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US 12,222,655 B2Granted
Stop, optical system and lithography apparatus
AssigneeCarl Zeiss SMT GmbH
InventorsBenjahman Julius Modeste, Toralf Gruner, Daniel Golde, Ulrich Loering, Ralf Zweering, Stefan Xalter
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A stop, such as a numerical aperture stop, obscuration stop or false-light stop, for a lithography apparatus, includes a light-transmissive aperture and a stop element, in which or at which the aperture is provided. The stop element is opaque and fluid-permeable outside the aperture.
Claims20
A stop, comprising:
- a light-transmissive aperture;
- a first stop element;
- and
- a second stop element,
- wherein:
- the aperture is provided in the first and second stop elements or at the first and second stop elements;
- outside the aperture, each of the first and second stop elements comprises an opaque region and a fluid-permeable region;
- the fluid-permeable region of the first stop element is offset from the fluid-permeable region of the second stop element so that:
- i) a fluid passing through the fluid-permeable region of the first stop element is deflected by the opaque region of the second stop element before passing through the fluid-permeable region of the second stop element;
- and
- ii) light passing through the fluid permeable region of the first stop element is unable to pass through the fluid permeable region of the second stop element.
8 more elements
A stop, comprising:
- a light-transmissive aperture;
- a first stop element;
- and
- a second stop element,
- wherein:
- the aperture is provided in the first and second stop elements or at the first and second stop elements;
- outside the aperture, each of the first and second stop elements comprises an opaque region and a fluid-permeable region;
- and
- along a direction:
- i) an entirety of the opaque region of the first stop element is above an entirety of the fluid-permeable region of the second stop element;
- and
- ii) an entirety of the opaque region of the second stop element is below an entirety of the fluid-permeable region of the first stop element.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.