Projection optical system, exposure apparatus, and method of manufacturing device

An exposure apparatus for exposing a substrate to light via an original and a projection optical system,

• wherein the projection optical system comprises:
• a plurality of lenses;
• and
• a plurality of aperture stops for determining a numerical aperture,
• wherein said plurality of aperture stops include a first aperture stop having an opening whose size is configured to be changed, and a second aperture stop having an opening whose size is configured to be changed,
• wherein said first aperture stop and said second aperture stop are positioned nearer to the substrate than a lens having a maximum effective diameter among lenses included in an imaging optical system nearest to the substrate,
• wherein at least one of said first aperture stop and said second aperture stop is positioned at or near a pupil of the imaging optical system, and
• wherein a range of a numerical aperture determined by said first aperture stop is larger than a range of a numerical aperture determined by said second aperture stop.

A method of manufacturing a device, the method comprising:

• exposing a substrate to light by using an exposure apparatus;
• developing the exposed substrate;
• and
• processing the developed substrate to manufacture the device,
• wherein the exposure apparatus comprises a projection optical system,
• wherein the projection optical system comprises:
• a plurality of lenses;
• and
• a plurality of aperture stops for determining a numerical aperture,
• wherein said plurality of aperture stops include a first aperture stop having an opening whose size is configured to be changed, and a second aperture stop having an opening whose size is configured to be changed,
• wherein said first aperture stop and said second aperture stop are positioned nearer to the substrate than a lens having a maximum effective diameter among lenses included in an imaging optical system nearest to the substrate,
• wherein at least one of said first aperture stop and said second aperture stop is positioned at or near a pupil of the imaging optical system, and
• wherein a range of a numerical aperture determined by said first aperture stop is larger than a range of a numerical aperture determined by said second aperture stop.