Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A lithographic apparatus, comprising:
- an illumination system that supplies a beam of radiation;
a beam splitter that splits the beam into a first beam and a second beam;
a first array of individually controllable elements that patterns the first beam with a first pattern;
a second array of individually controllable elements that patterns the second beam with a second pattern;
first and second quarter wave plates located between the beam splitter and respective ones of the first and second arrays of individually controllable elements that change a polarization of respective ones of the first and second beams;
a beam combiner that combines the first and second patterned beams to form a combined patterned beam; and
a system that projects the combined patterned beam onto a target portion of a substrate,wherein a first portion of the combined patterned beam derived from the first patterned beam is substantially linearly polarized, andwherein a second portion of the combined patterned beam derived from the second patterned beam is substantially linearly polarized, substantially orthogonal to the first portion.
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Abstract
Lithographic apparatus providing a patterned beam of radiation in which radiation that is linearly polarized in a first direction has a first pattern and radiation that is linearly polarized in an orthogonal direction has a second pattern.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. A lithographic apparatus, comprising:
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an illumination system that supplies a beam of radiation; a beam splitter that splits the beam into a first beam and a second beam; a first array of individually controllable elements that patterns the first beam with a first pattern; a second array of individually controllable elements that patterns the second beam with a second pattern; first and second quarter wave plates located between the beam splitter and respective ones of the first and second arrays of individually controllable elements that change a polarization of respective ones of the first and second beams; a beam combiner that combines the first and second patterned beams to form a combined patterned beam; and a system that projects the combined patterned beam onto a target portion of a substrate, wherein a first portion of the combined patterned beam derived from the first patterned beam is substantially linearly polarized, and wherein a second portion of the combined patterned beam derived from the second patterned beam is substantially linearly polarized, substantially orthogonal to the first portion. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A lithographic apparatus, comprising:
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an illumination system that supplies a beam of radiation; a patterning device that patterns the beam; a system that projects the patterned beam onto a target portion of a substrate, the system comprises a polarizing cube that separates the patterned beam into a first patterned sub-beam having radiation that is substantially linearly polarized in a first direction and second patterned sub-beam having radiation that is substantially linearly polarized in a second direction, which is substantially orthogonal to the first direction; first and second optical correction units that correct the first and second patterned sub-beams, respectively; and a beam combiner that combines the first and second corrected sub-beams to form a corrected patterned beam. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
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12. A device manufacturing method, comprising:
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(a) splitting a beam of radiation into first and second linearly polarized beams of radiation using a beam splitter; (b) changing a polarization of each of the first and second beams from linearly polarized to circularly polarized; (c) patterning the first beam of radiation with a first pattern using a first array of individually controllable elements; (d) patterning the second beam of radiation with a second pattern using a second array of individually controllable elements; (e) changing a polarization of each of the first and second patterned beams from circularly polarized to linearly polarized; (f) combining the first and second patterned beams to form a combined patterned beam using a beam combiner; and (g) projecting the combined patterned beam of radiation onto a target portion of a substrate, wherein a first portion of the combined patterned beam derived from the first patterned beam is substantially linearly polarized, wherein a second portion of the combined patterned beam derived from the second patterned beam is substantially linearly polarized, substantially orthogonal to the first portion.
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13. A device manufacturing method, comprising:
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(a) patterning a beam of radiation using a patterning device; (b) separating the patterned beam into a first patterned sub-beam having radiation that is substantially linearly polarized in a first direction using a polarized cube; (c) separating the patterned beam into a second patterned sub-beam having radiation that is substantially linearly polarized in a second direction, substantially orthogonal to the first direction using the polarized cube; (d) correcting each of the first and second patterned sub-beams using respective first and second optical correction units; and (e) combining the first and second corrected sub-beams to form a corrected patterned beam; and (f) projecting the corrected patterned beam onto a target portion of a substrate.
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14. A device manufacturing method, comprising:
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splitting a beam of radiation into first and second beams; directing the first beam through a first patterning device to impart a first pattern on the first beam; directing the second beam through a second patterning device to impart a second pattern on the second beam; combining the first and second patterned beams to form a combined patterned beam, a first portion of the combined patterned beam derived from the first patterned beam being substantially linearly polarized and a second portion of the combined patterned beam derived from the second patterned beam being substantially linearly polarized and substantially orthogonal to the first portion; and projecting the combined patterned beam onto a target portion of a substrate.
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Specification