Scanning exposure apparatus having adjustable illumination area and methods related thereto

A projection exposure apparatus comprising:

• a projection optical system which projects a pattern formed in a transfer area on a mask onto a photosensitive substrate;
• a device which scans said mask and said photosensitive substrate relative to each other along a direction substantially perpendicular to the optical axis of said projection optical system to transfer the pattern of said mask to said photosensitive substrate;
• an illumination optical system which applies illuminating light to the transfer area of said mask through an aperture in a field stop disposed apart from a plane conjugate with a pattern surface of said mask;
• a light shielding member disposed in a plane substantially conjugate with the pattern surface of said mask to shield at least a part of an illumination area on said mask which is defined by the aperture in said field stop from the light;
• and;
• a member which drives said light shielding member in operative association with a change in the position of said illumination area on the transfer area of said mask which is changed by said relative scanning,
• wherein when the numerical aperture of said photosensitive substrate side of said projection optical system is NAW and the coherence factor of said illuminatin optical is σ and the projecting magnification of said projection optical system is MRW and the magnification of an optical system disposed between the plane conjugate with the pattern surface of said mask near the disposition plane of said field stop and the pettern surface of said mask is MBR and the allowable minimum value of the radius of blur, on said photosensitive substrate, of the light emitted from a point on the disposition plane of said field stop is ΔDmin, the interval Δz between the disposition plane of said field stop and the plane conjugate with the pattern surface of said mask in the direction of the optical axis of said illumination optical system satisfies the following relation:
• |Δz|≧zΔDmin/[MBR·MRW·tan{arc sin(MBR·NAW·σ)}].

A scanning exposure apparatus comprising:

• a projection optical system which projects an image of a pattern formed in a transfer area on a mask onto a photosensitive substrate;
• a device which moves said mask and said photosensitive substrate relative to each other in a direction substantially perpendicular to the optical axis of said projection optical system to transfer the pattern of said mask to said photosensitive substrate;
• an illumination optical system which applies illuminating light to the transfer area of said mask through an aperture in a field stop disposed apart from a plane conjugate with a pattern surface of said mask;
• a light shielding member disposed in a plane substantially conjugate with the pattern surface of said mask to shield at least a part of an illumination area on said mask which is defined by the aperture in said field stop;
• a member which drives said light shielding member in operative association with a change in the position of said mask;
• a first optical member which changes the intensity distribution of the illuminating light on a plane which is substantially conjugate with a pupil plane of the projection optical system;
• and
• a second optical member which varies the shape of the aperture in said field stop in accordance with said intensity distribution changed by the first optical member.

A scanning exposure apparatus which transfers a pattern on a mask onto a substrate through a projection optical system while the mask and the substrate are moved synchronously in respective scanning directions, the apparatus comprising:

• an illumination system, disposed along an optical path of illumination light, which directs the illumination light to the mask;
• an optical integrator disposed in the illumination system;
• a first optical member, disposed in the illumination system, which defines an illuminating method to illuminate the mask with the illumination light based on the pattern, wherein the optical path of said illumination light in said projection optical system is changed in accordance with a change of the illuminating method;
• and
• a second optical member, disposed in the illumination system, which adjusts a distribution of an integrated exposure amount in a direction perpendicular to the scanning direction of the substrate, in accordance with the illuminating method defined by said first optical member.

A scanning exposure apparatus which transfers a pattern on a mask onto a substrate by synchronously moving said mask and said substrate relative to illumination light, the apparatus comprising:

• a field stop, disposed apart from a plane conjugate with a pattern surface of said mask, which defines a shape of an illumination area of said illumination light on the pattern surface of said mask;
• a relay optical system which is disposed between the plane conjugate with the pattern surface of said mask near the disposition plane of said field stop and said mask;
• and
• a projection optical system disposed between said mask and said substrate;
• wherein when the numerical aperture of a substrate side of said projection optical system is NAW and the coherence factor of said illumination light is σ and the projecting magnification of said projection optical system is MRW and the magnification of said relay optical system is MBR and the allowable minimum value of the radius of blur, on said substrate, of the light emitted from a point on the disposition plane of said field stop is ΔDmin, the interval Δz between the disposition plane of said field stop and the plane conjugate with the pattern surface of said mask satisfies the following relation:
• |Δz|≧zΔDmin/[MBR·MRW·tan{arc sin(MBR·NAW·σ)}].

A scanning exposure apparatus which transfers a pattern on a mask onto a substrate through a projection optical system while the mask and the substrate are moved synchronously in respective scanning directions, the apparatus comprising:

• an illumination system, disposed along an optical path of illumination light, which directs the illumination light to the mask;
• an optical integrator disposed in the illumination system;
• a first illumination system portion, disposed in the illumination system, which changes an intensity distribution of said illumination light on a plane which is substantially conjugate with a pupil plane of the projection optical system, based on the pattern;
• and
• a second illumination system portion, disposed in the illumination system, which changes a distribution of an integrated exposure amount in a direction perpendicular to the scanning direction of the substrate, in accordance with the intensity distribution changed by said first illumination system portion.

A method for making an exposure apparatus in which a pattern formed on a mask is transferred onto a substrate through a projection system while the mask and the substrate are moved synchronously in respective scanning directions, said method comprising:

• providing an illumination system, disposed along an optical path of illumination light, which directs the illumination light to the mask;
• providing an optical integrator disposed in the illumination system;
• providing a first illumination system portion, disposed in the illumination system, which changes an intensity distribution of said illumination light on a plane which is substantially conjugate with a pupil plane of the projection optical system;
• and
• providing a second illumination system portion, disposed in the illumination system, which adjusts a distribution of an integrated exposure amount in a direction perpendicular to the scanning direction of the substrate, in accordance with the intensity distribution changed by said first illumination system portion.