Limiting a portion of a patterning device used to pattern a beam
First Claim
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1. A lithographic apparatus, comprising:
- an illumination system configured to condition a beam of radiation;
a patterning device configured to pattern the beam with a plurality of pixels having a pixel size;
a projection system configured to project the patterned beam onto a target portion of a substrate; and
a controller configured to limit a portion of the patterning device that is used to generate the patterned beam for respective ones of a plurality of sub-exposures that is used to expose a repeating pattern on the substrate, wherein the controller is configured to offset a position of a first sub-exposure in the plurality of sub-exposures by a fraction of the pixel size relative to a second sub-exposure in the plurality of sub-exposures.
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Abstract
A system and method are used to limit a proportion of a programmable patterning means used to pattern a substrate. This is done such that a size of a repeated pattern to be exposed on the substrate is an integer multiple of a size of a pattern exposed on the substrate by the patterned beam.
37 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A lithographic apparatus, comprising:
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an illumination system configured to condition a beam of radiation; a patterning device configured to pattern the beam with a plurality of pixels having a pixel size; a projection system configured to project the patterned beam onto a target portion of a substrate; and a controller configured to limit a portion of the patterning device that is used to generate the patterned beam for respective ones of a plurality of sub-exposures that is used to expose a repeating pattern on the substrate, wherein the controller is configured to offset a position of a first sub-exposure in the plurality of sub-exposures by a fraction of the pixel size relative to a second sub-exposure in the plurality of sub-exposures. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. The lithographic apparatus of 1, wherein the controller is configured to control a device configured to identify portions of the patterning device having faults, such that a number of the faults in the portion of the patterning device being used are minimized.
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15. A method, comprising:
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(a) projecting a patterned beam patterned using a patterning device with a plurality of pixels having a pixel size at a target portion of a substrate; (b) limiting a portion of the patterning device that is used to generate the patterned beam for respective sub-exposures in a plurality of sub-exposures used to expose a repeating pattern on the substrate; and (c) offsetting a position of a first sub-exposure in the plurality of sub-exposures by a fraction of the pixel size relative to a second sub-exposure in the plurality of sub-exposures. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification