Movable body apparatus, exposure apparatus, exposure method, and device manufacturing method

An exposure apparatus which synchronously moves a mask and an object subject to exposure in a predetermined direction and transfers a pattern formed on the mask onto the object subject to exposure, the apparatus comprising:

• a surface plate;
• a slider which holds the mask and moves in predetermined strokes in a direction parallel to a first axis corresponding to the predetermined direction on the surface plate;
• an illumination system which illuminates the mask by an illumination light;
• a first measurement system which obtains a positional information of the slider when the slider is in a predetermined range including an irradiation area of the illumination light in a direction parallel to the first axis;
• and
• a destaticizing apparatus which is provided on the surface plate on a carrier path of the mask positioned on one side of a direction parallel to the first axis with respect to the irradiation area of the illumination light, and removes static electricity with which the mask mounted on the slider is charged.

An exposure apparatus which synchronously moves a mask and an object subject to exposure in a predetermined direction and transfers a pattern formed on the mask onto the object subject to exposure via a projection optical system, while illuminating an illumination light on the mask on which the pattern is formed, the apparatus comprising:

• a movable body which holds the mask and moves in a direction parallel to a first axis corresponding to the predetermined direction on a two-dimensional plane orthogonal to a substantial optical axis of the projection optical system;
• a surface position measurement system which has a measurement area at a position distanced from the projection optical system on one side in a direction parallel to the first axis, and measures a first surface position information in a direction parallel to the optical axis of the patterned surface of the mask held by the movable body at a first measurement point inside the measurement area;
• a first measurement system which measures a second surface position information in a direction parallel to the optical axis of the movable body at a second measurement point which is in a predetermined positional relation with the measurement area;
• a second measurement system which measures a third surface position information in a direction parallel to the optical axis of the movable body at a third measurement point which is in the same positional relation as the measurement area and the second measurement point, with respect to an irradiation area of the illumination light corresponding to an area on the patterned plane projected on the object by the projection optical system;
• and
• a control system which controls a position of the movable body, based on measurement information of the surface position measurements system, the first measurement system, and the second measurement system.

An exposure apparatus which synchronously moves a mask and an object subject to exposure in a predetermined direction and transfers a pattern formed on the mask onto the object subject to exposure via a projection optical system, while illuminating an illumination light on the mask on which the pattern, is formed, the apparatus comprising;

• a movable body which holds the mask and moves in a direction parallel to a first axis corresponding to the predetermined direction on a two-dimensional plane;
• a drive system which has a pair of movers fixed to both ends of the movable body in a direction parallel to a second axis perpendicular to the first axis within the two-dimensional plane, and a pair of stators engaging with the pair of movers, and makes a drive farce generated between the mover and the stator act on the movable body to drive the movable body in a direction parallel to the first axis and to deform the movable body;
• and
• a measurement system which obtains positional information of the movable body at a plurality of measurement points within the two-dimensional plane by an optical method, and also obtains shape information of the movable body using the positional information at least in three measurement points which are distanced apart from each other in a direction parallel to the second axis of the plurality of measurement points.

An exposure method in which a mask and an object is synchronously moved in a predetermined direction and a pattern formed on the mask is transferred onto the object via a projection optical system, while illuminating an illumination light on the mask on which the pattern is formed, the method comprising:

• obtaining a first surface position information in a direction parallel to the optical axis of a patterned surface of the mask held by a movable body at a first measurement point within a measurement area placed apart from the projection optical system on one side of a direction parallel to a first axis, and a second surface position information in a direction parallel to the optical axis of the movable body at a second measurement point in a predetermined relation with the measurement area, while moving the movable body holding the mask in a direction parallel to the first axis corresponding to the predetermined direction on a two-dimensional plane orthogonal to a substantial optical axis of the projection optical system in synchronous with the object;
• and
• measuring a third surface position information in a direction parallel to the optical axis of the projection optical system of the movable body at a third measurement point which is in the same positional relation as a positional relation between the measurement area and the second measurement point with respect to an irradiation area of the illumination light, when irradiating the pattern with the illumination light and projecting the pattern on the object with the projection optical system, while making the synchronous movement of the object and the movable body continue, and controlling a position in a direction parallel to the optical axis of the movable body based on results of the measurement and a relation between the first surface position information and the second surface position information.