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US 2009/0153822 A1Published application
Exposure apparatus, exposure method, and device manufacturing method
AssigneeNikon Corporation
InventorYuichi SHIBAZAKI
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Two X encoder heads (X heads) and one Y head are mounted on one wafer stage, and an X scale and a Y scale corresponding to these heads are arranged on a surface facing the wafer stage so that the scales connect the exposure area and the alignment area. The wafer stage is made to move back and forth between the exposure area and the alignment area along a path where the X scale and the Y scale are set, while performing position measurement using three encoder heads. In this case, a switching process between XZ interferometer will not be necessary.
Claims79
An exposure apparatus that exposes an object with an energy beam, the apparatus comprising:
- a movable body on which the object is held and is movable substantially along a predetermined plane within an area of a predetermined range which includes a first area including an exposure position where at least an exposure to the object which is mounted is performed, a second area positioned on one side of a first direction in the first area where at least an exchange of the object is performed, and a third area which is between the first area and the second area;
- a first grating section placed at a position corresponding to the third area on a plane parallel to the predetermined plane, which faces a surface substantially parallel to the predetermined plane of the movable body;
- and
- a measurement device including an encoder system which has an encoder head arranged on the surface of the movable body and measures positional information of the movable body within the predetermined plane based on an output of the encoder head facing the first grating section, and an interferometer system which irradiates a measurement beam on a reflection surface arranged on the movable body and measures positional information of the movable body in at least the first area and the second area, whereby
- the third area includes a movement path of the movable body where the measurement beam moves off from the reflection surface.
2 more elements
An exposure apparatus that exposes an object with an energy beam, the apparatus comprising:
- a movable body on which the object is held and is movable substantially along a predetermined plane within an area of a predetermined range which includes a first area including an exposure position where at least an exposure to the object which is mounted is performed, a second area positioned on one side of a first direction in the first area where at least an exchange of the object is performed, and a third area which is between the first area and the second area;
- a first, second, and third grating section placed at a position corresponding to the first, second, and third areas on a plane parallel to the predetermined plane, which faces a surface substantially parallel to the predetermined plane of the movable body;
- and
- a measurement device including an encoder system which has an encoder head arranged on the surface of the movable body that measures positional information of the movable body within the predetermined plane, based on an output of the encoder head facing any one of the first, second, and third grating sections.
1 more element
An exposure apparatus that exposes an object with an energy beam the apparatus comprising:
- a first movable body on which an object is held and is movable substantially along a predetermined plane within a first range which includes a first area including an exposure position where at least an exposure to the mounted object is performed, a second area positioned on one side of a first direction in the first area where at least an exchange of the object is performed, and a third area which is between the first area and the second area;
- a second movable body on which an object is held and is movable substantially along a predetermined plane within a second range which includes the first area and a fourth area positioned on one side of a first direction in the first area where at least an exchange of the object is performed, and a fifth area between the first area and the fourth area;
- a first and second grating section placed at a position corresponding to the third and fifth areas on a plane parallel to the predetermined plane, which faces a surface of the first and second movable bodies substantially parallel to the predetermined plane;
- and
- a measurement device including an encoder system which has a first and second encoder head arranged respectively on the surface of the first movable body and the surface of the second movable body and measures positional information of the first and second movable bodies within the predetermined plane, respectively, based on an output of the first encoder head facing the first grating section and an output of the second encoder head facing the second grating section.
2 more elements
An exposure method that exposes an object with an energy beam, the method comprising:
- a measurement process in which of a movable body on which the object is held and is movable substantially along a predetermined plane, within a predetermined range including a first area including an exposure position where at least an exposure to the object which is mounted is performed, a second area positioned on one side of a first direction in the first area where at least an exchange of the object is performed, and a third area which is between the first area and the second areas positional information within the predetermined plane of the third area is measured, based on an output of an encoder head arranged on a surface of the movable body that faces a first grating section placed at a position corresponding to the third area on a plane parallel to the predetermined plane, which faces the surface of the movable body substantially parallel to the predetermined planer and positional information of the movable body in at least the first area and the second area is measured also using an interferometer system which irradiates a measurement beam on a reflection surface arranged on the movable body, wherein
- the third area includes a movement path of the movable body where the measurement beam has moved off the reflection surface.
An exposure method that exposes an object with an energy beam, the method comprising:
- a measurement process in which positional information within a predetermined plane of a movable body on which the object is held and is movable substantially along the predetermined plane within a predetermined range including a first area including an exposure position where at least an exposure to the object which is mounted is performed, a second area positioned on one side of a first direction in the first area where at least an exchange of the object is performed, and a third area which is between the first area and the second area, is measured, based on an output of an encoder head arranged on a surface of the movable body that faces any one of a first, second, and third grating section placed at positions corresponding to the first, second, and third areas on a plane parallel to the predetermined plane, which faces the surface of the movable body substantially parallel to the predetermined plane.
An exposure method that exposes an object with an energy beam, the method comprising:
- a measurement process in which positional information of
- a first movable body on which the object is held and is movable substantially along a predetermined plane within a first range which includes a first area including an exposure position where at least an exposure to the object which is mounted is performed, a second area positioned on one side of a first direction in the first area where at least an exchange of the object is performed, and a third area which is between the first area and the second area, and
- a second movable body on which the object is held and is movable substantially along a predetermined plane within a second range which includes the first area, a fourth area positioned on one side of a first direction in the first area where at least an exchange of the object is performed, and a fifth area between the first area and the fourth area,
- is measured in the predetermined plane in the third and fifth areas, respectively, based on an output of a first and second encoder head arranged on a surface of the first movable body and the surface of the second movable body, respectively, each facing a first and second grating section placed respectively at positions corresponding to the third and fifth areas on a plane parallel to the predetermined planer which faces the surfaces of each of the first and second movable bodies substantially parallel to the predetermined plane.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.