# US 12,601,978 B2 · Method of setting up a projection exposure system, a projection exposure method and a projection exposure system for microlithography > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,601,978 B2 - Document ID: US12601978B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 18/223,687 - Filed: 2023-07-19 - Published: 2023-11-16 - Granted: 2026-04-14 - Earliest claimed: 2021-01-19 - Assignees: Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH; ASML Netherlands B.V. - Applicants: Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH; Asml Netherlands B.V. - Inventors: Eva Schneider; Toralf Gruner; Timur Tudorovskiy - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12601978B2 ## CPC - G03F 7/706: {Aberration measurement} - G03F 7/70258: {Projection system adjustments, e.g. adjustments during exposure or alignment during assembly of projection system} - G03F 7/70266: {Adaptive optics, e.g. deformable optical elements for wavefront control, e.g. for aberration adjustment or correction} - G03F 7/70508: {Data handling in all parts of the microlithographic apparatus, e.g. handling pattern data for addressable masks or data transfer to or from different components within the exposure apparatus} - G03F 7/70525: {Controlling normal operating mode, e.g. matching different apparatus, remote control or prediction of failure} - G03F: PHOTOMECHANICAL PRODUCTION OF TEXTURED OR PATTERNED SURFACES, e.g. FOR PRINTING, FOR PROCESSING OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; MATERIALS THEREFOR; ORIGINALS THEREFOR; APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED THEREFOR; (phototypographic composing devices B41B; photosensitive materials or processes for photographic purposes G03C; electrophotography, sensitive layers or processes therefor G03G) ## Abstract A measuring system (MS) configured to measure a projection radiation property representing an aberration level at a plurality of spaced apart measuring points distributed in the image field; and an operating control system with at least one manipulator operatively connected to an optical element of a projection exposure system to modify imaging properties of the projection exposure system based on measurement results generated by the measuring system. In a measuring point distribution calculation (MPDC), a measuring point distribution defining a number and positions of measuring points is used. The MPDC is performed under boundary conditions representing at least: (i) manipulation capacities of the operating control system; (ii) measuring capacities of the measuring system; and (iii) predefined use case scenarios defining a set of representative use cases. Each use case corresponds to a specific aberration pattern generated by the projection exposure system under a predefined set of use conditions. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method of setting up a projection exposure system for exposing a radiation sensitive substrate with at least one image of a pattern, the projection exposure system comprising: an illumination system configured to generate illumination radiation directed onto the pattern in an illumination field; a projection lens comprising a plurality of optical elements configured to project a part of the pattern lying in the illumination field onto an image field at the substrate with projection radiation, wherein the image field exhibits mirror symmetry with respect to a line of mirror symmetry, a measuring system configured to measure at least one property of the projection radiation representing an aberration level at a plurality of spaced apart measuring points distributed in the image field; an operating control system comprising at least one manipulator operatively connected to one of the optical elements of the projection exposure system to modify imaging properties of the projection exposure system based on measurement results generated by the measuring system; the method comprising: determining, in a measuring point distribution calculation, a measuring point distribution defining a number and positions of measuring points to be used in a measurement, wherein the measuring point distribution is asymmetric with respect to the line of mirror symmetry, and performing the measuring point distribution calculation under boundary conditions representing at least: (i) manipulation capacities of the operating control system; (ii) measuring capacities of the measuring system; and (iii) predefined use case scenarios defining a set of representative use cases, wherein each use case corresponds to a specific aberration pattern generated by the projection exposure system under a predefined set of use conditions. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the measuring point distribution calculation comprises: calculating, for all the manipulators and the number of field points available for acquiring measuring data, a dependency value representing a relationship between a defined actuating value change at the manipulator and a resultant effect on aberrations at each of the field points. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The method according to claim 2, wherein the dependency values are represented in a dependency matrix A and the number M* of correction degrees of freedom of the operating control system is determined as M*=rank (A). ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the measuring point distribution calculation comprises: calculating, for a number M of the manipulators, a number M* of correction degrees of freedom of the operating control system, wherein M*≤M. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the measuring point distribution calculation comprises: determining possible measuring positions in the set of field points and a maximum number F* of measuring positions according to restrictions of the measuring system. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the measuring point distribution calculation comprises: defining a reduced number f of measuring points and identifying, for this number of field points, those field points exhibiting a largest effect of an actuating value change at a given one of the manipulators on the aberration level. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the measuring point distribution calculation comprises: defining a set of representative use cases, wherein each use case corresponds to perturbations generated under a predefined set of use conditions, determining for each of the use cases a representative aberration pattern; decomposing the respective aberration patterns with respect to a system of base functions so that an aberration pattern is represented by coefficients in terms of the base functions; calculating a change in coefficients at a set of field points for all manipulators. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein a pattern of measuring points in the measuring point distribution is subdivided into a first group of measuring points which form a symmetric pattern symmetric to the line of mirror symmetry, and a second group including one or more measuring points which do not have a corresponding measuring point at a mirror related position. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the measuring point distribution calculation comprises determining locations in the image field of an expected local maximum of an absolute value of an aberration and the measuring point distribution is determined such that the measuring points are positioned at least in locations of the expected local maximum of the absolute value of aberrations. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein a predefined set including multiple differing measuring point distributions is pre-calculated and an end user selects between the pre-calculated measuring point distributions based on the actual use case for which the projection exposure system is used. ### Claim 11 A projection exposure method for exposing a radiation sensitive substrate with at least one image of a pattern comprising: generating illumination radiation directed onto the pattern in an illumination field; projecting a part of the pattern lying in the illumination field onto an image field at the substrate with projection radiation using a projection lens comprising a plurality of optical elements, wherein the image field exhibits mirror symmetry with respect to a line of mirror symmetry; measuring at least one property of the projection radiation representing an aberration level at a plurality of spaced apart measuring points distributed in the image field in accordance with a measuring point distribution defining a number and positions of measuring points used in a measurement using a measuring system, wherein the measuring point distribution is asymmetric with respect to the line of mirror symmetry; modifying imaging properties of the projection exposure system based on measurement results generated by the measuring system by an operating control system comprising at least one manipulator operatively connected to one of the optical elements of the projection exposure system, the method comprising: performing, in a first use case, a first exposure by illuminating a first pattern with illumination radiation according to a first illumination setting; reconfiguring the projection exposure system from a first configuration adapted to the first use case to a second configuration adapted to a second use case different from the first use case; performing, in a second use case, a second exposure by illuminating a second pattern with illumination radiation according to a second illumination setting; determining for each of the first use case and the second use case a corresponding first measuring point distribution and a second measuring point distribution; measuring the at least one property of the projection radiation separately for each of the first and second use case at measuring points distributed according to the first measuring point distribution and the second measuring point distribution, and modifying imaging properties of the projection exposure system separately for the first and the second use case based on measurements performed based on the first measuring point distribution and the second measuring point distribution. ### Claim 12 A projection exposure method for exposing a radiation sensitive substrate with at least one image of a pattern comprising: generating illumination radiation directed onto the pattern in an illumination field; projecting a part of the pattern lying in the illumination field onto an image field at the substrate with projection radiation using a projection lens comprising a plurality of optical elements; measuring at least one property of the projection radiation representing an aberration level at a plurality of spaced apart measuring points distributed in the image field in accordance with a measuring point distribution defining a number and positions of measuring points used in a measurement using a measuring system; and modifying imaging properties of the projection exposure system based on measurement results generated by the measuring system by an operating control system comprising at least one manipulator operatively connected to one of the optical elements of the projection exposure system, wherein the image field exhibits mirror symmetry with respect to a line of mirror symmetry and the measuring point distribution is asymmetric with respect to the line of mirror symmetry. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The method according to claim 12, further comprising subdividing a pattern of measuring points in the measuring point distribution into a first group of measuring points which form a symmetric pattern symmetric to the line of mirror symmetry, and a second group including one or more measuring points which do not have a corresponding measuring point at a mirror related position. ### Claim 14 (depends on 12) The method according to claim 12, wherein the image field comprises expected locations of a local maximum of an absolute value of an aberration and the measuring point distribution is such that measuring points are positioned at least in expected locations of a local maximum of the absolute value of an aberration. ### Claim 15 A projection exposure system for exposing a radiation sensitive substrate with at least one image of a pattern, comprising: an illumination system configured to generate illumination radiation directed onto the pattern in an illumination field; a projection lens comprising a plurality of optical elements configured to project a part of the pattern lying in the illumination field onto an image field at the substrate with projection radiation, wherein the image field exhibits mirror symmetry with respect to a line of mirror symmetry, a measuring system configured to measure at least one property of the projection radiation representing an aberration level at a plurality of spaced apart measuring points distributed in the image field according to two or more different measuring point distributions, a measuring point distribution defining a number and positions of measuring points used in a measurement; an operating control system comprising at least one manipulator operatively connected to an optical element of the projection exposure system to modify imaging properties of the projection exposure system based on measurement results generated by the measuring system; a measuring point distribution determination system configured to determine a measuring point distribution defining a number and positions of measuring points used in a measurement, specific for a use case, wherein the measuring point distribution is asymmetric with respect to the line of mirror symmetry. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The system according to claim 15, wherein the measuring system is configured to measure at least two measuring points of a measuring point distribution in parallel. ### Claim 17 (depends on 15) The system according to claim 15, wherein the measuring system is configured to measure at least two measuring points of a measuring point distribution sequentially. ### Claim 18 (depends on 15) The projection exposure system of claim 15, wherein the measuring point distribution determination system is configured to determine the measuring point distribution based upon a number of manipulation degrees of freedom of the at least one manipulator. ### Claim 19 (depends on 15) The projection exposure system of claim 15, wherein the measuring point distribution determination system is configured to determine the measuring point distribution based upon a boundary condition of the measuring system. ### Claim 20 (depends on 15) The projection exposure system of claim 15, wherein a pattern of measuring points in the measuring point distribution is subdivided into a first group of measuring points which form a symmetric pattern symmetric to the line of mirror symmetry, and a second group including one or more measuring points which do not have a corresponding measuring point at a mirror related position. ### Claim 21 (depends on 15) The projection exposure system of claim 15, wherein the measuring point distribution determination system is configured to determine multiple differing measuring point distributions and select one of the multiple differing measuring point distributions in response to an end user selection based on a use case for the projection exposure system. ### Claim 22 (depends on 15) The projection exposure system of claim 15, wherein the measuring point distribution determination system is configured to determine the measuring point distribution such that measuring points are positioned at least in expected locations of a local maximum of the absolute value of an aberration.