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US 8,797,508 B2Granted
Exposure apparatus, exposure method, and device manufacturing method
AssigneeNikon Corporation
InventorYuichi Shibazaki
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
During the transition from a state where one of wafer stages is located in an area below a projection optical system where a liquid immersion area is formed to a state where the other of the wafer stages is located in the area, both the wafer stages are made to be in proximity or in contact in a Y-axis direction in a state of being shifted in an X-axis direction, by making an overhang section and a stepped section that are arranged respectively on the wafer stages be engaged, and both the wafer stages are simultaneously driven in the Y-axis direction while maintaining this state. Accordingly, the liquid immersion area is delivered between the two wafer stages via the overhang section and leakage of a liquid that forms the liquid immersion area is restrained.
Claims66
An exposure apparatus that exposes an object with an energy beam via an optical system and a liquid, the apparatus comprising:
- a first movable body on which the object can be mounted, and which can move substantially parallel to a predetermined plane within an area of a predetermined range that includes a first area including a liquid immersion area directly under the optical system where the liquid is supplied and a second area located on one side of the first area in a first direction where positional information of the object is acquired;
- a second movable body on which the object can be mounted, and which can move independently from the first movable body, substantially parallel to the predetermined plane within an area including the first area and the second area;
- and
- a movable body drive system that drives the first and the second movable bodies substantially parallel to the predetermined plane, and during transition from a first state where one of the movable bodies is located in the first area to a second state where the other of the movable bodies is located in the first area, drives the first and the second movable bodies in the first direction in a proximity or contact state where the first movable body and the second movable body are shifted with respect to each other in a second direction that is perpendicular to the first direction within the predetermined plane and the first and the second movable bodies are in proximity to or in contact with each other in the first direction, wherein
- during the transition between the first state and the second state, the movable body drive system maintains the proximity or contact state of the first movable body and the second movable body via a delivery section that is arranged protruding on at least one side in the first direction of at least one of the first and the second movable bodies, in a state where an upper surface of the delivery section is roughly flush with upper surfaces of the first and the second movable bodies, a width in the second direction of the delivery section being wider than that of the liquid immersion area and narrower than that of the upper surface of each of the first and the second movable bodies.
2 more elements
An exposure method of exposing an object with an energy beam via an optical system and a liquid, the method comprising:
- driving a first movable body and a second movable body, on each of which the object can be mounted and which can move independently from each other, substantially parallel to a predetermined plane within an area of a predetermined range that includes a first area including a liquid immersion area directly under the optical system where the liquid is supplied and a second area located on one side of the first area in a first direction where positional information of the object is acquired, in the first direction in a proximity or contact state where the first movable body and the second movable body are shifted with respect to each other in a second direction that is perpendicular to the first direction within the predetermined plane and the first and the second movable bodies are in proximity to or in contact with each other in the first direction, to deliver the liquid immersion area from one of the movable bodies to the other of the movable bodies and make transition from a first state where one of the movable bodies is located in the first area to a second state where the other of the movable bodies is located in the first area, wherein
- during the transition between the first state and the second state, the proximity or contact state of the first movable body and the second movable body is maintained via a delivery section that is arranged protruding on at least one side in the first direction of at least one of the first and the second movable bodies, in a state where an upper surface of the delivery section is roughly flush with upper surfaces of the first and the second movable bodies, a width in the second direction of the delivery section being wider than that of the liquid immersion area and narrower than that of the upper surface of each of the first and the second movable bodies.
An exposure apparatus that exposes an object with an energy beam via a projection optical system and a liquid, the apparatus comprising:
- a detection system that is placed in a second area located on one side of a first area in a first direction where the projection optical system is placed, and detects positional information of the object;
- a first movable body on which the object can be mounted, and which can move parallel to a predetermined plane in a predetermined area including the first and the second areas;
- a second movable body on which the object can be mounted, and which can move parallel to the predetermined plane independently from the first movable body in the predetermined area;
- a base member on which the first and the second movable bodies are placed;
- a drive system that has a planar motor whose mover is arranged at each of the first and the second movable bodies and whose stator is arranged at the base member, and moves each of the first and the second movable bodies from the first area to the second area and from the second area to the first area by the planar motor;
- and
- a local liquid immersion system that has a liquid immersion member and supplies the liquid to directly under the projection optical system, the liquid immersion member having a lower surface side, to which the object is placed facing, and being arranged on a periphery of a lower end portion of the projection optical system, wherein
- to the first movable body, a cable is connected from one end side of the base member,
- to the second movable body, another cable is connected from the other end side of the base member, the other end side being opposed to the one end side,
- the supplied liquid forms a liquid immersion area directly under the projection optical system,
- the drive system moves the first movable body and the second movable body, one of which is placed facing the projection optical system, so that the first and the second movable bodies are made to be in proximity to each other in the first direction and a predetermined positional shift occurs between the first and the second movable bodies in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction within the predetermined plane, from one side of the second direction the cable being connected to the first movable body and from the other side of the second direction the another cable being connected to the second movable body, and replaces the one of the first and the second movable bodies with the other of the movable bodies by moving the first and the second movable bodies in proximity below the projection optical system,
- the liquid immersion area is moved from the one of the movable bodies to the other of the movable bodies by the replacement and is maintained directly under the projection optical system in the replacement,
- a positional relation between the first movable body and the second movable body during the replacement is different between a first replacement and a second replacement, in the first replacement the first movable body placed facing the projection optical system being replaced with the second movable body, and in the second replacement the second movable body placed facing the projection optical system being replaced with the first movable body, and
- during the replacement, the first and the second movable bodies in proximity are moved so that the liquid immersion area passes a position that is closer to either edge in the second direction than a center of an upper surface of each of the first and the second movable bodies while the liquid immersion area is maintained directly under the projection optical system.
11 more elements
An exposure method of exposing an object with an energy beam via a projection optical system and a liquid, the method comprising:
- moving a first movable body and a second movable body independently from each other in a predetermined area within a predetermined plane that includes a first area where the projection optical system is placed and a second area where a detection system that detects positional information of the object is placed and which is located on one side of the first area in a first direction, the first movable body and the second movable body being placed on a base member and the object being mounted on each of the movable bodies;
- moving each of the first and the second movable bodies from the first area to the second area and from the second area to the first area within the predetermined plane;
- supplying the liquid to directly under the projection optical system by a local liquid immersion system having a liquid immersion member that has a lower surface side, to which the object is placed facing, and is arranged on a periphery of a lower end portion of the projection optical system;
- exposing the object with the energy beam via the projection optical system and the liquid;
- moving the first and the second movable bodies, one of which is placed facing the projection optical system, so that the first and the second movable bodies are made to be in proximity to each other in the first direction and a predetermined positional shift occurs between the first and the second movable bodies in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction within the predetermined plane;
- and
- replacing the one of the first and the second movable bodies with the other of the movable bodies by moving the first and the second movable bodies in proximity below the projection optical system, wherein
- the supplied liquid forms a liquid immersion area directly under the projection optical system,
- the liquid immersion area is moved from the one of the movable bodies to the other of the movable bodies by the replacement and is maintained directly under the projection optical system in the replacement,
- to the first movable body, a cable is connected from one side of the second direction on one end side of the base member,
- to the second movable body, another cable is connected from the other side of the second direction on the other end side of the base member, the other end side being opposed to the one end side,
- the first and the second movable bodies are moved by a drive system that has a planar motor whose mover is arranged at each of the first and the second movable bodies and whose stator is arranged at the base member,
- a positional relation between the first movable body and the second movable body during the replacement is different between a first replacement and a second replacement, in the first replacement the first movable body placed facing the projection optical system being replaced with the second movable body, and in the second replacement the second movable body placed facing the projection optical system being replaced with the first movable body, and
- during the replacement, the first and the second movable bodies in proximity are moved so that the liquid immersion area passes a position that is closer to either edge in the second direction than a center of an upper surface of each of the first and the second movable bodies while the liquid immersion area is maintained directly under the projection optical system.
11 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.