Photocopying inventions 08/06

20060192928 - Pattern transferring apparatus and pattern transferring method: A pattern transferring apparatus is disclosed which can prevent damage to a transferred pattern and realize fast mold release regardless of the type of resist. The pattern transferring apparatus transfers a pattern formed on a mold to an object by bringing the mold into contact with the apparatus has a...

20060192930 - Exposure apparatus: An exposure apparatus includes a projection optical system for projecting a pattern of a reticle onto an object to be exposed, via a liquid that is filled in a space between a final optical element in the projection optical system and the object, and a liquid-holding member provided around the...

20060192929 - Lithographic apparatus, device manufacturing method and apparatus for de-gassing a liquid: A lithographic apparatus is disclosed that has a semi-permeable membrane, a liquid inlet adapted to supply liquid to a first side of the membrane, and a gas inlet adapted to supply to a second side of the membrane either: (a) a vapor of the liquid, or (b) a gas which...

20060192931 - Automated focus feedback for optical lithography tool: A system for maintaining the focus of an exposure tool includes an exposure tool and an analysis system. The exposure tool is configured to generate a sample for determining a product best center of focus, generate a first sample for determining an initial exposure tool focus, and generate a second...

20060192934 - Exposure apparatus and device fabrication method: An exposure apparatus includes a reflective element for reflecting and introducing light from a light source to a plate, at least one first driver for providing the reflective element with a force and/or a displacement in at least one directions, and at least one second driver for providing the reflective...

20060192932 - Method and apparatus for maskless photolithography: A method and apparatus to create two dimensional and three dimensional structures using a maskless photolithography system that is semi-automated, directly reconfigurable, and does not require masks, templates or stencils to create each of the planes or layers on a multi layer two-dimensional or three dimensional structure. In an embodiment,...

20060192933 - Multiple exposure apparatus and multiple exposure method using the same: A multiple exposure system and a multiple exposure method using the same enhance the resolution of the image of the mask pattern transferred to a substrate. The system includes NA controllers that provide excellent resolution with respect to the directions of the short axis and long axis of the mask...

20060192935 - Correction of optical proximity effects by intensity modulation of an illumination arrangement: A method for configuring the optical transfer of a patterning device pattern onto a substrate with a lithographic apparatus is presented. The method includes adjusting an intensity of a first illumination shape relative to a second illumination shape, the first and the second illumination shapes defining respectively a first illumination...

20060192936 - Lithography measurements using scatterometry: A lithographic apparatus includes an illuminator configured to condition a beam of radiation and a support configured to hold a patterning device. The patterning device is configured to pattern the beam of radiation according to a desired pattern. The lithographic apparatus also includes a substrate table configured to hold a...

20060192937 - Lithographic apparatus: 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...

20060187427 - Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method: Various types of pressure regulating devices are disclosed to reduce a pressure gradient in a liquid supply system of a lithographic apparatus, the liquid supply system having a liquid confinement structure configured to at least partially confine a liquid between a projection system and a substrate table of the lithographic...

20060187432 - Exposure apparatus, exposure method, and method for producing device: An exposure apparatus includes a substrate stage movable while holding a substrate, a substrate alignment system which detects an alignment mark (1) on the substrate held by the substrate stage and detects a reference mark (PFM) provided on the substrate stage, and a mask alignment system which detects, via a...

20060187433 - Exposure apparatus, exposure method, method for manufacturing device: An exposure apparatus that: projects pattern images onto a substrate via liquid and a projection optical system, the liquid forming a liquid immersion region between the projection optical system and the substrate; and exposes the substrate. The apparatus has: a liquid-supplying-section that supplies the liquid onto the substrate; a first...

20060187431 - Exposure method and exposure apparatus, stage unit, and device manufacturing method: 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...

20060187428 - Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method: A lithographic apparatus provided with an array of individually controllable elements that is detachably mounted to mounting points on a support frame of the lithographic apparatus....

20060187429 - Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method: In, for example, an immersion lithography apparatus, a sensor that would normally be provided on the substrate table is replaced by a retro-reflector on the substrate table and a sensor at, for example, patterning device level. This may avoid the need to make the sensor compatible with the immersion liquid...

20060187430 - Microlithographic projection exposure apparatus: A microlithographic projection exposure apparatus contains an illumination system for generating projection light and a projection lens with which a reticle that is capable of being arranged in an object plane of the projection lens can be imaged onto a light-sensitive layer that is capable of being arranged in an...

20060187434 - Autofocus methods and devices for lithography: Improved autofocusing (“AF”) methods and devices for lithography are provided. Some embodiments of the invention provide an AF system that includes one or more interferometers for measuring a distance to a wafer surface or a reticle surface. The invention includes methods and devices for calibrating the interferometer(s) according to known...

20060187435 - Measuring apparatus and exposure apparatus having the same: A measuring apparatus for measuring an optical performance of an optical system under test that has a numerical aperture of more than 0.6 at a light exit side, said measuring apparatus includes a numerical aperture decreasing part for decreasing the numerical aperture of a light exited from the optical system...

20060187436 - Method and system for improving focus accuracy in a lithography system: A focus system that includes a calibration subsystem and a control subsystem. The control subsystem, which includes a control sensor, is in close proximity to the exposing of an image. The calibration subsystem, which includes a calibration sensor and a control sensor, is located remotely from, or off-axis with respect...

20060187437 - Alignment apparatus and exposure apparatus: An alignment apparatus includes a first support member having a reference surface which movably supports an object, a driving unit which moves the object in at least one direction on the reference surface and aligns the object at a predetermined position, and a second support member which is provided separately...

20060187439 - Stage system including fine-motion cable unit, exposure apparatus, and method of manufacturing device: A stage system that reduces disturbances caused by deformation of a cable and achieves high-precision positioning. The stage system includes a substrate stage movable in at least two axial directions, a fine-motion cable unit that holds a cable and finely moves in at least two axial directions, and a coarse-motion...

20060187438 - Temperature adjustment apparatus, exposure apparatus having the temperature adjustment apparatus, and semiconductor device manufacturing method: An exposure apparatus including an illumination optical unit for irradiating exposure light, a stage for mounting a substrate and moving the substrate, a driving unit for driving the stage, a heater for applying heat to the stage, and a heat generation amount control unit for controlling heat generation amount to...

20060187440 - Apparatus and method for mounting a hard pellicle: An apparatus for mounting at least one hard pellicle to a mask which includes an enclosure having an interior cavity, demounting means for removing a protective cover from a mask, mounting means for mounting at least one hard pellicle to the mask and conduit means for pumping a light-transmitting gas...

20060181690 - Exposure apparatus, exposure method, and method for producing device: A part of exposure beam through a liquid via a projection optical system enters a light-transmitting section, enters an optical member without passing through gas, and is focused. The exposure apparatus receives the exposure light from the projection optical system to perform various measurements even if the numerical aperture of...

20060181689 - Lithographic-optical systems including isolatable vacuum chambers, and lithography apparatus comprising same: An exemplary optical system includes a first vacuum chamber and a second vacuum chamber having first and second portions. The first vacuum chamber contains an energy-beam source. The first vacuum-chamber portion contains a first optical-system portion that receives the beam from the source, and the second vacuum-chamber portion contains a...

20060181691 - Apparatus for projecting a pattern into an image plane: An improvement of the imaging quality with simultaneous transfer of line-space gratings and peripheral structures including a MUX space is achieved using a quadrupole illumination whose poles are formed in elongate fashion and whose longitudinal axes are arranged perpendicular to the orientation of the lines of the line-space grating arranged...

20060181692 - Method and apparatus for controlling radiation beam intensity directed to microlithograhic substrates: A method and apparatus for controlling an intensity distribution of a radiation beam directed to a microlithographic substrate. The method can include directing a radiation beam from a radiation source along the radiation path, with the radiation beam having a first distribution of intensity as the function of location in...

20060181693 - Method for automatically providing data for the focus monitoring of a lithographic process: A method for automatically providing data for the focus monitoring of a lithographic exposure process is disclosed. Firstly, the file for a wafer is generated, which holds at least the information of the size of the wafer, the position of a plurality of measurement pattern, the order in which the...

20060176455 - Exposure apparatus: An exposure apparatus for exposing a substrate to light via a reticle includes a projection optical system configured to project a pattern of the reticle onto the substrate, a nozzle configured to supply liquid to a region between the projection optical system and the substrate where the light passes, and...

20060176456 - Exposure apparatus and device manufacturing method: An exposure apparatus exposes a substrate by forming a liquid immersion region on the substrate, and projecting a pattern image onto the substrate via a projection optical system and a liquid that forms the liquid immersion region. The exposure apparatus includes: a liquid supply mechanism that has a supply port...

20060176454 - Exposure apparatus for liquid crystal panel and exposure apparatus: A composite ceramic material with a honeycomb structure which is composed by adding glass into silicon carbide is used for a mask stage (2) and a substrate stage (12) in an exposure apparatus (100) for liquid crystal panels....

20060176458 - Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method: In a lithographic projection apparatus, a liquid supply system provides liquid in a space between the final element of the projection system and the substrate of the lithographic projection apparatus. A shutter member is provided to contain liquid in the liquid supply system during, for example, substrate exchange....

20060176457 - Projection optical system inspecting method and inspection apparatus, and a projection optical system manufacturing method: In the inspection apparatus of this projection optical system, a folding glass member, comprising a flat surface part and a reflecting spherical surface part opposing to the flat surface part, is disposed on the image plane side of the projection optical system so that the flat surface part opposes to...

20060176459 - Off-axis levelling in lithographic projection apparatus: In an off-axis levelling procedure a height map of the substrate is generated at a measurement station. The height map is referenced to a physical reference surface of the substrate table. The physical reference surface may be a surface in which is inset a transmission image sensor. At the exposure...

20060176460 - Lithographic optical systems including exchangeable optical-element sets: Optical systems are disclosed for use in lithography systems, especially extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) lithography systems. An exemplary optical system includes at least a first optical-element set and a second optical-element set that are collectively configured to perform an optical function in which, for example, the first and second optical-element sets receive...

20060176461 - Projection optical system and exposure apparatus having the same: A projection optical system for projecting a pattern of a first object onto a second object. The projection optical system includes a field stop provided to an optical element in the projection optical system, which is closest to the second object. The field stop is provided for shielding the outside...

20060176462 - Methods and systems for controlling radiation beam characteristics for microlithographic processing: Methods and apparatuses for controlling characteristics of radiation directed to a microlithographic workpiece are disclosed. An apparatus in accordance with one embodiment of the invention includes a source of radiation positioned to direct a radiation beam having an amplitude distribution, a phase distribution, and a polarization distribution, toward a workpiece....

20060176463 - Lithographic apparatus, device manufacturing method, and device manufactured thereby: A lithographic apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus includes a radiation system that provides a beam of radiation, and a support structure that supports a patterning structure. The patterning structure is configured to pattern the beam of radiation according to a desired pattern. The apparatus also includes a substrate support that...

20060176465 - 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...

20060176466 - Chucking system for modulating shapes of substrates: The present invention is directed to a chucking system to modulate substrates so as to properly shape and position the same with respect to a wafer upon which a pattern is to be formed with the substrate. The chucking system includes a chuck body having first and second opposed sides....

20060176464 - Stage control apparatus and method, stage apparatus and exposure apparatus: A stage control apparatus for controlling a stage on which a substrate can be placed and moved generates a target value relating to a vertical direction of the stage based upon substrate surface position information that corresponds to unevenness of the surface of the substrate and generates a drive command...

20060170887 - Image forming method and apparatus: An image forming apparatus of the invention packs a plurality of image prints in a bag as finished prints corresponding to an order a user made and outputting the bag containing the plurality of image prints. At first, the apparatus records each of the plurality of images on a recording...

20060170891 - Exposure apparatus, exposure method, and method for producing device: A part of exposure beam through a liquid via a projection optical system enters a light-transmitting section, enters an optical member without passing through gas, and is focused. The exposure apparatus receives the exposure light from the projection optical system to perform various measurements even if the numerical aperture of...

20060170889 - Exposure apparatus, manufacturing method of optical element, and device manufacturing method: An exposure apparatus includes a projection optical system for projecting an image of a pattern of a reticle onto a substrate via liquid, the liquid being filled in a space between an optical element of the projection optical system and the substrate, the optical element being closest to the substrate...

20060170890 - Mirror and exposure apparatus having the same: A mirror used for a laser beam, said mirror includes a substrate, an aluminum layer formed on the substrate, a dielectric layer formed on the aluminum layer, and an aluminum oxide layer provided between the aluminum layer and the dielectric layer, wherein said aluminum oxide layer has an optical thickness...

20060170888 - Moving control apparatus and moving control method: A moving control apparatus comprising: a moving member provided movably at least in one direction; a driver having a movable element connected to the moving member and a stator to displace the movable element; a controller which energizes the driver to cause the movable element to generate a thrust; a...

20060170892 - Lithographic apparatus and method for determining z position errors/variations and substrate table flatness: A lithographic projection apparatus including an illumination system configured to provide a beam of radiation, a support configured to support a patterning device, the patterning device configured to impart the beam with a pattern in its cross section, a substrate table configured to hold a substrate, a projection system configured...

20060170893 - Lithography exposure device: In order to design a lithography exposure device comprising a mounting device for the layer sensitive to light, an exposure unit comprising several laser radiation sources and an optical focusing means associated with the laser radiation sources, a movement unit for generating a relative movement between the optical focusing means...

20060170894 - Illumination systems, exposure apparatus, and microdevice-manufacturing methods using same: Illumination systems are disclosed that illuminate a surface M for irradiation with illumination light emitted from a light source 5. An exemplary illumination system includes an incidence-side reflection-type fly-eye optical system 12 having multiple reflection-type partial optical systems arranged in rows, an emission-side reflection-type fly-eye optical system 14 having multiple...

20060170896 - Interferometric lithographic projection apparatus: A lithographic projection apparatus includes an illumination system, an interchangeable upper optics module, and a lower optics module. The illumination system provides a beam of radiation. The interchangeable upper optics module receives the beam and includes, sequentially, a beam splitter that splits the beam into portions, an aperture plate, and...

20060170895 - Projection exposure apparatus: The invention relates to a projection exposure apparatus, in particular for the field of microlithography. The projection exposure apparatus includes at least one treatment device for treating at least one blank for an optical element. The treatment device serves to alter at least one optical property of the blank....

20060170897 - Projection exposure system: A projection exposure system, intended in particular for microlithography, is used for generating, in an image plane, an image of a mask arranged in an object plane. The projection exposure system has a light source emitting projection light and projection optics arranged between the mask and the image. Starting from...

20060170899 - Lithographic apparatus, excimer laser and device manufacturing method: A CD-pitch dependency for a lithographic pattern printing process is related to the spectral intensity distribution of radiation used for projecting the pattern. A CD-pitch dependency can vary from one system to another. This can result in an iso-dense bias mismatch between systems. The invention addresses this problem by providing...

20060170898 - Method and apparatus for controlling iso-dense bias in lithography: The present invention relates to a lithographic apparatus and a method of using the apparatus in the manufacture of a device such as an integrated circuit (IC). In particular, the present invention relates to a lithographic apparatus wherein iso-dense bias in a printed pattern on a substrate is capable of...

20060170900 - Lithography arrangement and procedure that produces a lithography: A lithography arrangement and lithographic method is described which permits exposure of a substrate with radiation simultaneously with good intensity and contrast. A means for generating electromagnetic radiation and for directing the electromagnetic radiation onto a mask is provided. The mask has structures that essentially run along a predeterminable course...

20060170901 - Polarization-modulating element, illumination optical apparatus, exposure apparatus, and exposure method: There is disclosed a polarization-modulating element for modulating a polarization state of incident light into a predetermined polarization state, the polarization-modulating element being made of an optical material with optical activity and having a circumferentially varying thickness profile....

20060170902 - Apparatus and method for a loading reticle: An apparatus and method to load a reticle, to check whether the reticle is loaded in a flat manner and to flatten the reticle when the reticle is not loaded in a flat manner. In one embodiment, the apparatus includes a sensor to sense the degree of flatness of the...