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

An exposure apparatus that has an illumination optical system configured to illuminate a mask with an illumination light and a projection optical system configured to project a pattern image of the mask onto a substrate, and performs scanning exposure of the substrate by moving each of the mask and the substrate relative to the illumination light, the apparatus comprising:

• a body mechanism having a metrology frame and a surface plate, the metrology frame supporting the projection optical system, and the surface plate being placed above the projection optical system and having an opening through which the illumination light passes;
• a stage that has a slider and is placed on the surface plate, the slider having a chuck member that holds the mask in an opening through which the illumination light passes, the slider being movable in a first direction orthogonal to an optical axis of the projection optical system, and the mask being moved in the first direction in the scanning exposure;
• a drive system that has a motor and moves the stage on the surface plate, a part of the motor being provided at the stage;
• an encoder system that has a plurality of heads and measures positional information of the stage, the plurality of heads being placed apart in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction within a predetermined plane orthogonal to the optical axis of the projection optical system;
• and
• a controller that is coupled to the encoder system and the drive system, and controls the drive system based on the positional information measured with the encoder system,
• wherein the encoder system has the plurality of heads provided on an upper end side of the projection optical system, and irradiates a measurement beam from each of the plurality of heads to a measurement surface from below via the opening of the surface plate, the measurement surface being placed on a lower surface side of the slider, and a reflection type grating being formed on the measurement surface.

A method of making an exposure apparatus that has an illumination optical system configured to illuminate a mask with an illumination light and a projection optical system configured to project a pattern image of the mask onto a substrate, and performs scanning exposure of the substrate by moving each of the mask and the substrate relative to the illumination light, the method comprising:

• providing a body mechanism having a metrology frame and a surface plate, the metrology frame supporting the projection optical system, and the surface plate being placed above the projection optical system and having an opening through which the illumination light passes;
• providing a stage that has a slider and is placed on the surface plate, the slider having a chuck member that holds the mask in an opening through which the illumination light passes, the slider being movable in a first direction orthogonal to an optical axis of the projection optical system, and the mask being moved in the first direction in the scanning exposure;
• providing a drive system that has a motor and moves the stage on the surface plate, a part of the motor being provided at the stage;
• providing an encoder system that has a plurality of heads and measures positional information of the stage, the plurality of heads being placed apart in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction within a predetermined plane orthogonal to the optical axis of the projection optical system;
• providing a controller that controls the drive system based on the positional information measured with the encoder system;
• and
• providing a partition wall member that forms a first space containing an optical path of the illumination light between the illumination optical system and the stage,
• wherein the partition wall member has a cylindrical section and a pair of plate shaped sections, the cylindrical section surrounding the optical path, and the pair of plate shaped sections being placed on a lower end side of the cylindrical section and being provided extending on one side and an other side of the cylindrical section in the first direction, respectively,
• the pair of plate shaped sections each have a lower surface facing an upper surface of the stage that is moved below the pair of plate shaped sections in the scanning exposure, and are each placed so that the lower surface is substantially parallel to the predetermined plane, and
• in the scanning exposure, the stage is moved while the upper surface of the stage is in proximity to the lower surfaces of the pair of plate shaped sections so that the first space is substantially airtightly formed by the partition wall member, the stage and the mask.

A method of making an exposure apparatus that has an illumination optical system configured to illuminate a mask with an illumination light and a projection optical system configured to project a pattern image of the mask onto a substrate, and performs scanning exposure of the substrate by moving each of the mask and the substrate relative to the illumination light, the method comprising:

• providing a body mechanism having a metrology frame and a surface plate, the metrology frame supporting the projection optical system, and the surface plate being placed above the projection optical system and having an opening through which the illumination light passes;
• providing a stage that has a slider and is placed on the surface plate, the slider having a chuck member that holds the mask in an opening through which the illumination light passes, the slider being movable in a first direction orthogonal to an optical axis of the projection optical system, and the mask being moved in the first direction in the scanning exposure;
• providing a drive system that has a motor and moves the stage on the surface plate, a part of the motor being provided at the stage;
• providing an encoder system that has a plurality of heads and measures positional information of the stage, the plurality of heads being placed apart in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction within a predetermined plane orthogonal to the optical axis of the projection optical system;
• and
• providing a controller that controls the drive system based on the positional information measured with the encoder system,
• wherein the encoder system has the plurality of heads provided on an upper end side of the projection optical system, and irradiates a measurement beam from each of the plurality of heads to a measurement surface from below via the opening of the surface plate, the measurement surface being placed on a lower surface side of the slider, and a reflection type grating being formed on the measurement surface.