| Patent application number | Description | Published |
|---|
| 20080239264 | Lithographic apparatus having feedthrough control system - An optical component of the lithographic apparatus is moved. A substrate support is moved so as to be synchronous with the motion of the optical component. A momentary position of the optical component is measured. A momentary position of the substrate support is measured at a first sampling rate. The measured momentary position of the optical component is compared with a desired momentary position of the optical component to generate an optical component position error signal in accordance with a difference between the two optical component positions. The measured momentary position of the substrate support is compared with a desired momentary position of the substrate support to generate a substrate support position error signal in accordance with a difference between the two substrate support positions. The momentary position of the optical component is adjusted so as to compensate for the difference between the two substrate support positions. | 10-02-2008 |
| 20080308749 | Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method - A lithographic apparatus is disclosed having a projection system housing supporting internally one or more lens elements, and a movement damper connected to the projection system housing, the movement damper configured to damp movement of the projection system housing at an eigenfrequency of at least one of the one or more lens elements and/or of the projection system housing. | 12-18-2008 |
| 20090103066 | Lithographic Apparatus and Device Manufacturing Method - A control system for controlling a position or position related quantity of an object is provided. A measurement system is configured to measure a position or position related quantity of the object. A controller is configured to provide a control signal on the basis of the measured position or position related quantity. A actuator actuates the object on the basis of the control signal. A filter unit, which may be a partial order filter unit, filters the measured position or position related quantity. | 04-23-2009 |
| 20090115987 | POSITION MEASUREMENT SYSTEM AND LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS - A measurement system includes a sensor arranged to co-operate with a first pattern arranged on a structure of the measurement system to determine a first position quantity of the sensor relative to the structure, and arranged to co-operate with a second pattern arranged on the structure to determine a second position quantity of the sensor relative to the structure, wherein the first and second patterns are arranged on different surfaces of the structure. | 05-07-2009 |
| 20090122284 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS HAVING AN ACTIVE DAMPING SUBASSEMBLY - A lithographic apparatus includes a projection system to project a patterned radiation beam onto a substrate, and a damping system to dampen a vibration of at least part of the projection system, the damping system including an interface damping mass and an active damping subsystem to dampen a vibration of at least part of the interface damping mass, the interface damping mass connected to the projection system, and the active damping subsystem connected to the interface damping mass, the active damping subsystem including a sensor to measure a position quantity of the interface damping mass and an actuator to exert a force on the interface damping mass based on a signal provided by the sensor. The damping system further includes an interface damping device connected to the interface damping mass and configured to damp a movement of the interface damping mass at an eigenfrequency of the interface damping mass. | 05-14-2009 |
| 20090147230 | Lithographic Apparatus and Device Manufacturing Method - A vibration damping arrangement for a lithographic apparatus includes a sensor arranged to, in use, detect a vibration of a projection system. An actuator is arranged to, in use, exert a force on a control unit of the projection system to convert an output signal of the sensor to an actuator input signal such that, during operation, the vibration of the projection system is mitigated by controlling the actuator by the input signal to exert the force to the projection system. | 06-11-2009 |
| 20090161085 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS HAVING ACOUSTIC RESONATOR - A lithographic apparatus may be provided with an acoustic resonator to dampen an acoustic vibration in the lithographic apparatus. The acoustic resonator may include a Helmholtz resonator. The helmholz resonator may be provided with an active element to provide active damping and/or altering a spring characteristic of the mass spring assembly formed by the resonator. The resonator may be provided at a slit in a shield between the patterning device stage and the projection system to suppress transfer of acoustical vibrations, caused by e.g. a movement of the patterning device stage, to the projection system. | 06-25-2009 |
| 20090195763 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS - A lithographic apparatus is arranged to transfer a pattern from a patterning device onto a substrate. The lithographic apparatus includes an acoustical sensor to measure a first acoustic vibration in a sensor measurement area in the lithographic apparatus. An actuator is provided to generate a second acoustic vibration in at least an area of the lithographic apparatus. Further, a control device is provided having a sensor input to receive a sensor signal of the acoustical sensor and an actuator output to provide an actuator drive signal to the actuator. The control device is arranged to drive the actuator so as to let the second acoustic vibration at least partly compensate in the area the first acoustic vibration. | 08-06-2009 |
| 20090201477 | MOVABLE SUPPORT, POSITION CONTROL SYSTEM, LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING A POSITION OF AN EXCHANGEABLE OBJECT - A movable support is configured to hold an exchangeable object. The support includes a movable structure movably arranged with respect to a reference object, an object holder movably arranged with respect to the movable structure and configured to hold the exchangeable object, an actuator configured to move the movable structure with respect to the reference object, and an ultra short stroke actuator configured to move the object holder with respect to the movable structure, wherein a stiffness of the ultra short stroke actuator is substantially larger than a stiffness of the at least one actuator. | 08-13-2009 |
| 20090207393 | Damping Arrangement, Active Damping System, Lithographic Apparatus, And Projection Assembly - An active damping system assembly is configured to dampen a vibration of at least part of a structure. The assembly includes a plurality of active dampers each including a sensor configured to measure a position quantity of an interface mass mounted on the structure; and an actuator configured to exert a force on the interface mass in dependency of a signal provided by the sensor, wherein each of the plurality of active damping systems is connected to the interface mass. The structure may be a projection system of a lithographic apparatus. | 08-20-2009 |
| 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 |
| 20090290135 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - 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 projection system configured to project the patterned beam onto a target portion of a substrate; a substrate table configured to hold the substrate, the substrate table including a support surface configured to support an intermediary plate between the projection system and at least one of the substrate and an object positioned on the substrate table and not in contact with the at least one of the substrate and the object; and a liquid supply system configured to provide a liquid, through which the beam is to be projected, in a space between the projection system and the at least one of the substrate and the object. | 11-26-2009 |
| 20090316129 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS HAVING A FEED FORWARD PRESSURE PULSE COMPENSATION FOR THE METROLOGY FRAME - A lithographic apparatus including a projection system configured to project a patterned radiation beam onto a target portion of a substrate; a metrology frame supported by a vibration isolation support device; an object movable with respect to the metrology frame; and a displacement determining unit to determine positions, speeds and/or accelerations of the object with respect to the metrology frame and/or the projection system. At least one actuator is provided for applying correcting forces and/or torques on the metrology frame, and a controller is provided which is configured to calculate the correcting forces and/or torques to be applied to the metrology frame based on the determined positions, speeds and/or accelerations of the object in order to compensate for pressure pulses exerted on the metrology frame due to movements of the object with respect to the metrology frame. | 12-24-2009 |
| 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 |
| 20100020525 | Cable Connection, Control System, and Method to Decrease the Passing on of Vibrations from a First Object to a Second Object - A cable connection between a first object and a second object includes a cable bundle of one or more cables having a certain length. One end of the cable bundle is fixed to the first object and another end of the bundle is fixed to the second object. A cable bundle holder configured to hold the cable bundle at a certain location along the length of the cable bundle, and a control system configured to control the position of the cable bundle holder with respect to the second object are presented. A control system for cable connection, and a method of reducing the transfer of vibrations from a first object to a second object via a cable connection are presented. | 01-28-2010 |
| 20100089712 | PROJECTION ASSEMBLY AND LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS - A projection assembly includes a projection system to project a patterned radiation beam onto a substrate, a damping system to dampen a vibration of the projection system, the damping system including an interface damping mass and an active damping subsystem to dampen a vibration of at least part of the interface damping mass, the interface damping mass connected to the projection system, the active damping subsystem including a sensor to measure a position of the interface damping mass, an electromagnetic actuator to exert a force on the interface damping mass, and a controller to drive the electromagnetic actuator based on a signal provided by the sensor, the active damping subsystem including a reaction mass for the electromagnetic actuator to exert a counterforce upon based on the signal provided by the first sensor. | 04-15-2010 |
| 20100157264 | METHOD FOR DAMPING AN OBJECT, AN ACTIVE DAMPING SYSTEM, AND A LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS - A method for damping an object in two or more degrees of freedom, including measuring a position quantity at each of the two or more measurement locations; extracting from the measured position quantities a measurement signal for each dynamic mode; feeding the measurement signal of a dynamic mode to a controller unit associated with the respective dynamic mode, the controller unit providing for each dynamic mode an output signal on the basis of the respective measurement signal; and providing a control signal to each of the two or more actuators, the control signal for each actuator being based on output signals of one or more controller units. | 06-24-2010 |
| 20100159399 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS WITH GAS PRESSURE MEANS FOR CONTROLLING A PLANAR POSITION OF A PATTERNING DEVICE CONTACTLESS - A lithographic apparatus includes a position controller configured to control a position of a patterning device in its planar direction by selectively pressing at least one of the side faces of the patterning device. The position controller includes a gas pressure supply and one or more outflow openings directed towards at least one side face of the patterning device so as to exert pressurized gas on this side face in order to control the position of the patterning device in its planar direction in a contactless manner. | 06-24-2010 |
| 20100290022 | Enhancing Alignment in Lithographic Apparatus Device Manufacture - In a lithographic apparatus, a scanning mechanism is coarse compared with precise patterns to be exposed onto a substrate. In order to ensure that the image and the substrate are aligned at some point in time, an oscillation is imparted to either the substrate table, or to a device that aligns the image, such as a mask table. The oscillation frequency is chosen to compliment a maximum alignment error. The frequency of a radiation pulse is arranged to coincide with the image and the substrate being most accurately aligned. The radiation pulse of the image may be timed to coincide with the alignment without the use of the imparted oscillation. | 11-18-2010 |
| 20100321662 | Actuator System, Lithographic Apparatus, and Device Manufacturing Method - An actuator system is disclosed having a first actuator (XP | 12-23-2010 |
| 20110001942 | 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. | 01-06-2011 |
| 20110001951 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND METHOD - A drive system for controllably driving an electric actuator includes a current sensor system to sense a current conducted by the actuator and a driver to electrically drive the actuator based on an output signal of the current sensor system. The current sensor system includes at least a first and a second %forwardcurrent sensor that have a mutually different sensitivity for the current to be sensed and the drive system includes a current sensor controller to control an extent to which each of the current sensors to determine the output signal of the current sensor system. | 01-06-2011 |
| 20110007285 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - A lithographic projection apparatus is disclosed in which a space between the projection system and a sensor is filled with a liquid. | 01-13-2011 |
| 20110008483 | IMPRINT LITHOGRAPHY APPARATUS - An imprint lithography apparatus is disclosed that includes a structure located away from a substrate holder and extending across the substrate holder, and such that an imprint template arrangement is, in use, located between the structure and the substrate holder, wherein the structure has one or more arrays of lines or one or more encoders, and the substrate or substrate holder and the imprint template have a corresponding one or more encoders that face towards one or more of the one or more arrays of lines or one or more arrays of lines that face towards one or more of the one or more encoders, and the configuration determination arrangement is configured to determine a relative configuration between the substrate or substrate holder and the structure, and/or a relative configuration between the imprint template arrangement and the structure, and/or a relative configuration between the imprint template arrangement and the substrate or substrate holder. | 01-13-2011 |
| 20110096311 | LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND PATTERNING DEVICE - A lithographic apparatus includes a support 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, and a projection system configured to project the patterned radiation beam onto a target portion of the substrate. The lithographic apparatus includes a projection transfer measurement system to measure an optical projection transfer information of the projection system. The projection transfer measurement arrangement includes: an optical device to direct a measurement beam into the projection system during a scanning movement, a detector to detect the measurement beam having passed through the projection system during the scanning movement, and a measurement processor to determine the optical projection transfer information from the detected measurement beam. The optical device and the detector are arranged at an upstream end of the projection system. | 04-28-2011 |
| 20110102757 | Lithographic Method and Apparatus - A method is disclosed. A change in position of a substrate in a direction substantially parallel to a direction of propagation of a radiation beam that is, or is to be, projected on to that substrate is determined, which change in position would result in a lithographic error in the application of a pattern to that substrate using that radiation beam. The change in position of the substrate is used to control a property of the radiation beam when, or as, the radiation beam is projected onto the substrate in order to reduce the lithographic error. | 05-05-2011 |
| 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 |
| 20110153265 | METHOD OF MEASURING PROPERTIES OF DYNAMIC POSITIONING ERRORS IN A LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS, DATA PROCESSING APPARATUS, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT - Movements of a lithographic apparatus include dynamic positioning errors on one or more axes which cause corresponding errors which can be measured in the applied pattern. A test method includes operating the apparatus several times while deliberately imposing a relatively large dynamic positioning error at different specific frequencies and axes. Variations in the error in the applied pattern are measured for different frequencies and amplitudes of the injected error across a frequency band of interest for a given axis or axes. Calculation using said measurements and knowledge of the frequencies injected allows analysis of dynamic positioning error variations in frequency bands correlated with each injected error frequency. | 06-23-2011 |
| 20110163477 | IMPRINT LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND IMPRINT LITHOGRAPHIC METHOD - An imprint lithography apparatus includes an actuator configured to displace an imprint template holder relative to a substrate holder to perform an imprint process. The imprint template holder and/or the substrate holder being supported on a support structure, the support structure being mounted to a vibration isolation system that is mounted to a base of the apparatus. The vibration isolation system is configured to provide a vibration isolation of the support structure relative to the base. A control unit is configured to control the actuator during the imprint process. The control unit is arranged to control an adjustable member of the vibration isolation system to adjust a dynamical characteristic of the vibration isolation system during at least part of the imprint process so as to reduce a displacement of the support structure relative to the base due to a force exerted on the support structure during the imprint process. | 07-07-2011 |
