Exposure apparatus, exposure method, and device fabrication method
First Claim
1. An exposure apparatus that forms an immersion area by supplying a liquid onto a part of a substrate, and forms a prescribed pattern on the substrate through the liquid, wherein the exposure apparatus includes a liquid holding part that defines a spare immersion area, which holds a part of the liquid on the substrate and that is formed at an outer circumference of the immersion area, an upper surface of the substrate defining a lower boundary of the spare immersion area.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An exposure apparatus forms an immersion area by supplying a liquid onto a part of a substrate, and forms a prescribed pattern on the substrate through the liquid. A spare immersion area, which is capable of holding part of the liquid on the substrate, is formed at the outer circumference of the immersion area. It is possible to prevent the separation of the liquid, which is disposed between a lower surface of a projection optical system and a substrate surface, from the lower surface of the projection optical system in accordance with the relative movement of the projection optical system and the substrate.
23 Citations
23 Claims
- 1. An exposure apparatus that forms an immersion area by supplying a liquid onto a part of a substrate, and forms a prescribed pattern on the substrate through the liquid, wherein the exposure apparatus includes a liquid holding part that defines a spare immersion area, which holds a part of the liquid on the substrate and that is formed at an outer circumference of the immersion area, an upper surface of the substrate defining a lower boundary of the spare immersion area.
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12. An exposure apparatus that exposes a substrate by filling a gap between the substrate and a projection optical system with a liquid, and projecting a pattern image onto the substrate through the projection optical system and the liquid, wherein:
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an immersion area that includes a projection area of the projection optical system and that is continually filled with the liquid during an exposure operation, and a spare immersion area, being defined by a liquid holding part, provided to an outer circumference of the immersion area are formed; and a control unit controls the exposure operation such that a first area wherein the liquid exists and a second area wherein the liquid does not exist are formed in the spare immersion area during the exposure operation, and positions of the first area and the second area inside the spare immersion area change in accordance with the exposure operation, wherein an upper surface of the substrate defines a lower boundary of the first area and the second area of the spare immersion area.
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13. An exposure apparatus that exposes a substrate by forming an immersion area by supplying a liquid onto part of the substrate, and projecting a pattern image onto the substrate through the liquid, wherein the immersion area is defined by a liquid holding member and has a first area that includes an area wherein the pattern image is projected;
- and a second area, which is proximate to the first area, wherein the liquid is capable of moving to and from the first area, an upper surface of the substrate defining a lower boundary of the first area and the second area, wherein the liquid holding member includes;
a first liquid holding part that specifies a boundary between the first area and the second area; and a second liquid holding part that specifies the second area on a side where the second liquid holding part does not contact the first area. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
- and a second area, which is proximate to the first area, wherein the liquid is capable of moving to and from the first area, an upper surface of the substrate defining a lower boundary of the first area and the second area, wherein the liquid holding member includes;
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22. An exposure apparatus that exposes a substrate by forming an immersion area by supplying a liquid onto a part of the substrate, and projecting a pattern image onto the substrate through the liquid, the apparatus comprising:
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a liquid holding member for forming the immersion area, wherein the immersion area includes a first area, wherein the liquid is continually held during exposure, and a second area, which is capable of moving with respect to the liquid holding member during the exposure, wherein an upper surface of the substrate defines a lower boundary of the first area and the second area of the immersion area, and the immersion area is specified by a contact part between the liquid holding member and the liquid, and the liquid of the second area contacts a gas at a circumference of the contact part.
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Specification