Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method

• US 7,626,181 B2
• Filed: 12/09/2005
• Issued: 12/01/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/09/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ASML Netherlands BV (ASML Holding NV)
• Original Assignee: ASML Netherlands BV (ASML Holding NV)
• Inventors: Visser, Huibert
• Primary Examiner(s): Berman; Jack I
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chang; Hanway
• Application Number:
  US11/297,641
• Publication Number:
  US 20070150778A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,453 Days
• Field of Search: 250/492.2, 219/121.67
• US Class Current: 250/492.2
• CPC Class Codes: G03F 7/70041 by pulsed sources, e.g. multiplexing, pulse duration, interval control or intensity control
• CPC Class Codes: G03F 7/70358 Scanning exposure, i.e. relative movement of patterned beam and workpiece during imaging
• CPC Class Codes: G03F 7/70425 Imaging strategies, e.g. for increasing throughput or resolution, printing product fields larger than the image field or compensating lithography- or non-lithography errors, e.g. proximity correction, mix-and-match, stitching or double patterning
• CPC Class Codes: G03F 7/70725 control

Abstract

Apparatus and methods for compensating for the movement of a substrate in a lithographic apparatus during a pulse of radiation include providing a pivotable mirror configured to move a patterned projection beam incident on the substrate in synchronism with the substrate.

Claims

1. A lithographic projection apparatus comprising:

a programmable patterning structure configured to pattern a radiation beam generated by a radiation system according to a desired pattern and generate a patterned radiation beam;

a projection system configured to project the patterned radiation beam onto a target portion of a substrate;

a positioning structure configured to move the substrate relative to the projection system during exposure by the patterned radiation beam;

a single-faceted oscillatingly pivotable mirror configured to move the patterned radiation beam relative to the projection system during at least one pulse of the radiation beam; and

an actuator configured to oscillatingly pivot the mirror according to an oscillation timing that substantially corresponds to a pulse frequency of the radiation system, whereby the patterned radiation beam is scanned in synchronism with the movement of the substrate during the at least one pulse.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the actuator is controlled by a controller and wherein the controller, actuator and radiation system are interconnected in a control loop arrangement and wherein the control loop is configured to maintain synchronism between oscillation of the mirror and pulses of the radiation system.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the pivotable mirror is supported by a support assembly, and a frequency of the oscillation timing substantially corresponds to a resonance frequency of the mirror and its support assembly.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the support assembly further comprises the actuator.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the support assembly further comprises at least one counter-mass, constructed and arranged to isolate forces produced by the actuator from a remaining part of the apparatus.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the actuator comprises a plurality of motors, constructed and arranged to impart rotational forces on the mirror.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein, when in use, the mirror oscillates with a sinusoidal motion.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein, when in use, the pulses of the radiation system substantially correspond in timing to a zero crossing of the sinusoidal motion of the mirror oscillation.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the mirror is substantially planar.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the mirror is located proximate a pupil plane of the projection system, or a conjugate plane thereof.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the mirror is located at a conjugate plane of a pupil plane of the projection system.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the positioning structure is configured to move the substrate at a substantially constant velocity relative to the projection system during a plurality of pulses of the radiation beam and during intervals therebetween, and wherein the patterned radiation beam is moved in synchronism with the movement of the substrate for a duration of at least one pulse of the radiation beam.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the patterned radiation beam is scanned in synchronism with the movement of the substrate during a plurality of pulses of the radiation beam, such that a pattern of the programmable patterning structure is projected onto substantially a same place on the substrate a plurality of times.

14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a configuration of the programmable patterning structure is changed between the plurality of projections that are directed onto substantially the same place on the substrate.

15. The lithographic projection apparatus according to claim 13, wherein (i) an intensity of the patterned radiation beam, (ii) an illumination of the programmable patterning structure, (iii) a pupil filtering, or any combination of (i) to (iii), are changed for at least one of the plurality of projections that are directed onto substantially the same place on the substrate.

16. A device manufacturing method, comprising:

providing a pulsed beam of radiation;

patterning the pulsed beam according to a desired pattern to generate a patterned radiation beam;

projecting the patterned radiation beam onto a target portion of a layer of radiation-sensitive material that at least partially covers a substrate;

moving the substrate relative to a projection system that projects the patterned radiation beam onto the substrate during exposure; and

oscillatingly pivoting a single-faceted pivotable mirror according to an oscillation timing that substantially corresponds to a pulse frequency of the radiation beam, thereby altering a path of the patterned radiation beam relative to the projection system during at least one pulse of the radiation beam, wherein the path is altered in synchronism with the movement of the substrate during the at least one pulse and wherein a cross-section of the patterned radiation beam is projected onto a plane parallel to a surface of the target portion of the substrate.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein moving the substrate includes moving the substrate at a substantially constant velocity relative to the projection system during a plurality of pulses of the radiation beam and during intervals therebetween, and wherein the path is altered in synchronism with the movement of the substrate for a duration of at least one pulse of the radiation beam.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising altering the path of the patterned radiation beam in synchronism with the movement of the substrate during a plurality of pulses of the radiation beam, such that a pattern of the programmable patterning structure is projected onto substantially a same place on the substrate a plurality of times.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising changing a configuration of the programmable patterning structure between the plurality of projections that are directed onto substantially the same place on the substrate.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising changing (i) an intensity of the patterned radiation beam, (ii) an illumination of the programmable patterning structure, (iii) a pupil filtering, or any combination of (i) to (iii), for at least one of the plurality of projections that are directed onto substantially the same place on the substrate.

21. The method of claim 16, wherein the mirror oscillates with a sinusoidal motion.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein pulses of the pulsed beam substantially correspond in timing to zero crossings of the sinusoidal motion of the mirror oscillation.

23. An apparatus comprising a projection system, said projection system having:

a single-faceted oscillatingly pivotable mirror, and

an actuator functionally connected to said pivotable mirror, said actuator being configured to oscillatingly pivot the mirror.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein said pivotable mirror is positioned in the pupil plane of an optical system.

25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein said actuator is configured to oscillate the mirror at a frequency in the range of 1-10 kHz.

26. The apparatus of claim 23, further comprising

a radiation source, and

a patterning device constructed and arranged to receive a radiation beam provided by said radiation source and to pattern the radiation beam.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein said patterning device is a programmable patterning device.