Exposure with intensity balancing to mimic complex illuminator shape
First Claim
1. A method for optimizing the optical transfer of a mask pattern onto a substrate using a lithographic apparatus, the lithographic apparatus including an illuminator configured to illuminate the mask pattern, the method comprising:
- determining a plurality of illumination arrangements for a pupil plane of the illuminator, each of the plurality of illumination arrangements being determined to improve a respective lithographic performance response parameter when illuminating the mask pattern; and
adjusting an intensity of a first illumination arrangement of the plurality of illumination arrangements relative to a second illumination arrangement of the plurality of illumination arrangements, the mask pattern to be illuminated with the first and second illumination arrangements.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method for optimizing the optical transfer of a mask pattern onto a substrate using a lithographic apparatus, the lithographic apparatus including an illuminator configured to illuminate the mask pattern, the method including determining a plurality of illumination arrangements for a pupil plane of the illuminator, each of the plurality of illumination arrangements being determined to improve a respective lithographic performance response parameter when illuminating the mask pattern; and adjusting an intensity of a first illumination arrangement of the plurality of illumination arrangements relative to a second illumination arrangement of the plurality of illumination arrangements, the mask pattern to be illuminated with the first and second illumination arrangements. The mask pattern may be illuminated at least once for each of the first and second illumination arrangements or all at once with at least the first illumination arrangement and the second illumination arrangement.
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Citations
34 Claims
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1. A method for optimizing the optical transfer of a mask pattern onto a substrate using a lithographic apparatus, the lithographic apparatus including an illuminator configured to illuminate the mask pattern, the method comprising:
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determining a plurality of illumination arrangements for a pupil plane of the illuminator, each of the plurality of illumination arrangements being determined to improve a respective lithographic performance response parameter when illuminating the mask pattern; and
adjusting an intensity of a first illumination arrangement of the plurality of illumination arrangements relative to a second illumination arrangement of the plurality of illumination arrangements, the mask pattern to be illuminated with the first and second illumination arrangements. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A lithographic projection apparatus comprising:
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an illumination system to condition a beam of radiation;
a support structure to hold a patterning structure which can be used to pattern the beam of radiation according to a desired pattern;
a substrate table to hold a substrate;
a projection system to project the beam of radiation onto a target portion of the substrate;
a processor to determine a plurality of illumination arrangements for a pupil plane of the illumination system, each of the plurality of illumination arrangements being determined to improve a respective lithographic performance response parameter when illuminating the desired pattern, said processor adjusting an intensity of a first illumination arrangement of the plurality of illumination arrangements relative to a second illumination arrangement of the plurality of illumination arrangements; and
a selectable variable beam controller that is configured to modify a cross-sectional intensity distribution of the beam exiting the illumination system in accordance with the plurality of illumination arrangements determined and adjusted by the processor. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A machine readable medium encoded with machine executable instructions for optimizing an illumination arrangement of an illuminator according to a method comprising:
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determining a plurality of illumination arrangements for a pupil plane of the illuminator, each of the plurality of illumination arrangements being determined to improve a respective lithographic performance response parameter when illuminating a mask pattern; and
adjusting an intensity of a first illumination arrangement of the plurality of illumination arrangements relative to a second illumination arrangement of the plurality of illumination arrangements, the mask pattern to be illuminated with the first and second illumination arrangements. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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Specification