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US 2008/0165345 A1Published application
Distance Measuring Interferometer and Encoder Metrology Systems for Use in Lithography Tools
AssigneeZygo Corporation
InventorHenry A. Hill
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In general, in one aspect, the invention features a system that includes a moveable stage, an interferometer configured to provide information about a first degree of freedom of the stage, an encoder configured to provide information about a second degree of freedom of the stage, and an electronic processor configured to monitor the position of the stage based on the information about the first and second degrees of freedom.
Claims45
A system, comprising:
- a moveable stage;
- an interferometer configured to provide information about a first degree of freedom of the stage;
- an encoder configured to provide information about a second degree of freedom of the stage;
- and
- an electronic processor configured to monitor the position of the stage based on the information about the first and second degrees of freedom.
2 more elements
A method, comprising:
- using an interferometer to provide information about a first degree of freedom of a moveable stage;
- using an encoder to provide information about a second degree of freedom of the stage;
- and
- monitoring the position of the stage based on the information about the first and second degrees of freedom.
1 more element
An electronics module, comprising:
- an electronic processor configured to receive information about a position of an object from an interferometer and information about a position of the object from an encoder,
- wherein during operation the electronic processor determines interferometer signal quadratures and encoder signal quadratures based on the information from the encoder, determines a superheterodyne phase based on the interferometer signal quadratures and the encoder signal quadratures, and outputs information about the position of the object based on the superheterodyne phase.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.