Photocopying inventions 08/07

20070201014 - Light irradiation apparatus, light irradiation method, crystallization apparatus, crystallization method, semiconductor device, and light modulation element: A light irradiation apparatus includes a light modulation element that modulates a phase of incident light to emit the modulated light therefrom, and an image forming optical system that is arranged between the light modulation element and an irradiation target plane, and forms an image of the emitted light to... Agent: Oblon, Spivak, Mcclelland, Maier & Neustadt, P.C.

20070201010 - Exposure apparatus, exposure method, and device manufacturing method: Of a measurement stage (MST) that has a plate (101) on which liquid is supplied, and performs measurement related to exposure via a projection optical system (PL) and a liquid (Lq), at least a part of the measurement stage including the plate can be exchanged. Therefore, by exchanging at least... Agent: Oliff & Berridge, PLC

20070201012 - Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method: A lithographic projection apparatus is disclosed for use with an immersion liquid positioned between the projection system and a substrate. Several methods and mechanism are disclosed to protect components of the projection system, substrate table and a liquid confinement system. These include providing a protective coating on a final element... Agent: Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP

20070201011 - Optical element, exposure apparatus based on the use of the same, exposure method, and method for producing microdevice: An optical element includes a base material, a liquid-repellent member provided on at least a part of a surface of the base material, and a light-reducing member provided between the base material and the liquid-repellent member to protect the liquid-repellent member from radiation of light by reducing the light. The... Agent: Oliff & Berridge, PLC

20070201013 - Lithographic apparatus, device manufacturing method and energy sensor: An energy sensor, e.g. as part of a transmission image sensor comprises: a radiation-sensitive detector arranged to receive a pulsed radiation beam and to generate a current in response thereto; a circuit equivalent to an RC network connected across the radiation-sensitive detector; and an analog to digital converter connected across... Agent: Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP

20070195306 - Semiconductor wafer flatness correction apparatus and method: There are provided a wafer stage, an exposure apparatus having the same, and a wafer flatness correction method using the same. The wafer stage includes a chuck having first and second vacuum holes, a first vacuum pump applying a vacuum suction force to the first vacuum holes and a second... Agent: Volentine & Whitt PLLC

20070195300 - Apparatus and method for maintaining immersion fluid in the gap under the projection lens during wafer exchange in an immersion lithography machine: An apparatus and method maintain immersion fluid in the gap adjacent to the projection lens during the exchange of a work piece in a lithography machine. The apparatus and method include an optical assembly that projects an image onto a work piece and a stage assembly including a work piece... Agent: Oliff & Berridge, PLC

20070195303 - Apparatus and method for providing fluid for immersion lithography: A lithographic projection apparatus projects a pattern from a patterning device onto a substrate using a projection system. The apparatus has a liquid supply system to supply a liquid to a space between the projection system and the substrate. The apparatus also has a fluid removal system including a chamber... Agent: Oliff & Berridge, PLC

20070195301 - Exposure apparatus, exposure method, and method for producing device: A lithographic apparatus includes a substrate table to hold a substrate and a projection system to project a patterned radiation beam onto a target portion of the substrate. A liquid supply system at least partly fills a space between the projection system and the substrate with a liquid, and has... Agent: Oliff & Berridge, PLC

20070195298 - Imaging system: An imaging apparatus comprising: a capture device (4,5) operate e to capture a sequence of component images of a target (2) to be imaged; and an image generator (4,5) operable to generate a plurality of output images; wherein the image generator is operable to generate respective output images from corresponding... Agent: Nixon & Vanderhye, PC

20070195296 - Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method: A lithographic apparatus includes a displacement measuring system to measure a position of a moveable object with respect to a reference frame of the lithographic apparatus, in at least three coplanar degrees of freedom (x, y, Rz) of an orthogonal x-y-z coordinate system centred in the center of the moveable... Agent: Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP

20070195295 - Mask pattern data forming method, photomask and method of manufacturing semiconductor device: There is disclosed a mask pattern data forming method comprising arranging patterns with a minimum pitch in parallel or vertically in an X or Y direction, where directions diagonally connected with respect to respective centers of gravity of the double-pole or the quadrupole illumination are defined as the X and... Agent: Oblon, Spivak, Mcclelland, Maier & Neustadt, P.C.

20070195299 - Method for improving an optical imaging property of a projection objective of a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus: A method is disclosed for improving an optical imaging property, for example spherical aberration or the focal length, of a projection objective of a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus. First, an immersion liquid is introduced into an interspace between a photosensitive surface and an end face of the projection objective. Then... Agent: Young & Basile, P.C.

20070195297 - Substrate carrying apparatus, sustrate carrying method, and coating and developing apparatus: A substrate carrying apparatus includes an arm body; supporting portion provided in the arm body and adapted to support a region inside the periphery of the rear face of the substrate; a one-side restricting portion and an other-side restricting portion provided at opposite positions across the periphery of the substrate... Agent: Smith, Gambrell & Russell

20070195302 - Using isotopically specified fluids as optical elements: Fluidic optical elements and systems use isotopically specified fluids for processing light passing therethrough. The isotopic composition of the fluid may be adjusted to vary the optical properties. The properties of the isotopically specified fluid may be monitored and adjusted to obtain the desired optical characteristics of the fluidic optical... Agent: Oliff & Berridge, PLC

20070195304 - Large field of view projection optical system with aberration correctability: An exposure system for manufacturing flat panel displays (FPDs) includes a reticle stage adapted to support a reticle. A substrate stage is adapted to support a substrate. A reflective optical system is adapted to image the reticle onto the substrate. The reflective optical system includes a primary mirror including a... Agent: Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.l.l.c.

20070195305 - Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method: A lithographic projection system has an illumination system with a polarization member. A plurality of directing elements reflect different sub-beams of an incident beam into adjustable, individually controllable directions. By means of re-directing optics any desired polarized spatial intensity distribution of the beam can be produced in its cross-sectional plane.... Agent: Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP

20070195307 - Projection lens and method for performing microlithography: A projection lens for microlithography is provided comprising transparent optical elements not having direct contact and being spaced apart at most half of the wavelength the lens is designed for by a separator. Thus the corresponding gap is optically almost equivalent to a direct contact.... Agent: Wood, Phillips, Katz, Clark & Mortimer

20070188721 - Exposure apparatus: An exposure apparatus includes a projection optical system for projecting a pattern of a mask onto an object using a light with wavelength of 20 nm or less from a light source, and first and second accommodating parts for accommodating the projection optical system and the mask or the object,... Agent: Morgan & Finnegan, L.L.P.

20070188722 - Optical system for creating an illuminated strip: An optical system is usable to form an illuminating strip on a surface of a material. The optical system includes an illuminating device which contains several light sources which are located at a distance from the surface of the material. The illuminating device uses its light sources to generate the... Agent: Douglas R Hanscom Jones Tullar & Cooper

20070188725 - Exposure apparatus, exposure method, and exposure system: An exposure apparatus has a projection optical system configured to project an image of a reticle pattern onto a substrate, and exposes the substrate via liquid supplied to a space between the substrate and the projection optical system. The exposure apparatus includes an oxygen removal unit configured to reduce dissolved... Agent: Morgan & Finnegan, L.L.P.

20070188723 - Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method: The mask in a lithographic apparatus is clamped on a first side using a first clamping device and on a second side, different from the first side, using a second clamping device. The clamping forces are preferably applied using thin membranes. The first clamp clamps the substrate in directions parallel... Agent: Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP

20070188724 - Lithographic apparatus and stage apparatus: A lithographic apparatus includes a support constructed to support a patterning device. The patterning device is capable of imparting a radiation beam with a pattern in its cross-section to form a patterned radiation beam. The support includes a force actuator device to exert a force onto the patterning device in... Agent: Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP

20070188726 - Image forming state adjusting system, exposure method and exposure apparatus, and program and information storage medium: A second communications server obtains adjustment information of an adjustment unit in an exposure apparatus and information related to image forming quality (such as wavefront aberration) of a projection optical system under an exposure condition that serves as a reference, via a first communications server, and then calculates an optimal... Agent: Oblon, Spivak, Mcclelland, Maier & Neustadt, P.C.

20070188727 - Image forming state adjusting system, exposure method and exposure apparatus, and program and information storage medium: A second communications server obtains adjustment information of an adjustment unit in an exposure apparatus and information related to image forming quality (such as wavefront aberration) of a projection optical system under an exposure condition that serves as a reference, via a first communications server, and then calculates an optimal... Agent: Oblon, Spivak, Mcclelland, Maier & Neustadt, P.C.

20070188728 - Exposure apparatus: An exposure apparatus includes a projection optical system for projecting a pattern on a reticle onto an object to be exposed, a reference mark that serves as a reference for an alignment between the reticle and the object, a first fluid that has a refractive index of 1 or greater,... Agent: Morgan & Finnegan, L.L.P.

20070188729 - Projection lens for a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus: A projection lens for a EUV microlithographic projection exposure apparatus comprises a diaphragm (BL) which is arranged at a distance (D) in front of a mirror (S2) of the lens. The diaphragm (BL) has a non-round aperture with an edge contour that may be configured such two rays of a... Agent: Fish & Richardson PC

20070188730 - Exposure apparatus and device manufacturing method: An exposure apparatus includes an illumination optical system configured to illuminate a reticle, a projection optical system configured to project a pattern of the reticle onto a substrate, a polarization adjuster configured to independently adjust each polarization state of plural areas in an effective light source distribution used to illuminate... Agent: Morgan & Finnegan, L.L.P.

20070188731 - Apparatus and method for reducing contamination in immersion lithography: An apparatus for reducing contamination in immersion lithography includes a wafer chuck assembly including a wafer chuck configured to hold a semiconductor wafer on a support surface thereof. An O-ring assembly has a deformable O-ring attached to movable support sections arranged in a generally circular configuration so as to surround... Agent: Cantor Colburn LLP - IBM Fishkill

20070188732 - Stage apparatus and exposure apparatus: The position of a movable stage is detected without increasing cost or the size of apparatus. An apparatus comprises movable stages (WST, MST) that move along a plane of motion (12a); and a position-detection apparatus that detects the positions of the movable stages (WST, MST) with beams (B1 to B3).... Agent: Oliff & Berridge, PLC

20070188733 - Manufacturing method of semiconductor device: A manufacturing method of a semiconductor device including a liquid immersion movement exposure of interposing a liquid between an exposure target substrate and a projection optical system of an exposure apparatus, and carrying out an exposure processing with respect to a plurality of exposure regions set on a surface of... Agent: Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP

20070182941 - Projection exposure mask acceptance decision system, projection exposure mask acceptance decision method, method for manufacturing semiconductor device, and computer program product: A projection exposure mask acceptance decision system includes assurance object measuring unit to measure quality assurance objects relating to projection exposure mask, first exposure characteristic deterioration quantity calculating unit to calculate first exposure characteristic deterioration quantity caused by deviations in average values of the quality assurance objects measured by the... Agent: Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP

20070182943 - Debris apparatus, system, and method: Apparatus, system, and method for reducing contamination of semiconductor device wafers in immersion lithography fabrication. A preferred embodiment comprises a support ring to provide structural integrity to the apparatus and a planar ring formed on one side of the support ring. The planar ring has a plurality of openings formed... Agent: Slater & Matsil LLP

20070182945 - Exposure apparatus and device manufacturing method: An exposure apparatus which prevents the damage due to the liquid having flowed out from spreading and enables satisfactory performances of the exposure processes and the measurement processes is provided. An exposure apparatus (EX) includes a movable table (PT), a base member (41) having an upper surface (41A) that guides... Agent: Miles & Stockbridge PC

20070182942 - Exposure device: The device includes a substrate holding portion for holding a substrate having resist formed thereon, a driving portion for varying the irradiation position of an exposure beam relatively to the substrate, and a cooling portion for cooling the substrate during irradiation of the exposure beam.... Agent: Dva/pec-ipd

20070182944 - Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method: A lithographic apparatus includes a first control system to control a first physical quantity in the lithographic apparatus. A parameter in the first control system is dependent on a value of a further physical quantity in the lithographic apparatus. The parameter may be included in a feedforward path. An input... Agent: Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP

20070182946 - Method of manufacturing a device, device manufactured thereby, computer program and lithographic apparatus: A device manufacturing method includes using a patterning device to impart a beam of radiation with a pattern in its cross-section, projecting the patterned beam of radiation onto a plurality of target portions of substantially the same area within a periphery of the substrate, and projecting a beam of radiation... Agent: Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP

20070182947 - Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method: A device manufacturing method includes transferring a pattern from a patterning device onto a substrate. The method includes bringing the patterning device and the support together, and applying a substantially stationary force between the patterning device and the support to hold the patterning device. The patterning device is now excited... Agent: Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP

20070182948 - Semiconductor exposure method and method of controlling semiconductor exposure apparatus: A semiconductor exposure method that uses a semiconductor exposure apparatus to expose a wafer is described. The semiconductor exposure apparatus comprises at least an exposure lens, a platform for supporting the wafer and a liquid-circulating device. The liquid-circulating device supplies a liquid to the space between the wafer and the... Agent: Jianq Chyun Intellectual Property Office

20070177117 - Exposure apparatus and device manufacturing method: An exposure apparatus for exposing a substrate via liquid includes a supply nozzle configured to supply the liquid, and a recovery nozzle configured to recover the liquid, wherein at least one of the supply nozzle and the recovery nozzle includes porous ceramic with an oxide film.... Agent: Morgan & Finnegan, L.L.P.

20070177119 - Exposure apparatus and device manufacturing method: An exposure apparatus exposes a substrate via liquid, and includes a liquid holding plate configured to hold the liquid, and arranged around the substrate, and a chuck configured to hold the substrate, at least one of at least part of a surface of the liquid holding plate and at least... Agent: Morgan & Finnegan, L.L.P.

20070177116 - Method and apparatus for manufacturing microstructure and device manufactured thereby: A method for manufacturing a microstructure, includes: dividing an incident laser beam into a plurality of diffracted beams by means of a diffractive optical element; concentrating said divided plurality of diffracted beams into mutually parallel diffracted beams by means of a telecentric lens; causing each of said mutually parallel diffracted... Agent: Oliff & Berridge, PLC

20070177120 - Photolithography equipment having wafer pre-alignment unit and wafer pre-alignment method using the same: Exposure equipment having a wafer pre-alignment apparatus and a wafer pre-alignment method using the same reduce wafer pre-alignment errors. The exposure equipment comprises a plurality of exposure units in which lots of wafers are loaded, respectively, and a central control unit. The exposure units are constituted by an alignment apparatus... Agent: Volentine & Whitt PLLC

20070177118 - Dynamic fluid control system for immersion lithography: A dynamic fluid control system and method capable of reducing dynamic forces from the fluid on the last optical element (20) and substrate stage (14) caused by the motion of the immersion fluid. The system includes an imaging element (12) that defines an image and a stage (14) configured to... Agent: Oliff & Berridge, PLC

20070177122 - Lithographic apparatus, device manufacturing method and exchangeable optical element: A lithographic apparatus has an assembly to exchange optical elements in a pupil plane of its projection system. The optical elements may be pupil filters and may conform to the physical dimensions specified for a reticle standard, e.g. having sides substantially equal to 5, 6 or 9 inches.... Agent: Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP

20070177121 - Phase shifting photolithography system: A phase shifting photolithography system includes inserting a phase shift component in a path of an illumination, wherein the phase shift component modifies a portion of the of the illumination to a different, and controlling an aperture shutter of the phase shift component modifying an interference of the illumination and... Agent: Ishimaru & Zahrt LLP

20070177123 - Lithographic projection apparatus and a device manufacturing method: A lithographic apparatus wherein a dipole illumination mode used for printing a line pattern, is arranged to provide quadrupole illumination. Radiation emanating from the two additional poles and passing the mask pattern without being affected by diffraction is prevented from reaching the wafer by a radiation blocking aperture disposed in... Agent: Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP

20070177124 - Apparatus and method for reducing contamination in immersion lithography: An apparatus for reducing contamination in immersion lithography includes a wafer chuck assembly having a wafer chuck configured to hold a semiconductor wafer on a support surface thereof. The wafer chuck has a gap therein, the gap located adjacent an outer edge of the wafer, and the gap containing a... Agent: Cantor Colburn LLP - IBM Fishkill

20070177125 - Substrate holding unit, exposure apparatus having same, exposure method, method for producing device, and liquid repellent plate: A substrate holder includes a base; a first holding portion which is formed on the base and which attracts and holds a substrate; and a second holding portion which is formed on the base and which attracts and holds a plate member in the vicinity of the substrate attracted and... Agent: Oliff & Berridge, PLC

20070177126 - Wafer flatness evaluation method, wafer flatness evaluation apparatus carrying out the evaluation method, wafer manufacturing method using the evaluation method, wafer quality assurance method using the evaluation method, semiconductor device manufacturin: There is disclosed a wafer flatness evaluation method includes measuring front and rear surface shapes of a wafer. The wafer front surface measured is divided into sites. Then, a flatness calculating method is selected according to a position of the site to be evaluated and flatness in the wafer surface... Agent: Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP

20070177127 - Wafer flatness evaluation method, wafer flatness evaluation apparatus carrying out the evaluation method, wafer manufacturing method using the evaluation method, wafer quality assurance method using the evaluation method, semiconductor device manufacturin: There is disclosed a wafer flatness evaluation method includes measuring front and rear surface shapes of a wafer. The wafer front surface measured is divided into sites. Then, a flatness calculating method is selected according to a position of the site to be evaluated and flatness in the wafer surface... Agent: Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP