Exposure apparatus, exposure method, and device producing method
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An exposure apparatus which exposes a substrate by radiating an exposure light beam onto the substrate through a liquid, the exposure apparatus comprising:
- a liquid supply mechanism which supplies the liquid onto the substrate;
a projection optical system; and
a pressure adjustment mechanism which adjusts a pressure of the liquid supplied from the liquid supply mechanism.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An exposure apparatus (EX) exposes a substrate (P) by irradiating exposure light (EL) on the substrate (P) via a projection optical system (PL) and a liquid (LQ) supplied from a liquid supply mechanism (10). The exposure apparatus (EX) has a pressure adjustment mechanism (90) for adjusting pressure of the liquid (LQ) supplied from the liquid supply mechanism (10). A liquid immersion area is satisfactorily formed to obtain high exposure accuracy and measurement accuracy.
121 Citations
54 Claims
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1. An exposure apparatus which exposes a substrate by radiating an exposure light beam onto the substrate through a liquid, the exposure apparatus comprising:
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a liquid supply mechanism which supplies the liquid onto the substrate;
a projection optical system; and
a pressure adjustment mechanism which adjusts a pressure of the liquid supplied from the liquid supply mechanism. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 30)
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8. An exposure apparatus which exposes a substrate by radiating an exposure light beam onto the substrate through a liquid, the exposure apparatus comprising:
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a projection optical system;
a liquid supply mechanism which supplies the liquid; and
a gas discharge mechanism which discharges any gas present on an image plane side of the projection optical system, wherein;
a gas discharge port of the gas discharge mechanism is arranged nearer to a projection area defined by the projection optical system than a liquid supply port of the liquid supply mechanism, and supply of the liquid by the liquid supply mechanism is started while discharging the gas by the gas discharge mechanism. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
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12. An exposure apparatus which exposes a substrate by radiating an exposure light beam onto the substrate through a liquid, the exposure apparatus comprising:
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a projection optical system;
a liquid supply mechanism which supplies the liquid;
a first liquid recovery mechanism which has a liquid recovery port disposed outside a liquid supply port of the liquid supply mechanism with respect to a projection area of the projection optical system; and
a second liquid recovery mechanism which has a driving source which is different from that for the first liquid recovery mechanism and which has a liquid recovery port disposed outside the liquid recovery port of the first liquid recovery mechanism with respect to the projection area of the projection optical system. - View Dependent Claims (13, 48)
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14. An exposure apparatus which exposes a substrate by radiating an exposure light beam onto the substrate through a liquid, the exposure apparatus comprising:
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a projection optical system;
a liquid supply mechanism which supplies the liquid;
a liquid recovery mechanism which recovers the liquid; and
a substrate stage which holds the substrate, wherein;
a velocity of movement of the substrate stage differs depending on a distance between a first position and a second position when the substrate stage is moved substantially linearly from the first position to the second position in a state in which a liquid immersion area is locally formed on the substrate stage by the liquid supply mechanism and the liquid recovery mechanism. - View Dependent Claims (15, 49)
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16. An exposure apparatus which exposes a substrate by radiating an exposure light beam onto the substrate through a liquid, the exposure apparatus comprising:
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a projection optical system;
a liquid supply mechanism which supplies the liquid;
a liquid recovery mechanism which recovers the liquid; and
a substrate stage which holds the substrate, wherein;
a velocity of movement of the substrate stage differs depending on a direction of movement of the substrate stage from a first position to a second position when the substrate stage is moved substantially linearly from the first position to the second position in a state in which a liquid immersion area is locally formed on the substrate stage by the liquid supply mechanism and the liquid recovery mechanism. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 50)
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19. An exposure apparatus which exposes a substrate by radiating an exposure light beam onto the substrate through a liquid provided onto the substrate, the exposure apparatus comprising:
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a flow passage-forming member which has a light-transmitting section and which includes a flow passage for the liquid, the flow passage being formed in the flow-passage forming member; and
a liquid supply unit which supplies the liquid to a space between the substrate and the flow passage-forming member via the flow passage of the flow passage-forming member, wherein;
a pressure of the liquid supplied to the space between the substrate and the flow passage-forming member is adjusted depending on a flow rate of the liquid supplied via the flow passage. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 51)
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31. An exposure method for exposing a substrate by radiating an exposure light beam onto the substrate through a liquid, the exposure method comprising:
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supplying the liquid onto the substrate;
adjusting a pressure of the liquid supplied onto the substrate; and
exposing the substrate by radiating the exposure light beam onto the substrate through the liquid. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 42)
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35. An exposure method for exposing a substrate by radiating an exposure light beam onto the substrate via a projection optical system and a liquid, the exposure method comprising:
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supplying the liquid onto the substrate;
discharging a gas at a position which is positioned in the vicinity of the projection optical system and which is positioned higher than a terminal end surface of the projection optical system in relation to a vertical direction; and
exposing the substrate by radiating the exposure light beam onto the substrate through the liquid. - View Dependent Claims (36, 52)
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37. An exposure method for exposing a substrate by radiating an exposure light beam onto the substrate through a liquid, the exposure method comprising:
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supplying the liquid onto the substrate;
recovering the liquid disposed on the substrate by first and second liquid recovery mechanisms at positions farther than a position at which the liquid is supplied, with respect to a projection optical system; and
exposing the substrate by radiating the exposure light beam onto the substrate through the liquid, wherein;
driving power sources of the first and second liquid recovery mechanisms are different from each other. - View Dependent Claims (38, 53)
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39. An exposure method for exposing a substrate by radiating an exposure light beam onto the substrate through a liquid, the exposure method comprising:
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exposing the substrate by radiating the exposure light beam onto the substrate through the liquid;
moving the substrate from a first position to a second position while retaining the liquid on the substrate when the substrate is unexposed; and
adjusting a velocity of movement of the substrate from the first position to the second position depending on a positional relationship between the first position and the second position. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 54)
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Specification