Photocopying inventions 09/09

20090237631 - Apparatus and methods for recovering fluid in immersion lithography: An immersion lithography apparatus includes a projection system having a final optical element, a movable stage that is movable below the projection system such that a gap exists between the final optical element and a surface of the stage, an immersion liquid being filled in the gap, a liquid confinement... Agent: Oliff & Berridge, PLC

20090237632 - Immersion lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method: An immersion lithographic apparatus is described in which a droplet removal device removes droplets from the substrate, e.g. during exposures, using an angled flow of gas from a gas knife.... Agent: Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP

20090237633 - Exposure apparatus and device manufacturing method: An exposure apparatus which exposes a substrate via a liquid, comprises: a projection optical system configured to project a pattern of a reticle onto the substrate; a substrate stage configured to hold the substrate and move; a top plate which is arranged on the substrate stage and in which an... Agent: Canon U.s.a. Inc. Intellectual Property Division

20090237634 - Encoder-type measurement system, lithographic apparatus and method to detect an error on or in a grid or grating of an encoder-type measurement system: An encoder-type measurement system is configured to measure a position dependent signal of a movable object. The measurement system includes a light source and a sensor. The light source and the sensor are mounted on one of the movable object or a substantially stationary frame. The measurement system also includes... Agent: Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP

20090237635 - Lithographic apparatus and method: According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a lithographic method of providing an alignment mark on a layer provided on a substrate, the method including providing the alignment mark on an area of the layer which is oriented within a certain range of angles with respect... Agent: Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP

20090237636 - Projection exposure method and projection exposure system therefor: In a projection exposure method, primary radiation having a center wavelength λ is generated and guided through an illumination system along an illumination path and through a projection system along a projection path. The center wavelength is varied within a wavelength variation range Δλ having a lower limit λMIN≦λ and... Agent: Sughrue Mion, PLLC

20090237638 - Exposure apparatus and device manufacturing method: An exposure apparatus for exposing a substrate through liquid includes a stage for holding and moving the substrate. The stage includes a holding section for holding the substrate and a supporting section disposed around the holding section. The supporting section includes a recovery port including a gap between the substrate... Agent: Canon U.s.a. Inc. Intellectual Property Division

20090237637 - Method for coarse wafer alignment in a lithographic apparatus: A method for alignment of a substrate, in which the substrate includes a mark in a scribe lane, and the scribe lane extends along a longitudinal direction as a first direction. The mark has a periodic structure in the first direction. The method includes providing an illumination beam for scanning... Agent: Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP

20090231557 - Light source device: A light source includes a plurality of light-emitting units arranged in a two-dimensional array. An optical element changes divergence angles of laser beams from the light-emitting units. A splitting element splits a part of each of the laser beams passing through the optical element. A compensating element compensates for a... Agent: Dickstein Shapiro LLP

20090231558 - Monitoring apparatus and method particularly useful in photolithographically processing substrates: Apparatus for processing substrates according to a predetermined photolithography process includes a loading station in which the substrates are loaded, a coating station in which the substrates are coated with a photoresist material, an exposing station in which the photoresist coating is exposed to light through a mask having a... Agent: Browdy And Neimark, P.l.l.c. 624 Ninth Street, Nw

20090231560 - Immersion lithography apparatus and method having movable liquid diverter between immersion liquid confinement member and substrate: An immersion lithography apparatus includes a projection system having a final optical element and a stage that is movable to a position below the projection system such that a gap exists between the final optical element and a surface of the stage. An immersion liquid fills the gap between the... Agent: Oliff & Berridge, PLC

20090231559 - Lithographic projection apparatus, gas purging method, device manufacturing method and purge gas supply system: A lithographic projection apparatus includes a support configured to support a patterning device, the patterning device configured to pattern a projection beam according to a desired pattern. The apparatus has a substrate table configured to hold a substrate, a projection system configured to project the patterned beam onto a target... Agent: Hamilton, Brook, Smith & Reynolds, P.C.

20090231562 - Effective light source shape database generation method, optical image calculation method, recording medium, exposure method, and device fabrication method: The present invention provides a method of generating a database of effective light source shapes including a generation step of generating an initial database representing an effective light source shapes corresponding to a plurality of conditions settable for an illumination optical system, a measurement step of setting an arbitrary condition... Agent: Canon U.s.a. Inc. Intellectual Property Division

20090231561 - Measuring method, stage apparatus, and exposure apparatus: An exposure apparatus can mitigate the impact of fluctuations in the refractive index of ambient gas, and improve, for example, stage positioning accuracy. An exposure apparatus radiates an exposure illumination light to a wafer on a wafer stage through a projection optical system, and forms a prescribed pattern on the... Agent: Oliff & Berridge, PLC

20090231563 - Method and lithographic apparatus for measuring and acquiring height data relating to a substrate surface: A lithographic apparatus includes a level sensor for use in positioning a target portion of the substrate with respect to a focal plane of the projection system, a pair of actuators, configured to move a substrate table of the lithographic apparatus, and a controller for moving the substrate relative to... Agent: Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.l.l.c.

20090231564 - Stage drive method and stage unit, exposure apparatus, and device manufacturing method: A lithographic projection apparatus includes a substrate table to hold a substrate, a projection system to project a patterned beam of radiation onto the substrate and a liquid confinement structure to confine a liquid in a space between the projection system and the substrate, the substrate, the substrate table, or... Agent: Oliff & Berridge, PLC

20090231565 - Optical system and method of use: A method for improving imaging properties of an optical system and an optical system of this type having improved imaging properties are described. The optical system can have a plurality of optical elements. In some embodiments, an optical element is positioned and/or deformed by mechanical force action and by thermal... Agent: Fish & Richardson PC

20090231567 - Lithographic apparatus having a chuck with a visco-elastic damping layer: 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... Agent: Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP

20090231566 - Lithographic apparatus, stage system and stage control method: In an embodiment, a lithographic apparatus includes a stage system including a movable stage, and a stage control system to control a position of the stage in response to a setpoint signal. The stage control system includes a feedback control loop to control the position in a feedback manner, the... Agent: Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.l.l.c.

20090231568 - Method of measuring wavefront error, method of correcting wavefront error, and method of fabricating semiconductor device: A method of measuring a wavefront error of an exposure light that occurs when the exposure light passes through an optical system that is used in an exposure apparatus is proposed. The method includes measuring the wavefront error of the exposure light by using a measurement optical element including a... Agent: Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP

20090231569 - Exposure method, exposure apparatus, and method of manufacturing device: The first evaluation value is obtained by evaluating an electrical signal containing the position information of a mark in accordance with an evaluation criterion. The first overlay error generated by the exposure apparatus is estimated based on the first evaluation value, the second evaluation value obtained by evaluating an electrical... Agent: Canon U.s.a. Inc. Intellectual Property Division

20090225285 - Substrate processing method, computer storage medium and substrate processing system: In the present invention, when dense and sparse resist patterns are formed above a substrate, respective resist pattern dimensions are measured, and a correction value for a first processing unit is calculated based on the dimension measurement result of the dense resist pattern and a correction value for a second... Agent: Oblon, Spivak, Mcclelland Maier & Neustadt, P.C.

20090225290 - Exposure apparatus and device fabrication method: The present invention provides an exposure apparatus which exposes a substrate via a liquid, the apparatus including a projection optical system configured to project a pattern of a reticle onto the substrate, a liquid supply unit configured to supply the liquid between the projection optical system and the substrate, a... Agent: Canon U.s.a. Inc. Intellectual Property Division

20090225288 - Exposure apparatus, exposure method, and device manufacturing method: During the transition from a state where one of wafer stages is located in an area below a projection optical system where a liquid immersion area is formed to a state where the other of the wafer stages is located in the area, both the wafer stages are made to... Agent: Oliff & Berridge, PLC

20090225291 - Exposure apparatus, exposure method, and device manufacturing method: An exposure apparatus exposes a substrate to exposure light via an organic liquid. The exposure apparatus includes an oxidation reaction device and a filter. The oxidation reaction device generates oxide by causing reaction between the organic liquid and at least one of oxygen and water in the organic liquid through... Agent: Canon U.s.a. Inc. Intellectual Property Division

20090225286 - Exposure apparatus, method for cleaning member thereof , maintenance method for exposure apparatus, maintenance device, and method for producing device: An exposure apparatus forms an immersion area of a liquid on the side of the image plane of a projection optical system and performs exposure of a substrate via the projection optical system and the liquid of the immersion region. The exposure apparatus has an optical cleaning unit which irradiates... Agent: Oliff & Berridge, PLC

20090225289 - Lithographic apparatus and methods: An immersion lithographic apparatus is described in which a member is provided above the surface of the substrate and the substrate table. Immersion liquid is provided between the substrate table and the substrate and the member. In an embodiment, a beam of radiation passes through the plate. In an embodiment,... Agent: Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP

20090225287 - Reticle pod and method for keeping reticle clean and dry: A reticle pod and a method for keeping a reticle clean and dry are provided, wherein the reticle pod holds a reticle and has a pellicle side provided with a pellicle. The reticle pod includes: a first cover; a second cover for joining with the first cover to form an... Agent: Sinorica, LLC

20090225292 - Exposure apparatus and device manufacturing method: An apparatus comprises a grouping unit dividing substrates into groups, and determining reference and non-reference substrates for each group, a measurement unit measuring a first number of points for the reference substrate, and measuring a second number, smaller than the first number, of points for the non-reference substrate, a correction... Agent: Canon U.s.a. Inc. Intellectual Property Division

20090225293 - Exposure apparatus, exposure method, calculation method, and device fabrication method: The present invention provides an exposure apparatus including a map obtaining unit configured to obtain a pupil aberration map representing saturation values of fluctuations in each of optical characteristics generated in a plurality of regions, which are obtained by dividing a pupil plane of a projection optical system, upon irradiating... Agent: Canon U.s.a. Inc. Intellectual Property Division

20090225294 - Reticle for projection exposure apparatus and exposure method using the same: In order to provide a reticle capable of increasing the number of chips per wafer and of enabling highly accurate alignment, and an exposure method using the reticle, a first alignment mark arrangement region (8) and a second alignment mark arrangement region (9) are provided on both sides of a... Agent: Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione/seiko Instruments Inc.

20090225295 - Systems and methods for determining width/space limits for a mask layout: Systems for determining width/space limits for product mask layouts. A mask writer generates a first pattern on a test mask corresponding to a test mask layout. A lithography tool generates a second pattern on a wafer corresponding to a first pattern on a test mask by a lithography process using... Agent: Muncy, Geissler, Olds & Lowe, PLLC

20090225296 - Projection objective of a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus: A projection objective of a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus has a plurality of optical elements, for example lenses or mirrors. The objective furthermore includes an actuator for exerting a mechanical force that deforms a selected optical element of the projection objective. A manipulator modifies the spatial position of one of... Agent: Fish & Richardson PC

20090225297 - Projection exposure apparatus and optical system: The disclosure relates to a projection exposure apparatus and an optical system, such as a projection objective or an illumination system in a projection exposure apparatus for microlithography, that includes at least one optical element and at least one manipulator having a drive device for the optical element. The drive... Agent: Fish & Richardson PC

20090225298 - Optical element, projection optical system, exposure apparatus, and device fabrication method: The present invention provides an optical element which is used for light having a wavelength not more than 250 nm, and receives a light beam at a maximum incident angle not less than 55°, wherein the optical element includes an optical thin film in an effective aperture thereof, and a... Agent: Canon U.s.a. Inc. Intellectual Property Division

20090219494 - Evaluation method, evaluation apparatus, and exposure apparatus: An evaluation method of evaluating an optical characteristic of an optical system to be evaluated using an interferometer, comprises a first acquisition step of acquiring a first interference fringe formed by the interferometer when a location of a movable element of the interferometer in an optical axis direction of the... Agent: Canon U.s.a. Inc. Intellectual Property Division

20090219495 - Duplex scanning apparatus: The present invention relates to a duplex scanning apparatus. The duplex scanning apparatus includes a scanning module, a sheet input tray, a sheet ejecting tray, a transfer channel, a sheet pick-up roller, a friction-enhancing stopper, a transfer roller assembly, a sensor, a first inverting region, a second inverting region, an... Agent: Kirton And Mcconkie

20090219496 - Methods of double patterning, photo sensitive layer stack for double patterning and system for double patterning: Double patterning a photo sensitive layer stack, is disclosed including providing a substrate being coated with a first and a second photo resist layer, exposing both photo resist layers by employing lithographic projection steps, wherein a second lithographic projection step illuminates a latent image with a focal depth at least... Agent: Slater & Matsil, L.L.P.

20090219497 - Optical device with stiff housing: The disclosure relates to an optical device, such as for microlithography, that includes an optical module and a supporting structure. The disclosure also relates to an optical module that includes an optical element and a carrier structure for the optical element. the carrier structure can be connected to the optical... Agent: Fish & Richardson PC

20090219498 - Illumination optical system, exposure apparatus, and device fabrication method: The present invention provides an illumination optical system which illuminates a surface to be illuminated with light from a light source, the illumination optical system including a plurality of illumination systems configured to form predetermined illumination regions with the light from the light source, an optical system having reflecting surfaces,... Agent: Canon U.s.a. Inc. Intellectual Property Division

20090219500 - Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method with radiation beam inspection: A lithographic apparatus can include the following devices: a patterning system, a projection system, and a radiation beam inspection device. The patterning system can be configured to provide a patterned radiation beam. The projection system can be configured to project the patterned radiation beam onto a target portion of a... Agent: Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.l.l.c.

20090219499 - Surface shape measuring apparatus, exposure apparatus, and device manufacturing method: A surface shape measuring apparatus includes an illumination system and a light receiving system. The illumination system splits wide-band light from a light source into measurement light and reference light, illuminates the measurement light to obliquely enter a surface of the film, and illuminates the reference light to obliquely enter... Agent: Canon U.s.a. Inc. Intellectual Property Division

20090219501 - Optical unit using optical attenuator and printing apparatus provided therewith: An optical unit for a printing apparatus, and a printing apparatus that uses the optical unit. The optical unit includes a plurality of light emitting elements, a lens that collects light from the plurality of light emitting elements, and a light filter that is positioned in light paths from the... Agent: Greenblum & Bernstein, P.L.C

20090219502 - Exposure apparatus and method of manufacturing device: An exposure apparatus includes a light dividing surface which reflects a certain component of the light beam bifurcated by an illumination optical system, and transmits the remaining component of the light beam, a first photoelectric conversion element which detects the light beam transmitted through the light dividing surface, a second... Agent: Canon U.s.a. Inc. Intellectual Property Division

20090219503 - Precise positioning system for dual stage switching exposure: The present invention discloses a precise positioning system for dual stage switching exposure, which comprises at least a base, a first wafer stage positioning unit disposed on the base for a pre-processing workstation, and a second wafer stage positioning unit for an exposure workstation. Each of the wafer stage positioning... Agent: Rabin & Berdo, PC

20090219505 - Projector: A projector includes a projection optical device that magnifies and projects image light and a projection position adjusting device that moves the projection optical device in a plane orthogonal to a projecting direction and adjusts a projection position of the projection optical device. The projection position adjusting device includes a... Agent: Oliff & Berridge, PLC

20090219504 - Substrate conveyor apparatus, substrate conveyance method and exposure apparatus: A substrate conveyor apparatus carries a substrate on which patterns are formed, carries the substrate in a state protected by a protective cover when the substrate is not used, and carries a cover protection means that covers the inner surface of the protective cover when the substrate is used. The... Agent: Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP