Production control method for a projection exposure apparatus, projection exposure apparatus, and projection exposure method

A apparatus comprising:

• a projection lens configured to image a part of a pattern arranged in a region of an object plane of a projection lens into an image plane of the projection lens;
• a wavefront manipulation system configured to controllably influence, while the apparatus is in operation, a wavefront of projection radiation directed at a radiation sensitive substrate through the projection lens, wherein the wavefront manipulation system comprises a manipulable optical element which interacts with the projection radiation when used as intended and serves to influence the wavefront, wherein the manipulable optical element is assigned a manipulator configured to reversibly change a spatial pose of the manipulable optical element or a spatial pose of a portion of the manipulable optical element, and wherein the manipulable optical element is assigned a measuring system having a phase-based optical encoder configured to measure changes in the spatial pose of the manipulable optical element or in the spatial pose of the portion of the manipulable optical element by evaluating phase information from a measurement signal;
• and
• a controller configured to control the manipulator by generating an actuator travel command which defines a change in the spatial pose of the manipulable optical element along an actuator travel of the assigned manipulable optical element or in the spatial pose of the portion of the manipulable optical element along an actuator travel of the portion of the manipulable optical element, to be carried out by the manipulator, wherein the controller is configured, in an error-optimized mode of operation, to selectively establish actuator travels of the manipulator with consideration being given to cyclical errors of the phase-based optical encoder, in such a way that a second cyclical error at an end of an actuator travel substantially corresponds to a first cyclical error at a start of an actuator travel.

A method comprising:

• holding a mask between an illumination system and a projection lens of a projection exposure apparatus in such a way that a pattern of the mask is arranged in a region of an object plane of the projection lens;
• holding a radiation sensitive substrate in such a way that a radiation-sensitive surface of the substrate is arranged in a region of an image plane of the projection lens optically conjugate to the object plane;
• illuminating an illumination region of the mask with an illumination radiation provided by the illumination system;
• projecting a part of the pattern of the mask located in the illumination region onto an image field on the substrate with the projection lens, wherein all beams of the projection radiation contributing to image creation in the image field form a projection beam path, and
• influencing a wavefront of the projection radiation, which runs from the object plane to the image plane, by controlling manipulators of a wavefront manipulation system, wherein the wavefront manipulation system comprises a manipulable optical element which interacts with the projection radiation when used as intended and serves to influence the wavefront, wherein the manipulable optical element is assigned a manipulator configured to reversibly change a spatial pose of the manipulable optical element or a spatial pose of a portion of the manipulable optical element and wherein the manipulable optical element is assigned a measuring system having a phase-based optical encoder configure to measure changes in the spatial pose of the manipulable optical element or in the spatial pose at least of a portion of the manipulable optical element by evaluating phase information from a measurement signal;
• and
• generating, via a controller, an actuator travel command which serves to control the manipulator and which defines a change in a spatial pose along an actuator travel of the assigned manipulable optical element or change in a spatial pose of a portion of the manipulable optical element along an actuator travel of the portion of the manipulable optical element, to be carried out by the manipulator, wherein the generating comprise the controller, in an error-optimized mode of operation, selectively establishing actuator travels of the manipulator with consideration being given to cyclical errors of the phase-based optical encoder, in such a way that a second cyclical error at an end of an actuator travel substantially corresponds to a first cyclical error at a start of an actuator travel.