Polarization-modulating element, illumination optical apparatus, exposure apparatus, and exposure method
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An illumination optical apparatus for illuminating a surface to be illuminated, based on illumination radiation supplied from a radiation source, comprising:
- a polarization modulating element, which is arranged in an optical path of the illumination radiation, which is made of an optical material with optical activity, and which has a circumferentially varying thickness; and
a movable optical element arranged in an optical path between the polarization modulating element and the surface to be illuminated.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
There is disclosed a polarization-modulating element for modulating a polarization state of incident light into a predetermined polarization state, the polarization-modulating element being made of an optical material with optical activity and having a circumferentially varying thickness profile.
145 Citations
90 Claims
-
1. An illumination optical apparatus for illuminating a surface to be illuminated, based on illumination radiation supplied from a radiation source, comprising:
-
a polarization modulating element, which is arranged in an optical path of the illumination radiation, which is made of an optical material with optical activity, and which has a circumferentially varying thickness; and
a movable optical element arranged in an optical path between the polarization modulating element and the surface to be illuminated. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
-
-
34. An illumination optical apparatus for illuminating a surface to be illuminated, based on illumination radiation supplied from a radiation source, comprising:
-
a polarization modulating element, which is arranged in an optical path of the illumination radiation, which is made of an optical material with optical activity, and which has a circumferentially varying thickness; and
an optical integrator arranged in an optical path between the polarization modulating element and the surface to be illuminated, wherein the polarization modulating element having a plurality of circumferentially separated regions, wherein thicknesses of two arbitrary regions adjacent to each other among the plurality of regions are different from each other. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36)
-
-
37. An illumination optical apparatus for illuminating a surface to be illuminated, based on illumination radiation supplied from a radiation source, comprising:
-
a polarization modulating element, which is arranged in an optical path of the illumination radiation, which is made of an optical material with optical activity, and which has a circumferentially varying thickness; and
an annular ratio changing optical system, arranged in an optical path between the polarization modulating element and the surface to be illuminated, that changes an annular ratio of a secondary radiation source formed on a pupil of the illumination optical apparatus, wherein the illumination optical apparatus satisfying the following conditions;
(10in+Δ
A)/10out<
0.75;
0.4<
(10in+Δ
A)/10out,where 10in;
an effective radius of a central region of the polarization-modulating element,10out;
an outside effective radius of the polarization-modulating element, andΔ
A;
an increase of an inside radius of a beam passing through the annular ratio changing optical system. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41)
-
-
42. An illumination optical apparatus for illuminating a surface to be illuminated, based on illumination radiation supplied from a radiation source, comprising:
-
a polarization modulating element, which is arranged in an optical path of the illumination radiation, which is made of an optical material with optical activity, and which has a circumferentially varying thickness; and
a polarization monitor, arranged in a downstream optical path of the polarization modulating element, which detects the illumination radiation. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46)
-
-
47. A polarization-modulating element for modulating a polarization state of incident light into a predetermined polarization state, comprising:
-
a circumferentially varying thickness profile, and a central region with no substantial optical activity, wherein the polarization-modulating element being made of an optical material with optical activity, and wherein a radial size of the central region is not less than 3/10 of a radial size of an effective region of the polarization-modulating element. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55)
-
-
56. A polarization-modulating element for modulating a polarization state of incident light into a predetermined polarization state, and for using with an illumination optical apparatus having an annular ratio changing optical system, comprising:
-
a circumferentially varying thickness profile, and a central region with no substantial optical activity, wherein the polarization-modulating element being made of an optical material with optical activity, wherein the annular ratio changing optical system, arranged in an optical path between the polarization modulating element and a surface to be illuminated, that changes an annular ratio of a secondary radiation source formed on a pupil of the illumination optical apparatus, and wherein the illumination optical apparatus satisfying the following conditions;
(10in+Δ
A)/10out<
0.75;
0.4<
(10in+Δ
A)/10out,where 10in;
an effective radius of the central region of the polarization-modulating element,10out;
an outside effective radius of the polarization-modulating element, andΔ
A;
an increase of an inside radius of a beam passing through the annular ratio changing optical system. - View Dependent Claims (57, 58, 59, 60)
-
-
61. A polarization monitor for detecting a beam in an optical path of an illumination optical apparatus which illuminates a surface to be illuminated base on a radiation from an radiation source, comprising:
-
an optical element arranged in an optical path of the beam; and
a detector which detect the beam through the optical element, wherein the beam which enters the optical element passes through a polarization-modulating element and an optical integrator, wherein the polarization-modulating element being made of an optical material with optical activity, and having a circumferentially varying thickness profile, and wherein the optical integrator arranged in an optical path between the polarization-modulating element and the surface to be illuminated. - View Dependent Claims (62, 63, 64)
-
-
65. A device manufacturing method comprising the steps of:
-
projecting a predetermined pattern onto a photosensitive substrate, using the illumination optical apparatus, detecting a radiation which is used under the projecting step, and developing the photosensitive substrate.
-
-
66. A polarization monitoring method comprising the steps of:
-
receiving a radiation from a radiation source through a polarization-modulating element and an optical integrator, detecting the radiation, and analyzing a detecting result, wherein the polarization-modulating element being made of an optical material with optical activity, and having a circumferentially varying thickness profile, and wherein the optical integrator arranged in an optical path between the polarization-modulating element and a surface to be illuminated. - View Dependent Claims (67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72)
-
-
73. A polarization monitor for detecting a beam in an optical path of an exposure apparatus which projects a predetermined pattern onto a photosensitive substrate positioned on a main surface, comprising:
-
an optical element arranged near the main surface; and
a detector which detect the beam through the optical element, wherein the beam which enters the optical element passes through a polarization-modulating element and an optical integrator, wherein the polarization-modulating element being made of an optical material with optical activity, and having a circumferentially varying thickness profile, and wherein the optical integrator arranged in an optical path between the polarization-modulating element and the surface to be illuminated. - View Dependent Claims (74, 75)
-
-
76. A polarization monitoring method comprising the steps of:
-
receiving a radiation from a radiation source through a polarization-modulating element and an optical integrator at a main surface, detecting the radiation, and analyzing a detecting result, wherein the polarization-modulating element being made of an optical material with optical activity, and having a circumferentially varying thickness profile, wherein the optical integrator arranged in an optical path between the polarization-modulating element and a surface to be illuminated, and wherein a predetermined pattern on the surface to be illuminated is projected onto a photosensitive substrate positioned on the main surface. - View Dependent Claims (77, 78, 79, 80)
-
-
81. An illumination optical apparatus for illuminating a surface to be illuminated, based on illumination light supplied from a light source,
the illumination optical apparatus satisfying the following relations: -
RSPh(Ave)>
70%, and RSPv(Ave)>
70%,where RSPh(Ave) is an average specific polarization rate about polarization in a first direction in a predetermined effective light source region in a light intensity distribution formed in an illumination pupil plane of the illumination optical apparatus or in a plane conjugate with the illumination pupil plane, and RSPv(Ave) an average specific polarization rate about polarization in a second direction in the predetermined effective light source region, wherein
RSPh(Ave)=Ix(Ave)/(Ix+Iy)Ave
RSPv(Ave)=Iy(Ave)/(Ix+Iy)Ave,where Ix(Ave) is an average intensity of a polarization component in the first direction in a bundle of rays passing through the predetermined effective light source region and arriving at a point on an image plane, Iy(Ave) an average intensity of a polarization component in the second direction in the bundle of rays passing through the predetermined effective light source region and arriving at a point on the image plane, and (Ix+Iy)Ave an average intensity of an entire beam passing through the predetermined effective light source region. - View Dependent Claims (82, 83)
-
-
84. A method of producing a polarization-modulating element for modulating a polarization state of incident light into a predetermined polarization state, comprising:
-
a step of preparing an optical material with optical activity; and
a step of providing the optical material with a circumferentially varying thickness profile. - View Dependent Claims (85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90)
-
Specification