF driving units and suspended on an upper surface of the base by air bearings. Each of the 2-DOF driving units includes upper and lower linear guides and a guiding sleeve, with the upper and lower linear guides being installed vertical to each other in their corresponding guiding sleeve. Two adjacent 2-DOF driving units cooperatively drive the wafer stage) to move in the X direction and Y direction. | 08-19-2010 |
20100214548 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A lithographic apparatus includes a support constructed to support a patterning device, the patterning device being capable of imparting a radiation beam with a pattern in its cross-section to form a patterned radiation beam; a substrate table constructed to hold a substrate on a central area; and a projection system configured to project the patterned radiation beam onto a target portion of the substrate in a first direction. The apparatus further includes a positioning device to position the substrate table, wherein the positioning device includes a plurality of actuators arranged to, in use, exert forces to position the substrate table, the forces substantially being directed in a plane substantially perpendicular to the first direction and wherein the plurality of actuators are arranged outside a central volume of the substrate table, the central volume being obtained by projecting the central area along the first direction. | 08-26-2010 |
20100214549 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS, A METHOD FOR REMOVING MATERIAL OF ONE OR MORE PROTRUSIONS ON A SUPPORT SURFACE, AND AN ARTICLE SUPPORT SYSTEM - A lithographic projection apparatus includes a beam production system to provide a beam of radiation, pattern the beam of radiation, and project the patterned beam onto a target portion of a substrate, a support table including protrusions to support an article, a detector to detect height deviations of the protrusions, a material removing device arranged to modify a height of the protrusion material, a controller coupled between the detector and the material removing device, wherein material removing device includes a removal tool selected from the group consisting of a mechanical polishing device, a magneto rheological finishing tool, and a single or multipoint diamond tool. | 08-26-2010 |
20100231889 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A level sensor configured to determine a height level of a substrate is disclosed. The level sensor includes a projection unit to project a measurement beam having a substantially periodic radiation intensity on the substrate; a detection unit to receive the measurement beam after reflection on the substrate, the detection unit having a detection grating arranged to receive the reflected measurement beam, the detection grating comprising at least one array of three or more segments together having a length substantially equal to a length of a period of the measurement beam projected on the detection grating, and configured to split the reflected measurement beam in three or more reflected measurement beam parts, and three or more detectors each arranged to receive one of the three or more measurement beam parts; and a processing unit to calculate a height level on the basis of the measurement beam parts. | 09-16-2010 |
20100238424 | Lithographic Apparatus and Device Manufacturing Method - A positioning apparatus includes a first object and a second object; a positioning system configured to position the first and the second objects with respect to each other; and a flexible transportation line that is connected to the first and the second objects, the flexible transportation line having a stiffness that varies along the flexible transportation line such that the flexible transportation line can be represented by a dynamic transfer function, the dynamic transfer function being adapted to a closed-loop transfer function of the positioning system. | 09-23-2010 |
20100238425 | Coil Variations for an Oval Coil Planar Motor - Methods and apparatus for providing an efficient oval coil planar motor are disclosed. According to one aspect of the present invention, an electromagnetic actuator includes at least a first coil group, at least a second coil group, and a magnet array. The first coil group includes at least a first coil that is of an elongated toroidal shape. The first coil has a first coil length and a first coil width that is approximately equal to a multiple of three times the first coil width. The second coil group includes at least a second coil that is of an elongated toroidal shape. The second coil has a second coil width and a second coil length that is approximately equal to a multiple of three times the second coil width. The second coil group is approximately adjacent to the first coil group. The magnet array is configured to cooperate with the first and second coil groups, and includes a plurality of magnets. The magnets have an associated magnet pitch, and the first coil width and the second coil width are a function of the magnet pitch. | 09-23-2010 |
20100245797 | Substrate Handling Structure - A substrate handling structure is provided that is particularly useful with an imaging optical system that images a single reticle to a pair of imaging locations. The principles of the present invention provide substrate handling structures with new and useful metrology structures, and new and useful ways of moving substrates in relation to the imaging locations, that are designed to provide benefits in providing information as to the substrate position as a substrate is being imaged, while reducing the size of the support structure. These features are believed to be important as imaging of substrates in the 450 mm diameter range is developing. | 09-30-2010 |
20100245798 | METHOD FOR POSITIONING A TARGET PORTION OF A SUBSTRATE WITH RESPECT TO A FOCAL PLANE OF A PROJECTION SYSTEM - A method is provided for positioning at least one target portion of a substrate with respect to a focal plane of a projection system. The method comprises performing height measurements of at least part of the substrate to generate height data, using predetermined correction heights to compute corrected height data for the height data. The method further comprises positioning the target portion of the substrate with respect to the focal plane of the projection system at least partially based on the corrected height data. | 09-30-2010 |
20100253930 | LINEAR MOTOR, AND STAGE APPARATUS, EXPOSURE APPARATUS, AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING DEVICE USING THE SAME - A linear motor is provided with a first member including a magnet and a second member including a coil facing the magnet, which are moved relative to each other. The second member includes a thermal conduction member, a thermal insulation member, the coil, and a first cooling unit, which are disposed in this order from the magnet side, and a second cooling unit configured to cool the thermal conduction member being disposed outside an area in which the magnet and the coil face each other. | 10-07-2010 |
20100265485 | Flexibly Deformable Holding Element For Substrates - Flexibly deformable holding elements operate such that substrates can be held in a fixed manner at a surface of the holding element electrostatically or also by means of negative pressure and planar positional deviations or unwanted deformations can be compensated simply and reliably, where at least one cut-out having an opening arranged at the rear side is formed at the rear side of the holding element which is disposed opposite the surface, and an actuator is arranged there exerting compressive forces or pulling forces for a widening or narrowing of the cut-out and/or for a deformation of the holding element. | 10-21-2010 |
20100265486 | METHOD OF CLAMPING A SUBSTRATE AND CLAMP PREPARATION UNIT - The invention relates to a method of clamping a substrate on a surface of a substrate support structure. First, a liquid is applied on a surface of the substrate support structure. The surface is provided with a plurality of contact elements. The liquid is applied such that the contact elements are fully covered by a liquid layer. Then the substrate is provided and placed onto the liquid layer. Finally, liquid underneath the substrate is removed such that the substrate rests on the plurality of contact elements and is clamped by means of a capillary clamping force exerted by a capillary layer of the liquid between the substrate and the surface of the substrate support structure. | 10-21-2010 |
20100265487 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS, POSITIONING SYSTEM, AND POSITIONING METHOD - A positioning system for a lithographic apparatus including a control system to position a moveable object of the lithographic apparatus in at least one direction which is substantially parallel to a frame, the control system including a measurement system to measure a position of the moveable object, an actuator to apply a force to the moveable object, and a controller to provide a drive signal to the actuator based on an output of the measurement system; and an emergency brake system configured to determine a failure of the control system, and if the failure is determined disable the control system and pull the moveable object against the frame. | 10-21-2010 |
20100265488 | Method of Placing a Substrate, Method of Transferring a Substrate, Support System and Lithographic Projection Apparatus - A method of placing a substrate onto a surface of a substrate holder, in which the surface is provided with a plurality of burls. Substrate placement data for allowing placement of the substrate at a certain position with respect to a position of the plurality of burls on the surface of the substrate holder is calculated. The substrate is placed at the certain position in accordance with the substrate placement data. The certain position may be based on the position at which placement would result in a minimized overlay error or may be based on the position at which placement would result in minimized substrate deformation. | 10-21-2010 |
20100271611 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS HAVING A SUBSTRATE SUPPORT WITH OPEN CELL PLASTIC FOAM PARTS - A lithographic apparatus includes an illumination system configured to condition a radiation beam, a support constructed to support a patterning device, the patterning device being capable of imparting the radiation beam with a pattern in its cross-section to form a patterned radiation beam, a substrate support constructed to hold a substrate, and a projection system configured to project the patterned radiation beam onto a target portion of the substrate, wherein the substrate support includes parts that are made of an open cell plastic foam material. | 10-28-2010 |
20100271612 | METHOD AND PELLICLE MOUNTING APPARATUS FOR REDUCING PELLICLE INDUCED DISTORTION - An apparatus for mounting a pellicle onto a mask is provided. In one embodiment, the apparatus comprises a base provided with a track; a dummy plate holder coupled to the base, the dummy plate holder for receiving a dummy plate having an elevated portion on one side thereof; a mask holder for receiving a mask, the mask holder slidably coupled to the base; a pellicle holder for receiving a pellicle frame, the pellicle holder slidably coupled to the base; and drive means being adapted to drive the pellicle holder along the track towards the dummy plate holder, wherein during operation when the pellicle frame is mounted onto the mask causing the mask to contact the dummy plate, the mounting pressure in the mask is distributed by way of the elevated portion in the dummy plate, thus reducing distortion in the mask. | 10-28-2010 |
20100271613 | BEARING DEVICE, STAGE DEVICE, AND EXPOSURE APPARATUS - A sufficient moving stroke can be secured without connecting a tube, etc. for supply of air. A movable body ( | 10-28-2010 |
20100283986 | Stage unit, exposure apparatus, and exposure method - A power usage supply unit—that supplies power usage to a stage which moves on a movement surface has a first axis section, first support sections, a second axis section, and a second support section. The first axis section is movably supported by the first support section in a direction of the first axis and around the first axis, and the second axis section is movably supported by the second support section in a direction of the second axis and around the second axis. And, by employing a mechanism in which the power usage supply unit has at least four degrees of freedom, the power usage supply unit does not interfere with the movement of a stage even when the stage moves in the first and second axis directions and in the rotational direction of each axis, therefore, decrease in position controllability of the stage caused by dragging a tube can be completely avoided. | 11-11-2010 |
20100290023 | METHOD FOR DETECTING SUBSTRATE POSITION OF CHARGED PARTICLE BEAM PHOTOLITHOGRAPHY APPARATUS AND CHARGED PARTICLE BEAM PHOTOLITHOGRAPHY APPARATUS - One aspect of the invention provides a substrate position detecting method for charged particle beam photolithography apparatus in order to be able to measure accurately and simply a substrate position on a stage. The substrate position detecting method for charged particle beam photolithography apparatus includes placing a substrate on a stage that can be moved in an X-direction and a Y-direction; measuring a position in the X-direction of the stage while moving the stage in the X-direction, and illuminating obliquely an upper surface of the substrate with a laser beam to receive light reflected from the substrate with a position sensing device; computing a barycentric position of the reflected light when the stage is moved in the X-direction; measuring a position in the Y-direction of the stage while moving the stage in the Y-direction, and illuminating obliquely the upper surface of the substrate with the laser beam to receive light reflected from the substrate with the position sensing device; computing a barycentric position of the reflected light when the stage is moved in the Y-direction; and computing the positions of the substrate from the position measurement results of the stage and the computed barycentric position. | 11-18-2010 |
20100296073 | Lithographic Apparatus, Substrate Table, and Method for Enhancing Substrate Release Properties - A lithographic apparatus includes an illumination system constructed and arranged to condition a radiation beam, and a support constructed and arranged to support a patterning device. The patterning device is capable of imparting the radiation beam with a pattern in its cross-section to form a patterned radiation beam. The apparatus also includes a substrate table constructed and arranged to hold a substrate, and a projection system constructed and arranged to project the patterned radiation beam onto a target portion of the substrate. The substrate table includes a chuck having a plurality of protrusions constructed and arranged to support corresponding parts of a bottom surface of a wafer. The top surface of at least one of the protrusions includes a plurality of elements that define a reduced contact area between the substrate and the top surface of the protrusion. | 11-25-2010 |
20100302526 | Drive control method for moving body, exposure method, robot control method, drive control apparatus, exposure apparatus and robot apparatus - A drive control apparatus includes: a first feed-forward control unit which obtains a first feed-forward signal by applying a first perfect tracking control method to a first transfer function which shows a portion of an inverse system of transfer characteristics of a control subject; a second feed-forward control unit which obtains a second feed-forward signal by applying a second perfect tracking control method to a second transfer function which shows a portion of an inverse system of transfer characteristics of the control subject and which is different from the first transfer function; and an external disturbance observer which obtains a first compensation signal for the first feed-forward signal, wherein the control subject is driven using a second compensation signal which is obtained from the second feed-forward signal and the first compensation signal. | 12-02-2010 |
20100309451 | POSITIONING DEVICE, LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS USING SAME, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - The present invention provides a positioning device for positioning a table, including a base, a motor that drives the table in the driving area on the base, a position sensor that detects the position of the table, and a control unit that controls the motor. The control unit includes a first output unit that outputs electric current for controlling the position of the table based on the output of the position sensor; a second output unit that outputs electric current for imparting a thrust force, which is directed toward the center of the driving area, to the table; and a switch unit that switches from a state in which the motor is controlled depending on the output of the first output unit to a state in which the motor is controlled depending on the output of the second output unit, based on a stopping signal for stopping the table. | 12-09-2010 |
20100315617 | WAFER STAGE - A wafer stage and a method of supporting a wafer for inspection. the wafer stage comprises a platform for supporting a wafer such that a backside of the wafer is suspended above a cavity of the platform; and a support structure disposed substantially within the cavity for supporting a portion of the wafer; wherein the wafer stage is adapted for relative movement of the platform with respect to the support structure for alignment of the wafer with respect to a probe. | 12-16-2010 |
20100321664 | COIL, POSITIONING DEVICE, ACTUATOR, AND LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS - A positioning device includes a planar motor having a stator and a translator, one of the stator and the translator including a periodic magnet structure and another of the stator and the translator including at least one coil that is adapted to carry an electric current, wherein the coil includes a wound strip of sheet-like electrically conductive material, and wherein an edge of the coil is provided with a rounded profile. | 12-23-2010 |
20100321665 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A method of determining a defect in a grid plate of an encoder-type position measurement system, the method including providing an encoder-type position measurement system to measure a position of a movable object with respect to another object, the encoder-type position measurement system including a grid plate and an encoder head, measuring a quantity of light reflected on each of the two or more detectors, using a combined light intensity of the reflected light on the two or more detectors to determine a reflectivity signal representative for the reflectivity of the grid plate at the measurement location, and determining a presence of a defect at the measurement location on the basis of the reflectivity signal of the grid plate. | 12-23-2010 |
20100321666 | Movable body system, pattern formation apparatus, exposure apparatus and exposure method, and device manufacturing method - A laser beam emitted by an encoder main body enters a wafer table via a PBS from the outside, and reaches a grating at a point that is located right under exposure area, and is diffracted by the grating. Then, by receiving interference light of a first polarized component that has returned from the grating and a second polarized component reflected by the PBS, positional information of the wafer table is measured. Accordingly, because the first polarized component, which has passed through PBS passes through the wafer table until it is synthesized with the second polarized component again, does not proceed through the atmosphere outside, position measurement of the wafer table can be performed with high precision without the measurement beam being affected by the fluctuation of the atmosphere around the wafer table. | 12-23-2010 |
20110001953 | TRANSPORT APPARATUS AND EXPOSURE APPARATUS - A substrate is transported between a first space and a second space, which are separated by a partition wall, through an opening portion formed in the partition wall. A transport apparatus includes a support device having a support portion which supports the substrate, the support device being provided so as to block the opening portion while a clearance between the partition wall and the support device is formed, the support device moving the support portion from a state where the support portion faces the first space to a state where the support portion faces the second space; and an adjustment device which adjusts an amount of the clearance, thereby suppressing the movement of fluid from the first space to the second space. | 01-06-2011 |
20110001954 | CHUCKING SYSTEM WITH RECESSED SUPPORT FEATURE - In an imprint lithography system, a recessed support on a template chuck may alter a shape of a template positioned thereon providing minimization and/or elimination of premature downward deflection of outer edges of the template in a nano imprint lithography process. | 01-06-2011 |
20110007294 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A lithographic apparatus includes an illumination system configured to condition a radiation beam; a support constructed to support a patterning device, the patterning device being capable of imparting the radiation beam with a pattern in its cross-section to form a patterned radiation beam; a substrate table constructed to hold a substrate; and a projection system configured to project the patterned radiation beam onto a target portion of the substrate. The substrate table and/or the support may be provided with an accelerometer to measure an acceleration of the substrate table and/or the support and the apparatus is provided with a calculator in communication with the accelerometer to calculate an acceleration based position signal from the acceleration measured by the accelerometer. | 01-13-2011 |
20110007295 | MOVABLE BODY APPARATUS, EXPOSURE APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A stage device is equipped with a fine movement stage on which a wafer is mounted, a coarse movement stage formed into a frame shape that encloses the periphery of the fine movement stage, which supports the fine movement stage such that the fine movement stage is relatively movable and which is movable along an XY plane, a planar motor that drives the coarse movement stage in a predetermined range within the XY plane, and an actuator that drives the fine movement stage with respect to the coarse movement stage. Therefore, the size, in a direction perpendicular to the XY plane (height direction), of a movable body made up of the fine movement stage and the coarse movement stage can be reduced, compared with a wafer stage having a coarse/fine movement configuration in which the fine movement stage is mounted on the coarse movement stage. | 01-13-2011 |
20110007296 | EXPOSURE APPARATUS AND DEVICE FABRICATION METHOD - The present invention provides an exposure apparatus which transfers a pattern of a reticle onto a substrate, the apparatus including a convey unit configured to convey the substrate while chucking and holding a lower surface of the substrate, and a control unit configured to control a conveyance condition of the convey unit so that a conveyance acceleration is lower when the convey unit conveys the substrate in a vertical direction with downward acceleration than when the convey unit conveys the substrate in the vertical direction with upward acceleration. | 01-13-2011 |
20110013169 | SUBSTRATE TABLE FOR A LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS, LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS, METHOD OF USING A SUBSTRATE TABLE AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A cover is provided for a substrate table in an immersion lithographic apparatus that covers at least the gap between a substrate and a recess in a substrate table in which the substrate is received. | 01-20-2011 |
20110013170 | DEVICE FOR TREATING SHEET-LIKE SUBSTRATES WITH LIGHT - A device for treating sheet-like substrates with light is made for a suction table, which includes a circulating suction strip for transporting the sheet-like substrates, which suction strip forms a descending loop relative to its table-parallel transport level. The loop has a descending branch and, adjacent to the latter, an ascending branch. There is a gap for the passage of light between the descending branch and the ascending branch of the suction strip, which is bridged by a stationary bridging member which at least partially allows light to pass through it and whose surface is disposed at a level slightly recessed relative to the parallel transport level, so that a high degree of accuracy and trouble-free operation are ensured even at high transport speeds. | 01-20-2011 |
20110026004 | POSITIONING SYSTEM, LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND METHOD - A positioning system to position a movable object having a body, the positioning system includes an object position measurement system, an object actuator, and an object controller, wherein the positioning system further includes a stiffener to increase the stiffness and/or to damp relative movements within the body of the object, the stiffener including; one or more sensors, wherein each sensor is arranged to determine a measurement signal representative of an internal strain or relative displacement in the body, one or more actuators, wherein each actuator is arranged to exert an actuation force on a part of the body, and at least one controller, configured to provide on the basis of the measurement signal of at least one of the sensors, an actuation signal to at least one of the actuators to increase the stiffness and/or to damp movements within the body. | 02-03-2011 |
20110026005 | Exposure apparatus, exposure method, and method for producing device - An exposure apparatus includes a first optical member via which an exposure beam exits; a first movable body which is movable on a light-exit side of the first optical member; a measuring member which is provided on the first movable body and which has an inclined surface to which a measuring beam for position measurement is irradiated; and a transmitting member which is provided on the first movable body, which has an end surface protruding more outwardly than the measuring member, and which has a transmitting area through which the measuring beam is transmissive. When the liquid immersion method is applied to the exposure apparatus, the substrate can be exposed efficiently and satisfactorily. | 02-03-2011 |
20110032503 | MEASUREMENT APPARATUS, EXPOSURE APPARATUS, AND DEVICE FABRICATION METHOD - The present invention provides a measurement apparatus which measures a height of a test surface, the apparatus including an image sensing device including a plurality of detection units configured to detect interfering light formed by measurement light from the test surface and reference light from a reference surface, and an optical system configured to guide measurement light beams, reflected at a plurality of measurement points on the test surface, and reference light beams, reflected at a plurality of reference points on the reference surface, to the plurality of detection units, respectively, wherein the reference surface generates differences among optical path differences between the measurement light beams and the reference light beams which enter the plurality of detection units, respectively. | 02-10-2011 |
20110032504 | MEASUREMENT APPARATUS, EXPOSURE APPARATUS, AND DEVICE FABRICATION METHOD - The present invention provides a measurement apparatus which measures a height of a test surface, the apparatus including an image sensing device including a plurality of detection units configured to detect interfering light formed by measurement light from the test surface and reference light from a reference surface, and an optical system configured to guide the measurement light and the reference light to the plurality of detection units, wherein the reference surface is placed such that differences are generated among optical path differences between measurement light beams and reference light beams which enter the plurality of detection units, respectively. | 02-10-2011 |
20110043784 | OBJECT MOVING APPARATUS, OBJECT PROCESSING APPARATUS, EXPOSURE APPARATUS, OBJECT INSPECTING APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A substrate is held by adsorption by a substrate holding frame that is formed into a frame shape and is lightweight, and the substrate holding frame is driven along a horizontal plane by a drive unit that includes a linear motor. Below the substrate holding frame, a plurality of air levitation units are placed that support by levitation the substrate in a noncontact manner such that the substrate is substantially horizontal, by jetting air to the lower surface of the substrate. Since the plurality of air levitation units cover a movement range of the substrate holding frame, the drive unit can guide the substrate holding frame (substrate) along the horizontal plane at high speed and with high precision. | 02-24-2011 |
20110069297 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS, COVERPLATE AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A lithographic apparatus, including a substrate table configured to hold a substrate; a positioner configured to position the substrate table relative to a projection system, the positioner including a short stroke module configured to perform fine positioning movements, on which the substrate table is held and which is supported on a long stroke module configured to perform coarse positioning movements; and a coverplate configured to at least partly cover a top surface of the short stroke module; wherein the coverplate is mounted to the long stroke module. | 03-24-2011 |
20110069298 | SUPPORT OR TABLE FOR LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS, METHOD OF MANUFACTURING SUCH SUPPORT OR TABLE AND LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS COMPRISING SUCH SUPPORT OR TABLE - A substrate table or a patterning device support includes an aerogel. The aerogel may be very light weight, for example the aerogel may have a density between 0.5 and 500 mg/cm | 03-24-2011 |
20110075122 | POSITIONING SYSTEM AND A METHOD FOR POSITIONING A SUBSTAGE WITH RESPECT TO A FRAME - A method for positioning a substage, supported by a main stage, relative to a reference object, the substage moveable in a direction between a first and second position relative to the main stage. The method includes positioning the first stage using a passive force system that is activated by positioning the main stage. The passive force system includes two magnet systems, each magnet system being configured to apply a force in the direction to the first stage with respect to the second stage in a non-contact manner, the forces resulting in a resultant force applied to the first stage in the direction by the passive force system. A magnitude and/or a direction of the resultant force depends on the position of the first stage relative to the second stage, and the first stage has a zero-force position between the first and second position in which the resultant force is zero. | 03-31-2011 |
20110075123 | Method for detecting work alignment mark and exposure apparatus using the same - In a method of detecting a workpiece alignment mark for positioning a mask and a workpiece or in an exposure apparatus, a control unit detects a pattern whose positional relationship is determined with respect to the workpiece mark at a low magnification. The pattern is larger than the workpiece mark, and/or the pattern has a high contrast to include a large amount information (a search mark). When the magnification of the microscope is switched to a high magnification, the workpiece is moved to a position where the workpiece mark is within a view of the microscope, according to the positional relationship. Subsequently, the workpiece mark position is detected at the high magnification. | 03-31-2011 |
20110080574 | Stage apparatus, exposure apparatus, and exposure method - A stage apparatus PST is provided with a holder PH, which has a substrate holding surface | 04-07-2011 |
20110085152 | Vibration control apparatus, vibration control method, exposure apparatus, and device manufacturing method - A vibration control apparatus suppresses a vibration of a structure which is vibrated. The vibration control apparatus includes: a vibration isolation apparatus that supports the structure and suppresses a transmission of a vibration to the structure, the vibration having an amplitude equal to or less than a first amplitude in a predetermined direction; and a damping apparatus that damps a vibration of the structure vibrating in the predetermined vibration direction with a second amplitude larger than the first amplitude, to thereby reduce the vibration to equal to or less than the first amplitude. | 04-14-2011 |
20110096318 | EXPOSURE APPARATUS AND DEVICE FABRICATING METHOD - A first stage unit and a second stage unit are disposed adjacently in a second direction. A first holding member, which is supported by a first stage unit, and a second holding member, which is supported by the second stage unit, move in a direction parallel to the second direction while maintaining the state wherein they are in either close proximity or contact at end parts on the second direction side and transition from a first state, wherein a liquid is held between the object on the first holding member and the optical system, to a second state, wherein the liquid is held between the object on the second holding member and the optical system. | 04-28-2011 |
20110102760 | ALIGNMENT METHOD FOR SEMICONDUCTOR PROCESSING - A method provides improved alignment for a photolithographic exposure. In such method, a first exposure tool and a first chuck used in a reference photolithographic exposure of a first material layer on a substrate can be identified. The substrate typically includes at least a semiconductor layer. The first chuck typically is one of a plurality of chucks usable with the first exposure tool. The method may further include identifying a second exposure tool and a second chuck used in a current photolithographic exposure of a second material layer on the substrate. In one embodiment, alignment correction information specific to each of the identified first exposure tool, the first chuck, the second exposure tool and the second chuck can be used in aligning the semiconductor substrate to a second exposure tool and a second chuck. In one embodiment, such method can compensate for alignment error caused by differences between the first and second exposure tools, between the first and second chucks, or between the first and second exposure tools and between the first and second chucks. | 05-05-2011 |
20110102761 | STAGE APPARATUS, EXPOSURE APPARATUS, AND DEVICE FABRICATING METHOD - A stage apparatus comprises: a measuring apparatus that radiates a measurement beam to a measurement surface, which is formed on a surface on an side opposite a holding surface whereon an object of an holding member is held, and measures the position of the holding member in a direction corresponding to six degrees of freedom by receiving a reflected beam of the measurement beam reflected from the measurement surface; and a control apparatus that, based on tilt information of the positional information of the holding member, corrects information selected from the group consisting of the first direction positional information and the second direction positional information of the holding member. | 05-05-2011 |
20110102762 | EXPOSURE APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - An exposure apparatus is equipped with a wafer stage which holds a wafer and to which one ends of flat tubes having flexibility that transmit the power usage for exposure between the wafer stage and a predetermined external device are connected and which is movable along an XY plane, and a tube carrier which is placed on one side of the wafer stage in an X-axis direction, to which the other ends of the flat tubes are connected, and which moves along the XY plane according to movement of the wafer stage and also moves to the other side in the X-axis direction when the wafer stage moves to the one side in the X-axis direction. Accordingly, the wafer stage hardly receives the drag (tensile force) from the flat tubes and outward protrusion of the flat tubes in the X-axis direction can be restrained. | 05-05-2011 |
20110109895 | MAGNETIC SUPPORTING MECHANISM, EXPOSURE APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A magnetic supporting mechanism which comprises first to fourth magnets having first to fourth magnetic poles, in which the third magnet is partially inserted into a gap between the first and second magnets so that the first and third magnetic poles face each other and the second and fourth magnetic poles face each other, and which supports a supporting target to be movable in a second direction, in which the third magnet is inserted, of two directions perpendicular to a first direction in which the first and second magnetic poles face each other, wherein the third magnet is formed such that an effective width across which a magnetic force acts in a third direction perpendicular to both the first and second directions is narrower at a second end thereof opposite to a first end thereof inserted between the first and second magnets than at the first end. | 05-12-2011 |
20110109896 | Support Structure, Inspection Apparatus, Lithographic Apparatus and Methods for Loading and Unloading Substrates - A substrate support, configured to support a substrate during a process within a lithography system, includes a lifting structure configured to move the substrate between a first position, in which a lifting face of the lifting structure supports the substrate at a position set apart from a support surface of the substrate support, and a second position, in which the lifting structure does not prevent the substrate from being supported by a support surface of the substrate support; wherein, in moving between the first and second positions, the substrate moves in a combination of movement substantially perpendicular to a plane parallel to the support surface and movement substantially parallel to the support surface. | 05-12-2011 |
20110116070 | EXPOSURE APPARATUS AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING DEVICE - An exposure apparatus comprises: a substrate stage movable from a first position to a second position; a conveyance arm movable from a third position to the second position; an elevating member transferring the substrate to the arm at the second position; and a controller. The controller judges whether the stage reaches a fourth position that shifts to a front side from the second position by a predetermined interval for avoiding a collision between the substrate and the arm and a collision between the elevating member and the substrate when the elevating operation ends. If the controller judges that the stage does not reach the fourth position, the controller controls the movements of the stage and the arm, and the elevation of the elevating member so that the arm starts to move toward the second position before the end of the elevating operation. | 05-19-2011 |
20110141448 | SUBSTRATE CARRIER DEVICE, SUBSTRATE CARRYING METHOD, SUBSTRATE SUPPORTING MEMBER, SUBSTRATE HOLDING DEVICE, EXPOSURE APPARATUS, EXPOSURE METHOD AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A substrate carry-out device carries out an exposed substrate mounted on a substrate stage from a substrate holder by moving the substrate in one axis direction (X-axis direction) parallel to a horizontal plane in a state where the substrate is mounted on a substrate tray housed in the substrate holder. Meanwhile, a substrate carry-in device makes an unexposed substrate to be carried into the substrate stage wait at a substrate exchange position in a state where the unexposed substrate is mounted on another substrate tray, and after the exposed substrate is carried out from the substrate stage, lowers the another substrate tray, thereby mounting the unexposed substrate onto the substrate holder. | 06-16-2011 |
20110141449 | Inspection Method and Apparatus, Lithographic Apparatus, Lithographic Processing Cell and Device Manufacturing Method - A substrate table positioning device that is supported by four bearing elements is provided. The substrate table positioning device also includes a balance mass. Two of the bearing elements support the base frame in such a way that they can move in a vertical direction independently of the other bearing elements. This can be achieved by using a hinge. This structure of substrate table positioning device has a higher lowest Eigen frequency of oscillation than that of substrate table positioning devices supported by three bearing elements. As such, the balance mass is not excited by typical vibrations that occur in the lithographic apparatus. This enables better positional control of the substrate table. It also enables at least some of the dimensions of the frame elements of the balance mass to be reduced. | 06-16-2011 |
20110149263 | Method for Controlling the Position of a Movable Object, a Control System for Controlling a Positioning Device, and a Lithographic Apparatus - A control system controls a positioning device displaceable in at least one degree of freedom by a reluctance motor. A force sensing element and a controller adjust force applied by the motor responsive to a force sensing element configured to sense force applied by the motor. The controller receives a signal representing force applied by the motor from the force sensing element, obtain an acceleration trajectory plan associated with a velocity trajectory plan for the positioning device, obtain a force trajectory plan associated with the acceleration trajectory plan, compare the force applied with a required amount of force obtained from the force trajectory, and adjust the amount of force applied by the motor based on the comparison. Related methods are also presented. | 06-23-2011 |
20110149264 | Electrical Connection System, Lithographic Projection Apparatus, Device Manufacturing Method and Method for Manufacturing an Electrical Connection System - An electrical connection system is disclosed. The electrical connection system comprises a housing, an elongate conductor and a flexible planar electrical connector. The housing comprises a front plate having a conducting surface and a back plate having a conducting surface. The elongate conductor extends through the front plate. The flexible planar electrical connector comprises a laminate that comprises, in order, a first flexible planar insulating layer, a conductor configured to carry an electrical current and a second flexible planar insulating layer. The flexible planar electrical connector is sandwiched by and extends beyond the front plate and the back plate. The elongate conductor is electrically connected to the conductor of the planar connector. | 06-23-2011 |
20110149265 | ACTIVE MOUNT, LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS COMPRISING SUCH ACTIVE MOUNT AND METHOD FOR TUNING SUCH ACTIVE MOUNT - A lithographic apparatus includes an illumination system configured to condition a radiation beam, a support constructed to support a patterning device, the patterning device being capable of imparting the radiation beam with a pattern in its cross-section to form a patterned radiation beam, a substrate table constructed to hold a substrate, and a projection system configured to project the patterned radiation beam onto a target portion of the substrate. The projection system is mounted on a reference structure of the lithographic apparatus by a mount of the lithographic apparatus. The mount includes a first piezoelectric element to exert a force on the projection system, a second piezoelectric element to measure the force, and an interconnection member interposed between the first and second piezoelectric elements, the interconnection member comprising a cut. | 06-23-2011 |
20110157575 | MASK FRAME ASSEMBLY FOR THIN LAYER DEPOSITION AND ORGANIC LIGHT EMITTING DISPLAY DEVICE - A mask frame assembly for thin film deposition is disclosed. In one embodiment, the assembly includes: a frame, and a plurality of unit mask strips attached to the frame, wherein each of the unit mask strips includes a plurality of unit masking patterns which are spaced apart from each other. In one embodiment, each of the unit masking patterns includes: i) a plurality of stripe pattern slits and ii) a plurality of sets of dot pattern slits each set formed to be substantially parallel with the stripe pattern slits. Further, the stripe pattern slits and the sets of dot pattern slits are alternately formed with respect to each other, wherein each set of the dot pattern slits includes a plurality of dot pattern slits, and wherein the length of each stripe pattern slit is substantially the same as the length of each set of the dot pattern slits. | 06-30-2011 |
20110157576 | FLUID GAUGE WITH MULTIPLE REFERENCE GAPS - A fluid gauge ( | 06-30-2011 |
20110157577 | ALIGNMENT SYSTEM FOR VARIOUS MATERIALS AND MATERIAL FLOWS - A method and system for alignment of a tool to a workpiece in a continuous or discontinuous material flow are disclosed. The workpiece may be a portion of a web of material. An imaging system captures first and second images of the workpiece at first and second occasions respectively. Microscopic native features of the workpiece are selected, detected, tracked and/or compared in the first and second images. Based on the correspondence between, tracking or relative displacement of features as captured in the first and second images, an alignment to the workpiece is controlled. In embodiments, the workpiece and a tool, a projected image or a pattern to be imparted to the workpiece by a lithography or photolithography apparatus are aligned based upon positioning information determined from an analysis of correlated features or texture in the images. Positioning information may include a positioning error or a distortion indication. | 06-30-2011 |
20110164238 | EXPOSURE APPARATUS AND DEVICE FABRICATING METHOD - An exposure apparatus comprises: a first moving body, which comprises guide members that extend in a first direction, that moves in a second direction, which is substantially orthogonal to the first direction, by the drive of a first drive apparatus; two second moving bodies, which are provided such that they are capable of moving independently in the first direction along the guide members, that move in the second direction together with the guide members by the movement of the first moving body; a holding member, which holds an object W and is supported by the two second moving bodies such that it is capable of moving within a two dimensional plane that includes at least the first direction and the second direction as well as a first position directly below an optical system; and a liquid holding member that is disposed adjacent to the two second moving bodies in the second direction, moves together with the holding member, which is supported by the two second moving bodies, in a direction parallel to the second direction by the drive of a second drive apparatus, which shares at least one part of the first drive apparatus, while maintaining the state wherein the liquid holding member is in close proximity or in contact at its end part on one of the second direction sides, and causes a transition from a first state, wherein a liquid is held between the object on the holding member and the optical system, to a second state, wherein the liquid is held between the liquid holding member and the optical system. | 07-07-2011 |
20110170085 | ELECTROSTATIC CLAMP, LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING AN ELECTROSTATIC CLAMP - An electrostatic clamp for use in a lithographic apparatus includes a layer of material provided with burls, wherein an electrode surrounded by an insulator and or a dielectric material is provided in between the burls. The electrostatic clamp may be used to clamp an object to an object support in a lithographic apparatus. | 07-14-2011 |
20110188021 | PRINTING APPARATUS - A printing apparatus includes: a photographic printing unit adapted to perform photographic printing on a photographic print surface of a medium including a flexible sheet-like member while maintaining a state where the photographic print surface of the medium faces a photographic printing head; a medium moving unit adapted to generally linearly move the medium in the state where the photographic print surface of the medium faces the photographic printing head of the photographic printing unit; and a photographic printing control unit adapted to control the medium moving unit and the photographic printing unit to perform the photographic printing on the photographic print surface of the medium by the photographic printing head while moving the medium by the medium moving unit. | 08-04-2011 |
20110188022 | SUBSTRATE CARRYING DEVICE, SUBSTRATE CARRYING METHOD, AND EXPOSURE DEVICE - The present invention relates to a substrate carrying device that carries a substrate such as a reticle, a substrate carrying method thereof, and an exposure device thereof. An object of the present invention is to securely suck a substrate onto a lower surface of a chuck. | 08-04-2011 |
20110194094 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS WITH SUPPORT FOR AN OBJECT AND METHOD FOR POSITIONING SAME - A support structure for positioning an exchangeable object in a lithographic apparatus. The support structure has a chuck to support and clamp the object and an actuating structure. The actuating structure may have a first actuating structure (e.g., spring) and a second actuating structure (e.g., linear actuator). The first actuating structure is moveable relative to the chuck and is configured to move the second actuating structure between a first position in contact with a side of the object and a second position out of contact with the side of the object. The second actuating structure is configured to move at least a portion thereof relative to the first actuating structure between a first position in contact with the side of the object and a second position out of contact with the side of the object and to apply a pushing force to the side of the object. | 08-11-2011 |
20110199601 | SUBSTRATE TABLE, A LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND A METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING A DEVICE USING A LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS - A table for a lithographic apparatus, the table having an encoder plate located on the table, a gap between the encoder plate and a top surface of the table, the gap located radially inward of the encoder plate relative to the periphery of the table, and a fluid extraction system with an opening in the surface of the gap to extract liquid from the gap. | 08-18-2011 |
20110205520 | Lithographic Apparatus and Device Manufacturing Method - A method produces at least one monitor wafer for a lithographic apparatus. The monitor wafer is for use in combination with a scanning control module to periodically retrieve measurements defining a baseline from the monitor wafer, thereby determining parameter drift from the baseline. In doing this, allowance and/or correction can be to be made for the drift. The baseline is determined by initially exposing the monitor wafer(s) using the lithographic apparatus to perform multiple exposure passes on each of the monitor wafer(s). An associated lithographic apparatus is also disclosed. | 08-25-2011 |
20110216300 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MEASURING A POSITION - A lithographic apparatus includes a support configured to hold an object, the support being moveable relative to a reference structure in a direction; a first position measurement system configured to provide a first measurement signal in a first frequency range, the first measurement signal representative of a position of the support relative to the reference structure in the direction; a second position measurement system configured to provide a second measurement signal in a second frequency range, the second measurement signal representative of the position of the support relative to the reference structure in the direction; and a processor configured to (a) filter the first measurement signal so as to attenuate a signal component having a frequency in the second frequency range, (b) filter the second measurement signal so as to attenuate a signal component having a frequency in the first frequency range, and (c) combine the filtered first measurement signal and the filtered second measurement signal into a combined measurement signal representative of the position of the support relative to the reference structure in the direction. | 09-08-2011 |
20110216301 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND SCANNING METHOD - A lithographic apparatus includes a first support to support a first patterning device; a second support to support a second patterning device, each of the first and the second patterning device capable of imparting a radiation beam with a pattern in its cross-section to form a patterned radiation beam; a substrate table constructed to hold a substrate; a projection system to project the patterned radiation beam onto a target portion of the substrate; a controller to drive the first support and the second support and arranged to: drive the first support to perform a scanning movement; drive the second support to accelerate during at least part of the scanning movement of the first support; and drive the second support to perform a scanning movement upon completion of the scanning movement of the first support, so as to scan a die adjacent a die previously scanned during the scanning movement of the first support. | 09-08-2011 |
20110222044 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A level sensor configured to measure a height level of a substrate arranged in a measurement position is disclosed. The level sensor comprises a projection unit to project multiple measurement beams on multiple measurement locations on the substrate, a detection unit to receive the measurement beams after reflection on the substrate, and a processing unit to calculate a height level on the basis of the reflected measurement beams received by the detection unit, wherein the projection unit and the detection unit are arranged next to the substrate, when the substrate is arranged in the measurement position. | 09-15-2011 |
20110222045 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A lithographic apparatus arranged to transfer a pattern from a patterning device onto a substrate is disclosed, the apparatus including a substrate table constructed to hold a substrate, a first clamping system configured to clamp the substrate table to a substrate table support structure, and a second clamping system configured to clamp a substrate to the substrate table after the substrate table has been clamped to the substrate table support structure. | 09-15-2011 |
20110228248 | COVER FOR A SUBSTRATE TABLE, SUBSTRATE TABLE FOR A LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS, LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A cover is provided for a substrate table in an immersion lithographic apparatus that covers at least the gap between a substrate and a recess in a substrate table in which the substrate is received. | 09-22-2011 |
20110242518 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS, DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD, AND SUBSTRATE EXCHANGING METHOD - A lithographic apparatus includes an illumination system configured to condition a radiation beam; a support constructed to support a patterning device, the patterning device being capable of imparting the radiation beam with a pattern in its cross-section to form a patterned radiation beam; at least three substrate tables that are each constructed to hold a substrate; and a projection system configured to project the patterned radiation beam onto a target portion of the substrate, wherein the substrate tables are moveable in a common moving area extending substantially in a plane perpendicular to the patterned radiation beam, the moving area comprising at least three working locations of which at least one working location is arranged for exposure of the substrate to the patterned radiation beam and at least one working location is arranged for non-exposure purposes. | 10-06-2011 |
20110242519 | Device for mounting a grating and a photosensitive material for stereoprojection imaging - A device for mounting a grating and a photosensitive material for stereoprojection imaging, includes: an enlarging-printing platform; and an exposure head positioned above the enlarging-printing platform; wherein the enlarging-printing platform is a chamber structure, and has a plurality of suction holes provided on an upper surface thereof and at least one exhaust port provided on a side connected with an exhaust device; the device for mounting the grating and the photosensitive material for stereoprojection imaging further includes a compressing mechanism connected with the upper surface. The device for mounting the grating and the photosensitive material provides a real-time composite device for developing stereopictures. With the mounting device, the grating and photosensitive photographic paper need either being combined beforehand, or being developed with the grating after exposure. Therefore, the drawback of high crimp ratio of the grating, high difficulty of developing, bad stereoimaging effect, and high cost is overcome. | 10-06-2011 |
20110249249 | Digital stereo imaging photosensitive device for a grating and a photosensitive material and its method - A digital stereo imaging photosensitive device for a grating and a photosensitive material, includes: a photosensitive platform ( | 10-13-2011 |
20110261344 | EXPOSURE METHOD - A method for exposing a surface of a target in a system comprising a set of sensors ( | 10-27-2011 |
20110279805 | OPTICAL SYSTEM, INSPECTION SYSTEM AND MANUFACTURING METHOD - Systems and methods for inspection are provided utilizing a wide angle optical system. The optical system includes a wide angle input lens group and an output lens group. The wide angle input lens group is configured to receive wide-angle radiation, e.g., having an angular spread of 60 degrees or more, from an object surface, and produce imageable radiation. The wide angle input lens group is arranged such that no intermediate focused image is formed within or after the wide angle input lens group. The output lens group is configured to receive the imageable radiation from the wide angle input lens group and focus the imageable radiation onto an image plane to image at least part of the object surface. A detector receives the image of the at least part of the object surface and, based on the received image, detects, for example, contamination on the object surface. | 11-17-2011 |
20110279806 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - In a single or multiple stage lithography apparatus, a table provides a confining surface to a liquid supply system during, for example, substrate table exchange and/or substrate loading and unloading. In an embodiment, the table has a sensor to make a measurement of the projection beam during, for example, substrate table exchange and/or substrate loading and unloading. | 11-17-2011 |
20110279807 | MOVABLE BODY DRIVE METHOD AND SYSTEM, PATTERN FORMATION METHOD AND APPARATUS, EXPOSURE METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DRIVING MOVABLE BODY BASED ON MEASUREMENT VALUE OF ENCODER AND INFORMATION ON FLATNESS OF SCALE, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A drive unit drives a wafer stage in a Y-axis direction based on a measurement value of an encoder that measures position information of the wafer stage in the Y-axis direction and based on information on the flatness of a scale that is measured by the encoder. In this case, the drive unit can drive the wafer stage in a predetermined direction based on a measurement value after correction in which a measurement error caused by the flatness of the scale included in the measurement value of the encoder is corrected based on the information on the flatness of the scale. Accordingly, the wafer stage can be driven with high accuracy in a predetermined direction using the encoder, without being affected by the unevenness of the scale. | 11-17-2011 |
20110292369 | SUBSTRATE TABLE, A LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS, A METHOD OF FLATTENING AN EDGE OF A SUBSTRATE AND A DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A substrate table to support a substrate is disclosed. The substrate table includes a substrate support to support the substrate and to apply a bending force to an edge of the substrate in a first direction. A substrate edge manipulator is provided that is configured to apply a variable bending force to the edge of the substrate in a second direction, which second direction has at least a component opposite in direction to the first direction. | 12-01-2011 |
20110299057 | STAGE APPARATUS AND LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS COMPRISING SUCH STAGE APPARATUS - A stage apparatus to position an object, the stage apparatus including a table configured to hold the object, a support structure configured to support the table, the table being displaceable relative to the support structure, the support structure including one of a first data clock and a second data clock and the table including the other one of the first data clock and the second data clock; and a circuit configured to synchronize the first and second data clocks, the circuit including a transmitter and receiver, the transmitter configured to wirelessly transmit clock signal data from the first data clock to the second data clock, and a synchronization circuit configured to synchronize the second data clock with the first data clock from the wirelessly transmitted clock signal data received by the receiver. | 12-08-2011 |
20110299058 | Movable body drive method and movable body drive system, pattern formation method and apparatus, exposure method and apparatus, and device manufacturing method - Positional information of a wafer stage in a Z-axis direction and a tilt direction with respect to the XY plane (for example, a θy direction) is measured, using a surface position measurement system, such as, for example, a Z head and the like, and the wafer stage is driven based on the measurement results. At the same time, positional information of the wafer stage is measured using an interferometer system such as, for example, a Z interferometer. When abnormality of the surface position measurement system is detected or when the wafer stage moves off from a measurement area of the surface position measurement system, drive control is switched to a drive control based on the measurement results of the interferometer system. Accordingly, the wafer stage can be driven continuously even at the time of abnormality generation in the surface position measurement system. | 12-08-2011 |
20110304839 | POSITION SENSOR AND LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS - A position sensor is configured to measure a position data of a target. The position sensor includes a radiation source configured to irradiate a radiation beam, a first grating configured to diffract the radiation beam in a first diffraction direction into at least a first order diffraction beam, and a second grating, arranged in an optical path of the first order diffraction beam, the second grating being configured to diffract the first order diffraction beam diffracted at the first grating in a second diffraction direction substantially perpendicular to the first diffraction direction. The second grating is connected to the target. A first detector is configured to detect at least a part of the beam diffracted by the first grating, and at least one second detector is configured to detect at least part of the beam diffracted by the first grating and the second grating. | 12-15-2011 |
20110317144 | TABLE FOR A PRINTER - A substrate support apparatus for a printer is described. The apparatus includes a table having a support surface for supporting a substrate during printing, the support surface including a plurality of substrate apertures. A negative pressure can be applied to the substrate apertures to hold the substrate to the table during printing. | 12-29-2011 |
20110317145 | DRIVING APPARATUS AND EXPOSURE APPARATUS AND DEVICE FABRICATION METHOD - A guide includes a brittle material layer and a magnetically attracting magnetic body, e.g., a metal layer. A recess and a projection are formed on the metal layer. The brittle material layer is made of, e.g., a sprayed ceramic material and covers the recess formed on the magnetically attracting metal layer. A movable body moves as it levitates above the surface of the brittle material layer. | 12-29-2011 |
20120019801 | POSITION CONTROL SYSTEM, LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS, AND METHOD TO CONTROL A POSITION OF A MOVABLE OBJECT - A position control system to control the position of a movable object, including a position measurement system configured to determine an actual position related quantity of the movable object; a set-point generator to provide a position related set-point signal of the movable object; a comparator to provide an error signal on the basis of a comparison of the actual position related quantity and the position related set-point signal, a controller to provide a control signal on the basis of the error signal, a feed-forward device to provide a feed-forward signal on the basis of the position related set-point signal, and one or more actuators to act on the movable object on the basis of the control signal and the feed-forward signal, wherein the feed-forward device includes a disturbance force correction table including estimations of disturbance forces exerted on the movable object in dependence of a position of the movable object. | 01-26-2012 |
20120038899 | EXPOSURE APPARATUS AND ALIGNMENT ERROR COMPENSATION METHOD USING THE SAME - In one embodiment, a center of rotation and a slippage amount are estimated when slippage occurs due to radial runout during planar rotation θ to align the mask and the substrate. The slippage amount is estimated after rotation is reflected in a movement command value of a stage as a compensation value, and a moving table, on which the substrate is placed, is moved to compensate the slippage amount, thereby improving overlay performance. | 02-16-2012 |
20120062866 | MICROCHANNEL-COOLED COILS OF ELECTROMAGNETIC ACTUATORS EXHIBITING REDUCED EDDY-CURRENT DRAG - Electromagnetic actuators are disclosed having at least one actively cooled coil assembly. Exemplary actuators are linear and planar motors of which the cooled coil assembly has a coil having first and second main surfaces. A respective thermally conductive cooling plate is in thermal contact with at least one main surface of the coil. Defined in or on each cooling plate is a coolant passageway that conducts a liquid coolant. A primary pattern of the coolant passageway is coextensive with at least part of the main surface of the coil. The primary pattern can have a secondary pattern through which coolant flows in a manner reducing eddy-current losses. An exemplary secondary pattern is serpentine. An exemplary primary pattern is radial or has a radial aspect, such as an X-shaped pattern. The devices exhibit reduced eddy-current drag. | 03-15-2012 |
20120069316 | METHODS FOR LIMITING COUNTER-MASS TRIM-MOTOR FORCE AND STAGE ASSEMBLIES INCORPORATING SAME - An exemplary stage assembly has movable stage mass and counter-mass. A stage motor is coupled to the stage mass and counter-mass such that stage-mass motion imparted by the stage motor causes a reactive motion of the counter-mass counter to the motion of the stage mass. At least one trim-motor is coupled to the counter-mass. A control system commands the trim-motor to regulate movement of the counter-mass in reaction to stage-mass motion. A PI feedback controller receives the following-error of the counter-mass and generates corresponding center-of-gravity (CG) force commands and trim-motor force commands to the trim-motor(s) to produce corrective counter-mass motion. A trim-motor force limiter receives trim-motor force commands and produces corresponding limited trim-motor force commands that are fed back as actual CG force commands to the feedback controller to modify integral terms of the feedback controller according to the limited trim-motor force commands. | 03-22-2012 |
20120069317 | LITHOGRAPHY SYSTEM ARRANGED ON A FOUNDATION, AND METHOD FOR ARRANGING A LITHOGRAPHY SYSTEM ON SAID FOUNDATION - The invention relates to a vibration isolation requiring system, such as a lithography system, arranged on a foundation, for example part of the floor in the room where the lithography system is arranged, and a method for arranging a lithography system on a foundation. The lithography system is arranged on top of a rigid or solid base plate, wherein said base plate having one or more struts attached thereto for placing the lithography system onto the foundation, wherein the one or more struts are arranged at a side of the base plate facing the foundation, and wherein the base plate is provided with a cut-out or an opening for mounting equipment underneath a vacuum chamber of the lithography system. | 03-22-2012 |
20120075612 | EXPOSURE METHOD AND EXPOSURE APPARATUS - In the present invention, while conveying a subject to be exposed, when exposure on a first exposure area of the subject to be exposed is completed, the exposure being performed by using a first mask pattern group of a photomask in which a plurality of types of mask pattern groups corresponding to each exposure pattern is arranged and formed in a conveying direction of the exposure to be exposed at a predetermined interval, the photomask is moved in synchronization with a conveying speed of the exposure to be exposed and the mask pattern group is switched from the first mask pattern group to a second mask pattern group. When the switching of the mask pattern group of the photomask 11 is completed, the movement of the photomask is stopped, exposure on a second exposure area of the subject to be exposed 8 is performed by the mask pattern group. | 03-29-2012 |
20120075613 | Lithographic Apparatus Having an Encoder Type Position Sensor System - A lithographic apparatus is disclosed that includes an encoder type sensor system configured to measure a position of a substrate table of the lithographic apparatus relative to a reference structure. The encoder type sensor system includes an encoder sensor head and an encoder sensor target and the lithographic apparatus comprises a recess to accommodate the encoder sensor target. | 03-29-2012 |
20120092638 | Method Of Aligning A Wafer Stage And Apparatus For Performing The Same - In a method of aligning a wafer stage, the wafer stage may be moved in an X-axis direction. A first coordinate of the wafer stage may be measured from a first measurement position inclined to the X-axis. The wafer stage may be moved in a Y-axis direction. A second coordinate of the wafer stage may be measured from a second measurement position inclined to the Y-axis. Thus, a movement distance of the wafer stage may be increased, so that the interferometers may accurately measure the position of the wafer stage. | 04-19-2012 |
20120092639 | RESIST PATTERN CALCULATION METHOD AND CALCULATION PROGRAM STORAGE MEDIUM - A recording medium stores a program for causing a computer to execute a method of calculating a resist pattern. The method includes: a first step of calculating a light intensity distribution of an optical image formed on the resist, based on the reticle pattern and an exposure condition; a second step of convoluting, using a first diffusion length, the calculated light intensity distribution; a third step of calculating a representative light intensity from the calculated light intensity distribution or the convoluted light intensity distribution; a fourth step of correcting the convoluted light intensity distribution by adding, to the convoluted light intensity distribution, a correction function including a first function given by: | 04-19-2012 |
20120092640 | Shared Compliance in a Rapid Exchange Device for Reticles, and Reticle Stage - Provided is a method to load a patterning device ( | 04-19-2012 |
20120092641 | METHOD FOR POSITIONING AN OBJECT BY AN ELECTROMAGNETIC MOTOR, STAGE APPARATUS AND LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS - A method to enable positioning of an object by a positioning device that includes an electromagnetic motor to control the position of the object in a lithographic apparatus, the method including receiving desired motor signals at the electromagnetic motor to produce a plurality of primary forces and a pitch torque associated with the primary forces within a motor control cycle, wherein for the motor control cycle, the pitch torque is based on either the primary forces to be generated by the electromagnetic motor or the desired forces and torques for positioning the object; and in response to the desired motor signals, causing the electromagnetic motor to generate the primary forces, wherein prior to the primary forces are determined for a next motor control cycle, the desired forces and torques for positioning the object are modified using the pitch torque associated with a previous motor control cycle. | 04-19-2012 |
20120099094 | DUAL-STAGE EXCHANGE SYSTEM FOR LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS - A dual-stage exchange system for a lithographic apparatus comprises a silicon chip stage ( | 04-26-2012 |
20120099095 | DUAL-STAGE EXCHANGE SYSTEM FOR LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS - A dual-stage exchange system for a lithographic apparatus comprises a silicon chip stage ( | 04-26-2012 |
20120105819 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS FOR TRANSFERRING PATTERN FROM PATTERNING DEVICE ONTO SUBSTRATE, AND DAMPING METHOD - A lithographic apparatus includes a support frame which is supported by a base via a vibration isolation system; a projection system arranged to transfer a pattern from a patterning device onto a substrate, wherein the projection system includes a first frame which is spring-supported by the support frame; and an active damping system configured to damp movement of the first frame, including: a first sensor system configured to provide a first sensor output representative of absolute movement of the first frame, a first actuator system arranged to apply a force between the first frame and the support frame, and a control system configured to provide a drive signal to the first actuator system based on the first sensor output. | 05-03-2012 |
20120113405 | METHOD FOR DETERMINING A COMMUTATION OFFSET AND FOR DETERMINING A COMPENSATION MAP FOR A STAGE - A method for determining a commutation offset for a mover ( | 05-10-2012 |
20120120381 | EXPOSURE APPARATUS, EXPOSURE METHOD, AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING DEVICE - A liquid immersion exposure apparatus includes a projection system having a last optical element, the projection system projecting a beam onto a substrate through an immersion liquid; a movable stage having a holder by which the substrate is held; a measurement member provided on the movable stage, the measurement member having a measurement portion covered with a light-transmissive material; a first alignment system by which an alignment mark is detected not through the immersion liquid; and a second alignment system which optically obtains, using the measurement member, first positional information of the beam projected by the projection system through the immersion liquid. In order to obtain the first positional information, the movable stage is moved so that the measurement member is under the projection system and a gap between the projection system and the measurement member is filled with the immersion liquid. | 05-17-2012 |
20120127447 | METHOD FOR DETERMING A COMMUTATION OFFSET AND FOR DETERMINING A COMPENSATION MAP FOR A STAGE - A method for determining a commutation offset for a mover ( | 05-24-2012 |
20120127448 | DUAL WAFER STAGE EXCHANGING SYSTEM FOR LITHOGRAPHIC DEVICE - A dual wafer stage exchanging system for a lithographic device is disclosed, said system comprises two wafer stages running between an exposure workstation and a pre-processing workstation, and said two stages are set on a base and suspended above the upper surface of the base by air bearings. Each wafer stages is passed through by a Y-direction guide rail respectively, wherein one end of said guide rail is connected with a main driving unit and another end of said guide rail is detachably coupled with one of the two X-direction auxiliary driving units with single degree of freedom, and said two wafer stages are capable of moving in Y-direction along the guide rails and moving in X-direction under the drive of the auxiliary driving units with single degree of freedom. The position exchange of said two wafer stages can be enabled by the detachment and connection of the Y-direction guide rails and the auxiliary units with single degree of freedom. | 05-24-2012 |
20120127449 | Controller, Lithographic Apparatus, Method of Controlling the Position of an Object and Device Manufacturing Method - A controller is provided that controls an actuator system having a plurality of actuators arranged to act on an object. The controller uses a gain balancing matrix to convert a first control signal, representing a set of forces desired to be provided to the centre of gravity of the object into a second control signal, representing an equivalent set of forces to be provided by the plurality of actuators. The system is further configured such that a first gain balancing matrix is used at a first frequency band and a second gain balancing matrix is used at a second frequency band. | 05-24-2012 |
20120127450 | MOVABLE BODY DRIVE METHOD AND MOVABLE BODY DRIVE SYSTEM, AND PATTERN FORMATION METHOD AND PATTERN FORMATION APPARATUS - A first positional information of a wafer stage is measured using an interferometer system such as, for example, a Z interferometer. At the same time, a second positional information of the wafer stage is measured using a surface position measurement system such as, for example, two Z heads. Moving average is applied to a difference between the first positional information and the second positional information for a predetermined measurement time to set a coordinate offset, which is used to inspect the reliability of output signals of the surface position measurement system. When the output signals are confirmed to be normal, servo control of the wafer stage is performed using a sum of the first positional information and the coordinate offset. According to this hybrid method, drive control of the wafer stage which has the stability of the interferometer and the precision of the Z heads becomes possible. | 05-24-2012 |
20120127451 | POSITIONING SYSTEM, A LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND A METHOD FOR POSITIONAL CONTROL - A positioning system for controlling a relative position between a first component and a second component of a lithographic apparatus, wherein a position of each component is defined by a set of orthogonal coordinates, the positioning system including: a measuring device configured to determine an error in the momentary position of one of the components with respect to a setpoint position in a measurement coordinate; and a controller configured to control movement of the other component in a control coordinate based on the determined error; wherein the measurement coordinate is different from the control coordinate. | 05-24-2012 |
20120127452 | METHOD FOR COARSE WAFER ALIGNMENT IN A LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS - A method for alignment of a substrate, in which the substrate includes a mark in a scribe lane, and the scribe lane extends along a longitudinal direction as a first direction. The mark has a periodic structure in the first direction. The method includes providing an illumination beam for scanning the mark in a direction perpendicular to a direction of the mark's periodic structure along a first scan path across the mark, scanning the spot of the illumination beam along a second scan path across the mark, the second scan path being parallel to the first scan path, wherein the second scan path is shifted relative to the first scan path over a first shift that corresponds to a fraction of the repeating distance of the periodic structure. | 05-24-2012 |
20120127453 | MOVABLE BODY DRIVE METHOD AND MOVABLE BODY DRIVE SYSTEM, PATTERN FORMATION METHOD AND APPARATUS, EXPOSURE METHOD AND APPARATUS, DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD, AND CALIBRATION METHOD - A controller measures positional information of a stage within an XY plane using three encoders which at least include one each of an X encoder and a Y encoder of an encoder system, and the stage is driven in the XY plane, based on measurement results of the positional information and positional information (p | 05-24-2012 |
20120140198 | Patterning Device Support - In a lithographic apparatus, slippage of a patterning device is substantially eliminated during movement of a patterning device stage by providing a magnetostrictive actuator to apply an accelerating force to the patterning device to compensate for forces that would otherwise tend to cause slippage when the patterning device stage moves, | 06-07-2012 |
20120147352 | STAGE APPARATUS, EXPOSURE APPARATUS AND DEVICE FABRICATION METHOD - The present invention provides a stage apparatus including a first Y-axis interferometer which is supported by a base portion, and configured to detect a position of a first end surface of a table in a Y-axis direction, a second Y-axis interferometer which is supported by the base portion, and configured to detect a position of a second end surface of the table in the Y-axis direction, and a third Y-axis interferometer which is supported by the base portion so as to be spaced apart from the first Y-axis interferometer and the second Y-axis interferometer in an X-axis direction, and configured to detect a distance according to which a distance between the first Y-axis interferometer and the second Y-axis interferometer in the Y-axis direction can be obtained. | 06-14-2012 |
20120147353 | SUBSTRATE HOLDER, LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS, DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD, AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A SUBSTRATE HOLDER - A substrate holder for a lithographic apparatus has a planarization layer provided on a surface thereof. The planarization layer provides a smooth surface for the formation of an electronic component such as a thin film electronic component. The planarization layer may be provided in multiple sub layers. The planarization layer may smooth over roughness caused by removal of material from a blank to form burls on the substrate holder. | 06-14-2012 |
20120147354 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS HAVING A LORENTZ ACTUATOR WITH A COMPOSITE CARRIER - An actuator is configured to produce a displacement force between a first and a second part to displace the first and second parts relative to each other. The Actuator includes a first magnet subassembly, attached to one of a first and a second part, and an electrically conductive element, attached to the other one of the first and second part and placed near the first magnet subassembly. The first magnet subassembly includes at least one set of at least two adjacently placed magnets oriented such that their magnetic polarizations are substantially mutually opposite, and a back mass made out of a magnetic flux guiding material and connecting the magnets to guide a magnetic flux there between. The first magnet subassembly includes a carrier made of a non-magnetic-flux-guiding material, the carrier including at least one recess in which the at least one set of back mass and magnets is embedded. | 06-14-2012 |
20120147355 | Positioning System, Lithographic Apparatus and Device Manufacturing Method - A positioning system to position a table within a base frame of a lithographic apparatus, the positioning system including first and second actuators and a controller. The first actuator exerting an actuation force on the table. The first actuator being connected to a balance mass constructed and arranged to absorb a reaction force of the first actuator. The controller and second actuator constructed and arranged to exert a compensation force and/or torque to compensate a torque caused by the actuation force exerted by the first actuator on the balance mass. | 06-14-2012 |
20120154780 | CYCLIC ERROR COMPENSATION IN INTERFEROMETRIC ENCODER SYSTEMS - Methods and apparatuses for performing the same, where the methods include obtaining, from an interferometer, a time-varying interference signal S(t) based on a combination of a first beam and a second beam, the first beam being diffracted from an encoder scale, in which at least one of the encoder scale and the interferometer is moveable with respect to the other, obtaining one or more error correction signals based on one or more errors that modify the time-varying interference signal S(t), and outputting information about a change in a position of the encoder scale relative to the interferometer based on the time-varying interference signal S(t) and the one or more error correction signals. | 06-21-2012 |
20120154781 | SUBSTRATE TABLE, A LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND A DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A table for a lithographic apparatus, the table having a catchment opening formed in an upper surface of the table, the catchment opening in fluid communication through the table with the environment of the table at a drain opening in a surface of the table other than the upper surface. | 06-21-2012 |
20120162628 | Actuator - An actuator comprising a first part and a second part, the first part being configured to move relative to the second part, wherein a labyrinth seal is provided between the first part and the second part, the labyrinth seal being configured to restrict the flow of gas from a first side of the labyrinth seal to a second side of the labyrinth seal, wherein one or more inlets and one or more outlets are provided within the labyrinth seal, the one or more inlets being configured to provide gas to a location within the labyrinth seal and the one or more outlets being configured to remove at least part of the gas from a location within the labyrinth seal. | 06-28-2012 |
20120170016 | System and Method for Design of Linear Motor for Vacuum Environment - A linear motor for vacuum environment includes a core and a housing. The core includes a plurality of cooling plates and a plurality of electrical coils sandwiched between the plurality of cooling plates. The core further includes a plurality of thermally conductive epoxy layers positioned between the plurality of electrical coils and the plurality of cooling plates, and a plurality of shims located between the plurality of electrical coils and the plurality of cooling plates to determine a distance between the plurality of electrical coils and the plurality of cooling plates. The core is assembled and tested independently and before being assembled in the housing. The housing encloses the core and includes a body, a plurality of feed throughs, and a lid. | 07-05-2012 |
20120188528 | Lithographic Apparatus and Device Manufacturing Method - A lithographic apparatus comprises an object table for receiving an object, an actuator for moving the object table and a handler for transferring the object to or from the object table. The apparatus is provided with a controller operable connected with the actuator and/or the handler. The controller is programmed and/or arranged to drive the actuator and the handler so as to provide that the object table and the handler substantially follow each other in a direction perpendicular to a transfer direction during transfer in the transfer direction of the object to or from the object table. | 07-26-2012 |
20120212725 | SUBSTRATE HOLDER, LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS, DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD, AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A SUBSTRATE HOLDER - A substrate holder for a lithographic apparatus has a planarization layer provided on a surface thereof. The planarization layer provides a smooth surface for the formation of a thin film stack forming an electronic component. The thin film stack comprises an (optional) isolation layer, a metal layer forming an electrode, a sensor, a heater, a transistor or a logic device, and a top isolation layer. | 08-23-2012 |
20120242969 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS - A lithographic apparatus including a substrate table position measurement system and a projection system position measurement system to measure a position of the substrate table and the projection system, respectively. The substrate table position measurement system includes a substrate table reference element mounted on the substrate table and a first sensor head. The substrate table reference element extends in a measurement plane substantially parallel to the holding plane of a substrate on substrate table. The holding plane is arranged at one side of the measurement plane and the first sensor head is arranged at an opposite side of the measurement plane. The projection system position measurement system includes one or more projection system reference elements and a sensor assembly. The sensor head and the sensor assembly or the associated projection system measurement elements are mounted on a sensor frame. | 09-27-2012 |
20120249990 | SUBSTRATE PROCESSING APPARATUS - A substrate processing apparatus includes an indexer block, a first processing block, a second processing block, and an interface block. The indexer block includes a pair of carrier platforms and a transport section. A carrier storing a plurality of substrates in multiple stages is placed in each of the carrier platforms. The transport section includes transport mechanisms. The transport mechanisms concurrently transport the substrates. | 10-04-2012 |
20120249991 | PLANAR MOTOR AND LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS COMPRISING SUCH PLANAR MOTOR - A motor includes a stator including a plurality of stator poles arranged in a repetitive arrangement with a first pitch, the stator poles facing a first side of a plane of movement, and a mover including a plurality of mover poles arranged in a repetitive arrangement with a second pitch, the mover poles facing a second, opposite side of the plane of movement. The poles of the stator and/or the mover are provided with a winding to alter a magnetic field in the respective ones of the stator poles and the mover poles in response to an electric current through the respective winding. At least one of the stator and the mover includes a permanent magnet for generating a magnetic field extending from the permanent magnet via at least one respective pole of the stator and the mover to the other one of the stator and the mover and back. | 10-04-2012 |
20120249992 | SUBSTRATE TRANSFER APPARATUS AND SUBSTRATE TRANSFER METHOD - A substrate transfer apparatus includes: a transfer base; a plate-like holding member which is configured to hold a substrate and which is horizontally movable back and forth with respect to the transfer base; a piezoelectric body mounted to the holding member and which, when a voltage is applied thereto, contracts or elongates to apply a bending stress to the holding member; and a power supply configured to apply a voltage to the piezoelectric body so as to apply a bending stress, which counteracts deflection that has occurred in the holding member, is applied to the holding member. | 10-04-2012 |
20120249993 | EXPOSURE METHOD AND EXPOSURE APPARATUS - An exposure method includes a step of moving a photomask by a predetermined distance and switching a first mask pattern group to a second mask pattern group when an exposure to a first exposure area on an object to be exposed by the first mask pattern group of the photomask formed by arranging the first and the second mask pattern groups corresponding to an exposure patterns at predetermined intervals in a conveying direction of the object to be exposed is completed, and a step of performing an exposure on the second exposure area on the object to be exposed by the second mask pattern group, in which a moving speed of the photomask is controlled so that a moving distance of the object to be exposed is longer than a moving distance of the photomask in a period of time when switching the first and the second mask pattern groups. | 10-04-2012 |
20120257185 | APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING A MASK - A method of manufacturing a mask includes dividing an upper surface of a template having a design pattern into a plurality of regions, the template being arranged over a polymer layer on a mask substrate, correcting a distorted region among the regions, pressing the polymer layer with the template to form a mask pattern corresponding to the design pattern on the polymer layer; and curing the mask pattern. | 10-11-2012 |
20120268725 | LITHOGRAPHY SYSTEM FOR PROCESSING A TARGET, SUCH AS A WAFER, AND A METHOD FOR OPERATING A LITHOGRAPHY SYSTEM FOR PROCESSING A TARGET, SUCH AS A WAFER - The invention relates to a lithography system for processing a target, such as a wafer. The lithography system comprises a beam source arranged for providing a patterning beam, a final projection system arranged for projecting a pattern on the target surface, a chuck arranged for supporting the target and a mark position system connected to the final projection system and arranged for detecting a position mark on a surface. | 10-25-2012 |
20120268726 | Lyophobic Run-Off Path to Collect Liquid for an Immersion Lithography Apparatus - An exposure apparatus exposes a substrate by radiating a light onto the substrate through an optical assembly and a liquid provided on the substrate. The exposure apparatus includes a stage assembly which is movable relative to the optical assembly, the stage assembly including a support which supports the substrate, a first subregion which substantially encircles the support, and a second subregion which substantially encircles the first subregion. The first subregion includes a first surface having a first characteristic and the second subregion includes a second surface having a second characteristic which is different from the first characteristic. | 10-25-2012 |
20120274920 | SUBSTRATE HOLDER, LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS, DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD, AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A SUBSTRATE HOLDER - A method of manufacturing a substrate holder for use in a lithographic apparatus, the method including providing a main body having a surface and a plurality of burls projecting from the surface and having end surfaces to support a substrate, providing a carrier surface adjacent the main body surface, and forming a conductive layer on at least part of the main body surface and an integral part on at least part of the carrier surface. | 11-01-2012 |
20120287415 | PICKUP DEVICE AND LITHOGRAPHY APPARATUS USING THE SAME - A pickup device disposed on a base includes a driving unit, a pickup arm, a control unit, a passive arm and a control line. The control unit is disposed on the pickup arm and electrically connects to the pickup arm for controlling that. The passive arm is connected with the pickup arm. The control line is electrically connected between the driving unit and the control unit and embedded in the passive arm. Therefore, the passive arm can protect the control line from damage by suffering external force. Further, the times of being bent to broken of the control line can be reduced to elongate the life thereof. A lithography apparatus using the pickup device is also provided. | 11-15-2012 |
20120300186 | MULTI-STAGE SYSTEM, A CONTROL METHOD THEREFOR, AND A LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS - A method for controlling a multi-stage system includes a stator extending parallel to a first direction; a first and second stage that are moveable relative to the stator; the stages being provided with a magnet system to generate a magnetic field, and the stator being provided with coils to interact with the magnetic fields to position the stages relative to the stator, the method including: determining the position of the stages; selecting a first and a second subset of coils that are capable of having a non-negligible interaction with the magnetic field of respectively the first and the second stage; activating the coils of both subsets, wherein activating the coils includes determining the coils that are part of both subsets; and excluding a coil that is part of both subsets from activating. | 11-29-2012 |
20120300187 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND COMPONENT - A lithographic apparatus includes a substrate table constructed to hold a substrate, and a projection system configured to project a patterned radiation beam onto a target portion of the substrate. A surface of a component of the lithographic apparatus that is in a vacuum environment in use is provided with a repeating structure configured to increase the effective thermal accommodation coefficient of the surface. | 11-29-2012 |
20120307226 | DETECTION APPARATUS, EXPOSURE APPARATUS, DEVICE FABRICATION METHOD AND FILTER - The present invention provides a detection apparatus which detects an object to be detected, the apparatus including an illumination system configured to illuminate the object with light containing a first wavelength range and a second wavelength range different from the first wavelength range, a detector configured to detect light from the object illuminated by the illumination system, and an optical member configured to set a transmittance for light in the first wavelength range and a transmittance for light in the second wavelength range to be different from each other, thereby reducing a difference between an intensity value of the light which has the first wavelength range and is detected by the detector and an intensity value of the light which has the second wavelength range and is detected by the detector. | 12-06-2012 |
20120307227 | MOVABLE BODY DRIVE METHOD, PATTERN FORMATION METHOD, EXPOSURE METHOD, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD FOR MAINTAINING POSITION COORDINATE BEFORE AND AFTER SWITCHING ENCODER HEAD - Positional information of a stage within a movement plane is measured, using three encoders which include at least one each of an X encoder and a Y encoder. Based on position measurement values of the stage, the encoder used in position measurement is switched from an encoder (Enc | 12-06-2012 |
20120320361 | CLUSTER TOOL ARCHITECTURE FOR PROCESSING A SUBSTRATE - Embodiments of the invention generally include a robot assembly comprising a robot operable to position a substrate at one or more points within a plane, and a motion assembly having a motor operable to position the robot in a direction generally parallel to a first direction. The motion assembly comprises a robot support interface having the robot coupled thereto, and one or more walls that form an interior region in which the motor is enclosed. The walls define an elongated opening through which the robot support interface travels, and the motor is operable to move the robot support interface laterally in the elongated opening. The motion assembly further comprises one or more fan assemblies that are in fluid communication with the interior region. The fan assemblies are operable to create a subatmospheric pressure in the interior region thereby causing gas to flow through the elongated opening into the interior region. | 12-20-2012 |
20120320362 | MULTIPLE-BLADE HOLDING DEVICES - An exemplary device includes first and second portions that are movably connected together by first and second sets, respectively, of multiple blades interleaved with each other at an overlap region. When the overlap region is compressed, displacement of the first and second portions relative to each other is prevented so as to provide relatively high stiffness in first and second orthogonal directions (e.g., z- and y-directions) and relatively low stiffness in a third orthogonal direction (e.g., x-direction). The device can be used in coordination with an actuator, wherein operation of the actuator and compression of the overlap region are automated. | 12-20-2012 |
20120327386 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS, METHOD OF DEFORMING A SUBSTRATE TABLE AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A lithographic apparatus includes a projection system, a substrate table, a plurality of sensors, an actuator and a controller. The projection system is configured to project a patterned beam of radiation onto a substrate. The substrate table is configured to support the substrate and to move relative to the projection system. The plurality of sensors is configured to measure a deformation of the substrate table. The actuator is configured to deform the substrate table. The controller is configured to control the actuator to deform the substrate table based on measurements made by the sensors. The plurality of sensors is located on a first side of the substrate table opposite to a second side of the substrate table facing the projection system. The plurality of sensors is substantially stationary relative to the projection system. | 12-27-2012 |
20120327387 | POSITIONING DEVICE, LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS, POSITIONING METHOD AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A positioning device for positioning an object within a lithographic apparatus, including a support structure for supporting the object, at least two short-stroke units, each connected to the support structure, and a long-stroke unit. In the arrangement, each of the short-stroke units includes a short-stroke actuator system configured to provide independently at least one actuation force between the short-stroke unit and the long-stroke unit, and the long-stroke unit includes a long-stroke actuator system configured to provide at least one actuation force between the long-stroke unit and a reference structure of the lithographic apparatus. | 12-27-2012 |
20130003036 | PHOTO MASK UNIT COMPRISING A PHOTOMASK AND A PELLICLE AND A METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME - It is an object of the present invention to provide a photomask unit suitable for forming a microscopic pattern of 32 nm or smaller on a photoresist film using the EUV exposure technique and being able to reliably prevent the flatness of a photomask from being lowered. The photomask unit | 01-03-2013 |
20130010276 | EXPOSURE APPARATUS, EXPOSURE METHOD, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - An exposure apparatus includes a first optical member from which an exposure beam is emitted; a first object movable at a light-exit side of the first optical member; a second object movable, independently of the first object, at the light-exit side of the first optical member; and a driving unit that moves the first object and the second object in a first direction within a predetermined plane including a first position opposing the first optical member in a state in which the first object and the second object are close to or in contact with each other and in which positions of the first object and the second object in a second direction within the predetermined plane are shifted. | 01-10-2013 |
20130010277 | System and Method for Using a Two Part Cover and a Box for Protecting a Reticle - Systems and methods to protect a mask from being contaminated by airborne particles are described. The systems and methods include providing a reticle secured in a two-part cover. The two part cover includes a removable protection device used to protect the reticle from contaminants. The cover can be held inside a pod or box that can be used to transport the cover through a lithography system from an atmospheric section to a vacuum section. While in the vacuum section, the removable cover can be moved during an exposure process during which a pattern on the reticle can be formed on a wafer. | 01-10-2013 |
20130016332 | FLUID HANDLING STRUCTURE, A LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND A DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A fluid handling structure for a lithographic apparatus, the fluid handling structure having, at a boundary from a space configured to contain immersion fluid to a region external to the fluid handling structure: a meniscus pinning feature to resist passage of immersion fluid in a radially outward direction from the space; and a plurality of gas supply openings in a linear array at least partly surrounding and radially outward of the one or more meniscus pinning features, wherein the plurality of gas supply openings in a linear array are of a similar or the same size. | 01-17-2013 |
20130021593 | SUBSTRATE HANDLING APPARATUS AND LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS - A substrate handling apparatus for handling a substrate is disclosed. The substrate handling apparatus includes a substrate feeding device to feed the substrate towards an exposure area, a substrate receiving device to receive the substrate from the exposure area, and a substrate stabilization device to maintain, at least in the exposure area, the substrate substantially flat at an exposure height and/or tilt, the substrate stabilization device configured for contactless stabilization of the flexible substrate. | 01-24-2013 |
20130033690 | ELECTROSTATIC CLAMP, LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING AN ELECTROSTATIC CLAMP - An electrostatic clamp configured to electrostatically clamp an article to an article support in a lithographic apparatus. The clamp comprises a first layer of material, an electrode disposed over the first layer, an isolating, dielectric or semi-dielectric material deposited between portions of the electrode, and a second layer disposed over the electrode. Further, a method of manufacturing of the electrostatic clamp is described. | 02-07-2013 |
20130033691 | Method and Apparatus for Loading a Substrate - A method and apparatus for loading a substrate (W) onto a substrate table (WT) then moving the substrate table such that, in the reference frame of the substrate, the substrate table accelerates downwards with an acceleration which is at least 10% of the acceleration due to gravity, thereby reducing friction between the substrate and the substrate table such that deformations of the substrate may at least partially dissipate from the substrate. | 02-07-2013 |
20130038853 | NANOMETER-PRECISION SIX-DEGREE-OF-FREEDOM MAGNETIC SUSPENSION MICRO-MOTION TABLE AND APPLICATION THEREOF - A nanometer precision six-DOF magnetic suspension micro-stage and the application thereof are provided which are mainly used in semiconductor photolithography devices. The micro-stage includes a cross support and four two-DOF actuators. Each 2-DOF actuator comprises a vertically polarized permanent magnet, a horizontal force coil and a vertical force coil; the permanent magnet being mounted on an end of the cross support, the horizontal force coil and the vertical force coil being arranged on a side of and below the permanent magnet respectively and being spaced apart from the permanent magnet; the cross support and four vertically polarized permanent magnets constitute a mover of the micro-stage; the horizontal force coil and the vertical force coil being fixed by a coil framework respectively and constituting a stator of the micro-stage; and the stator being mounted on a base of the micro-stage. A dual-wafer table positioning system of a photolithography machine may be constructed by two said micro-stages in combination with a two-DOF large stroke linear motor. The present invention features simple structure, large driving force, small mass and absence of cable disturbance, and is possible to realize high precision, high acceleration six-DOF micro-motion. | 02-14-2013 |
20130044305 | Apparatus for transferring a substrate in a lithography system - An apparatus for transferring substrates within a lithography system, the lithography system comprising a substrate preparation unit for clamping a substrate onto a substrate support structure to form a clamped substrate, and an interface with a substrate supply system for receiving unclamped substrates. The apparatus comprises a body provided with a first set of fingers for carrying an unclamped substrate and a second set of fingers for carrying a substrate support structure, and the first set of fingers is located below the second set of fingers, and fingers of the first set of fingers have a different shape than the fingers of the second set of fingers. | 02-21-2013 |
20130044306 | EXPOSURE APPARATUS AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING DEVICE - An exposure apparatus includes: a substrate stage configured to move upon holding the substrate; a structural member configured to support a substrate stage; a first counter mass stage configured to cancel a driving reaction force that is generated due to driving of the substrate stage and acts on the structural member; a substrate stage driver configured to generate a force between the substrate stage and the first counter mass stage; a first counter mass driver configured to generate a force between the structural member and the first counter mass stage; a controller configured to control the first counter mass driver so as to cancel the force that acts on the structural member by generating a force between the structural member and the first counter mass stage using the first counter mass driver. | 02-21-2013 |
20130044307 | Movable Body Apparatus, Movable Body Drive Method, Exposure Apparatus, Exposure Method, and Device Manufacturing Method - A drive system drives a movable body, based on measurement results of a first measurement system which measures the position of the movable body in an XY plane by irradiating a measurement beam from an arm member on a grating placed on a surface parallel to the XY plane of the movable body. In this case, because a configuration in which the arm member irradiates a measurement beam on the grating is employed, there is no adverse effect due to the drive of the moving body, unlike the case when an encoder system is arranged on a stage surface plate. Accordingly, it becomes possible to drive the movable body with good precision. | 02-21-2013 |
20130063712 | SUPPORT STRUCTURE FOR WAFER TABLE - The invention relates to a support structure for supporting a wafer table in a lithography system, said support structure comprising:
| 03-14-2013 |
20130070228 | EXPOSURE APPARATUS - An exposure apparatus includes a light emitting unit, a mask stage that holds a mask for forming a pattern on a workpiece and a moving stage that holds the workpiece and has a laser length measuring device. The apparatus further includes an XYθ direction moving mechanism that moves the moving stage within a plane parallel to the workpiece face, and a Z direction moving mechanism that moves the moving stage in a vertical direction. The laser length measuring device measures a distance between the device and a reflection mirror using laser light. A control unit controls the XYθ direction moving mechanism to move the moving stage based on the distance. The reflective mirror is fixed to a structural body that supports the mask stage. | 03-21-2013 |
20130070229 | MOVABLE BODY DRIVE METHOD, MOVABLE BODY DRIVE SYSTEM, PATTERN FORMATION METHOD, PATTERN FORMING APPARATUS, EXPOSURE METHOD, EXPOSURE APPARATUS, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - Positional information of a movable body in a Y-axis direction is measured using an interferometer and an encoder whose short-term stability of measurement values excels when compared with the interferometer, and based on the measurement results, a predetermined calibration operation for obtaining correction information for correcting measurement values of the encoder is performed. Accordingly, by using measurement values of the interferometer, correction information for correcting the measurement values of the encoder whose short-term stability of the measurement values excels the interferometer is obtained. Then, based on the measurement values of the encoder and the correction information, the movable body is driven in the Y-axis direction with good precision. | 03-21-2013 |
20130077078 | Lithographic Apparatus and Substrate Handling Method - A lithographic apparatus comprises a substrate table constructed to hold a substrate and a gripper arranged to position the substrate on the substrate table. The gripper includes an electrostatic clamp arranged to clamp the substrate at a top side thereof. The electrostatic clamp is arranged to clamp at least part of a circumferential outer zone of a top surface of the substrate. The invention provides a substrate handling method including positioning the substrate by means of a gripper on a substrate table of a lithographic apparatus. The substrate is clamped at a top side thereof by using an electrostatic clamp of the gripper. | 03-28-2013 |
20130077079 | LEVEL SENSOR, LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS, AND SUBSTRATE SURFACE POSITIONING METHOD - A level sensor for measuring a position of a surface of a substrate includes a projection unit including an emitter for emitting a radiation beam towards the substrate and a projection grating including a measurement grating and an aperture, such that the radiation beam incident on the projection grating is divided into a measurement radiation beam and a capture radiation beam. The level sensor further includes a detection unit including a first and second measurement detector, a first and second capture detector, a detection grating, and a first and second optical unit. The detection grating includes a ruled grating with multiple rules, which direct radiation towards the first and second measurement detector via the first and second optical unit, and a capture element directing radiation towards the first and second capture detector via the first and second optical unit. | 03-28-2013 |
20130077080 | HOLDING APPARATUS, EXPOSURE APPARATUS, EXPOSURE METOD, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A holding apparatus is provided with a holding member that has a holding surface that holds a substrate on which a pattern is to be formed, a plurality of first electrode members that are provided on the holding member and that generate electrostatic force in accordance with supplied voltage in order to attract the substrate to the holding surface, and a power supply device that is able to supply voltage to the first electrode members. The first electrode members are positioned in accordance with pattern information. | 03-28-2013 |
20130083308 | SUBSTRATE HOLDER - A substrate holder for receiving a substrate is provided, the substrate holder comprising a base element, at least three contact elements that are connected to the base element and arranged in a plane, wherein the substrate upon being received by the substrate holder can lie on the at least three contact elements, and wherein the contact element is connected to the base element in such a way that forces acting on the substrate in a direction of the plane are minimized by at least one contact element. Furthermore, a position measuring device for determining a positioning error of a structure element on a mask is provided, the position measuring device having a substrate holder that minimizes the forces acting on a substrate. | 04-04-2013 |
20130088702 | ASSEMBLY AND A METHOD FOR LIFTING A MODULE OF A LITHOGRAPHY SYSTEM IN A VERTICAL DIRECTION AND A LITHOGRAPHY SYSTEM COMPRISING SUCH ASSEMBLY - An assembly and a method for lifting a module of a lithography system from its support and a lithography system including such device are provided. The assembly includes a body and a track. The track comprises a ramp. The body is provided with two wheels. The first wheel vertically may extend a distance h further from a central horizontal plane of the body than the second wheel. An axis of the first wheel may be positioned in the horizontal direction at a distance D from an axis of the second wheel. The track may include a first and a second ramp. The first ramp is positioned at a distance D from the second ramp in the horizontal direction and a distance h in the vertical direction. Insertion of the body between the module and the support causes the module to be lifted from the support. | 04-11-2013 |
20130088703 | REACTION ASSEMBLY FOR A STAGE ASSEMBLY - A reaction assembly | 04-11-2013 |
20130088704 | Ultra-Large Size Flat Panel Display Maskless Photolithography System and Method - A maskless exposure system that has multiple maskless optical engines arranged in an (N×M) matrix that form and project a pattern onto a substrate. A first stage system is capable of driving the maskless optical engines in a first direction, a second stage system capable of holding and moving the substrate in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. A control system that processes data and synchronizing movement of the first and second stage systems and a vision system that detects the positions of the second stage system to synchronize movements with the multiple optical engines. | 04-11-2013 |
20130094008 | TARGET POSITIONING DEVICE, METHOD FOR DRIVING A TARGET POSITIONING DEVICE, AND A LITHOGRAPHY SYSTEM COMPRISING SUCH A TARGET POSITIONING DEVICE - A target positioning device, in particular for a lithography system, comprising a carrier for carrying a target, and a stage for carrying and moving the carrier along a first direction (X). The stage comprising two X-stage bases, both arranged on top of a common base plate, each X-stage base carries an X-stage carriage, and a Y-beam comprising a Y-stage for carrying said carrier and moving the carrier said carrier in a second direction (Y). The Y-beam bridges the space between the X-stage carriages and is connected to the X-stage carriages via a flexible coupling. The device further comprises two motors each for driving a corresponding X-stage carriage along its corresponding X-stage base. The two motors are arranged at least substantially below the stage. Each motor of said two motors is coupled to an eccentric cam or crank which is connected to the corresponding X-stage carriage via a crank shaft. | 04-18-2013 |
20130094009 | SUBSTRATE HOLDER, LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS, DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD, AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A SUBSTRATE HOLDER - A substrate holder for a lithographic apparatus has a planarization layer provided on a surface thereof. The planarization layer provides a smooth surface for the formation of a thin film stack forming an electronic component. The planarization layer is of substantially uniform thickness and/or its outer surface has a peak to valley distance of less than 10 μm. The planarization layer may be formed by applying two solutions of different concentration. A surface treatment may be applied to the burls to repel a solution of the planarization layer material. | 04-18-2013 |
20130100430 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - An apparatus and a method to hold a patterning device configured to impart a beam of radiation with a pattern in its cross-section. The apparatus includes a base configured to support the patterning device and an inner cover couplable to the base. The inner cover includes a restraining mechanism that, upon an application of a force external to the inner cover, is configured to provide an in-plane force to the patterning device to restrain movement of the patterning device, the in-plane force being substantially parallel to a patterning surface of the patterning device. | 04-25-2013 |
20130100431 | Method and apparatus for alignment processing - A method for alignment processing including making a substrate | 04-25-2013 |
20130114061 | DOUBLE PASS INTERFEROMETRIC ENCODER SYSTEM - An encoder head includes one or more components arranged to: i) direct a first incident beam to the diffractive encoder scale at a first incident angle with respect to the encoder scale; ii) receive a first return beam from the encoder scale at a first return angle, the first return angle being different from the first incident angle; iii) redirect the first return beam to the encoder scale as a second incident beam at a second incident angle; and iv) receive a second return beam back from the encoder scale at a second return angle, the second return angle being different from the second incident angle, in which a difference between the first incident angle and second incident angle is less than a difference between the first incident angle and the first return angle and less than a difference between the second incident angle and the second return angle. | 05-09-2013 |
20130114062 | COMPACT ENCODER HEAD FOR INTERFEROMETRIC ENCODER SYSTEM - An encoder system includes an encoder scale and an encoder head, in which the encoder head is configured to combine each twice-diffracted measurement beam of multiple twice-diffracted measurement beams with a corresponding reference beam to form multiple output beams, where the encoder head includes a monolithic optical component having multiple facets, the multiple facets being arranged to: receive multiple once-diffracted measurement beams from a surface of the encoder scale; and redirect the multiple once-diffracted measurement beams back towards the surface of the encoder scale, the encoder scale being positioned in a path of the once-diffracted measurement beams to produce the twice-diffracted measurement beams. | 05-09-2013 |
20130120731 | STAGE UNIT, EXPOSURE APPARATUS, AND EXPOSURE METHOD - A power usage supply unit that supplies power usage to a stage which moves on a movement surface has a first axis section, first support section, a second axis section, and a second support section. The first axis section is movably supported by the first support section in a direction of the first axis and around the first axis, and the second axis section is movably supported by the second support section in a direction of the second axis and around the second axis. Using a mechanism in which the power usage supply unit has at least four degrees of freedom, the power usage supply unit does not interfere with the movement of a stage even when the stage moves in the first and second axis directions and in the rotational direction of each axis, thereby completely avoiding decrease in position controllability of the stage caused by dragging a tube. | 05-16-2013 |
20130128254 | Thermally Stable Optical Sensor Mount - Disclosed is an apparatus including a mechanical reference frame and a rigid object mechanically coupled to the reference frame by two or more constraints. The stiffnesses of at least two of the constraints are different from one another, and the relative locations and stiffnesses of the constraints cause a designated point on the rigid object to remain stationary with respect to the reference frame during thermal expansion of the rigid object over a range of temperatures. | 05-23-2013 |
20130128255 | ENCODER DEVICE, METHOD FOR MEASURING MOVING AMOUNT, OPTICAL APPARATUS, EXPOSURE APPARATUS, EXPOSURE METHOD AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING DEVICE - An encoder, which measures a relative moving amount of a second member relative to a first member, includes: a diffraction grating provided on the first member; a light-incident optical member causing a measuring light to come into a grating pattern surface of the diffraction grating substantially perpendicularly; a first reflecting member provided on the second member and reflecting a diffracted light generated from the diffraction grating; a first direction-changing member changing a direction of the diffracted light; a first photo-detector detecting an interference light generated by interference between a double diffracted light and other diffracted light than the double diffracted light or a reference light, the double diffracted light being generated, via diffraction of the diffracted light, from the diffraction grating; and a measuring section which obtains the relative moving amount of the second member relative to the first member by using a detection signal from the first photo-detector. | 05-23-2013 |
20130128256 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A map of the surface of a substrate is generated at a measurement station. The substrate is then moved to where a space between a projection lens and the substrate is filled with a liquid. The substrate is then aligned using, for example, a transmission image sensor and, using the previous mapping, the substrate can be accurately exposed. Thus the mapping does not take place in a liquid environment. | 05-23-2013 |
20130135603 | C-CORE ACTUATOR FOR MOVING A STAGE - A mover assembly ( | 05-30-2013 |
20130148093 | HOLDING APPARATUS, DRAWING APPARATUS, AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING ARTICLE - A holding apparatus holds a substrate. The apparatus includes a base having burls that support the substrate. A top surface of the base is configured such that a capillary pressure of a liquid provided in a gap between the base and the substrate supported by the burls increases with reduction in an amount of the liquid in the gap. | 06-13-2013 |
20130148094 | STAGE UNIT, EXPOSURE APPARATUS, AND EXPOSURE METHOD - A power usage supply unit-that supplies power usage to a stage which moves on a movement surface has a first axis section, first support sections, a second axis section, and a second support section. The first axis section is movably supported by the first support section in a direction of the first axis and around the first axis, and the second axis section is movably supported by the second support section in a direction of the second axis and around the second axis. And, by employing a mechanism in which the power usage supply unit has at least four degrees of freedom, the power usage supply unit does not interfere with the movement of a stage even when the stage moves in the first and second axis directions and in the rotational direction of each axis, therefore, decrease in position controllability of the stage caused by dragging a tube can be completely avoided. | 06-13-2013 |
20130162968 | Stage System and a Lithographic Apparatus - A movable stage system is configured to support an object. The stage system comprises an object table configured to support the object and an object table support defining an object table support surface configured to support the object table. The object table support comprises at least one first actuator to drive the object table support in a first driving direction substantially parallel to the object table support surface. In a projection on a plane parallel to the object table support surface the at least one actuator is spaced with respect to the object table in a direction perpendicular to the first driving direction such that the risk on slip between the object table support and the object table supported thereon is decreased. | 06-27-2013 |
20130176548 | Z-STAGE WITH DYNAMICALLY DRIVEN STAGE MIRROR AND CHUCK ASSEMBLY - Substrate support apparatus and methods are disclosed. Motion of a substrate chuck relative to a stage mirror may be dynamically compensated by sensing a displacement of the substrate chuck relative to the stage mirror and coupling a signal proportional to the displacement in one or more feedback loops with Z stage actuators and/or XY stage actuators coupled to the stage mirror. Alternatively, a substrate support apparatus may include a Z stage plate a stage mirror, one or more actuators attached to the Z stage plate, and a substrate chuck mounted to the stage mirror with constraints on six degrees of freedom of movement of the substrate chuck. The actuators impart movement to the Z stage in a Z direction as the Z stage plate is scanned in a plane perpendicular to the Z direction. The actuators may include force flexures having a base portion attached to the Z stage plate and a cantilever portion extending in a lateral direction from the base portion. The cantilever portion may include a parallelogram flexure coupled between the base portion and a free end of the cantilever portion. | 07-11-2013 |
20130182235 | MEASUREMENT SYSTEM THAT INCLUDES AN ENCODER AND AN INTERFEROMETER - A stage assembly ( | 07-18-2013 |
20130188165 | LITHOGRAPHY APPARATUS, AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING ARTICLE - A lithography apparatus includes: a rotation mechanism configured to rotate a substrate; a first measurement device configured to measure a position of an alignment mark formed on the substrate in a first direction with a first precision; a second measurement device configured to measure a position of an alignment mark formed on the substrate in a second direction with a second precision higher than the first precision; and a controller configured to control the rotation mechanism so that a direction, in which the substrate requires an overlay precision higher than another direction, is aligned with the second direction. | 07-25-2013 |
20130201465 | POSITIONING SYSTEM - A positioning system includes a first working platform, a second working platform spaced apart from the first working platform, and a carrier. The carrier is fixed on the first working platform or the second working platform. The carrier has at least one fixing member for fixing the substrate onto the carrier and fixing the mask onto the substrate. The substrate has at least one fixing hole formed thereon for receiving the fixing member, and the mask has at least one positioning hole formed thereon in alignment with the fixing hole. The fixing member is capable of inserting sequentially through the fixing hole of the substrate and the positioning hole of the mask. | 08-08-2013 |
20130201466 | Lithographic Apparatus and Device Manufacturing Method - A lithography apparatus includes a projection system configured to project a radiation beam onto a substrate, a detector configured to inspect the substrate, and a substrate table configured to support the substrate and move the substrate relative to the projection system and the detector. The detector is arranged to inspect a portion of the substrate while the substrate is moved and before the portion is exposed to the radiation beam. | 08-08-2013 |
20130215408 | Lithographic Apparatus and Device Manufacturing Method - A substrate handler for transferring substrates to be exposed from a track to a lithographic apparatus. The substrate handler comprises a controller. The controller is configured to determine an instance for starting a transfer process of a first one of the substrates. The instance is based on a predetermined processing characteristic of the lithographic apparatus, in order to maintain a transfer period of the substrate in the substrate handler substantially constant. | 08-22-2013 |
20130222782 | SUBSTRATE HOLDING APPARATUS, PATTERN TRANSFER APPARATUS, AND PATTERN TRANSFER METHOD - According to one embodiment, a substrate holding apparatus includes a main unit and a plurality of first support units. The main unit has a major surface. The main unit has a plate configuration. The first support units are disposed on the major surface. Each of the first support units includes a suction-holding unit capable of holding a substrate by suction. The suction-holding unit is movable along a first direction perpendicular to the major surface and a second direction parallel to the major surface. | 08-29-2013 |
20130250270 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A lithographic projection apparatus is disclosed in which a space between the projection system and the substrate is filled with a liquid. An edge seal member at least partly surrounds the substrate or other object on a substrate table to prevent liquid loss when edge portions of the substrate or other object are, for example, imaged or illuminated. A lithographic projection apparatus includes a support structure configured to hold a patterning device, the patterning device configured to pattern a beam of radiation according to a desired pattern; a substrate table configured to hold a substrate; a projection system configured to project the patterned beam onto a target portion of the substrate; a liquid supply system configured to provide liquid to a space between the projection system and the substrate; and a shutter configured to isolate the space from the substrate or a space to be occupied by a substrate. | 09-26-2013 |
20130258306 | MASK PATTERN ALIGNMENT METHOD AND SYSTEM - An alignment method includes dividing a wafer into a plurality of regions including a first region and a second region, and each region contains a plurality chip areas. The method also includes obtaining alignment offset values for the first region, and determining a first alignment compensation equation for the first region. The method also includes obtaining alignment offset values for the second region, and determining a second alignment compensation equation for the second region. Further, the method includes determining whether a chip area to be exposed is in the first region or the second region, when the chip area is in the first region, using the first alignment compensation equation to adjust alignment of the wafer and, when the chip area is in the second region, using the second alignment compensation equation to adjust the alignment of the wafer. | 10-03-2013 |
20130258307 | Magnet Array Configuration for Higher Efficiency Planar Motor - According to one aspect, a stage apparatus includes a first surface, a second surface, an overall magnet array, and a plurality of coils. The overall magnet array is mounted on the first surface, and includes an X magnet array and a Y magnet array. The coils are mounted on the second surface, and include a first coil that cooperates with the X magnet array to control force on the first surface along an x-axis. The coils also include a second coil that cooperates with the Y magnet array to control force on the first surface along a y-axis. The second coil cooperates with the overall magnet array to control force applied to the first surface in a direction normal to the first surface. The first coil does not cooperate with the overall magnet array to control the force applied in the direction normal to the first surface. | 10-03-2013 |
20130258308 | EXPOSURE APPARATUS, METHOD OF CONTROLLING THE SAME AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING DEVICE - An exposure apparatus exposes a resist on a substrate to light via an optical system. The exposure apparatus includes: a table configured to position the substrate at an exposure position upon holding the substrate; an obtaining unit configured to obtain a distance from an alignment mark formed on the substrate to a resist surface, and a tilt of the resist surface; and a control unit configured to calculate a correction value for correcting a shift in exposure position, that occurs upon tilt correction of the table, so as to reduce the tilt of the resist surface, using the distance and the tilt, and control a position of the table in accordance with the correction value. | 10-03-2013 |
20130271743 | DRIVING APPARATUS, EXPOSURE APPARATUS, AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING ARTICLE - The present invention provides a driving apparatus including an axis member supported on a base, and a movable member movable along the axis member, comprising a plurality of plate members each including a through-hole through which the axis member penetrates and surrounding the axis member, wherein the plurality of plate members are located apart from each other in a moving direction of the movable member. | 10-17-2013 |
20130278914 | NON-HARMONIC CYCLIC ERROR COMPENSATION IN INTERFEROMETRIC ENCODER SYSTEMS - A method includes obtaining, from a detector of an interferometry system, an interference signal based on a combination of a first beam and a reference beam, subsequent to the first beam being diffracted by an encoder scale, obtaining, through an electronic processor, an error compensation signal based on a non-harmonic cyclic error that modifies the interference signal, and outputting information about a change in a position of the encoder scale relative to an optical assembly of the interferometry system based on the interference signal and the error compensation signal. | 10-24-2013 |
20130278915 | Lithographic Apparatuses and Methods for Compensating For Eigenmode Coupling - A lithographic apparatus can include a component and a positioning system operatively coupled and configured to move the component along a first axis. The positioning system can be configured to measure a position of the component along a second axis or a third axis. The positioning system can also be configured to control movement of the component so as to compensate for an effect of eigenmode coupling between the movement of the component along the first axis and the measured position of the component along the second axis or the third axis. In some embodiments, the component is a reticle stage or a wafer stage. | 10-24-2013 |
20130286374 | EXPOSURE APPARATUS - An extreme ultraviolet exposure apparatus includes a radiation system configured to supply a beam of extreme ultraviolet radiation; a support configured to support a patterning device, the patterning device configured to pattern the beam of extreme ultraviolet radiation according to a desired pattern; a substrate table having an area configured to support a substrate; a projection system configured to project the patterned beam of extreme ultraviolet radiation onto a target portion of the substrate, the projection system comprising a reflective optical system; wherein at least a part of the apparatus that during use of the apparatus is exposed to the beam of extreme ultraviolet radiation is coated with a coating, the coating comprising a metal oxide, or a photocatalyst, or a semiconductor, or any combination thereof. | 10-31-2013 |
20130293863 | MOVABLE BODY APPARATUS, MOVABLE BODY DRIVE METHOD, EXPOSURE APPARATUS, EXPOSURE METHOD, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A drive system drives a movable body, based on measurement results of a first measurement system which measures the position of the movable body in an XY plane by irradiating a measurement beam from an arm member on a grating placed on a surface parallel to the XY plane of the movable body and measurement results of a second measurement system which measures a variance of the arm member using a laser interferometer. In this case, the drive system corrects measurement errors caused due to a variance of the arm member included in the measurement results of the first measurement system, using the measurement results of the second measurement system. | 11-07-2013 |
20130293864 | EXPOSURE APPARATUS AND DEVICE FABRICATION METHOD - The present invention provides an exposure apparatus which transfers a pattern of a reticle onto a substrate, the apparatus including a convey unit configured to convey the substrate while chucking and holding a lower surface of the substrate, and a control unit configured to control a conveyance condition of the convey unit so that a conveyance acceleration is lower when the convey unit conveys the substrate in a vertical direction with downward acceleration than when the convey unit conveys the substrate in the vertical direction with upward acceleration. | 11-07-2013 |
20130301027 | EXPOSURE METHOD, EXPOSURE APPARATUS, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - Within area where of four heads installed on a wafer stage, heads included in the first head group and the second head group to which three heads each belong that include one head different from each other face the corresponding areas on a scale plate, the wafer stage is driven based on positional information which is obtained using the first head group, as well as obtain the displacement (displacement of position, rotation, and scaling) between the first and second reference coordinate systems corresponding to the first and second head groups using the positional information obtained using the first and second head groups. By using the results and correcting measurement results obtained using the second head group, the displacement between the first and second reference coordinate systems is calibrated, which allows the measurement errors that come with the displacement between areas on scale plates where each of the four heads face. | 11-14-2013 |
20130301028 | Substrate Table, Lithographic Apparatus and Device Manufacturing Method - A substrate table comprising a base and a plurality of burls that project from the base, wherein an upper surface of the burls is provided with a multilayer coating. | 11-14-2013 |
20130308116 | ELECTROSTATIC CLAMP, LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING AN ELECTROSTATIC CLAMP - An electrostatic clamp for use in a lithographic apparatus includes burls and an electrode surrounded by an insulator and/or a dielectric material between adjacent burls. In an embodiment, two or more layers of dielectric material are provided between adjacent burls and surround an electrode provided between adjacent burls. The electrostatic clamp may be used to clamp an object to an object support in a lithographic apparatus. | 11-21-2013 |
20130314684 | Lithographic Apparatus and Device Manufacturing Method - A substrate stage is used in a lithographic apparatus. The substrate stage includes a substrate table constructed to hold a substrate and a positioning device for in use positioning the substrate table relative to a projection system of the lithographic apparatus. The positioning device includes a first positioning member mounted to the substrate table and a second positioning member co-operating with the first positioning member to position the substrate table. The second positioning member is mounted to a support structure. The substrate stage further comprises an actuator that is arranged to exert a vertical force on a bottom surface of the substrate table at a substantially fixed horizontal position relative to the support structure. | 11-28-2013 |
20130314685 | MASK - Provided are a mask, a method of manufacturing the same, a light irradiation device, a method of radiating light, and a method of manufacturing an orientationally ordered photo-alignment layer. By the mask, collimated light or nearly collimated light may be irradiated with uniform illumination to a surface of an object to be irradiated. Further, by the mask, light may be effectively incident even on the object to be irradiated in the curved shape. | 11-28-2013 |
20130321787 | MASK - Provided are a mask, a method of manufacturing a mask, a light radiating device, a method of radiating light and a method of manufacturing an ordered photo-alignment layer. By the mask, collimated light or nearly collimated light may be irradiated with uniform illumination on the object to be irradiated. Further, by the mask, light may be effectively irradiated even in a state where the object to be irradiated has the curved surface. | 12-05-2013 |
20130321788 | Lithographic Apparatus and Device Manufacturing Method - A substrate support is provided for a lithographic apparatus. The support comprises a substrate table constructed to hold a substrate and a chuck for the substrate table. In operation, the substrate table is supported by the chuck and clamped thereto. The substrate support comprises a first set of burls on a surface of the support block for abutting against the substrate table during the clamping and a second set of burls on a surface of the substrate table for abutting against the support block during the clamping. | 12-05-2013 |
20130329207 | EXPOSURE APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - An exposure apparatus of performing an exposure for each shot region on a substrate includes: a stage configured to move while holding the substrate; a measurement device configured to measure a vibration of the stage; and a controller, when the vibration of the stage measured by the measurement device during an exposure period of a shot region of a first substrate falls outside an allowable range, configured to change a control parameter when exposing a shot region of a second substrate to be exposed after the first substrate at the same position as the shot region of the first substrate so as to improve an exposure accuracy. | 12-12-2013 |
20130329208 | POSITION MEASUREMENT METHOD, POSITION CONTROL METHOD, MEASUREMENT METHOD, LOADING METHOD, EXPOSURE METHOD AND EXPOSURE APPARATUS, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - An exposure method and apparatus exposes a substrate that is loaded on a stage via a carrier system, with an exposure beam via a projection optical system and a liquid. An object carried by the carrier system is mounted in a depressed section of the stage. Information on a positional relation between the object mounted in the depressed section and the depressed section is obtained. The substrate is loaded on the stage based on the obtained information so that the substrate carried to above the stage by the carrier system is mounted in the depressed section. A part of the substrate mounted in the depressed section is irradiated with the exposure beam via the projection optical system and a liquid immersion area formed by the liquid under the projection optical system. | 12-12-2013 |
20130329209 | MASK, EXPOSURE APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A circular cylinder-shaped mask is used to form an image of a pattern on a substrate via a projection optical system. The mask has a pattern formation surface on which the pattern is formed and that is placed around a predetermined axis, and the mask is able to rotate, with the predetermined axis taken as an axis of rotation, in synchronization with a movement of the substrate in at least a predetermined one-dimensional direction. When a diameter of the mask on the pattern formation surface is taken as D, and a maximum length of the substrate in the one-dimensional direction is taken as L, and a projection ratio of the projection optical system is taken as β, and circumference ratio is taken as π, then the conditions for D≧(β×L)/π are satisfied. | 12-12-2013 |
20130329210 | ROLL-PRINTING APPARATUS AND ROLL-PRINTING METHOD USING THE SAME - Provided are a roll printing apparatus and a roll printing method using the same. The roll printing apparatus according to the present invention comprises 1) a first cliché stage, 2) a second cliché stage, 3) a pattern transfer unit provided between the first cliché stage and the second cliché stage and comprising a roll type printed film support unit, 4) a first printing unit comprising a first printing roll moving to the pattern transfer unit on the first cliché stage, and 5) a second printing unit comprising a second printing roll moving the pattern transfer unit on the second cliché stage, in which the first cliché stage and the second cliché stage are disposed on the same line and a film substrate is comprised in the roll type printed film support unit. The roll printing apparatus according to the present invention can perform a continuous roll printing, thereby reducing a tack time and as a result, improving productivity. | 12-12-2013 |
20130335722 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A lithographic apparatus includes a support constructed to support a patterning device, the patterning device being capable of imparting a radiation beam with a pattern in its cross-section to form a patterned radiation beam; a substrate table constructed to hold a substrate; a projection system configured to project the patterned radiation beam onto a target portion of the substrate; a sensor array positioned and arranged to detect an acoustic wave from a movable part of the lithographic apparatus, a controller, the controller having a controller input connected to the sensor array so as to receive a sensor array output signal, and a controller output connected to at least one actuator arranged to act on the movable part, the controller being arranged to: calculate a movement of the movable part from the sensor array output signal, and drive via the controller output the at least one actuator in response to the calculated movement. | 12-19-2013 |
20130335723 | MOVABLE BODY APPARATUS, EXPOSURE APPARATUS, EXPOSURE METHOD, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A fine movement stage is driven by a controller, based on positional information of the fine movement stage in a measurement direction measured by a measurement system and correction information of a measurement error caused by a tilt of the fine movement stage included in the positional information. Accordingly, driving the fine movement stage with high precision becomes possible, which is not affected by a measurement error included in the positional information in a measurement direction of the measurement system that occurs due to a tilt of the fine movement stage. | 12-19-2013 |
20140002805 | Electrostatic Clamp Apparatus And Lithographic Apparatus | 01-02-2014 |
20140016110 | Shear-Layer Chuck for Lithographic Apparatus - A lithographic apparatus is described that comprises a support structure to hold an object. The object may be a patterning device or a substrate to be exposed. The support structure comprises a chuck, on which the object is supported, and an array of shear-compliant elongated elements normal to the chuck and the stage, such that first ends of the elongated elements contact a surface of the chuck and second ends of the elongated elements contact a stage. Through using the array of elongated elements, a transfer of stress between the stage and the chuck is substantially uniform, resulting in minimization of slippage of the object relative to the surface of the chuck during a deformation of the chuck due to the stress. | 01-16-2014 |
20140016111 | EXPOSURE APPARATUS, CALIBRATION METHOD, AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING ARTICLE - The present invention provides an exposure apparatus which exposes a substrate to light, the apparatus comprising a substrate stage, a position measurement unit configured to measure a position of the substrate stage, a structure configured to support the position measurement unit, a force measurement unit configured to measure a force that acts on the structure, a correction unit configured to correct a command for controlling the position of the substrate stage, based on the measurement value obtained by the force measurement unit, and a correction coefficient, and a calculation unit configured to calculate the correction coefficient based on position deviation information between adjacent shot regions in an evaluation substrate including a plurality of shot regions exposed without correction by the correction unit, and the measurement value obtained by the force measurement unit in exposing each shot region. | 01-16-2014 |
20140022527 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS - A lithographic apparatus including a substrate table position measurement system and a projection system position measurement system to measure a position of the substrate table and the projection system, respectively. The substrate table position measurement system includes a substrate table reference element mounted on the substrate table and a first sensor head. The substrate table reference element extends in a measurement plane substantially parallel to the holding plane of a substrate on substrate table. The holding plane is arranged at one side of the measurement plane and the first sensor head is arranged at an opposite side of the measurement plane. The projection system position measurement system includes one or more projection system reference elements and a sensor assembly. The sensor head and the sensor assembly or the associated projection system measurement elements are mounted on a sensor frame. | 01-23-2014 |
20140028992 | DRIVING SYSTEM AND DRIVING METHOD, EXPOSURE APPARATUS AND EXPOSURE METHOD, AND DRIVING SYSTEM DESIGN METHOD - At a carriage that shows a resonance mode in opposite phase to a resonance mode shown by a plate table where an interferometer which measures a position (a first controlled variable) of a plate stage driven according to a control input is installed, another interferometer is installed which measures a position (the second controlled variable) of the plate stage. By using the interferometer and the another interferometer, it becomes possible to design a driving system robust in a high bandwidth that drives the plate stage. | 01-30-2014 |
20140036248 | EXPOSURE METHOD, EXPOSURE APPARATUS, AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING DEVICE - In an exposure method of performing a scan exposure of a substrate, held by a substrate stage, in a first direction for each shot region, a surface position of an exposure area is pre-measured before the exposure area reaches a region, to be irradiated with exposure light, of the substrate, movement of the substrate stage in order to change a shot region to undergo the scan exposure includes first movement in which the substrate stage moves along a curved trajectory, and second movement in which the substrate stage rectilinearly moves in the first direction, and, while the movement of the substrate stage is the first movement, the surface position is pre-measured, and a pre-measure position in a shot region is common among a plurality of shot regions. | 02-06-2014 |
20140036249 | STAGE APPARATUS, LITHOGRAPHY APPARATUS, AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING ARTICLE - The preset invention provides a stage apparatus which holds a substrate, the apparatus including a driving unit which includes a first coil arranged on a fixed portion, and a first magnet which is arranged on a movable portion and opposed to the first coil, and is configured to move the movable portion by a magnetic field generated by supplying a current to the first coil, and an attracting unit which includes a first yoke arranged on the fixed portion, and a second coil wound around the first yoke, and is configured to attract the movable portion to a side of the fixed portion by a magnetic field generated by supplying a current to the second coil. | 02-06-2014 |
20140049762 | TWO AXIS ENCODER HEAD ASSEMBLY - A measurement system for measuring the position of a work piece ( | 02-20-2014 |
20140049763 | HOLDING APPARATUS, EXPOSURE APPARATUS AND MANUFACTURING METHOD OF DEVICE - A holding apparatus includes a holding portion that includes a first member which contacts a portion of an object, a second member which at least a portion thereof is fixed to a base, and a connection member which is configured to connect the first and second members, and a driving unit which drives the holding portion to change at least a posture of the first member, wherein a relative positional relationship between the first member and the second member is changed via the connection member. | 02-20-2014 |
20140049764 | EXPOSURE APPARATUS, EXPOSURE METHOD, DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD, AND CARRIER METHOD - An exposure apparatus is equipped with a coarse movement stage which can move along an XY plane and includes a first section and a second section that can come close to and separate from each other, a fine movement stage which holds wafer W and is supported relatively movable at least within the XY plane by the coarse movement stage, and a drive system which drives the fine movement stage supported by the coarse movement stage independently or integrally with the coarse movement stage. Further, the exposure apparatus is equipped with a relay stage which can deliver the fine movement stage to/from the coarse movement stage. | 02-20-2014 |
20140055768 | POSITION DETECTOR, LITHOGRAPHY APPARATUS, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A position detector configured to detect a position of an object to be detected. The position detector has an optical system configured to detect a mark on the object to be detected that includes a lens that has a positive refractive power, and a reflection member configured to reflect a light flux that passes through the lens in a convergent state or a divergent state. The reflection member is configured from at least one material of a material that exhibits a refractive index of less than 1.0 and an extinction coefficient of greater than 0.0, and a material that exhibits a refractive index of greater than 1.0 and an extinction coefficient of greater than 0.5. | 02-27-2014 |
20140063480 | EXPOSURE DEVICE AND EXPOSURE METHOD - An exposure method and an exposure device are provided. An exemplary exposure device includes a stage, a first clamp holder, a second clamp holder, an optical projection unit, a first alignment detection unit, and/or a second alignment detection unit. The stage includes a first region and a second region. The first clamp holder is located in the first region and adapted for holding a first substrate, and the second clamp holder is located in the second region and adapted for holding a second substrate. The optical projection unit is located above the stage and adapted for exposure of the first substrate or the second substrate. The first alignment detection unit is adapted for detecting alignment marks of the first substrate. The second alignment detection unit is adapted for detecting alignment marks of the second substrate. The exposure device can accurately position the stage and improve production yield. | 03-06-2014 |
20140071422 | DUAL WAFER STAGE SWITCHING SYSTEM FOR A LITHOGRAPHY MACHINE - Disclosed is a dual wafer stage switching system for a lithography machine. The system comprises a base stage ( | 03-13-2014 |
20140071423 | SUBSTRATE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND SUBSTRATE PROCESSING SYSTEM - A substrate processing apparatus includes a processing section and an exposure transport section. The exposure transport section includes a horizontal transport region and a plurality of vertical transport regions in a casing. The horizontal transport region is provided at the upper portion of the casing to extend in the X direction. A plurality of exposure devices are arranged below the horizontal transport region to be lined up in the X direction. A transport mechanism is provided in the horizontal transport region. The transport mechanism is configured to be capable of transporting a substrate between the processing section and the plurality of exposure devices. | 03-13-2014 |
20140085620 | 3D PRINTER WITH SELF-LEVELING PLATFORM - 3D printing systems and methods avoid build-compromising misalignments through the use of a self-leveling assembly that maintains a constant and typically fully parallel orientation between a build platform and the bottom surface of a resin tank. As a result, contact between the floor of the resin tank and the build platform surface may be uniformly flat and even, and perpendicular to the z-axis motion of the deposition source. | 03-27-2014 |
20140092374 | EXPOSURE APPARATUS, EXPOSURE METHOD, AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING DEVICE - A scanning exposure apparatus measures levels of a substrate at a predetermined position on the substrate at a first measurement point during the acceleration period and a second measurement point during the constant velocity period, obtains a correction value for a measurement error due to factors associated with acceleration based on the measurement results, corrects the measured level using the obtained correction value and exposes the substrate so that the level at a given position on the substrate becomes equal to the corrected level, when the substrate is exposed at the given position after the level is measured while the stage accelerates, and exposes the substrate so that the level at a given position on the substrate becomes equal to the measured level measured, when the substrate is exposed after the level of the substrate at the given position is measured while the stage moves at a constant velocity. | 04-03-2014 |
20140098357 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - An immersion lithographic projection apparatus is disclosed in which liquid is provided between a projection system of the apparatus and a substrate. The use of both liquidphobic and liquidphilic layers on various elements of the apparatus is provided to help prevent formation of bubbles in the liquid and to help reduce residue on the elements after being in contact with the liquid. | 04-10-2014 |
20140104590 | EXPOSURE APPARATUS AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING DEVICE - The present invention provides an exposure apparatus including a stage control system configured to control a stage for holding a substrate in accordance with a command value, a specifying unit configured to specify an exposure start time at which exposure on the substrate starts upon detecting exposure light illuminated on the substrate, and a main control system configured to calculate positions of the stage at a plurality of times in an exposure period for the substrate based on position information of the stage at an exposure start time specified by the specifying unit, obtain an average position of the stage in at least a partial period in the exposure period from the calculated positions of the stage at the plurality of times, and give a command value for matching the average position of the stage with a target position to the stage control system. | 04-17-2014 |
20140111788 | DETECTION DEVICE, EXPOSURE APPARATUS, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD USING SAME - A detection device that detects a mark provided on the back side of an object, the detection device includes a first detection unit configured to detect the mark from a surface side of the object; a second detection unit configured to detect a surface position of the object; and a processing unit. The processing unit determines a thickness of the object based on a difference between a first focus position acquired with reference to the position of the mark detected by the first detection unit and a second focus position acquired with reference to the surface position detected by the second detection unit. | 04-24-2014 |
20140125961 | MOVABLE BODY APPARATUS, EXPOSURE APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - In a liquid crystal exposure apparatus, base pads are respectively placed on two surface plates, and one step board is supported by the base pads. A device main body of an empty-weight cancelling device moves from above one of the surface plates to above the other by moving on the step board, and therefore, a boundary section between the two adjacent surface plates that are separately placed does not function as a guide surface used when the empty-weight cancelling device moves. Accordingly, a fine movement stage that holds a substrate can be guided along an XY plane with high accuracy although the two surface plates are placed apart. | 05-08-2014 |
20140146299 | ALIGNMENT CORRECTION METHOD FOR SUBSTRATE TO BE EXPOSED, AND EXPOSURE APPARATUS - An alignment correction method includes: the step of detecting coordinates of a first observation point | 05-29-2014 |
20140146300 | MOVABLE BODY DRIVE SYSTEM AND MOVABLE BODY DRIVE METHOD, PATTERN FORMATION APPARATUS AND METHOD, EXPOSURE APPARATUS AND METHOD, DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD, AND DECISION-MAKING METHOD - A drive unit drives a wafer table in a Y-axis direction based on a measurement value of an encoder that measures position information of the wafer table in the Y-axis direction and based on known correction information in accordance with position information of the wafer table in a non-measurement direction (e.g. Z, θz and θx directions) that is measured by an interferometer at the time of the measurement by the encoder. That is, the wafer table (a movable body) is driven in the Y-axis direction based on the measurement value of the encoder that has been corrected by correction information for correcting a measurement error of the encoder that is caused by a relative displacement of a head and a scale in the non-measurement direction. Accordingly, the movable body can be driven with high accuracy in a desired direction while measuring the position by the encoder, without being affected by the relative motion between the head and the scale in directions other than a direction to be measured (measurement direction). | 05-29-2014 |
20140168625 | POSITIONING APPARATUS, LITHOGRAPHY APPARATUS, AND ARTICLE MANUFACTURING METHOD - Provided is a positioning apparatus including a holder configured to hold an original or a substrate and to be movable, and an interferometer for measuring a position of the holder, and positioning the holder based on an output from the interferometer. The positioning apparatus comprises a reference member provided with the holder and including a reference plane; and a plurality of measuring devices respectively configured to face the reference plane, and to respectively measure positions of a plurality of measurement points on the reference plane in a measurement direction intersecting the reference plane. | 06-19-2014 |
20140185028 | LITHOGRAPHY SYSTEM, METHOD OF CLAMPING AND WAFER TABLE - The invention relates to a lithography system, for example for projecting an image or an image pattern on to a target ( | 07-03-2014 |
20140185029 | OPTICAL IMAGING ARRANGEMENT WITH VIBRATION DECOUPLED SUPPORT UNITS - An optical imaging arrangement includes an optical projection system and a support structure system. The optical projection system includes a group of optical elements configured to transfer, in an exposure process using exposure light along an exposure light path, an image of a pattern of a mask supported by a mask support structure onto a substrate supported by a substrate support structure. The mask support structure and the substrate support structure form a primary source of vibration. The support structure system includes a base support structure, an optical element support structure and at least one secondary vibration source support structure of a secondary vibration source other than the primary source of vibration. The optical element support structure supports the optical elements. | 07-03-2014 |
20140198307 | INTERFEROMETER SYSTEM, LITHOGRAPHY APPARATUS, AND ARTICLE MANUFACTURING METHOD - Provided is an interferometer system that irradiates an object to be measured with measuring light to thereby measure the position of the object to be measured. The interferometer system includes a laser light source; an interferometer configured to separate laser light emitted from an emission opening of the laser light source into the measuring light and reference light; and an optical path protecting member configured to surround an optical axis such that the laser light passes through the inside thereof and of which one opening is in contact with the emission opening. | 07-17-2014 |
20140204357 | DETECTION APPARATUS, MEASUREMENT APPARATUS, LITHOGRAPHY APPARATUS, AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING ARTICLE - The present invention provides a detection apparatus including a detector configured to detect a mark including a plurality of patterns arrayed on an object in a first direction, the apparatus comprising a support configured to support at least a part of the detector, wherein the support is configured to support the at least the part such that a displacement of the at least the part in a second direction corresponding to the first direction is smaller than a displacement of the at least the part in a third direction perpendicular to the second direction. | 07-24-2014 |
20140204358 | MAGNETIC SENSOR CALIBRATION AND SERVO FOR PLANAR MOTOR STAGE - A stage assembly for positioning a device includes: (i) a stage that retains the device; (ii) a base; (iii) a mover assembly that moves the stage along a first axis, along a second axis, and along a third axis relative to the base; (iv) a magnetic sensor system that monitors the movement of the stage along the first, second and third axes, the magnetic sensor system generating a magnetic sensor signal; (v) a second sensor system that monitors the movement of the stage along the first, second and third axes, the second sensor system generating a second sensor signal; and (vi) a control system that controls the mover assembly using at least one of the magnetic sensor signal and the second sensor signal. | 07-24-2014 |
20140211190 | Electrical Connector, Electrical Connection System and Lithographic Apparatus - An electrical connector comprises a high voltage pad and a high voltage plate. When connected to another electrical connector, the two plates, which are at the same voltage as the pads, form a region of high voltage in which the field is low. The pads are positioned in that region. An electrostatic clamp of an EUV lithographic apparatus may have such a pad and plate, for connecting to the electrical connector. By placing the interconnection in a low field region, triple points (points of contact between a conductor, a solid insulator and a gas) may be present in that region. | 07-31-2014 |
20140218711 | Electrostatic Clamp, Lithographic Apparatus, and Device Manufacturing Method - An electrostatic clamp for use in holding an object onto a supporting table, the electrostatic clamp comprising: a multi-layer film comprising an electrode defined in an electrically conducting layer which is positioned between electrically insulating layers. | 08-07-2014 |
20140218712 | EXPOSURE APPARATUS AND DEVICE FABRICATION METHOD - An exposure apparatus and a fabrication method thereof include an obtaining unit configured to obtain data of a first imaging position at which light from a first pattern having, as a longitudinal direction thereof, a first direction perpendicular to an optical axis of a projection optical system forms an image via the projection optical system, and data of a second imaging position at which light from a second pattern having, as a longitudinal direction thereof, a second direction which is not parallel to the first direction and is perpendicular to the optical axis forms an image via the projection optical system, when the first pattern and the second pattern are respectively placed on an object plane of the projection optical system, and a control unit configured to control a stage so that a substrate is positioned at a target position of the substrate along the optical axis. | 08-07-2014 |
20140233009 | Shear-Layer Chuck for Lithographic Apparatus - A lithographic apparatus is described that comprises a support structure to hold an object. The object may be a patterning device or a substrate to be exposed. The support structure comprises a chuck, on which the object is supported, and an array of shear-compliant elongated elements normal to the chuck and the stage, such that first ends of the elongated elements contact a surface of the chuck and second ends of the elongated elements contact a stage. Through using the array of elongated elements, a transfer of stress between the stage and the chuck is substantially uniform, resulting in minimization of slippage of the object relative to the surface of the chuck during a deformation of the chuck due to the stress. | 08-21-2014 |
20140253898 | PELLICLE MOUNTING SYSTEM AND METHOD - A pellicle mounting method is provided. The method includes aligning a mounting apparatus with a top surface of a pellicle frame, the mounting apparatus having a continuous duct extending therethrough and a plurality of contact pins projecting from the mounting apparatus. The method also includes introducing a pressurizing fluid into the continuous duct that causes each of the plurality of contact pins to engage the top surface of the pellicle frame with a substantially equal force, a combined force of the plurality of contact pins urging a bottom surface of the pellicle frame against a top surface of a photomask, the combined force being adjustable based on a pressure within the continuous duct. Further, the method includes adjusting the pressure within the continuous duct until the pressure is approximately equal to a pre-determined optimal pressure. | 09-11-2014 |
20140253899 | SUBSTRATE PROCESSING APPARATUS, LITHOGRAPHY APPARATUS, AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING ARTICLE - The present invention provides a substrate processing apparatus for performing a process of reducing warpage of a substrate, comprising a substrate stage configured to hold the substrate, a pressing member including a portion formed to press a peripheral portion of the substrate against the substrate stage, an obtaining unit configured to obtain information indicating a shift between a center of a region where a pattern is formed on the substrate and a center of the substrate, and a controller configured to control relative positions of the substrate stage and the pressing member based on the information obtained by the obtaining unit, such that the portion of the pressing member presses the peripheral portion of the substrate. | 09-11-2014 |
20140253900 | Chuck, a Chuck Control System, a Lithography Apparatus and a Method of Using a Chuck - A chuck, chuck control system, lithographic apparatus and method of using a chuck are disclosed. In an embodiment, there is provided a chuck ( | 09-11-2014 |
20140268088 | MECHANICALLY PRODUCED ALIGNMENT FIDUCIAL METHOD AND DEVICE - The technology disclosed relates to methods and systems that can be used to reduce visible artifacts know as mura. In particular, it relates to producing alignment marks by physically modifying appearance of a layer of exposure or radiation sensitive material on a workpiece, then using those alignment marks or transferred direct or inverted images of those marks to realign a writing coordinate system between exposure writing passes, following physical movement of the workpiece within the writing system. The physical modifications described include mechanically pressing a mark into the layer, using a laser to ash or ablate the layer, or applying an ink or other substance to the surface of the laser. | 09-18-2014 |
20140268089 | PATTERN FORMING APPARATUS, MARK DETECTING APPARATUS, EXPOSURE APPARATUS, PATTERN FORMING METHOD, EXPOSURE METHOD, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - While a wafer stage linearly moves in a Y-axis direction, a multipoint AF system detects surface position information of the wafer surface at a plurality of detection points that are set at a predetermined distance in an X-axis direction and also a plurality of alignment systems that are arrayed in a line along the X-axis direction detect each of marks at positions different from one another on the wafer. That is, detection of surface position information of the wafer surface at a plurality of detection points and detection of the marks at positions different from one another on the wafer are finished, only by the wafer stage (wafer) linearly passing through the array of the plurality of detection points of the multipoint AF system and the plurality of alignment systems, and therefore, the throughput can be improved. | 09-18-2014 |
20140285790 | SUBSTRATE TREATING APPARATUS - A substrate treating apparatus includes a treating section for treating substrates, and an interface section disposed adjacent the treating section and adjacent an exposing machine provided separately from the apparatus. The interface section has a first treating-section-side transport mechanism, a second treating-section-side transport mechanism, and an exposing-machine-side transport mechanism. Each of the first and second treating-section-side transport mechanisms is arranged to receive the substrates from the treating section, pass the substrates to the exposing-machine-side transport mechanism, receive the substrates from the exposing-machine-side transport mechanism and pass the substrates to the treating section. The exposing-machine-side transport mechanism is arranged to receive the substrates from the first and second treating-section-side transport mechanisms, transport the substrates to the exposing machine, receive the substrates after exposing treatment from the exposing machine, and pass the substrates to the first and second treating-section-side transport mechanisms. | 09-25-2014 |
20140307246 | DETERMINING POSITION AND CURVATURE INFORMATION DIRECTLY FROM A SURFACE OF A PATTERNING DEVICE - Position and curvature information of a patterning device may be determined directly from the patterning device and controlled based on the determined information. In an embodiment, a lithographic apparatus includes a position determining system operative to determine a relative position of the patterning device. The patterning device may be configured to create a patterned radiation beam from a radiation beam incident on a major surface of the patterning device. The patterning device may have a side surface having an edge in common with the major surface. The position determining system may include an interferometer operative to transmit light to the side surface and to receive the transmitted light after the transmitted light has been reflected at the side surface. The position determining system is operative to determine a quantity representative of the relative position of the patterning device from the received reflected transmitted light. | 10-16-2014 |
20140313500 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS, DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD, AND METHOD OF APPLYING A PATTERN TO A SUBSTRATE - A lithographic apparatus includes at least one image alignment sensor for receiving radiation projected from an alignment mark on a reticle. Processor processes signals from the sensor(s) to resolve spatial information in the projected alignment mark to establish a reference for measuring positional relationships between a substrate support and the patterning location. Examples of the sensor include line arrays of photodetectors. A single array can resolve spatial information in a plane of the sensor (X, Y direction) and in a perpendicular (Z) direction. At least a final step in establishing the reference position is performed while holding the substrate support stationary. Errors and delays induced by mechanical scanning of prior art sensors are avoided. Alternatively (not illustrated) the sensor is moved for mechanical scanning relative to the substrate support, independently of the main positioning systems. | 10-23-2014 |
20140320840 | Exposure Apparatus and Exposure Method - To provide a mask aligner that can appropriately manage very small-quantity production and multiproduct production. The present invention is a mask aligner | 10-30-2014 |
20140327899 | MOVABLE BODY SYSTEM, MOVABLE BODY DRIVE METHOD, PATTERN FORMATION APPARATUS, PATTERN FORMATION METHOD, EXPOSURE APPARATUS, EXPOSURE METHOD, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - An exposure apparatus exposes a substrate with an exposure beam via a projection system supported by a frame. A substrate stage having a table that mounts the substrate is placed on a base under the projection system. A measurement device has a plurality of heads provided at the table and each irradiate a measurement beam on a grating section supported by the frame, and measures positional information of the table by a head of the plural heads, that faces the grating section. A drive device drives the substrate stage to move the substrate. A controller controls a drive of the substrate stage based on displacement information of a head used in measurement of the positional information or correction information to compensate a measurement error of the measurement device that occurs due to a displacement of the head, and based on the positional information measured by the measurement device. | 11-06-2014 |
20140340666 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - An exposure apparatus including a projection system configured to project a plurality of radiation beams onto a target; a movable frame that is at least rotatable around an axis; and an actuator system configured to displace the movable frame to an axis away from an axis corresponding to the geometric center of the movable frame and to cause the frame to rotate around an axis through the center of mass of the frame. | 11-20-2014 |
20140340667 | EXPOSURE APPARATUS, EXPOSURE METHOD, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - An exposure apparatus is equipped with an encoder system which measures positional information of a wafer stage by irradiating a measurement beam using four heads installed on the wafer stage on a scale plate which covers the movement range of the wafer stage except for the area right under a projection optical system. Placement distances of the heads here are each set to be larger than width of the opening of the scale plates, respectively. This allows the positional information of the wafer stage to be measured, by switching and using the three heads facing the scale plate out of the four heads according to the position of the wafer stage. | 11-20-2014 |
20140354972 | MOVABLE BODY DRIVE METHOD AND MOVABLE BODY DRIVE SYSTEM, PATTERN FORMATION METHOD AND APPARATUS, EXPOSURE METHOD AND APPARATUS, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A controller inclines a movable body with respect to an XY plane at an angle α in a periodic direction of a grating, based on a measurement value of an interferometer which measures an angle of inclination of the movable body to the XY plane, and based on a measurement value of an encoder system and information of angle α before and after inclination, and computes an Abbe offset quantity of the grating surface with respect to a reference surface which serves as a reference for position control of the movable body in the XY plane. The controller drives the movable body, based on positional information of the movable body in the XY plane measured by the encoder system and a measurement error of the encoder system corresponding to an angle of inclination of the movable body to the XY plane due to Abbe offset quantity of the grating surface. | 12-04-2014 |
20140368804 | SUBSTRATE HOLDER, LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS, DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD, AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A SUBSTRATE HOLDER - A substrate holder for a lithographic apparatus has a main body having a thin-film stack provided on a surface thereof. The thin-film stack forms an electronic or electric component such as an electrode, a sensor, a heater, a transistor or a logic device, and has a top isolation layer. A plurality of burls to support a substrate are formed on the thin-film stack or in apertures of the thin-film stack. | 12-18-2014 |
20140375975 | Stage System and a Lithographic Apparatus - A movable stage system is configured to support an object subjected to a lithography process. A short stroke part (SS) is configured to support the object (W) and a long stroke part (LS) is configured to support the short stroke part. The short stroke part is movable over a relative small range of movement with respect to the long stroke part. The long stroke part is movable over a relative large range of movement with respect to a base support arranged to support the long stroke part. A shielding element (SE) is arranged between the short and long stroke parts. A position control system (PCS) maintains a substantially constant distance between the shielding element and the short stroke part. | 12-25-2014 |
20140375976 | MOVABLE BODY DRIVE METHOD AND SYSTEM, PATTERN FORMATION METHOD AND APPARATUS, EXPOSURE METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DRIVING MOVABLE BODY BASED ON MEASUREMENT VALUE OF ENCODER AND INFORMATION ON FLATNESS OF SCALE, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A drive unit drives a wafer stage in a Y-axis direction based on a measurement value of an encoder that measures position information of the wafer stage in the Y-axis direction and based on information on the flatness of a scale that is measured by the encoder. In this case, the drive unit can drive the wafer stage in a predetermined direction based on a measurement value after correction in which a measurement error caused by the flatness of the scale included in the measurement value of the encoder is corrected based on the information on the flatness of the scale. Accordingly, the wafer stage can be driven with high accuracy in a predetermined direction using the encoder, without being affected by the unevenness of the scale. | 12-25-2014 |
20150015867 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING PATTERN - There is provided a pattern forming apparatus which transfers a paste to a predetermined position of a pattern forming object fixed to a table through a pattern forming mask having opening portions at predetermined positions using a discharge mechanism part. To realize a pattern forming which allows the stable forming of a fine pattern with high accuracy and allows the paste to be surely filled into fine through holes, a corner portion of a distal end of the discharge mechanism part in contact with the pattern forming mask is formed into a concave shape, and a surface of the distal end portion of the discharge mechanism part including the concave shaped portion is covered with a film having liquid repellency so that the rolling of the paste is accelerated in a region formed by the concave shaped portion to form a fine pattern with high accuracy. | 01-15-2015 |
20150029484 | STAGE APPARATUS, LITHOGRAPHY APPARATUS AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING ARTICLE - The present invention provides a stage apparatus which holds a substrate, including a first moving stage, a second moving stage supported by the first moving stage, a linear motor including a coil arranged on the first moving stage, and a magnet arranged on the second moving stage in correspondence with the coil, a first channel formed in the first moving stage to supply a first refrigerant for recovering heat from the coil not to contact the coil, a cover member arranged on the first moving stage to surround the coil and be spaced apart from the coil, and a second channel formed in the cover member to supply a second refrigerant for recovering heat from the cover member not to contact the coil. | 01-29-2015 |
20150029485 | SUBSTRATE HOLDER AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A SUBSTRATE HOLDER - An object holder ( | 01-29-2015 |
20150036117 | MASKLESS NANOIMPRINT LITHOGRAPHY - A method for creating a nanoimprint lithography template includes exposing ( | 02-05-2015 |
20150036118 | PATTERN FORMING APPARATUS AND PATTERN FORMING METHOD, MOVABLE BODY DRIVE SYSTEM AND MOVABLE BODY DRIVE METHOD, EXPOSURE APPARATUS AND EXPOSURE METHOD, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A partial section of an aerial image measuring unit is arranged at a wafer stage and part of the remaining section is arranged at a measurement stage, and the aerial image measuring unit measures an aerial image of a mark formed by a projection optical system. Therefore, for example, when the aerial image measuring unit measures a best focus position of the projection optical system, the measurement can be performed using the position of the wafer stage, at which a partial section of the aerial image measuring unit is arranged, in a direction parallel to an optical axis of the projection optical system as a datum for the best focus position. Accordingly, when exposing an object with illumination light, the position of the wafer stage in the direction parallel to the optical axis is adjusted with high accuracy based on the measurement result of the best focus position. | 02-05-2015 |
20150042975 | PROJECTION EXPOSURE TOOL FOR MICROLITHOGRAPHY AND METHOD FOR MICROLITHOGRAPHIC IMAGING - A projection exposure tool for microlithography for imaging mask structures of an image-providing substrate onto a substrate to be structured includes a measuring apparatus configured to determine a relative position of measurement structures disposed on a surface of one of the substrates in relation to one another in at least one lateral direction with respect to the substrate surface and to thereby simultaneously measure a number of measurement structures disposed laterally offset in relation to one another. | 02-12-2015 |
20150042976 | Patterning Device Support - In a lithographic apparatus, slippage of a patterning device is substantially eliminated during movement of a patterning device stage by providing a magnetostrictive actuator to apply an accelerating force to the patterning device to compensate for forces that would otherwise tend to cause slippage when the patterning device stage moves. | 02-12-2015 |
20150049322 | SUBSTRATE PROCESSING SYSTEM AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING THE SAME - A substrate processing system may include at least one transfer device which transfers a substrate between a plurality of substrate processors and includes a first controller which controls the transfer device and a first communication module connected to the first controller, and at least one maintenance device configured to perform maintenance for the substrate processors and includes a second controller which controls the maintenance device and a second communication module connected to the second controller. The first controller may obtain information about the maintenance device through the first and second communication modules to control the transfer device, and the second controller may obtain information about the transfer device through the first and second communication modules to control the maintenance device. | 02-19-2015 |
20150055113 | PATTERN FORMATION METHOD, MASK FOR EXPOSURE, AND EXPOSURE APPARATUS - According to one embodiment, a pattern formation method includes preparing a mask pattern for interference, producing Talbot interference, and forming a pattern by blocking a part of interference light. The mask pattern for interference is arranged periodically a plurality of light transmissive portions. The Talbot interference is based on a transmitted light. The transmitted light is transmitted through the light transmissive portions by applying a light to the mask pattern for interference. The part of interference light is produced by the Talbot interference by means of a mask pattern for light blocking and applying another part of the interference light transmitted through the mask pattern for light blocking to a exposure object member. | 02-26-2015 |
20150062552 | STAGE APPARATUS AND ITS DRIVING METHOD - Provided is a stage apparatus that includes a first stage configured to be movable by a predetermined stroke; a second stage configured to be movable on the first stage by a stroke shorter than the stroke of the first stage; and a controller configured to control a first driving unit, which changes the relative position of the second stage with respect to the first stage, or a second driving unit, which changes the position of the first stage, such that the relative position of the second stage with respect to the first stage is offset in the direction of movement of the first stage upon acceleration of the first stage whereas the relative position of the second stage with respect to the first stage is offset in a direction opposite to the direction of movement of the first stage upon deceleration of the first stage. | 03-05-2015 |
20150062553 | DETECTION APPARATUS, LITHOGRAPHY APPARATUS AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING ARTICLE - The present invention provides a detection apparatus for detecting a position of a detection target, including an illumination optical system configured to perform dark-field illumination on a reference mark, and a detection optical system including a sensor configured to detect light from the reference mark and an optical system configured to guide the light from the reference mark to the sensor, and configured to detect a position of the reference mark in a first direction, wherein the reference mark includes one mark element in the first direction, and a width of the mark element in the first direction is set such that two edges of the mark element in the first direction are detected as one peak when the sensor detects the light from the reference mark. | 03-05-2015 |
20150062554 | MULTI-STAGE SYSTEM, A CONTROL METHOD THEREFOR, AND A LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS - A multi-stage system includes a stator including a plurality of electric coils; a first stage including a first magnet assembly, the first stage moveable relative to the stator; a second stage including a second magnet assembly, the second stage moveable relative to the stator; a controller configured to position the first and the second stage relative to the stator by activating, respectively, a first subset of the plurality of electric coils to interact with the first magnet assembly and a second subset of the plurality of electric coils to interact with the second magnet assembly, the controller adapted to prevent at least one electric coil, to be simultaneously shared by the first and the second subset to position the first and the second stage on the stator, from activating. | 03-05-2015 |
20150070678 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS COMPRISING AN ACTUATOR, AND METHOD FOR PROTECTING SUCH ACTUATOR - A lithographic apparatus comprises a system. The system comprises a first part, a second part and an energy absorbing element. The second part is configured to move relatively to the first part. The system has a gap located between the first part and the second part during an operation mode of the system. The energy absorbing element is for absorbing energy between the first part and the second part when the first part and the second part crash onto each other in a failure mode of the system. The energy absorbing element is outside the gap. | 03-12-2015 |
20150070679 | MEASURING APPARATUS, MEASURING METHOD, LITHOGRAPHY APPARATUS, AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING ARTICLE - The present invention provides a measuring apparatus for measuring a position of an alignment mark formed on a substrate and including a first mark having position information in a first direction and a second mark having position information in a second direction different from the first direction, the apparatus including a detector configured to detect an image of the alignment mark, a controller configured to control movement of a stage for holding the substrate and detection by the detector, and a processor configured to obtain a position of the alignment mark whose image is detected by the detector, wherein the controller is configured to cause the detector to detect the image of the alignment mark with the stage moving in the first direction, and cause the detector to detect the image of the alignment mark with the stage moving in the second direction. | 03-12-2015 |
20150070680 | STAGE APPARATUS, LITHOGRAPHY APPARATUS, AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING DEVICE - A stage apparatus includes: a first blowing unit configured to blow out temperature-controlled gas to a measurement optical path of the first interferometer and a measurement optical path of a second interferometer; and a second blowing unit configured to blow out temperature-controlled gas to the measurement optical path of the second interferometer, wherein the first blowing unit blows out gas in a direction along an X-direction, and the second blowing unit blows out the gas obliquely with respect to a Y-direction from an upstream side to a downstream side of the gas blown out from the first blowing unit. | 03-12-2015 |
20150077733 | Method of Overlay In Extreme Ultra-Violet (EUV) Lithography - Some embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a method of overlay control which utilizes a deformable electrostatic chuck. The method comprises exposing a substrate to radiation which is reflected off of a reticle. The reticle is mounted to a deformable electrostatic chuck by a plurality of raised contacts, where each raised contact is configured to independently vary in height from a surface of the deformable electrostatic chuck. After exposure of the substrate to radiation which is reflected off of the reticle, a displacement between a first alignment shape formed on a first layer disposed on a surface of the substrate and a second alignment shape formed by the exposure is measured. The height of one or more of the plurality of raised contact is changed based upon the displacement to alter a surface topology of the reticle, which negates some effects of clamping topology. Other embodiments are also disclosed. | 03-19-2015 |
20150092175 | LITHOGRAPHY APPARATUS, METHOD OF MEASURING SURFACE POSITION, AND METHOD OF PRODUCING DEVICE - An apparatus includes a conductive holding part configured to hold an insulating material, and a capacitance sensor configured to generate an electric field between the capacitance sensor and the holding part. The apparatus determines a surface position of a surface of the insulating material based on information of an output value of the capacitance sensor obtained in a case where the insulating material is located in the electric field and information associated with capacitance of the insulating material, and then adjusts the surface position of the insulating material at a pattern formation position. | 04-02-2015 |
20150092176 | MOVABLE BODY DRIVE METHOD AND SYSTEM, PATTERN FORMATION METHOD AND APPARATUS, EXPOSURE METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DRIVING MOVABLE BODY BASED ON MEASUREMENT VALUE OF ENCODER AND INFORMATION ON FLATNESS OF SCALE, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A drive unit drives a wafer stage in a Y-axis direction based on a measurement value of an encoder that measures position information of the wafer stage in the Y-axis direction and based on information on the flatness of a scale that is measured by the encoder. In this case, the drive unit can drive the wafer stage in a predetermined direction based on a measurement value after correction in which a measurement error caused by the flatness of the scale included in the measurement value of the encoder is corrected based on the information on the flatness of the scale. Accordingly, the wafer stage can be driven with high accuracy in a predetermined direction using the encoder, without being affected by the unevenness of the scale. | 04-02-2015 |
20150098073 | LITHOGRAPHY APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A lithography apparatus and device manufacturing methods are disclosed. A lithography apparatus includes a support stage, and a measurement system including a sensor part and a reference part, the measurement system being configured to determine the position and/or orientation of the support stage, or of a component mounted on the support stage, relative to a reference frame by using the sensor part to interact with the reference part, wherein: the reference frame comprises N sub-frames coupled together so as to behave predominantly as a single rigid body with respect to vibrations below a first reference frequency and predominantly as an N-body system with respect to vibrations above a second reference frequency, where N is an integer greater than 1. | 04-09-2015 |
20150098074 | STAGE BRAKING SYSTEM FOR A MOTOR - A stage assembly that moves a device includes a stage that retains the device, a stage mover that moves the stage, a measurement system that provides a measurement signal that relates to the position or movement of the stage, and a control system that control the stage mover. The control system can use an estimator to estimate the position of the stage in the event the measurement signal is lost. Alternatively, the control system can be used to urge the stage against a base assembly when the measurement signal is lost to inhibit the movement of the stage. | 04-09-2015 |
20150103328 | LITHOGRAPHY APPARATUS, POWER SUPPLYING METHOD, AND ARTICLE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A lithography apparatus has a plurality of driving units each of which drives in synchronization within a specific period, a power source for supplying power required for driving to each driving unit, a plurality of capacitors capable of charging power from the power source, a plurality of switching units for switching whether or not power is supplied from the power source to the driving units and capacitors, and a controller configured to stop supplying the power to the driving units and the capacitors and to drive the driving unit with the power charged in the capacitor, in at least a part of a period of driving in synchronization concerning at least one of the plurality of the driving units, or in at least a part of a period of driving in asynchronization concerning another driving unit different from at least one of the driving unit. | 04-16-2015 |
20150103329 | STAGE APPARATUS, LITHOGRAPHY APPARATUS, AND ARTICLE MANUFACTURING METHOD - Provided is a stage apparatus that includes a first movable unit; a linear motor that includes a stator coil array arranged over a stroke range in a predetermined direction of the first movable unit and a mover magnet fixed to the first movable unit; a second movable unit that is arranged to face the first movable unit via a space and relatively moves with respect to the first movable unit in the predetermined direction; and a switch unit that forms a closed circuit including coils in the stator coil array and a resistance during operation of a dynamic brake, wherein the resistance value of a first coil located at a center region of the stroke range in the stator coil array is larger than that of a second coil located toward an end side of the stroke range rather than the center region in the stator coil array. | 04-16-2015 |
20150109598 | LITHOGRAPHY SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING A TARGET, SUCH AS A WAFER - A method for operating a target processing system for processing a target ( | 04-23-2015 |
20150116686 | EDGE-DOMINANT ALIGNMENT METHOD IN EXPOSURE SCANNER SYSTEM - An edge-dominant alignment method for use in an exposure scanner system is provided. The method includes the steps of: providing a wafer having a plurality of shot areas, wherein each shot area has a plurality of alignment marks; determining a first outer zone of the wafer, wherein the first outer zone includes a first portion of the shot areas along a first outer edge of the wafer; determining a scan path according to the shot areas of the first outer zone; and performing an aligning process to each shot area of the first outer zone according to the scan path and an alignment mark of each shot area of the first outer zone. | 04-30-2015 |
20150116687 | MICROPROCESSING SYSTEM, MICROPROCESSING APPARATUS, AND MICROPROCESSING METHOD - According to one embodiment, a microprocessing system for transferring a concave-convex pattern of a template to a resist layer formed on a substrate by bringing the template with concave-convex formed close or pressing the template against the resist layer, the microprocessing system includes a microprocessing apparatus, and a control device. The microprocessing apparatus includes a stage unit capable of supporting the substrate, a chuck unit opposing the stage unit and capable of bringing the template close or pressing the template against the resist layer, a memory unit capable of storing a relationship between a pressing force of the template and a film thickness of the resist layer, and a control unit configured to control bringing close or pressing of the template to the resist layer. The control device corrects the relationship so that the film thickness distribution falls within a target distribution. | 04-30-2015 |
20150116688 | MEASURING APPARATUS, MEASURING METHOD, LITHOGRAPHY APPARATUS, AND ARTICLE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A measuring apparatus measures a position of each of shot regions formed on a substrate. The apparatus includes a detector configured to detect a mark formed with respect to a shot region on the substrate, and a processor configured to obtain a position of each of the shot regions based on an output of the detector. The processor is configured to obtain a coefficient of a regression equation for obtaining a position of each of the shot regions, based on an output of the detector with respect to each of a plurality of sample shot regions on the substrate, and obtain, if the coefficient satisfies a tolerable condition for a discrepancy between the coefficient and a reference value thereof, the position of each of the shot regions using each offset amount that is obtained beforehand to correct the position of each of the shot regions obtained based on the regression equation. | 04-30-2015 |
20150116689 | SUPPORT UNIT AND SUBSTRATE TREATING DEVICE INCLUDING THE SAME - Provided is a method of manufacturing a support unit that supports a substrate. The method includes: providing a support plate formed of a non-conductive material and supporting a substrate; providing a base plate disposed below the support plate and formed of a material including a conductive material; and depositing a metallic layer at a bottom of the support plate and coupling the metallic layer and the base plate through brazing. | 04-30-2015 |
20150124234 | SUBSTRATE HOLDER, LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A substrate holder for use in a lithographic apparatus, the substrate holder including: a main body having a surface; a plurality of burls projecting from the surface and having end surfaces to support a substrate; and a thin film stack on the main body surface and forming an electric component, the thin film stack having a conductive layer configured to distribute electrical charge substantially uniformly throughout a plane of the stack in which the conductive layer is positioned. | 05-07-2015 |
20150124235 | TRAY FOR AN EXPOSURE MACHINE - A tray for a panel exposure machine, and also such a machine, enabling a panel to be retained and pressed down so as to be presented facing an exposure device. The tray comprises a work surface ( | 05-07-2015 |
20150131070 | Photolithography System, Method for Transporting Photo-Mask and Unit Therein - A photolithography system includes a photo-mask storage, at least one photolithography machine and an overhead crane for transporting at least one photo-mask at least between the photo-mask storage and the photolithography machine. The overhead crane includes at least one main rail, a mask girder, a mask hoist and a mask holding device. The mask girder is coupled with the main rail and movable at least between a first position above the photo-mask storage and a second position above the photolithography machine. The mask hoist is movably coupled with the mask girder. The mask holding device is coupled with the mask hoist. | 05-14-2015 |
20150131071 | SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE MANUFACTURING APPARATUS - A semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus includes a mask stage including a mask holder system that fixes a photomask, the mask holder system having a first fixing portion mounted at a first position of the mask holder system to fix the photomask, and a second fixing portion at a second position of the mask holder system and spaced apart from the first position, the second fixing portion fixing a pellicle assembly to be spaced apart from the photomask on the first fixing portion. | 05-14-2015 |
20150138525 | OBJECT EXCHANGE METHOD, EXPOSURE METHOD, CARRIER SYSTEM, EXPOSURE APPARATUS, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A carrier apparatus positions a chuck member above a wafer mounted on a fine movement stage, relatively moves the chuck member and the fine movement stage in a vertical direction, makes the chuck member approach a position which is a predetermined distance away from the upper surface of the wafer, makes the chuck member hold the wafer from above in a non-contact manner, and makes the chuck member holding the wafer and the fine movement stage move apart within a predetermined plane after making the chuck member holding the wafer and the fine movement stage move apart in the vertical direction. Further, the carrier apparatus loads the wafer held in a non-contact manner from above by the chuck member on the fine movement stage. | 05-21-2015 |
20150146187 | SUBSTRATE CARRYING DEVICE - A substrate carrying device includes pads that hold a substrate, and a hand having recesses formed therein. The pads are placed in the recesses and detachably attached to the hand. Each of the pads includes a flange, and the flange of at least one of the pads includes an outer peripheral part detachably attached to the hand, an elastic part that is able to bend in the recess, and a substrate holding part that rises from an inner edge of the elastic part and holds the substrate by vacuum suction. | 05-28-2015 |
20150293463 | DRIVING SYSTEM AND DRIVING METHOD, AND EXPOSURE APPARATUS AND EXPOSURE METHOD - A synthetic controlled variable (X | 10-15-2015 |
20150293464 | MOVABLE BODY DRIVE METHOD AND MOVABLE BODY DRIVE SYSTEM, PATTERN FORMATION METHOD AND APPARATUS, EXPOSURE METHOD AND APPARATUS, DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD, AND CALIBRATION METHOD - A controller measures positional information of a stage within an XY plane using three encoders which at least include one each of an X encoder and a Y encoder of an encoder system, and the stage is driven in the XY plane, based on measurement results of the positional information and positional information (p | 10-15-2015 |
20150301458 | MOVABLE BODY APPARATUS, EXPOSURE APPARATUS, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A stage device is equipped with a surface plate and a wafer stage which is mounted on the surface plate and has an exhausting port formed on a surface facing the surface plate. In a state where the wafer stage lands on the surface plate, an air chamber is formed in between the surface plate and the wafer stage. Pressurized gas blows out from the exhausting port provided at a stage main section into the air chamber, and self-weight of the wafer stage is cancelled by an inner pressure of the air chamber. This allows to the wafer stage which has stopped on the surface plate to be moved manually. | 10-22-2015 |
20150309425 | Planar Motor System With Increased Efficiency - A planar motor system comprises a platen with a first planar motor component and a stage with a second planar motor component. The stage can move along a first cardinal axis or a second cardinal axis. The planar motor system further comprises a drive system. When the drive system is energized in a first drive configuration, it applies a first force and a second force. The first force and the second force are not parallel to any cardinal axis. A vector sum of the first force and the second force is parallel to the first cardinal axis. When the drive system is energized in a second drive configuration, it applies a third force and a fourth force. The third force and the fourth force are not parallel to any cardinal axis. A vector sum of the third force and the fourth force is parallel to the second cardinal axis. | 10-29-2015 |
20150316860 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS, SUBSTRATE SUPPORT SYSTEM, DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD AND CONTROL PROGRAM - A lithographic apparatus includes a driven object having compliant dynamics; a plurality of actuators configured to act on the driven object, wherein the plurality of actuators are over-determined in an actuator degree of freedom; a control system including a transformation matrix configured to generate controller output signals for each of the plurality of actuators in response to a setpoint, wherein the transformation matrix is configured such that the controller output signals do not excite the compliant dynamics of the driven object in at least one degree of freedom. | 11-05-2015 |
20150331337 | ELECTROSTATIC CARRIER FOR HANDLING SUBSTRATES FOR PROCESSING - An electrostatic carrier is described for carrying a substrate for handling through different processes. The carrier has a dielectric plate having a top side and a bottom side and configured to be attached on a top side of the plate to a substrate using electrostatic force, and a base plate coupled to a bottom side of the dielectric plate. Electrodes are formed on the base plate and extend across the base plate parallel to the top side of the dielectric plate. The electrodes are configured to carry an electrostatic charge and formed so that electrodes of a first charge are positioned near electrodes of a second charge. Connectors extend through the base plate to the electrodes to couple the electrodes to a source of electrostatic charge. | 11-19-2015 |
20150338750 | MAGNET ARRAY FOR MOVING MAGNET PLANAR MOTOR - A stage mover for moving a stage relative to a stage base includes a conductor assembly and a magnet assembly. The conductor assembly is coupled to the stage base and a plurality of coil units with each coil unit having one or more coils. Each of the coils has a coil width. The magnet assembly interacts with the conductor assembly and includes a plurality of spaced apart magnet arrays. Each of the magnet arrays is spaced apart from each adjacent magnet array by an array gap that is at least equal to the coil width so that independent and symmetric magnetic flux distribution can be achieved for each of the magnet arrays. | 11-26-2015 |
20150338751 | LITHOGRAPHY APPARATUS, DETERMINATION METHOD, AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING ARTICLE - The present invention provides a lithography apparatus which forms a pattern on a substrate, the apparatus comprising a stage holding the substrate and being movable; a measurement unit configured to irradiate a side surface of the stage with light and measure a position of the stage, a generation unit configured to generate a flow of gas in a space where the stage moves, a detection unit configured to detect respective positions of sample shot regions formed on the substrate, and a control unit configured to determine an order of detecting the sample shot regions by the detection unit such that detection by the detection unit is performed sequentially from a sample shot region closer to the measurement unit with respect to sample shot regions located on a downstream side of the flow of the gas from a center of the substrate. | 11-26-2015 |
20150338752 | MULTI-STAGE SYSTEM, A CONTROL METHOD THEREFOR, AND A LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS - A multi-stage system includes a stator including a plurality of electric coils; a first stage including a first magnet assembly, the first stage moveable relative to the stator; a second stage including a second magnet assembly, the second stage moveable relative to the stator; a controller configured to position the first and the second stage relative to the stator by activating, respectively, a first subset of the plurality of electric coils to interact with the first magnet assembly and a second subset of the plurality of electric coils to interact with the second magnet assembly, the controller adapted to prevent at least one electric coil, to be simultaneously shared by the first and the second subset to position the first and the second stage on the stator, from activating. | 11-26-2015 |
20150355557 | Gas Flow Optimization in Reticle Stage Environment - A system is disclosed for reducing overlay errors by controlling gas flow around a patterning device of a lithographic apparatus. The lithographic apparatus includes an illumination system configured to condition a radiation beam. The lithographic apparatus further includes a movable stage comprising a support structure that may be configured to support a patterning device. The patterning device may be configured to impart the radiation beam with a pattern in its cross-section to form a patterned radiation beam. In addition, the lithographic apparatus comprises a plate ( | 12-10-2015 |
20150355558 | LITHOGRAPHY APPARATUS AND ARTICLE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A lithography apparatus includes an original conveying path, a substrate conveying path, and a plurality of patterning devices each configured to perform patterning on a substrate using an original. The plurality of patterning devices are arranged in two rows. The substrate conveying path is provided between and along the two rows. The original conveying path is provided in each of two rows between and along which the two rows of the patterning devices are arranged. | 12-10-2015 |
20150362845 | EXPOSURE APPARATUS AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING ARTICLE - The present invention provides a scan-type exposure apparatus comprising an aperture stop provided with at least one of a mask stage and a substrate stage and configured to reduce an influence of flare light, wherein an opening of the aperture stop includes a first opening portion corresponding to one shot region on a substrate, and a serrated second opening portion including a plurality of first openings that protrude in a second direction parallel to the scanning direction from a side of the first opening portion along a first direction perpendicular to the scanning direction, and a length of each of the plurality of first openings in the first direction decreases outward in the second direction from the side of the first opening portion along the first direction. | 12-17-2015 |
20150362846 | STAGE APPARATUS, LITHOGRAPHY APPARATUS, METHOD OF MANUFACTURING AN ARTICLE, AND DETERMINATION METHOD - The present invention provides a stage apparatus including a stage being movable, comprising a driving unit configured to drive the stage by providing thrust to the stage, a measuring unit configured to measure a position of the stage, and a control unit configured to control the position of the stage by supplying, to the driving unit, a signal composed of a first signal for reducing a deviation between a current position of the stage and a target position, and a second signal for reducing vibration of the stage caused by a thrust ripple included in the thrust. | 12-17-2015 |
20150369330 | VIBRATION CONTROL APPARATUS, LITHOGRAPHY APPARATUS, AND ARTICLE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A vibration control apparatus is provided that controls the vibration of a first object supported by a base, the apparatus comprising: a first control system including a first compensator for outputting a first operation signal representing an input to a first driving unit based on a first detection signal output by a first detector; a second control system including a second compensator for outputting a second operation signal representing an input to a second driving unit based on a second detection signal output by a second detector; and a third control system including a third compensator for outputting a third operation signal representing an input to the first driving unit based on a signal relating to the second control system so as to compensate the vibration of the base | 12-24-2015 |
20150370178 | Electrostatic Clamp - An electrostatic clamp ( | 12-24-2015 |
20150370179 | MASK CASE AND INSPECTION METHOD - According to one embodiment, there is provided a mask case to house a mask for an exposure apparatus. The mask case has a dug area in its part to face a pattern of the mask. | 12-24-2015 |
20150378266 | XY-TABLE - An XY-table includes a separate drive for reversing the direction of movement of the table. A ferromagnetic rib projects at one edge of the table and extends perpendicular to the direction of movement of the table to be reversed. The drive has a magnetic yoke for receiving the rib when the table is near a reversal point, the free ends of the magnetic yoke having pole shoes which concentrate a magnetic flux in the yoke, switchable with the aid of a reversal coil, in an air gap through which the rib extends into the interior of the yoke. | 12-31-2015 |
20150378267 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND METHOD HAVING SUBSTRATE AND SENSOR TABLES - When a transition from a first state where one stage is positioned at a first area directly below projection optical system to which liquid is supplied to a state where the other stage-is positioned at the first area, both stages are simultaneously driven while a state where both stages are close together in the X-axis direction is maintained. Therefore, it becomes possible to make a transition from the first state to the second state in a state where liquid is supplied in the space between the projection optical system and the specific stage directly under the projection optical system. Accordingly, the time from the completion of exposure operation on one stage side until the exposure operation begins on the other stage side can be reduced, which allows processing with high throughput. Further, because the liquid can constantly exist on the image plane side of the projection optical system, generation of water marks on optical members of the projection optical system on the image plane side is prevented. | 12-31-2015 |
20160011524 | MOVABLE BODY APPARATUS, EXPOSURE APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD | 01-14-2016 |
20160011525 | LITHOGRAPHY TOOL HAVING A RETICLE STAGE CAPABLE OF DYNAMIC RETICLE BENDING TO COMPENSATE FOR DISTORTION | 01-14-2016 |
20160018744 | OBJECT HOLDER, LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS, DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD, AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING AN OBJECT HOLDER - A method of manufacturing an object holder for use in a lithographic apparatus, the object holder including one or more electrically functional components, the method including: using a composite structure including a carrier sheet different from a main body of the object holder and a layered structure including one or a plurality of layers and formed on the carrier sheet; connecting the composite structure to a surface of the main body such that the layered structure is between the carrier sheet and the surface of the main body; and removing the carrier sheet from the composite structure, leaving the layered structure connected to the main body. | 01-21-2016 |
20160018745 | POSITION MEASUREMENT METHOD, POSITION CONTROL METHOD, MEASUREMENT METHOD, LOADING METHOD, EXPOSURE METHOD AND EXPOSURE APPARATUS, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - An exposure method and apparatus exposes a substrate that is loaded on a stage via a carrier system, with an exposure beam via a projection optical system and a liquid. An object carried by the carrier system is mounted in a depressed section of the stage. Information on a positional relation between the object mounted in the depressed section and the depressed section is obtained. The substrate is loaded on the stage based on the obtained information so that the substrate carried to above the stage by the carrier system is mounted in the depressed section. A part of the substrate mounted in the depressed section is irradiated with the exposure beam via the projection optical system and a liquid immersion area formed by the liquid under the projection optical system. | 01-21-2016 |
20160023356 | Carrier System, Exposure Apparatus, Carrier Method, Exposure Method, Device Manufacturing Method, and Suction Device - A carrier system is provided with a wafer stage which holds a mounted wafer and is also movable along an XY plane, a chuck unit which holds the wafer from above in a non-contact manner above a predetermined position and is vertically movable, and a plurality of vertical movement pins, which can support from below the wafer held by the chuck unit on the wafer stage when the wafer stage is positioned at the predetermined position above and can also move vertically. Then, flatness of the wafer is measured by a Z position detection system, and based on the measurement results, the chuck unit and the vertical movement pins that hold (support) the wafer are independently driven. | 01-28-2016 |
20160026097 | VIBRATION CONTROL DEVICE, LITHOGRAPHY APPARATUS, AND ARTICLE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A detecting system of a vibration control device provided herein includes a second object, a second spring mechanism that supports the second object, a third object, a third spring mechanism, a first detector that detects displacement of the third object with respect to the second object, a second driving member, and a feedback control member that perform feedback control on the second driving member based on the output of the first detector. A two-degree-of-freedom system, including the second object and the third object, vibrates by a first vibration mode that accompanies a translation motion and a second vibration mode that accompanies atilt motion according to a natural frequency, and a servomotor control frequency of the feedback control member is higher than the natural frequency of the first vibration mode and lower than the natural frequency of the second vibration mode. | 01-28-2016 |
20160033881 | DUAL STAGE/DUAL CHUCK FOR MASKLESS LITHOGRAPHY - A processing system including at least processing apparatus and at least two independently moveable stages is disclosed. The at least two independently moveable stages are movable between a processing position and at a respective loading position. The at least one processing apparatus may include a maskless pattern generator. The processing system includes a controller configured to instruct the movement of the independently moveable stages in order to minimize the idle time of the processing apparatus. Methods of using the processing system are also disclosed. | 02-04-2016 |
20160033882 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR SUBSTRATE SUPPORT ALIGNMENT - Methods and apparatus for aligning a substrate support are provided herein. In some embodiments, a method of aligning a substrate support includes: measuring a tilt of a substrate support along a direction using a tilt sensor disposed on the substrate support; and determining whether the measured tilt of the substrate support in the direction is less than or equal to a predefined value. In some embodiments, a substrate support alignment system includes: a tilt sensor; and a holding element that holds the tilt sensor and which is locatable on a support surface of a substrate support to locate the tilt sensors in a predetermined orientation with respect to the support surface. | 02-04-2016 |
20160033883 | EXPOSURE APPARATUS, MOVABLE BODY APPARATUS, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - According to measurement results of an encoder system, a stage driving system that is a magnetic levitation type planar motor is controlled to drive and control a wafer stage, and in the case where an abnormality of the driving and control of the wafer stage has been detected, the stage driving system is controlled to apply a thrust in a vertical direction to the wafer stage. With this operation, the pitching of the wafer stage can be avoided, which makes it possible to prevent damage of the wafer stage and structures placed immediately above the stage upper surface. | 02-04-2016 |
20160048087 | SCANNER AND METHOD FOR PERFORMING EXPOSURE PROCESS ON WAFER - A scanner and a method for performing an exposure process through a photomask on a wafer are provided. The exposure process includes an alignment step and an exposure step. The method includes the steps of moving a wafer table to align the wafer with an alignment apparatus, wherein the wafer table includes at least one chuck hole to attach the wafer to the wafer table by vacuum chucking, detecting an actual position of each of a plurality of alignment marks on the wafer, calculating an index value based on a difference between a predicted position and the actual position of each alignment mark, adjusting a vacuum pressure of the at least one chuck hole in the alignment step when the index value is larger than a first threshold value, and finishing the exposure process when the index value is smaller than or equal to the first threshold value. | 02-18-2016 |
20160062249 | EXPOSURE APPARATUS - An exposure apparatus is configured to include an electronic optical system | 03-03-2016 |
20160070181 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A magnetization tool for post-assembly magnetization of a magnet assembly including a main coil, an end surface of the main coil configured to be positioned substantially parallel to an outer surface of the magnet assembly for magnetizing a magnetic pole of the magnet assembly, the main coil being configured to generate a magnetic field and a shielding arrangement positioned adjacent the main coil in a plane substantially parallel to the end surface of the main coil, whereby the shielding arrangement is configured to generate a shielding magnetic field, whereby a resulting magnetic field of the shielding magnetic field and the magnetic field is substantially only protruding the magnetic pole of the magnet assembly and directly adjacent magnetic poles of the magnet assembly such that the magnetic pole of the magnet assembly and the directly adjacent magnetic poles of the magnetic pole have a substantially opposite polarity. | 03-10-2016 |
20160077450 | POSITIONING SYSTEM, A LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND A METHOD FOR POSITIONAL CONTROL - A positioning system for controlling a relative position between a first component and a second component of a lithographic apparatus, wherein a position of each component is defined by a set of orthogonal coordinates, the positioning system including: a measuring device configured to determine an error in the momentary position of one of the components with respect to a setpoint position in a measurement coordinate; and a controller configured to control movement of the other component in a control coordinate based on the determined error; wherein the measurement coordinate is different from the control coordinate. | 03-17-2016 |
20160091802 | MASK-MOUNTING APPARATUS FOR EXPOSURE MACHINE - A mask-mounting apparatus for an exposure machine, which comprises: a mask frame ( | 03-31-2016 |
20160109812 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS - A lithographic apparatus including a substrate table position measurement system and a projection system position measurement system to measure a position of the substrate table and the projection system, respectively. The substrate table position measurement system includes a substrate table reference element mounted on the substrate table and a first sensor head. The substrate table reference element extends in a measurement plane substantially parallel to the holding plane of a substrate on substrate table. The holding plane is arranged at one side of the measurement plane and the first sensor head is arranged at an opposite side of the measurement plane. The projection system position measurement system includes one or more projection system reference elements and a sensor assembly. The sensor head and the sensor assembly or the associated projection system measurement elements are mounted on a sensor frame. | 04-21-2016 |
20160109814 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS, POSITIONING SYSTEM FOR USE IN A LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND METHOD - A lithographic apparatus having a reference body and a positioning system, the positioning system including a main body; a reaction body; an actuator; and a controller. The main body is moveable relative to the reference body along a path in a first direction and a second opposite direction. The reaction body is moveable relative to the main body along a further path in the first and second directions and is moveably connected to the reference body to be moveable relative to the reference body in the first and second directions. The controller provides a first and a second signal to the actuator. The actuator is arranged between the main body and the reaction body to accelerate the main body in the first direction and to accelerate the reaction body in the second direction under control of the first signal, and to accelerate the main body in the second direction and to accelerate the reaction body in the first direction under control of the second signal. The controller determines when the reaction body moves in the second direction and to provide the second signal after the first signal to the actuator when the reaction body moves in the second direction along the further path. | 04-21-2016 |
20160109815 | EXPOSURE APPARATUS, MOVABLE BODY APPARATUS, FLAT-PANEL DISPLAY MANUFACTURING METHOD, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - In a substrate stage, when a Y coarse movement stage moves in the Y-axis direction, an X coarse movement stage, a weight cancellation device, and an X guide move integrally in the Y-axis direction with the Y coarse movement stage, and when the X coarse movement stage moves in the X-axis direction on the Y coarse movement stage, the weight cancellation device move on the X guide in the X-axis direction integrally with the X coarse movement stage. Because the X guide is provided extending in the X-axis direction while covering the movement range of the weight cancellation device in the X-axis direction, the weight cancellation device is constantly supported by the X guide, regardless of its position. Accordingly, a substrate can be guided along the XY plane with good accuracy. | 04-21-2016 |
20160139514 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A lithographic apparatus may include an optical element, such as an immersion fluid reservoir, which supported at least in part by a bearing, such as a gas bearing. To enable illumination by the lithographic apparatus of an edge of the substrate, a surrounding structure is provided that surrounds the substrate, A level parameter of the substrate, such as a thickness of the substrate, is measured by a sensor, such as a thickness sensor. By means of an actuator, the substrate table on which the substrate is or will be held is positioned with respect to the surrounding structure, such that a surface of the substrate would be on a substantially same level as a surface of the surrounding structure, thus enabling the optical element to transition from the surface of the substrate to the surface of the surrounding structure and vice versa. | 05-19-2016 |
20160139515 | LITHOGRAPHY APPARATUS, LITHOGRAPHY METHOD, AND ARTICLE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A lithography apparatus includes: a stage configured to hold the substrate; a scope configured to measure a position of a mark formed on a surface of the substrate; and a controller configured to control movement of the stage to form the pattern based on the position of the mark. When there is a rotation shift of the surface of the substrate about a first axis of one of X-, Y-, and Z-axes with respect to the stage, the controller estimates the position of the mark in a direction of a second axis perpendicular to the first axis based on an amount of the rotation shift, moves the stage in the direction of the second axis based on the estimated position of the mark, and then measures the position of the mark by the scope. | 05-19-2016 |
20160154320 | APPARATUS AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING CHUCK, AND EXPOSURE APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF | 06-02-2016 |
20160154322 | Lithographic Apparatus and Device Manufacturing Method | 06-02-2016 |
20160161854 | STAGES, LITHOGRAPHY APPARATUS, AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING DEVICES - A stage apparatus includes a moving part and chuck. The moving part can hold a substrate and move. The chuck has a holding surface divided into regions whose holding strength can be regulated individually. Some parts of the divided regions hold a part of the substrate. The moving part and the chuck are physically isolated. | 06-09-2016 |
20160161865 | ELECTROSTATIC CHUCK SYSTEM AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING ORGANIC LIGHT-EMITTING DISPLAY APPARATUS BY USING THE SAME - An electrostatic chuck system includes an electrostatic chuck with a plurality of unit chucks supporting a display substrate, an optical photomask on the display substrate, the optical photomask having a material to be transferred onto the display substrate, a light source on the optical photomask, a gap measuring meter for measuring a gap between the display substrate and the optical photomask, a power source unit for applying power to each of the plurality of unit chucks through variable resistance units respectively connected to the plurality of unit chucks, and a control unit electrically connected to the gap measuring meter, the variable resistance units, and the power source unit, and transmits a signal for adjusting the gap. | 06-09-2016 |
20160161866 | EXPOSURE APPARATUS, EXPOSURE METHOD, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - An exposure apparatus is equipped with an encoder system which measures positional information of a wafer stage by irradiating a measurement beam using four heads installed on the wafer stage on a scale plate which covers the movement range of the wafer stage except for the area right under a projection optical system. Placement distances of the heads here are each set to be larger than width of the opening of the scale plates, respectively. This allows the positional information of the wafer stage to be measured, by switching and using the three heads facing the scale plate out of the four heads according to the position of the wafer stage. | 06-09-2016 |
20160161869 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ATTACHING A MASK TO A MASK HOLDER - A system for coupling a mask to a mask holder. The system includes a base, an aperture; mask holder cover supporting elements arranged to move between a first position and a third position while supporting the mask holder cover; mask supporting elements arranged to move between a fourth position and a sixth position while supporting the mask; mask holder base supporting elements arranged to support the mask holder base. When the mask holder cover supporting elements are at the first position and the mask supporting elements are at the third position the mask holder cover, the mask and the base are spaced apart from each other. When the mask holder cover supporting elements are at the third position and the mask supporting elements are at the sixth position the mask holder cover, the mask and the base are connected to each other. | 06-09-2016 |
20160170312 | MOVABLE BODY APPARATUS, EXPOSURE APPARATUS, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD | 06-16-2016 |
20160170314 | SUBSTRATE HOLDER, LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS, DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD, AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A SUBSTRATE HOLDER | 06-16-2016 |
20160187791 | SUPPORT TABLE FOR A LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS, LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A support table to support a surface of a substrate, wherein the support table includes: a base surface substantially parallel to the surface of the substrate, a plurality of burls protruding above the base surface, each of the burls having a respective distal end and a first height above the base surface, the burls arranged such that, when the substrate is supported by the support table, the substrate is supported by the respective distal ends, and a plurality of elongate raised protrusions separated by gaps, each of the elongate raised protrusions having a second height above the base surface, wherein the elongate raised protrusions protrude above the base surface between the burls, and the second height is less than the first height; wherein the protrusions are arranged such that a plurality of the gaps are aligned to form a straight gas flow path towards an edge of the base surface. | 06-30-2016 |
20160195822 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS, PROGRAMMABLE PATTERNING DEVICE AND LITHOGRAPHIC METHOD | 07-07-2016 |
20160252825 | PROJECTION OPTICAL SYSTEM, EXPOSURE APPARATUS, AND EXPOSURE METHOD | 09-01-2016 |
20160252827 | OBJECT POSITIONING IN LITHOGRAPHY | 09-01-2016 |
20160377993 | MULTI-STAGE SYSTEM, A CONTROL METHOD THEREFOR, AND A LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS - A multi-stage system includes a stator including a plurality of electric coils; a first stage including a first magnet assembly, the first stage moveable relative to the stator; a second stage including a second magnet assembly, the second stage moveable relative to the stator; a controller configured to position the first and the second stage relative to the stator by activating, respectively, a first subset of the plurality of electric coils to interact with the first magnet assembly and a second subset of the plurality of electric coils to interact with the second magnet assembly, the controller adapted to prevent at least one electric coil, to be simultaneously shared by the first and the second subset to position the first and the second stage on the stator, from activating. | 12-29-2016 |
20160377994 | SUBSTRATE HOLDER, LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS, DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD, AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A SUBSTRATE HOLDER - A substrate holder for a lithographic apparatus has a main body having a thin-film stack provided on a surface thereof. The thin-film stack forms an electronic or electric component such as an electrode, a sensor, a heater, a transistor or a logic device, and has a top isolation layer. A plurality of burls to support a substrate are formed on the thin-film stack or in apertures of the thin-film stack. | 12-29-2016 |
20170235232 | SUBSTRATE MEASUREMENT SYSTEM, METHOD OF MEASURING SUBSTRATE, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT | 08-17-2017 |
20170235234 | LITHOGRAPHY APPARATUS AND ARTICLE MANUFACTURING METHOD | 08-17-2017 |
20170235235 | SUBSTRATE HOLDER, LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS, DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD, AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A SUBSTRATE HOLDER | 08-17-2017 |
20180024445 | PROJECTION EXPOSURE SYSTEM FOR MICROLITHOGRAPHY WITH A MEASUREMENT DEVICE | 01-25-2018 |
20220137517 | STAGE SYSTEM AND LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS - The invention provides a stage system comprising a stage (ST) which is movable in respect of a reference structure. One of the stage and the reference structure comprises a reflective surface (REFS). An optical position sensor (IF | 05-05-2022 |