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US 2010/0073653 A1Published application
Movable body apparatus, exposure apparatus, exposure method, and device manufacturing method
AssigneeNikon Corporation
InventorYuichi SHIBAZAKI
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In measurement of a positional information in the XY plane of a fine movement stage held by a coarse movement stage, an encoder system is used including a head which is placed facing a grating placed on a surface substantially parallel to the XY plane of the fine movement stage and irradiates a measurement beam on the grating. Then, the fine movement stage is driven individually or integrally with the coarse movement stage by a drive system, based on the positional information measured by the encoder system. In this case, the head of the encoder system can be placed in proximity to the fine movement stage (the grating), which allows a highly precise measurement of the positional information of the fine movement stage by the encoder system.
Claims55
A movable body apparatus, comprising:
- a first movable member which is movable at least along a two-dimensional plane including a first axis and a second axis that are orthogonal to each other;
- a second movable member which is held by the first movable member and is relatively movable at least with respect to the first movable member within a plane parallel to the two-dimensional plane, and whose measurement plane is provided on a surface substantially parallel to the two-dimensional plane;
- a first measurement system which has a head section irradiating at least one first measurement beam on the measurement plane and receiving light of the first measurement beam from the measurement plane, and measures a positional information at least within the two-dimensional plane of the second movable member based on an output of the head section;
- and
- a drive system which drives the second movable member in one of a singly driven and integrally driven manner with the first movable member, based on the positional information measured by the first measurement system.
2 more elements
An exposure apparatus that forms a pattern on an object by an irradiation of an energy beam, the apparatus comprising:
- a first movable member which is movable at least along a two-dimensional plane including a first axis and a second axis that are orthogonal to each other;
- a second movable member whose one end and the other end in a direction parallel to the second axis are each supported by the first movable member, so that the second movable member is relatively movable with respect to the first movable member within a plane parallel to the two-dimensional plane while holding the object;
- and
- a drive system which includes a first drive section that applies a drive force on the one end of the second movable member and a second drive section that applies a drive force on the other end, and drives the second movable member in one of a singly driven and integrally driven manner with the first movable member, whereby
- the first and second drive sections can apply a drive force whose magnitude and a direction of generation can each be controlled independently to the one end and the other end of the second movable member, in a direction parallel to the first axis and the second axis, a direction orthogonal to a two-dimensional plane, and a rotational direction around an axis parallel to the first axis.
2 more elements
An exposure apparatus that exposes an object with an energy beam, the apparatus comprising:
- a first and second movable body which are independently movable within a two-dimensional plane and have a space inside;
- an exposure station in which an exposure process where the energy beam is irradiated on an object held by a holding member supported relatively movable by the first movable body;
- a measurement station which is placed away from the exposure station on one side of a direction parallel to the first axis within the two-dimensional plane, and performs a measurement process to an object held by a holding member supported relatively movable by the second movable body;
- a first drive system which applies a drive force to one end and the other end in a direction parallel to the second axis of the holding member held by the first movable body;
- and
- a second drive system which applies a drive force to one end and the other end in a direction parallel to the second axis of the holding member held by the second movable body, wherein
- the first and second drive systems can apply a drive force whose magnitude and a direction of generation can each be controlled independently to the one end and the other end of each of the holding members, in a direction parallel to the first axis and the second axis, a direction orthogonal to a two-dimensional plane, and a rotational direction around an axis parallel to the first axis.
4 more elements
An exposure method in which a pattern is formed on an object by an irradiation of an energy beam, the method comprising:
- a mounting process in which the object is mounted on a second movable member that is held relatively movable with respect to a first movable member at least within a plane parallel to a two-dimensional plane by the first movable member, which is movable at least along a two-dimensional plane including a first axis and a second axis that are orthogonal to each other, and has a measurement plane provided on a surface substantially parallel to the two-dimensional plane;
- and
- a scanning process in which the object is scanned with respect to the energy beam by measuring a positional information at least within the two-dimensional plane of the second movable member based on an output of a head section, which irradiates at least one first measurement beam on the measurement plane, and receives a light of the first measurement beam from the measurement plane, and by driving the second movable member in a scanning direction within the two-dimensional plane based on the positional information which has been measured.
An exposure method in which a pattern is formed on an object by an irradiation of an energy beam, the method comprising:
- making a first movable member, which is movable at least along a two-dimensional plane including a first axis and a second axis that are orthogonal to each other, support both one end and the other end in a direction parallel to the second axis of a second movable member holding the object, so that the second movable member becomes relatively movable within a plane parallel to the two-dimensional plane with respect to the first movable member;
- and
- applying a drive force whose magnitude and a direction of generation can each be controlled independently, to the one end and the other end of the second movable member, in a direction parallel to the first axis and the second axis, a direction orthogonal to a two-dimensional plane, and a rotational direction around an axis parallel to the first axis.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.