Lithographic apparatus, device manufacturing method, device manufactured thereby, and controllable patterning device utilizing a spatial light modulator with distributed digital to analog conversion
First Claim
1. A lithographic apparatus, comprising:
- an illumination system that supplies a beam of radiation;
a controllable patterning device comprising an array of individually controllable elements that pattern the beam;
a control system that outputs a voltage signal and controls the patterning device;
a projection system that projects the patterned beam onto a target portion of a substrate; and
a supply channel coupled between the control system to the patterning device, wherein the patterning device comprises a plurality of cells, each cell comprising a respective one of the individually controllable elements and a respective local control circuit controllable to generate a respective control voltage that determines a configuration of the respective controllable element, the supply channel provides the voltage signal to each cell, the control system provides control signals to the plurality of local control circuits, each local control circuit comprises a first respective controllable switching device, connecting the circuit to the supply channel, and a plurality of respective further electronic components, and each local control circuit is responsive to the control signals to generate the respective control voltage from the voltage signal.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention comprises a lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method method that uses a patterning device that increase a number of individually controllable elements that are programmed simultaneously to increase an update rate of an array of individually controllable elements. A number of required high speed analog inputs to the array is reduced. The complexity of the array is reduced and the maximum update speed of the array is increased. Furthermore, the number of elements within an array can be readily expanded. The patterning device can be divided into a plurality of groups of cells and the lithographic apparatus can comprise a plurality of supply channels. Each supply channel can be arranged to provide a voltage signal to each cell in a respective group of cells. This can reduce the number of required inputs to the patterning device for individually addressing each cell.
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Citations
35 Claims
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1. A lithographic apparatus, comprising:
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an illumination system that supplies a beam of radiation;
a controllable patterning device comprising an array of individually controllable elements that pattern the beam;
a control system that outputs a voltage signal and controls the patterning device;
a projection system that projects the patterned beam onto a target portion of a substrate; and
a supply channel coupled between the control system to the patterning device, wherein the patterning device comprises a plurality of cells, each cell comprising a respective one of the individually controllable elements and a respective local control circuit controllable to generate a respective control voltage that determines a configuration of the respective controllable element, the supply channel provides the voltage signal to each cell, the control system provides control signals to the plurality of local control circuits, each local control circuit comprises a first respective controllable switching device, connecting the circuit to the supply channel, and a plurality of respective further electronic components, and each local control circuit is responsive to the control signals to generate the respective control voltage from the voltage signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A device manufacturing method, comprising:
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providing a patterning device having a plurality of individually controllable elements using a plurality of cells, each cell in the plurality of cells comprising a respective one of the individually controllable elements and a respective local control circuit;
providing each of the local control circuits with a first respective controllable switching device and a plurality of respective further electronic components;
generating a respective control voltage with each of the local control circuits;
using the respective control voltage to determine a configuration of the respective controllable element;
providing a voltage signal to each of the cells;
providing control signals to the plurality of local control circuits; and
each of the local control circuits generating the respective control voltage from the voltage signal in response to the control signals;
using the controllable patterning device to pattern a beam of radiation; and
projecting the patterned beam of radiation onto a target portion of a substrate. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A lithographic apparatus, comprising:
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an illumination system that supplies a beam of radiation;
a controllable patterning device comprising an array of individually controllable elements that patterns the beam;
a control system that controls the patterning device and generates respective control voltages, which determine the configuration of respective controllable elements, the control system comprising, a plurality of switches, a plurality of voltage input lines, a plurality of demultiplexers coupled to the plurality of switches via the plurality of voltage input lines, and a digital to analog converter (DAC), the DAC sequentially receiving a multiple bit digital signal corresponding to a desired control voltage, spliting the digital signal into at least two shorter digital signals, and supplying each shorter digital signal to a respective one of the demultiplexers, outputs of a first group of the plurality of switches being controlled by a first demultiplexer in the plurality of demultiplexers being scaled with respect to the outputs of the other set of switches in the plurality of switches, all of the outputs being connected together to form the control voltage;
a channel arranged to supply each control voltage to each respective element; and
a projection system that projects the patterned beam onto a target portion of a substrate. - View Dependent Claims (25)
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26. A device manufacturing method, comprising:
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using the controllable patterning device comprising an array of individually controllable elements to pattern a beam of radiation;
projecting the patterned beam onto a target portion of a substrate; and
using a control system to generate respective control voltages, which determine a configuration of respective ones of the controllable elements, the using step comprising, sequentially receiving multiple bit digital signals corresponding to the respective control voltages at the control system;
splitting the digital signals into at least two shorter digital signals;
supplying each shorter digital signal to a respective demultiplexer in a plurality of demultiplexers;
controlling a plurality of switches connected to a plurality of voltage input lines using the respective demultiplexer, controlling outputs of a first group of the switches controlled by a first demultiplexer in the plurality of demultiplexers, such that the outputs are scaled with respect to the outputs of another group of the switches;
connecting all of the outputs together to form the control voltages; and
supplying the control voltages to the array of individually controllable elements. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29)
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30. A lithographic apparatus, comprising:
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an illumination system that supplies a beam of radiation;
a controllable patterning device comprising a plurality of cells, each cell in the plurality of cells comprising a respective individually controllable element in an array of individually controllable elements and a respective digital to analog converter (DAC) circuit, the array of individually controllable elements patterning the beam;
a control system that, the control system is arranged to provide a respective digital signal to each of the DAC circuits to control the patterning device, each of the DAC circuits being arranged to generate a respective analog control voltage from the respective digital signal, the respective analog control voltage determining a configuration of the respective controllable element of the cell; and
a projection system that projects the patterned beam onto a target portion of a substrate.
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31. A device manufacturing method, comprising:
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providing a patterning device comprising a plurality of cells, each cell in the plurality of cells comprising a respective individually controllable element of an array of individually controllable elements and a respective DAC circuit;
providing a respective digital signal to each of the DAC circuits;
using each of the DAC circuits to generate a respective analog control voltage from the respective digital signal, the respective analog control voltage determining a configuration of the respective individually controllable element of the cell;
using the controllable patterning device to pattern a beam; and
projecting the patterned beam of radiation onto a target portion of a substrate. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33)
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34. A controllable patterning device, comprising an array of individually controllable elements that pattern a beam of radiation, wherein the patterning device comprises:
a plurality of cells, each cell in the plurality of cells comprising, a respective individually controllable element in the array of the individually controllable elements, and a respective digital to analog converter (DAC) circuit, each of the DAC circuits being receiving a respective digital signal and generating a respective analog control voltage from the respective digital signal, the respective analog control voltage determining a configuration of the respective individually controllable element of the cell.
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35. A controllable patterning device comprising an array of individually controllable elements that pattern a beam of radiation, wherein the patterning device comprises:
a plurality of cells, each cell comprising, a respective one of the individually controllable elements, and a respective local control circuit that generates a respective control voltage, which determines a configuration of the respective controllable element, each of the local control circuits comprising, a first respective controllable switching device, which connects the local control circuit to a supply channel to provide a voltage signal to each cell, and a plurality of respective further electronic components, each of the local control circuits receiving control signals and generating the respective control voltage from the voltage signal.
Specification