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Photocopying August inventions list 08/11

20110205505 - Line pattern collapse mitigation through gap-fill material application: Disclosed is a method and apparatus for mitigation of photoresist line pattern collapse in a photolithography process by applying a gap-fill material treatment after the post-development line pattern rinse step. The gap-fill material dries into a solid layer filling the inter-line spaces of the line pattern, thereby preventing line pattern... Agent: Tokyo Electron Limited

20110205507 - Device for damping vibrations in projection exposure apparatuses for semiconductor lithography: A changeable assembly for a projection exposure apparatus for semiconductor lithography contains at least one damping element. Projection exposure apparatus for semiconductor lithography and measuring assemblies for a projection exposure apparatus for semiconductor lithography can include at least one sensor for detecting parameters and vibrations of the projection exposure apparatus,... Agent: Carl Zeiss Smt Gmbh

20110205506 - Stress-decoupling devices and methods for cooled mirror systems: A stress-decoupling device and methods of using same in a cooled grazing-incidence collector (GIC) mirror system are disclosed. A method includes providing a cooled GIC shell, providing input and output primary cooling-fluid manifolds, and fluidly connecting the cooled GIC shell to the input and output primary cooling-fluid manifolds through respective... Agent: Media Lario S.r.l.

20110205508 - Digital exposure method and digital exposure device for performing the method: A digital exposure method and a digital exposure device for performing the method are disclosed. In the method, a graphic data system file is produced in correspondence with each of a plurality of patterns formed on a substrate. Then, a digital micromirror device on/off data is generated from the graphic... Agent:

20110205509 - Test method for determining reticle transmission stability: Methods, systems and apparatus for monitoring the state of a reticle by providing a reticle having a device exposure region in an imaging tool, defining one or more image fields across the device exposure region, and transmitting energy through the device exposure region. A detector detects the energy in the... Agent: International Business Machines Corporation

20110205511 - Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method: A method controls scanning function of a lithographic apparatus. A monitor wafer is exposed to determine baseline control parameters pertaining to the scanning function. The baseline control parameters are retrieved from the monitor wafer. Parameter drift is determined from the baseline control parameters. Compensation is performed based on the determination.... Agent: Asml Netherlands B.v.

20110205510 - Method and apparatus for controlling a lithographic apparatus: A lithographic exposure process is performed on a substrate using a scanner. The scanner comprises several subsystems. There are errors in the overlay arising from the subsystems during the exposure. The overlay errors are measured using a scatterometer to obtain overlay measurements. Modeling is performed to separately determine from the... Agent: Asml Netherlands B.v.

20110205512 - Active spectral control of optical source: A method of controlling a spectral property of a light beam includes directing a light beam to a lithography exposure apparatus configured to create a pattern on a wafer; receiving information representative of a spectral property of the light beam; receiving information representative of an optical imaging condition of the... Agent: Cymer Inc.

20110205515 - Calibration of lithographic apparatus: System parameters are checked through self-assessment of a production wafer without using a reference or a monitor wafer. In particular, the wafer is exposed at different orientations, the data from which provides for the calibration of system parameters.... Agent: Asml Netherlands B.v.

20110205513 - Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method: A method produces at least one monitor wafer for a lithographic apparatus. The monitor wafer is for use in combination with a scanning control module to periodically retrieve measurements defining a baseline from the monitor wafer thereby determining parameter drift from the baseline. In doing this, allowance and/or correction can... Agent: Asml Netherlands B.v.

20110205516 - Lithographic apparatus and method: A lithographic apparatus includes an illumination system configured to condition a radiation beam and a support constructed to support a patterning device. The patterning device is configured to form a patterned radiation beam. A substrate table is constructed to hold a substrate, and a projection system is configured to project... Agent: Asml Netherlands B.v.

20110205514 - Measuring method and measuring apparatus of pupil transmittance distribution, exposure method and exposure apparatus, and device manufacturing method: A measuring apparatus for measuring a pupil transmittance distribution of an optical system to be examined has a diffraction grating mounted on a first surface in an optical Fourier transform relation with a pupil of the optical system, an illumination optical system which makes a beam inclined relative to the... Agent: Nikon Corporation

20110205517 - Optical element mount for lithographic apparatus: A mount configured to mount an optical element in a module for a lithographic apparatus. The mount includes a plurality of resilient members constructed and arranged to circumferentially support the optical element. Each resilient member includes a plurality of resilient subsections that are configured to engage the optical element around... Agent: Asml Netherlands B.v.

20110205518 - Substrate, a method of measuring a property, an inspection apparatus and a lithographic apparatus: Scatterometry for measuring overlay. A second set of superimposed gratings are superposed over a first set of superimposed gratings. The second set of gratings have a different periodicity from the first set of gratings or a different orientation. Consequently the first order diffraction pattern from the second set of superimposed... Agent: Asml Netherlands B.v.

20110205519 - Polarization converting unit, illumination optical system, exposure apparatus, and device manufacturing method: According to one embodiment, a polarization converting unit, for converting incident light into light in a predetermined polarization state and emitting the converted light, has a first optically rotatory member having a first thickness distribution of thicknesses in an optical-axis direction different at a plurality of locations and a second... Agent: Nikon Corporation

20110205520 - Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method: A method produces at least one monitor wafer for a lithographic apparatus. The monitor wafer is for use in combination with a scanning control module to periodically retrieve measurements defining a baseline from the monitor wafer, thereby determining parameter drift from the baseline. In doing this, allowance and/or correction can... Agent: Asml Netherlands B.v.

20110199594 - Exposure apparatus and method for producing device: An exposure apparatus includes an optical element via which a patterned beam is projected onto a substrate through exposure liquid filled in a space between the optical element and the substrate. The apparatus also includes a member having a flow passage in which exposure liquid flows, the flow passage being... Agent: Nikon Corporation

20110199591 - Exposure apparatus, exposing method, maintenance method and device fabricating method: An exposure apparatus exposes a substrate with exposure light, which transits a first liquid. The exposure apparatus comprises: an optical member, which has an emergent surface wherefrom the exposure light emerges; a liquid immersion member, which at least partly surrounds an optical path of the exposure light emerging from the... Agent: Nikon Corporation

20110199593 - Lithographic apparatus and a device manufacturing method: A meniscus pinning device has a plurality of openings through which liquid and gas from the environment are extracted. The openings are of an intermediate size, having a maximum cross-sectional dimension (e.g., diameter) in the range of from about 75 μm to about 150 μm.... Agent: Asml Netherlands B.v.

20110199592 - Lithographic apparatus, removable member and device manufacturing method: A sealing member is provided to prevent immersion liquid ingress to a gap between components. The sealing member has a plastic or polymer sealing portion that is adhered to the components forming the gap being sealed. The sealing member is constructed so as to reduce the force-coupling, in particular the... Agent: Asml Netherlands B.v.

20110199595 - Printing linticular images and lenses on printers with uv-cured gel deposition capability: Systems and methods of lenticular printing are disclosed. The systems and methods include an imaging device to process a lenticular image from two or more original images interlaced together. A printer of the imaging device prints the lenticular image on a substrate. A UV-cured gel deposition system of the imaging... Agent: Xerox Corporation

20110199596 - Method and apparatus for estimating model parameters of and controlling a lithographic apparatus: System and methods estimate model parameters of a lithographic apparatus and control lithographic processing by a lithographic apparatus. An exposure is performed using a lithographic apparatus across a wafer. A set of predetermined wafer measurement locations is obtained. Discrete orthonormal polynomials are generated using the predetermined substrate measurement locations. The... Agent: Asml Netherlands B.v.

20110199597 - Imaging device in a projection exposure facility: An imaging device in a projection exposure machine for microlithography has at least one optical element and at least one manipulator, having a linear drive, for manipulating the position of the optical element. The linear drive has a driven subregion and a nondriven subregion, which are movable relative to one... Agent: Carl Zeiss Smt Gmbh

20110199599 - six-mirror euv projection system with low incidence angles: The invention relates to a projection system for guiding light with wavelengths ≦193 nm from an object plane to an image plane, comprising at least a first mirror, a second mirror, a third mirror, a fourth mirror, a fifth mirror and a sixth mirror centered around an optical axis and... Agent: Carl Zeiss Smt Gmbh

20110199600 - Collector assembly, radiation source, lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method: A collector assembly includes a first collector mirror for reflecting radiation from a radiation emission point, such as an extreme ultraviolet radiation emission point, to an intermediate focus from where the radiation is used in the lithography apparatus for device manufacture. A second collector mirror, forward of the radiation emission... Agent: Asml Netherlands B.b.

20110199598 - Lithographic fabrication of general periodic structures: A lithographic method related to Talbot imaging for printing a desired pattern of features that is periodic or quasi-periodic in at least one direction onto a substrate surface, which method includes providing a mask bearing a pattern of mask features, arranging the substrate parallel and in proximity to the mask,... Agent:

20110199601 - substrate table, a lithographic apparatus and a method for manufacturing a device using a lithographic apparatus: A table for a lithographic apparatus, the table having an encoder plate located on the table, a gap between the encoder plate and a top surface of the table, the gap located radially inward of the encoder plate relative to the periphery of the table, and a fluid extraction system... Agent: Asml Netherlands B.v.

20110194084 - Fluid handling structure, lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method: A fluid handling structure for a lithographic apparatus, the fluid handling structure successively having, at a boundary from a space configured to comprise immersion fluid to a region external to the fluid handling structure: an extractor having at least one opening arranged in a first line that, in use, is... Agent: Asml Netherlands B.v.

20110194085 - Lithographic apparatus, and motor cooling device: A lithographic device includes a cooling device for removing heat from a motor. The cooling device has a cooling element provided in thermal contact with at least part of the motor. The cooling device further has a cooling duct assembly with a supply duct to supply a cooling fluid to... Agent: Asml Netherlands B.v.

20110194086 - Wafer edge exposure module: A wafer edge exposure module connected to a semiconductor wafer track system. The wafer edge exposure module includes a wafer spin device, an optical system, a scanner interface module, and a controller. The wafer spin device supports a wafer for processing. The optical system directs exposure light on a respective... Agent: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

20110194091 - Low-contamination optical arrangement: An optical arrangement has a plurality of optical elements capable of transmitting a beam. A partial housing is provided which extends from a surface of an optical element in the direction of the beam emanating from the optical element, or of the beam incident on the optical element, and whose... Agent: Carl Zeiss Smt Gmbh

20110194090 - Optical raster element, optical integrator and illumination system of a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus: An optical raster element for an illumination system of a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus includes an array of refractive optical elements extending on a planar or curved surface. At least two of the optical elements are arranged side by side along a reference direction with a pitch of less than... Agent: Carl Zeiss Smt Gmbh

20110194089 - Optical system with aperture device: An optical system has an aperture device having a multiplicity of aperture elements for the delimitation of the cross section of a ray bundle running through the optical system. The aperture device has a first aperture element, which is pivotable about a first rotation axis between an engagement position in... Agent: Carl Zeiss Smt Gmbh

20110194088 - Projection system, lithographic apparatus, method of projecting a beam of radiation onto a target and device manufacturing method: A projection system (PS) is provided that includes a sensor system (20) that measures at least one parameter that relates to the physical deformation of a frame (10) that supports the optical elements (11) within the projection system (PS), and a control system (30) that, based on the measurements from... Agent: Amsl Netherlands B.v.

20110194087 - Reflective optical element and method of manufacturing the same: A reflective optical element e.g. for use in EUV lithography, configured for an operating wavelength in the soft X-ray or extreme ultraviolet wavelength range, includes a multilayer system (20) with respective layers of at least two alternating materials (21, 22) having differing real parts of the refractive index at the... Agent: Carl Zeiss Smt Gmbh

20110194092 - Substrate, an inspection apparatus, and a lithographic apparatus: A target for measuring an overlay error or a critical dimension of a substrate comprises a grating. In one example, lines of the grating are arranged at an angle of about 45° with respect to edges of the target. As a consequence, the diffraction order of the grating reflection has... Agent: Asml Netherlands B.v.

20110194093 - Polarization-influencing optical arrangement and an optical system of a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus: A polarization-influencing optical arrangement includes a pair, which includes a first lambda/2 plate and a second lambda/2 plate. The first and second lambda/2 plates partially overlap each other forming an overlap region and at least one non-overlap region.... Agent: Carl Zeiss Smt Gmbh

20110194094 - Lithographic apparatus with support for an object and method for positioning same: A support structure for positioning an exchangeable object in a lithographic apparatus. The support structure has a chuck to support and clamp the object and an actuating structure. The actuating structure may have a first actuating structure (e.g., spring) and a second actuating structure (e.g., linear actuator). The first actuating... Agent: Asml Holding Nv

20110194095 - Exposure apparatus and photomask: The present invention provides an exposure apparatus for intermittently irradiating light from a light source to a TFT substrate through a photomask while conveying the TFT substrate in one direction, and forming an exposure pattern on the TFT substrate corresponding to a plurality of mask patterns formed on the photomask.... Agent:

20110194096 - Liquid filled lens element, lithographic apparatus comprising such an element and device manufacturing method: A lens element, for use in a projection system, includes a concave side. The lens element further includes a membrane and a nozzle, the membrane at least covering the concave side of the lens element. The nozzle is arranged for supplying and/or removing a liquid and/or a gas in between... Agent: Asml Netherlands B.v.

20110188012 - Lithographic apparatus and a device manufacturing method: In a liquid confinement structure of an immersion lithographic apparatus an elongate continuous opening forms an outlet for supplying liquid to a space beneath the projection system. The elongate slit forms a region of high shear and pressure gradient that deflects bubbles away from the image field.... Agent: Asml Netherlands B.v.

20110188013 - Lithographic apparatus and contamination removal or prevention method: An immersion lithographic apparatus is cleaned by use of a cleaning liquid consisting essentially of ultra-pure water and (a) a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and ozone, or (b) hydrogen peroxide at a concentration of up to 5%, or (c) ozone at a concentration of up to 50 ppm, or (d)... Agent: Asml Netherlands B.v.

20110188015 - Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method: A lithographic projection apparatus is disclosed in which measures are taken to prevent or reduce the presence of bubbles in liquid through which the projection beam radiates. This may be done, for example, by ensuring that a gap between a substrate and a substrate table is filled with immersion liquid... Agent: Asml Netherlands B.v.

20110188011 - Particle cleaning of optical elements for microlithography: An optical assembly is mounted in a projection exposure apparatus (101) for EUV microlithography and includes at least one vacuum chamber (70, 71, 68a), at least one optical element (6, 7; 65, 66; 63) arranged in the vacuum chamber (70, 71, 68a), the optical element (6, 7; 65, 66; 63)... Agent: Asml Netherlands B.v.

20110188014 - Radiation source, lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method: A lithographic apparatus includes a radiation source configured to produce extreme ultraviolet radiation, the radiation source including a chamber in which a plasma is generated; a collector mirror configured to reflect radiation emitted by the plasma; and a debris mitigation system including a gas supply system configured to supply a... Agent: Asml Netherlands B.v.

20110188016 - Lithographic apparatus, programmable patterning device and lithographic method: In an embodiment, a lithographic apparatus is disclosed that includes a modulator configured to expose an exposure area of the substrate to a plurality of beams modulated according to a desired pattern and a projection system configured to project the modulated beams onto the substrate. The modulator may be moveable... Agent: Asml Netherlands B.v.

20110188017 - Methods and devices for driving micromirrors: A micromirror of a micromirror array in an illumination system of a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus can be tilted through a respective tilt angle about two tilt axes. The micromirror is assigned three actuators which can respectively be driven by control signals in order to tilt the micromirror about the... Agent: Carl Zeiss Smt Gmbh

20110188018 - Alignment of collector device in lithographic apparatus: A lithographic apparatus (2) can include a radiation source (SO) configured to provide radiation (200), a radiation collector (CO) configured to collect radiation (200) from the radiation source (SO), an illumination system (IL), and a detector (300). The detector (300) can be disposed in a fixed positional relationship with the... Agent: Asml Netherlands B.v.

20110188020 - Overlay measurement apparatus, lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method using such overlay measurement apparatus: An overlay measurement apparatus has a polarized light source for illuminating a sample with a polarized light beam and an optical system to capture light that is scattered by the sample. The optical system includes a polarizer for transmitting an orthogonal polarization component that is orthogonal to a polarization direction... Agent: Asml Netherlands B.v.

20110188019 - Polarization-modulating optical element: The invention relates to a projection system, comprising a radiation source, an illumination system operable to illuminate a structured mask, and a projection objective for projecting an image of the mask structure onto a light-sensitive substrate, wherein said projection system comprises an optical system comprising an optical axis or a... Agent: Carl Zeiss Smt Ag

20110188021 - Printing apparatus: A printing apparatus includes: a photographic printing unit adapted to perform photographic printing on a photographic print surface of a medium including a flexible sheet-like member while maintaining a state where the photographic print surface of the medium faces a photographic printing head; a medium moving unit adapted to generally... Agent:

20110188022 - Substrate carrying device, substrate carrying method, and exposure device: The present invention is a substrate carrying device including a movable stage having a chuck and being movable in a horizontal direction, the chuck having a sucking surface which faces downward and sucking a substrate on the sucking surface; and a fixed blind disposed below the movable stage. The movable... Agent: Nikon Corporation

20110188023 - Lithographic imaging and printing without defects of electrostatic origin: Embodiments of the present invention involve three-layer printing members having a central layer that is non-conductive yet abalatable at commercially realistic fluence levels. In various embodiments, the central layer is polymeric with a dispersion of nonconductive carbon black particles therein at a loading level sufficient to provide at least partial... Agent: Presstek, Inc.