Projection exposure apparatus

A projection exposure apparatus having a projection optical system for projecting an image of a part of a pattern formed on a mask onto a substrate, wherein said mask and said substrate are synchronously scanned relative to said projection optical system, thereby projecting the pattern formed on said mask onto said substrate, said projection exposure apparatus comprising:

• a field stop for defining an illumination area on said mask and also defining an exposure area in an effective exposure field of said projection optical system;
• and
• a control system for controlling said field stop so as to change either a position of said exposure area or a configuration of said exposure area.

A projection exposure apparatus wherein a pattern formed on a mask is projected onto a substrate through a projection optical system, said projection exposure apparatus comprising:

• an input system for inputting pattern information concerning a pattern formed on the mask as an object to be transferred;
• and
• a spatial image correcting system for locally correcting a position of a spatial image formed by said projection optical system according to the pattern information input from said input system.

A projection exposure apparatus having a projection optical system for projecting an image of a part of a pattern formed on a mask onto a substrate, wherein said mask and said substrate are synchronously scanned relative to said projection optical system, thereby projecting the pattern on said mask onto said substrate, said projection exposure apparatus comprising:

• a measuring system for measuring image-formation characteristics of a projected image in an effective exposure field of said projection optical system;
• and
• an exposure area changing system for changing an exposure area in said effective exposure field, in which an image of a part of the pattern formed on said mask is actually formed, according to a result of the measurement carried out by said measuring system.

A projection exposure method wherein a pattern formed on a mask is projected onto a substrate through a projection optical system, said projection exposure method comprising:

• changing telecentricity on said substrate;
• and
• locally correcting a position of a spatial image formed by said projection optical system.

An exposure apparatus for transferring a pattern on a mask onto a substrate, said exposure apparatus comprising:

• an illumination optical system for illuminating said mask by illuminating light;
• and
• a correction optical member for correcting a local telecentricity error on said substrate side, said correction optical member being disposed in said illumination optical system.

An exposure method wherein a mask is illuminated by illuminating light to transfer a pattern formed on said mask onto a substrate, said exposure method comprising:

• changing illumination conditions for said mask;
• and
• selectively setting correction optical members corresponding to said illumination conditions into an area corresponding to an illumination field on said mask in order to correct a local telecentricity error on said substrate side under the respective illumination conditions.

A method of producing a semiconductor device by projecting a pattern formed on a mask onto a substrate through a projection optical system, said method comprising:

• changing telecentricity on said substrate;
• and
• locally correcting a position of a spatial image formed by said projection optical system.

A method of producing a semiconductor device by illuminating a mask with illuminating light and thus transferring a pattern on said mask onto a substrate, said method comprising;

• changing illumination conditions for said mask;
• and
• selectively setting correction optical members respectively corresponding to said illumination conditions into an area corresponding to an illumination field on said mask in order to correct a local telecentricity error on said substrate side under the respective illumination conditions.