Lithographic apparatus, device manufacturing method, and device manufactured thereby

A method of setting up a lithographic projection apparatus comprising:

• providing a substrate table to hold a substrate, said substrate table being movable along X and Y directions in an X, Y-coordinate system defined in said apparatus;
• providing at least one optical element to reduce an intensity anomaly of an intensity distribution,
• wherein the intensity anomaly comprises two elongated sections distributed along said X direction and Y direction, respectively, wherein the two sections have different intensities;
• and
• adjusting the rotational position of said at least one optical element around an optical axis of said projection apparatus such that said anomaly is substantially compensated.

A device manufacturing method using a lithographic projection apparatus comprising:

• providing a substrate that is at least partially covered by a layer of radiation-sensitive material;
• providing a projection beam of radiation using a radiation system;
• using patterning structure to endow the projection beam with a pattern in its cross-section;
• projecting the patterned beam of radiation onto a target portion of the layer of radiation-sensitive material;
• and
• correcting an intensity anomaly of an intensity distribution in a cross-section of the projection beam proximal a pupil selected from the group of pupils comprising a pupil of said radiation system and a pupil of said projection system, wherein the intensity anomaly comprises two elongated sections distributed along two mutually perpendicular directions, respectively having substantially different intensities, the correcting comprising setting a rotational orientation of at least one optical element such that said anomaly is substantially compensated.

A lithographic projection apparatus comprising:

• a radiation system to provide a projection beam of radiation, the radiation system comprising an illumination system, the illumination system being adjustable with respect to angular and spatial energy distributions of said projection beam and to provide a preselected intensity distribution of said projection beam in a pupil of said illumination system;
• a support structure to support patterning structure, the patterning structure serving to pattern the projection beam according to a desired pattern;
• a substrate table to hold a substrate and being movable along X and Y directions in an X, Y-coordinate system defined in said apparatus;
• a projection system to project the patterned beam onto a target portion of the substrate, and to project said intensity distribution onto a pupil of the projection system;
• and
• an optical element rotatable around the optical axis of said projection apparatus to correct an intensity anomaly comprising two elongated sections distributed along said X and Y direction, respectively, and having different intensities,
• wherein said optical element comprises a partially transmissive radiation filter and a supplementary partially transmissive radiation filter, and the transmittance distribution of said partially transmissive radiation filter and said supplementary partially transmissive radiation filter comprise:
• a first elongated section distributed along a first direction, and centered at the optical
• axis, having a first transmittance, and a
• a second elongated section distributed along a second direction substantially orthogonal to said first direction, and centered at the optical axis, having a second transmittance different from said first transmittance, and
• a plurality of elongated sections centered at the optical axis and distributed along a corresponding plurality of directions at a corresponding plurality of angles α with one of said orthogonal directions, having a corresponding plurality of transmittances, with a gradual variation of transmittance between said first and second transmittance in accordance with said angle α.

A lithographic projection apparatus comprising:

• a radiation system to provide a projection beam of radiation;
• an illumination system, the illumination system being adjustable with respect to angular and spatial energy distributions of said projection beam and to provide a preselected intensity distribution of said projection beam in a pupil of said illumination system;
• a support structure to support patterning structure, the patterning structure serving to pattern the projection beam according to a desired pattern;
• a substrate table for holding a substrate and being movable along X and Y directions in an X, Y-coordinate system defined in said apparatus;
• a projection system to project the patterned beam onto a target portion of the substrate, and for projecting said intensity distribution onto a pupil of the projection system;
• an integrator comprising a portion of the illumination system;
• and
• a diffractive optical element located on an object side of said integrator and comprising an array of microlenses and a diffractive plate element, said array of microlenses having a focal plane comprising focal points of said microlenses and said diffractive plate element being situated proximate said focal plane of said array of microlenses and comprising a pair of substantially parallel plates proximate each other, said parallel plates having a refractive power varying sinusoidally at substantially a same pitch as said array of microlenses.