Exposure apparatus, exposure method, cleaning apparatus, and device manufacturing method
AssigneeNikon Corporation
InventorYuichi Shibazaki
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An exposure apparatus exposes a substrate with exposure light via a liquid. The exposure apparatus includes: an optical member which has an emission surface from which the exposure light is emitted; a movable object which is able to move in a predetermined surface including a position facing the emission surface; and a predetermined component which is able to move between, the optical member and the movable object and which is able to form a space between which and the optical member a liquid is held.
Claims157
An exposure apparatus that exposes a substrate with exposure light via a liquid, comprising:
- an object that has a surface and that is capable of moving in a predetermined plane, the surface being to be in contact with the liquid;
- a first member to which the object faces and between which and the surface of the object a liquid is held;
- and
- a second member that can move in a space between the first member and the object and that can form a space to hold a liquid between the first member and the second member,
- wherein the object and the second member moves in a direction substantially parallel to the predetermined plane in order to switch a hold of a liquid from between the first member and one of the object and the second member to between the first member and the other one of the object and the second member.
A method of exposing a substrate with exposure light via a liquid, the method comprising:
- disposing an object that is capable of moving in a predetermined plane so that the object faces a first member;
- holding a liquid between the first member and the object;
- providing a second member that is capable of moving at least in a space between the first member and the object and forming a space in which a liquid is held between the second member and the first member;
- switching a hold of the liquid from between the first member and one of the object and the second member to between the first member and the other one of the object and the second member, the switching comprising moving the object and the second member in a direction substantially parallel to the predetermined plane.
An exposure apparatus which exposes a substrate with exposure light via a liquid, comprising:
- an optical member which has an emission surface from which the exposure light is emitted;
- a movable object which is able to move in a predetermined surface including a position facing the emission surface;
- and
- a predetermined component which is able to move between the optical member and the movable object and which is able to form a space between which and the optical member a liquid is held.
An exposure apparatus which exposes a substrate with exposure light via a liquid, comprising:
- an optical member which has an emission surface from which the exposure light is emitted;
- a movable object which is able to move in a predetermined surface including a position facing the emission surface;
- and
- a predetermined component which is able to form a space to hold a liquid between itself and the optical member;
- and
- a drive system which inserts the predetermined component between the optical member and the movable object, and also extracts the predetermined component from between the optical member and the movable object.
A method of exposing a substrate with exposure light via a liquid, the method comprising:
- disposing a movable object at a position which faces an emission surface of an optical member from which the exposure light emits, the movable object being capable of moving in a predetermined plane while holding the substrate;
- holding a liquid between the optical member and the movable object;
- disposing a predetermined component between the optical member and the movable object, the predetermined component being capable of moving in a direction parallel to the predetermined plane;
- and
- holding a liquid between the optical member and the predetermined component.
A method of exposing a substrate with exposure light via a liquid, the method comprising:
- disposing a movable object at a position which faces an emission surface of an optical member from which the exposure light emits, the movable object being capable of moving in a predetermined plane while holding the substrate;
- holding a liquid between the optical member and the movable object;
- moving a predetermined component which is able to form a space to hold a liquid between itself and the optical member in synchronization with the movement of the movable object, to insert the predetermined component between the optical member and the movable object, and to extract the predetermined component from between the optical member and the movable object.
A cleaning apparatus which cleans a surface of an object which comes into contact with a first liquid used for immersion exposure, comprising:
- a first surface which holds a second liquid between itself and the surface of the object;
- and
- a second surface which is placed around at least a portion of a periphery of the first surface and which is further from the surface of the object than the first surface.
An exposure apparatus which exposes a substrate with exposure light via a first liquid, comprising:
- a cleaning component which cleans a surface of an object which comes into contact with the first liquid, wherein
- the cleaning component has:
- a first surface which holds a second liquid between itself and the surface of the object;
- and
- a second surface which is placed around at least a portion of a periphery of the first surface and which is further from the surface of the object than the first surface.
An exposure apparatus which exposes a substrate with exposure light via a first liquid, comprising:
- a cleaning component having a first surface which is able to hold a second liquid between itself and a surface of an object which comes into contact with the first liquid;
- a predetermined component which is able to form a space to hold the second liquid between itself and the cleaning component;
- and
- a drive system which inserts the predetermined component between the cleaning component and the object, and also extracts the predetermined component from between the cleaning component and the object.
An exposure method in which a substrate is exposed with exposure light via a first liquid, the method comprising:
- moving an object having a surface which comes into contact with the first liquid to a cleaning station, the cleaning station having a first surface which is able to hold a second liquid between itself and the surface of the object, and a second surface which is placed around at least a portion of a periphery of the first surface;
- and
- performing a relative movement between the first surface and the surface of the object while the second liquid is in a state of being held between the first surface and the surface of the object, wherein
- the second surface is inclined such that a gap between itself and the surface of the object becomes gradually larger in a direction moving away from a center of the first surface.
An exposure method in which a substrate is exposed with exposure light via a first liquid, the method comprising:
- moving an object having a surface which comes into contact with the first liquid to a cleaning station where a cleaning component is located;
- placing the object at a position facing a first surface of the cleaning component;
- holding second liquid between the first surface of the cleaning component and the surface of the object;
- placing a predetermined component which is able to move substantially in parallel with the surface of the object between the cleaning component and the object;
- and
- holding second liquid between the cleaning component and the predetermined component.
An exposure method in which a substrate is exposed with exposure light via a first liquid, the method comprising:
- moving an object having a surface which comes into contact with the first liquid to a cleaning station where a cleaning component is located;
- placing the object at a position facing a first surface of the cleaning component;
- holding second liquid between the first surface of the cleaning component and the surface of the object;
- and
- moving a predetermined component which is able to form a space to hold the second liquid between itself and the cleaning component in synchronization with the movement of the object, to insert the predetermined component between the cleaning component and the object, and to extract the predetermined component from between the cleaning component and the object.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.