Exposure apparatus
AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsNoriyasu Hasegawa, Shigeru Terashima
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Abstract
This invention shortens a time required to purge, with inert gas, gas in a space (optical path space) through which exposure light passes, such as a space between a projection optical system and a substrate. The exposure apparatus includes a wafer stage (102), a projection optical system (101), and an air supply portion (112) which supplies inert gas at a nonuniform flow velocity to an optical path space (113) through which exposure light passes between the wafer stage (102) and the projection optical system (101). A downward flow of inert gas is formed.
Claims41
An exposure apparatus which projects and transfers a pattern formed on a mask to a substrate by using exposure light, comprising:
- a stage;
- an optical system;
- and
- a gas flow formation mechanism which forms a flow of inert gas in an optical path space including a space through which light passes between said stage and said optical system,
- wherein said gas flow formation mechanism is arranged to form a flow of inert gas having a spatially or temporally nonuniform distribution in the optical path space.
A device manufacturing method comprising the steps of:
- transferring a pattern to a substrate coated with a photosensitive material by using an exposure apparatus;
- and
- developing the substrate,
- wherein the exposure apparatus is arranged to project and transfer a pattern formed on the mask to the substrate by using exposure light,
- the exposure apparatus comprises
- a stage,
- an optical system, and
- a gas flow formation mechanism which forms a flow of inert gas in an optical path space including a space through which exposure light passes between the stage and the optical system, and
- the gas flow formation mechanism forms a flow of inert gas having a spatially or temporally nonuniform distribution in the optical path space.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.