Exposure system, device production method, semiconductor production factory, and exposure apparatus maintenance method

Abstract

An exposure system includes a wafer processing apparatus for performing a preparation-for-exposure process on a wafer before an exposure process is performed, an exposure apparatus for performing the exposure process on the wafer subjected to the preparation-for-exposure process performed by the wafer processing apparatus, wherein the exposure apparatus also performs a calibration process to correct an error caused by a time-varying environmental parameter and/or caused by the exposure apparatus itself, and a host computer connected to the wafer processing apparatus and the exposure apparatus via communication means. Depending on the time needed for the wafer processing apparatus to perform the preparation-for-exposure process, the host computer outputs a calibration execution command for performing the calibration process to the exposure apparatus. Thereby, the total time from the start of processing a lot to the end thereof is minimized and thus, the total throughput is improved.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.