Positioning system and position measuring method for use in exposure apparatus
AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsEiji Osanai, Kotaro Akutsu
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A positioning system includes a movable member being movable along a reference plane containing first and second directions, and a position measuring device for measuring positional information related to the movable member, wherein the movable member includes an element having a reflection surface inclined with respect to the reference plane, and wherein the position measuring device includes a measuring system for causing a measurement beam to be reflected by the inclined reflection surface and for detecting positional information related to the movable member with respect to a direction intersecting the reference plane.
Claims63
A positioning system, comprising:
- a movable member being movable along a reference plane, and including a plurality of elements each having a reflection surface inclined with respect to the reference plane;
- and
- a position measuring device for measuring positional information related to said movable member, said position measuring device including measuring means for causing a measurement beam to be reflected by said inclined reflection surfaces and for detecting positional information related to said movable member with respect to a direction intersecting the reference plane, wherein said position measuring device selectively measures a reflection beam from any one of said inclined reflection surfaces.
A positioning system, comprising:
- a movable member being movable in a predetermined direction, and including a plurality of elements each having a reflection surface inclined with respect to the reference plane;
- an element mounted on said movable member and having a reflection surface;
- and
- a position measuring device for measuring the position of said movable member, said position measuring device including measuring means for projecting a measurement beam onto the reflection surfaces in a direction other than normal to the reflection surfaces to thereby detect positional information about said movable member with respect to the direction of reflection of the measurement beam, wherein said position measuring device selectively measures a reflection beam from any one of said inclined reflection surfaces.
A position measuring method for measuring the position of a movable member being movable along a reference plane, said method comprising the steps of:
- projecting a measurement beam onto an optical element mounted on the movable member, along a direction parallel to the reference plane, wherein the movable member includes a plurality of elements each having a reflection surface inclined with respect to the reference plane;
- and
- measuring, using a position measuring device, the position of the movable member with respect to a direction perpendicular to the reference plane, by use of a beam deflected by the optical element in a direction intersecting the reference plane, wherein the position measuring device selectively measures a reflection beam from any one of the inclined reflection surfaces.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.