Exposure apparatus and method

Abstract

An exposure method immerses, in liquid, a surface of an object to be exposed, and a surface of a projection optical system closest to the object, and projects a repetitive pattern formed on a mask via the projection optical system onto the object. The exposure method may direct exposure light having a wavelength λ through a projection optical system that is at least partially immersed in liquid and has a numerical aperture of no·sin θNA greater than 0.9 in order to transfer a pattern formed on a mask onto an object to be exposed, wherein no is a refractive index of the liquid, Δn is the fluctuation of the refractive index of the liquid, θNA is the largest angle common to the liquid and a resist material applied to the object to be exposed, and d is a thickness of the liquid in an optical-axis direction of the projection optical system which satisfies d≦(0.03λ) cos θNA/Δn.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.