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US 6,958,867 B2Granted
Illumination optical system, exposure device using the illumination optical system, and exposure method
AssigneeFuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.
InventorsToshihiko Ohmori, Hiromi Ishikawa
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In an illumination optical system constituted to uniformize the intensity distribution of illumination light by use of an optical integrator, the overall length thereof is shortened. The illumination optical system includes: a light source including a laser irradiating illumination light on an illuminated body such as a two-dimensional SLM and an optical integrator; the optical integrator being placed between this light source and the illuminated body and uniformizes the intensity distribution of the illumination light by passing the light through minute cells. In this system, the size of the minute cell of the optical integrator (S1=S2) is 1.5 mm or less.
Claims6
An exposure device, comprising:
- a spatial light modulator;
- and
- an illumination optical system, comprising:
- a light source which irradiates illumination light on the spatial light modulator, the light source comprising a laser and an optical fiber for propagating laser light emitted from the laser therethrough, and for emitting the laser light;
- and
- an optical integrator which is placed between the light source and the spatial light modulator and uniformizes an intensity distribution of the illumination light by passing light through optical elements,
- wherein diagonal lengths of the optical elements of the optical integrator are 4 mm or less;
- and
- wherein illumination light emitted from the illumination optical system is modulated by the spatial light modulator based on a predetermined image signal and exposure of a photosensitive material is performed with an image formed by this modulated illumination light.
6 more elements
An exposure device comprising:
- a spatial light modulator;
- and
- an illumination optical system, comprising:
- a light source which irradiates illumination light on the spatial light modulator, wherein the light source has a constitution in which multiplexing of a plurality of lasers is performed by making the lasers incident on one optical fiber and a plurality of the optical fibers are further arranged to form a bundle, and
- an optical integrator which is placed between the light source and the spatial light modulator and uniformizes an intensity distribution of the illumination light by passing light through optical elements,
- wherein diagonal lengths of the optical elements of the optical integrator are 4 mm or less;
- and
- wherein illumination light emitted from the illumination optical system is modulated by the spatial light modulator based on a predetermined image signal and exposure of a photosensitive material is performed with an image formed by this modulated illumination light.
5 more elements
An exposure device comprising:
- a digital micromirror device (DMD);
- and
- an illumination optical system, comprising:
- a light source which irradiates illumination light on the DMD, the light source comprising a laser and an optical fiber for propagating laser light emitted from the laser therethrough, and for emitting the laser light;
- and
- an optical integrator which is placed between the light source and the DMD and uniformizes an intensity distribution of the illumination light by passing light through optical elements,
- wherein diagonal lengths of the optical elements of the optical integrator are 4 mm or less;
- and
- wherein illumination light emitted from the illumination optical system is modulated by the DMD based on a predetermined image signal and exposure of a photosensitive material is performed with an image formed by this modulated illumination light.
6 more elements
An exposure device
- a digital micromirror device (DMD);
- and
- an illumination optical system, comprising:
- a light source which irradiates illumination light on the DMD, wherein the light source has a constitution in which multiplexing of a plurality of lasers is performed by making the lasers incident on one optical fiber and a plurality of the optical fibers are further arranged to form a bundle, and
- an optical integrator which is placed between the light source and the DMD and uniformizes an intensity distribution of the illumination light by passing light through optical elements,
- wherein diagonal lengths of the optical elements of the optical integrator are 4 mm or less;
- and
- wherein illumination light emitted from the illumination optical system is modulated by the DMD based on a predetermined image signal and exposure of a photosensitive material is performed with an image formed by this modulated illumination light.
5 more elements
An exposure method comprising the steps of:
- providing an illumination optical system, comprising:
- a light source which irradiates illumination light on a spatial light modulator, the light source comprising a laser and an optical fiber for propagating laser light emitted from the laser therethrough, and for emitting the laser light;
- and
- an optical integrator which is placed between the light source and the spatial light modulator and uniformizes an intensity distribution of the illumination light by passing light through optical elements,
- wherein diagonal lengths of the optical elements of the optical integrator are 4 mm or less;
- and
- modulating illumination light emitted by the illumination optical system with the spatial light modulator based on a predetermined image signal;
- and
- exposing a photosensitive material with an image formed by this modulated illumination light.
6 more elements
An exposure method comprising the steps of:
- providing an illumination optical system, comprising:
- a light source which irradiates illumination light on the spatial light modulator, wherein the light source has a constitution in which multiplexing of a plurality of lasers is performed by making the lasers incident on one optical fiber and a plurality of the optical fibers are further arranged to form a bundle, and
- an optical integrator which is placed between the light source and the spatial light modulator and uniformizes an intensity distribution of the illumination light by passing light through optical elements,
- wherein diagonal lengths of the optical elements of the optical integrator are 4 mm or less;
- and
- modulating illumination light emitted by the illumination optical system with the spatial light modulator based on a predetermined image signal;
- and
- exposing a photosensitive material with an image formed by this modulated illumination light.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.