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AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsKouhei IMOTO, Shigeyuki Uzawa
Estimating the term…
An exposure apparatus exposes a substrate in a vacuum atmosphere through an optical system. The apparatus includes a partition which separates a first space including at least part of the optical system from a second space adjacent to it, and includes an opening to pass light through it. The apparatus further includes a first pressure regulator which regulates the pressure in the first space, a second pressure regulator which regulates the pressure in the second space, and a controller which outputs manipulated variables for the first and second pressure regulators. The controller outputs the manipulated variables for the first and second pressure regulators to change the pressure in the first space and the pressure in the second space in the range of a vacuum to the atmospheric pressure while maintaining a pressure relationship in which the pressure in the first space is higher than that in the second space.
An exposure apparatus which includes an optical system and exposes a substrate in a vacuum atmosphere through said optical system, comprising:
A pressure control method to be applied to an exposure apparatus which includes an optical system and a partition that separates a first space including at least part of the optical system from a second space adjacent to the first space, and an opening to pass light therethrough, and which exposes a substrate in a vacuum atmosphere through the optical system, comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.