MEASUREMENT METHOD, MEASUREMENT APPARATUS, AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING OPTICAL SYSTEM

• US 20090294628A1
• Filed: 05/22/2009
• Published: 12/03/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/26/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Aoki, Eiji
• Granted Patent: US 8,101,895 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 250/201.9
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 9/00 Measuring optical phase difference devices or arrangements for controlling the phase of light beams G02F1/01; Determining degree of coherence; Measuring optical wavelength spectrometry G01J3/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 9/02 by interferometric methods using interferometers for measuring optically the linear dimensions of objects G01B9/02

Abstract

The present invention provides a measurement method of measuring a light beam wavefront formed by a measurement target object using a measurement apparatus which includes an optical system having a reference surface and a detection unit having a detection surface, and detects, by the detection unit, an interference pattern, between a test light beam from one of the measurement target object and a standard surface and a reference light beam from the reference surface, formed on the detection surface by the optical system.

Claims

1. A measurement method of measuring a light beam wavefront formed by a measurement target object using a measurement apparatus which includes an optical system having a reference surface and a detection unit having a detection surface, and detects, by the detection unit, an interference pattern, between a test light beam from one of the measurement target object and a standard surface and a reference light beam from the reference surface, formed on the detection surface by the optical system, the method comprising:

a first measurement step of measuring a wavefront error attributed to the optical system by arranging the standard surface and detecting an interference pattern between a test light beam from the standard surface and a reference light beam from the reference surface by the detection unit;

a second measurement step of measuring a light beam wavefront formed by the measurement target object by arranging the measurement target object and detecting an interference pattern between a test light beam from the measurement target object and a reference light beam from the reference surface by the detection unit;

a first calculation step of calculating a first phase transfer characteristic which is a transfer characteristic of a phase of a light beam traveling through an optical path from the standard surface to the detection unit via the reference surface, and depends on a distance between the standard surface and the reference surface;

a second calculation step of calculating a second phase transfer characteristic which is a transfer characteristic of a phase of a light beam traveling through an optical path from the measurement target object to the detection unit via the reference surface, and depends on a distance between the measurement target object and the reference surface;

a third calculation step of calculating a first power spectrum density by Fourier-transforming the wavefront error measured in the first measurement step;

a fourth calculation step of calculating a second power spectrum density by Fourier-transforming the light beam wavefront which is formed by the measurement target object and measured in the second measurement step;

a fifth calculation step of calculating a reference power spectrum density of the wavefront error attributed to the optical system in the first measurement step based on the first phase transfer characteristic calculated in the first calculation step and the first power spectrum density calculated in the third calculation step;

a sixth calculation step of calculating a third power spectrum density of the wavefront error attributed to the optical system in the second measurement step based on the reference power spectrum density calculated in the fifth calculation step and the second phase transfer characteristic calculated in the second calculation step; and

a correction step of correcting the light beam wavefront, which is formed by the measurement target object and measured in the second measurement step, by separating the third power spectrum density calculated in the sixth calculation step from the second power spectrum density calculated in the fourth calculation step.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein

the first power spectrum density, the second power spectrum density, and the third power spectrum density are calculated for each spatial frequency, and

in the correction step, the wavefront of the measurement target object is corrected for said each spatial frequency.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein in the first measurement step, the distance between the reference surface and the standard surface is set so as not to generate a dead zone in the first phase transfer characteristic calculated in the first calculation step.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein

in the first calculation step, the first phase transfer characteristic is calculated based on an arrangement of the standard surface, the reference surface, the optical system, and the detection unit in the first measurement step, and

in the second calculation step, the second phase transfer characteristic is calculated based on an arrangement of the measurement target object, the reference surface, the optical system, and the detection unit in the second measurement step.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein

in the first calculation step, the first phase transfer characteristic is calculated based on a power spectrum density of a light beam wavefront formed by the standard surface, and

in the second calculation step, the second phase transfer characteristic is calculated based on a power spectrum density of a light beam wavefront formed by the measurement target object.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the measurement target object has one of a convex surface, a concave surface, and a flat surface.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the measurement target object includes a transmission optical system.

9. A method of manufacturing an optical system including a plurality of optical elements, the method comprising:

a measurement step of measuring light beam wavefronts formed by the plurality of optical elements using the measurement method defined in claim 1;

a processing step of processing the plurality of optical elements so as to reduce errors of the light beam wavefronts, which is formed by the plurality of optical elements, based on the measurement results obtained in the measurement step; and

a manufacturing step of manufacturing an optical system by assembling the plurality of optical elements processed in the processing step.

10. A method of manufacturing an optical system including a plurality of optical elements, the method comprising:

a measurement step of measuring a light beam wavefront formed by the optical system using the measurement method defined in claim 1; and

an adjustment step of adjusting at least one of intervals between the plurality of optical elements and decenterings of the plurality of optical elements so as to reduce an error of the light beam wavefront, which is formed by the optical system, based on the measurement result obtained in the measurement step.

8. A measurement apparatus which includes an optical system having a reference surface and a detection unit having a detection surface, and measures a light beam wavefront formed by a measurement target object by detecting, by the detection unit, an interference pattern, between a test light beam from one of the measurement target object and a standard surface and a reference light beam from the reference surface, formed on the detection surface by the optical system, the apparatus comprising:

a control unit configured to perform control so as to measure a wavefront error attributed to the optical system by arranging the standard surface and detecting an interference pattern between a test light beam from the standard surface and a reference light beam from the reference surface by the detection unit, and so as to measure a light beam wavefront formed by the measurement target object by arranging the measurement target object and detecting an interference pattern between a test light beam from the measurement target object and a reference light beam from the reference surface by the detection unit; and

a processing unit configured to perform a process associated with calculation of the light beam wavefront formed by the measurement target object,

wherein said processing unit

calculates a first phase transfer characteristic which is a transfer characteristic of a phase of a light beam traveling through an optical path from the standard surface to the detection unit via the reference surface, and depends on a distance between the standard surface and the reference surface,

calculates a second phase transfer characteristic which is a transfer characteristic of a phase of a light beam traveling through an optical path from the measurement target object to the detection unit via the reference surface, and depends on a distance between the measurement target object and the reference surface,

calculates a first power spectrum density by Fourier-transforming the wavefront error measured,

calculates a second power spectrum density by Fourier-transforming the light beam wavefront which is formed by the measurement target object and measured,

calculates a reference power spectrum density, when the wavefront error attributed to the optical system is measured, based on the first phase transfer characteristic and the first power spectrum density,

calculates a third power spectrum density of the wavefront error attributed to the optical system, when the light beam wavefront formed by the measurement target object is measured, based on the reference power spectrum density and the second phase transfer characteristic, and

corrects the light beam wavefront, which is formed by the measurement target object and measured, by separating the third power spectrum density from the second power spectrum density.