Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090004580 | DETECTION DEVICE, MOVABLE BODY APPARATUS, PATTERN FORMATION APPARATUS AND PATTERN FORMATION METHOD, EXPOSURE APPARATUS AND EXPOSURE METHOD, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - By irradiating a detection beam from an irradiation system of a detection device to a scale used for measuring the position of a wafer stage, and detecting the detection beam via the scale by a photodetection system, a surface state (an existence state of foreign substance) of the scale is detected. With this operation, detection of the surface state can be performed contactlessly with respect to the scale. Moreover, movement control of the wafer stage can be performed with high precision by taking the surface state into consideration. | 01-01-2009 |
20090027640 | MOVABLE BODY DRIVE METHOD AND MOVABLE BODY DRIVE SYSTEM, PATTERN FORMATION METHOD AND APPARATUS, EXPOSURE METHOD AND APPARATUS, POSITION CONTROL METHOD AND POSITION CONTROL SYSTEM, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - Positional information of a movement plane of a wafer stage is measured using an encoder system such as, for example, an X head and a Y head, and the wafer stage is controlled 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, an X interferometer and a Y interferometer. When abnormality of the encoder system is detected or when the wafer stage moves off from a measurement area of the encoder system, drive control is switched to a drive control based on the measurement results of the interferometer system. Accordingly, drive control of the wafer stage can be performed continuously in the entire stroke area, even at the time when abnormality occurs in the encoder system. | 01-29-2009 |
20090033900 | Movable Body Drive Method and Movable Body Drive System, Pattern Formation Method and Pattern Formation Apparatus, and Device Manufacturing Method - First positional information of a stage is measured using an interferometer system, for example, an X interferometer and a Y interferometer. At the same time, second positional information of the stage is measured using an encoder system, for example, one X head and one Y head. A coordinate offset is set by performing a moving average of the difference between the first positional information and the second positional information for over a predetermined measurement time, and the reliability of output signals of the encoder system is verified using the coordinate offset. In the case the output signals are determined to be normal, the stage is servocontrolled using the sum of the first positional information and the coordinate offset. Such servocontrol by a hybrid method makes it possible to perform drive control of the stage having stability of the interferometer and accuracy of the encoder together. | 02-05-2009 |
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 |
20090053629 | 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. | 02-26-2009 |
20090059194 | POSITION MEASUREMENT SYSTEM, EXPOSURE APPARATUS, POSITION MEASUREMENT METHOD, EXPOSURE METHOD AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD, AND TOOL AND MEASUREMENT METHOD - A first grating is placed on the upper surface of wafer stage WST, and on the +Y side of the first grating, a calibration area is arranged where an auxiliary grating is formed. By performing a predetermined calibration process using the calibration area, such as calibration process related to position measurement of the wafer stage using a head and the like of an encoder, it becomes possible to perform position control of the wafer stage in the predetermined direction with good precision using the encoder after the calibration process. | 03-05-2009 |
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 |
20090073405 | 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, and the coordinate offset 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 the servo control by 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. | 03-19-2009 |
20090115982 | MOVABLE BODY APPARATUS, PATTERN FORMATION APPARATUS AND EXPOSURE APPARATUS, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - On the +X and −X sides of a projection unit, a plurality of Z heads are arranged in parallel to the X-axis, by a predetermined distance half or less than half the effective width of the Y scale so that two Z heads each constantly form a pair and face a pair of Y scales. Of the pair of heads consisting of two Z heads which simultaneously face the scale, measurement values of a priority head is used, and when abnormality occurs in the measurement values of the priority head due to malfunction of the head, measurement values of the other head is used, and the positional information of the stage in at least the Z-axis direction can be measured in a stable manner and with high precision. | 05-07-2009 |
20090122285 | MOVABLE BODY APPARATUS, PATTERN FORMATION APPARATUS AND EXPOSURE APPARATUS, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - On the +X and −X sides of a projection unit, a plurality of Y heads are arranged in parallel to the X-axis by a predetermined distance half or less than half the effective width of the scale, so that two heads each constantly form a pair and face a pair of Y scales. Similarly, on the +Y and −Y sides of the projection unit, a plurality of X heads are arranged in parallel to the Y-axis by the predetermined distance described above, so that two heads each constantly form a pair and face a pair of X scales. Of the pair of heads consisting of two heads which simultaneously face the scale, measurement values of a priority head is used, and when abnormality occurs in the measurement values of the priority head due to malfunction of the head, measurement values of the other head is used. Then, by using the measurement values of the two pairs of Y heads and the pair of X heads, a position of a stage within a two-dimensional plane is measured in a stable manner and with high precision. | 05-14-2009 |
20090122286 | MOVABLE BODY APPARATUS, PATTERN FORMATION APPARATUS AND EXPOSURE APPARATUS, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - On the +X and −X sides of a projection unit, a plurality of Z heads are arranged in parallel to the X-axis, by a distance half or less than half the effective width of the Y scale so that two Z heads each constantly form a pair and face a pair of Y scales. Of the pair of heads consisting of two Z heads which simultaneously face the scale, measurement values of a priority head is used, and when abnormality occurs in the measurement values of the priority head due to dust and the like adhering on the scale surface, measurement values of the other head is used, and the positional information of the stage in at least the Z-axis direction is measured in a stable manner and with high precision. | 05-14-2009 |
20090122287 | MOVABLE BODY APPARATUS, PATTERN FORMATION APPARATUS AND EXPOSURE APPARATUS, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - On the +X and −X sides of a projection unit, a plurality of Y heads are arranged in parallel to the X-axis by a distance half or less than half the effective width of the scale, so that two heads each constantly form a pair and face a pair of Y scales. Similarly, on the +Y and −Y sides of the projection unit, a plurality of X heads are arranged in parallel to the Y-axis by the distance, so that two heads each constantly form a pair and face a pair of X scales. Of the pair of heads consisting of two heads which simultaneously face the scaler measurement values of a priority head is used, and when abnormality occurs in the measurement values of the priority head due to dust and the like adhering on the scale surface, measurement values of the other head is used. By using the two pairs of Y heads and the pair of X heads, a position of a stage within a two-dimensional plane is measured in a stable manner and with high precision. | 05-14-2009 |
20090284716 | EXPOSURE APPARATUS, EXPOSURE METHOD, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - In an exposure apparatus of a liquid immersion exposure method, there is a case when a wafer table holding a wafer moves, a liquid immersion area formed by liquid supplied in a space between a wafer table and a projection optical system passes over a head mounted on the wafer table. Therefore, for a head over which the liquid immersion area has passed, the residual presence of the liquid is detected based on an amount of light of a reflected light received by the light receiving element which receives the reflected light from the wafer table surface. And, of a plurality of heads, positional information of the wafer table is measured, based on measurement values of a head that had no liquid remaining in the detection. | 11-19-2009 |
20090284717 | EXPOSURE APPARATUS, EXPOSURE METHOD, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - In an exposure apparatus of a liquid immersion exposure method, a liquid immersion area is formed on the upper surface of a wafer by liquid supplied in a space formed with a projection optical system, and on a moving table holding the wafer, a plurality of encoder heads is placed. Of the plurality of encoder heads, a controller measures positional information of the moving table within an XY plane using an encoder head which is outside a liquid immersion area. This allows a highly precise and stable measurement of positional information of the moving table. | 11-19-2009 |
20090284724 | MOVABLE BODY SYSTEM, MOVABLE BODY DRIVE METHOD, PATTERN FORMATION APPARATUS, PATTERN FORMATION METHOD, EXPOSURE APPARATUS, EXPOSURE METHOD, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A plurality of heads configuring an encoder system is arranged on a wafer table, and positional information of a wafer table in the XY plane is measured, based on an output of a head opposed to a scale plate (diffraction grating). And, a relative position (including relative attitude and rotation) of each head with the wafer table is measured herein by a measurement system arranged inside the head. Accordingly, by correcting the positional information based on the information of the relative position which has been measured, a highly precise measurement of the positional information of the wafer table becomes possible even in the case when the position (attitude, rotation) of the head changes with the movement of the wafer table. | 11-19-2009 |
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 |
20120086927 | DETECTION DEVICE, MOVABLE BODY APPARATUS, PATTERN FORMATION APPARATUS AND PATTERN FORMATION METHOD, EXPOSURE APPARATUS AND EXPOSURE METHOD, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - By irradiating a detection beam from an irradiation system of a detection device to a scale used for measuring the position of a wafer stage, and detecting the detection beam via the scale by a photodetection system, a surface state (an existence state of foreign substance) of the scale is detected. With this operation, detection of the surface state can be performed contactlessly with respect to the scale. Moreover, movement control of the wafer stage can be performed with high precision by taking the surface state into consideration. | 04-12-2012 |
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 |
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 |
20120212726 | MOVABLE BODY DRIVE METHOD AND MOVABLE BODY DRIVE SYSTEM, PATTERN FORMATION METHOD AND APPARATUS, EXPOSURE METHOD AND APPARATUS, POSITION CONTROL METHOD AND POSITION CONTROL SYSTEM, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - Positional information of a movement plane of a wafer stage is measured using an encoder system such as, for example, an X head and a Y head, and the wafer stage is controlled 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, an X interferometer and a Y interferometer. When abnormality of the encoder system is detected or when the wafer stage moves off from a measurement area of the encoder system, drive control is switched to a drive control based on the measurement results of the interferometer system. Accordingly, drive control of the wafer stage can be performed continuously in the entire stroke area, even at the time when abnormality occurs in the encoder system. | 08-23-2012 |
20120293788 | MOVABLE BODY DRIVE METHOD AND MOVABLE BODY DRIVE SYSTEM, PATTERN FORMATION METHOD AND APPARATUS, EXPOSURE METHOD AND APPARATUS, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD FOR CONTINUOUS POSITION MEASUREMENT OF MOVEABLE BODY BEFORE AND AFTER SWITCHING BETWEEN SENSOR HEADS - A controller uses two Z heads, which are positioned above a reflection surface installed on the ±X ends of the upper surface 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 to 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. | 11-22-2012 |
20140022377 | MARK DETECTION METHOD, EXPOSURE METHOD AND EXPOSURE APPARATUS, AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - An alignment mark provided on a wafer is imaged using an alignment system, while driving a wafer stage based on measurement results of a position measurement system, and a position of the alignment mark is obtained from an imaging position of the alignment mark obtained from the imaging results and a position of the wafer stage at the time of imaging obtained from the measurement results of the position measurement system. During the imaging of the alignment mark, the wafer stage is uniformly driven by a moving distance which is an integral multiple of the measurement period of the position measurement system, and a position of the wafer stage at the time of imaging is obtained from an average of the measurement results of the position measurement system. This allows alignment measurement to be performed with good precision, without being affected by periodic errors of the position measurement system. | 01-23-2014 |
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 |